Lanvin!

Beyond superb!



Lanvin4hm

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Commes des garçons - busy.

Rei Kawakubo and co. at commes des garçons have had a busy six weeks. After launching their new concept store- with the complete package - in Seoul at the start of September and their website - finally - in the last week; there were of course the shows!

Junya gets our vote this season with the most covetable stripes around, but the fantastic styling of two jackets worn at once at commes - one on each arm, and buttoned at the back - were pure Genius. We also have our eye on the commes shoes, and loved the spots at Tao. Wondering if it's crazy to put Porters Paints spotted wallpaper on the walls at home in homage...





Junya SS11




Junya SS11




CDG SS11




CDG SS11




CDG SS11 - shoes!




Porters Paints - crazy?
p.s. Maybe those girls were wearing three jackets...
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Dior not Valentino

Thoroughly enjoying the current Valentino Retrospective on exhibit in Brisbane recently, we couldn't help but remember a Dior exhibit we stumbled upon at the Omotesando store in 2007.

The Gallery of Modern Art expansively displayed around two hundred Valentino looks dating from the late sixties, including the recent collection - post retirement - designed by Maria Grazia Chiari and Pier Paolo Piccioli. Wonderful to see the progression, and recurring motifs. For anyone traveling to Australia before November 14 - it's a must!

(Leave your camera at home though - no photographs allowed!) Which made us remember the Dior exhibit.

Much smaller in scale, the featured works were from the 07 Spring Couture, and referenced elements of Japanese design. Origami folds and pleating defying gravity. Imagine our (western) surprise at the no flash signs - non flash photography - okay! Only in Japan. Thought we'd revisit and share...








































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commes des garçons x Ai Wei Wei

17 September - 17 October. Our favorite store in the world - commes des garçons Aoyama is transformed by a collaboration with architect/designer Ai Wei Wei. Best known for his work - The Bird's Nest; the main stadium at 2008's Beijing Olympics, Ai Wei Wei has teamed with CDG to create a range of limited edition T's priced at 2,200yen. Get some. The Aoyama store features an architectural installation inside the entrance, with a Perspex and metal structure a-la the bird's nest housing thousands of tees. Word on the street is that the staff are only too happy to dive in to find your size...
















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Unheard Of - Happy Tombstones

What a happy day - stumbling upon the works of Italian-born, Sydney-based artist Maria Ionico in the window of grantpirrie gallery. Love the joyous colours - so perfect for spring - and look forward to seeing more of her installations pop up around the place.

This piece is titled "Unheard of" - and we could now spend some time contemplating the intention of the tombstone like objects and their relationship to the name - but we won't. It was just nice to have a secret smiling moment on the way to the dry cleaners...








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Founding Fathers - The New Avant Garde?

We're obsessed with Deadwood.  Wicked plots and schemes - and great mens fashion.   Seth Bullock. Al Swearengen. Fabulous. 

And have recently conquered Lonsome Dove.   Thanks for the ride Larry - and Ray.  

As a result - the wild west seems to be everywhere we look.

Could the same be said for Yohji Yamamoto?   His SS11 menswear show delighted and inspired with frontier fashion, an occasional nod to the puritans, and supremely wearable pieces once broken down.   Better still were the boys!  Francois, Barnab and Benjamin looked to have stepped directly out of the nineteenth  century.   Sure the styling was over the top - but that facial hair surely had been cultivated for some time ... Is old time-y the new black?

The Wilderness Downtown - Arcade Fire Vs. Google Chrome

Sweet nostalgia meets hi tech HTML5 to the soundtrack of Arcade Fire's "We used to wait". To start the experiment type in the address of your childhood home and watch your street come to life across multiple screens. Divine and sublime - click on www.chromeexperiments.com/arcadefire/ and let the games begin.