Dance of the Dior Man

Dutch-English men's fashion journal, Fantastic Man, and Kris Van Assche for Dior Homme have collaborated for a series of hip-hop and pop-jazz dance videos as part of their campaign for the fashion house's Autumn/Winer 2013 Menswear collection. The series, called "Rotation" is an obvious hit at the younger luxury fashion conscious market, especially with the use of energising EDM music produced by Simon Britton and Cliff Randall.

Another element that contributes to the series' appeal to the younger generation is the titles of each film. They all have one thing in common - they inspire. Titles including "100% Every Day", "Whatever It Takes" and the awe-inspiring "Work Hard, Change History" push the no doubt young gentlemen who watch to achieve their ambitions and dreams, a positive message amongst the negative impression fashion sometimes gives.

Follow this link to watch the films

Images and videos courtesy of the official Christian Dior Youtube Channel

The World of JPG

Jean Paul Gaultier has become one of the fashion world's most respected designers - his work ranging from the iconic Cone Bra for Madonna, the complete set of costumes for the cult sci-fi favourite, The Fifth Element, his landmark "Virgins" collection in 2007 and dressing the wacky but wonderful pop artist, Lady Gaga. To celebrate these and the many other distinguishable works, the Brooklyn Museum has launched a retrospective exhibition for the designer. 

The exhibition makes homage to the masterful couturier skills the designer holds, managing to bring back trends from eras past - the '20s Flapper dress, nautical stripes, silk corsets and bustiers, and the always glamorous sequin detail. His design aesthetic iconically reinterprets the hyper sexuality, rebelliousness, historical and over-addiction to glamour and extravagance that various factions of society holds into the fashion scene of the times.

 "The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From The Sidewalk to The Catwalk", boasts the best and most iconic Haute Couture and Ready to Wear pieces from his body of work - approximately 140, if you want figures. The exhibition is now open to the public, running until February 23, 2014. 

For more information on the exhibition, FOLLOW THIS LINK

Images courtesy of Racked and Brooklyn Museum
Video courtesy of the official Jean Paul Gaultier Youtube channel

Charcoal Interpretations

Carolina Herrera

Marc Jacobs

Fashion illustrators are a wonderful sight to see at fashion shows - their concentration, their rapid-moving hands... But what's more so is seeing the finished product of their rightly timed drawing skills. Tobie Giddio, resident fashion illustrator of the home of fashion film - Show Studio, has chosen her best illustrations of the Spring/Summer 2014 collections shown in the recent fashion month. It seems as though Tobie has combined all the elements of the show and collection and depicted it in one collective illustration, capturing the energy from the music, stand-out characteristics from pieces within the collection and the overall silhouette of the garments. Tobie's illustrations are available for purchase on the Show Studio website.

Rodarte

Y-3

Oscar de la Renta

Follow this link to view the complete collection of illustrations and purchasing options

Images courtesy of ShowStudio

Home Shopping with Margiela

Maison Martin Margiela never ceases to discreetly attack particular elements of contemporary society and culture, and this time around the label has taken a stab at the bleak repetitiveness of home shopping commercials. The film features anonymous white-coated individuals, synonymous with the label, demonstrating the benefits of each item advertised, accompanied by a lifeless voice explaining them.

Rolling hourglass

Cotton Letter Stationary

The film presents various pieces, including a waterproof cotton envelope to carry clothing, a wireless glowing night light, knife rests carved out of antique bottle stoppers and hollowed out chicken eggs containing "fortunes". The objects seem very unnecessary, and the Maison have deepened the meaning of this parody by exposing the overdone marketing for items which are useless.

Travelling Pouch for delicate clothing

Fortune Eggs

Wireless night-light

The only useful object out of all is the Luminious Night-Light, a wireless glow-in-the-dark replica of 1930s' lightbulbs, reflective of the need to save energy in the current state of global weather and movement to reduce the carbon footprints of the mass. Even though the main purpose of the film is to show the ridiculousness of home shopping marketing, another thing is clear throughout the film - Maison Martin Margiela has drawn design inspiration from various eras, and warped these objects specifically for the film, which the Maison also does throughout their fashion collections.

Follow this link to view the film

Images courtesy of Another Magazine and Totokaelo

Prehistoric

It's no secret that the enigmatic American fashion designer, Rick Owens, follows a darker path in design. His clothes are infamous within the fashion industry, and there is a clear cult of followers who adhere to the shadowy stream of fashion of which he hails. Earlier this year, the designer let The Wall Street Journal into his Parisian apartment, revealing he is completely dedicated to this aesthetic. The designer has now expanded his furniture range, named "Prehistoric", which is scarily reflective of his fashion designs. The range is predominantly made from petrified wood, in the typical colour palette of greys, blacks and whites, and would be more of a modern interpretation of the Ice Age than prehistory. The furniture range is now on display at the London's Carpenters Workshop Gallery.

Images courtesy of GQ Australia

Architecture of Time

The elusive Italian fashion label, Costume National, has collaborated with the famed photographer, Hiroshi Sugimoto, for an exhibition that captures the mechanical eeriness of modern architecture. Hiroshi is no stranger to capturing the stillness of the manmade, but is more adept to presenting nature (particularly seascapes, lightning and unexplored territories) without the beauty of colour. The usual pin-sharp photography of Hiroshi has been abandoned for a spooky, blurred perspective of architectural landmarks. In this series, called "Architecture of Time", he beautifies the organic and the unnatural simultaneously, almost coming full circle with his work. 

The exhibition is now open until January 13, 2014, at the Costume National Aoyama Complex in Tokyo, Japan.

Images courtesy of CNAC, Costume National and Content Mode

SABA x Manuscript

The contemporary and clean Australian label, SABA, is set to unveil a special collaborative collection with the innovative men's magazine, Manuscript, for the Spring/Summer season. The collection caters to the modern, tailored man - the pieces being surprisingly multifunctional and effortlessly stylish, characteristic of the seamless aesthetic of SABA. Featuring both monochromatic and dusty yet vividly colourful options, the styling by Manuscript Fashion Director, Jolyon Mason, presents these options in a way that glorifies the young, dapper gentlemen who want timeless pieces but are far from decrepit.

The collection and magazine will be officially launched on October 17th, 2013 at the Melbourne SABA boutique. The night will include bespoke tailoring, whisky tasting and attendance by Manuscript Editors Mitchell Oakley Smith and Jolyon Mason. Make sure to head down for a free magazine and a closer look at the collection!

 For more information, head to www.saba.com.au and www.manuscriptdaily.com.

Images courtesy of GoLightly PR

Architectural Musings

The femininely mechanical vision of Dion Lee has earned him a place as one of the most respected Australian fashion designers. His collections always present to women the possibilities of fashion in the future - three-dimensional appliqué, fluidly shaped cuts and geometric detailing all features of his garments. Even though Mr. Lee admits he does not draw inspiration from the orderly discipline of architectural design, the aesthetic he is so famous for is reflective of modern, post-modern and futurist architecture. He has collaborated with photographer, Zac Handley, to show off his favourite structural sites in Sydney in an editorial for underdog fashion e-tailer, SSENSE - a few of the images featured here.

To view the interview and complete editorial, CLICK HERE

Images courtesy of SSENSE

Fashion's Gods and Monsters

Imran Amed, Founder and Editor of The Business of Fashion. Known for his business savvy and highly economical approach to reporting on the fashion world.

There are the good, the bad and the ugly within every industry, and all have some influence on the progression of that industry. Popular fashion business journal, The Business of Fashion, has released a list of the fashion industry's 500 power players of the game. The list features well-known figures such as Karl Lagerfeld (Creative Director of Chanel and Fendi), Grace Coddington (Creative Director of American Vogue), Alexander Wang (Creative Director of Balenciaga and Alexander Wang) and Anna Dello Russo (Editor at Large of Vogue Japan). 

Grace Coddington, Creative Director of American Vogue. Known for her opulent and highly produced fashion photo shoots which glorify the artistic vision of fashion designers worldwide.

The list comprises categories including models and muses, retailers, executives, designers, and media. Whether these figures have been in the industry for 60, 20 or just 5 years, they have and are the driving fashion force of the world. Obviously, fashion journalists, bloggers and writers have influenced me, and I have listed some of my favourites from the list and why they have done so...

Bill Cunningham

Bill Cunningham brought about the concept of "street style" photography, with his candid yet expertly composed photographs showcasing the multitude of fashionable personalities throughout New York. This modest man lives under the means most fashion industry professionals are given, which makes him more of an inspirational figure to look up to. His dedication to his work is rare to come by, and more so his humble personality. 

Angelo Flaccavento

Angelo Flaccavento is a successful Italian fashion journalist, whose artful writing skills are just as known as his effortlessly rugged yet suave look. His articles focus on fashion as a reflection of the changes within society, in all of its aspects. This unique approach to fashion reporting has made him the go-to guy for a deeper and well-rounded understanding of designers' collections.

Tim Blanks

Mr. Blanks is the Editor of Style.com, one of the world's most reliable fashion resources. This fashion veteran's ability to decipher collections and shows and its underlying meanings are applaudable, indicative of the man's intellectual skills, which granted him entry to university at the age of 15. 

Diane Pernet

Diane Pernet is a figure whose work has unfortunately gone unnoticed outside the world of fashion. Her signature all-black look brings such an aura of mystery around her, most likely a reflection of her modesty about the extraordinary work she does. This self-assured and confident woman was and is the first fashion blogger (for A Shaded View on Fashion) - her work starting the technological wave of journalism in the fashion industry. Not only that, but Diane curates and runs a highly anticipated yearly fashion film festival.

Franca Sozzani

Franca Sozzani is a petite woman with a big opinion. As Editor-in-Chief, Ms. Sozzani brought a renewed political and non-prejudicial perspective of many social classes throughout the pages of Vogue (Vogue Italia). Significant works of hers include "The Black Issue" - an issue of Vogue focused completely on the glorification of black women and their beauty and "Makeover" - an issue of Vogue that stagnates the poisonous trend of plastic surgery. 

Susanna Lau

Susanna Lau, commonly known as Susie Bubble, is an eccentric fashion enthusiast who gained fame with her blog, Style Bubble. Her fashion choices and distinguishable style are reflective of the blog - one of the few that focus on the more outrageous and avant-garde streams of fashion. Some within the industry believe she is the modern, tech-savvy version of style icon, Iris Apfel. 

Jefferson Hack

Mr. Hack is the founder of one of my favourite fashion magazines, Dazed & Confused, which is known for its non-conventional approach to reporting about not only fashion, but all creative industries. Despite the man's highly dapper style, his journalistic work shows a more artistic and cult vision of the world of fashion, which has most likely influenced the modern-day hipster, unbeknownst to members of this subculture. With the addition of Another and Another Man magazines, his expansion into luxury fashion journalism has seen him pour more rebelliousness to the higher ranks of fashion.

Katie Grand

What a coincidence that this incredible woman's surname is Grand, for it truly describes her styling and journalistic work, and not in the sense of luxury but more so imaginativeness. Katie Grand is the Editor-in-Chief of LOVE Magazine, a mecca for avant-garde fashion lovers. The magazine is a wild and free journal documenting the creativeness of designers, artists and the like that borders on the limitless.

TO VIEW THE COMPLETE LIST, HEAD TO WWW.BUSINESSOFFASHION.COM

Images courtesy of Searching for Style, Fresh Wall Street, The Sartorialist, Show Studio, Girl Meets Whirl, Ego Design, Grazia Italy, Purple, Oyster and Blog Diner 

Style on the Streets

Nick Wooster, Creative Director of Menswear for JC Penny

Every September, the world’s fashion elite flock to the fashion capitals of London, New York, Milan and Paris to celebrate their communal passion for fashion curb their eagerness to peruse what designers have conjured up for the new season. Let’s take a look at the best street style shots from this year’s fashion month....

Miroslava Duma, Fashion Writer

Anna Dello Russo, Editor-in-Large of Vogue Japan

Giovanna Battaglia, Editor of L'Uomo Vogue and W Magazine

Hanne Gaby, Model

Candice Lake, Fashion Photographer

Saskia De Brauw, Model

Susie Lau, Blogger for Style Bubble

Images courtesy of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, GQ, StreetFSN