Rodarte: Fra Angelico Collection

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RODARTE: Fra Angelico Collection, on view starting tomorrow at the LACMA's Italian Renaissance gallery, features a group of extraordinary gowns by Kate and Laura Mulleavy. The collection is inspired by Italian art, specifically the Renaissance frescoes in the monastery of San Marco by Fra Angelico in Florence, Italy, as well as the Baroque sculpture, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) in Rome. Rodarte’s signature dressmaking techniques and sculptural details can be seen in each of the gowns. Silk fabrics (including chiffon, georgette, lamé, organza, satin, taffeta, and tulle) are draped and manipulated to give form, texture, and tonal variety to the color palette inspired by the frescoes. The gowns are customized utilizing a variety of materials such as feathers, swarovski elements, sequins, and custom-made silk flowers. Hand-forged gold metallic accessories such as a headpiece, breastplate, and belts dramatically complete the look of several key gowns. The Fra Angelico collection will enter LACMA’s Costume and Textiles Department, which houses over twenty-five thousand objects, representing more than one hundred cultures and two thousand years of human creativity in the textile arts.

The Elegant Beasts

"Moody & Farrell’s Spring/Summer 2012 collection is inspired by fabulous creatures and is filled with shapes that evoke underwater leviathans, crouching beasts and giant crustaceans. During the Golden Age of exploring, sailors and adventurers would often return home with descriptions of wonderful new animals which illustrators would attempt to draw – with wildly inaccurate results, leading to fantastical depictions of giraffes, crocodiles and walruses. It is these mutant beasts which have informed this set of hats, the bastard off-spring of tall tales,improbable visions and things that go bump in the night. A diverse range of materials have been used, many of which would be more usually found on a galleon than in a hat. From fine cashmeres and silks in muted colours – to oak, leather and rope. With its wild shapes, bold colours and mythical silhouettes, this collection is exciting yet feminine, utterly original yet entirely flattering on the head." [....]

Hyper-Reality

Brooklyn's Serum Vs. Venom attempts to turn the business of fashion on its head, "Hyperreality is used in semiotics and postmodern philosophy to describe a hypothetical inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from fantasy, especially in technologically advanced postmodern societies. Self Imposed Reality Check. Our previous attempts to inject new thinking and practices into an existing, institutionalized fashion system have failed. We have come to the conclusion that our philosophy, methodologies and products are sound and it has been our desire to engage a flawed system, which has lead us astray. We have proudly decided to disengage this broken system in an attempt to interact with our consumers directly and unfiltered. We follow no season and no calendar, only our instincts and what we feel is appropriate and relevant." SVSV's new Hyper-Reality collection is an engaging sartorial exploration of post-modernism and men's dress.

Azzedine Alaïa in the 21st Century

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From December 11 to May 6 2012, the Groninger Museum will present the exhibition entitled Azzedine Alaïa in the 21st Century. This exhibition displays the most fantastic Alaïa fashion creations of the last ten years. Alaïa is one of the last major couturiers still active. The exhibition is a follow-on to the overview of his work shown in the Groninger Museum in 1998, which was subsequently displayed at the Brant Foundation in New York in 2002.

Le regard de personae

Malou Swinnen (b. 1944, Neerpelt) lives and works in Hasselt. As an artist she enjoys a high reputation at home and abroad and her pictures are regularly exhibited. They are also part of several collections, such as Photography Museums (Antwerp and Charleroi), the Ministry of the Flemish Community, the National Library in Paris, and various private collections. The fascination for the face, skin, the pose, the look and attributes are constants in her work. In 2010 she was invited by the Kunstbank (Art Bank) for artistic research. While studying their exclusive collection of textiles and accessories she re-portrayed the looks and the genre and in that way gets the series "Personae" (1995) a new follow-up. Malou Swinnen exhibits the new series "Le regard de personae" at the Fashion Museum Hasselt in Belgium until January 8.

A SHADED VIEW ON FASHION FILM Festival at ART BASEL MIAMI

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Just over one month since its Centre Pompidou Paris launch, ASVOFF (A Shaded View on Fashion Film) 4 has already made its way across the globe to Tokyo, and will now travel West making its American debut at the 10th Edition of Art Basel/Miami Beach December 1st-4th, the most prestigious art show in the Americas. The ASVOFF 4 Miami screenings, in collaboration with the Morgan Hotel Group and ACRIA (AIDS Community Research Initiative of America), will take place at the Delano Hotel in an Art Basel/Miami endorsed event, ‘ART BASEL/MIAMI LOVES FASHION FILM’. Delano Hotel – 1685 Collins Avenue  Miami Beach, FL