Friday 29 February 2008

That Girl

I spotted that girl twice on Sunday, at the shows of Rajesh Pratap Singh and Bruno Pieters.

I din't take this photo for fashion but beauty reasons. When I saw her first I thaught she would make a perfect model for make-up. The flawless skin, the beautiful long hair and stunning face. As far as I noticed, no one of the street fashion bloggers posted about her. There you go.

Thursday 28 February 2008

Roses



Debut Défilé RAJESH PRATAP SINGH
Espace Commines - 17 rue Commines - Paris 3e

A New Boy In Down...A German Model In Japan

As I am in the mid of my exam preparation I have not much time to post. Unfortunatelly.
I just came over a wonderful article about a german expatriate in Tokyo at spiegel.de. 31 year-old David Schumann arrived in Tokyo to learn about culture, language and of course to have good time. Already on his first days in big Tokyo the guy coming from provincial Bonn was discovered as a model. Being a german model in Japan allowed him to live his life the way he prefers, earn your own living which allows you to study, meet people or dream or work on uneconomical projects. I actually posting about him because I totally agree that his appearance is special. I don't want to repeat that "he was a punk and now a model" blabla, no, I am only referring to his look. He is definitelly not a beauty but special and changeable in such a manner that you will never get bored of his picture. This is at least what a model should look like.

Thursday 14 February 2008

Happy Valentines...

Yesterday midnight in bed, already dark and ready to fall asleep, my baby suddenly said he had a present for me. I did not understand and thought it was a joke.
He said something like..."You know it's Valentine's.". No, I didn't because we made the decision to ignore this commercial event. He handed it over in the dark and let me guess. I had no clue...We switched on the light and there it was.
A lovely photology of the italian fashion photographer Gian Paolo Barbieri.
It is a great source of inspiration especially for hair and make-up. The photos are incredibly glamorous and colourful, totally different from editorials you find in recent magazine's. The book consists of a significant selection of his fashion shoots. I invite you to have a quick look...




Wednesday 13 February 2008

Black And Blue And Blue And Black

Exactly one year ago I was preparing my exams in Paris visiting my permanent boyfriend in his temporary apartment in Montmatre. As there was perspective for a new job in Paris at that point of time, I spent a desperately black afternoon strolling around in cute little Montmatre boutiques finally buing some blue RAS heels which didn't bring me that much luck and have been sold last week at the depot vente around the corner where I live. I wish the current owner a lot of patience wearing them.

The whole process of buying the wrong shoes was accompanied by a chat with the boutique owner. He told me a bit about the living situation in Montmatre (which was très gentil) and then he tried to convince me to buy the most uncomfortable shoes I ever baught (which was less gentil). Taking and giving - we should benefit from each other. I was less sure about the colour (dark blue) and he replied something like "You need to buy these heels and combine them with black. There was a time when no one would wear black and blue ensemble but then Yves Saint Laurent started to combine them. As a result you will look incredibly sophisticated wearing them together." I was impressed. Vendors in Germany will never convince you with a certain knowledge about fashion. They indeed work in fashion but that does not mean anything.

I wore the shoes combined with black exactly one week later for a fashion blogger meeting organized by style scout. I would have loved to meet up with the iconic Susie Bubble, but...the shoes avoided it (see former post). So far this is what I associate with wearing black and blue together.

Nevertheless I was positively surprised to discover the colour combination on the runway for the Fall 2008 season.

DvF/Preen

Temperley/Proenza Schouler

TSE
Browsing though the Sartorialist's photos I also found it off the runway.
The Sartorialist for style.com
Maybe I'll give it one more try.

Disruption: OFF BREAK




I shortly have to interrupt my off-break to post about the Diane von Furstenberg Spring-Summer 2008 Womens Ad Campaign I adore.

The campaign is as special as the whole set up:
The famous french photographer
François-Marie Banier walked with Natalia through the streets of Paris taking pictures whenever he saw the need for it. No stylists were present - the two of them were working alone.

"We went outside, and just walked around and talked," Vodianova recalled of the day and a half in Paris. "François-Marie would take pictures of me and, sometimes, he saw something special, he would...say, 'Don't move.' Then he would take the picture."

The pictures combine photography, painting and words, Banier adding dashes of color to the black-and-white photographs. A negative aspect of the campaign could be seen in not representing a clothing brand properly. I personally don't think so as fashion is art and why not play with this fact?

A link to an online art gallery along with further information on the project (like the making-of video clips) is available on the DvF Projects Site. It provides a great view inside their work and is a source of endless inspiration.

Von Fuerstenberg's explanation reveals the following: "I loved the idea of telling the story in an online art gallery," she said. "It shares the experience as an insider and preserves the integrity of the project....The film and the images reflect the story beautifully and show the emotion."

The campaign can be adored in March's magazine issues or now:

Tuesday 12 February 2008

Thursday 7 February 2008

Rapunzel...Look At Her Hair

Before I write about my runway favorites from Fall RTW 2008 fashion week in NYC, I would like to focus on "runway hair". When I was young my favorite fairy tale was "Rapunzel" by the Grimm Brothers. Until I was 12 years old I had really long hair till my knee hollows. My hair has always been important to me. A women can be very beautiful, but when her her is broken, unhealthy or overcoloured she looks totally moche. Therefore I follow the runway looks with attention.

My favorite hair is healthy, long and has a natural colour. Moreover it is messy. Not messy like Cory Kennedy's but messy in a way of "undone appearance". I totally dislike the "trying too hard hairdo's" most "wanna-be-actresses" wear. They are trying too hard anyway, maybe this should be reflected in their hairstyle. I don't get it.

Coming back to fashion week...Thakoon and Peter Som's runway models acted out the best hair-do's. Glamorously teased and set in shape with light make-up at Thakoon, models looked vunerable and soft. Peter Som also went for teased hair, but in a more natural way. He emphazised on a stronger make-up with natural eyes and dark lips. I prefer his version. It is a real pleasure for my eyes.

Thakoon

Peter Som

A. F.E.E.L.I.N.G. C.A.L.L.E.D. L.O.V.E.

"What is this feeling called love.
Why me, why you, why here, why now.
It doesn't make no sense no. It's not convenient no.
It doesn't fit my plans no.
It's something I don't understand.
F.E.E.L.I.N.G. C.A.L.L.E.D. L.O.V.E."
PULP (Modern Marriage)

This PULP song is one of my favorite love songs. There is now better way to express love in words without sounding neither unreal nor unromantic. Now that I talked about the lyrics, I found the perfect site visualizing this F.E.E.L.I.N.G. C.A.L.L.E.D. L.O.V.E.

Style.com directed me to the
Love Website of Cartier which has been created to present their L.O.V.E. collection.
The site consists of course of the presentation of their collection which is classic, simple and classy and very well well known. So I don't think I need to blah on that one...

What is even nicer, is spending some time in the "Love Story" Section. It features short films which have been exclusively created to show how decisions made by your heart can influence your whole live.
Shoul you are still longing for more love after watching the short films, I suggest to visit the "Love Gallery" which introduces artworks from contemporary artists from all over the world, such as Flavia de Rin, Zoe Mendelson, Camille Henrot, Charwei Tsai, Yuko Takeyama, Marion Poussier and John Maeda who provide visualizations in form of films, short clips, photos and illustrations.
Should you suffer from a lack of love try:
http://www.love.cartier.com/

Wednesday 6 February 2008

Theres A New Label In Town

Did you know spanish fashion laben Comentrigo? I didn't know until I read an interview on Milk Shake Chocolate.

Comentrigo is the brand of the two designers Aura Chavarria and Elena Maggi who started their careers working for Josep Font. The time to start their own brand in 2005 was right, when they won the ModaFad Award for best emerging designer in Barcelona.

Since then, their collections appeared twice on the catwalk in Barcelona. Their clothes are feminine and romantic and appeal a woman's body. I love their simple high waisted slim pants which show off perfectly combined with dallying blouses. Or, imagine going for a "I don't know what will happen tonight" wearing the glitter high waisted shorts. The most outstanding outfit should be guaranteed. I also appreciate these desigers keen sense of color..blue and black together...is there any more out there?

Unfortunatelly, by now, they sell in Barcelona only. In the Milk Shake Chocolate interview they stated: "It is always very difficult that a store believes in a new product, it is important to insist and moreover to maintain sales, grow on sales with every collection…There is a lot of distrust with new designers. It is important to demonstrate reliability, regularity and moreover strength to resist the entire negative answers that are very popular at the beginning. It is very important to resist till your name sounds familiar, it is then when they start buying."

I hope to find some of their pieces all over Europe soon. In case you would like to continue reading the interview… (
http://milkshakechocolate.net/WINTER07-COMENTRIGO.htm)






Photo Source: www.pbbarcelona.com DESFILES - by UGO CAMERA (F/W2007)
Contact
www.comentrigo.com
PRESS: Aura Chavarria
+34 659 55 10 55
SALES: Elena Maggi
+34 607 42 16 58
info@comentrigo.com

Tuesday 5 February 2008

In Case Of Need For A Glamorous Dress...

....have a look at the work of Anna Fuchs, a german designer from Hamburg. Anna is focussing on the creation of glamorous dresses influenced by the style of the 40's. Since she was little, her great style example was Lauren Bacall and she soon dressed like her herself. You easily notice her passion for real glamour and feminin clothes when you look at her design. You will not find any pant in her shop because, according to her opinion, it should be a pleasure for women to wear dresses. Her pieces are timeless and out of trends. I could imagine diva-tastic Dita von Teese wearing her pieces well. She would be the perfect customer and Anna would certainly be happy to win her as reference customer.


After her diploma from secondary school, Anna decided to become a tailor. She lived in Buenos Aires where she autonomously created dresses for the argetine women. They appreciated her work for emphazising on female beauty. I am not sure if german women do so as well, but it seems to work. Anna has now her own boutique in Hamburg and does everything on her own: Shopping for fabrics, designing and tailoring. For those who love her dresses as much as I do and who are not able to pass by her boutique - There is the possibility to shop online

As much as I would like to support young desigers, I still consider her prices a bit out of the range. But I guess everybody has a different budget and limit how much to spend on what. 500 EUR for an unique evening dress might be worth it.


Otherwise:
Anna Fuchs
Karolinenstrasse 27
D-20357 Hamburg
Tel. +49 (0) 40 401 85 408
Fax +49 (0) 40 412 895 56
Opening Hours
Monday - Friday 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
Saturday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.