FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Having lived abroad until the age of 18 I escaped the relentless but very British passion for football. And until I met my husband a few years ago, I was able to blissfully ignore the shouting, grotesque commentators, inarticulate managers and players, the hordes of fans who are football’s worst advertisements and the tabloids’ obsession with bird-brained overpaid boys. I sometimes fantasize that football doesn’t exist. But now that I’m a full-time London resident there is no escaping… All I can do is close the door, wear earplugs and ignore the chanting of obscenities and the howls of disappointment (he supports Liverpool and they’re so ridiculously shit they never win)! So when a game started recently, I hid in the kitchen with my Mac and discovered the exceptionally beautiful and lyrical work of Cécile Bortoletti. Her fashion photography presents a kind of slow paced soft realism, marked by imaginative depth and a sweetness of tone reminiscent of David Hamilton. Her visual ideas clearly reflect the influence of cinema in the way she constructs a semblance of narrative often focusing on personal intimacy and authenticity. Her work definitely speaks to me. I love its mysterious and poetical story lines, the lighting and colours, the framing and settings. She plays with moods, challenging the viewer with ambiguous productions where the clothes take second place. Her pictures are like exquisite gems and you’ll know exactly what I mean once you’ve looked at them!
Cécile Bortoletti lives and works in Paris. She has collaborated with Bless, Charles Anastase, Margiela and Issey Miyake. Her pictures have been published in Self Service, Purple, Big, Jalouse etc.

All pictures from The Fashion Spot and Cécile Bortoletti

NEW GENERATION

A/W 2009

S/S 2009

The other night a friend of mine was lamenting the lack of raw new talent in London, complaining loudly about the shows she had attended (Charles Anastase, PPQ, Paul Smith, Luella etc). She expressed her irritation at the continuous regurgitations of old ideas and added that she would be happy to never attend fashion week again. Her verbal exaggerations were hilarious and a provocative performance in itself. In fact, while she carried out her relentless assault on London fashion designers I was thinking about Mark Fast and what is undoubtedly a superb collection. A 27 year old Canadian knitwear designer, Mark knits everything by hand on a domestic knitting machine bought in Hackney five years ago. His pieces are exceptionally beautiful and miles away from current trends. You can smell the craft and dedication in his work, in each powerful and magical stitch. I am fascinated by the artistic vibrancy I have seen in his collection so far. His dresses are like complex body con sculptures, slightly reminiscent of the stretchy and clingy designs of Alaïa. The black crocheted mini dresses, the bright orange piece fringed on one arm only, the mini skirt with incorporated braces, these are real classics. Individual and modern constructions adorning the body like primitive African war paint or jewellery. So while my friend may feel cheated by what she has seen during London fashion week, I believe that Mark Fast provided a new clothing language. His presentation was remarkable and a real achievement.

Has anyone watched Gran Torino? I loved it and cried like a baby. Clint Eastwood’s performance as a hardcore racist is moving and absorbing (and his list of profanities so funny… ever heard of a “puss cake”?)

All pictures: WWD, Dazed Digital, Mark Fast

LIBERTY REVISITED

A balmy spring scent and warmth was in the air this weekend. London fashion week started, accompanied by instant delirious media exposure and live behind-the-scenes anecdotes on Twitter. While mesmerizing and mediocre shows were taking place, jam-packed with overzealous students, editors, stylists and celebrities, I decided to leave the bustling and gossipy fashion crowds behind in favour of a more tranquil day visiting the new Photographer’s Gallery and Liberty. Pressure to survive the significant downturn in the retail industry has led the historical department store to embrace a new strategy. With Yasmin Sewell acting as a stimulant of the highest quality, Liberty has become a good place to be reminded that there are great designers who value creativity above all. Her passion and judicious business choices can be felt throughout the art deco building, displaying investment suggestions ranging from the very wearable such as ACNE with its clean lines and individual designs to brands which might satisfy the public fantasy of fashion (Rick Owens, Balmain, Dries Van Noten, Christopher Kane, Ohne Titel). In the little time she has been at Liberty, the ex buying director for Browns has already accomplished so much with her aesthetics that go beyond traditional margins. Her formula is unbeatable! An eclectic assortment of brilliant, well-made, sophisticated pure fashion luxury to create distinct silhouettes and more “street” focused items or youth relevant designers. She’s established a new reality I love, a perspective comparable to that of Dover Street Market.
Go and investigate for yourself, I’m a groupie!

All pictures of Yasmin Sewell: The Fashion Spot

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

The beauty and wonder of fashion has been sadly lacking in New York. Designers seem to believe that their collections must reflect the current economic downturn and adapt to the prevailing morose mood. Well, I disagree. As does Marc Jacobs, a man who seems to be pretty well aware that what we need right now is a sense of possibility, inspiration and hope!
Yes, of course, the market is difficult out there but the best way to fend off competition (strategically speaking) is to push the boundaries a little bit and stand out with a highly individual presentation. His tactic once again highlights his sharp wit but look at this collection and what you see is a multitude of incredibly successful pieces. This is the giddy feeling of the late seventies/early eighties when everything was permitted: studio 54 mixed with tough punk girl gangs. I love the almost surreal clothes and the references to past realities. The power shoulders reminiscent of Mugler and Montana, the zippers used as decoration, the buttery turquoise leather trousers, printed leggings (another homage to Steven Sprouse), the amazing coats and capes, high-waisted jeans, the Prince style Paisley dresses, the colours, the exaggerated Pompadour hair… This is Marc Jacobs showing us the spontaneity of life through a heightened cavalcade of energetic compositions. His work is vibrant and definitely saleable, reflecting his own fanatic determination. A torrent of great pieces, one of his best collections!

All pictures: Style.com

A THRILLING REVIVAL

I admire people who refuse to constantly reinvent themselves just because trends dictated by powerful fashion magazines and influential brands are volatile. Catherine Baba is a stylist who doesn’t embrace predictable fashion chapters, like a mesmerizing performer, she makes bold statements and has developed an unmistakable style which has its own place in contemporary fashion. If you’ve never seen a picture of her, think of a Rudolph Valentino silent-movie star with the spirit of eighties style Emmanuel Ungaro and a touch of regal Orientalism. She dresses with a sort of 20s and 30s Hollywood glamour and feminine allure, displaying a love of rich fabrics and fantasy clothes that frequently have a surreal twist. Combine this with the power looks of mid 80s Montana and you obtain a compelling exploration of fashion with lasting impact. Catherine Baba is all about the organization of movements, energies, textures and above all accessories. Lots of accessories. She wears her excessive accoutrements with a passionate bravado, punctuated by a lot of “j’adore” said in a voice devoid of any form of an Australian accent after 15 years living in Paris. Watch her talk to Diane Pernet and you cannot help but feel inspired by her dramatic and animated presence, her Louise Brooks super tweezed eyebrows and the curl of her rouged lip. She can pull off pure and impractical fashion madness, appropriating the bits of different eras that interest her, yet making it all seem like a new beginning. A spectacular vision!

Images from editorials she has styled.

She has worked for Chanel, Givenchy, Balmain and Ungaro and is a freelance stylist and consultant for a number of fashion houses and designers. She has also worked for Dazed and international editions of Vogue.

All pictures from: TFS, www.catherinebaba.com and www.cecile-bortoletti.com

REINTERPRETING AN ICON

The more I see of the modelling world, the more I fall in love with the hauntingly beautiful Anouck Lepère. Every show season new crops of fresh young faces are propelled in the limelight, experiencing their Warholian 15 minutes of fame on the runway, but only a handful will ever become known. Anouck on the other hand never slipped into obscurity and remained a constant presence in the fickle world of high fashion drama. My theory is that her mesmerizingly refined and classic looks have proved to be permanently cool. She embodies a genre of old-school beauty and romanticism, often at odds with the rapidly evolving modelling industry, while still defining a certain individuality and distinctiveness. She’s exactly my kind of girl. A quiet authority with a wisdom and cleverness lurking below the effortlessly beautiful surface. She is the very embodiment of awkward grace and refinement, her pale skin and intense eyes contrasting with her expressive dark Frida Kahlo eyebrows. I never managed to find out much about the story behind the simply yet highly effective Jock Sturges images of Anouck for Paradis but here they are, inarguably important and viable artistically. Unclothed and unashamed, Anouck is almost luminescent in this more radical reading of the fashion model. The pictures edge provocatively on the borders of eroticism but stand out for being refreshingly simple and romantic. The human form is clearly being explored and with her neoclassical features, Anouck is the ideal complement to the photographer’s visual work. An unforgettable and versatile girl.

All pictures: Paradis Magazine via The Fashion Spot

WINTER WONDERLAND

You probably thought that I’d run off to join the jet set in the LA sun, but I’ve been here all along, trying to finish work and meet deadlines. I did escape to a sleepy village in Somerset on Saturday, leaving the circus of London behind me for one night. Glencot House is another world, a little bubble of peace disturbed only by the solemn sound of gliding ducks and owls in the melting snow. In between a long walk, taking pictures of the enchantingly freshly coated earth and dinner with friends I was transfixed by S Meyers “Twilight” (I’m rather late catching up with all the hype surrounding teenage vampires). Rooted to the chair until it was time to have dinner.
And on a different note, now that I have returned to London and its constant fashion madness, I have to show you these images from La Garçonne. A quieter aesthetic injected with a sense of energy, simple and sometimes boyish, these well-conceived pieces can be adapted and combined indefinitely to achieve a chic and cool look. The cuts and silhouettes shown here are so flattering despite the lack of embellishment and their simplicity. The fits are somewhat loose but retain a sense of structure, expressing a certain street sensibility I adore (see previous posts) with hardly any distinction between boyish and girly wear. The styling is clearly the work of a knowing eye with a preference for a kind of French seventies nostalgia (think contemporary versions of Jane Birkin and Françoise Hardy). This is everything I want to wear. Precise, pure, sharp and accessible.

VISIONS

I’m not going to go on about Paolo Roversi for too long but writing about Chadwick Tyler I suddenly became aware of the fact that the work of both photographers shares the same frenzied emotional temperature. Roversi tightly focuses on subjects demonstrating surprising human dynamism. He finds movement in the attentive and demanding intensities of his models who seem entirely committed to him. The photographer has resisted contemporary fashion language and directions to establish his own process of representation, rooted in history and 19th century images. His standards, with its own set of unquestionable rules, are extremely different to what we see in magazines today. What I love about his work is that he always seems to be playing with the strengths of his models, rather than trying to impose ideas on them. His approach is one of collaboration. His attitude is to accommodate the subjects to achieve a perfect moment and mood overlapping with the raw emotion of the model showing her inner essence. I don’t think that there are many photographers today who can so perfectly capture elements of a personality. His imagery is intriguing and enchanting, with an intensity reminiscent to romantic portrait painters. His subdued palette and hushed faded tones serve to highlight the beauty and pure emotions of the models. I look at his pictures and always think of powerful historical apparitions, ghosts of passed times in a world of contemporary fashion. I’m curious to know what you all think of his work!

If you liked the Chadwick photos I posted here yesterday, go to www.behindtiberius.com for more information. Thank you, JB!

All pictures: The Fashion Spot

ENCHANTING HORROR

How to account for the phenomenon of Chadwick Tyler? Much has been written already about the man and his photography but the process of idolization began with the instant acclaim that greeted the first images of his not yet open first solo show: Tiberius. Tyler has created a fairy tale of such potency and beauty that it reconnects with the primal thrill and horror of depression era stories. His images are populated by an extensive cast of talented models ranging from the unknown to Karlie Kloss, Lisa Cant, Maggie Rizer, Agnete Hegelund, and Lekeliene Stange. Like captivating oddities, macabre characters in makeup and great styling evoke the realities of past American life in the dirty thirties, expressing a wide range of intense emotions. The striking figures, sometimes appearing quite gruesome, seem to be exploring mysterious dark edges buried deep inside their souls. Chadwick Tyler wants to prove that if an artist looks inward rather than outward, unembellished beauty and emotion will surface. A raw vision of a life and death combat. His photographs are complex and ambiguous, shrouded in mystery and fundamental romanticism. I also see a celebration of individual worth and personal freedom in these images, a much simpler theory, I know.
I hope that a publication will be available from the gallery.

All photos: The Fashion Spot