Textures and polka dots………………London Fields, Hackney, London
Thursday, February 27, 2014
This blog is dedicated to the documentation of street style and culture.
All illustrations are of real people and are drawn from memory.
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New Romantics..........................In the garden of St Leonard's Church, Shoreditch, London
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Cycling to London Fields............................Westgate Street, Hackney, London
Friday, February 14, 2014
Faded winter colours......................Calvert Street, Shoreditch, London
Thursday, February 13, 2014
This is a flash-back........... Marie Antoinette wearing Christian Dior, on show in Le XXVIII au gout du jour, Château de Versailles, France.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette has made trecking out to the Château de Versailles a pop-culture pilgrimage. Therefore when I first marched towards this infamous city of luxury a few years back, I blasted the sound track curated for the film. Siouxsie and the Banshees's Hong Kong Garden rang in my head phones as I set out to see this historical site through the eye's of the director. But on this track and just as the palace gates came into view, the song cut out as my phone batteries died.
"You needed to have your own experience there", a dear Parisian friend told me later. And he was more than right. Although the film does justice to this marvellous place, it wasn't a period drama I was stepping into, rather I was coming face to face with a living legend.
Once passed the epic queues, I took the long way around to the Grand Trianon. This route takes you past gigantic man-made lakes and through gardens that break down into natural forests. While walking here you could imagine time turning back; the crowds disappeared, there were no souvenirs, no signage and no cake shops. Nothing modern was in sight and everything seemed in the style of the 18th Century. And it is this sense of time over lapping that brings me to what was inside the Grand Trianon; Olivier Saillard's wonder-lust exhibition Le XXVIII au gout du jour.
Among the opulent rooms and corridors of the Grand Trianon, the curator mixed chronology by displaying works of contemporary Haute Couture with the period garbs of the courtiers. Surviving garments of the 18th Century shared space with the works of Christian Dior, Vivienne Westwood, Olivier Theyskens, Mugler, Comme des Garçons and Alexander McQueen.
Saillard's curatorial eye illuminated the Grand Trianon as well as expressing the direct link between the legends of the past and the magnificent work of contemporary Haute Couture. The exhibition like Versailles made time almost irrelevant, and you could feel the world of Marie Antoinette creep around you. A place where every room was like a jewellery box, every ceiling iced like a birthday cake, and perhaps to this ill fated Queen; all gilded like a bird cage.
Headless mannequins gave some life by filling the garments with form. But as they missed a body part so important, I couldn't help thinking about the guillotine. In reporting from this exhibition I imagined Marie Antoinette back in one piece, and showing off in Christian Dior. This idea inspired a full suite of drawings that capture my vision of the Château de Versailles and this exhibition which ran in 2012, to see the full set please visit the site The Frockwriter where they where published by Patty Huntington.
LG
A page from my London Diary......................................Exploring the British Museum, London
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Lights! Cameras! Ogees!.....................Paul Smith's launch of The British Collection for London Collections: Men AW 2014, Essie, Piccadilly, London
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Since arriving in London one word keeps coming to mind when searching to describe taste in this legendary city; and that is texture. The architecture of London, the weather and what its inhabitants wear, all hold in common an elegant grit. Tweet suits, quilted jackets, knitted cardigans, corduroy pants, rubber boots, wax cottons and of course checks, fill the traditional British fashion landscape. A language of layered patterns; texture on textures.
Visually this is akin to the experience of entering an exotic carpet store, where decorative rugs line the walls and gather on the floors. In London's Piccadilly the iconic store Essie trades in the finest of such objects, and it was in this environment that Paul Smith chose to preview The British Collection during the current London Collections: Men AW 2014.
Intermingled with the hypnotic carpets and rugs Paul Smith displayed on wooden mannequins a collection that embellishes and enhances traditional British ideals through the luxury of layering textures. Glen Checks, often referred to as The Prince of Wales Check, morphed over jackets, vests and pants, while business shirts we re-made in a soft chambray. Overcoats seemed even more protective in dark quilted denims, while scarfs and handkerchiefs reflected the gold and burgundy ogees in the surrounding lavish rugs.
Paul Smith's innovations on this British uniform are thanks to the brand’s keen relationship with the Clissold Mill of Yorkshire. Through this partnership contemporary design has joined forces with age old craftsmanship to rejuvenate tradition, producing new ways to weave cloth and imagination into dressing.
LG
Drawing at home................A young Parisian Family, Rue Oberkampf, Paris
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Anne-Sophie.................Keeping warm in Isabel Marant at Martin Grant's Atelier, rue Charlot, Paris
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Winter coat..............On the Metro somewhere between République and Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Sport en dentelle.......................................Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire, Paris
Friday, November 29, 2013
Boy London in Paris..................Rose Bonheur, Parc des Buttes Chaumont, Paris
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Tilda Swinton...................Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts - Amphitheatre d'honneur, 14 Rue Bonaparte, Paris
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Nicole Richie.......................Bar 228, Hôtel de Luxe Le Meurice, Rue de Rivoli, Paris
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
The Young American -- Cafe Society..............Bar 228, Hôtel de Luxe Le Meurice, Rue de Rivoli, Paris
Monday, November 18, 2013
Metallic Flash..........................Haider Ackermann, Printemps/ Été 2014, Palais de Chaillot, Paris
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
When you hear people talk about Fast Fashion, you usually think of High Street copies. But during Paris Fashion Week, a world allergic to such a concept, there is an electric pace one needs to get accustomed to. There is a cliché that high-fashion makes you wait, but honestly this isn't the case. Fashion Week is a race, a race to see the models ascend down the runway, a race to get that perfect cell-phone pic or as I discovered a race to secure a seat on the Fashion Bus.
The Chambre Syndicale decides which designer presentations are included in the prestigious official schedule. But it is up to you to make sure you're not late and not missing a moment. For the top fashion editor or muse, a private driver is usually employed. Such a luxury will keep you looking as super fresh as Anna Dello Russo, however traffic in Paris is still a major hassle.
For the not so famous journalist or in this case illustrator, there is another mode of transport and one completely endearing in this world of high glamour. It is the Fashion Bus, or as I like to call it the Fashion School Bus. While cabs and private cars block the streets around high-profile designer shows, making it all feel like a chase in a James Bond film, a majority of these fashionable people are in fact on their way to get a seat for the next excursion. This bus is organised for free if you hold a show invitation.
For someone inspired by style, I think there is nothing more fashionable than someone short on time. No street-style photographer would get such dynamic shots if people were not moving so dramatically in their outfits. And perhaps this is all thanks to folk rushing to the forgotten Fashion Bus.
On this particular occasion the bus sped me and a full house of fashionistas to see the work of Haider Ackermann. An artist whose work is far from something just whipped up with speed. Beneath the grand Palais de Chaillot, most of the fashion world rushed to assemble. There on a runway inky black Ackermann presented a wardrobe of colours, the likes of which I had never seen before, and struggle to replicate simply in paint.
Although beautifully crafted with timely consideration, the excitement of attending such a presentation made the world of this wizard flash by in seconds. I scribbled notes while still focusing on the clothing. I didn't want to miss a beat.
With precise execution, Ackermann delivered translucent fabrics which glowed with a metallic lustre. Here layers of contrasting materials and delicate pleats wrapped the bodies of powerful models. The character behind these creations was something of a rockstar, but merely saying this would simplify her elegance. In the darkness Ackermann's woman was leading a coven, rich in subtle colours and forms, ones so subtle that they appeared and then seemed to simply evaporate.
With precise execution, Ackermann delivered translucent fabrics which glowed with a metallic lustre. Here layers of contrasting materials and delicate pleats wrapped the bodies of powerful models. The character behind these creations was something of a rockstar, but merely saying this would simplify her elegance. In the darkness Ackermann's woman was leading a coven, rich in subtle colours and forms, ones so subtle that they appeared and then seemed to simply evaporate.
It would be a dream to be patient and research Ackermann's work more closely and produce endless drawings of his shows. But in that fleeting moment, it was an honour to be in the fashion mix, racing to get a seat, and get a flash of what I really wanted to report on.
LG
This image was originally used in The Age, to illustrate Emily Ward's article
Australian designers show where fashion was born, published in print and online on October 20 2013.
Vogue Diary..............Chanel on the streets, Le Meurice, Paris
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Chanel is a spectacle on the Runway. Every season its iconic signifiers are reinterpreted by the magician Karl Lagerfeld and continue to marvel. But what about on the street? For my most recent Vogue Diary I was inspired by real women wearing the brand in everyday life. While Karl stunned a new crowd at his recent show, this time infusing the designs with the spirit of the artiste, I had my very own Chanel moment on the Left Bank.
Rather than being surrounded by stunning clothing and models, I was being shown around Magasin Sennelier by its owner. When I explained my work as a dessinateur de mode, the kind man spoke up about how he knows the master in question. Apparently Karl lives close by and visits the store regularly for his own supplies. Fact or fiction, I was taken by the man and his story. Needless to say I loved the idea of Karl exploring the same art shop and I bought perhaps more art supplies than needed.
LG
One of the real stars of Paris Fashion Week..........................Bill Cunningham at work in the Tuileries, Paris
Friday, October 4, 2013
In Paris it is difficult not to walk in the footsteps of the Greats. From the workplace of Cristóbal Balenciaga on Avenue George the Fifth, to sneaking into the Sorbonne to see where Marie Skłodowska-Curie gave her ground breaking lectures; you realise Paris is a landscape of legends.
So when you see a living legend at work its pretty special. In this drawing Bill Cunningham is quietly snapping away at the Issey Miyake show nestled in the Tuileries. To see the full drawing inspired by this icon of the fashion world please see my latest diary entry for Vogue.
LG
