MMM11

pic via

Maison Martin Margiela.set of four 22-karat rose gold-plated rings.so beautiful...would love to have these..

Gareth Pugh a/w11 Pitti film

Gareth Pugh was invited to Pitti Uomo in Florence to show a mini-collection before his catwalk show in Paris. The six-piece collection was surprisingly colourful and inspired by ancient Italian architecture and religious iconography. After the preview of the collection there was also a film screening in a 14th century church in which the film was projected onto the ceiling. I personally think it´s quite refreshing to see some colour in his collection. I like the tone of blue he chose together with the gold and especially the floor length slashed dress in the stretchy fabric as it is so different to the usual stiff neoprene material he uses.

all pictures and video via dazeddigital.com

see the full Gareth Pugh a/w11 Pitti film here . A little creepy at the beginning but still definitely quite amazing!

pre-fall 2011

some favourites from the pre-fall 2011 collections

Proenza Schouler

   

Stella McCartney

  

Helmut Lang

all pictures via style.com

Hannah Marshall

So the Christmas holidays are over and its back to uni and lots of work for me...Yesterday was our first day back and we were surprised with a new tutor for our next project: Hannah Marshall. For me it was a very pleasant surprise as I have looked at her work before and it is definitely my type of design. I just really like her signature minimalistic style and how she uses a lot of black and interesting materials like leather mesh and chiffon.

At London Fashion Week I got to ask her a few questions and she told me her favourite designers were Thierry Mugler, Jil Sander and Helmut Lang.

These are some of my favourite Looks from the s/s11 collection:

via style.com

Inspired by the s/s11 collection by Hannah Marshall Rankin shot a short film which was shown before the catwalk show.

via dazeddigital.com

Noriko Ambe

 

www.norikoambe.com

It is quite a while ago that Japanese artist Noriko Ambe created these beautiful pieces of work but I only just discovered them and I am simply amazed! She made them by cutting individual sheets of paper by free hand and stacking them together! I think they are incredible and very inspiring. Working with positive and negative shapes she tries to "embody relationships among humans, time and nature."

Erin Wasson x Low Luv

I must say after seeing these pictures of Erin´s new Low Luv spring collection I am quite obsessed with some of those pieces. I´m not loving the whole Egyptian vibe of the pictures but some of those bracelets and rings look amazing!!

maxing it out

I quite like the clothes Laura Lusuardi designs for Max Mara which is why I was very curious to see what the shop on New Bond Street in London would look like.

When entering the shop I did feel a little lost at first. I found myself in the middle of a big room with all the clothes spread out widely and mostly only hanging along the walls.

The whole interior is kept rather minimalistic with light walls and some wood and glass elements joining on to them. Also the soft lighting and quiet music really create a nice and comfortable atmosphere. 

I definitely think the whole store concept goes very well with the classic and luxurious clothes Max Mara stands for and the layout makes it easy to overlook all the products.

The range in the shop includes womenswear, handbags and accessories like sunglasses or hats for example. Not only the designs but also the colour palette for the current season is rather classic and traditional. It ranges from the lighter shades like cream and nude to grey, beige or camel and then to the darker colours like navy, brown and black. Now and again a more daring item like a shiny metallic gold dress for example can be spotted between the rails as it stands out so much from the rest.

Watching the customers who enter the Max Mara store on New Bond Street I noticed that the majority definitely consists of elderly women ranging from perhaps something like 40 to 60 who are out for good quality and timeless pieces and don´t mind spending between 100 and 2000 pounds for a Max Mara item.

The label Max Mara was founded in Italy in 1951 and has since then been so successful that the products are now sold in 71 countries all over the world and I am sure their success will continue because people will always want some timeless and classic pieces in their wardrobe.

back from the future

When entering the Fornarina shop I immediately felt like I was in another world. The ceiling and walls are covered with light blue cloud-shaped plastic blocks which make you feel like you have been sent a few hundred years into the future. Being back-lit with LEDs they are constantly changing colour from blue to a red and then green. The exciting journey continues when climbing up the twisted steel and metacrylic staircase that takes you to another level constantly accompanied by lit up clouds carrying Fornarina products. As you are surrounded by mirrors at every point in the shop you loose any feeling for the actual size of it and everywhere you look the bright Fornarina pink does not let you forget where you are. The futuristic and modern feel is continued throughout with similar abstract shaped furniture and ways of presentation or lighting...and I must say although I was not wearing any form of bright pink clothing, sparkly shoes or pulling a shiny Fornarina suit case I was greeted very friendly by each of the staff members in the shop.

This only UK Fornarina store is located in 30/31 Carnaby Street in Soho, London. It was created by Giorgio Borruso Design who won first place for it in the 2006 ISP/VM+SD International Store Design competition for a specialty store with a sales area from 1500 to 3000 square feet.

Lino Fornari, whose father founded Fornarina in the 1940´s, wants his store designs to evolve from time to time and wants “to make each store a place that creates new relationships and develops new connections”.

The Fornarina range at the Carnaby Street flagship store includes womenswear, shoes, accessories, handbags, purses and suitcases. As they have currently got the autumn/ winter 2010/11 collection in the store the items range from light and heavy knits to fake fur detailed clothes and bright pink down jackets matched up with dazzling accessories. Of course they have also got a broad selection of jeans in different colours and washes for which they have become renown for. The prices range from about 30 pounds for smaller items such as a purse for example to about 200 to 300 pounds for items like a pair of boots or a coat. 

On the outside there are four big shop windows which make it easy to get a glimpse at the exciting store design and the trends that according to Fornarina every young woman should be wearing. Muted autumn colours like beige, brown, black are mixed with their typical bright and flashy colours like pink, red or yellow. 

The people who shop at Fornarina are definitely young women who like to wear body conscious clothes and bright colours that attract attention and also who apparently want to dress like Lindsay Lohan as she was chosen for their advertisement campaign... twice! Fornarina does not have an online shop but the fact that the homepage is connected to facebook, youtube, twitter and myspace shows that they are directly targeting the younger generation.

braided

jacket and bag by Esther Perbandt

Aleks, a friend of mine got shot for the German street style blog "stilinberlin" a few months ago...I think he looks great and totally loving the braided hair!

Lagerfeld x Hogan

Karl Lagerfeld designed a 6 piece spring/ summer 2011 collection for the luxury label Hogan. At first I was not particularly crazy about the pieces but I must say that they look a lot better in the short film "La Lettre" that Lagerfeld staged to go with the collection. I also really like it when designers collaborate and create something new by mixing their personal style or traditions. Starring in Lagerfeld´s short film are his constant companion model Baptiste Giabiconi and the beautiful but-maybe-not-so-talented-at-acting model Magdalena Frackowiak.

love pamela love

I actually want every piece from that collection!

finally turning 21

picture via kilkus.com

According to the Telegraph the successful US retailer Forever 21 is planning to open a shop in the UK. It´s going to be the first one ever in Europe and will be located in the Bullring shopping center in Birmingham! I´ve never been to a Forever 21 store but I know the clothes from the Internet and I´m sure it´ll be just as popular in Europe as it is in the US. The clothes are very young and always follow the newest trends so I think shops like River Island or Topshop definitely need to get ready for some American competition!