Julia deVille jewellery
Julia deVille jewellery – to dress up for danse macabre.
Medea
from ‘Medea’ by Euripides
Norwegian rain
I’m quite confident that if the brand focuses on producing the only one type of product it is definitely of best quality be it shoes, bags, shirts or whatever. In most cases it’s about those traditional brands with a great history but there are new projects with similar position and one of them is Norwegian rain. Producing only rainwear this brand brilliantly proves my statement because the collection seems to be perfectly thought-out, mixing traditional men’s tailoring with the best rain-protection technologies. Made from eco-friendly materials, each item consists of three layers- a highly water-repellent outer shell, a waterproof and breathable membrane and a satin lining; all seams are heat-sealed . As for the the visual impression, here we have a precious cut, great silhouettes, delicate colour palette and perfect details. These coats are the best rain-protection I could imagine.
Brutalität in stein
Stills from short film by Alexander Kluge and Peter Schamoni- ‘Brutality in stone‘, 1961- an exploration of Nazi period through its architecture which was a physical embodiment of power and strength of Nazi’s political system as well as a silent bystander of all the cruel events that marked this period.
The Gentlewoman
From the founders of Fantastic man- preview of long-awaited The Gentlewoman, first real issue will be launched in 2010. But even in this few pages I can see the exquisite taste and dare I say ‘class’ in every photo, and it’s the things that I very rarely can find in most of the editorials- it could be edgy, stylish, avantgarde etc but there is always smth missing for me. And I can’t describe this thing by other word than ‘class’ in the meaning of timeless chic and elegance. I like the way of styling in these editorials- graphic silhouettes, distingue lines of shadows, tints of grey, subtleness in proportions and combinations of textures. There is that hint of retro in every photo and I don’t usually like such thing but in this case it’s a step in right direction, it makes me think about the works of Horst P. Horst and Erwin Blumenfeld, and these are rather good references. And although it’s so good – it’s just ‘preview’, so I’m looking forward to see the first issue.
Создатели Fantastic man выпустили долгожданный ‘пилот’ The Gentlewoman- первый полноценный номер будет выпущен в течение 2010 года. Но даже в таком, урезанном, варианте можно почувствовать стиль будущего издания, выраженный в предельно рафинированной подаче визуального материала и высоком классе исполнения съемок, и это именно то, что так редко можно почувствовать в большинстве современных модных съемок, которые могут быть какими угодно- актуальными, роскошными, авангардными, но, для меня, во всем этом отсутствует что-то важное, что я не могу обозначить иначе как ‘класс’, в значении вневременной элегантности и шика. Мне нравится стиль этих съемок- выразительные силуэты, плавные линии теней, богатство оттенков серого, тонкие сочетания фактур и пропорций. Даже присутствующий оттенок ретро не смущает, хотя обычно я не очень люблю подобную стилистику, но эти снимки вызывают в памяти работы Хорста П. Хорста и Эрвина Блюменфельда, а это более чем достойные источники для вдохновения. Хотя, в любом случае, это только пилот, правда заставляющий с еще большим нетерпением ждать выпуска первого номера.
Like a great lily
‘On the calm black water where the stars are sleeping
White Ophelia floats like a great lily;
Floats very slowly, lying in her long veils…
- In the far-off woods you can hear them sound the mort.
For more than a thousand years sad Ophelia
Has passed, a white phantom, down the long black river.
For more than a thousand years her sweet madness
Has murmured its ballad to the evening breeze.
The wind kisses her breasts and unfolds in a wreath
Her great veils rising and falling with the waters;
The shivering willows weep on her shoulder,
The rushes lean over her wide, dreaming brow…’
Arthur Rimbaud, ‘Ophelia’
Experimental photographer Victor Burgin did a series of photographs based on Alfred Hitchcock’s film ‘Vertigo’, 1958. This shot combinesVertigo and John Everett Millais’s ‘Ophelia’ 1852.
Flower with thorns
flowers vs Undercover aw06 headpiece
-because I’d like to think that it could be Takahashi’s interpretation of ‘flower with thorns’ theme
Vionnet ss10
Vionnet ss10- perfect draping – a significant part of classic Vionnet design
Homage to the Romantic ballet
Homage to the Romantic ballet box, 1942, Joseph Cornell
Inside this box there is a black paper card with the following legend typed on it: ’on a moonlit night in the winter of 1855 the carriage of Maria Taglioni was halted by a Russian highwayman, and that ethereal creature commanded to dance for this audience of one upon a panther’s skin spread over the snow beneath the stars. From this little actuality arose the legend that, to keep alive the memory of this adventure so precious to her, Taglioni formed the habit of placing a piece of ice in her jewel casket or dressing table drawer where melting among the sparkling stones, there was evoked a hint of the starlit heavens over the ice-covered landscape’
Raf Simons videos
Knowing about Raf Simons 15th anniversary I decided to have a look at the videos of his previous collections (especially the early ones) since for me video captures the spirit of collection better than editorial or runway photos. So here are a few screenshots from my favourite Raf videos:
Raf Simons aw9596 collection (first)
Raf Simons aw9697- We only come out at night- pt1/pt2
Violets and other flowers
‘He [Elagabalus] loaded his parasites with violets and other flowers in a banqueting room with a reversable ceiling, in such a way that some of them expired when they could not crawl out to the surface.’
Scriptores Historiae Augustae: Antoninus Heliogabalus (XXI.5)
The Roses of Heliogabalus by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1888, fragment
