Wednesday, May 29, 2013

REPOST: News: Liya Kebede Designs for J.Crew; Miu Miu Won't Show in Milan Anytime Soon

Kate Upton is back on the Victoria's Secret catalog while Miu Miu may be a no-show in the Milan Fashion Week.  These and more in this update from Elle.



ugly truth
Image Source: J. Crew


Ethiopian model and philanthropist Liya Kebede showcased her clothing line, Lemlem, in J.Crew's June Style Guide catalog. She also designed a summer-ready tunic exclusively for the retailer. {J.Crew Press Release}

Despite Giorgio Armani's request for Italian brands to strictly present their collections during Milan Fashion Week, CEO of the Prada Group Patrizio Bertelli explained why Miu Miu will continue to show during Paris Fashion Week. {Business of Fashion}

Marni collaborated with Argentinian artist Romina QuirĂ³s on a collection of illustrated T-shirts, tote bags, and iPad cases for the Italian brand's Winter 2013 Denim collection, available this June. {Marni Press Release}

As the highly anticipated Sound of Change concert approaches, here's a list of the many international channels you can tune into on June 1 to watch the star-studded event. {WWD}

Kate Upton made her return to the Victoria's Secret catalog since posing for the lingerie brand in 2011. {New York Daily News}

Designer Erin Fetherston and Cobra Starship frontman Gabe Saporta got married on Sunday at a Bajan plantation. {People} Meanwhile, in Malibu, Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul married his longtime girlfriend and co-founder of the Kind Campaign, Lauren Parsekian. Congrats to the newlywed couples! {Vulture}

Google is looking to close the gender gap in technology by conducting initiatives aimed at hiring and training more female programmers. {CNN} 



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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

How much mercy for Paul Gauguin?

Image Source: fullinbloommusic.com

Paul Gauguin colored Tahiti perhaps not the way he saw it but the way he wanted it to be. This is the tragic flaw of his legacy. Society is usually forgiving toward artists, especially post-mortem. But Paul Gauguin’s later biography seems to push people to the limits of tolerance, and if not for the wise reminders of waters under bridges, we could have defrocked his mythic persona and chastised him in press conferences, just like what happened to Lance Armstrong.



Image Source: freemanart.ca
 

Roughly, here’s what he did: He sold Tahiti to us fans in installments of dishonest art. Some of us didn’t buy the titillating, half-nude themes, as the white man’s burden has long lapsed into a cynical appreciation of noble savages, and how sophisticated they eventually turned out to be. Gauguin’s paintings, in blocks of naturalistic colors and picnic airs, depicted a tropical paradise with a manifest sexual ease. His representations seduced his French compatriots back home and reduced Tahiti to a greedy flicker in occidental eyes. Taken at face value, these paintings are things of beauty, albeit fantasist.



Image Source: daily-norm.com
 

It doesn’t help that new details surfacing about the life of the artist serve new rounds of a public trial. He was most-documented as a wife-beater and a swindler who played his peers’ impressionability. His florid musings about French Polynesia in the most exotic terms were meant to manipulate curiosity toward his paintings and his own persona. In the grips of art exceeding intention, how far are we willing to overlook these deluded depictions which were plucked from the malice of an otherwise talented painter?
 

I ask because in the book of Roman Magnus morals, I have yet to find an artistic villain to oppose my artistic heroes. Candidates other than Paul Gauguin can tweet me here.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Lanvin's futuristic, yet wearable fashion

Image Source: thisheartsonfire.com
French label Lanvin takes us to the future of fashion with its ‘Mix Material Looks’ collection—a selection of creative pieces interweaving a range of fabric types and warped textures that make for a wearable utilitarian high-fashion.

Image Source: thefashionisto.com
When I first saw the French collection, I was reading a dystopian sci-fi novel while tucked in on the couch in my humble Roman Magnus Atelier, in Palatine, Il. Seeing the headline ‘futuristic fashion,’ I was quickly sent back into haberdasher mode and onto exploring the nitty-gritty of Lanvin’s collection, which spells anything but bizarre and odd.

Lanvin’s rendition of future fashion is one that you can wear in your day-to-day chores. The collection is hinged on the French house mission to provide creative pieces yet wearable clothing that carries the style and innovation emblematic of Lanvin’s signature elegance.

Building on the current influence of sportswear, designers Alber Elbaz and Lucas Ossendrijver reworked nylon to make it as transparent as possible and a pleasing component of a wearable outfit. They matched the resilience of the thermoplastic with the classic appeal of luxe snake skins, silk fabric, zippers, and other twisted textures to create a solid display of disparate artistry that’s runway quality but practical enough.

Suffice to say, the jackets, shirts, and parkas under the ‘Mix Material Looks’ catalogue immediately soared in the must see section in my very own Roman Magnus blueprint for gent fashion, and I could see my entire haberdashery churning out edgy aesthetics with strong futuristic and sportswear inspiration.

Image Source: fashionbeans.com

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