Spanish Comic InnovatorI have simply fallen in love with the quirky style and unique color sensibility of Salvador Bartolozzi. While he may not be a household name here in the US, he was a famous innovator in Spanish comics in the 1920s. His work and career are well worth a look for any fans of illustration. Another great discovery from favorite blog Journey Round My Skull.
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Famous for their funky hits like Fire and Rollercoaster of Love, Ohio Players also incurred a lot of controversy and ire for their blatantly hyper-sexual albums covers which, in their sheer audacity, are absolute favorites of mine.
Below/after the jump are many of those albums as well as an array of their flashy fashions.
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Artist and Renaissance Man of the SurrealThere’s so much awesomeness to admire in the career of Roland Topor that it’s hard to know where to begin. As a visual artist he’s created surreal and creepy magic. As an actor he was Renfield in Herzog’s Nosferatu and had a cameo in my favorite Yugoslavian filmmaker, Dusan Makavejev’s Sweet Movie. As a writer his novel The Tenant was adapted into the fantastic Roman Polanski adaptation and as an designer he (along with Rene Leloux )created one of the most visually stunning animated films of all time, Fantastic Planet. I’m in awe.
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Art Nouveau MerchantIn light of the overwhelming adorableness of the Liberty Target collaboration, it’s time to honor the exquisitely Britishly named Arthur Lasenby Liberty, the man who started the house built on fabulous art nouveau prints. Over the past decades, the label has evolved and looks as new and fresh as even while still retaining its distinct style (not an easy feat for any company, especially one associated weathering changing fashions).
Sadly, I was not able to fit in a visit to the lovely tudor style shop in London when I was there, but passing by the black and white facade made my toes curls with delight. Guess it’s just an excuse to visit London again some day. In the meantime, go to your nearest Target!
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Cupcakes and SatinChristopher Kane‘s collection for the Versace little sister line, Versus has a definite point of view. Limited but bold in shape, details and color, it makes quite an impact and even if most of us can’t pull of all the body con, it makes me long for the full skirts he calls “cupcake” skirts, more turquoise and bright red in my wardrobe and stylishly sci-fi bombshell cut out necklines. His grommet, alligator, and neon collection for Topshop was equally yummy though a bit outside my budget sadly.
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Lace and Bell Shapes for FallThough Erdem has been around for a few years and the collections have been consistently nice (as I look back into the archives), it’s only recently that the line made a huge bleep on my radar. I’ve looked and re-looked at his Fall 10 collection over and over finding more to love each time: with florals, body flattering shapes, and lace the clothes are pretty and feminine without being gloopy and rote; I love the voluminous puff sleeves and bell skirts as well as that dreamy grey lace.
One of designer Erdem Moralioglu’s inspirations was one of Jim’s favorite films, Picnic at Hanging Rock which friend Ashleigh posted stills of a while back on RC.
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Kenya Inspired DesignIn this recent sea of minimalism, Suno‘s stimulating collection jumped right out at me. While everyone’s been predicting a Chinois trend, I was still all about Africa (blame it on the stylings of Precious Ramotswe) and clearly on the same wavelength as designers Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty (so technically this is a style icon male and female entry and you, know what? I went to high school with an Erin Beatty, so I wonder…)
Anyways, fellow Cheyenne Mountain alumni or not, I think I would literally wear every piece from this fall/winter delivery. Every piece!! And that’s rare. The Suno name is a new one for me, but looking at the archives, they are clearly designers I wish I had discovered sooner. The prints are incredible, and inspired by years of Osterweis collecting textiles from visits to Kenya. Absolutely beautiful.
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The Most Visionary Designers of Our TimeThe death of Alexander McQueen is just too, too sad.
He was a legend and a visionary and I always looked forward to seeing what amazing creations he would send down the runway next.
I am absolutely heartbroken.
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Builder of the Taj MahalShah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal in memory of his beloved third wife Mumtaz Mahal, said of the magnificent structure this:
Should guilty seek asylum here,
Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.
Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,
All his past sins are to be washed away.
The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;
And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.
In this world this edifice has been made;
To display thereby the creator’s glory.
I hope some day to see the popular site myself, which I suppose is more likely than my other wish: to someday have something equally epic built in my honor.
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A Beloved AuthorJ.D. Salinger is one of the writers who has moved me most. I try to read Nine Stories once every couple years and its contents still touch me, so I was bummed to hear of his recent natural, though in no way untimely (the man was 91), passing.
I’m sure the publishing world is racked with curiosity as to whether or not this means that new work will finally emerge from the notoriously reclusive writer’s New Hampshire lair (or whether or not Salinger’s heirs will immediately sell all the rights in the manner of the Seuss widow, finally giving Hollywood the chance to cast Shia Labeouf as Holden Caulfield and subject the author’s oeuvre to the various exploitations and degradations Seuss’s work suffered after his death), but the books he’s already left behind are so amazing, legendary, and life-changing that if you haven’t read any of his stories (which I don’t believe many of you haven’t) don’t delay in discovering one of America’s most perfect bodies of work.