Marina Abramovic, Fashion, and the Great Wall of China

Marina Abramovic graces the cover of Slavic Elle this January.  The artist, who had never given fashion much thought, credits her discovery of the self-expressive medium to the Great Wall of China.  Kiša Lala of Spread Magazine reports:

“I was never interested in fashion until after I walked the Chinese Wall.” she said. “Before then, I felt like I couldn’t dress up, no lipstick, no nail polish.” Abramovic had walked the Great Wall of China in 1988 with her then partner, collaborator the German artist Uwe Laysiepen, (“Ulay”) who she had been with then for 12 years. They had started walking towards each other from opposite ends of the wall, originally intending to marry when they met in the middle, but instead, after three months of walking, when they finally reached one another, the journey was to commemorate the breakup of their grand love affair.

Read Full Post »

Bridges Between Alien Worlds

I am into Turkey right now.  My favorite historical world power is the Ottoman Empire, my favorite writer is Orhan Pamuk and my favorite fashion designer is Hussein Chalayan.  This is the man who brought us laser fashion (as seen above) and has talked on the record about technology as fashion’s final frontier.  He is the type of artist who contemplates multiple disciplines when creating his work–anthropology, art, psychology, and music, to name a few.  In an interview with the Guardian he was asked how he would like to be remembered.  His response: “ As someone who created bridges between alien worlds.” Me too, Mr. Chalayan.  Though my desire might be more literal than metaphorical.

Chalayan’s show is up at Lisson in London through October 2.

Read Full Post »

RIP Enfant Terrible

The memorial for the British designer, Alexander McQueen, was held yesterday in London.  The memorial was an inevitable fashion show as well as an honoring of a true artist who knew no bounds within couture fashion.  Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue, spoke at the memorial and described McQueen spot-on as “a complex and gifted young man” who transported his followers, “into a world of sensation where you could be shocked, repulsed or thrilled.” Read more >>

Daphne Guinness on her way to memorial at St. Paul's Cathedral in London

Brass Knuckle Bag

Sea Creature Shoes

Read Full Post »

Oh la la Largerfeld

Karl Lagerfeld, the outspoken kingpin of Chanel will be exhibiting at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie from September 10 to October 15.  The show appropriately opens during fashion week and will feature  personal work as well as many of his fashion shoots (Lagerfeld shoots all of the ad campaigns for Chanel).

Read Full Post »

Gone Till November

If you can’t wait until November for the ever anticipated Art Issue by W Magazine, you’ll appreciate this video. Last year’s Art Issue featured work by some true legends in contemporary art- Maurizio Cattelan, R. Crumb and Philip-Lorca diCorcia. I’m looking forward to seeing what this year brings.

Read Full Post »

Blow.

Today sees the premier of Blow by Blow, a new play about the life of the divine fashion icon Isabella Blow. The debut performance will be part of the 11th Annual Midtown International Theatre Festival.  Will the most tragic part of the play be Blow’s self-induced death by drinking weedkiller or the impossible task of recreating her wardrobe?

Read Full Post »

I Love Anything Daphane Guinness

Daphne Guinness guest stars in Joseph Lally’s new film,  The Black and White Maze of the Painted Zebra. The film recalls old French films (think Marguerite Duras) and of course it is highly stylized and surreal. Many would guess that Daphne would be playing the role of the zebra given her trademark hair, however the zebra is just a metaphor for a pattern of getting lost in one’s mind.  See Interview magazine for a chat with the heiress and the director.

Read Full Post »

Visionaire 56: SOLAR

Visionaire is a the gold standard of art and fashion publications. Released three times a year, the album features a different theme and format with each issue. The 56th publication, “Solar”, is one of the most innovative expressions of packaging and design I have seen thus far. What appears under indoor light as an all-white book with white embroidery and white book sleeve transforms in the sunlight to the colorful presentation you see below. Utilizing this same printing technology for the inside of the book, the pages of black and white imagery adjust with explosions of color when exposed to sunlight. See more images after the jump.

Read Full Post »