Written in the Stars

Risto Bimbiloski modeled by Roxane Danset

At age thirteen, Macedonian born designer Risto Bimbiloski, ventured to Prague to see some of the best planetariums in Europe; the experience has manifested in his Summer 2009 collection, a homage to the galaxies and to the year 2009- the International Year of Astronomy.

Despite the celestial influences, his trademark knit appliqués on poplin, tromp l’oeil effects, and technical cuts, are overwhelmingly down to earth.

In 2006 Risto’s talent piqued the interest of Louis Vuitton marking the start of their ongoing collaboration, with Risto consulting for their knitwear.

His designs can be found at Opening Ceremony and Barney’s New York

www.ristobimbiloski.com

-K&J

Versace, 1980

Jerry Hall, cast as sexual goddess, with a pile of haughty flesh stroking at her heel. This Gianni Versace ad from 1980 presages the hard edged, highly erotic, glamazon focus that Versace’s work would take on at the end of the decade and make him an international juggernaut.

As the Met opens its “Model as Muse” exhibit next week, it offers a prescient view on how such inspirations can inevitably affect a designer’s world.

-K&J

Sandrina Fasoli Spring 2009

Sandrina Fasoli and Michael Marson are the creative duo behind the label Sandrina Fasoli, both graduated form Ecole Nationale des Arts Visueles de la Cambre, in Belgium. A poetic and nostalgic vision of understated femininity brought them together and in 2003 they picked up first prize for their women’s collection at the Festival International des Arts de la Mode, in Hyeres.

Since their first collection launched in 2000, they have grown now with stockists in Japan, Korea, Paris, Brussels, and now in the US.

www.sandrinafasoli.com

-K&J

7th Ave Goes to Washington: Designers Lobby To Congress

 

Photo Excerpt From Today's WWD Article

France has always been keen on their fashion industry, The Fédération Française De La Couture, du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs (beginning in 1868 for couture and later expanding into ready-to-wear and menswear in the 70’s) has kept their hands active in government to protect and serve what is one of the country’s most cherished industries. Among their many services they give mentoring to young designers, tax breaks to companies that source from French mills, and most importantly, provide legal protection for intellectual property and designs. In a culture that has developed such an affinity for clothes, its creativity and its craft, copying is not tolerated.

Michelle Obama has drawn attention to American fashion, her wardrobe garnering an audience beyond the magazine editors and fashionistas. She’s given presence to an industry, that although is one of largest in the country, not always enjoys the same consideration as others more publicly discussed (and currently problematic). The CFDA has seized on this and along with Jason Wu, Maria Cornejo, Narciso Rodriguez, and Thakoon Panichgul has lobbied for American designers, testifying before lawmakers.

The issue is regarding copyrights and the lack of them to protect the designs and ideas of designers. It’s a pressing issue for smaller labels like the ones Michelle Obama wears, they are the victims of larger mass oriented companies that steal their designs and benefit from their creativity. If the bill that is in works goes through it would mean a monumental change for designers here in the U.S. and shake up an ecology where knock-offs and repetition has become the rule rather than the exception. And Michelle Obama’s influence on American fashion may result in something far greater than just a trend for color and prints.

-K&J

You can read more on this news bite in today’s WWD.

Hyères 2009

The Hyères festival kicks off tomorrow. The main events are the juried fashion and photography competitions which have become known to spotlight and expose many promising talents. You can follow the build up and the competition itself over at Diane Pernet’s shaded blog.

Ladies First

She’s not Jackie O, in a modernist uniform of Oleg Cassini finished with Halston on top; she’s not the glowing icon of bourgeois elegance. She has eschewed the American pantheon of Oscar, Ralph, Calvin, Donna, Marc, Vera, and Tommy, with their big ad budgets and armies of auxiliary licenses. She wears dresses by Thakoon, jackets by Maria Cornejo, and jewelry by Tom Binns, not because she knows the name, but because of the integrity of their design and by being in touch with the new. With her remarkable appreciation, when she must wear Paris she wears Alaia. Moreover, a woman of practicality, so she will wear J.Crew; she’s not afraid of color nor print and she will wear a sweater to Buckingham Palace. She has established a rhetoric for the bold and has pushed American taste towards the new.

The political is personal and the personal is political. Much like her husband’s presidency, her style has broken the chain of monotony and the status quo on Capitol Hill.

Bess Truman

Mamie Eisenhower

Jacqueline Kennedy

Claudia Johnson

Pat Nixon

Betty Ford

Rosalynn Carter

Nancy Regan

Barbara Bush

Hillary Clinton

Laura Bush

Michelle Obama painted by Elizabeth Peyton

-K&J

Schiaparelli Redux

A late 70’s interpretation of Schiaparelli

There’s a been a lot of talk of Olivier Theysken’s post-Nina Ricci activities, the most plausible rumor that he’s to head up a soon-to-be relaunched Schiaparelli. As much of a good fit it would be, you have to question the logic of investing the effort into a dormant designer name who closed her business 55 years ago and not into a young hi-profile designer at the peak of his creativity.

Square & Circle

Piere Cardin, 1981

The space age couture of the 60’s is so attached to Cardin’s image that it’s easy to forget the classicism of his penchant for geometry . The 60’s and beyond, Cardin was apt to interpret his vision for the times, always relevant, always chic.

Issey Miyake, 1975

Issey Miyake’s first show in NYC, captured by Anton Perich.

From The Archive…

“Madame Valentina”, Life Magazine 1952

Valentina’s gothic take on American couture and Hollywood glamour is often washed out by the bright lights of Paris. Her designs were dark, mysterious, and full of feminine ease, a stark contrast to the debutante designs and regal gowns of 1950’s Couturiers and decades ahead of her time. An exhibition on her work, Valentina: American Couture and the Cult of Celebrity, is currently on view at The Museum of The City Of New York until May 17^th.