boots
Here, the beautiful Swiss guards boots in Medici’s blue and yellow at the Vatican. Their uniform has remained relatively unchanged since the seventeenth century.
Add comment February 2nd, 2010
Posts filed under 'fashion'
michael
This dress appeared at JC/DC (Jean-Charles de Castelbajac) London, right after Michael Jackson passed away. And I actually loved it.
February 2nd, 2010
design museum
I became a member of the London Design Museum . I have to confess that I did it because of solidarity with the design community, to be honest I have mixed feelings about the museum. Every time I go, I truly enjoy the solo exhibits they tend to be the perfect size, they have good lighting and there are well curated, like Jean Prouve’s current exhibit. Nevertheless, I’ve never seen a single good collective exhibit. They tend to be not well curated, and the interactive sections fell old…
The current Brit Insurance Design Awards 2008 exhibit is not the exemption. However there are some projects, like the Replenishing Body Kiosk by Ross Phillips that although are not innovative, there are fun and easy to use. The Body Kiosk consists of a small touch screen, a projection setup, and a video camera where visitors can record themselves for about 2 seconds and replace the footage projected on the wall with new footage of themselves. Also interesting is an infrared illuminated wall that displays graphics only visible through your mobile device screen and camera lens.
What truly disappointed me was Hussein Chalayan’s A/W ‘07 led’s dress selection… He is one of my favorite fashion designers, but I’ve seen led dresses poorly executed over the last 7 years and Hussein’s led dress is not better in any way. Who is going to where a XX kg. Led dress in rainy London, or, anywhere else?, How can you move or seat comfortably? I’m so over unusable fashion…
March 14th, 2008
finish ties
How do you show textile design? How do you show ties design? Well, here, a clever finish way.
March 11th, 2008
red light fashion
Giving fashion the light it deserves, appears written on black type on several windows in Amsterdam’s Red Light District. A refreshing intervention by local fashion designers, where they replaced the ladies under the red bulbs by an elegant display of well lit fashion. An initiative cleverly sponsored by Phillips that surprises, is unexpected, and goes way beyond good lighting.
March 1st, 2008
Lee Miller
Finally, after almost a year with a phone with no camera. Now I have one with a camera, and it is just perfect. So I’m back to some old quiet moments of observation, capturing and spontaneity. I spent long hours in Hyde park this week-end, I also went to see the The Art of Lee Miller exhibit at the V&A museum. Her work has a strange humor, I found some of it pretty ironic. Also her fashion photography eye comes across in her photo journalistic and portrait work which I found very unique. What I like the most is that at a first glance her work reads as simple, but the moment you take a second look; it hits you with a strange combination of wittiness and drama.
October 22nd, 2007
Elena Manferdini
Last sunday my friend Sean Donahue. invited me to join a talk by Elena Manferdini. The first time I came across Elena’s work was at the California Design Biennial last year, I did not know her work but when I saw it I thought – wow this makes me feel different. I was reminded of living surfaces, skin. I was surprised. The more I saw the pieces at the biennial the more I thought about protection, movement and desire. Her work presents a paradox of structure and freedom, a perfect tension between the two. She talked about the relationship between our body and clothing, our body and physical spaces, and scale. Elena’s talk reminded me of the recent MOCA exhibit Skin+Bones that explored the parallells between fashion and architecture in profound ways. From identity through geometry to pleating.
I’ve always been interested in the space between the human body and clothing. That intimate space between ourselves and the second protection layer. The permanent changes that occur right there, the various ways in which we address those changes. Temperature, pressure, breathability. How can clothing enhance these experiences when they are not in balance? At some point during my MFA thesis work I looked at wearable technology from analog to digital enhanced solutions that explore answers to address changes in this space. On sunday I was reminded of how much that space fascinates me.
I have to say that I have not been inspired in such a long time, the reason Elena’s work inspires me so much is because of the way she approaches her practice. Not only as a designer, but also as a teacher. With the talent and ability to move from 2D to 3D, with a clear understanding and experimentation of physical environments and their relationship to the human body; and finally with the grace to move successfully across media types.
The photo above by Elena Manferdini.
May 25th, 2007
Memorial day week-end
After a very long drive I met some friends at Mission beach in San Diego. I’ve been there before with my father and remember a strong breeze, cold water, seaweed along the beach and a few people, like some beaches in southern california. On sunday it was radically different: An MTV special recording guys surfing a big fake wave, music, food, alcohol and people. I’ve never seen as many tattoos as I saw that afternoon. Adornment, voice, self expression, status, choice, trends, sentiment of belonging, those where my initial thoughts. It was truly a sea of images communicating on different levels, some of them whispering, others screaming, and some where barely visible in suggestive body locations, all of them evoking a different story. 37% of the U.S.A. population between the ages of 18 and 32 have a tatoo somewhere in their bodies. “I believe in people, I believe in places, I do not believe in symbols, icons or images”, a coworker mentioned in a business dinner last month. His comment made me think a lot about the meaning of images and the value we give to them based on our own knowledge, literacy, culture and values.
I do believe in people, in ideas, in our power to give places and images the possibility to inspire, move and initiate change.
June 3rd, 2006
Marja Kurki
I visited Finland for the first time, fresh smells, a cold and consistent breeze, dark-blue evenings and quiet streets. I worked hard, nevertheless I had time to enjoy the beauty of the city, wonderful salmon, and finish art & design. At the Design Forum, Marja Kurki’s Scarves and Ties, a three dimensional timeline of their work from 1976 up to now. A one woman’s business that became an international house of design, according to Tapani Kurki, CEO of the company their articles “meet the basic criteria of design products, timelessness and renewal”. I appreciated the variety of their portfolio and I enjoyed finding design moments specific to the 80’s and 90’s decades through their use of patterns and colors along the exhibit.
At Kiamsa, Museum of Contemporary Art Helsinki, ARS 06 an exhibit that examines how art meets ambivalence, good and evil, joy and sorrow dissolving as one. My favorite a piece by Kalleinen & Kotcha-Kalleinen, the Complaints Choir of Helsinki, choral work created by everyday complains of ordinary people. And finally re-discovering Alvar Aalto’s world of beauty and simplicity, after visiting the Artek store, which was founded in 1935.
1 comment May 21st, 2006
Las Vegas
While walking in a shopping mall in Las Vegas I found out that each visitor is recorded about 784 times a day. My first thought: security. I began thinking about how security has changed since 9/11, and how much more it will change in the coming years. From credit card transactions to driving violations, our actions are, and always will be recorded in some way. How many times will our everyday actions be digitally captured? How and where will this data be stored? Will we be able to keep information stored in its original format such as 5.25″ floppy disks, 3.5″ floppy discs, jazz disks, zip disks and hard drives?
What will the digital libraries of the future look like?
Add comment November 20th, 2005