The Classical Body

 

We live in an age of specialization and fragmentation, so we tend to forget how total the ancient perspective used to be.

Total? The ancient perspective linked the body, architecture and the universe together. Which is probably why, despite the changing fashions of (and on) the body, we still must look to the classical models to find our first reference.

But the classical body isn't the only place. The Forbidden City, anyone?

Ephemeral Cool

 

Here is something one can't find in the manicured suburbia and city-states of the world: the jumble of adhesive posters in a succession of time and placement.

It's rather like a living collage, and music events (album releases, concerts) seem to be the most prevalent kind; New Yorkers know this to be true.

Fashion moments are much like these bits of poster-clash: they happen and are over. There is a continual, ephemeral cool produced. In other words, what surrounds us are cultural EKGs, recording the pulse, the movement...the direction. This is what fashion forecasters, trend analysts and designers all learn to read and interpret.

- AP

Paris - Los Angeles, 2010?

 

Already Autumn-Winter 2010 is coming together. I am not speaking of collections, but of a general inspiration. A mood, a feeling.

You may see simply two guys walking down the street in a slightly fuzzy picture. It also happens to be a launchpad:

- Winter in Paris: what is essential?
- Winter in L.A.: what is evocative?

And a conversation of colors and textures may form from this play of ideas. A series of stunning collections could develop. Perhaps it might be a really bad season (we hope not). Every designer must take that play of ideas and give either an informed collection, or one that may be a mishmash of branché-chébran chic.

And that may not be a bad thing.

- AP

Pink Power

 

With everything so green, green, green these days, it's only healthy to opt for other colors. Like pink.

Mrs. Vreeland was famous for calling pink the N.B.O.I. ("navy blue of India" for those exposed for the first time); very well. Pink is so dramatic that it forces an economy of line and decoration.

Remember that colors are powerful.
- AP

Not Here

 

What should be on the Corniche of Alexandria happened thousands of years ago. What is happening now is elsewhere, but not that far away.

Several Gulf nations (notably the UAE and Bahrain) are sites for developments built on artificial land. In the sea, like mini Singapores or Nazca lines (depending on the view on the ground or from above).

These developments intertwine economy and ecology: like offshore city-states, they must be profitable and sustainable to thrive. Otherwise, they may only be high-tech "boom" creations.

However, let's not spell their end so soon. As planned, they are fabulous.

No links; this is to be a discovery mission that will require a search engine.

- AP

Color Focus: Alex

 

No commentaries or pronouncements today. Enjoy the beautiful, delicate colors.

- AP

Private Paris

 

Doors like this in Paris fascinate me. Yes, the detail, the work involved...but why stop there? Take the craftsmanship for granted. These kind of doors are special because they are symbols of Private Paris.

Courtyards and gardens, which are fairly common in several areas of Paris, are hidden behind doors much like these. Which means that Paris is even bigger than one realizes! This is, by the way, a clue to the French approach to female fashion. Happy Haute Couture Week!

- AP