The Anatomy of Desire

Una Burke pants. Photograph by Diego Indraccolo.

Harnesses and restraints have been a running trend for the past few years, and in the newly released book, Design Behind Desire, they get a lengthy examination along with other fetishistic accessories.  The stunning hardcover, part of a new series of art, fashion, and design books from Farameh Media, is a comprehensive survey of work from contemporary designers whose pieces are either overtly or covertly erotic.  Naturally, Fleet Ilya's revised Hannibal Lecter style mask makes the cut, along with Bliss Lau's leather and metal body armor, and Betany Vernon's cheeky and lux jewels.  While the focus is mainly on designers working now, recent work is juxtaposed against classic fetish pieces like Meret Oppenheim's fur coffee cup.  Gathered together in one book, all the objects explore the different facets of desire, and even if whips and bondage aren't your cup of tea, you're bound to find something between the covers that inspires serious material lust.

Fleet Ilya Mask. Photograph by Justin Borbely.

Cuff and bodychain by Bliss Lau.

Pearl Massage ring by Betany Vernon. Pearl restraints by Kiki de Montparnasse.

Gold Leaf Shakti Mirror by Mark Brazier-Jones. Divorce Ring by Gisele Ganne.

Aoi Kotsuhiroi boots.

-Tiffany

Fashion Drawing NOW!

Richard Haines's drawing of my friend Elliot and I at the launch party for Fashion Drawing. I wore my illustrated Stine Goya dress and 80%20 shoes!

This past Monday, my dear friend Andrew Yang of Koukalita doll-making fame invited me to the opening reception for the book Fashion Drawing, and the accompanying display of some of the illustrations from the book at The National Arts Club (yes, that place again). Andrew was one of the many talents who contributed to the book by Parsons professor Michele Wesen Bryant, and the lovely tome is both an art book and a text book, providing illustration techniques and technical advice for fashion designers. The reception featured work from many of the artists in the book, and I was delighted to find that three additional illustrator friends of mine were either part of the show or included in the book. Please take a moment to check out all of their work and their websites--each of them have such different styles, but they are all immensely talented.

Richard Haines is one of my former bosses, and even though he was a menswear designer when I worked for him, he currently holds the more fun job of blogger and illustrator. He regularly illustrates for J. Crew and In Style Magazine, in addition to doing sketches of all the well-dressed and intriguing characters he sees out and about--an illustrated take on street style. I've had the immense pleasure of being drawn by him twice now--what a treat!

A portrait by Richard Haines

I've written plenty about Andrew Yang on this blog already, so I hope longtime readers are already head-over-heels in love with his work. I know I am. I'm anxiously awaiting the completion of my doll, which Andrew is making for me in exchange for some doll jewels I made for his collection a while back. For the Fashion Drawing show, he brought two dolls, including an Indian princess doll, who wore an antique Indian child's tunic, refitted to the proper doll size. Andrew is a wonderful illustrator too, pick up the book for apeek at his drawings!

Andrew Yang's doll at the Fashion Drawing exhibition


I met Eri Wakiyama at the Urban Outfitters DIY or DIE event we did ages ago, where I was introduced to many of my first blogger friends. While Eri works at Comme Des Garcons during the day, she also does plenty of gorgeous illustrations on the side. I'm particularly enamored with the recent project she did for wonderMode, where she illustrated some of her favorite spring runway looks. I fantasize of looking like the girls in her drawings, particularly the excellent Louise Gray rendition below.


Eri Wakiyama's drawing of Rodebjer Spring 2011 for wonderMode

Eri Wakiyama's drawing of Louise Gray Spring 2011 for wonderMode


I only recently met Finnish illustrator Laura Laine through Daniel Palillo, but I've actually admired her work for years. Laura is responsible for all of the amazing illustrations on Daniel's designs, in addition to doing plenty of work for magazines like Vogue, Elle, and T Magazine. I love the modern-Grimms-fairytale feel of most of her work, which captivated me immediately.
Laura Laine's illustration for WTF Magazine

Laura Laine's illustration for Kitsune

-Tiffany

Elements of Style

Meet me new style icon, Yvonne Force Villareal

A few weeks ago, I was sent a reviewer's copy of The ELLEments of Personal Style, by ELLE Magazine editors Joe Zee and Maggie Bullock. I've been a subscriber to ELLE Magazine for many years, which is hands down my favorite mainstream fashion magazine, primarily because it matches its glorious editorials with witty, snappy prose, and genuinely compelling stories which may or may not have to do with fashion. While I wouldn't say that the written content of the book matches the magazine's high standards, that's hardly the point of the book.

The ELLEments of Personal Style features 25 style profiles of famous women of all ages, many of whom have been featured on the pages of ELLE. I read the book cover to cover (which went pretty quickly, since it's 90% photographs), with varying levels of interest throughout. ELLE is an American magazine through and through, and the book democratically features women with a wide range of styles and tastes, from classic and clean-cut, to avant-garde and boundary-pushing. I respect the attempt to please everyone at once, but at the same time feel that some of these women weren't compelling enough style-wise to warrant a multi-page profile (although you'll notice that the less interesting subjects do get considerably fewer pages than the more iconic ladies featured).

Nonetheless, the book is worth picking up for the collection of mega-watt stars and style icons it does feature, including an intimate peek into their homes, and more importantly, their closets. Dita Von Teese's incredible collection of vintage and meticulous eye for sartorial detail, not to mention her fascinating story of Hollywood image creation, might be worth the cost of the book alone. Both Charlottes (Gainsbourg and Rampling) exude a classic French elegance, and their timeless chic and effortless style are mesmerizing. My favorite subject was art world doyenne Yvonne Force Villareal, who might not be quite as famous as some of the other ladies featured, but represents daring, irreverent style, which I personally find most inspiring. If I could raid one closet (and one apartment too), it would be hers. Here are couple of my favorite spreads from the book for your voyeuristic pleasure.

Angelica Huston in her perfectly cluttered home

Charlotte Gainsbourg in her living room

Dita Von Teese's vintage treasure trove, as well as some adorable childhood photos that demonstrate her transformation from being a blond girl named Heather Sweet

Charlotte Rampling's style evolution over the years

Margherita Missoni in her Missoni covered home

Singer and rapper Estelle in dresses by her favorite designer, Bernard Chandran

-Tiffany

Knitwits

Knit masks

I've been knitting and crocheting for about ten years now, and have worked as a professional knitwear designer, but I've still never picked up a knitting pattern. Part of it is that I'm too lazy to properly learn and all of the various abbreviations and how to read them. I have found that I prefer reverse engineering garments I see, or improvising as I go along, even if it often requires plenty of experimentation, and means tearing out my stitches and redoing them multiple times. The main reason though is that I have yet to find a pattern that is actually worth following. Most knitting books and kits are devoted to dopey/frumpy grandmother-style knits, or simple basics. If I wanted a no-fuss cardigan, I would save myself the time and buy it at Uniqlo. If I'm making something myself, I'm going to make it personal, and by personal, I mean crazy-looking.

That's why I'm totally in love with the work of Collectif France Tricot, a French knitting group comprised of Emmanuelle Barrère, Solène Couturier, and Céline Lacome-Hulin. Together they create all sorts of knit accessories, dolls, objects, and works of art that are infused with a sense of humor, and represent the endless creative possibilities of the medium. Their projects range from knit prize medals and masks, to clothing for public statues. They've just released a book, and even though it doesn't appear to contain any patterns, it contains plenty of inspiration to keep me improvising. Now I must get back to my latest Rodarte inspired knit project, an intarsia knit cardigan that I'm in the midst of figuring out how to make. I'll keep you posted.

Knit wolf hood and prize medallion

Clothing made for public statues

A knit skateboard and various pieces of knit street art

Knit encased laptop

Doggy legwarmers

-Tiffany

The House of Viktor & Rolf

I've been seeing photos of the Viktor & Rolf Dollhouse Exhibiton at the Barbican Gallery for the past few months, and was reminded of it again when I met Zana, who said that she had the chance to visit the show when she was in London. The exhibition, which is an entire dollhouse featuring both life size and miniature porcelain dolls wearing Viktor & Rolf's creations from the past 15 years, is in itself almost worth a trip to London, but due to my unfortunate lack of funds, that's not happening anytime soon. I did however manage to scrape up enough Christmas money to buy myself The House of Victor & Rolf book, which serves as an exhibition catalog, and a summary of all of their work to date. I normally don't splurge on books, but I couldn't help myself. Every single page is a source of endless inspiration, and reminded me of all my favorite pieces that I had forgotten about over the years.

It also evoked plenty of V&R memories. I'll never forget when Christina and her boyfriend James slicked their hair back, donned cardigans and glasses, and dressed as the couple for Halloween three years back. Or, another Halloween when Feng Feng recreated the bow dress from Spring 2005, which you can find her wearing in The Misshapes Book. And I'm sure I'm not the only one here who was on hand for the Victor & Rolf for H&M opening, where we all woke up early to wrestle amongst the similarly fashion-crazed. I walked out with five pieces that I still wear quite frequently.

I definitely won't be able to afford the real thing anytime soon, but this book will definitely provide momentum for plenty of DIYs to come.  Here are some of my favorite pages.  Sorry for the crappy image quality (I don't have a scanner) but if you would like to see more images of the actual show, you can find them here.

The duo's first collection from 1993, which won them three awards at Hyeres.

Balloons!

This style of collar has influenced many a 66Sick outfit.

A doll clad in their Black Hole collection.

I'm still in love with these duvet inspired pieces from Bedtime Story.

These floral adorned dresses are the perfect fodder for a DIY!  On the to-do list for 2009...

My all-time favorite V&R collection, which was largely panned for the abuse of the models, who looked terrified that they were going to fall during the entire runway show.  Even so, I can't get over their post-modern take on The Fashion Show, and think it's one of their most brilliant collections to date.

The back cover.

-Tiffany

On My Ultimate Christmas Wishlist...

The out-of-print JAR hardcover book and slipcase, which is currently selling on eBay for upwards of $3,000.

Jewelry design geeks and luxury enthusiasts alike are probably already familiar with the cult jewelry designer JAR, née Joel Arthur Rosenthal, whose exclusive atelier in Paris produces only 70-80 individually crafted pieces a year, usually designed with a particular client in mind.  To a passing eye, the jewelry may appear fusty and old fashioned, but to any trained jeweler, and the eye of a connoisseur, there is a breathtaking sense of unbelievable craftsmanship and creative ingenuity within the medium.  As one of my jewelry professors said, "they look like they've been made by fairies," and JAR has been called the Fabergé of our time.  Rarely do you see many fine jewelry designers experimenting with such incredibly precious jewels as a costume designer might.  JAR is one of a handful of jewelers who will irreverently flip a diamond upside down and set it with the pointy side up.  

Typical of his notorious inaccessibility, JAR is almost impossible to find information on, and naturally a google search of the broad sounding "JAR jewelry" will turn up a confusing assortment of unrelated junk (hence all of the crappy images, which really don't do justice to the work).  Without visiting his store, his book is the only place to really view the breadth and splendor of his work, which is probably why it has become so sought after amongst designers and collectors.  I once got a chance to look through the out-of-print JAR Paris coffee table book, that one of my classmates managed to get ahold of for around $800, a complete bargain considering that they currently sell anywhere from $2,500-$3,500.  Even if JAR's style is very different from mine, one day I hope to save up enough money to purchase this book, featuring the work of one of the greatest jewelry designers alive.

A plate of an enameled zebra head broach with pave diamond feathers from the JAR book.

One of Rosenthal's thread rings, formed of platinum "threads" set with pave diamonds that wrap around a 10.12 carat mine-cut diamond.  The ring, estimated at $250,000-$350,000 is from a selection of jewelry that Ellen Barkin auctioned off at Christies in 2006.

A pair of floral broaches set with diamonds, sapphires, tourmaline, citrine, and garnet.

-Tiffany

A Woman Under the Influence

Wearing a Six Six Sick breastplate made from a cutup mannequin body and purple twill tape, a Christian Lacroix skirt, and a Cheap Monday T-shirt.  We made the breastplate last summer, and were inspired by the Alexander McQueen show, as well as Robert Lee Morris's gold version.

When the Olsen twins recently announced that they were releasing Influence, a book about fashion, I initially scoffed.  While I do admire their eclectic style, I'm not a fan of celebrity endorsed fashion lines, and even more skeptical when said celebrities attempt to extend their (usually limited) creative reach into penning their own books and self-indulgent memoirs.  However, when I found that the book was less about the girls themselves, and instead, focused on interviews with fashion designers, artists, and other creative people that have influenced them, I became a little more interested.  My interest peaked when I found out that they had chosen to interview one of my favorite jewelry designers of all time, Robert Lee Morris.

I had the pleasure of meeting Robert as a jewelry design student at F.I.T. two years ago, where he graciously presented us with a history of his work, and allowed us to examine and try on samples of his earliest armor styled pieces that, to this day, leave me speechless.  Molded breastplates, futuristic metal sunglasses, giant cuffs that appear to be shot through with arrows---these are the pieces that jewelry designers dream of designing.  Completely non-functional, almost unwearable, but so completely out-of-this-world, and crafted with incredible artistry, and a genuine love for the medium.  The pieces have an old world feel of a coat of armor from the Metropolitan Museum, yet are so designed in such a modern and timeless style that they still attract attention today, and last year appeared in a V Magazine editorial.

Two pages from Influence featuring the inspirational early work of Robert Lee Morris.

In addition to Robert, Influence features interviews with fashion greats Karl Lagerfeld and John Galliano, as well as completely inspiring conversations with one of the founding editors of Interview Magazine under Andy Warhol, Bob Colacello, fashion show and event producer Alexander Betak, and infamous photographer Terry Richardson. Nothing means more to a designer, or any creative person for that matter, than inspiration, and this book is full of it. Even if I felt embarrassed to buy something emblazoned with twin Olsen faces on the cover, and Jimmy has warned me that I have to hide the book when guests come over, the content is filled with inspirational treasures I plan on drawing from for a long time.

Another spread from Influence featuring photographs from Bob Colacello's time as the Editor of Interview Magazine

-Tiffany