Neo Conquistador: Assad Mounser

Amanda Assad Mounser is a New York-based jewelry designer with a penchant for the prickly and ecclesiastical.  Her label Assad Mounser makes a bold statement. Assad Mounser's inspiration is "predominantly influenced by the gods of the Glam Rock Movement."  Aptly so.  Her Spring Summer 2011 collection "...focuses on a futuristic journey, one that many a rock star drenched in glitter might sing about. The collection, coined Neo Conquistador, follows a phoenix rising from the ashes of a catastrophic wave of destruction to a path of redemption and rebirth, creating a new world from the rubble. Groups within the collection follow these themes quite literally. Many pieces take on an appearance of an explosion, with shooting rods of metal juxtaposed against cracked rocks and glittering gems, meant to represent glass fragments. www.assadmounser.com

[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

Ecce Homo: The Jewelry of Chris Habana

spring/summer 2011

If Jesus Christ were to be crucified today, Pontius Pilate would get his crown of thorns from jewelry maker Christ Habana. Custom made crown of thorns - he'd probably make a concession for the lord and savior. With a small, creeping trend in religious iconography popping up Chris Habana's eponymous label stays clear of the eternal flaw of most gothic inspired jewelry lines: taking it all way too seriously.

spring/summer 2011

There is a definitive, down to earth sensibility in all of Habana's creations. Spending his life in the Philippines and New York City, the 34 year old designer had a childhood "...rooted in fantasy and sci-fi...." and later "reveled in the 90s gay counter-culture..." - thusly merging the two worlds when Habana debuted his line in 2004. Habana's autumn/winter collection, entitled "Weird N' Kinky," is, well, weird and kinky.

www.chrishabana.com

Icon of 1940s Fashion: Ingrid Bergman

Ingrid Bergman is stunning when when she appears on the silver screen in the 1942 classic Casablanca, and the same in Hitchcock's 1946 masterpiece Notorious. Bergman was not only an icon of the silver screen, but an icon of fashion in a decade when the world was at war. In the 1940s the fashion houses of an occupied France were struggling with limited resources, a fabric shortage, and the rise of competing American fashion houses. In 1940s style was an experiment in sartorial renunciation - an "expression of circumstances" as opposed to frivolity. In 1947 Christian Dior introduced the New Look collection - a ‘make do and mend’ approach to fashion that didn't comprise "ideals of beauty, femininity and luxury." Ingrid Bergman was a life long fan of Dior - her fitted suits,  pencil skirts, subtle accessories, and a slightly androgynous charm helped define the era.

A new book, Forties Fashion:From Siren Suits to the New Look, Jonathan Walford, founder of the Fashion History Museum of Canada, "is an essential sourcebook" of 1940s fashion; "a glorious celebration of everything from practical attire for air raids to street and anti-fashion."  Around 250 illustrations reveal the wide range of fashions and styles that emerged throughout the Second World War, in Europe, North America, Australasia and Japan. Including period advertisements, images of real clothes, and first-hand accounts from contemporary publications.

www.thamesandhudson.com

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty

This May 6 the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will present Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty - a posthumous retrospective of the late designer's brilliant career. The exhibition, organized by The Costume Institute, will celebrate Alexander McQueen's extraordinary contributions to fashion. From his postgraduate collection of 1992 to his final runway presentation which took place after his death in February 2010, Mr. McQueen challenged and expanded "the understanding of fashion beyond utility to a conceptual expression of culture, politics, and identity."

His iconic designs constitute the work of an artist whose medium of expression was fashion. Approximately one hundred examples will be on view, including signature designs such as the bumster trouser, the kimono jacket, and the Origami frock coat, as well as pieces reflecting the exaggerated silhouettes of the 1860s, 1880s, 1890s, and 1950s that he crafted into contemporary silhouettes transmitting romantic narratives. Technical ingenuity imbued his designs with an innovative sensibility that kept him at fashion's vanguard.

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty: May 4, 2011–July 31, 2011 - www.metmuseum.org

 

Claude Montana: Fashion Radical

Claude Montana's eponymous, and infamous, brand went bankrupt at either exactly the right time or wrong time - the late 90s - before google, before animated gifs, and before blogs. As the world of high fashion entered the 21st century haute couture became saturated and the glamour died as the gilded lid of exclusivity and luxury was peeled slowly away.  Famous designers at their zenith became zealously celebrated, and with the tsunami of the blogosphere designers became objects of only a post-modern, digital obsession. Claude Montana, whose career is now being celebrated with a new book, dominated the fashion scene in the 80s and 90s, and now serves as inspiration to many of this century's designers. www.thamesandhudson.com

[FASHION] Gary Graham Spring 2011

Gary Graham is a designer to watch. Hailing from Wilmington, Delaware Graham's background in costume and textile design has attributed to the unique signature of his brand: strong heritage, luxury and richness of creativity in the meticulous craftsmanship of his pieces that are hand dyed, hand sewn, and hand finished. Gary Graham lives and works in New York. www.garygrahamnyc.com

[VIDEO] Rodarte: States of Matter

Rodarte: States of Matter, at the MoCA, is the first West Coast solo exhibition of the work of fashion and costume designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte. In this video, Kate and Laura talk about the stories that have inspired their collections and the physical processes their materials go through. This intimate look at more than 20 pieces from Rodarte’s Spring 2010, Fall 2010, and Fall 2008 runway collections, as well as original ballet costumes designed by Kate and Laura Mulleavy from Rodarte for the feature film Black Swan, was directed by Felipe Lima, with original music by No Age. www.moca.org

First Look: Sylvio Giardina Fall/Winter 2011/12

Sylvio Giardina's new fall-winter 2011/12 collection is based on experiments with brand new silhouettes. "The stylistic investigation aims at a moved centre of mass, an imbalanced balance which will change shapes, volumes and lengths made up together by asymmetrical panels to redesign the figure. It’s like an a architecture of the fabrics that re-edits proportions to give a new female identity which finds the final product and the subjective taste."  Giardina attempts to kill homogeneity whilst maintaing the tradition of Italian fashion and contemporary culture. For instance, "Embroideries on jersey fabric find new lines sew on together: no armhole for the sleeves, exaggerated curves set up by upside down strapless to emphasize décolleté (neckline). A synthetic colours palette, like helio-blue and yellow cadmium, joins anthracite grey and impure white of the wool of the pants, tube-dresses, jersey shirts and jackets." Primary fabrics, such as male-wools, fresh-wool, jersey-wool and crêpe wool are all embroidered in San Gallo, in Italy.

"Accessorizes break harmony with strong mirror and colored plexiglass buckles in relief on the tissues like sculptural elements. No prêt-à-porter, no Haute Couture, this is a collection full of contaminations: the most important from art and design influences, where Sylvio Giardina finds himself as spectator and artist."

www.syviogiardina.com

On the Verge: Stand & Deliver

Jennifer Mulhare, the brilliant, sartorially talented fashion editor of Pas Un Autre, called last night practically panting with excitement about a new line called Stand & Deliver. Designers of Stand and Deliver, Corey Parks, former basist of the band Nashville Pussy, and Johanna Logan, mix a rock n' roll ethos with an entirely earnest originality that will undoubtably make fashionistas all over the world wet with excitement. Its virtually impossible to find any mention of Stand & Deliver online, save for the behind the scenes video and some photos of the recently shot lookbook.

www.standanddeliverla.com

Balenciaga and Spain

Balenciaga and Spain examines the profound and enduring influence of Spain on the work of haute couture master Cristóbal Balenciaga. The impact of Spanish culture, history, and traditions is explored through the recurring themes in Balenciaga’s oeuvre and organized in the exhibition in six sections: Spanish Art, Regional Dress, the Spanish Court, Religious Life and Ceremony, the Bullfight, and Dance. Hamish Bowles, the European editor at large for Vogue, is guest curator. Balenciaga and Spain runs from March 26, 2011 to July 4, 2011. www.deyoung.famsf.org