As a fashion editor, Grace Coddington has created limitless fantasy worlds, earning a reputation for a meticulous eye and rare imagination. Now a new exhibition of her ex-husband Willie Christie’s work shows her not only as an image-maker, but as the image itself. Throughout the Seventies and Eighties, Coddington collaborated with her then husband on a series of experimental fashion photographs. The little seen results are now part of an exhibition of Christie’s work at London’s Eight Club. From hauntingly lit scenes of cinematic glamour to striking and powerful monochrome portraits it’s an opportunity to gaze at the beauty of one of fashion’s most important and enigmatic visionaries.
Willie Christie’s Limited Edition Collection is on show at the Eight Club, London EC3 until 24th February.
Zana Bayne makes pieces for people who aren’t afraid to let their accessories do the talking.
The Brooklyn-based designer handcrafts body harnesses, belts and other accessories worn by the likes of Lady Gaga. Having founded her blog Garbage Dress in 2008, Bayne already has a strong following for her own sense of style, which is composed of Ann Demeulemeester, Rick Owens and lots of black. Both her personal and brand aesthetic showcase a penchant for slightly dark and elegant.
Twin talked to the designer about bullfighting suits and the power of blogs…
What is the design process of a collection from start to finish?
I like to make collections that respond to the one prior, often ‘carrying over’ designs. Sometimes it begins with a color, or shape, or specific body part that I want to highlight. A lot of the time, I think of a certain ‘lack’ or ‘void’ – something that I wish existed, or was more accessible. From there I do a lot of sketching. In the developmental stage, I do a lot of image hoarding; I collect pictures that seem to resonate with my current state of mind, and once there’s enough of them I try to look for themes and patterns.
What inspires your designs in general, and more specifically, your F/W 11 collection?
I like to design with my friends in mind, taking what I do and adapting it to something that would fit their style. I like my work to be wearable for a variety of people, so I definitely keep styling options in mind. For F/W 11, I began with the image of a Torrero & his Traje de Luces (bullfighting suit) – the feelings of strength, pride, and confidant finesse. I also used wider cuts of leather to create bolder lines on the body. The colour palate of red, black, and patent black leather echoed that masculinity.
How has your blog helped you develop your brand?
From the advent of my blog back in 2008, I realized that if used correctly, it could become a very effective portfolio of my point of view. I have always posted my own photographic content, and kept the entries based on my life experiences.
Every step of my business development is chronicled on my blog. I think this openness and visual archive has been a huge help. I’m able to share the process behind the product as well as show how my pieces can be worn in daily life. I think its hard for a lot of new labels to establish consumer trust without years of brand history, so in a sense I have been able to create this through blogging.
What are your future plans and projects with Zana Bayne Leather?
Right now I’m working on my S/S 12 collection which I will be showing in February (I think seasons are unnecessary for accessories), as well as a few collaborations with designers for their F/W 12 collections. Everything is still made by hand by myself & my studio helpers, so I’m hoping to find a way to relieve some of the labour intensity. We shall see.
In the second part of our look back over the past year, Twin’s fashion team name their stars of 2011 and who to watch out for in the next 12 months…
Celestine Cooney – Fashion Director
My favourite show of 2011 was Simone Rocha Spring/Summer 12. I fell in love with the whole collection, it felt so modern and was executed so perfectly with the combination of traditional lace with sheer tulle and rubber. The use of colour in Spring/Summer 12 was also really inspiring with bright pink and a lucid green popping in a collection of black and white.
I think Simone Rocha is a star in the making. I find what she is doing and the collections she is producing, incredibly exciting.
Naomi Miller – Fashion Editor
I loved the Celine collection for Spring/Summer 2012. It was very chic, the couple of knitwear pieces they did were beautiful and so innovative.
Obviously it’s been an incredible 2011 for Sarah Burton, but I’m also stoked for Olivier Theyskens for putting Theyskens’ Theory on the map this year. I also loved the Thomas Tait show – and loved the styling with the sneakers!
We love Alice Dellal for her irreverent beauty and punk attitude and it seems Karl Lagerfeld is a fan too. Chanel have now confirmed that the model, and Thrush Metal drummer, will be the new face of their Boy Chanel handbag collection. With Chanel declaring the Boy Chanel collection will strive to subvert conformist notions of femininity, it’s clear why Alice is the perfect muse.
The campaign has been styled and shot my Karl himself and at the moment all we’re getting is a sneak peek within the design house’s rococo walls, but we can’t wait to see what edge Alice brings to a Chanel skirt-suit.
The Boy Chanel campaign will be revealed in March 2012. chanel.com
To celebrate the launch of their new website, luxury footwear brand Hogan has invited cult photographer and blogger Todd Selby to record a day in the life of 17 inspiring creatives going about their day-to-day lives and of course in a pair of Hogan’s finest.
Among the 17 creatives stars featured in Future Roots are Twin favourite, illustrator Quentin Jones, artists Gaia Repossi and Lola Montes Schnabel and director Benn Northover. Each film is up to five minutes long, enough time to reveal each person and what they represent, while leaving the viewer with some seriously stimulating thoughts. Thank you Hogan.
This holiday, Madewell, the effortlessly cool jean makers, are asking whether you prefer tea or coffee? Shoes or bags? Sparkle or confetti? Dree Hemingway and Maria Muñoz star in this fabulously fun fashion film. Each choice reveals a different sequence. Girls..I bet you only need one second to choose…enjoy.
This week marked the launch of The Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum, an archive of over 5000 images, videos and sketches set up in a three-dimensional palazzo landscape.
The fashion lover’s dream of a virtual maze, the tour animates the history of the Valentino empire, as well as the story behind the creation of the 79-year-old’s most iconic pieces. An ode to the lifework of the couturier who retired in 2008, the application is an engaging and fascinating look at one of the Twentieth Century’s most legendary designers. As breathtaking as one of Garavani’s designs in real life, Valentino gone virtual proves why fashion and technology make the perfect mix.
The Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum is available for download here
From Edith Head’s designs for Tippi Hedren in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds to Audrey Tautou portraying one of the 20th century’s most revolutionary couturiers in Coco Before Chanel, fashion and film have enjoyed a well-documented and fascinating relationship.
On screen, clothing embodies the unscripted role of sculpting characters – would Cruella De Vil be as villainous without her floor-length fur coats? Clothes create unforgettable moments such as Audrey Hepburn in a Givenchy little black dress outside Tiffany’s, adding to the aesthetic vision of a director – could one imagine Margot Tenenbaum in anything but her heavy eyeliner and preppy polo dresses?
Creative arts platform Test’s series of monthly film screenings and talks mark an intriguing new chapter in the genre. Accompanied by an introduction and Q&A with designer Roksanda Ilincic, the latest motion picture up for discussion will be Liliana Cavani’s The Night Porter starring Charlotte Rampling and Dirk Bogarde.
More than simply a night of stylish cinema, the event is a testament to the lasting power and iconicity of fashion in film.
Test Presents…The Night Porter Introduced By Roksanda Ilincic takes place at Town Hall Hotel & Apartments, Patriot Square, London E2 9NF on December 13 at 7:00 pm.
Hussein Chalayan is one of those elusive designers who manages to create things that, season after season, leave one flabbergasted. A wooden coffee table/skirt hybrid, LED-lit sheaths and self-transforming robot dresses are just a few examples of ideas that have blossomed in the Cyprus-native’s mind.
Now in its final days of display, Hussein Chalayan: Fashion Narratives at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris pays tribute to a true fashion visionary. Comprised of past collections, installations, fashion shows, projections and research, the exhibition is as multi-layered as the CSM graduate’s work itself.
Even having to book an overpriced, last-minute ticket on the Eurostar seems like a small price to pay when you have the opportunity to spend an afternoon inside the mind of Chalayan the Great.
Hussein Chalayan: Fashion Narratives is at Musée des Arts Décoratifs, 107 rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris until December 11th.
It’s been two years since AIR released their sixth album, Love 2, but the French duo still have their minds on matters of the heart. Painted Love bears their unmistakeable breathy electronic pop, but this is more than just one song. Luxury jewellers Cartier posed them the question “How Far Would You Go For Love?”. This is their answer.
The accompanying film, made by New York based directors Waverly, revisits the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea via down town Manhattan. A young artist searches for his muse, first in his canvas and then in the darkness of New York’s clubs, driven by his obsession to attain her. “The idea of the muse is very important to me, it is like a driving force. I know that for every album, we have needed a love story as a motivation. Creating art is like a huge need to be loved,” says AIR.
Cartier are set to pose their question to two more musicians and directors in 2012. But we’re already thinking how far we’d go. Are you?
Sharmadean Reid’s WAH Nails is steadily spreading the word for colourful, characterful and cute nails. Since opening its doors in 2009 the East London salon has worked their polish magic for names like M.I.A and Marc Jacobs and have opened salons in TopShop Oxford Street and Stratford City. Now they’ve teamed up with Minx Nails to create three solid nails inspired by WAH’s original designs. With names like Golden Tribes, Rainbow Tribes and Cosmic Comic they’re sure to be all you need to make a statement.
The WAH limited edition Minx Designs are now available only at WAH Nails TopShop Westfield, Stratford until December 24 and on Minx Nails’ website. wahnails.com minxnails.com
Miu Miu’s new flagship store in the heart of Toyko is a three tiered carousel packed with the kind of playful luxury that we’ve come to expect of Prada’s little sister. Sugary handbags and shoes jostle like bright jewels on gilt shelves in the newly opened Ginza Echogoya district shop.
Between the damask sofas, gold framed mirrors and crystal counters there’s no mistaking the opulence. But the Miu Miu girl has always worn luxury with an independent spirit and the store is more than a shopping experience, it’s an immaculate interpretation of the brand’s aesthetic vision. Prepare to lose yourself.
Jeweller Steph Davies was amazed by a statistic that less than one per cent of women will ever own a diamond of one karat or more. Her response was to put something together that was a little quirky and more affordable than a diamond. Diamond Day is a jewellery line of silver diamond trinkets inspired by the stone's natural form. The result is more tough and adorable than the real thing.
Nature is a recurrent theme in her designs and since making Diamond Day, Davies is now focusing on making small individual pieces. She’s just cast some crab claws she caught on the beach at her hometown in West Wales.
She says: “I'm looking forward to getting them cast in silver and oxidizing them to keep them looking a bit raw and industrial looking. I'm inspired by hard working, creative people who are passionate about what they do and make the most of what they have.” When it comes to a diamond with edge, Davies is our girl.
Hedi Slimane has taken his diary to the streets of Los Angeles. The maverick designer turned photographer’s signature black and white images can be seen on 89 digital billboards throughout the city. With his solo exhibition California Song at the MOCA in Los Angeles just opened, for the next three months the digital billboards will evolve and follow his California diary. Having turned London’s Brick Lane street kids into the global epitome of cool, since 2006 Slimane’s online photographic diary has invented new ways of documenting emerging youth culture.
California Song marks the beginning of his “California period” in July 2007 and traces his explorations of cycles of urban youth culture and artistic communities, through installations of photographic essays, exhibitions, and publications. Be sure to follow the story.
Hedi Slimaneʼs California Song, is at MOCA Pacific Design Center until January 22, 2012.
Pierre Thoretton’s film L’Amour Fou is a love letter to memory, art and life reflected through the 50 year relationship between Yves Saint-Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé. Filmed a year after Yves Saint-Laurent’s death in 2008, Thoretton followed Bergé during the breaking up of their art collection. Works by Matisse, Goya, Mondrian, all sold at Christies. The dismantling of their collection is the point of departure for an exploration of their relationship and their shared aesthetic world. While Saint-Laurent’s absence dominates the film, Thoretton’s unrivalled access to his archive means his image is renewed through unseen personal photographs by friends such as William Klein and Helmut Newton. L’Amour Fou is also a farewell letter from Bergé to the love of his life and a melancholic ode to a Twentieth Century icon.
L’Amour Fou is at the ICA until 17 November and out on DVD on 21 November.
With Halloween looming, Twin checked out artist and filmmaker Quentin Jones’ window installation for cult home and accessories store, Darkroom. HAUNTED brings Jones’ illustrative style to life in a three dimensional window display featuring spooky hands and twisted and chopped cartoon characters. Darkroom invited Jones to fill their windows and her darkly surreal take on Dorothy from Wizard of Oz and the wholesome white picket fence brings a playful note to the store’s interior. Covetable pieces by Fleet Ilya, Maryham Keyhani, Jonathan Saunders, and Darkroom’s self-designed collection blend into the hypnagogic landscape. Go get spooked!
Noomi Rapace as tattooed hacker Lisbeth Salander became an instant Twin heroine. With her dyed black crop and piercings, Rapace’s goth-punk look in the original Swedish film version of best-seller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a refreshing fashion inspiration. And so it seems Salander has been for Swedish fashion giants H&M. Having collaborated since 2004 with a host of designers and fashion houses such as Karl Lagerfeldand Lanvin, H&M have found an unlikely muse in Lisbeth Salander.
To celebrate David Fincher’s American film-remake, this time starring actress Rooney Mara, H&M have asked the film’s costume designer Trish Summerville to create a line inspired by The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. “Salander’s look is very real and very lived in, with pieces that her character has worn for a long time, like her jackets that act as her armour to shield her from the world,” says Summerville.
Going on the single released image as yet, the 30-piece collection has a dark urban feel featuring leather jackets and trousers, torn jeans and slouchy hoodies in industrial shades of black, grey and worn white. With H&M exploring their dark-side, we already feel sucked in.
The collection will debut exclusively at Colette in Paris on November 28, before being made available on December 14 at 180 H&M stores around the world.
The celebrity beauty juggernaut show no signs of slowing down: the latest additions being Dita Von Teese perfume, Kate Moss lipsticks, Rachel Zoe lipsticks (in the US) and the rumour of a Coty created Madonna perfume.
Trust MAC to subvert it all by co-opting haute-eccentric-heiress and couture-buyer-extraordinaire Daphne Guinness to dream up some pre-Christmas make up products for them. Gaga perfume is apparently arriving next year and I can’t help wondering if she will live up to her image and make something along the lines of Commes Des Garcons Odeur 53 (the smell of dust and metal and glass) or if she will go for the bubblegum synthetic pop of her music (which I personally dislike in general) and fashion something saccharine and obvious.
Of the other new launches around I’m particularly enamoured of Biba make up – great palettes, bright colours – I’m a sucker for a dinky little box. What’s more it’s reasonably priced and I’m so over obscenely priced beauty products. Frankly I’d rather spend the money in Cos‘ new online store.
It’s actually the third time Biba have launched their make up. The first time, in the early seventies it was only available in the store and they were famously the first brand to provide testers – and they did wonderfully weird shades such as black lipstick. The brand made a brief reappearance in the mid Nineties – prompted by the seventies fetishism of that decade – but sadly fizzled out. And now it’s back again, accompanying the revived fashion line.
I do hope it survives but in all honesty I’m not sure what the identity of Biba is any more. I know what it stood for in the early Seventies, but I fear it has been so diluted and corrupted there’s not much of the original spirit left in terms of fashion or beauty.
Madelyn Somers hand-makes super dapper bow ties for women. The 23-year-old LA based designers mission is to inspire women to be empowered individuals and part of the proceeds go to Women for Women International. Tycoon Neckwear uses recycled men’s ties with a feminine flareand her designs have so far caught the eye of Janelle Monae and Ellen Degeneres.
Twin spoke to the LA born and bred designer about her style…
What’s your fashion background?
Fashion is and has always been something I’ve taken an interest in, but never thought of it as a career. My mom has a degree in fashion design, so she taught me how to sew and I took a few sewing classes in college.
I love thrift shopping at flea markets, the goodwill or my favorite, the Jewish thrift council store which are all around Los Angeles for great designer finds, but I’m not the one who keeps up with fashion blogs and collects fashion magazines to keep up with the trends for the seasons. I dress in what I like which is usually in the realm of quirky menswear chic with some funky pattern or pop of color.
Where did the idea come from for Tycoon Neckwear and what’s it all about?
It came out of a little boredom and what to do after college, but I was thrift shopping one day and found a basket of men’s ties that brought on an immense curiosity to reclaim them in to something cool for women. Since classic menswear always inspired me, I wanted to figure out how to incorporate menswear into women’s fashion without feeling like I was borrowing from my dad’s closet.
I bought a few ties and the next day I started sewing them. I found a box of vintage buttons my mom had stored in her studio and incorporated them. It seemed to all come about pretty organically. I came up with a whole ad campaign. I loved building the brand from the ground up, it was inspiring to not only have a product, but create a product that came with a pretty effortless statement that I felt strongly about.
Tycoon is a neckwear line that inspires women to be empowered individuals. Tycoon uses recycled men’s ties with a feminine flare to create a force of confidence, individuality, and style. I loved the idea that Tycoon is sustainable because salvaging something old and turning it into something new is a part of an eco-friendly movement that
I’ve always been passionate about which also contributes to the fact that they are all one of a kind creations.
What does style mean to you?
Style to me is really is about individuality and making a statement about who you are and what you want to say to the world without being vocal. It’s our first impression when you walk out the door and who doesn’t want to give off an impression by making a declaration to the public that “I am a confident individual and this is how i chose to express myself, no one can tell me otherwise.”
I loved what street fashion photographer, Bill Cunningham said, “Fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life. I don’t think you could do away with it. It would be like doing away with civilization.” It’s a chance to be uniquely you and it gives us the joy of being able to reinvent ourselves a little bit each day. There are no confines necessary to the immense possibility of what is style and lady bow ties are just one of those possibilities.
Having co-hosted our Issue V LFW launch, Theory creative director-extraordinaire Olivier Theyskens is the focus of Tom Allen’s beautifully-directed black and white film for Twin.
It’s an intimate and lasting insight into his much-adored and critically-acclaimed work for the New York brand. With conversation ranging from his interpretation of style to the influence of art on his designs, Olivier also touched on his long-standing love of New York- as youthful aspiration, creative melting pot and, most recently, home. Having lived there for the past year, his S/S ’12 collection with Theyskens’ Theory was a love letter to the essence of effortless downtown style. Rendered in a romantic, urban palette that could have been lifted from the photos which adorned his childhood bedroom, and embodied by a succession of utterly wearable, highly desirable pieces, there is no doubt that Olivier’s vision of contemporary femininity will continue to capture hearts and minds everywhere.
Watch the film and read his story in his own words as part of Twin Issue V.
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