Tiny post! Don't know if anyone has seen it yet, hopefully you have but this is the newest redesign of the ever ellusive Brit Award! Designed this time around by Philip Treacy I think it's a beauty and one of my favourites!
With Fashion Galore opening and now this Philip Treacy seems to be someone I've posted about more recently but also someone who my admiration has grown for as well. To me he highlights his ideas and presents something extraordinary, the thought's to present millinery the way he does and with such interesting thoughts is brilliant.
I think his Brit design is just as classic as anything else he's done, it seems such a simplistic desgin yet in black is forever stylish! I love the white outline and Philip's definitely brought his own desgin and personality to the Brit's this year, congrats to him!
The only upsetting thing is that now I want a Brit because of the design!
So something I've been massively excited to see and anticipating is Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore opening at Somerset House! With so many deadlines and work going on I've not had a free moment but luckily I managed to get a chance to see it today, plus its half price on a Monday!
After building excitement for the exhibition and seeing it, it shows how much of a dove among pidgeons she was her style and attitude all of it truly special. Isabella Blow was clearly ahead of her time, especially before fashion was seen as more of an entertainment and popular idea as it is today. Where people dress similarly for fashion weeks today she was years ahead in her personal style, always looking composed she proves style can be a spectical without being a joke.
Her style being one aspect of her huge personality her eye for ability and talent being another factor of the exhibition highlighted indefinitely. You can see the massive influence of Isabella as a driving force of many big name desginers from today, Alexander McQueen, Phillip Treacy and Hussein Chayalan.
McQueen and Treacy being two of her close working connections but also personal connections, in interview with Show Studio Treacy talks about the importance of Isabella in his career, the massively possitive driving force behind his success. The video can be seen below is a beauty of Philip reminissicing about Isabella and the times they spent together and even highlight his emotional connection to her which is particularly moving.
As you enter the exhibition there's a quote from Daphne Guiness who describes the exhibition as a bittersweet event and she's totally right. As I went round there's so much to be taken in by, inspired and it showed how much of a huge loved inspirational figure Isabella was and still is. Obviously Daphne was a personal friend of Isabella's but I definitely have to agree!
Imagine being shown a world of wonder and magic, style a person beyond anything else and then then to be told there's not going to be anything more there it's a closed book it's heartbreaking. It left me sad about the way her life had ended.
finally it ends with this video of Isbella's clothes being worn in a modern day fashion film celebrating her and her style. It's beautifully shot and edited and a true testiment to Issabella and proves what a wonder she was to the world.
The exhibition's definitely something to be seen! At Somerset House until the 2nd March 2014 it is one of the best exhibitions I've seen for a long time and delivers a brilliant insight to Isabella Blow and the people she loved and worked with, Also if you're going to attend or what more of an insight I suggest watching McQueen and I for more of an insight to her life and relationship with Alexander McQueen.
Depending on how often you use social media and to what extent many of you may or may not have seen videos of chinese angora fur farms, obviously the sickening videos show animals being cruely abused for their fur. Normally you'd see such a thing and then a campaign or petition being formed in an attempt to raise awareness about the situation however two major names have pulled out of Angora production.
Firstly H&M have pulled out of their production of anything angora wool based, the brand released a statement saying "H&M will immediately stop the production of all angora products until we have secure that our strict product policy is being followed." H&M are a major name when it comes to sustainable and ethical fashion, especially with their work with the Better Cotton initiative and the creation of their conscious collection.
Left: H&M Angora Jumper // Right: Acne Sweater
Alongside H&M we also have Acne pulling their angora production as well which is great to see that both brands not only disapprove with current situation which is going on but also enough to pull production and from too very different labels.
I think it's brilliant for both brands to show their support towards the issues raised with angora production, I think it's great they're taking a stand and are a brand that also feel this is a message that needs to be spread as well. People's views on fur are obviously very different some love it and some find the idea disgusting but why should we abuse animals just for wool?
Surely we should be able to find a different substitute instead of abusing an animal for its fur?
What are people's thoughts of these brands showing their stance on angora, is it spreading a positive message?
It rarely happens that I see something and stop because of how it affects me but I have to draw your eyes to this set of photographs taken by Jack Codling! The collection of images cleverly named "HOME IS WHERE THE HEART ISN'T" are visually stunning.
I first caught glipse of these images by someone sharing them on Facebook but looking at them I am completely in aw of how clever they are, everything here is on point. The theme, the styling and obviously colour are amazing each photo bringing me something amazingly interesting and what I'd have to refer to as a brilliant narrative.
I love how each one is like a glimpse into a different life of very different people and also how these women just demand attention. I know this isn't probably a post I'd usually do but I wanted to be able to draw attention to the beauty and intelligence I see here! I rarely use the word inspiring and for good reason but I have to say these images are definitely inspiring, I can't describe how powerful and wonderful they are!
If you want to check out more of Jack's work you can view it // here // and also follow his work on his Facebook page // here //. I can't wait to see what else he produces and what other brilliant photographs he takes!
As if the duo couldn't do anything more brilliant the brand are set to be the focus of free fashion shows at the V&A on the 6th December. The shows are apparently going to be a collection of their favourite pieces from different collections.
I love Meadham and I'm definitely going to try getting tickets for it especially since it's free! I can't praise the duo enough especially after what seems to be a massively anticipated and popular second collar with Topshop. The collection seems to have massive appeal and I'm sure people have been madly waiting to get their hands on it! Although I have to admit I'm upset that there's not a mens collab similar because I'd die for that!
I love their Topshop collab it has so many different elements to it and has so much of their personal brand of crazy. I think it's a lot more out there than the usual Topshop pieces and it'd be brilliant to use for a Photoshoot, but then I'd say that about anything Meadham Kirchhoff piece!
V&A curator Oriole Cullen had a lot to say about the duo ahead of their V&A showcase, "Meadham Kirchoff is known for creating a fantasy work in its collections through beautifully crafted garments and focus on fine detail." Continuning to comment saying "It's shows always contain an element of surprise and wonder, often with a hint of darkness and we are delighted to have the opportunity to bring this experience to the V&A audience."
Well I for one am definitely excited and want tickets SO badly! I'll have to attempt to get some early Monday and so should you, I'm sure Meadham won't disappoint AT ALL. I'm so glad to see so many positivie things coming from a brand I love so much though, it's brilliant for them and I'm sure their next collection will be amazing amongst all of this fabulous news and excitement!
Today at uni we were lucky enough to have Caryn Franklin to come into Ravensbourne to talk to Fashion Promotion about All Walks and the work that she does with regards to All Walks and the issues they face. If you don't know about All Walks you definitely need to check out their website //here//.
Caryn talked about the different issues in fashion, looking at how creatives can cleverly deliver a message about diversity. One point which hit home about her talk proved how important it can be looking at the messages we can deliver, especially with regards to consumers. We need to look at the idea of children picking up imagery and how they read it; does a Miley Cyrus naked video promote a message that we want children to see as normal?
The main issue lies with how everything has become normalised, it's not strange to not have such scantily clad imagery, imagery that could be viewed and depicted as a rape scene or even imagery that highlights the idea of smart women being unpopular. Caryn delivered the message of looking for a broader range of beauty ideals and I love this I think it's a brilliant message to send out. Fashion is about diversity which is showcased in styles or colours and why don't we have this for beauty and fashion imagery?
Why are we constantly designing for thin young caucasians as if they're the only people who exist? Why do we not design clothes aimed at a much bigger range of men and women, it's definitely something that we should look at. For older women or bigger women play to their beauty and create something with them in mind highlighting them as a beautiful person in beautiful clothes unlike how fashion now see them as the wrong person for beautiful clothes.
Clothes are made to be worn and not wear us.
Caryn Franklin and All Walks spread such a massively strong and important message to all creatives, think about casting, think about difference and embrace it. We shouldn't have models being told they're "too black" or "too fat" for a job role, not in todays modern society.
Everyone needs to hear her message and start a change, we can't continue the way we're going and assume everything will be fine. Change has to happen from somewhere and we're the perfect people to start with change.
Two of the biggest household names in the world of art and fashion, Damien Hirst and Alexander McQueen. Hirst and McQueen are set to collaborate on a set of 30 different scarves similar to the famous skull scarves McQueen is famous for.
Celebrating 10 years of McQueen's skull scarf print which was first seen back in 2003, the collaboration is a mix of two names who've constantly played with dark themes within their collective work.
Looking at the scarves, I think they're a brilliant collab perfectly demonstrating how two very different areas of creativity can come together to make one solid meaningful end product. Some I prefer to others but the majority are amazing but again I count that up to taste rather than the beauty and work on the scarves.
Here are only 10 of the 30 scarves which are set to be released on the 15th November on the McQueen website, with prices ranging from £315 to £715 they're definitely some very special.
I'll be interested to see what the rest of the scarves look like although if this set are anything to go by I imagine they'll beautiful pieces of art which I could only dream of owning. For McQueen and Hirst I think the collaboration works perfectly and their aesthetics compliment each other so much.
Another beautiful peice of work created with the collection comes in the form of this video shot by Sølve Sundsbø, to me it really captures the mystical element that comes from the delicate nature of the scarves. The scarves contain a massive amount of insect imagery taken from Hirst's Entomology series, having all of this imagery lined up the same way the original McQueen skull scarves are.
I think the collection is a massively triumph for Hirst and McQueen and will hopefully be well recieved! Time will tell, but what do you think about it?
