L'exposition internationale du surrealisme//

The year is 1938, in Paris. Excitement runs fluid in the air as everyone holds their breath in anticipation of the approaching movement- surrealism. André Breton and Paul Éluard, both writers and founders of the surrealism movement organized the Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme at the Galerie Beaux-Arts in Paris. Here, installations, photographs, and other outrageous and avant-garde works by artists of the upcoming movement were showcased. Salvador Dalí, Óscar Dominguez, Marcel Duchamp, Leo Malet, André Masson, Joan Miró, Wolfgang Paalen, Kurt Seligmann, Yves Tanguy, Marcel Jean, Max Ernst, Espinoza, Maurice Henry, Sonia Mosse, and Man Ray were among the select artists that were given mannequins and encouraged to outfit them in any possible way they wanted. Ah, surrealism and fashion. Is there anything better?

Writtenafterwards A/W 09

Japan fashion week is really something special. Designers Yoshikazu Yamagata and Kentaro Tamai of Writtenafterwords reused and reformed paper, tape, wire, cardboard, and the usual textiles to craft these exorbitant roses. Other indistinguishable pieces more represented as walking sculptures stepped down the already avant-garde runway.

There is a divide; a curtain, between the western world of fashion and the eastern world of fashion. On the West, we have the original aspects of traditional fashion held high: fine materials, aesthetic value, and nothing too different. The West draws inspiration from the ideas and functions that worked previously. Perhaps a cause to this effect is the downfall of the Western economy (America). On the other side of the planet; the East, we have the strong idealism of reconstruction, excessive avant-garde, and more of an art than wearability factor. Look at Manish Arora. It's possible that the closest thing the Western world has to this is London fashion week. Both worlds of fashion support each other in a way. I couldn't pick a favorite if I had too!

Thierry Mugler

One of my favorite designer shows to watch in video format is Thierry Muglar. The vibrancy of the models and the whole attitude is just so invigorating. the models are not just hangers of garments, but women acting. Today, models stomp towards the crowd on that lengthy runway with an angry face. In the 1990's, Thierry Muglar's models activated the show. This is how fashion should make one feel. Not angry and hungry like today's models. So, not only are his shows great, but look at the construction of his garments! Incredible...

It must have been the work of Paul Poiret

To sum up the work of Paul Poiret, it would be reasonable to call him fashion's last great orientalist, as well as fashion's first great modernist. For each century has a designer that defines it above all, Poiret stood as the trophy of the 1910s. Each article of clothing contains vivid color formalities, puzzling silhouettes, and fantasies oriented from the eastern world. Some would argue that Poiret actually built the blue plan for the modern fashion world - entangled with the first bit of modern fashion marketing. For it was Paul Poiret who decided it was best to use the stage to his advantage and hold a fashion show. And then the 1920's came, diminishing Poiret as a designer and further leading to the complete closure of his business. Subsequently, Chanel took over the world.

Manish Arora F 2009

I still remember the the day Hussein Chalayan dissapointed me- March 8, 2009 during Fall Fashion week in Paris. I was expecting more of his modern avant-garde. More eloquent technology transcending into fashion. But those things were nowhere to be found. So where did I get my fill for my love of lavish outrageousness? Manish Arora! An Indian designer based in New Delhi who presents his collections in either London or Paris. With the structure of Balenciaga, the colors reminiscent of a rainbow, and the fine detail of Lacroix, Arora creates some kind a catharsis of FUN.

MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA ARTISANAL 09

Honestly, who cares about the Super Bowl when the best fashion week of the year (couture week) just happened? Hahaha...

I love this funky video showcasing Margiela's latest. It's almost scary.

More Couture///

I thought the Chanel show was okay. The best part were the headdresses of paper roses, camellias, leaf fronds, and feathers that adorned each model. Hairstylist Katsuya Kamo created the headdresses for the show. It only took him and six or seven helpers, three weeks, and two packets of 11 x 17 office paper. Isn't that amazing?

Mr. Miyake

Issey Miyake: a true avant-gardist.

Born in 1938, fashion designer Issey Miyake debuted his first fashion collection in Tokyo, Japan in 1963, while attending Tama Art University. The designer is known for his technology infused fashion and for experimenting with new styles of pleating in his clothing during the mid eighties. Miyake's main idea in creating clothing is to create a garment from only one piece of fabric. He also incorporated the exploration of the space between the human body and the cloth that covers it into his design principles.

Miyake's clothes either transform the body with bizarre additions, or sheath it in a bulky mask of fabric. Miyake was one of the first designers to use modern technology to transform fabrics and other materials in the world of fashion. Much like Prada and Hussein Chalayan do today. The results of his clothing are as astonishing as they are beautiful. Hooded coats made from woven synthetic fibers which replicate the structure of paper, dresses made from mosquito nets, shell shaped pullovers made of fishing line, and jackets made out of Japanese paper abura gami(tradtionaly used for umbrellas only) are prominent in his collections. He started with the idea of linking the east with the west in his fashion designs, and has continued with that idea in mind, still to this day.


Vintage Miyake:




















Miyake today (circa s/s 2009):









Image sources: fotodecadent, elle, wired