A fragrance, once registered on the senses, can linger forever in the memory. It might evoke the warmth
of a grandmother’s affection, a yearning for a lost or unrequited love, or a fondness for an old friend. For every bottle of perfume made, a million memories are thus created – moments shared, hearts broken and adventures had. For Nick Smart, co-director of boutique fragrance emporium Libertine Parfumerie, herein lies the magic. For the shelves of his boutiques in West End and New Farm are not simply lined with bottles of perfume. They contain distinct moments in history – be it Grace Kelly’s wedding or Napoleon’s fervour for violets (and Josephine) – captured in liquid form as divine fragrances that allow such moments to remain eternal. Continue reading ‘local dreamer - nick smart’
Archive for the 'Fashion, Health & Beauty' Category
In the eyes of world-renowned milliner Stephen Jones, hats are the punctuation of fashion. Like a shrewdly positioned comma, a hat can bring a whole new meaning to a couture ensemble that never before existed. In a career spanning almost three decades, Stephen has provided the punctuation for fashion’s elite (including John Galliano, Marc Jacobs, Vivienne Westwood and Rae Kawakubo) with his millinery creations gracing the world’s most coveted catwalks, and he has also created hats for personalities such as Boy George and Kylie Minogue. Most recently, the talented milliner has channelled his talents and passion for hats into an exhibition for London’s V&A Museum, Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones, which will take up residence at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art from March 27. Continue reading ‘international dreamer - stephen jones’
suzi vaughan: standing out from the crowd
![[Professor Suzi Vaughan]](http://www.streeteditors.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/ballcons-map1.jpg)
She can pair a long black Wayne Cooper gown with Converse Shoes for a formal event. She carries off a pom-pom on her head, as though it’s normal. Her clothes may even strain your retina at times, with the intensely bright colours and patterns fused together.
If you swim in the ‘fashion’ circles of Brisbane, the name “Suzi Vaughan” would be familiar to you. If not, let me introduce you to the eccentric, yet exceedingly polite 6ft-1 tall fashion designer and academic. In the 80’s she was stopped on the streets in London because people thought she was Boy George. That was when she was a fashion student at Central Saint Martins, with Hamish Bowles (now the European Editor at large for American Vogue) as a friend, and with John Galliano in the year above her. She has worked in London, Hong Kong, and is now in Brisbane, educating up and coming great designers; including Gail Reid from Gail Sorronda who was a recent graduate. Continue reading ’suzi vaughan: standing out from the crowd’
fearless fashion
Alexander McQueen Shoe
There’s only so much fashion designers can do for one head, two arms and two legs. We’re used to seeing ‘new’ trends emerge and remembering the last era they came from. So, it’s not often you come across a piece where your eyes sparkle with the sensation of seeing something fresh. This shoe may look more like the foot of a predator, than that of a fashion-forward female. Check out Alexander McQueen’s latest collection for some creative design inspiration.
a little bit of sass and a whole lot of style
It’s been six years, but Brisbane duo Heidi Middleton and Sarah-Jane Clarke, better known as fashion cool-kid sass & bide, have made their return to London Fashion Week in spectacular style. Embellishment was the look du jour with much of the collection revolving around heavily studded, sequined and beaded dresses, leggings and tunics. Bad news for those wishing for an end to the unforgiving harem pant, they will be back over the summer, this time in a shorter, looser style. The Spring/Summer 2010 collection has been well received, even touted as their “best”, an amazing result for the girls flying the flag for Australian style.
the sartorialist
Scott Schuman, no doubt one of the original street style bloggers, has turned his fashion blog The Sartorialist into book-form. The book, also titled The Sartorialist, is a collection of Schuman’s best and favourite photographs from his blog, which documents his encounters with the style-savvy around the world. While Schuman’s style preference has been poked fun at, his ability to find elegance and cool in everyday people (regardless of age, sex or race) and capture people’s confidence in their own style (no matter how unconventional their look is) is really what sets The Sartorialist apart from the many street style blogs out there. Due for an Australian release in late September, The Sartorialist is sure to be the most eclectic and inspiring book on your coffee table. Schuman was also recently in Australia to shoot a campaign for Saba denim with models hand-picked off the streets of Melbourne by the man himself. Image via The Sartorialist.
the selby does lanvin
Photographer Todd Selby, who has made an art of capturing the work and living spaces of some of the world’s most intriguing and creative people, has most recently set his sights on the studio of French fashion house Lanvin. With Lavin Homme head designer Lucas Ossendrijver as his primary subject, Todd’s latest collection of photos provides an interesting behind-the-scenes glimpse into the iconic fashion brand and its talented animateur.
dispensable footwear
Delicately toeing the line between pure trash and pure genius, comes Rollasole – the saviour to every girl’s party-weary feet. Available in select nightclubs in the UK, Rollasole vending machines dole out sparkly ballet flats for girls who have spent the evening dancing and can’t bear to walk another step in their high heels. But could you bring yourself to purchase your footwear from a vending machine?
Proving that beauty can be found and created with the most mundane of materials, 28-year-old Ali Forbes has taken out the eighth annual International Talent Support (ITS) award for interactive design with her collection of eclectic and chaotic jewellery made from layers of metal. The winning pieces - described as unisex, modular and mechanical with a touch of rock and roll – have catapulted Forbes onto the international design scene. With a utilitarian approach to materials (favouring industrial products such as steel), the final products are whimsical and striking with a regal quality.
Knowing what you want to do with your life is hard. Finding your dream job is even harder. If your dream career involves fashion and New York, then achieving your goals has been made that wee bit easier. A foundation has been set up, aptly titled The Australians in New York Fashion Foundation, which is designed to connect young Australians with their dream jobs in New York through scholarships and work experience. Set up by successful fashion ex-pats, such as Laura Brown, Malcolm Carfrae, Rob Newbould and Antony Todd, the AiNYFF is sure to open many doors for aspiring fashionistas.
Times, they are a changing. Pictured above is a message to models about to strut their stuff for the Givenchy Fall/Winter 2009-10 Haute Couture show in Paris. So while nourished models might be making a comeback, the customary over-the-top extravagance of the haute couture collections seems to be out of fashion. Over the past few weeks, the world has seen a much more reserved and subdued showing from the top designers, so much so that the Christian Dior collection did away with pants and skirts!
Via Treehugger: Do Uranus jokes ever get old? With a tagline ‘Help save planet earth, starting with Uranus’, Uranus Apparel instinctively appeals to our inner 12 year-old as well our mature and environmentally concerned activist side. Uranas Apparel is made from the byproducts of soy foods, which would otherwise be thrown away. The soy panties come in beige, black and moss green and are packaged in a biodegradable burlap drawstring sack.
G.O.D. (Goods of Desire) is a lifestyle company on a quest to identify Hong Kong culture and promote and preserve it’s uniqueness. GOD is the phonetic sound of the Cantonese “to live better”, and the stores are filled with books, furniture, clothing and housewares. It creates and sells products that have a modern twist on traditional Chinese items, and some of their best products give the sense that the designers are sharing local “inside jokes” with you.
blue like you
If there’s something to be said for ‘normalising’ ideas the more we talk about them, then Brisbane curator and publisher Monique Van Dijk wants to chat in lengths about depression in women. She’s just announced the call-out campaign for her Blue Like You e-book project and is calling for 100 brave women aged 15 to 35 and living with depression to tell their stories in a candid way and match their words with real names and photos. It sounds pretty daunting but Monique will be part of the project too because she’s dealt with depression for more than five years, and she’s not alone – depression is now the third most common cause of illness in women. She’s ready to talk about it now but for a long time she pretended everything was fine, even to her closest friends and her family. ““I finally got to the point where I realised that dealing with it by myself just wasn’t working,” Monique points out in her Blue Like You call-out. “For me, seeking professional help was hideously confronting but it definitely worth it. It was such a relief to talk about my depression and actually discover how common it is. I used to think that I was abnormal, weak and lazy but I have learnt that acknowledging mental illness doesn’t mean there is something wrong with me, in fact it has allowed me to feel OK about myself for the first time in years.” The more Monique talks about it, the more she finds other women sharing their stories and feeling a huge burden lifted by just being honest about their experiences. If you’re ready to help lead the way to making depression as commonly discussed as gluten allergies and knee reconstructions, then now might be the time to tell your story. The website will be up and running soon so stay tuned for more details but in the meantime you can get in touch by emailing monique.vandijk@mac.com
success in a bubble
With each opening of a new door, fresh and exciting opportunities appear. For Honia Lipinski, she may have just crashed through the door that contains her dreams. Recently winning the talent discovery, The Bubble presented by General Pants Co., Honia will now be commissioned to have her work published in well known magazines, displayed in the highly recognised clothing store, General Pants and have her very own exhibition supported by mentors of The Bubble. Having competed against hundreds of photographers, writers, artists in all mediums, filmmakers, musicians, designers and graphic designers, it is clear that Honia has the support of the artistic community to take her photography to the next level. Continue reading ’success in a bubble’
I’m not saying that toolbelts are only for men – women can wear them too. But, from a young age in a boy’s life, a plastic tool belt is essential to partnering dad’s DIY project just as a young girl’s fake plastic kitchen complements mum’s real kitchen. Seemingly, the wearing of a toolbelt is something that the majority of young girls and women have missed out on. Susie Brown, the founder of eco-fashion label susiemaroon, has taken this matter into her own hands and designed a toolbelt for women. Her spanner, plier, saw and hammer toolbelts are beautifully crafted leather adornments that sit high on the waist. The leather Susie uses has been sourced from a family run Scottish tannery that specialises in tanning wild deer skin sourced from Scottish game dealers monitored closely by the Scottish Deer Commission. A waist-wide stitched tool appears on the back of the belt to aptly give another take on the traditional tool belt.
48 hour shirts
via Murketing: The people and companies who try to sell you things routinely draw upon psychological research into human behaviour in order to position their goods more effectively. The 48-Hour T-Shirt Project does the same thing – but makes puts this research in the foreground. Murketing, in collaboration with Savannah College of Art and Design, are presenting a series of T-shirts which are designed around actual academic research on consumer behaviour (relating to mimicry, false consensus, pricing). It’s a lesson in consumer behaviour that you can consume. Ironic? Hypocritical? Or … fiendishly clever?
paper rings
The traditional gift for a first wedding anniversary is paper, which may feel fairly limiting to some. A card, a letter, a gift voucher or books are all viable options. But what about a ring? Product designer Tithi Kutchamuch and jewellery designer Nutre Arayavanish met while studying at the Royal College of Art in London and have collaborated under the name of TT:NT to create a range of laser-cut, fold-out paper jewellery. Printed on textured white paper, the rings come in flat sheets, for the user to assemble at home. The two ranges include ‘all year rings’, which come in a sheet of twelve and allow the user to create a new ring for every month of the year. ‘Birthday rings’ are flower-shaped paper rings that can be folded into the shape of the user’s birth month flower. While it won’t be the most expensive ring you’ll ever own, it’s a fun way to engage in the act of jewellery wearing.
Li Xiaofeng is a Chinese artist that makes clothing by stitching together pieces of China dishware. The piece above is priced at $85,000, but considering the artist uses China dating back to the Qing Dynasty this price is justifiable. Using only shards of China, Li Xiaofeng is able to construct beautifully shaped clothing out of a solid material, which can actually be worn. I’m not sure if you would be able to sit down in this dress but these images show how striking the garments are when worn. This is a magnificent display of craftsmanship and excellence in design. I can’t imagine how much planning and time goes into something like this!
