Put on a Pedestal

Scandinavia has been well known since the midcentury for its innovative and forward thinking architecture and furniture design.  Within the last decade, Scandinavian fashion has also gained traction and become increasingly influential, and is similarly aligned with a minimalist design approach.   Still, I have never seen midcentury modern so fluidly applied to apparel as with FINSK, the line of architecturally structured, extremely high heels.  It makes sense.  Finnish born and London based designer Julia Lundsten was born to an architect father and an interior designer mother, and cites furniture and buildings as major sources of inspiration for her shoes.  Set on elegantly carved wood platforms, they look a bit like Constantin Brancusi's sculptural pedestals. I personally can't imagine a better thing to stand on.

-Tiffany

BACK Fall 2012

It's hard not to become obsessed with Ann-Sofie Back's particular brand of minimalism.  For the Autumn Winter 2012 BACK collection, she mixes her sharp aesthetic with elements that are less polished. Bright electric turquoise fabrics, sporty athletic materials, transparent plastic jewelry, and metallic pleather are all things that might look tacky in someone else's hands, but Back gives them a refined new look.  Juxtaposed with the more minimalist silhouettes, these elements not only make the clothes more accessible and less precious, but add an element of fun, play, and unexpectedness to what could otherwise become very serious or severe looking pieces.

-Tiffany

Everybody Must Get Stoned

Each season, Iosselliani gets more and more colorful. The original collection started out with intricately constructed noirish pieces encrusted with smatterings of clear and black crystals, and though the collection still presents darker undercurrents, they've infused the jewels with a vibrant jolt for a more gothic meets gypset vibe. Although that might not sound like the most appealing combination (I wonder how often those subcultural sets meet in real life), it somehow manages to work. Semi-precious stones mix with crystals, spikes, and semi-oxidized chain to form the most intricately composed swathes of rock and metal.  The true beauty of these pieces is that on first glance, they appear to be more traditional beaded necklaces, but upon closer inspection, reveal claws clutching at pearls, itty-bitty skulls attached to stone settings, and dangling dog's heads.  Nonetheless, if wearing color just isn't your thing, most jewels still come in classic black.

-Tiffany

Heutchy x Love

Heutchy (pronounced "hi-chy" rather than "hoochie" as I had previously believed) started as a men's footwear line meant to fill the gap between casual and formal shoes. Following plenty of praise from the boys, they've started to branch out into women's shoes too. For spring, designer Wells Stellberger collaborated with Richard Chai, making shoes for both his menswear line and his Love line. The adorable women's oxfords that resulted come in both shiny patent leather and striped fabric, and display the easy, informal elegance at the core of the line. They're the perfect alternative to sneakers, when you don't want to look shabby, but also refuse to sacrifice comfort--something that I find myself increasingly unwilling to do.  Pair them with the rugged-refined Heutchy backpacks, and you're ready to go!

-Tiffany

Factory People

As much as I've tried to organize my life via Google calendar, plotting appointments, meetings and events with obsessive compulsive attention to time/location/date, I inevitably wind up making a fair share of mistakes.  One such mishap involved arriving an hour late to the Factory by Erik Hart presentation during fashion week, only to see all the show-goers exit, and the models run off to their next shows dressed in their civilian attire.  I had no idea what I missed until I stopped by the showroom to take a look at the collection in person. Hart is both a designer and an artist, and his multidisciplinary approach is evident in his collection of elegant, minimalist designs, and his directional silhouettes.  His Spring 2012 collection echoes the 90's work of another artist/designer, Helmut Lang, and all of his clothes appear to be made for a gallery girl in Berlin.  Every piece is cool, elegant, and sophisticated, yet still completely wearable.  And, if you're living on a meager gallery assistant's salary, Hart's clothes are miraculously within reach: prices start just below $100.

-Tiffany

Black on Black

Top courtesy of Yoana Baraschi, Bruno Pieters x Weekdays skirt, Devaki hat.

Now that I'm in Sweden, where it's already pretty much transitioned to winter, I've found myself reverting, at least temporarily, to an all-black wardrobe.  While I normally prefer more color, it's hard to think outside of black when the weather is permanently grey.  However, black can still be fun, and I've been wearing this Yoana Baraschi feathered neckline top non-stop since I picked it up at her press preview last month.  This is definitely one of Baraschi's less colorful pieces, as the designer definitely favors bold hues and bright prints.  At the preview of the Spring collection, I was particularly drawn to a series of graphic striped knit pieces with a nautical vibe, as well as a group of lace dresses and separates that came in neutrals as well as an eye-popping coral. They're something to look forward to when the spring time comes in six months.

-Tiffany

My Bloody Valentine

While there have been thousands of love songs written about heartache and heartbreak, there haven’t been quite as many jewelry lines that have broached the subject. After all, jewelry is more often associated with ground swellings of intense love: diamonds that say forever, lockets that are filled to burst with your lover’s hair, and, of course, wedding and engagement rings that are wrapped up in promises and vows. Nonetheless, Michelle Ng, designer of Young&ng, was up for broaching the challenge. While her Spring collection is about broken hearts, she approaches the subject with optimism, trying to look for the beauty in unrequited love, as well as finding comfort in the belief that you leave a soured relationship stronger than when you entered it. Rather than basing the resulting pieces on saccharine hearts, Ng instead was inspired by blood cells, and the fractal arrangement of cells serve as the basis for her latest series of necklaces, cuffs, and headpieces. The results are breathtaking, and I’m particularly obsessed with the laser-cut metal pieces, which become lace like lattices once the blood cell patterns are applied to them. I’m sure putting on any of these gems would take the sting out of any breakup.

-Tiffany