Shopping at KaDeWe

Sometimes a quick sketch can convey more than a photograph of the real thing. For Fall, a violet satin duchesse saharienne with black wool pants. It's just a nice suit to wear this October while at KaDeWe, the department store in Berlin.

- AP

ps: the jacket is lined raspberry silk twill.

Hello Alex! Again!

 

If there is one region of the earth that shouldn't miss the opportunity to re-invent itself, it is the Mediterranean. I'm not talking about 7- or 12-day cruises, increases in tourism, and the like. To put it sharply: it is time for the re-birth of pan-Mediterranean culture. Of course, no natural re-birth happens quickly and may take hundreds of years. However, as the online review of former and future fashion, what's a few hundred years?

I won't go into too many details that are better reserved for Le Monde "Diplo" or Harper's, so here's the gist: it starts with Alex, which is how the city of Alexander, of Cleopatra, is casually called in Egypt.

There is a slight swagger, a lightness and ease that Alex represents; hopefully one can see a bit of the city's personal style here. I am not alone in being hopeful for this city. However Egypt's second city must remember that while its bigger, badder sister may have the Pyramids and the Nile, Alex is. It's as simple, as casual, as that.

Color Focus

 

Not every place in the world offers the complete color catalog from Pantone. The colors in the ad, tire rims, and shirt are all the same. In the background, one of four stone lions that were a gift from France. For a sense of place, the Nile is below street level.

If you're in Naples, what colors predominate? Tokyo? Melbourne? Gaining a quick color focus of a city isn't reserved only for professional trend forecasters or fashion editors. We all do this naturally.

- AP

Go Nomad

 

There once was a quaint debate that would repeat in travel and fashion magazines every so often: Minimal or Maximal Packing. There will always be those who travel with a sac, and those with steamer trunks. However, the time is changing in favor of quick, streamlined travel.

Imagine that you are a 27th century time traveler. What do you really need? What can you buy when you arrive?

Of course, we're talking fashionable travel.
So get a good bag. It may be expensive now, but it will always be more expensive later.

- AP

Mies + Calder

 

Several months ago, I had an "assignment" in Chicago. Chicago is one of those strange cities that can mimic other cities, other parts of the world. Summer can feel like Rio; winter like Stockholm. Even the summer sky near dusk mimics the famous l'heure bleue of Paris - though Paris has a notoriously lazy sky (forever to rise, forever to set).

However Chicago is very original when it comes to architecture. Here is a moment of absolute lyric beauty that many visitors don't have a chance to see. I've given the names of the architect and the sculptor; both are major.

Fashion isn't merely about clothing. Fashion is a reflection of who we are in a particular moment in time (and the means by which we make that reflection). In this case, think back to a time when:

- Pan Am ruled the skies
- Diana Vreeland was without equal
- the United Nations was the embodiment of humanity's progress

But Chicago's architectural glories are not all behind her. If you know the name Calatrava, then you know exactly what is next.

21st Century Toga

 

This is a costume, obviously. But look a little closer at the flare/flair of the skirt. Why couldn't this pass for daywear? Photographed in Toronto, a city more poised for the future than most.

-AP

Silk Jersey

It's Thursday. No fashion predictions today, just the simple beauty of a white silk jersey dress.

- AP