Saturday 24 March 2012

SAVE THE DATE >>>>> April 4th >>>>>> Ella Dror PR Press Day


ELLA DROR PR

AW12 PRESS DAY

Wednesday April 4th 10am – 7pm

at The Swarovski Lounge

24 Great Marlborough Street W1F 7HU

Friday 23 March 2012

Fri 23rd March: FBStyle Jacket & Belt for i-D Spring 2012 "Royalty" issue

Five of the different covers available in the Spring "Royalty" issue of i-D are from an epic shoot by Daniele & Iango, styled by Patti Wilson featuring Antony Hegarty and models Shalom Harlow, Guinevere Van Seenus, Hahn Bin, Carolyn Murphy and Sui-He. For this Samurai inspired story, Patti commissioned me to make some paper pieces to mix into the season's looks. Here are the finished articles I snapped in my studio before they were shipped to New York. You can see how they look in the edited pages over on my Tumblr, with a lovely combination of my belt teamed with an Alex Noble kimono............

Fri 23rd March: FBStyle Crown for i-D Spring 2012 "Royalty" issue

The new i-D magazine has just hit the shelves and it's the "Royalty" issue with Georgia May Jagger shot by Walter Pfeiffer wearing a series of bespoke crowns. Elgar Johnson commissioned a few different designers to make their own interpretation of a crown for the story. This is my cosmic and iridescent contribution which appears in the shoot with a Victor & Rolf dress that I have posted over on my Tumblr. Pick up a copy to see the other headpieces by Sibling, Alex Mattsson, Michelle Dulce and Piers Atkinson's cute tiny gold tiara that has made a cover!

Thursday 22 March 2012

Thurs 22nd March: Chrissie Macdonald at "Pick Me Up" at Somerset House


My other favourite artist at this year's Pick Me Up is Chrissie Macdonald who is showing amongst her Peepshow Collective in an area named "Museum of Objects and Origins". The group of ex-Brighton students have made a collection of artifacts including drawings, objects, prints and costumes from an invented past. Chrissie's contribution are these gorgeous wooden "Ladies & Gentlemen" dolls and some 2D mixed media collages. I love the geometric shapes and mixture of surfaces and textures. So nice, I want them all.
The collective are continuing collecting over the course of the event via themed workshops to conjure up new pieces to place in the final few empty cabinets. If you fancy getting involved and joining in the fun and games go here for full details and times.
See the unfolding story of "MOO" at the Peepshow Collective live webpage here.

Thurs 22nd March: Zim And Zou at Pick Me Up



I visited the opening of London contemporary graphics fair "Pick Me Up" last evening and the very first exhibit I stepped into is one of my favourites! I first found Zim and Zou in Aug 2011 when I put their Polaroid camera on AnOther LOVES. This incredible paper work sculpture is on display alongside the rest of their colourful replica equipment including a cosmic Game Boy. I have found these shots of work-in-progress over at their site where you can delve into the whole archive to see more background behind the "Back To Basics" project and more recent work........... here.

Pick Me Up
22 March – 1 April 2012, Daily 11.00-20.00, late night Thursdays until 22.00
Somerset House, Embankment Galleries, South Wing

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Tues 20th March: The Film Project at Selfridges

Last Wednesday there was a great deal to celebrate at Selfridges and to observe the occasion, Selfridges did what they do best and threw a massive multisensory party. As the new Women's Designer Galleries open on the 2nd floor, Alannah Weston and Linda Hewson asked Emma Reeves to curate a Film Project which highlights seven of the seventeen names. Making use of the empty old hotel discreetly disclosed in the rear of the building, Emma collaborated with set designer Simon Costin to split the space into separate cinema pods. Each curtained-off nucleus, has its own cosy cocoon quality for you to get comfy and enjoy the clip to its full potential, projected on a large screen. For Dries Van Noten you crawl over a floor size mattress and lay down on pillows to view the video of an eye blinking, flickering on the ceiling above. Ann Demeulemeester's designated auditorium is divided up into separate four poster beds whilst the adjoining picture-house has squashy enveloping bean bags to dissolve into. For McQueen's "Vanity" auditorium you sit around a mirrored table that reflects the gold film in reverse for a secondary visual experience. This surface is so high and wide, it could almost be a catwalk ......... or perhaps a dance floor for the party revellers who attended the private view.
For one night only, Selfridges constructed a food hall alongside the cinema space, with a pop-corn counter, Pinkberry ice cream parlour, charcutterie and fromagerie sandwich deli, lobster bar and pink cocktails mixed in fizzy pop bottles. At the same time as being genuinely hyped that fashion film has found itself this major platform, I was equally ecstatic at the opportunity to try lobster for the first time in my life. Needless to say I hung around this particular spot for perhaps an unsociable amount of time but I was however in a good position to see the other guests like moths drawn to this culinary flame............ Matthew Stone, Margot Bowman, Quentin Jones, Debra Borne, Henry Holland ......
............ and Kathryn Ferguson who heads up the fashion film branch of a Bird's Eye View Film Festival. A couple of the directors brought together for last year's strand have shot the shorts for the Selfridges Film Project including Katerina Jebb for Commes Des Garcons and Ruth Hogben for both Gareth Pugh and Rick Owens. As a result of Emma's brief being totally open to the designer / director duos, some took an abstract explorative route as with Rick Owens focusing on capturing his partner Michele Lamy. This "Library" space decked out in stacked hardback books and director chairs is also scented with Lamy's perfume for an extra sensory note. Gareth Pugh's "Playroom" has a giant inflatable rabbit echoing the epic runway sets Simon has created for Gareth in the past. This film is an updated version of one of his earliest works - a self portrait reenactment of Cabaret, shot in his factory squat in Peckham ............. a raw concrete space much like the empty Selfridges Hotel, but of course the latter being in a very different London postcode!
This central location has opened its doors to the public and Emma Reeves is keen for as many people to see the spectacle as possible, especially students interested in the genre. Its great news that we can now officially call "Fashion Film" a genre since the initial experiments like Gareth's from 2005 and the platform that first championed him - SHOWstudio (the home of fashion film). Lets hope that more designers are given opportunities like this to capture seasonal collections in their own pure vision - for example the Comme Des Garcons documentary of a Parisian pianists hands in place of the garments. Lets also hope that larger brands will pick up on this vehicle to sharing their wares so that the specific talents can get their teeth into some commercial work .............. only time will tell and thanks to initiatives like this one at Selfridges, word will spread and film will become as synonymous with fashion as yellow is with their identity............


(Photos above include Simon Costin's set design, the films, Tatty Devine at the party, Bip Ling dj'ing disco on the dancefloor)

the Old Selfridges Hotel
400 Oxford Street (Orchard Street Entrance) London W1A 1AB
Date
15 March - 25 March
Monday - Saturday
12pm - 8pm
Sunday
12pm - 6pm