On With His Head!

Cick above for video via the SHOWstudio site.

It never ceases to amaze (and utterly relieve) me that some of the most genius artists in the fashion world are also fantastic people. I've grown up with a ridiculous, inexplicable inner itch to make fashion my life. There was no cure for that strange condition, so now I'm devoting myself to it with a drive I didn't know I had. Every day it takes courage to show up as myself to a dream that I never thought I could really do without being reincarnated into some other human form with longer legs or a keener style sense. The fuel for my fire are the ever-so-talented and delightfully humble fashion folk who also do what they love simply because they must. Philip Treacy is one of those people. His work is poetic in its perfection. Every piece that I've ever seen come out of his millinery shop in his decade plus career has been witty, expertly crafted, and pointedly beautiful. Every single one. In an old SHOWstudio video piece I just caught for the first time, Treacy makes one of his "Feather Salads," or so he calls them. You get to watch him craft one of his gorgeous hatworks from mold to mannequin with the skill and eye he has in excess. He also answers questions at the same time, speaking candidly about his initial fear of Lady Gaga, the only two "machines" that he uses to make hats (his hands), and the beautiful feathers he curls to perfection with a hair iron. The video is only available through the SHOWstudio site, but please click through the photo above and watch; the video is phenomenal.

Are You Repulsed?

The Lady hath done done it again; this time, with more placenta! Believe me, I'm squeamed by the gelatinous birth scenes too, but how sci-fi and kitchy crazy are they? The thing is, the colors, the mirror effect, the wind-catching swaths of fabric, and the pounding editing are Nick Knight trademarks, who Gaga entrusted with directing duties. The video is your invitation to watch them create a new universe. Let them do their thing, fly their freak flag like joyous kids in and endless field on whatever planet they come from. I know all the chatter about the song being a Madonna bite is deafening, but this visual accompaniment is beyond Madge's capabilities. While Madonna devotes endless funds to the pursuit of forever-youngness, youthful prettiness, hotness, Gaga's busy showing you her ugly parts enhanced to be uglier. Look at them or don't. I dare you not to. Also, I'm pretty sure the last ten seconds of the video are a direct shout out to the gap-toothed Material Girl from her Rain days. Make of it what you will, Gaga's taken pop astral with a talented crew of assistants that are bursting into stars in their own right. Talent attracts talent and repels mediocrity. Are you repulsed?

The video can be seen as its best self on the SHOWStudio website. They can also provide you with the full stable of credits for the creation of the video.

Everything That Glitters Is Not Boring.

This video of designer Gareth Pugh doing a makeup marathon for SHOWstudio back in 2006 reminds me of my own days behind a locked bathroom door in front of a mirror with my mom's makeup in hand. While my skills weren't quite as adept, and my mother would have killed me if I got glitter all over the place, I still relate to the "boredom-as-impetus" feel of this video. I have secret photos of my maquillage experiments that will never see the light of day, so watch Gareth again and pretend it's a ten year old me if you want...sort of. Kind of. Don't you love how he makes everything glimmer?

He Works It, You Watch.

Gareth Pugh is constructing a garment live from Somerset House n-n-n-now, and you get to watch him work his couture-style magic via SHOWstudio. For anyone who ever wondered why high fashion costs the prices it does, watch the man work and tell me it's not the same exact process as an fine artist in his studio. There are rulers and x-acto knives, paper templates, pencil marks, all laid out on the work table. It's beautiful to watch. If you can't tune in today, you'll have another chance on Monday and Tuesday. Also, you can ask Gareth questions as he sews.

Click the image to go to the live feed of Gareth in his element.

Just for a second, my dear fashion fans, I want you to consider how lucky we are to be in the age of live feeds. We are literally watching over the shoulder of a top designer as he utilizes his hard-earned techniques in plain view. Forget about being a fashion fan, all of you design students out there, SHOWstudio's Somerset House is your new university. Watch carefully!

Lucky Us.

Being a fashion fan is gloriously gratifying these days. As the industry embraces the internet more and more, us laptop interlopers are gaining unprecedented access to spaces and events that used to be off limits to all but the famed few. And, for this we owe our enthusiastic gratitude to Mr. Nick Knight and his compatriots at SHOWstudio. I feel like I sing the multi-platform digital fashion site's praises a little too often, but I can't help it. Today I'm tuning in to a live feed of Knight's flashbulbs capturing models made up by Pat McGrath. I'm literally a fly on the SHOWstudio wall, and you can be too. It's brilliant. Here, click to tune in yourself.

The feed is live until about 2pm.

Lost World Found.

Life forms alight at McQueen.

The overwhelming crush of curious onlookers crashed the planned live feed of Alexander McQueen's latest show via SHOWstudio's site, but those who saw the spectacular event were privy to a peak performance. The opportunity to see a show in full, with the original music, timing, and every second left as it was originally performed, is a rare and well-appreciated happening for a fashion fan. But, even if you had no previous interest in fashion, this show held much to tune in for.

The hair and makeup were designed by Guido Palau and Peter Philips, respectively.

To say that the clothing looked new or different, is too limiting. It looked unprecedented. Simply and truly, it looked otherworldly. The fabrics were printed in patterns that were a mash-up of colors from a hyper-real natural world. Perhaps articles that resurfaced, direct from a fully modernized Atlantis, the lost wonderworld McQueen titled his show after. There were dresses con-struc-ted (emphasis for em-phas-is) of fabrics printed with recognizable elements of animal prints that were uncategorizable as a whole. There were reptile skins, maybe butterfly wings? Beetle shells? Bug bodies? Croc teeth? It was a slightly scary, but wholly intriguing take on nature. Something in the evolution of whatever animals McQueen was using for his patterns had twisted and combined. In fact, the prints looked to be based on new species, super species with no current place in our system of taxonomy.

McQueen's status as a clothes maker is unparalleled. There are others who make clothes out of ideas, there are others who execute collections that lead the community of fashion in new directions, but there are so few who seam and stitch and craft garments with as much finesse and talent as Alexander. His garments are works of a master craftsman, and show every bit of his early start as an apprentice tailor on Savile Row at the age of 16. In the early days, McQueen used his talents to shock, to show the industry more than a little rebellion in the face of their traditions. He was known as an enfant terrible, a prankster of sorts who freely used the grotesque as a point of inspiration. However, his construction skills quickly defied any misgivings his behavior or source material roused. Bumster pants that showed more crack than a DEA bust may have been his first hook in the biz, but his phenomenal sense of historic preservation mixed with a dark, humorous take, and an undeniable set of skills have kept him at the top of his game for a decade plus. All of those things were on display in this award-caliber performance. Do they give out Oscars for fashion shows? They should...

I find it remarkable how uncomfortable it is to look at the shape of these shoes. Not on a sympathetic "ouch!" level, but a gut level that can't see them as possible.

The models also deserve awards. They teetered on tall shoes that weren't the typical strappy, overdone stilettos that are so boringly saturating the fashion scene of late. They were like creatures themselves--either slick biomorphic forms with smooth slopes and strikingly skinny heels, or snarled wood looking, carved forms. They absolutely complimented the shapes of the clothing.

Really, I feel like I'm rambling a stream of effusive praise that's unnecessarily verbose. You don't need any more words to enjoy this show or appreciate it's presentation. The layers of influence, meaning, and successful expression are not important to the aesthetic experience. Go; watch it; see it for yourself. The two robotic cameras that captured and catapulted the audience and models into an infinite background caught it all. Like a net. Like a trap. Go peek! Oh, the things you'll see...

Click above to see the show in its entirety.

Images from Style.com.

Live Show.

SHOWstudio, in its ever brilliant, glorious wisdom, is doing a live feed of the equally revered Alexander McQueen's latest collection. The show starts airing on the SHOWstudio site at 20:15 Paris time, which is 2:15 this afternoon for us here in New York. For all my readers elsewhere (holler at ya, Argentina!) take advantage of this handy time converter tool to find out when you can catch the show. Here is a McQ show reel, and some really good examples of why you don't want to miss it:



Can't wait.

Lo Blow.

Lindsay's makes her debut at Ungaro with the designer of the line, Estrella Archs.

Lindsanity arrived in Paris to a bellowed chorus of review boos. Her "designer" turn at the house of Ungaro reeled in such dead fish as "[It] quickly devolved into a bad joke of a fashion show," from Style.com, and SHOWstudio's glowing "It was unforgivable. On every possible level, this collection was a disaster...Emanuel Ungaro must wish he were dead, if only to have a grave to turn over in after seeing this travesty of a collection bearing his name." Wow, don't hold back guys, tell her what you really thought.

The reviewers all seemed to be most offended by the sight of heart-shaped pasties on a Paris runway, a shaming that I wholly endorse. I thought the glue on head hearts were even more obscene, and yes, the collection was tack-tastic in its tight, crotch-high, white denim with sparkly hearts, cheapo aesthetic, but I can't bring myself to beat the dead horse that is Lilo any further. She already gets booed wherever she goes by many demographics of people, and based on the video below, she is clearly the oldest 23 year old on the planet.



She got the pointy stiletto heel of a boot to the bum for this collection. But, in the end she's a tool. Some man in a suit (this time it was Ungaro CEO Mounir Moufarrige) hired her to advise a multi-million dollar house with a storied, technically savvy, couture past. That makes no sense. They set her up to snag flashbulb press and media attention--maybe even to move some product. Yes, it was an awful collection, no arguing there, but shredding Lindsay yet another new one, again brings to mind a phrase involving a dead horse. We've done it. Done. Over. Move on. Dare I say I feel sorry for her? Just like Madonna's MJ speech tugged at my heartstrings, the realization that the girl has had no childhood, or at least one more in front of cameras than not, with crazy parents, and an obvious addiction problem does little to make me want to tear her up. I remember reading an article in Nylon magazine early on when Lindsay was the toast of fashion town, influencing every purchase on Robertson Boulevard and snagging praise from all the same media that's bashing her now. She was saying that fashion was a passion of hers, a calm source of creative fun, that it would be a dream to work in the business. There's another one for Lohan that's become a bad dream. It's sad really.

Wrapper's Delight.

Alber Elbaz is a genius with the fabrics. He's been heralded by the press du mode as the only dressmaker currently in the dressmaking business (quite a compliment, or a low blow depending on whether or not your name is Alber).

His latest collection at the Spring shows in Paris was yet another showcase of his deft talents. With an embellished, decorated sophistication, Elbaz's looks are based on a simple technique taken to its extreme deployment.

Every designer learns the basic skill of draping, but few--if any others at all--take it to the upper limit that Lanvin's current captain does. In fact, he's distinguished his technique of draping as a subcategory, it's more of a wrapping. Pick up a fabric, grab a body, and begin twisting, encircling, and layering. Finish with the finest details known in fashion's universe of colors and textures, and voila! You have a dress that most manic fashion fans would mainline if they could.

For now though, they seem to be settling for the contact high of wearing them.

Photos from SHOWstudio.

Beach Scene.

Miuccia Prada's Spring/Summer 2010 collection was all cut seams and raw hems at first.

The grayish black coats, pants, shorts, and tops that meandered down the black and white runway were pressed flat, with crisp pleats and a sheen. The shapes were deceptively simple in their flatness, giving the clothes a stiff character, but then the backs of the garments slightly draped or jetted away from the models' bodies.

By using circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, and the occasional flourish of a twist, Prada eschewed the overwhelming trend towards flouncy drapery and frilly fuss that's been on every catwalk of late. Then, amidst the heavy, shiny grays a beach scene emerged.

Prints of a hazy, faded, seaside setting relieved the darkness and gave the clothes a pop of paradise. Yet, the sulfurous yellow and smoggy, smoke-colored washes on the prints either aged the scene, making it look like a distant memory, or took some of the carefree levity out of the usual beach ephemera. The blankets, umbrellas, sunbathers, and palm trees are rendered in washed out hues. Prada's prints say maybe we can find a bright landscape again once the clouds pass; but, if they don't pass, then we'll have to make due. We'll have to paint our pouts a bright red hue, muss our hair, and just find a new cool.

The crystal pieces, I'm sure, were much more effective in person. But even without the shimmer and dazzling shine of the chandelier-like wares in the photos, you can tell that the bejeweled shift dresses and bedazzled separates were intended to offer clear light. A sparkly refresher after a hazy sunset.

LOVES IT.

Photos from SHOWstudio.

Cute.

Fashion genius Nick Knight held an event to open the SHOWstudio Fashion Revolution exhibition at London Fashion Week. The show is a retrospective of the site's amazing tenure as the internet's most innovative fashion home. Knight's foresight in realizing the brilliant possibilities offered by combining interactive technology and fashion (not to mention his phenomenal photographic skills) make him a master in his field, the picture below makes him adorable.

That's Nick with his wife and kids. I love how unfashion and fashiony they look all at once. Wonderful.

Layer By Layer.

Over at the SHOWstudio shop you can pick up all sorts of ephemera crafted in the quest for fashion shoot perfection. There are set pieces from shoots that appeared in W, Vogue, The New Yorker, etc. Hand-made by set designers and prop stylist like the extremely talented Shona Heath and Simon Costin, items include giant fiberglass cherries, furry rabbit ears that sat atop Alber Elbaz's head, and a giant, furry poodle puppet. But, if you want an item that was there for it all, for every shoot, offering necessary support and guidance and important stability for all the creative types, including the models, you need only purchase one thing: The floor!

Yep, you can by a block of the photography studio floor signed by photographer Nick Knight. It is a relic composed of layer after layer after layer of paint rolled on to the floor to provide a fresh white coat for the next morning's shoot. It's like a supremely stylish onion of sorts. It's mind-boggling how something as thin as a layer of paint can add up to inches of thickness over time.

The blocks on offer may be just wide enough for you to stick on a pair of stilettos and play Kate Moss in front of the mirror. Maybe.