If there’s one thing you learn how to do in architectural school, it’s diagramming, and more often than not it of contextual maps. So it’s no wonder that I immediately fell in love with the new collection by O&C (Octavius & Charlie) labeled, appropriately, “Géométrie Parisienne- Right Bank”. The collection is made up of clever symbolic abstractions of Paris’s famed arrondissements (districts) printed on street-wear that may paraded in by the passionate Parisienne. Now all I want to know is where can I get myself some? I don’t even know how I could even pick which ones I would want, I like them all, conundrum…
So, the UK pavilion for the Shanghai world Expo was just recently completed and it’s already making headlines worldwide and for good reason. It’s phenomenal, composed of over 60,000 transparent rods creating a form that appears weightless and ethereal. What was the first thing I thought? I think we shouldn’t be surprised come next couture week when we see a gown composed of thousands plastic rods. Models will look heavenly with rods bouncing across the runways. But, they just can’t do a one off of the UK pavilion can they? So here’s how I see it happening… I can picture dresses of varying colors, from transparent to opaque white, from clear to pink, blue, black & white everything imaginable, varying from top to bottom left to right, diagonally and scattered across in patterns. There may be some of alternating depths and thicknesses creating drama through light and shadow, or maybe big chunks will be cut out à la Viktor and Rolf. Then there will be matching accessories with golden and silver rods mixed in and of course an incredible headdress that Lady Gaga can rock out in. Rods may transition from sticking out on end into weaving patterns, perhaps even with chic little frays. The possibilities are nearly endless… So who do you think will do it first? I can imagine Armani Privé, Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, or Galliano for Dior….
Chanel Fall 2008 Couture, just a small sample of what I’m thinking, but I expect to see full gowns made of the plexi rods in the same fashion of the UK pavilion…
Paco Rabanne, École des Beauxs-Arts trained architect turned fashion designer and famed couturier. Enthralled with the contemporary modernist movement in both architecture and the arts and with new innovation of materials, Rabanne decided to debut a new haute couture collection of his own in 1966 labeled ” 12 unwearable dresses in contemporary materials” which caused quite a stir. He implemented materials that to date weren’t used in fashion, including metals, plastics paper, rubber and cardboard. He originally worked with refashioned sheet metals until he collaborated with his dealers to create rhodoïd plastics, which immediately became the designer’s signature. He, also, later became credited with the innovations of fur knit wear and aluminum jersey, both introduced in 1968. “In fashion you have every liberty except one, don’t ever undermine a woman’s beauty”, those are words by Paco’s mother that stuck with him as he created. Granted his fashions may have appeared rather avant garde and wild, but women embraced his garments because of his doby consciousnessand his never imposing of fashion upon them. As an architect by training, consistent themes of light, clean lines and form were consistent in all of his work. Luminescence was always reoccurring, inspired by the fluidity of sequined gowns of the women of the 1930’s, so light would radiate from all of his models. He even went so far as to actually illuminate a fiberglass dress once.
In 1969 he released his first fragrance “Calandre” later followed by Paco Rabanne Pour Homme in 1973. Both became immediate sensations, but it was the bottle design that he took the most pleasure in, taking direct inspiration from architecture; Calandre being a literal interpertioon of the UN in New York City. He was the first to make molded dresses that were seamless and disposable paper clothing created with only one seam, but by 2000 he decided to stop doing couture, believing it to be irrelevant within our modern society. In 2003 Rosemary Rodriguez began to show the collections for the Paco Robanne label in Paris and in 2005 Patrick Robinson became artistic director. He showed in Paris until the Fall 2006 collection when he went to become artistic director of Gap, Inc. Since then the label has been at an apparent stand still. Owned by Puig, the label now only produces accessories, watches, sunglasses, and over 36 fragrances, with a new one being released this summer.But what happened to the label? From what I can gather it sounds like it’s Robanne himself is doing the accessories, but I am unsure. On the Paco Robanne site there is a mens Fall 2009 collection, but now that’s outdated, who designed that? I loved it though I want every single piece form it, but I can’t even find where to buy anything except the frangrances. It just appears that they stopped designing one day. Maybe since the economic downturn they are just focusing on Paco’s most successful sector, fragrance. Where is Paco Robanne and what is he oing these days, painting? I know him and Patrick Robinson did not get along, with his refusing to work with Robanne with the conscious decision of not honoring the labels past, ignoring the archives and putting up a complete wall between him and history. I want the house of Paco Rabanne to re-emerge. I believe there is still a lot of room in fashion to work with unconventional materials and Rabanne would be the perfect brand to do that under. Will you return Rabanne? If you’re looking for an artistic director, I’m available, just throwing that out there…
Enjoy a physcadelic preview of one of his 1969 collection…
When it comes to Karl Lagerfeld we know that his design influence is defined by his unique life experiences, personality and the thousands of books and periodicals that he lives amongst and reads avidly. He’s a person of the future and of the past. He knows and understands the beat of contemporary culture and has the ability to anticipate what’s next. His genius is defined by his futuristic ability, backed with both the knowledge of and reverence for the past. In doing so he implements classical and traditional elements that makes all of his collections incredibly contemporary while also timeless. This undeniable understanding of craft and design can in part be attributed to his German roots and upbringing influenced by the Bauhaus and Werkbund mobements of the time. His modern appeal of simplified form with prevailing functionality is informed by these Bauhaus teachings of craft and industrialization. However, he has taken the style further, no longer is it devoid of ornamentation, but it is optimized by it, sometimes as functional, or by giving new life to a subject informed by the history and the traditions of the past.
The Bauhaus/ international styles may also be found in his homes and the Chanel boutiques around the world. The somewhat stark backdrop of black and white in orthagonal patterns perfectly showcases the design house’s collections and in affect has become part of the Chanel image…
If you’re anything like me then you may hoard magazines with any hint of Slimane photography and pray for the day that Hedi Slimane makes a full comeback to fashion design. Us Slimane-iacs (Slimaniacs) hold on to Dior Homme desires of the past and luckily there are holy relics of the left behind for us to cherish. For those of us that need a fix we’ll take the regular pilgrimage to one of his dozen designed Dior Homme boutiques and soak in a bit of black and white lacquer. It’s meditative, just remember that ‘impossible to describe feeling’ when you walk down that mirrored stair in Dior Paris.
Like I mentioned before it’s a rarity that a fashion designer can respectfully tread on an architect’s soil. Yet, it seems that those that do it well either have a background in the arch field or are so well schooled in space and form that they may as well have been. Hedi Slimane himself never had formal architectural training but his grasp of space, light and form through photography since a young age was probably his best tutor on the subjects. It’s uncanny how well he did with these spaces. The stage he has set is rather minimalist while simultaneously reflecting the Dior Homme’s branding he may be creddited with formulating. What’s so fantastic though, is that it’s not necessarily the partitions he’s created, but the lack there of, that define individual areas within the boutiques. He fabricated nearly invisible fixtures on which the collections hang and as a result forms these spaces. The clothing may be experienced ‘in the round’ further defining the interior’s exhibition, enfilade- like circulation, forming quite a ritual about the merchandise. Except here it’s a tactile encounter, and you can’t help but touch everything, especially when it’s floating in front of your eyes, as if to say ” how would look exceptional in this”.
There’s just something about Slimane’s spaces that’s pratically religious…
I think, now, this Hedi ‘Slimaniac’ subject may become a regular post, so stay tuned for more….
I’ve seen it , and you probably have too, ” Architectural Balenciaga FW 2010 Shoes”. Yeah, not convinced, I honestly I wasn’t convinced when I first saw the collection, there was a bit of a disconnect. Nicolas Ghesquière’s part was, as always, outstanding, the shoes were fantastic in their own right, but not completely cohesive. After further reading (because I could never get past the title before) Pierre Hardy did the shoes to coincide with the looks. Alright makes a bit more sense, but it’s the “architectural” bit I really have a problem with. Every design blog I’ve come across has covered the shoes, most doting the term ‘architectural’ within its title. Like I said, I’m not compelled to describe them as either deserving or worthy of the term ‘architectural’. At best they remind more of furniture or interior design touches and finishes. They aren’t defining any new space in an innovative way and the structure of the shoe is rather typical, besides the block heel. They are, however, making use of the collaged materials to a great extent, but I don’t think it necessarily the material defining the shoe, just an application upon it. What I can point out is that the platform which is composed of plastics and molded to the base of the foot does accomplish a sort of plinth, but recently nearly every shoe has a sort of platform. Perhaps if the whole of the shoe was made of the barrage of materials and the loafer/ brogue/ leather bit was left out, then maybe it would conceive a whole new form, unique and, dare I say almost ‘architectural’. Out of the lot of them, the most persuading were probably the ones with wooden front shields.
Don’t you think it takes a bit more for something to be considered or compared to ‘architecture’? Architecture isn’t like all other art mediums, it necessitates professionalism, expertise and years of schooled training to accomplish. I think too many people call themselves artists these days, I think just about everyone thinks of themselves as one lately, and I suppose it makes sense because it is in our human nature to create. But art doesn’t have the boundaries and rules that the discipline of architecture does have. Honestly, i think we all get a bit over excited when the mediums of architecture and fashion appear to intermingle, I know I do, that’s what I’m passionate about. But why don’t we see more of it? From what I’ve found from extensive research, it’s designers with a background in architecture that accomplish it best, and sadly (except the rare exception) not vice versa…
Rem Koolhaas has been granted the unique honor of doing everything Prada (including Miu Miu) the past few years, or maybe it’s Prada’s honor? Anyhow, either way we have been given, as a result, consistent bi-products of fashion and architecture married together. But, like most things architectural it can go over over people’s heads. In architecture school I struggled with one thing…process, I really just don’t show it, I personally think it’s the end result that matters, who’s really gonna see and care about what it took to get there. Yet, I have the ability to create quality product because I work out my process before I even make anything, unlike most, but I digress. OMA is known for their formulated architectural process and programmatic genius which are defined by concepts that are carried out in methodical and impressive maneuvers. This year’s Prada show set was no exception to OMA’s process of process and it gives real insight of what happens when we have an architect do a job in the fashion realm…
The concept: The abstraction of a city as inspired by the literature of Leon Battista Alberti, defined at a domestic scale of a club. Layman’s English: The shos space becomes an interior urban environment by created by abstracting individual components of a city which may be interacted with. Components include: A bar ( by which an audience can stand and watch), a theater with racked seating, a music hall as represented with pink foam, barrage of adverts and media of ambiguous facts on which the models strut, a central park composed of green resin (pictured above), a kiosk, a beauty shop with whimsical and surreal products, a road with typical signage, and a wall of continuous projected media. But what’s the purpose?
To the regular folk/ non-architects, they may understand it all on the superficial level of, “wow, its like a city”. Great, you got that far…But, Koolhaas’ intent is to make the audience actual inhabitants of this artificial city within a real city that he has programmatically and diagrammatically conceived. He has done so by defining spaces of a public urban realm within a private setting, thus reinforcing the notion of fashion being of the public but attainable for the select and private few. He has anticipated circulation paths that dictate his narratives as they are navigated by the subject by defining both the paths of audience and the path of Prada, and at moments he even allows the two to cross, further engaging the audience as desired. The models themselves are meant to be the idyllic inhabitants of the urban environment of which they share, in part with the onlookers, but in reality they are intended to be the mirrors of their desire. Which creates a disconnect, necessary of the brand to ensue an aura of fantasy while maintaining Prada’s exclusivity. Not your typical long rectangular catwalk in a tent is it?
Now that you may have a better understanding, here’s the video of Prada’s F/W 2010 show so you can experience the spaces in a new light…
What do you think should runway be this fantastical?
Fashion week every year appears to become a larger and larger production, and it’s fantastic. It solidifies branding and the lifestyle attached to it, and it allows the shows to be more than just fashion by engaging the audience through incredible and elaborate sets and stages. The creative artistic direction has the ability to transport the audience to other-worldly realms, and isn’t that what fashion is about anyhow, the fantasy of it all. For the lucky few that get to attend these fantasies, they are an actual reality, but only for a snippet of time, leaving all of us on-lookers wanting more. But, who is behind the curtain? Usually it’s the designer’s/ artistic director’s concept, but who actually conceives and formulates it?
The circle of fashion show producers and set designers is a small one. Karl Lagerlfeld we know usually dreams hits sets, but it’s Etienne Russo of Villa Eugénie who develops them, along with the worlds of Hermes, Lanvin, Jean Paul Gaultier, Dries Van Noten, Maison Martin Margiela, just to name a few. Set designer and artistic director Michael Howells does the fashion shows of Christian Dior, Galliano’s own label, and previously worked for Alexander McQueen. Architect Rem Koolhaas’ OMA firm exclusively has been consistently designing the shows for Prada (How An Architect Does Runway). But it’s the mysterious Parisian event company La Mode en Images founded by Olivier Massart that has consistently established itself as the go-to for the design houses for fashion week production. The client roster includes heavy hitters such as: Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Balmain, Valentino, Nina Ricci, Balenciaga, YSL and many many more. Consistently I’ve been impressed by the YSL shows, always a favorite. Butm unfortunately there’s not a lot of info on the company, but visit La Mode en Images to see their extensive portfolios of fashion shows and events.
With new Marc Jacobs stores popping up and more slated to be completed in the near future, we thought it appropriate to shed some light on who the designer is behind the designer… When Marc Jacobs set out to open his second stand alone store in San Francisco, he employed the help of New York based architect Stephan Jaklitsch and since then, for the past nine years, Jaklitsch has been the exclusive architect for every Marc Jacobs Collection and Marc by Marc Jacobs store, sprinkling the globe with them. Each store is unique and that’s what makes them so spectacualr, every time you’re in a new city you want to see the Marc Jacobs store because you know it’s not going to look exactly like the others, it’s an experience of discovery and that’s something to be appreciated…
Here are some of Jaklitsch’s Marc by Marc Jacobs + Marc Jacobs shops form across the globe:
A triumph for Missoni’s first single-brand store that opened its doors this week in Los Angeles, commanding attention on the corner of Rodeo Dr. and Santa Monica Blvd. Designed by Patrik Kinmonth e Antoni Monfreda the new boutique reflects Missoni’s quirky, unique and creative side while also implementing its Italian roots and tradition.The facades are of white weaved aluminum bands, that almost looks like paper which face this concrete, glass and steel structure. Scattered windows cut out from the skin allow glimpses within the boutique offering images of the products and the flashes of color from the interior.
The banding motif is continued inside but vertically reaching up to the ceiling and stretching across. White predominates, showcasing the items with an occasional large block of color that represents the color themes that have become synonymous with the brand over the years. The new location is rather large at 700 meters square (approx. 7534 sq.ft.) with space enough to include its Missoni home and lifestyle products. The new boutique is a welcome and befitting addition to Rodeo Drive, which helps in proving that contemporary design has a place in Beverly Hills. Rodeo Drive itself has received quite a face lift over the past few years with a new Prada, Chanel, and a much anticipated TOM FORD and I’m sure more to come..
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