"Back Side / Fashion from Behind", An Off-Site Exhibition @ Musée Bourdelle In Paris

In a society that is obsessed with people’s faces, "Back Side / Fashion from Behind" is an original and unexpected theme. By addressing our body’s relationship to clothing from a social and psychological point of view, the exhibition questions the perception we have of our own and other people’s backs.

The exhibition spreads across the Great Hall of Plasters, the contemporary Portzamparc extension and Antoine Bourdelle’s studio. The models on display establish a dialogue between fashion and sculpture, a dialogue with the works of this great master of the turn of the 20th century. "Back Side – Fashion from Behind" gives us a new take on the works of Bourdelle: we look with new eyes at the powerful, muscular backs and the slender outlines of his sculptures. "Back Side / Fashion from Behind"  is on view through November 15 at Musée Bourdelle 18, rue Antoine-Bourdelle, Paris 15e. photographs courtesy of Palais Galliera

The Interminable Apprentice: Read Our Interview Of Fine Jewelry Designer Elie Top On His New Collection and Working With Yves Saint Laurent →

Elie Top may just be one of the most glamorous men in Paris. Working silently under the likes of Yves Saint Laurent before his passing, and Alber Elbaz for Lanvin before Elbaz left the helm of the fashion house, Top has gained a keen and sharp insight into the world of luxury jewelry and accessory making. Elbaz’s exit was a perfect excuse for Top to take what he learned as an interminable apprentice and start his own eponymously named label. His new collection, entitled Mécaniques Célestes, is an insight into the ornamental aesthete’s lifelong fascination with all things baroque, classical and talismanic. Gold, diamonds, precious stones and other metals reinterpret the armillary sphere – tiny universes atop a finger, atop a breastbone; perfect and encapsulated. When we met Top, we ambushed him with an interview proposal during a cigarette break from hosting his recent pop up at Maxfield’s in Los Angeles (it was his first ever visit to Los Angeles). Our conversation oscillated between his memories of working with Saint Laurent, his love for jewelry and his new collection. Click here to read more. 

Roxanne Lowit's Nightlife Diary

For the last 30 years Roxanne Lowit has been taking backstage and nightlife photographs of some of the biggest luminaries in the world of fashion, culture and art. Lowit started taking pictures in the late 70s with her Kodak 110 Instamatic, photographing her own designs at New York fashion shows. She was soon covering all designers in Paris where her friends — models like Jerry Hall — would sneak her backstage. It was there that she found her place (and career) in fashion. On view now at the members only Parlor Club in New York, where Lowit recently celebrated a birthday, are 26 of her photographs and coming up at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art in April she will have her firs solo show in Russia. See more photographs after the jump. Roxanne Lowit: Iconic will be on view at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art from April 12 to May 15, 2012

[Documentary] L'Amour Fou: The Legacy of Yves Saint Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent left a fashion legacy. He also left behind an extraordinary collection of art. In L'amour fou, Saint Laurent's partner in business and life, Pierre Bergé, made the choice to auction off the collection after Saint Laurent's death in 2008. It was considered "the auction of the century." Bergé talks about their relationship in both respects—from meeting Saint Laurent after his dismissal from Dior to starting up their fashion house and, of course, the art that they amassed. The collection started in the 1950s and included works ranging from Picasso and Matisse to Egyptian sculptures.

The art collection is impressive, but it represents more than just two collectors—they're the puzzle pieces that form a picture of a unique, half-century partnership. Carefully crafting a loving and well-deserved tribute, director Pierre Thoretton stunningly blends Bergé's interviews, rare archival footage, and incredible access to their homes to make what amounts to more than a biography. He captures a love story—a so-called crazy love—of art, fashion, and the two men who loved both and one another.

L'Amour Fou is currently being premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. www.tribecafilm.com

Text by  David Kwok