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