Uma Thurman: a goddess incarnate

The print cover

The web splash page

Amazing photographs from Another Magazine. With butterflies as inspiration, Craig McDean shoots Uma like never before. Feast your eyes!

Tuxedo jacket and white shirt by Dolce & Gabbana.
Bow-tie by Ralph Lauren.
Jewelled leather belt by Fendi.

Hairstylist is Sam McKnight, one of my favourites from the eighties, the man behind the geometric + sculpted hair look so characteristic of that era.

Metal snake arm bracelet by Early Haloween

She mentions in the magazine interview that being photographed "it's not really your style. Whether it's Another Magazine, Vogue or Baazar. In the same way, you end up playing a part".

Sequinned jacket by Maison Martin Margiela

Silk dégradée dress and metallic belt by Alexander McQueen

Even the graphics of the magazine are bold and beautiful!

Photographer: Craig McDean
Styling: Tabitha Simmons
Hairstylist: Sam McKnight @ Premier
Make up: Diane Kendall @ Art + Commerce
Manicure: Joanna Czech
Photographer's assistants: Chris Ferretti, Huan Nguyen
Styling Assistant: Tracey Nicholson
Prop Stylist: Stefan Beckmann @ Exposure
Retouching: The Box Ltd.

Drew Barrymore's office - colour galore!

The US edition of Domino magazine has actress and entrepreneur Drew Barrymore's production company offices as their cover story for April. She hired designer Ruthie Sommers to help her decorate and the results, while not my cup of tea style wise, are great:stylish, elegant and very personal (as all great interior design should be).



The reason it stands out for me is the use of colour: bold, ingenious and eccentric, it makes each room of the building stand out, while acting as a great background for furniture and accessories.

The kitchen

The concept was named "un-office": a space looking more like a home-away-from-home, chic, relaxed and reflecting each partner΄s personality. The office incorporates an eclectic collection of styles and artefacts.

The "powder room"

I also liked the quirky use of personal items and furniture, like the old record player in a suitcase in the pic below:



I really dig Chris Miller's office space. He is the production vice-president of Flower Films. His favorite feature is a recess in the L-shaped room that Sommers turned into a bar. "It really is fun," he says. "And on a bad day, that I-could-have-a-whiskey thought is a serious comfort."

Chris Miller΄s minimal desk - get me one!

The bar corner at Miller's office.

The wall covered with numerous pictures is amazing - it really gives me ideas...



Drew is looking lovely in the photo spread and it seems that everyone working there must be enjoying the new décor - and why shouldn΄t they:

Check out the use of brown and beige/gold at the photos above left-looks great!

The photo below shows the entrance corridor - the amazing red door with an antique door knob makes a bold statement. I hope you all enjoyed peeking at Drew΄s office as much as I did!


Footnote: compare the above with the Greek edition...

Chocolate Pencils: yummy writing!

Pencils are an essential tool for most designers. We doodle with them all the time, even when doing other things then design (like talking on the phone or being in a meeting). We pick them carefully, choose those who fit our style and work method, take good care of them until they become unusable.
Another favourite staple of mine: chocolate! I cannot imagine living without it, it is one of the things I always have in my house and love giving it as a gift to friends and loved ones.
So imagine my surprise at finding something that combines these seemingly totally irrelevant things into one: chocolate pencils.


These are the brainchild of Japanese architect and designer Oki Sato and the famous japanese patissiere Tsujiguchi Hironobu, the man behind Tokyo's dessert shops Mont St. Claire and Le Chocolat de H. He created a new dessert based on his impression of Nendo after conversations with Oki Sato and his team, so then they designed new tableware for Hironobu. The concept was to have the plates show off the beauty of meals and desserts like a painting on a canvas.



Based on this idea, the "chocolate pencils" come in a number of cocoa blends that vary in intensity, and chocoholics can use the special "pencil sharpener" that comes with the plate to grate chocolate onto their dessert. Pencil filings are usually the unwanted remains of sharpening a pencil, but in this case, they're the star!



photos by H-STYLE/FG-MUSASHI

via The Style Files

A DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP THAT DISCRIMINATES? NO THANKS/ΣΥΜΒΟΛΑΙΟ ΣΥΜΒΙΩΣΗΣ ΜΟΝΟ ΓΙΑ ΚΑΠΟΙΟΥΣ; ΟΧΙ ΕΥΧΑΡΙΣΤΩ /

In Greece gays, lesbians and transsexuals know about discrimination. Many of them face it daily from their families, in their social lives and in the professional field.
But sometimes, all it takes is a single straw to break the camel's back.
According to press reports, the Greek government is preparing to introduce a domestic partnership "contract" EXCLUSIVELY for unmarried heterosexual couples. We do not believe that a mere "contract" can resolve the issues same-sex couples face or ensure their fair treatment under the law. However this discriminatory proposal is a direct contravention of the greek Constitution, as well as European human rights treaties. Especially since same-sex couples already enjoy legal rights in 18 European nations.
The aim of this intervention is to make sure that European institutions, human rights organisations, websites and weblogs from around the world learn about these proposals. What we ask for is equal rights for all. Nothing more and nothing less.
This time around we will not sit idly by. This time around we will not keep silent.

GREEK BLOGGERS AGAINST DISCRIMINATION

Στην Ελλάδα οι γκέι, οι λεσβίες και οι τρανσέξουαλ γνωρίζουν από διακρίσεις. Αρκετοί απ' αυτούς τις αντιμετωπίζουν καθημερινά στην οικογένεια, την κοινωνική ζωή και τον επαγγελματικό στίβο.

Καμιά φορά όμως φτάνει μια σταγόνα για να ξεχειλίσει το ποτήρι.

Σύμφωνα με δημοσιεύματα του τύπου το Υπουργείο Δικαιοσύνης ετοιμάζεται να καθιερώσει ένα "συμβόλαιο συμβίωσης" ΑΠΟΚΛΕΙΣΤΙΚΑ για τα ετερόφυλα ζευγάρια. Δεν θεωρούμε ότι ένα απλό "συμβόλαιο" μπορεί να λύσει τα ζητήματα των ζευγαριών ίδιου φύλου, ούτε να εξασφαλίσει την ισότιμη μεταχείρισή τους. Πιστεύουμε όμως ότι η προτεινόμενη διάκριση είναι κατάφωρα αντίθετη τόσο με το ελληνικό Σύνταγμα όσο και με τις ευρωπαϊκές συνθήκες για τα δικαιώματα του ανθρώπου. Πόσο μάλλον όταν 18 ευρωπαϊκές χώρες ήδη παρέχουν νομική κατοχύρωση στα ζευγάρια ίδιου φύλου.

Σκοπός αυτής της πρωτοβουλίας είναι να ενημερωθούν σχετικά οι ευρωπαϊκοί θεσμοί, οι οργανώσεις για τα ανθρώπινα δικαιώματα, ιστοσελίδες και ιστολόγια σε όλο τον κόσμο. Αυτό που ζητάμε είναι ίσα δικαιώματα για όλους. Τίποτα παραπάνω, τίποτα λιγότερο.

Αυτή τη φορά δεν θα μείνουμε σιωπηλοί. Αυτή τη φορά δεν θα κάτσουμε με σταυρωμένα χέρια.

ΕΛΛΗΝΕΣ ΜΠΛΟΓΚΕΡ ΕΝΑΝΤΙΟΝ ΤΩΝ ΔΙΑΚΡΙΣΕΩΝ

The girl in the elm tree: Alexander Mc Queen's Fall 2008-2009 collection

One of my favourite fashion designers is Alexander McQueen. The enfant terrible of fashion manages to make each collection seem better than the last, managing to transport you to a unique, fantasy world, but firmly based in harsh reality. Only a very talented person can do that, season after season, while keeping his tongue firmly planted in his cheek.

No surprise then, that this season΄s collection, presented in Paris on the 29th of February, was a tour de force for McQueen. Many say it was his best ever. I do not know if that is true. What I do know is that, while watching photo after photo of his amazing designs, I was left with my mouth gaping with astonishment, marvelling at the excellence and brilliance of his talent.


I will post here the review of Sarah Mower from Style.com, who sums it up in words far better than I ever could.

The one element that has gone missing in the collections is the spine-tingling, eye-welling emotion of a show so exceptional to witness that—despite all exhaustion, cynicism, and workaday pressures—it suddenly transforms being involved in fashion into a magical privilege. Just when it seemed like that feeling was virtually extinct, Alexander McQueen handed his audience a self-imagined fantasy of crinolined princesses and British-colonial romance of such beauty, it arguably surpassed anything he's achieved in 14 years.

"I've got a 600-year-old elm tree in my garden," he said, "and I made up this story of a girl who lives in it and comes out of the darkness to meet a prince and become a queen." After a trip to India, the designer worked like a fiend for months in his studio, with images of Queen Victoria, the Duke of Wellington, and the Indian Empire running through his mind.

They were transformed into ballerina-length multi-flounced dance dresses, each more insanely exquisite than the last: A miraculous red-feather-fronted number turned to burst into a froth of creamy frills in back; another came covered in baby-fine knitted lace; a third had a pair of peacocks—again fashioned from cut out black lace—with their tail feathers fanning out over ivory tulle petticoats.

Interspersed were rigorously cut military tailcoats with taut pants detailed with military frogging, and slim brocade and cloque pantsuits with crisp white high-necked shirts. Then there was a stately parade of imperial-red and velvet jackets bedecked with millions of dollars' worth of antique Indian diadems and diamond neckpieces, and yet more incredible rich Empire-line saris and wispy dishabille transparencies.

These were followed by a sequence of gold-encrusted, ermine-coated glory, echoing the heyday of Norman Hartnell and Hardy Aimes' fifties British couture as worn by Elizabeth II.

Whatever had triggered this new lease of inspired design, it went further than the mere rendition of fanciful costume for the sake of telling a story. Importantly, McQueen finally found it in himself to quash the confining, uptight carapace that had held back former collections, replacing it with a new sense of lightness and femininity.

Meanwhile, for all the transporting spectacle and extravagance, the narrative never submerged the sense that, within this wonder, there's plenty to wear, too. No coincidence, then, that McQueen today announced that his company has gone into profit for the first time. It was a day when his brilliance had never shone more brightly.

Regarding the gown seen above, John Galliano had done a similar dress for Dior years ago but that had only a feathered corset, while this goes all the way into aviary fantasy.


His mix of Directoire and India inspirations is amazing as seen above. The imperial influence and colours are evident in the gown below.


McQueen is an arch romantic - albeit one with a hard streak - but this show focused on his softer side, Exactly the combination I love. And he seems never to be restrained by the commercial aspect of his work.


It is good then that his company announced they have just managed to turn profitable. It means that his talent can continue to soar at dizzying heights without worrying about making clothes for every day consumption. Because we all need the touch of a fairy tale in our every day lives from time to time.

All photos by Marcio Madeira, courtesy of Style.com

Where does a Blue Frog swim?

Answer: in Mumbai of course! Designed from architectural firm Serie, a new entertainment space that creates new dynamics in the staid world of night entertainment establishments.

One might never think India as a place to find pioneering interior design, but things are changing fast all around the world and the vast exotic country is no exception.

A large north lit industrial warehouse within the old mill district in Mumbai is converted into a complex of sound recording studios and an acoustic lounge. This lounge will consist of a restaurant, bar and a live stage. Beyond this amalgamation of provisions, Blue Frog seeks to stage an acoustic experience par excellence.


Based on this desire to have it all, the question is: how do you collapse a theatre, restaurant, bar and club into a warehouse whilst maintaining all the performance characteristics of each individual type?


The deep structure that was employed is of a cellular organization composed of circles of varying sizes in plan approximating a horse-shoe configuration.


The differential extrusions of these circles encapsulated at different levels as tiered cylindrical seating booths, allow the eye level of diners and standing patrons to be distributed across staggered levels that increase in height away from the stage.


These booths seat between 4-10 people and are arranged around an open centre that can either double up as a potential 360 degree stage or accommodate standing patrons, bringing them closer to the main stage to create an intimate viewing experience.


These mahogany panelled cylindrical booths maintain not only uninterrupted views to the stage, but also constant distance between diners irrespective of how crowded the lounge gets.


The undulating height of the seating booths is gently modulated by a glowing acrylic resin surface, ...


... which unifies the disparate types together and retains the presence of the architecture even in the midst of the spectacle of a state-of-the-art sound and light show at the Blue Frog.

Client: Blue Frog Media Pvt. Ltd
Area: 1000 sqm
Duration: October2006- November 2007

Design: Chris Lee / Kapil Gupta

Project Team: Tomas Ruis Osborne, Santosh Thorat, Purva Jamdade, Suril Patel, Dharmesh Thakker, Niti Gourisaria, Vrinda Seksaria and Udayan Mazumdar.
Acoustic Design: Munroe Acoustics (UK)
Lighting Design: Abhay Wadhwa Associates
Project Management: Masters Management Consultants
General Contractor: Zigma Enterprises

And a bit about Serie:

Formerly Chris Lee Architects and Contemporary Urban, Serie is an international practice based in London and Mumbai. Serie works in the diverse field of architecture, urbanism and design.

The practice is fascinated by the evolution and mutation of building types in today’s cities and the projection of these forms of intelligence into spatial solutions. Working typologically, or in our terms, thinking and exploring in series - harnessing the cumulative intelligence of building types - is key to the work of Serie.

The practice consistently pushes the boundaries of architectural and master planning projects worldwide and provides full architecture and master planning services for private and public sectors.

Love songs

Dear friend Natassaki invited me to another blogger game: with which song I would say "I love you". The rules are as follows:
1. Pick one or two songs with which you would say "I love you" to your other half or someone that you're interested in.
2. In case you pick two songs, one must be with a male singer(s) and the other with female singer(s).
3. There is no distinction between solo artists or groups. Choose what inspires you the most.

So the very first one that comes to my mind is of course k d lang's "Infinite And Unforeseen":

After
Always
Love becomes
A dream
Infinite and unforeseen

It takes you by surprise
There, before your eyes
A place you've always been
A place you've always been

It takes you by surprise
There, before your eyes
A place you've always been
A place you've always been
Infinite and unforeseen
Infinite and unforeseen

Here you can listen to it:


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And the second one, from a guy this time: Richard Hawley's "Tonight The Streets Are Ours"

Do you know why you got feelings in your heart
Don't let fear of me then fool you, what you see sets you apart
And there's nothing here to bind you, it's no way for life to start
Do you know that
Tonight the streets are ours
Tonight the streets are ours
These lights in our eyes, they tell no lies

Those people, they got nothing in their souls
And they make our tvs blind us from our visions and our goals
Oh the trigger of time it tricks you so you have no way to grow
But do you know that
Tonight the streets are ours
Tonight the streets are ours
And these lights in our hearts, they tell no lies

And no one else can haunt me the way that you can haunt me
I need to know you want me, I couldn't be without you
And the light that shines around you
No nothing ever matters more than my darling
But tonight the streets are ours

Do you know how to kill loneliness at last
Oh there's so much there to heal dear and make tears things of the past
But do you know that
Tonight the streets are ours
Tonight the streets are ours
And these lights in our street are ours
And tonight the streets are ours
And these lights in our heart, they tell no lies

And the video clip:

Of course, I have to add one more: it may be corny for some, but for me it's one of the best love songs ever for many reasons: Olivia Newton-John's "Hopelessly Devoted To You".

Guess mine is not the first heart broken,
my eyes are not the first to cry I'm not the first to know,
there's just no gettin' over you
Hello, I'm just a fool who's willing to sit around
and wait for you
But baby can't you see, there's nothin' else
for me to do I'm hopelessly devoted to you
But now there's nowhere to hide,
since you pushed my love aside I'm not in my head,
hopelessly devoted to you
Hopelessly devoted to you,
hopelessly devoted to you
My head is saying "fool, forget him",
my heart is saying "don't let go"
Hold on to the end, that's what I intend to do
I'm hopelessly devoted to you
But now there's nowhere to hide,
since you pushed my love aside I'm not in my head,
hopelessly devoted to you
Hopelessly devoted to you,
hopelessly devoted to you

And a live rendition of it:

This is the Oscars live performance in 1979 (she was ill when she did this)

I can spend many many hours putting up loved songs but I think these are OK for now. I hope you enjoy them!

Tribute to a black angel:Katoucha

She was one of the most exotic and beautiful creatures that ever walked the catwalk. Unfortunate enough to be working in the same era as that other gazelle of fashion, Iman, Katoucha was nevertheless a favourite among the European designers for modelling their most exquisite couture creations.

In Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture

Regularly featured in the major fashion magazines for couture photography, she graced their pages with the exoticism of her Guinean heritage and the strength of her personality. She was the muse of Yves Saint Laurent, who always featured her in his shows with spectacular results.She was nicknamed the Peul Princess after the Peul ethnic group of Guinea and eight other West African states.

In Christian Lacroix

Apart from modelling and designing her own eponymous clothing line, she was active in fighting against the female circumcision in the Third World. She published a book about her personal experience and was active in many ways, drawing attention to this horrific practise that makes numerous women suffer around the world.

Her book, Dans Ma Chair (In My Flesh)

Her body was found in the river Seine this morning in Paris. She was missing since late January. She will be dearly missed.

With Yves Saint Laurent at the end of a couture show

An excerpt from her book:

'I grew up surrounded by hibiscus and ylang-ylang flowers. I used to get drunk on the richest perfumes and saw myself as a perfumer or a model,' she wrote in the book. But then her life changed forever after she underwent excision. 'One day, mother said we were going to the cinema. And I found myself the victim of a horror movie. 'An unimaginable trauma that I had never managed to talk about, until I found love and wrote In My flesh,' she said. She said she saw her career as a top model as a form of 'revenge' for the horror of excision. 'I embodied the most arrogant and admired kind of feminity, I who was supposed to be diminished.'

In Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture

The other Alexander Calder

Everyone knows Alexander Calder: even if you have never heard the name, you have definitively seen his works. The famous mobiles, with their abstract geometric forms and colours, have been a part of our collective unconscious for years now. One of my favourites is below:


An American pioneer, showing a talent for sculpture at the early age of 11, he studied mechanical engineering, physics and kinetics, later creating exquisite wind driven mobiles and motorized devices, in addition to painting and sculpture.

Alexander Calder in his workshop

What most people who admire Calder do not know however is that he had designed and made exquisite fantasy, one of a kind jewellery. Only slightly more than 1800 of them were made, all unique and beautiful, strange exercises for the imagination.

This photograph by Evelyn Hofer of model Angelica Huston wearing Calder's spectacular "The Jealous Husband,” a circa 1940 brass wire necklace, appeared on the cover of The New York Times Magazine in 1976. Esteemed critic Hilton Kramer wrote that the object has "the humour of mock aggression and shameless self-assertion.”

He made almost every kind of personal decoration, not just necklaces, rings and shirt studs but also metal crowns, ponchos, breastplates, even a pair of Groucho Marx-esque glasses complete with bobbling nose. And, like his sculpture, he showed his talents in this early on too: at eight years of age, he began fabricating baubles and trinkets for his sister΄s dolls and toys.

This curvilinear gold and steel wire pin was given by Calder to his wife, Louisa, as a 53rd birthday gift in 1958. The inscription, "XIX.II.L.VIII,” marks the date. This spectacular piece measures 2½ by 5¼ inches. Private collection, New York. ©2007 Calder Foundation, New York City.

Being a whimsical character, his jewellery could not of course be anything but ironic in spirit: an early piece, made for fashion designer Elizabeth Hawes, was a wire chastity belt with the French cafe motto "ouvert la nuit", or "open at night" written on it. Or naming the huge necklace sported by Angelica Huston on the cover of New York Times Magazine in 1976, "The Jealous Husband".

Calder hand crafted this "Necklace” around 1943 for his wife; it is inscribed "Calder.” It is made of silver wire, string and ribbon, with the loop 15¾ inches around. Private collection, New York. ©2007 Calder Foundation, New York City.

Some of the jewellery Calder made for his family played with letters and words, like his first gift to his future wife, Louisa: a brass bracelet made of hammered wire shaped into the word "Medusa" as he nicknamed her for her curly hair.

Calder often incorporated "primitive” touches into his work. The closely laid, parallel strips of flattened silver wire of this "Bracelet,” circa 1948, may have been inspired by his knowledge of ornamental objects worn by African tribesmen. Private collection. ©2007 Calder Foundation, New York City.

There is an exhibition, "Calder Jewellery" opening this month at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Fla., then travelling to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (July 12–October 19); Metropolitan Museum of Art (December 8–March 1, 2009) and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (March 31–June 22, 2009). Its catalogue, a massive 225-page volume compiled by Alexander S. C. Rower, who directs the Calder Foundation, his brother, the artist Holton Rower; and his sister-in-law, the photographer Maria Robledo is published by Yale University Press in association with the Calder Foundation and the Norton Museum.

In this "Pin” or "Brooch,” fashioned around 1945, Calder twisted silver and steel wire into a characteristically idiosyncratic shape. It is 4¼ by 6¾ inches. Private collection. ©2007 Calder Foundation, New York City.

Photos ©2007 Calder Foundation, New York City - photo captions ©2008 Antiques and the Arts Online