Cris Barros Spring/Summer 2010 Ad Campaign

Barely six years in the market, Cris Barros has already become a reference for elegant women who want to dress in a distinguished, creative style.

At the helm of the brand is São Paulo-born, 32-year-old designer Cris Barros. Cris creates clothes that express her feelings and draws inspiration from experiences felt as she works on the collection. The designer also resorts to old memories and trips, people she met, and her passion for fashion and art, which she exercises being an avid reader and big movie fan.

www.crisbarros.com.br

Stefanel Spring/Summer 2010

FASHION FIRST. ITALIAN ALWAYS. QUALITY FOREVER.
Fashion is at the heart of Stefanel. But style is its beating pulse.
Simple luxury is our promise. But quality is our core.
Design drives us. Technical integrity anchors us.

Our company has earned a place at the very heart of Italian fashion. The Stefanel brand was born from the Maglificio Piave in 1979. A collection for women and men quickly achieved iconic fashion status around the world. Throughout the world, our label became shorthand for Italian creativity, craftsmanship and quality. And we did it at a price that made it accessible to a market that was quickly developing a growing passion for fashion. (www.stefanel.ro)

Arrondissement AQ 1

The look of the premium label arrondissement Aq1 is a mix of Casual, Evening, graphic straightness and special details. Designer Christina Arend presented her own label for the first time with the spring/summer collection 2010 during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin and won the Premium Young Designer Award Spring Summer 2010 for accessories. (www.mercedes-benzfashionweek.com)

Check  out the Arrondissement AQ 1 website

Badgley Mischka Spring 2010

In 1988, Mark Badgley and James Mischka, two Parsons grads and romantic partners, borrowed $250,000 from their families to realize their vision of glamorous, Old Hollywood–style gowns.
Badgley Mischka’s looks are described as „red-carpet-destined evening wear“ but generally produced with lighter fabrics and less construction. What Badgley and his design partner, James Mischka, are about, is great-looking dresses with a healthy dose of straight-up glamour. I just love their work.

www.badgleymischka.com

Danny Roberts

Recently I read an article about Danny Roberts in a fashion magazine, since then I’m totally in love with his artwork. He studied Photography and  later Fashion Design at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. On his blog http://igorandandre.blogspot.com/ he shows his amazing and wonderful illustrations.

„I’ve always been one for creative projects and art and crafts.
When I was five, I convinced myself that pouring mud onto cardboard was how to make concrete.
I began drawing as a young child, but it wasn’t until a few years ago when I decided to practice everyday, that I started getting better. When I was 13, I started my own clothing company and ran it with the help of my friend till I was in college.“ (Danny Roberts)

Ikarus by Aylin Kayser and Christian Metzner

Electricity is something finite, ordinary, invisible and precious that is visualized in „Ikarus“, a design by Aylin Kayser and Christian Metzner. This lamp is made of paraffin wax, which is stabilized by a stainless steel construction. The lightbulb inside the shade makes the wax melt, which creates an individual shape and makes every single piece to be unique.

J. Mendel Spring/Summer 2010

„What is my message for Spring?“ mused Gilles Mendel in the Lehmann Maupin Gallery in New York, where his models stood about, giving everyone time for a close inspection. „Specialness, preciousness, and value—with a little something to make you dream.“

www.jmendel.com

Paris, je t’aime

Paris, je t’aime is a film  from 2006 starring an ensemble cast of actors including Marianne Faithfull, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Nick Nolte, Maggie Gyllenhall, Natalie Portman, Gérard Depardieu and many more. The two-hour film consists of eighteen short films set in different arrondissements. The 21 directors include  Joel and Ethan Coen, Gerard Depardieu, Alfonso Cuarón and Gus Van Sant. The most inspiring  shortfilm for me was „True“ by one of my favourite directors, Tom Tykwer, about the 10th arrondissement „Faubourg Saint-Denis“.  After mistakenly believing that his girlfriend, a struggling actress (Natalie Portman), has broken up with him, a young blind man (Melchior Beslon) reflects on the growth and seeming decline of their relationship.

Chapeau Claque

Yesterday I attended an amazing concert of  „Chapeau Claque“, an electro-pop band from my hometown. I only knew a few songs and know I’m totally in love with their music. They mix marvelous german and english lyrics,  sung by Maria Antonia Schmidt, who has such a wonderful voice. The band consists of four more totally talented musicians. Visit www.chapeauclaque.net to check them out. They are amazing!

Albert Watson

Years ago I read an interesting article about Albert Watson. Somehow I forgot his name, but never his amazing work. By random I found a wonderful book with his photographs on amazon. Watson was born in 1942 in Edinburgh and lives in the USA since 1976.  His photographs have been featured on over 250 covers of VOGUE and in publications such as Rolling Stone and The Face. He has shot major commercial campaigns for clients that range from Levi’s to Chanel. From advertisements for the fashion and cosmetic industry to portraits of celebrities such as Mick Jagger, Kate Moss, Alfred Hitchcock and Andy Warhol, to nudes, Watson’s range is as impressive as the  emotional intensity of his pictures.