Replicated Memories

A completely sensory experience that is worth capturing is what creates a life full of memories, and sometimes, the scents of the environment are one of the most memorable of that moment. The renegade luxury fashion house of Maison Martin Margiela has decided to use the contemporary spaces of Galerie Jousse Entreprise to allow people to rediscover the wonder of the moments that we live, which is unfortunately undervalued in today's techno-driven society. The Maison has asked various worldly artists to share memories close to their hearts, inspired by the "Replica" fragrance. A simple, yet touching, way to show that the moments we live every day are not to be taken for granted.

The #smellslikememories exhibition is now on in the Galerie Jousse Entreprise, Paris, France.

Images courtesy of Maison Martin Margiela

A Place For New Stories

Earlier this year, Prada launched their Prada Journal project, focused on allowing rising or unrecognised literary talent from around the world to submit a story based on the concept of the eyeglass in the aim of getting the recognition they deserve.

Miuccia Prada called on the reliable Italian publisher, Feltrinelli Editore, to open up the world of words amongst the highly image driven industry of fashion. To accompany the launch of the Prada Journal gallery, the winners of the contest were announced on the night, giving these promising writers a chance to read their work to the literary, journalistic and fashion elite to revel in their stories. 

Amongst the abundance of entries, five writers emerged as the best. The five winners include Mattia Conti from Italy, Leisl Egan from Australia, Angel Mario Fernandez from Argentina, Sarah Harris Wallman from USA and Peng Yang from China. These five names are surely going to be known in the publishing and literary world, and congratulations to them!

For more information on the project and gallery, FOLLOW THIS LINK

Images courtesy of Prada

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

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

The Palais Galliera Re-Opens

The world-renowned fashion museum, The Palais Galliera, is set to open its doors to the public once again after many years of renovation, on the 28th of September. In celebration of its re-opening, the unfortunately underestimated fashion designer and living legend, Azzedine Alaia, is presenting a retrospective of his life work.

It's no surprise if you're unaware of this designer, but there's no doubt that his influence has hit the woman's wardrobe to some degree. The designer brought body-hugging silhouettes and a new level of sultry to women's fashion, heavily influencing the popularity of spandex and off-shoulder dresses in the 1980's. It's a shame to know his work often goes unacknowledged amongst the greater fashion-conscious crowd, but hopefully this exhibition will bring back the mass appreciation he deserves.

For more details on the reopening of The Palais Galliera, CLICK HERE

Images courtesy of Trendland

Fendi x Karl Lagerfeld: The Glory of Water

It is no surprise that Karl Lagerfeld, as proactive as he is, has contributed his creative genius to Fendi in collaboratively coordinating the launch of the new Paris flagship store. In the heat of Couture Week, an event such as this is heightened by the complementing photography exhibition showcasing the King of Fashion's matchless photography of the Roman fountains of Italy (as part of their collaborative project to restore Trevi Fountain) that went hand-in-hand with the event. The exhibition, "The Glory of Water", is applaudable, seeing as it has given lost glorification to these historical water features of Italy. Amongst the more concentrated buzz around the designers' collections, the exhibition brought a contemplative and almost melancholic air to the chaotic week.  

For a look at the launch of the flagship Fendi store on Avenue Montaigne and more details on the "Glory of Water" exhibition, CLICK HERE

Images courtesy of Fendi, FauxRealFashion, Wallpaper, Blou Art Info and Elle

David Jones' 175 Year History

Left to right: A recreation of Dior's "New Look", Woolmark Prize winner Dion Lee and Carla Zampatti's houndstooth dress

Dior press clippings

The historically prestigious Australian department store, David Jones, has marked their 175th Anniversary with a wonderful visual story about their fashionable history. Unbeknownst to some people, the friendships David Jones himself built with the many fashion designers, artists, graphic designers, royalty and political figures in our time and times past have built the high pedestal which the department store stands upon.

The archives of the department store are now open, giving people a chance to see who have contributed to the past and continuing success of David Jones. The exhibition gives thanks to artists such as Auguste Rodin, famous fashion photographer Max Dupain, and luxury fashion designers Pierre Cardin and Christian Dior, by showing their most coveted contributive work to the department store. Seeing the store's diverse history, particularly their involvement in World War II, playing host to Queen Elizabeth II's Australian banquet in 1954, and their questionable yet successful in-store zoo, makes you soak in the true grandeur of David Jones.

The exhibition is now on Level 7, David Jones Sydney (Elizabeth St. store) until June 23rd

For more information on the exhibition, head to What's On at David Jones

Photography by Christoffer Aguilar

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Punk: Chaos to Couture

Brush aside all the celebrities who attended the Met Ball, and you'll see what this year's occasion was fundamentally celebrating - Punks. The Punk movement had an undeniable affect on everything - politics, culture, visual arts, music, graphic design and of course, fashion. The ripped jeans, nickel chains, out of context tartan, tshirts sporting unruly comments against society and the emergence of Fashion's Mother of Punk, Vivienne Westwood, and rising popularity of the musical anti-hero, Sid Vicious of The Sex Pistols.

The Costume Institute's exhibition, Punk: Chaos to Couture, is aimed at showing us all how rebellious we can be, simply through the way we band together and change culture through our collective resentment of the system. The exhibition will be at the Met in New York City will be open from May 9 - August 14 this year, so if you're heading to The Big Apple or are already a local, make sure you channel your inner rebel and bathe in the Punk atmosphere at the exhibition.

For more information on the Punk: Chaos to Couture, head to the Met Museum website

Images courtesy of Met Museum and Suzanne DeChillo from The New York Times

Dior & Yamamoto: The Fashion Revolutionists

The revolutionary "New Look", presented by Christian Dior in 1946

Timeless and revolutionary are words that are thrown around a lot nowadays, but it is purely subjective. Christian Dior's "New Look" changed the way women dress in the post-war era, as a reaction to the perceived limit and angular strangulation that predecessors such as Mademoiselle Chanel put on women's fashion. It's true, Chanel brought a freedom to women through fashion, but when there's someone good, there's always someone that's going to be greater. Not to discredit the monumental contribution Chanel gave to fashion, Dior happened to be the person to change it once again. It translates today with Raf Simons' direction of the Dior label, brining the revolutionary minimalist aesthetic of the designer.

Coat by Yohji Yamamoto (1983)

SS83 Dress by Yohji Yamamoto

As time progressed, the cycle continued, as Yohji Yamamoto stepped up and metaphorically said "This is not how it should be", through his 1981 debut collection in the fashion capital of Paris. Yohji brought a look that addressed the influence of Eastern culture on Western fashion, and vice versa, sending the fashion industry into an uproar for his (then) outrageous designs. His approach to fashion has led the way for other Asian fashion designers to come to the forefront, including the already renowned Kenzo Takada and the modern favourites Phillip Lim and Alexander Wang.

Zeile Cocktail Dress by Christian Dior (1954)

Jacques Heim fashion illustration, 1949

These powerhouse designers have brought two very movements to the fashion world, and the few select pieces that had an undoubtable effect on fashion in the masses are currently exhibited at The National Gallery of Victoria until 28 July 2013, called "Dior & Yamamoto: The New Look"

For more details on the exhibition and entry free, CLICK HERE

Images courtesy of the National Gallery of Victoria, Art Base and Fashion Journal

Going Beyond the Lens with Vogue Australia

Australian fashion design exports, Sass & Bide, on display

A revealing yet demure dress by Willow

Two influential forces of Australian fashion - Westfield and Vogue Australia, have teamed up to present the best Australian and International fashion designers that have been featured in the Fashion Bible. Spreading across 3 floors in the ultra-modern Westfield Sydney, top Australian designers such as Willow, Collette Dinnigan, Christopher Esber, Ksubi and LVMH's newly bought bush oufitters, R.M. WIlliams and International luxury labels such as Prada, Calvin Klein, Salvatore Ferragamo and Bottega Veneta's designs are exhibited in fashion photographs that encapsulate the personality and aesthetic of the designer and label itself. As you walk around the centre, commentary on the photographs and the future of fashion and its place in society by the recently appointed Fashion Editor of Vogue Australia and street style superstar, Christine Centenera and Genevra Leek are available to watch, further increasing the exhibition's interactivity and viewer's insight into the often overlooked fashion industry. My 3 favourite Australian designers were featured in the exhibition, all revolutionary in their vision and are leaders of Australian fashion - Josh Goot, Romance Was Born and Dion Lee (pictured below).

Kaleidoscopic pattern King, Josh Goot's dress 

Eccentric Australian fashion label, Romance Was Born

Australian supermodel, Jullia Nobis, in Australia's future of fashion and Woolmark Prize 2012 winner, Dion Lee's design

VISIT VOGUE: BEYOND THE LENS AT WESTFIELD SYDNEY (LEVELS 2,3,4) BEFORE APRIL 21ST TO WIN A HOLIDAY AT THE DIANE VON FURSTENBERG PENTHOUSE ON HAYMAN ISLAND!

Photography of the exhibition by me

(Photographers, stylists, models and assistants credits for individual photographs in the exhibition)

For more details on the exhibition, CLICK HERE