Madeleine picks up the camera @ Modefabriek Next & Cutting Edge

Press Only invited me to the Next & Edge Cutting show at this season's Modefabriek. Next & Cutting Edge showcases the best of upcoming and young designers in Europe. I decided to pick up the camera myself this time. In order of appearance: Young & Restless, Barbara Aigongini, Karssenberg/Greidanus, and Neo Dia.

Young & Restless

Barbara Aigongini

Karssenberg/Greidanus

Neo Dia

-Gabrielle Lucille

Go Go Gallerina

I haven't really been "artsy" for a while, but faith took me to a gallery and yes, I realized I really do like art.  *big surprise* No, not at all, but I haven't felt so free to enjoy it for a while. So one thing leads to another, and last night I ended up at the opening of Realism (fair for contemporary figurative art). Big thanks to Ten Haaf Projects for re-releasing my inner-gallerina!


A few artists seriously caught my eye and Wessel Huisman is one especially loved.  

Wessel Huisman, Plain Light III, 160 x 120. Image via GalerieRademakers.Nl.

Unconsciously I am drawn to anything that represents New York, not necessarily meaning I like everything (there is also a lot of that boring Ikea stuff ). Wessel Huisman's cityscapes. however, are seriously captivating. 


In a simple monochrome palette, he manages to build a city from patches of light. Though some work contains historic references (carriages and trams!), there's something surprisingly futuristic about the work. The transparency and airiness of the light combined with the pixelated patches suggest a sort of 3D blue print of the city. Not quite ready to become concrete and possibly about to completely collapse itself again, the city seems to be vibrating in a beautiful phase of near completion. I want to be in there, I seriously love it! 


(The feeling it evokes also resembles standing on top of the Empire or Rockefeller at night and overlooking the city!)


Take a look at more of Wessel Huisman's work on his website or at Galerie Rademakers (who, by the way,  have the coolest people staffing their booth!)

Wessel Huisman, Angel on the Floor, 150 x 180. Image via WesselHuisman.Com.

- Gabrielle Lucille

Bedtime Stories: Vogue Collections

Vogue Collections SS11

I picked up Vogue Collections last week, more by coincidence than anything else (I was actually looking for Vogue UK, but could not find it?!). First, I was somewhat disappointed, (don't ask me why). Then I realized it is a secret weapon for making an impression in fashion: "ooh that is so Alber Elbaz for Lanvin". Now, who is not gonna take you seriously when you can rave like that?


Vogue Collections is like an art history book,  just not so historic. Instead of having to learn artists and dates, you learn labels and designers (and you can skip the date, because it's all the same anyway) training your visual memory and most importantly, your skills to impress.

Chloé SS11. Image via Style.Com/Monica Feudi for GoRunway.com 

Now learning is not really the right word, because I read Vogue Collections like bedtime stories, five each night before I doze off. So I started in Paris with Dior and last night I ended with Stella McCartney. Tonight I'll still be in Paris with Kenzo and in a few days Miuccia Prada will take me to Milan. Favorite stories so far: Chloé and Haider Ackermann. Sweet dreams!

Haider Ackermann SS11. Image via IwantIgot.Com

- Gabrielle Lucille

Madeleine goes Amsterdam

Hello! I've been away for quite a while now, my bad. The good thing is though, I have moved to Amsterdam in the meantime. The best place for Dutch fashion! Recently, I got complimented on my Tory Burch shoes by somebody from Hermès. How not to love Amsterdam then! 

Amsterdam. My hood, the Jordaan area, is certainly inspiring. I made this picture with my BB, I am quite impressed it actually. 

I started writing for the Welikefashion.com blog. Welikefashion.com is a cool and edgy online fashion store for celeb inspired fashion and the blog.. the blog is even cooler ;) Check out my blog entry on Vogue legends Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington's tranny counterparts here.

Check out Welikefashion.com for celeb inspired fashion. Image via Welikefashion.com

So what else is coming up:


- Interview with Dutch designers Iris van Herpen, Claes Iversen and Marcha Hüskes, and celeb-stylisto Bastiaan van Schaik. Will have to wait till Spring for official publication...


- This month Amsterdam is hosting the Modefabriek ("Fashion Factory") the largest and coolest fashion fair in the country! Modefabriek is not just exhibitioners and stands (*yawn*), but also a platform for emerging international fashion talents, shows, events, etc. Very exciting! I will be attending Cutting Edge, the show for international avant-garde talent! (A big thanks for PR agency Press Only for that!)

Modefabriek, fashion fair and international platform for emerging designers. Image via Modefabriek.nl

- To top it off, Amsterdam International Fashion Week will take place from January 26th till January 30th. Personal favorites: Jan Taminiau's demi couture, AMFI's Individuals and SIS by Spijkers & Spijkers. I am praying for a seat, front row, final row, some row.

AIFW. Image via Amsterdamfashionweek.com

- Man & Mode ("Man & Fashion") at the Amsterdam Historical Museum on January 22nd. A fashion exhibition focussing solely on men this time! The relationship between fashion and Dutch men is a pretty awkward one, so I am excited to see what the story this exhibition will be telling (fashion exhibition got me my MA degree after all). Day will include lectures on "The Ideal Man" (interesting..), and ties and made-to-measure suits (hot, men's fashion is a whole different world, often drenched in tradition, I love it)

Man & Mode at the Amsterdam Historical Museum

- My very own website... will keep you posted.


- New glasses. I have stepped, sat on, fell on my Dior glasses about three million times. I was so ashamed, I just kept on wearing them all brokend and bent (indoors that is). I need a stronger frame and have my eyes set on a pair by Spijkers & Spijkers. 


Talk soon!


x


- Gabrielle Lucille

Remember the nice lady from the September Issue?

Memo Pad: Coddington Memoir... TV Camera Ready... - Fashion Memopad - WWD.com

That is how I remember Grace Coddington, as the nice lady from the September Issue. Grace was romantic, poetic, endlessly creative, in contrast to austere Anna who slashed her editorial with ice-cold precision. Though I am not an avid believer of fashion stereotypes, I did fall for Grace.

Grace on her move to Vogue US - Courtesy of www.icuinparis.com/blog/

Now, Grace is reported to be working on her memoir that will cover her modeling career in 1960s London and her rise to the upper echelons of the world of Vogue. Visions of Grace in the swinging sixties will serve as a nostalgic read and I expect her career path to be nothing less than deeply inspirational for all those aspiring.

What I personally love about her project is that Grace told Women's Wear Daily that she is “hoping it’s going to be very rich in fashion history. It’s more than just about me.”  Not only is she angelically modest, she also has a great point.

Grace's memoirs have the potential to be a more accessible way into fashion history, a more fresh and fun approach. Oral history is a legitimate research method for both historians and dress historians, so what better way than to learn fashion history through biography? Go Grace!

Grace Coddington on the cover of Vogue 1962 - Courtesy of www.beautyconfessional.net

- Gabriëlle Lucille

Anna Wants To Wear It

I met Anna really high up in the freakiest school building in Midtown where we took a course in Fashion Writing together. I got to know Anna as quirky, smart and funny and so is her blog that is really worth a peek:

I Want To Wear It

PS: she also does a great series of photography called "One a Day" (you have to befriend her on Facebook to see those ;)

The Fashion of Travel

Over the past two years, I have been trying to master the art of travel. The saying that it is not the destination, but the journey that matters totally rings true for me. On the road anything can happen (and it has) and I absolutely love the possibility of the unforeseen happening. From spontaneous layover breakfast dates to the most tedious must-do's of air travel (security checks are like sacred rituals to me), I love it all. Of course, it does require a perfect travel attire.

Stage of Emergency by Steven Meisel for Vogue Italia © Steven Meisel

I am usually trying to pull of a "comfortable and sophisticated" look that I hope will spontaneously land me in business class. So far, I have experienced that draped long-sleeves and moderate harem pants are definitely a please-pad-me-down look for security officials, but I still find myself aspiring to that upgrade. (A need fashion is now answering with actual travel collections)

BCBGMAXAZRIA's Bon Voyage Fall 09 © BCBGMAXAZRIA

But what-you-wear is now equally important to what-you-carry. The luggage belt is like a runway (btw. they could definitely make that black dirty rubber a lot cooler, think: advertising). Everybody stands around fixated on all the pieces that ride by. Though most people seem more concerned with their own luggage and getting out of there asap, I am convinced everybody evaluates other people's goods. I do it! In other words, an excellent opportunity to get a good review (or a follow-up let-me-help-you-with-that date). Unfortunately, dragging of my plastic hard-shells is somewhat of an anti-climax on my otherwise thrilling trip.

Though my little orange hard-shell does pop for all the wrong or right reasons, it is vintage or custom-made luggage that I would love to have wheeling behind me: 'Vintage Luggage is back in vogue' and I'm looking to those legendary houses of leather goods, Goyard, Louis Vuitton, Delvaux, Hermès, for inspiration. With a vintage leather trunk I'd imagine myself to be a late Victorian desert crossing Gertrude Bell cum a 1910s ocean liner lady off to New York cum a contemporary fashionable traveler. 

Now, I often heard the petty objection that beautiful luggage is a waste because of the airport's cargo treatment,  but what is more appealing than battered, tattered, worn and torn luggage that shows you 'been there and done that'? That is exactly what you want to exude right? Hard-shell just does not age well, leather luggage ages beautifully.

Goyard Luggage - Courtesy of 00o00.blogspot.com

  - Gabriëlle Lucille

Les Archives de Jalou

Jalou, publisher of L'Officiel (amongst other glossy titles), has made available online for free its archive of L'Officiel from 1921 onwards on Jalou Gallery.Com.

(not just L'Officiel by the way, also international editions, Jalouse, l'Officiel Hommes and more!)

L'Officiel de la Mode - 1960 - no. 455-456

I am pretty excited about all the possibilities it presents for fashion magazines and research.  Though picking up a fashion magazine from a newsstand and carrying those precious glossy pages with you anywhere you go is a daily indulgence, an easily accessible archive of fashion magazines also creates amazing opportunities for the I-Pad and E-Readers. A mini I-pad donned in a leather Gucci case allowing you to browse hundreds of fashion magazines? I wouldn't mind picking that up either.

One a more academic note, the Archives present incredible opportunities for research in fashion studies. You could probably write hundreds of theses and essays around this archive, ranging from fashion illustration in the 1920s to the logomania started in the late nineties, the possibilities are literally endless. Also, historic editions, if available, are often kept in libraries and are very vulnerable to touch. The Archives allows researchers to easily access these sources anywhere without having to wear white gloves to browse through the o-so delicate copies.

Plus, the Archives are very user friendly.  You simply search by keyword, print with just hitting one button and the archives saves trees and money as it allows you to print text and image separately. In an ideal world, the Archives would let you download PDF files.

Whatever your purpose is, either studious or pure nostalgia for fashion faded, the Jalou Archives are an exciting initiative that I would love for other publishers to follow.

- Gabriëlle Lucille

How to find the right words in Fashion?

Check out my debut entry for the MoMu (a.k.a. Fashion Museum Antwerp) blog here!

FYI: MoMu's Masters of Black in Fashion and Custome will be up until August 8! So if you're in Belgium, make sure to pay a visit. Or join the party in Fall, when MoMu is celebrating Stephen Jones' 30th anniversary with a grand exhibition on this legendary milliner's work. You can more info here on the MoMu website.

 Fairchild Dictionary of Textiles

- Gabriëlle Lucille

Fashion for Fashion's Sake, Finally

 Blake Lively for American Vogue  
©Vogue

Finally, fashion's craze with celebrities is starting to pass. The Independent reported that high fashion is now eschewing stars and choosing models again, realizing that celebrities were starting to take center stage.

Gucci's Frida Giannini simply prefers a "generic face that's not related to any particular world." I cannot agree more , why would I want some super ego between me and the piece of my dreams. Like I mentioned in my very first post, the clothing itself conveys the dream and not its wearer. A celebrity's persona easily grows bigger than fashion, overshadowing the creative process and the aesthetic experience.

Does this mean the obsession with celebrity style will also fade? Some retailers thrive by  positioning themselves directly to celeb style. A black dress and white heels allow you to "wear it like Whitney Port". The parts are anonymous, but the sum is celebrity. But for some reason, it is not something I can connect too.

At the same time, Scott Schuman (a.k.a. The Sartorialist) has unleashed a street style revolution which some brands now have lashed onto as a format for their campaigns. Despite this marketed type of street style, genuine street style photography like Bill Cunninghams's On The Street continues to connect me to everyday people who construct their own unique style identities (and not some pre-fab webshop one..)

With celebrities overthrown in a fashion coup, will the upcoming September issues herald an new era of autonomous fashion?

Street style photography
© Scott Schuman/The Sartorialist

- Gabriëlle Lucille