You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘fashion’ category.
Gloves. Fashion for the fingers. Black lacey ones below seen here.
Seemingly an innocent subject, we thought—-garments for hand protection/adornment. How crazy could that get?
Well, Ms Claire Watson for one set out to prove otherwise it seems. Found at the always reliable neatorama here
And so did Mr Daniel Storto, a remarkable glove maker, glove fancier, and glove artist.
Mr Storto has a website here, but he seems mostly busy at gloving not hanging around his site.
The above two images of the STORTO shop, outside and in, are included with an interview of Daniel Storto at a digital spot called full frontal fashion here
Just to go back a bit, gloves have been around for a long time, and the most beautiful ones have always been custom made and pricey, like these found here
Though undoubtedly well made of fine materials (these are “kid” gloves), when unattached to the hands they were made for, these just look mopey and a bit creepy.
Which brings us to GLOVE ART.
The decidedly catty gloves above (with red snakeskin nails) were designed by Elsa Schiaparelli, seen here. She was an artist of fashion if there ever was one, and fashionable artists sought her out for collaborative projects.
Here is another whimsical conundrum glove sculpture by Claire Watson.
And this furry set is by artist Meret Oppenheim (you may be familiar with her equally furry teacup and saucer) Both above from Martina Volfi’s blog here.
These two above just seem quite swell. You could wear one on each hand couldn’t you. They were made in France it says here.
High fashion hand candy from Givenchy, for well off biker chicks maybe.
Nothing like a gal wearing a bit of armour is there? This one seen here
And here is the wonderful, one-of-a-kind, all Canadian genius Mr Glenn Gould, who was sensitive to temperature (and almost everything else) most of the time. So no surprise he’s got his hands nicely enclosed in big soft thick wool gloves. This could be July.
There are dress golves, and it seems there are glove dresses. Dresses have been made entirely of gloves, yes they have. This by Sebastian Errazuriz posted on Britannica.com (!) here.
And this by Susie MacMurray made of latex gloves and called “A Mixture of Frailties” shown at The Museum of Arts & Design in New York City. Found here
Well we could go on and on couldn’t we….
But let’s give the last hand to this embroidered glove said to belong to a man named Hastings and made for him in Kashmir 230 years ago when he was Governor of India, it says here.
Think of the millions of gloves that have been lost–most of us have lost a half dozen (usually just one of a pair) by the time we are old enough to care about gloves. Where do they all end up? Do birds and squirrels use them to make nests? Well, if you are lucky enough to become Governor of India, they’ll end up in a museum. And if you’re not, they’re just gone–though they could end up in an art project:
This is Las Hermanas Iglesias, Lost Glove 2009, Collection of 62 single gloves found in Paris (October 2008-April 2009) and gouache on paper, Curator: Jose Ruiz. The artist has matched the single lost glove with a mate made of paper and paint. And all is well again. See it here.
A hat is not necessary for survival. Unlike shoes or a sweater, we can get along in life without it. Which means a hat can be ART, a beautiful thing just for what it is, not for what it does. The hat makers are a breed apart in the world of fashion design.
Above piece of art by Jacques Fath found here
This is just very very appealing and totally useless as a protective head covering. It’s from Borsalino, here.
A company called Fynehats makes lots of them, like the above. Go here
A hat made of the parts of an exotic bird. It may still become a bird. Who knows?
A little company called lilliput makes nice little strange hats, visit here
One of the superstars among current hat artists is England’s Philip Treacy. He designed this butterfly head piece for a swanky showing of work designed by Alexander McQueen. Wild, free, the planet’s best loved insect. The butterflies seen here, along with the one below, and many more.
Philip Treacy above. Hands down.
Another little one from Lilliput, caled ivana. Go here.
The people of Paris like their hats, in town and, as above, at the horse races. Look at me! Under my hat! At the races. ooh!! Spotted here
Heading…back to England, we find Stephen Jones
Amazing that two hat artists like Mr Jones and Mr Treacy should be alive in the same country at the same time. But it is not a competition. You don’t have to choose sides, you can and should choose both. Mr Jones had a big show at the V and A, more here
Wear more hats, you’ll see what they do. More than anything you wear.
See more hats at Miss Janeys, here
and in New York, of course, here.
And in Vancouver, at our own Edie Hats here
It’s your head–give it a party.
What is it about our feet that has caused so many designers to come up with so many ways of meeting the basic need to put something between us and the floor? All above designed by Andre Perugia in the 1930s. Spotted by the shoe goddess herself.
For some clues, you might head to London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, which has a lot of stuff, including a lot of shoes, in an amazing variety of colours, shapes, materials, and levels of swishiness from different periods of pedestrian living.
Above 1972 design by Terry de Havilland, collection V & A London
Mary Quant mod custard yellow ankle boots 1967.
Kids shoes, 1851, V & A
Red bow beauties, V & A, 1900
Visit the V & A shoe closet online here for lots more
Above is said to be a 2000 year old shoe found in France and thought to have belonged to a Roman soldier. It looks surprisingly like a summer sandal you could buy almost anywhere right now. Seen at one of the many history of shoes sites here
The Museum of London has been digging up shoes too and pointing out the similarities across the ages. This from the BBC.
These above look kind of space-agey, but they date from 1851 says the V & A.
This boot above would fit nicely into any cool store for the smartly dressed. It’s 180 years old apparently.
Swedish hipster boots from the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, 1655 or so. You could stuff a lot of stuff in the tops of those. Your lunch, your phone, your dog.
Back to more feminine footwear, the red and gold numbers above are also part of the immense bata shoe museum collection. Seen here.
Love these racey slip ones designed by Katharina Denzinger 1965 for American shoemaker Herbert Levine in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Go here
Much admired designer Beth Levine (married to Herbert whose name is on them) produced these flaming sandals in 1968, also in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, CI, seen here
Above super modern shoes by Marloes ten Bhomer, site here . Rotationalmouldedshoe is made of Polyurethane rubber and stainless steel and was specifically designed for an installation in the Krannert Art Museum in Illinois, USA. Also part of the Designs of the Year exhibition in the Design Museum, London in 2009.
From high tech sleek to over the top show biz, the showy piano player who called himself Liberace had a lot of showy shoes, like the ruby sneakers above seen here.
If you need more advice about what to put on your feet for that next grand or down to earth occasion, there are lots of shoe books to be had, and you can start browsing here.
If you are feeling angelic today, you might slip on a pair of these by design goddess Andree Putman, seen here at a boys school. Hmmh…. In a perfect world, we would probably have different shoes for every mood and occasion, and it would seem there are more than enough out there to cover all the combinations.
But if you don’t have a lot of closet space, these would probably do for most situations, don’t you think? See lots more at the Virtual Shoe Museum.
If you design, make, and sell clothes of high quality for high prices, you should have a nice store. Hiring a good architect can make a good impression. Giorgio Armani hired Tadao Ando to design Armani HQ in Milan, known as Teatro Armani, opened 2001. Photo: Sebastiano Brendolini, seen here . More on the project from here
Inside shots of Teatro Armani found at designboom here:
Prada, also from Milan, hired Herzog and deMeuron for their Tokyo store, built 2003. Above seen here. Nice work fellas
The view from inside Prada Tokyo, photo by Simon Glynn seen here
The above is the Christian Dior building in Tokyo, by SANAA, by day.
And by night. Seen here.
And still in Tokyo, above is a shoe store, seen here
A very, very nice shoe store with shoes for feet that deserve the very best. Above is Tod’s on Omotesando Avenue in Tokyo. Thanks, sou + architecture.com
Moving on to another fashion capital, Paris has its share of fashion and fashionable stores. One of the most admired is the Jil Sander store designed by Michael Gabellini.
Above images of the Jil Sander Boutique and Showroom Paris, France from the website of Gabellini Sheppard Associates, LLP.
And don’t forget New York. This is the Linda Dresner Boutique, New York designed by Michael Gabellini in collaboration with Jay Smith, seen here
How about London?
This is a Paul Smith store, called Westbourne House, in London designed by Sophie Hicks. Yes, that’s Spiderman up there.
Inside Paul Smith’s.
All the above images of the Paul Smith Westbourne House store in London from the always agreeable apartment therapy, here.
I’m a bit worn out from shopping. If you want to see more like these from the comfort of your favourite chair, here are a couple of nice books on fashion and design:
New Retail published by Phaidon, see here.
The New Boutique, Fashion and Design, published by Merrell, info here.
Some people seem to think that big name architects shouldn’t have anything to do with the fashion industry, that they should stick to buildings that serve a purpose more serious than shopping. But I’m on record as supporting the idea of great architects taking on even the most ordinary of building types. I really would like to see Rem Koolhaas do a corner store. Come to think of it, he’s already done one, sort of:
Prada Soho Manhattan, Rem Koolhaas. Seen here
