Not just for your aesthetically pleasing exterior, but for who you really are, deep on the inside: A neatly-labeled, enamel-coated, plastic model. See? We do know you. So, please love us back, subscribe to our RSS FEED or share the avant guardian with a friend or lover. Pretty pretty pretty please.
H&M unleashed its latest collaboration on the world on Saturday: Comme des Garçons x H&M. The Harajuku and Ginza stores in Tokyo were the first to receive the line, which dedicated connoisseurs waited in line up to five days for (in the rain, no less). Kawakubo says, “The first reaction from the customers is beyond our expectations. Comme des Garçons’ spirit together with H&M’s commercial sense seems to work very well.” Hmmm. Making genius designs available at reasonable prices sells well? Wow. That Comme des Garçons has a cult following among the, ahem, underclass comes as no surprise to me. I, for one, have been waiting to be able to afford my own Kawakubo since I was a teenager. H&M describes the collection as “very wearable, featuring her deconstructed tailored garments and well-cut classics in special fabrics.” One of the centerpieces of the collection is this ruffled dress jacket. If $450 seems a high price to pay, just keep in mind that a similar piece at CDG would run you well in to the thousands. The collection debuts in America and worldwide TOMORROW, so get in line, people. American Stores carrying the line are listed below. New York Locations: 435 7th
To commemorate 10 years spent at the Grand Palais, Hermès unveiled its very own smart car. No, not just a stylish automobile, but an actual Smart Car, as in a reasonably priced, fuel efficient teeny weeny auto. Check it: I must backtrack for a moment to admit that “reasonably priced” is a relative term. The average, run-of-the-mill Smart Car costs about 12k, but this here beauty will run you ever so slightly less than 50 large. Which, to be fair, is still eminently more reasonable than this delish croc bomber from their fall/winter 08 catalog. No price is listed, but I asked at the store. $148,000. Not including tax.
On October30th, Christie’s sold off some of the finest fashion fetishes in history at their Resurrection: Avant Garde Fashion auction in Kensington. The highest bid went to this extraordinary Paco Rabanne Aluminum Tunic Dress at 25 grand. Most of the avant gardists represented were old garde: Pierre Cardin, Gaultier, Alaia, Cristobal Balenciaga, Norma Kamali, et al., with nary a word from the 21st century. Okay, there was one, a World’s End mini-crini wired skirt, a black hoop mini with yellow stars, but who cares when there’s this amazingly red circular vinyl cape. Viva la vinyl, indeed. Here we have a truly electrifying objet. Not just some dress the man made before he sold his name to all those luggage companies, but a Pierre Cardin masterpiece circa 1965. Holy space age deliciousness. And for the real tried and true fetishists, there’s nothing less than a gilt leather hood made by Sex for Malcolm McLaren of the New York Dolls. You might recognize its alter ego from the famous ‘Cambridge Rapist’ print. Other delicious take-home delights included an amazing black gauze shroud in two pieces by Rei Kawakubo (which fetched a mere 10k), a Mr.
Oh, Viktor & Rolf, how do I love thee? In an almost revolutionarily anti-elitist move, the Spring/Summer V&R show was revealed, um, online. They must have saved a bundle only just using Shalom, not to mention saving all of us the price of transatlantic airfare, posh hotels, and under-tent elbow bruises. At what price couture? No luck there, I’m afraid that’s still expensive.
For her graduation project at Central Saint Martins, Julia Hederus used inspiration from Legos in the menswear line she produced for London Fashion Week 2007. The clothes were block-shaped and glued together. She then approached K-Swiss to collaborate on a line of block fetish footwear, which debuted this fall. “Shoes are very different from clothes,” she says, “and architecture has always been a great inspiration to me in fashion. So designing trainers feels even more natural. I often imagine very complex and futuristic shapes.” The result of Julia’s fascination with blocks and architecture has resulted in sneakers that meld modernist hard edges with the soft soles of sneakers.There are three styles in the line. Cubes, a classic low-top K-Swiss with the twist of square leather tabs protruding from the shoe, is the most basic. Blocks takes the aesthetic further in a low-top with velcro closure blocks that can be added at the wearers discretion. The high-blocks are my favorite, a non-clunky, streamlined high-top with blocks velcro closure. The minimal tastefulness of the shoes is hard to resist, and their K-Swiss comfort makes it even harder. The Hederus line for K-Swiss retails for $130-$195 and is available at www.oki-ni.com.
The art and fashion worlds collided in Baton Rouge’s own Uncommon Thread Wearable Art Show. 1,500 of Louisiana’s finest attended this landmark event on October 18th at the Louisiana State Museum. Although originally intended as a conceptual competition targeting artists across all genres, it was undoubtedly the fashion event of the year for Baton Rouge. With 41 original pieces from 38 designers around Baton Rouge and the nation, Uncommon Thread showcased the best in wearable art and fashion. The brainchild of Culture Candy’s Erin Rolfs, the event was a multi-faceted, multi-media event. Strains of the ethereal Louisiana State Museum Gospel Choir were heard alongside the modern electronic set performed by DJ Otto. Sinewy dancers moved across the museum’s makeshift runway under the direction of Micaela Marchand Conor, as models paraded the intrepid creations of local and national artists. The audience pressed tightly against the limits of the walkway, with just enough room for the models to pass, tickling the noses of spectators with a peacock feather or stray bit of silk. The show kicked off with the work of Sarah Wheelcock, an electric blue evening gown with a box-shaped skirt. The piece, entitled, “Dress for a Homeless Woman”, was inspired
Grace Johnston began her college career as a fashion design student at Virginia Commonwealth University. But, she says, “I transferred out of the Fashion Design department because I felt that it limited my creative abilities. I guess I see myself more as an artist than a fashion designer, though I make clothing all the time and have since I was ten. Clothing, garments, and the body are my main focus here in the sculpture department. I want people to see clothing as art, not just something that you wear to cover yourself.” And, as the first-place winner of this year’s Uncommon Thread Wearable Art Show she did just that. The show featured two entries by Grace: “X-Travagant X-pansionism”, a snug, floor-length gown with a retractable peacock bustle inspired by Marie Antoinette, and the winner, “Curtsy: Exoskeleton”, a short, hourglass-shaped frock constructed of wooden hoops with a lifting mechanism. Though the “peacock dress”, as Grace refers to it, has won prizes in the past, the “curtsy dress” is actually an artistic mistake reworked for entry into Uncommon Thread. “I wasn’t pleased with the project,” says Johnston, “because it was just an inanimate object, not something that actually served a purpose.
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