Champ des Rêves

FIRST LOOK

2012-03-09T07:25:00.001-08:00

Enter Ostwald Helgason

Icelandic designers Suzanne Ostwald and Helgason Ostwald of Oswald Helgason used New York as the platform for unveiling their inaugural fashion week presentation. London maybe their home but New York City is kindred to them. "We've had such great support her," said the designer, 31, referring to the fact that their barely seen clothing already occupies floor space in Opening Ceremony and a sold out collaboration with the OC team.

The season's narrative came from the 19th century British Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova expedition race to the Antarctic against Norway which ended ill fated, that first drifted the couple to consciousness and served as inspiration. Reworked cocoon jackets, chunky bands of burnt sienna and navy wrapped around roomy sheaths. Stiff fabrications represent the clothing sailors wore. Eye-popping nautical themes, screen printed sweatshirts with octopus and boat motifs, vintage sailing atlas served as patterns that covered several looks. One softly sparking crew neck hints that the wearer has just stepped in from the cold, still sprinkled with remnants of gently melting snow. Sculptural flared and ruffed skirts, tentacled sea beast on pullovers were voluminous but uncomplicated.

Overall thoughts? The Ostwald Helgason collection is spot on!

WE FOUND WISHFUL THINKERS

2012-03-08T17:14:00.001-08:00

The collectives of Blackstar gathered 50 inspiring women to honor achievements from many of the beneficiaries of Finca international's work globally for International Community Assistance. Iman, Diane von Furstenberg, Susan Sarandon, Meenal Mistry, Joan Juliet Buck, Mary Ellen Mark amongst these inspiring women.

Melinda Anderson writes that ” Women photographed for this book were sought out not by ticking names off of a predetermined list of successful women have ” made it”. Rather, the portraits that follow are the byproduct of the simple act of asking friends, colleagues and family to list their role models.” ”We found women who take chances, women who defy expectations, women who lead by example. We found wishful thinkers.”

In honor of International Women’s Day Champ des Rêves thanks these women for their contribution; liberating women whilst being so effortlessly stylish.

Photographs from the Wishful Thinkers (2009), a project by Blackstar in benefit of FINCA International. FINCA mission is to provide financial services to low-income entrepreneurs in an effort to help create jobs, build assets and improve standards of living. 

To contact FINCA International click here.

MADE IN ITALY. MADE IN CHINA. MADE IN INDIA.

2012-03-06T08:50:00.001-08:00

A question that Shala posed on her blog some time ago but now has me thinking again..

Where did the fear to put a third world country on a label originate?

What does luxury mean in today's society? Is it just a high retail currency that makes an item luxurious? Take a logo away and what have you really bought?

China is trying really hard to remove the stigma of the "Made in China" label.

Can something luxurious not be made in China? Or Baltimore for that matter.

Interestingly, luxury brands are getting away with keeping a "Made In Italy" label by manufacturing parts in China, then assembling the product in Italy. This is happening a lot and its unannounced to consumers.
Luxury expert Carol Brodie believes that for an item to be a labeled "luxury," it must be produced in small numbers at a high quality. "The word luxury implies quality, rarity, hand craftsmanship. Any massed-produced product created in factories by hundred's thousands no longer constitute as true luxury." "Perhaps 'masstige' may be a better way to describe these products. There are very few true luxury brands; however there are many brands who sell expensive products."

"Sooner or later, it will happen to everyone because [Chinese manufacturing] is so good," Miuccia Prada stated...Prada now has on it's labels, with tremendous pride "Made In India", "Made In Peru", "Made In Japan", "Made In Scotland." Many of the Miu Miu handbags render a "Made In Turkey" label.

I hope many more brands follow suit and highlight these skillful masters and their origins.

LES AUX CHAMPS-ELYSÉES

2012-03-05T20:57:00.010-08:00

GENIUSES ARE NOT STUPID

2012-03-05T18:16:00.006-08:00

To be in the company of Jules is to be in the presence of a seer - a visionary: who calmly describes the world's mysteries in ways never before thought or expressed. At times it's difficult to separate the artist from the art - overwhelmed with the beauty of a goddess, fantasies seem much more nearer, allowing you to discover novelty within yourself. Jules doesn't just make jewellery: she makes an experience. With an ear to the ground of fashion world, Jules has demonstrated her ability to transcend the ordinary limits of vision and thought. Its difficult to know what to with it...then you realize Jules has given you a universal experience the confidence the creator bestowed upon it at the moment of its creation. Defying time, normality, and traditional forms of expression, Jules has proved that she is an artist to be reckoned with, sought after, and cherished.

Seek to find Jules Kim in Coppenhagen this Saturday at Storm Fashion store from noon to three p.m; where she will be selling her conceptual and highly desirable jewellery.

More on Bijules here.

A.DISCUSSION.ON.B.E.A.U.T.Y.

2012-02-26T20:14:00.007-08:00

Beauty is a dream.  There is beauty in a dream, and it is the beauty  of dreams that we reach for.  There is so much pain in beauty, one  person I am convinced who knew that very well is Alexander McQueen.   When I am asked about beauty I can’t help but think of him, seeing how  beauty literally killed him.  He went so far, reached so far in his  dreams, to pluck out of the ether, out of his sleep, his nightmares, his  fantasies, his love and the vast expanse of knowledge to bring us  beauty.

This same dream maker, is also a heartbreaker.  I also think of  Picasso and his voracity for creating beauty, the energy it required of  him and everyone and everything around him to bring his vision of beauty  to the world.

Dream maker, heartbreaker.  My heart breaks for Van Gogh, when I  think of his love letters to his brother Theo, when I think of the pain  he endured just to have the world look at the beauty of peasants, the  beauty of the working class.  

No one bought his beauty when he was  alive, but he was so convinced of its value that nothing else mattered.   He had to materialize, had to make matter and by that I mean  materialize, make tangible the beauty of what was at the time ordinary…

And what of the Africans?  What of them who made beautiful objects of  ivory, of wood, of metal, of clay, of skin, of hair, of blood, of  sound?  Where did their beauty come from?  I am speaking of centuries  ago, millennia ago where a carver, or a drummer had no theatre, or  museum to reference.  Did their beauty not come from dreams, from  visions, from feeling, from love?  The beauty of the Africans is so  tangible, so palpable that Picasso and Brancusi could not resist, were  drawn to it, convinced to transform it, bring it to a new world.  Once  again taking what was ordinary, obscure, even ugly at that time and  presenting it to the world as beauty.

Above words by Shala Monroque of Shalasrabbithole.com

TOXIC WOMAN

2012-02-03T10:26:00.001-08:00

Introducing: The amazingly talented Andrea Mary Marshall.

A Woman is a beast. She is a lovely as she is repulsive. She is one part demon and one part mother...these contradictions are what make a woman so intoxicating.

Andrea Mary Marshall is a photographer, illustrator and artist living and working in New York City.

A TREAT IN THE MAIL

2012-01-19T20:38:00.000-08:00

Abe's Penny is a postcard size art magazine. Subscribers receive a single postcard featuring a writer and artist. Narratives unfold in sequence, one part per week.

SO IT BEGINS..

2012-01-06T07:29:00.000-08:00