2009

 

The photo says it all. But is it the right message? Thoughts to ponder as we enter a new year.

- AP

Printemps

 

Continue shopping.

- AP

Sphinx: Utterances A19-A21

A19: Uranus, Uranium, Urania, Ur; god/planet, element, muse, city.
A20: Architect-couturiers and couturier-architects are the next wave of hyphenates.
A21: The return of cloth

Future Themes

Things uncovered while walking:

1. Be prepared to see a lot more of this word: quantum.

2. A note on the "R" word and major magazines: consumers are not stupid. While I infamously once said that the "best style happens during recessions", this does not mean that consumers (read: discerning consumers) are looking for the best options "for less." It is time to pursue style with a renewed vigor.

3. The other "R" word: retail. Adieu!

4. Time, Money, Essence, Elements and Perception: these words may mean very different things in 10 years - particularly in relation to each other.

5. Cut, Color and Clarity: these terms will apply to many more items than gemstones.

To Prorogue, or Not

While we tend to avoid politics at the Paris Copy, the recent use of the word "prorogue" in Canadian media piqued our interest. If you are looking for the details as to why Canadian media are suddenly asking the question whether to prorogue or not, we suggest you go to the following sites:

- http://www.cbcnews.ca
- http://www.radio-canada.ca

What is fascinating is that this archaic French word has survived the centuries to describe a potential moment in Canadian history.

- AP

Monocle in Berlin

Monocle: December 08/January 09 (issue 19, volume 2)
In particular, please refer to page 154.

Of course there is KaDaWe. Please see the 6/23/08 post of the Paris Copy - it's nice to know who else is on the wavelength.

- AP

Time for "Change"

Europeans still know that a coin doesn't automatically mean change from paper money. That's the cryptic statement for this Tuesday.

The Internal Compass

This inlaid mother-of-pearl design says it all, but in a way that perhaps would make Delphic oracles of old smile in appreciation.

Direction in a field of multi-changing possibilities: this is the challenge every designer faces when building a collection. Only the "inner sense" can guide when all appears relative.

- AP

Fashion Defensive

Just a reminder that élan can be found in any circumstance.

- AP

Sphinx: Utterances A16-A18

A16: The Fashion Shamans are on their way. They are already used to ridicule.

A17: Pauline Trigère.

A18: Luminous wigwams are only 250 years away. Past? Yes. Future?

Classical Power

 

Just a note from the Pages of History -

Power likes Greco-Roman attire

For those in the U.S./Etats-Unis, there is no need to tell you what day it is.

- AP

Alex Light

In D.V., the great Mrs. Vreeland once wrote about light and color in different parts of the world. This is light of Alexandria, Egypt. A clearer light than Cairo, and warmer than Paris.

It is a light that is of the Orient and the Occident - which is a rare thing indeed.

- AP

Cairo Style

There's a certain flair in this photo - if you note all the details. After all the collections of the past several weeks, it will take time to digest and truly process what were the key items of the season. It can be oh so fun to make the quick, off the cuff remark about "key trends" of the moment.

But it's really not about the moment, is it?

Mahatma G.

 

If you've been keeping up with fashion, then you know that we've had New York, London and Milan. We're now having Paris. For all the inventive, wonderful clothes for SS 09 / PE 09 (and there have been some stellar items), somehow the style of "Mahatma G" strikes an ever-present counterbalance. This statue of him is in Washington, DC.

- AP

Prada/The Flower

 

Call it the curse of Gutenberg...literate peoples tend to forget the magic not of words, but of sound with meaning...flower is one example for English-speakers.

Think about it: flow-er. An ordinary word can have very deep associations.

Why do I mention this? Because fashion isn't necessarily about the style of the moment. "Fashion" can mean everything that humans make - from pottery to clothing, to even the ideas we choose to hold. But those "fashion moments" which seem - sometimes like a crack high - to come less and less as we see more and more collections make one wonder: what are we really after each season?

So, ponder the recent Prada collection with all its reported "missteps" and one may be able to see that there is a bigger message than just the key item, the "must-have" of the season. There are deep associations in the collection.

A bit roundabout, but Prada got it right, for so many seemingly wrong reasons.

- AP

The Miro

 

This is the last photograph from my series in Chicago. This sculpture by Miro doesn't get as much attention as the Calder, Picasso, or Chagall that populate the political/financial center of Chicago.

There is something rather Carthaginian about it...both modern sculpture and ancient totem at once.

Future Fashion: Men

It is almost a certainty: pants will not be the only option available to Western men. Lately, there has been talk about Marc Jacobs during the New York shows - yes, Mr. Jacobs appeared in what has been various referred to as a skirt, kilt, skort...you get the picture: clearly not pants.

Initial resistance is to be expected...something on the order of what the late Nan Kempner experienced in the 1960s when wearing a YSL pantsuit. Let me be clear: menswear is indeed changing. It won't be the revolution, we all won't be wearing the new fashion - but for those who will, enjoy it while it lasts.

- AP

Lighter Times

We are currently in a transition. A focus on lightness can ease anxiety. A fashion thought for next season.

- AP

When Giorgio Met Yves

There was a quick trendspotting note online from the New York Times: the number of hommages to YSL.

For those who seek YSL's aesthetic, it is probably best to study the 1977-1983 period of Armani. Fashion sometimes has a very short memory, but Armani was one of the first to take YSL's suit proportions and free them up - inside and out.

It's all very nice to be reverential to the master, but as Lagerfeld can tell you, it does not make for good fashion.

Sphinx: New Utterance (Hors Serie)

This just in: Marc Jacobs bridged the ancient/future chasm in menswear. The skirt is now the revolution.

Cairo Shops

 

Shops such as these do not sell designer wares, to be sure. But they do offer fashion at the lowest levels. These places are some of the last stops for trends.

- AP

Picasso in Chicago

 

How many cities have a sculpture by Picasso sitting within a town square of any sort?
In the next few decades, will Chicago have to place this work in its own glass case? The similarity between this square (known as Daley Plaza) and the Piazza della Signoria in Florence may be a bit of a stretch, but the connection is there.

- AP

Flip Flops

 

That's how these things are known in America: flip flops. The thong sandal is one of the most enduring forms of clothing; examples exist in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, albeit a bit more eco-friendly. Those ancient examples, made from papyrus reeds, show a sophistication of workmanship that astounds in our age of mass replication and production.

You should know now that many of our future trends look to ancient models for inspiration. Why do you think we use a stylus or have the ability to "scroll" through digital media? Similarly, the ancient civilizations were ultimately much greener than we.

While we may not all end up in robes and togas, flip flops signify a continuum...and a likely revisit to sensibilities that are now awakening once again.

- AP

The Future Past

Here is Cairo behind the busy boulevards. The city is a curious mixture of progress and decay - as all cities are in their individual ways. This is just a moment in this 1039 year old city.

- AP

Muse at Work

 

Ah, if it were only as easy as this statue group suggests! Muses may provide the vision, but they never do the work!

This does not apply to fashion muses, however. Their entire way of life, their being, must be inspiration.

And that is more difficult than working.

- AP

Bonn?

Once there was city called Bonn...

Of course the city still exists, but no one ever speaks of it. Hamburg, sure. Munich, of course. Frankfurt and Cologne, on occasion. Berlin, without question.

Bonn's brief moment as the capital of West Germany has done nothing to keep the city in the spotlight.

Yes, yes, Bonn is the birthplace of Beethoven, and for that, the city will always have a place in history.

Places like Bonn fascinate me: not great cities like London or Paris, but capable, every so often, to produce contributions to the world.

And then the quiet sets in again...

- AP

Fashion Magazines

I am amazed sometimes when I look through fashion magazines. Sometimes everything looks the same, no matter if the publication is French, English, American or Greek.

And sometimes, there is such differences of editorial opinion!

The next time you have a stack of magazines at your disposal (whether they come in the mail, or just browsing at your favorite bookstore), see how many trends converge. Or differ. What do you like or abhor?

- AP

The Water Tower

 

It seems that every major city has a tower of some kind. One of my favorites is the Water Tower in Chicago. It's a functional building that became a monument, thanks to the Great Fire of 1871. And it's one of the few that is completely accessible to pedestrians. Note the stone work involved here - at a time when most of Chicago was made from timber. It's almost a hint of the great "schools of architecture" that Chicago would produce.

- AP

Not Place Vendôme

Actually, this is Monument Square in Baltimore, and this column happens to be the first monument to George Washington. The resemblance to Napoleon's Column in the Place Vendôme is rather striking.

Fashion, whether in clothing, food, or architecture always has the ability to move. It's that mobility of trends from one place to another that in part gives fashion its power.

- AP

Sphinx: Utterances #223-#225

#223: Too tight with too loose will be the new play of silhouette for the next five years.

#224: Supersonic travel must return to the available options for travel, not just transport.

#225: Disaster fashion will be an unfortunate outcome among populations that may never be covered by major media outlets.

Sphinx: Utterances #220-#222

#220: The robe defies the rise and fall of civilizations.

#221: The spirit of the classical world has returned. But who will recognize it?

#222: The next return of gothic clothing should well remember that the Middle Ages were a time of illumination.

Sphinx: Utterance #219 - Important

#219: The era of the fashion designer is over. We will all become fashion designers. There will only be companies that can produce the designs of our choosing.

This is not new, but a return to the days before Charles Frederick Worth.

Sphinx: Utterances #216-#218

#216: Bottle-green velvet and gold-thread messenger bags can lend an air of the 17th century.

#217: Tel Aviv. But not Jerusalem.

#218: Salvador (Bahia) is a pool of cultural potential that may bloom once more beyond Brazil.

Sphinx Week: Utterances #213-#215

Welcome to a Week of the Sphinx - utterances on the future of fashion and culture...

- AP


#213: Translucent damask is suitable for St. Barts.

#214: Totemism is bound for a renaissance in jewellery.

#215: Let the chopine return during the Venice Carnivale.

Sphinx: Utterances #210-#212

#210: Fragrances will make the transition from scents to homeopathic compositions.

#211: A "future index" of nations will be established. They will find that Canada is ahead of the U.S. by 8-10 years. South Korea is ahead by 20.

#212: Parisians will let go of Haute Couture in favor of Creation.

Alex Outside

 

To some eyes, it is no more than a jumble of clutter. To others, it is joyful clutter. How do you see, and why? Think about this the next time you open up your favorite fashion magazine and either frown or smile at the "impossible" clothes.

- AP

Black Orchids

 

They're not really black, of course. Sometimes fashion has to do something exaggerated to make an impact, if not quite a statement.

The next time you stare in disbelief at one more Galliano-designed collection, remember that often times fashion is about possibility. Fashion has to exist outside the cultural restrictions/conventions of what is wearable. Or appropriate.

- AP

Comfort/Sportif

 

The Fort of Qait Bey is the backdrop, not the focus, for today. Here are residents (mainly students) and tourists (mostly retired). Here we have differences in age, nationality, and purpose for being at this location indicated through clothing.

In sum: obvious comfort on one hand, and "le sportif" on the other.

In particular: the sweater detail on the right. Too many geometric elements, perhaps, yet there is something very cool about it...something that can yield inspiration.

For those who obsess over haute couture, take heed: North Africa is YSL-land.

- AP

Like Marc Chagall

 

No commentaries on this mosaic or of Chagall's complete body of work - we're not in Art History class.

But one can't help but get a floating quality to Chagall. Dare we call it dreamy?

It's a kind of quality that happens in haute couture as well - a dress appears (always from the flou workshops) and the lightness, the flow...it's like a Chagall!

- AP