Today, she is still considered to be the ‘Empress of fashion’. As the 20th century’s most formidable arbiter elegantiarum who pre-dates the likes of Anna Wintour, Diana Vreeland’s life was that of the utmost Rakishness. An editor of influence and inspiration, with many movies attempting to adapt her persona (see Maggie Prescott in 1959’s Funny Face), countless women have tried to fill her shoes. The Devil wears what now?
Tag: fashion
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Chopard’s Happy Diamonds
Since 1976, Happy Diamonds have been joyfully lighting up the eponymous creations from Chopard. Over the years, the famous moving diamonds have been staged through a myriad of a precious and joyful watch and jewellery creations. To mark their 40th birthday, Chopard is revisiting the iconic model in which they were first introduced.
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Bejewelled Imperialism | Balmain PFW
Olivier Rousteing’s penchant for theatricality did not go amiss this Paris Fashion Week, where menswear reigned supreme in jewel encrusted military overcoats and tailcoats. Thus creating a new generation of pop culture defined army from Balmain, with added glittering elements from the archives. Lest we forget, this was once Michael Jackson’s choice of designer, pre-Rousteing.
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Skater Boy | Dior Homme PFW
Upon reflection of Dior Homme’s Autumn/Winter ’16 collection, I have experienced a sense of nostalgia for my teenage days of trying to dress alternatively as an ’emo punk’ (we’ve all been there). This season saw those misguided attempts at stuffing safety-pins through the ears and elevated the look for a more sophisticated and grown-up aesthetic.
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London Calling | Paul Smith PFW
The Autumn/Winter ’16 show, set at the Bourse du Commerce at Paris Fashion Week, gave the British audience a slightly homesick wave no doubt, with an opening of ‘London Is the Place for Me’ by Lord Kitchener and featured a typically moddish collection with the signature ‘Classic on the outside, yet crazy on the inside’ – the inside referring to the brightly coloured or patterned lining of suit jackets.
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Interview with Alessandro Sartori
I went to Berluti HQ in Paris to chat with Berluti’s then Creative Director Alessandro Sartori…
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Desert Rangers | Berluti PFW
Rugged, couture clothing for the travelling man; The Rake presents its initial impressions from the Berluti catwalk show at Paris Fashion Week…
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Cheshire’s Grin
Known for having been genetically blessed with the sharpest cheekbones in Britain, Oliver Cheshire turns on the boyish charm, showcasing his sartorial finesse.
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Dior Homme: Suit Genealogy
Founded in 2001, the Dior Homme suit atelier calls on the incomparable savoir-faire of Italian craftsmen recognized the world over…
Located in Northern Italy and developed through a close collaboration between the Parisian design studios, Dior Homme creative director Kris Van Assche works from the sketches of each Dior Homme suit initiating five weeks of work.
An exclusive choice of fabrics are presented with hand cutting, and then hand sewn to ensure high quality traditional animal fiber interlining sewn, intricate pressing of the shoulder line, invisible holding stitches, top collar insertion following long-held rules, reverse seams and buttons sewn by hand, constant quality control.
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Meeting Julie Verhoeven
As part of the British Library’s ‘Spring Festival’ event, Julie Verhoeven came in to talk about her career as a fashion illustrator and the piece she made for the event. So naturally, as a huge Julie Verhoeven fan (so much so, I misplaced my talents in fashion illustration while studying at college!) I came to visit her talk and was surprised by how how humble and slightly bashful she was as a person despite her success!
Julie addressed this as she sat down to a group of us, mentioning she didn’t fare well when it comes to expressing herself through speech and that she prefers to communicate through her work of illustration, art and bold colours which make her happy. She also mentions her love of libraries, not for reading though, rather to people watch as she finds how people dress and carry themselves is most interesting and this inspired the artwork behind the ‘Spring Festival’ artwork.
While speaking, Julie covered the floor of the room with objects and visual references which she has held onto since the late 1970’s such as vinyl record covers, Misty comics, magazines, garments and books which were all unsurprisingly brightly coloured and psychedelic – making it into her own chaotic canvas or mood board, revealing aspects of her own personality.
She then goes onto say how there are different people she want’s to be over time, sometimes an art director, sometimes a fashion illustrator but right now she thinks of herself as an artist, moving away from the early doll faced fashion illustrations and onto more collaborative projects to do with videos and installations- showing us a commission she did last year for Chloé (one of my most favourite fashion labels):
With all her different collaborations, Julie said one in particular – Louis Vuitton from Spring/Summer 2002 was quite unbelievable, so much so infact that when Marc Jacobs personally called her, she thought it was a joke! She also said she would love to one day work with Karl Lagerfeld, having been inspired by his work he did under the house of Chloé in the 70’s- I can see that would be an amazing cross-over on either the Chanel accessories or the Karl Lagerfeld ready-to-wear, fingers crossed!
I also got to ask her what her favourite project had been so far, she replied saying the Versace project from Spring/Summer 2009 as it was ‘just very surreal being in the same room as Donatella!’ and the fact she had to take a hammer to the Versace china ware to create a mosaic panel for print design:
Julie talked about her early years of ‘grafting’ under John Galliano in the 90’s where she worked hard every day from 12 hours a day all for free (sound familiar?) and her old school friend in the room piped up to say Galliano had passed off all Julie’s illustrations she had done for him as his own(!) – queue dramatic gasps resounding from the room.
It was a very informal and relaxed talk just how she wanted it to be and I was so happy to have finally met this amazing woman who despite her success and what she had to do to overcome her hardships, she remains a very down to earth and friendly person.
p.s. Here’s a couple of my most loved Julie Verhoeven illustrations – I am still partial to the early fashion illustrations which inspired me throughout college:
Les Quatre Elément. Numero Magazine, May 2002
Fat Bottomed Girls ‘Television Personalities’ Part Time Punk, 2002
Sufiyeh 