Tag Archives: Alexander McQueen

Kirsty Mitchell – photographs from the Garden of England

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Kirsty Mitchell - About WonderlandIf you are a photographer the web is an ideal place to share your labours of love – that is assuming your site gets found among the endless virtual real estate that is the online realm, and then that the ever updating Google search algorithms treat you kindly.

Because with a very modest digital camera pretty much anyone can set up shop online as a hopefully-professional photographer. And digital cameras of a very high standard indeed can be purchased on quite modest budgets such is the advancement of digital photographic technology.

But a high-resolution digital camera and a web-site will only get you so far – to stand out from the pixelated crowd you need art and you need a distinctive vision.

Kirsty MitchellKirsty Mitchell certainly has vision.

I especially enjoy the staged scenes of dissipated women among the twilight flora – both as one, as nature.

It is not all nature though – human-made paraphernalia strews itself in some shots but in the main hauteur-horticulture pervades.

Kirsty Mitchell is from Kent in England – Kent is known as the ‘Garden of England’ – so perhaps then these scenes are inevitable.

On her website she explains a background in art and fashion – photography being a relatively recent artistic endeavour following an illness in 2007 causing her to retire her fashion career. Her fashion internships were at the design studios of Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan – what designers to be interned to!

Kirsty MitchellAs well as a gallery of her work her photographs can be purchased from her website store.

Finally she presents a diary of her work.

With photography words are not really that necessary?

You reader will have a different response to her work than me, and even if we are of similar mind (which really is doubtful!) the pictures will still say far more than any words I could write about them.

This post then is a humble pitch for her work – to go and see for yourself.

Unlike some photography blogs which present watermarked and near-thumbnail images, on this blog the photographs are available to see full-screen, fully saturated.

I present a smattering here which also can be viewed in greater size if you click on the image.

What do you think? Does she stand out from the sound of the crowd?Kirsty MitchellKirsty Mitchell I stated that I think she has a distinctive vision – but does she have art?

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The 18th Century Back in Fashion – Grand Trianon Exhibition

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Thierry Mugler RTW 1992-3

Thierry Mugler RTW 1992-3

Pierre Balmain 1954

Pierre Balmain 1954

The 18th Century Back in Fashion is an exhibition at the Palace of Versailles’ Grand Trianon showing now through to October 9.

This exhibition in their words ‘presents in a poetic confrontation costumes from the 18th Century and masterpieces of haute couture and fashion design from the 20th and 21st centuries’.

An online brochure is available detailing the exhibition in full – the pieces included and the rationale behind them.

The emphasis here is on the French 18th century and its influence on haute couture since that time to the present day but an influence out of France, to the rest of Europe and the World.

Christian Dior 2011

Christian Dior 2011

Vivienne Westwood 1996 Les Femmes Collection

Vivienne Westwood 1996 Les Femmes Collection

Britain is represented perhaps unsurprisingly by Alexander McQueen and by Vivienne Westwood – you can relive their 1990′s haute couture creations again if this time not on the catwalk but the magnificent surroundings of the Grand Trianon.

Also featured are other haute-couture modern luminaries such as Karl Lagerfield, Balenciaga, Azzedine Alaia, Yohji Yamamoto, Jean Paul Gaultier, Christian Lacroix, Christian Dior – and more.

In addition to the gallery of fashion on show to be experienced is the museum space itself – The Grand Trianon and its Gardens, and The Cotelle Gallery.

Fashion accessories are not neglected either – removable lace sleeves, fans, gloves, clutch bags and shoes. And of course jewellery. All on view like the costumes themselves in these grand palatial rooms.

The exhibition is open every day other than Monday from noon to 6.30pm – very civilised hours! And if you are a European Union resident and under the age of 26 you go free.

As said there is a brochure which includes photographs of various pieces but this is no substitute for seeing them life-sized, though I don’t suppose we will get to touch them!

It is a fascinating fashion survey – of how fashion has changed over the last three centuries yet in other ways not changed at all.

Azzedine Alaia 1992 Spring Summer Ready to Wear

Azzedine Alaia 1992 Spring Summer Ready to Wear

18th Century - French court dress

18th Century - French court dress

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Womens Tennis courted by British Fashion

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Ana Ivanovic in Williamson

Following my Saturday afternoon rambling post regarding women tennis players on court in heels I thought about this venture between the Women’s Tennis Association and the British Fashion Council which is hung on the hook of this being Wimbledon’s 125th Anniversary and which was launched at the now annual Richard Branson Launch Party at London’s Kensington Rooftop Gardens, Thursday June 16.

British Fashion Designer luminaries such as Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney and Hussein Chalayan were commissoined to produce pieces for the more curvier and athletic figures of the top-ranking globe-trotting tennis player.

This article in Vogue lists and provides photographs of all the designs.

A number of which were from Alexander McQueen including Britain’s own Laura Robson and Wimbledon 2004 Champion Russia’s Maria Sharapova. But these are definately the works of Sarah Burton and not the man himself – I like Sarah Burton’s work but are we losing the original McQueen Aesthetic?

Li Na sporting Giles Deacon and Gina Couture

Current World Number One, Caroline Wozniacki, featured in my blistering reverie post yesterday, is modelling a black Stella McCartney dress.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova sporting and with David Koma

Favourites of mine – and I mean dresses not tennis players! – included Matthew Williamson’s salmon coloured corset dress modeled by Swiss World Top Twenty Tennis Star Ana Ivanovic (who also shares her birthday with me – though I should add not year or even indeed and alas decade!).

David Koma’s two-tone dress for another World Top 20 this time Russian tennis-star Anastasia Pavluychenkova also made an elegant and stylish impression.

Current French Open Champion China’s Li Na was recipient of the most adventurous outfit wearing a Giles Deacon print dress and Gina Couture shoes.

The aim of this sporting-fashion union was to feature British designers, raise the off-court profile of the stars of women’s tennis, and further extend the link between the sport and fashion. With a desire expressed to extend further the links between fashion and sport with the London Olympics of next year a focus for this.

I welcome this and look forward the next sport to receive its high-fashion make-over.

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Kate Middleton’s Wedding Dress – The Duchess and McQueen

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The future queen in McQueen

So the Wedding Dress is known to us all now.  Kate Middleton chose British and Alexander McQueen at that.

My post speculating as to who the royal dress designer proved prescient – I had thought Alexander McQueen – however since my post also speculated on five other designers such a boast is rather like a dart-player who if they sling enough darts at the board is bound to hit the bulls-eye eventually!

Though I did think it likely that a British designer would be chosen I thought that Alexander McQueen even as bequeathed to Sarah Burton would not be conservative enough for a Royal and State occasion.

But fitting it proved to be. The Duchess of Cambridge’s dress was beautiful, feminine and elegant. It was also conservative – but if you want conservative threads why choose McQueen?

Evening McQueen

More McQueen

Her McQueen Evening Dress and the McQueen Maid of Honour dress for sister Pippa were also elegant, feminine and understated.  Understated where an over-statement was needed?

Perhaps not – this was after all a wedding – a celebration of human romance and relationships not a catwalk show.

Though clearly Westminster Abbey was as much a fashion stage for the day as it was a place of worship or house of love. With two billion eyes (or thereabouts!) upon it, the gowns, hats, shoes, clutches and the like sported by the family and their guests will be examined very closely by fashionistas everywhere for a long time to come.

And for the The Countess of Strathearn her every future-filmed outfit awaits such attention.

The Royal Wedding Dress – designer speculation

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The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29 is inevitably going to influence the choice of wedding dresses for the rest of this year and indeed years to come, in the same way that the wedding dress of Lady Diana in her marriage to Prince Charles on July 29, 1981, influenced wedding dress design for much of the rest of the 1980′s. Even if the designers wanted to move on, their customers did not.

Princess Diana’s wedding dress was watched by a global television audience of hundreds of millions; its influence extended well beyond the shores of the British Isles.

The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is likely to match if not exceed this audience figure. This time, in addition to being watched on television, it will be seen on the Web too, where in addition to being streamed live it will be replayed countless times. YouTube’s biggest hit for 2011? Her wedding dress is going to be the most eyed wedding dress in the world, the most discussed and the most copied.

Diana’s dress cost £9000 and its train was 8 metres long. The 8 metre train of that dress may not be exceeded but the cost of £9000 most certainly will be.

The dress was designed by Welsh fashion designers Elizabeth and David Emmanuel; the designer of Kate Middleton’s Wedding dress still remains a secret and the subject of intense media speculation. Which designer will she choose?  

Princess Diana’s wedding dress was made of silk taffeta and heavily embroidered including 10000 pearls. What might Kate Middleton’s wedding dress look like?

She has been vocal in supporting UK fashion designers and is often photographed wearing their clothing. Could she then commission a dress from a British fashion designer?

Matthew Williamson Bridal Ware

Manchester-born Matthew Williamson, in addition to ready-to-wear, produces bridal collections. The designer describes his bridal range as ‘pieces characterised by feminine, diaphanous silhouettes, great attention to detail through the use of delicate pattern, hand beading and embroidery.

Alexander McQueen

Another British fashion house is Alexander McQueen, currently headed by Sarah Burton.

They have no bridal collections, but their recent Women’s Pre-Autumn/Winter 2011 collection included its usual share of long, exotic, wedding-style gowns.

Or perhaps an extension of this embroidered Fin Mini-Dress?

Jenny Packham Bridal Collection Spring Summer 2011

Jenny Packham is a designer known as much for her bridal as ready-to-wear collections.

She was Bridal Designer of 2008, so could her bridal-ware have resulted in the royal commission for Kate Middleton’s dress?

With dresses called Saskia, May Blossom and Ariadne, in Jenny Packham’s Spring Summer 2010 bridal collection of 39 gowns, Kate Middelton would have plenty of dresses to draw inspiration from.

Marchesa Bridal Spring 2011

Marchesa is New York based but was established by Brits Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig in 2004; is this then the fashion-house Kate Middleton may look to?

Their recent collection featured ruffles, feathers and multi-textured fabrics. Fitting materials for a royal wedding-dress?

Or despite the speculation that Kate Middleton may choose a British designer might she go abroad?

Oscar de la Renta Silk Taffeta and Organza

To Spain for Oscar de la Renta who has his own bridal lines too.  

With a Spring and Fall collection each year Kate Middleton would have much to choose from. His Fall 2011 collection features silk, lace and chiffon. Would any of these fabrics persuade Kate Middelton?

Vera Wang Bridal

Or to the USA for Vera Wang? Her Spring 2011 collection features just 11 gowns, but offers a wider choice of colours than Oscar de la Renta’s white palette.  The fabrics on offer in her latest collection included various silks of Organza, Gazaar and Crepe.

Fashion magazine Vogue, for its May 2011 British issue, is featuring for the first time three different covers in celebration of the British Royal Wedding.  

Each cover has a different model wearing a different wedding gown. One features a silk and lace gown designed by Vivienne Westwood. Another features a silk gown with rose detailing designed by Oscar de la Renta.  The third features a Zibeline dress designed by Bruce Oldfield.  So Oscar de la Renta gets the Vogue approval but two other designers too. 

On Friday April 29 the wedding dress of Kate Middleton and its designer will be revealed; until then speculation will continue.

Fashion as Art, once more – Daphne Guinness

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Daphne Guinness will be getting ready for the Met Ball in the public gaze of Barney’s Madison Avenue Store window in New York.  A shop-front art installation. My previous post pondered art as fashion, fashion as art and this post takes up that theme again.

Madame Gres

Barney’s New York online shop-front The Window features an article about Madame Gres titled ‘The Goddess Maker‘ arising from a current exhibition of her astonishing works at the Bourdelle Museum Paris. Couture curated.

Alexander McQueen

Isabella Blow’s personal collection of Alexander McQueen fashion items was purchased by Daphne Guinness and have been made available as part of the Savage Beauty collection of his works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art‘s Costume Institute to commence May 2. Fashion on gallery display.

Daphne Guiness

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But Daphne Guinness herself, seen here at the London Savoy in December last year for The British Fashion Awards, reminds that fashion as art is ever on display.