Vivienne Westwood Wants You To Stop Buying Her Clothes

Vivienne Westwood is another one of my favorites and is one of Britain's most celebrated designers. She is also know as a activist, often using the runway as a spotlight for her concerns relating to politics, climate change and the environment, and other social issues.

For her show at London Fashion Week, Westwood presented a collection of autumn and winter outfits that were punk/ new age inspired.  Then, right after the show, she made a statement to reporters that could directly contradict the general idea of why designers design-- she hopes people stop buying her clothes.

Really? I though one of the thrills of being a designer is that you can see your works of art be brought to life through someone wearing it...right?  Naturally, some clarification was needed for this statement.

Westwood explained it by saying,

"Stop all this consumerism. I just tell people, 'stop buying clothes.' Why not protect this gift of life while we have it? I don't take the attitude that destruction is inevitable. Some of us would like to stop that and help people survive. We have to pressure government — there is a chance to save ourselves and we have to take it."

The designer is digging deeper and looking to try new challenges, including a television series on art and science. She is already making moves toward a new direction. 

"I just want to do much more interesting things with my life," said Westwood as she spoke about moving beyond fashion.

View all 83 photos from her show here

Website: Vivienne Westwood

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Source: London AP

Spike x Bright Colors = Lady Gaga Inspired Active Wear

I was not surprised when I heard this latest tidbit. My Lady Gaga has been the inspiration for SOO many fashion trends, that it was only inevitable that she would be the focus in the latest shoot by WWD.   

For a lot of people the gym is more like an active wear fashion show. Girls show up in the midriff bearing sports bras and tight yoga pants, while guys come in their ripped, sleeveless muscle shirts.

WWD decided that the gym should be a little more glam (not necessary more clothed). Described as when "fashion and design collide with active wear," The shoot takes place in David Barton Gym and is complete with bright colors, strong silhouettes, chains, spikes, and some very light looking free weights.

At first glance you’re gonna think, " Who the hell would wear this to the gym??" But after that, you will get over it and look at it in appreciation for the creativity. 

Watch the video!!

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On The Edge: I dare you to walk in these!

When looking at shoes that could be considered works of art, Andre Perugia amazes me continually pushing then envelope of form and function.

“A pair of shoes must be perfect, like an equation and adjusted to the millimeter like a motor piece.” -Andre Perugia

Perugia calls this shoe a ‘homage to Picasso” using cubist sensibility and giving the illusion of a foot floating. Oh how I'd love to see these in action.

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R.I.P Mr. Alexander McQueen

One of my favorite designers has gone to glory, Mr. Alexander McQueen.
 
It's been confirmed that the British fashion designer known for some of the most controversial collections of the last two decades, was found dead Thursday morning (2/10/2010) at his apt in London. 

We wish his family the best and will remember him for his great contributions to fashion.

The report as well as a bio is available from the NY Times: Alexander McQueen, Designer, Is Dead
Video of his last show and an interview are HERE: Alexander McQueen S/S 2010
R.I.P

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Converse Shoes x Pants= Sebastián Errázuriz

Sebastián Errázuriz's head is full of what he calls "design art".  His work can be explained as quirky, conceptual and undeniably entertaining. 

His pieces are more of a "conceptual exercise" than they are ready to wear.  None the less, they motivate people to look again and question what is commonly seen as normal. A dress created from zippers, an extra-long tie that doubles as a scarf, a belt made out of buckles and a pair of cleats constructed from soccer balls, are just a few of his pieces that to the blind eye would pass as your regular every day item. You would be right in staring at the rear of someone wearing his jeans with a hand for a pocket.

With what is possibly his most popular creation to date, the Converse shoe pants, he breaks down the two basic elements that make up a shoe, a rubber sole and a pieces of fabric, and reconstructs them in a manner commonly reserved for fisherman pants. 

"Why couldn't the textile simply continue upwards and become the pants? Like fishermen pants? But these could simply be pants to stay at home and watch TV?  Like slacker pants?:- Sebastián Errázuriz

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Viktor & Rolf: Fashion is a Form of Art

Fashion is art, and the Dutch duo Viktor & Rolf almost never play it safe. Taking inspiration form the recession and credit crunch, they hacked away at insanely layered gowns with a precision chain saw for a futuristic and daring silhouette.  
"With the credit crunch and everybody cutting back, we decided to cut tulle ball gowns,"- Rolf Snoeren
Even Rihanna got in on the V&R action for the 2010 Pre Grammy party

See the full runway show here... 

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Marc Jacobs has a Book....A Picture Book

For me, fashion ads are about much more than the clothes that are pictured. I've always believed that a great fashion photograph doesn't just try to sell you, but instead it leaves you with a memory. 

Marc Jacob's advertisements have done just that. For many moons, Marc and Juergen Teller have been collaborating on advertising projects. The rawness of Teller's imagery was a breath of fresh air when the two first started working together in the era of blue jeans and supermodel supremacy. His ads depicted strange worlds, with kooky people doing weird and mundane things in rooms filled with negative space.  These images have been a staple part of fashion magazines for years and counting. These unique photos, a style all their own,  have been compiled into 576 pages in "Marc Jacobs Advertising 1998-2009".

The book brings together a selection of advertisements from all the campaigns. To most people, the ads and situations in them are a little baffling and nonsensical, which of course is a hallmark of the designers mystique (really, you either "get it" or you totally don't.) But besides all the randomness, we see that these otherwise perfect people are actually as bizarre or normal as us. The collection of images that pokes fun at sophisticates and materialism while quietly contributing to fashions significance to the visual arts. Take, for example, Victoria Beckham coming out of over-sized Marc Jacobs shopping bags, a clever commentary on her obsession with designer clothes.

I can see this becoming a new aged textbook in a few decades, Aesthetic Anthropology majors using it to ponder why a pair of pudgy twins in disguise seemed like the height of chic in 2005.