Vionnet: celebrating 100th anniversary. The collection, the book and the movie

In 1912 a new fashion house opened its doors at 222 Rue de Rivoli. That very year Madeleine Vionnet, the founder of Maison Vionnet, introduce the world to the bias cut - one of the most body loving shapes that was later favoured by most couture houses. Since then the house was formally closed in 1939 and then revived in 2006.

This autumn, just a few days ago, the House of Vionnet celebrated its 100th anniversary. There were a lavish party, a specially designed demi-couture 20 piece collection and a short movie directed by Alessandro Possati and inspired by Isadora Duncan who was Vionnet’s muse in the 1920s.

This November we will also be treated to a new book, Madeleine Vionnet by Issey Miyake and Betty Kirke – a scrumptious special edition hard-cover volume containing over 400 photos, sketches and patterns as well as a beautiful story about the designer herself.

Photo source: vogue.com

Latest fashion news and finds

Early morning, cup of matcha that I’ve recently become addicted to and made a part of my morning, my little boy is napping before his walk and I have a few minutes for blogging and sharing some of the most exciting news and fashion finds.

At first I wanted to blog about each of them separately, but at the end decided to combine and serve as a fashion salad – better for both time and space management and using as a quick reference in the future.

Lets begin with a new fantastic and very precious documentary that is due to be released on DVD in September. “The Eye Has To Travel” is a story about one of the most influential women who created fashion of the 20th century, the one and only Diana Vreeland. The title of the movie is the same as the book that was published in 2011. I would love to get both of them – nothing can replace a beautiful book, but having a fashion documentary to go with it is a dream come true for any fashion lover. Make your calendars or pre-order your copy via amazon.

From September (oh, doesn’t it sound like a very special month?!) you will also be able to order a set of fashion books titled “Vogue On...” that cover four fashion designers including Chanel, Dior, Schiaparelli and McQueen. I feel I am going to be broke by October…

A new Valentino exhibition, “Master of Couture” will open at Somerset House in November 2012. For three months, from 29 November until 3 March, we will be given an opportunity to see over 130 dresses, including Jackie Kennedy Onassis' 1968 wedding dress, created by maestro during his 50-year career. If this seems like a long wait, I’d recommend watching one of my favourite documentaries, Valentino: The Last Emperor or browsing a beautiful book, Valentino, full of stunning creations.

Talking of fashion designers and their pets. Do you know that Karl’s gorgeous kitty, Choupette, has her own twitter? You can follow Choupette Lagerfeld via @ChoupettesDiary

And that’s all my news for today. Which one are you most excited about?

Photo source: Christian Dior Campaign Fall 1997

For your Christian Dior library

It’s the last day of the Christian Dior fashion week and I am going to spend it talking about some of the best books and documentaries that would make a great addition to any fashion library. The most frustrating thing about fashion literature is that many books do not ever get published twice, so once the moment is gone, it’s very difficult to acquire a decent copy.

Whenever it comes to making the right choice, I tend to go for the titles that allow me to learn more about a person himself rather than his fashions. Although the designs and collections are indeed important and incredibly fascinating to study, it is the life and mind of a designer that I am most interested it because, lets face it, this is the best way to understand the magic behind each dress or accessory way beyond the beautiful facade.

Dior by Dior is a must-have. Written by Christian Dior himself, this book provides some valuable insides into his life and creative process. If you savour it, you will also come across some of the most wonderful quotes.

Dior by Alexandra Palmer is on top of my list for the amount of details and information it provides. It’s incredibly well researched and accompanied by beautiful images and documents from the house archives.

Christian Dior: The Biography by Marie-France Pochna is like a beautifully written novel that you can read in bed and lose yourself on its pages. In a way, it reminded me of Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life by Justine Picardie – there’s something special about the melody of wording, the way the story flows and takes you away on the journey through life of an extraordinary man, not just a designer.

Dior by Farid Chenoune is still on my wish list as the best book for beautiful images and details of the dresses created during the 60-year history of the house.

Christian Dior - The Man Behind The Myth is a documentary that includes a lot of the original footage and interviews. You can watch the trailer on youtube.

Photo source: personal

The little black jacket

“The Chanel jacket symbolises a timelessly fashionable form of nonchalant feminine elegance: it belongs to every era.”

Karl Lagerfeld

The story of the little black jacket continues… This time – with a  beautiful book The Little Black Jacket, a part of the project celebrating the Chanel classic that accompanies an exhibition opening in Tokyo this month. Styled by Carine Roitfeld and photographed by Karl Lagerfeld, the chic edition is a must have for any Chanel admirer.

Perfect wardrobe according to Yves Saint Laurent

“The great change came when I discovered my own style… It was with the tuxedo jacket and the transparent blouse. I became conscious of the body and began dialogue with women, began to understand better what a modern woman wants.”

Yves Saint Laurent

The idea of un type parfait, or the perfect garment, was first explained by Yves Saint Laurent in 1978 during his interview with John Helpbern. The rule was simple: to design a type of garment, whether it is a blouse or a pair of trousers, that would encourage women to build the rest of their wardrobe around them, so she wouldn’t have to constantly change her wardrobe, but instead – update it with a few new items designed around the same basic prototype. His perfect never-go-out-of-style wardrobe was very minimalistic, but showed how a garment from 1962 could live in a happy visual harmony with something designed in 1968.

Pea jacket was a part of Spring 1962 collection. It looked like a feminine, softened version of a sailor’s jacket. With a widened cut and luxurious navy wool fabric, it was still a couture piece, but its functionality and gilt buttons make is feel more realistic. It could be worn with white sweater and trousers for a chic day time look or, in a slightly altered cut, combined with red, white or blue sequined dresses and a few accessories - for an afternoon out.

Tunic’s role was to lengthen the figure and hide the hips and fit to more or less every figure. It was a perfect accompaniment for long wide trousers. The look was adopted by millions of women all over the world.

Trench coat. Originally designed for Autumn/Winter 1962 collection, the coat was inspired by a garment worn by officers during WWI. Always short, above the knee, the Yves Saint Lauren’s version was made either of gabardine or navy blue jersey. The trench was immortalised after Catherine Deneuve wore the black version of the coat in Belle de Jour movie in 1966.

Loose-fitting blouse. The very first smock featured in Autumn/Winter 1962 collection was described as “a peasant’s shirt reworked as a flannel tunic that hung over the hips, creating a tubular effect.” The blouse was one of the most favourite Saint Laurent’s garments and was seen throughout his work in various forms.

Tuxedo (le smoking). An truly iconic piece that took the way women dress to a completely new level, a must-have and something everyone awaited to see at each fashion show, from 1966 to 2002. Saint Laurent used traditional men’s tailoring in a completely new way. His technique is what made the final design so unique and impossible to copy by other couturiers – something they tried on numerous occasions.

It was such a big hit, but also a very controversial design. For the first time, women wore trousers showing that they had rights and opinions. According to Maime Arnodin, a Parisian art director, “…wearing trousers at the time was absolutely revolutionary. Elle magazine run article after article on Yves Saint Laurent and his smokings, but it wouldn’t let its own journalists wear trousers to work. And Yves’s trousers were so beautiful.” Laurent Bacall said of Yves Saint Laurent trousers: “Of course, it’s Saint Laurent. If it’s pants, it’s Yves.”

The stilleto heel and dramatic jewellery were the perfect finishing touches whenever tuxedo was worn.

Safari jacket was a part of “a safari outfit” featured in the summer 1966 collection inspired by Saint Laurent trips to Morocco. The iconic piece was designed  to appear in the July-August 1968 issue of Vogue magazine in an editorial featuring Veruschka photographed by Franco Rubartelli.

Jumpsuit. The most functional of them all, the one-piece pantsuit was inspired by uniforms of aviators and first shown during Spring 1968 collection. Saint Laurent often returned to this design giving it different looks, making it look like a second skin or baggy and varying the length and shape of the bottom part, from tuxedo inspired trousers to shorts with a drawstring belt.

Based on Yves Saint Laurent by Farid Chenoune

Photo sources: ?, Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Fall 1977 Campaign, Harper’s Bazaar US December 1996, Vogue US July/August 1968

Manolo Blahnik’s fashion fairytale and GIVEAWAY

On 21 November a second Camilla Morton’s book, Manolo Blahnik's the Elves and the Shoemaker: A Fashion Fairytale, was finally available. Of course, I had to order it not only because I’ve already got the first fairy tale, but because I simply wanted to own this very special and beautifully illustrated edition – it felt like living a magical moment all over again, going on an exciting journey with Manolo Blahnik, see his memories come alive and learning about yet another amazing person who made a huge impact on fashion history.

Now, the confession part: I bought two books. One – for me to keep, and the other one – to give one of you as a pre-Christmas present. If you like the sound of it, all you have to do is to leave a relevant comment under this post and be a follower of Fashioned by Love via Google FriendConnect (button on the bottom of this page) or Facebook.

The giveaway is open worldwide. The winner will be announced on 6 December 2011. Good luck!

Photo source: Manolo Blahnik's the Elves and the Shoemaker: A Fashion Fairytale

How to have the most beautiful skin at any age

“Approaching your daily skincare routine with enthusiasm will make  a much greater difference than blindly spending a fortune on cosmetics.”

Chizu Saeki

Back in 2009 I have discovered The Japanese Skincare Revolution, a beauty book that became my skin care bible. Written by Chizu Saeki, a woman in her 60s who has beautiful skin and very few wrinkles, this slimline edition is based on the beauty secrets that Japanese women used for centuries and offers advice on every aspect of skin care you can think of, from daily beauty routines adapted for different seasons and skin types, to emergency remedies both for special events and repairing specific skin problems, to facial exercises and lymphatic massages that you can DIY in a comfort of your own bathroom. Every chapter contains precious and very detailed instructions and plenty of photographs whether she is talking about her signature moisturising “lotion mask” or daily face cleansing.

Even though Chizu herself spent many years running her own beauty salon and working for Guerlain and Christian Dior, her method is very down-to-earth: “This is something you can do at home, with what you have around you.”

Can’t recommend it highly enough.

Photo source: Vogue Japan May 2011

Donatella

“Donatella’s strength is that she makes everything she touches something modern.”

Gianni Versace

Donatella was crying, “I miss my brother so much. I’ve never felt so overwhelmed in all my life.” Her very first show that had to be completed just 3 months after Gianni’s death was over. It was a mish-mash of fabrics, textures and ideas, but at least she did it. Her brother was gone and she was the one who had to move the house forward and become its creative force.

Gianni Versace’s sister was born on 2 May 1955, a much-awaited and cherished replacement for her dead sister, Tinuccia. Despite an old Calabrian tradition of giving family names to the newborns, the little girl was called Donatella, which meant “gift” (from Italian “dono”).

For Gianni, Donatella wasn’t just a refuge and his little sister. She truly became his confidante and companion. Just like her older brother, she soon became interested in fashion.

After finishing her studies, she’d rush downstairs to spend as much time in her mother’s boutique as possible, playing with make-up and trying on new clothes. Every time Gianni went shopping for the boutique, he’d bring cases full of fashionable clothes that he thought would suit his sister. By the time she was twenty, Donatella had a dream wardrobe filled with designer pieces.

After graduating Donatella decided to study languages in the University of Florence, but as soon as she moved there in 1973, Gianni began pestering her to visit him in Milan, so that he could show her his new designs. Weekends spent with her brother became longer and longer until one day, in 1978,when she moved in with Gianni permanently. The move happened following their mother’s death, which brought the siblings even closer.

While Gianni continued developing his personal style, Donatella become more and more indispensable to him. Not only Gianni was inspired by his sisters’ style and her ability to mix glamorous and edgy clothes, but he used her as a ticker to the world of women, so he could better understand what they want to achieve through fashion and design the clothes to suit.

She always knew what and who was in and out and was the first one to recognise an importance of celebrity-fashion connection. Becoming a celebrity herself, she’d appear at the hottest parties in Milan, New York and LA making contacts and charming celebrities by sending them the latest designs and invitations to the shows and parties at their family house. The Versace became celebrity central with VIPs at the front row of Versace fashion shows and Versace campaigns. Donatella made a start of a new culture, but this was just the beginning. Her next move was inspired by celebrities of a different kind. The models. In the late 1980s Donatella decided to book the most beautiful editorial models including Christy, Linda and Naomi for their fashion show. An era of a supermodel has began.

She continued working with Gianni on every collection often changing his final designs to make them more sensual and modern. Versace also let her set up the children’s line, Young Versace and work on her own diffusion line, Versus that she designed and launched in 1989. She also supervised most of the Versace campaigns working as a stylist and coming up with the most incredible ideas and locations.

Professionally, Donatella’s contribution was enormous, however, her creative injections would always begin with an idea. And the idea would always belong to her brother. Without the idea, nothing else were possible.

For a long time following Gianni’s death Donatella felt like an imposter, struggling to remember everything she learnt from her brother, discover her strength and develop essential skills. She had to be fast because fashion critics didn’t want to wait for ages or take into account all the problems and the tragedy she had to deal with.

She survived and emerged as a designer who is able to keep the Versace magic going. And although Gianni might criticise a thing or two, he would definitely be very proud of his little sister.

Photo sources: Versace (Fashion Memoir) and House of Versace: The Untold Story of Genius, Murder, and Survival

References: as above, Love #3, 100 Contemporary Fashion Designers (25) and Gianni Versace: Fashion's Last Emperor

Weekend sign off

This week’s been like a box of liquorice. All sorts. So here’s a summary of all the good bits.

Watched a few fashion shows streamed live, each was a precious moment in time. Finally saw “A little bit of heaven”, cried and thought that it was Kate Hudson’s best role so far. A couple of days ago read about a new fairy tale book that Viktor & Rolf are launching next month. Pre-ordered my copy of Fairy Tales as soon as I could. Fell in love with a few dresses from spring collections and discovered a new label (tomorrow’s post). Also wanted to remind you that next week is dedicated to a certain designer and I have a feeling my choice might surprise you. Chose the above photo to accompany my notes simply because I adore Barbara Palvin and this particular photo.

Today I’m planning to write, walk, relax, browse the latest collections from Milan fashion week and spend some quality time with my little family.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Always yours,

Photo source: Elle France September 2011

100 contemporary fashion designers

“You can say that designing is quite easy; the difficulty lies in finding a new way to explore beauty.”

Yohji Yamamoto

I’ve been wanting 100 contemporary fashion designers book for a very long time and finally it’s mine. The 7kg special edition arrived last week and made me feel very happy and inspired, indeed.

“Be true to what you believe in and follow your passions.”

Giorgio Armani

The book itself is gorgeous and consists of two volumes nesting inside a beautiful folder. Written by Terry Jones, the founder and creative director of i-D magazine, it is packed with probably the most comprehensive and detailed list and information about designers who are making history of the 21st century fashion from Alaia, Armani and Ackermann to Alexander Wang, Yamamoto and Dries Van Noten.

“There is nothing more attractive than a woman who values her uniqueness.”

Donna Karan

Each chapter includes a one-page bio in English, German and French that covers the designer and the brand, followed by an interview that opens a window into the designer’s mind, philosophy and inspirations and becomes sort of a story itself. We also get a chance to see stunning editorial images and a few outfits from fashion shows.

“Beauty is something coming from the inside; it is a reflection of personality.”

Roberto Cavalli

I was particularly happy (and had a lump of tears in my throat at the same time) to see  pages dedicated to Alexander McQueen and John Galliano.

“I am here to make people dream, to seduce them into buying beautiful clothes and to strive to make amazing clothing to the best of my ability. That is my duty.”

John Galliano

This really is a must-have book for anyone who loves fashion and want to learn more about the designers whose names are currently on the lips of many fashionistas and pages of fashion magazines and yet their stories are still very minimalistic compared to the fashion classics of Chanel, Dior and Yves Saint Laurent.

A real pleasure to browse and read and a treasure to own.

“I believe in style, not fashion.”

Ralph Lauren

Available on Amazon

All quotes are taken from the book, photographs and quotes may not belong to the same designer

Photo source: cover photo via Taschen, other photographs of the book pages are taken by me

Fashion Babylon

It’s been ages since I wrote a post about one of my favourite fashion-related books, so it’s time to fill in the gap.

I picked Fashion Babylon back in 2006 after reading Hotel Babylon, which I really liked. Written by British author and journalist Imogen Edwards-Jones and Anonymous, Fashion Babylon is a witty and easy-to-read-impossible-to-put-down novel that sounds more like a daily dairy of a London fashion designer.

According to Edwards-Jones her top three sources were “all very high profile and very much at the top of the fashion world” with one of them working in Vogue.

It’s a must read if you crave all the gossip and facts behind glamorous facade of the fashion industry, want to hear stories about IT bags and people, where and when you need to be if you dream of becoming the next top model, how much your favourite Chanel perfume really cost, and that vintage isn’t just a pretty dress from the past and cabbage isn’t just a crunchy vegetable.

The things you discover aren’t something a fashion insider would just share with you, unless, of course, you are best mates, so Fashion Babylon really is a great book for all the mere mortals (including yours truly) with insatiable curiosity for fashion.

Photo source: Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2011 via Facebook (photoshoped by me and not in any way related to the content of the book)