Saturday 31 March 2012

Showcase tour in London S/S12. 1. Selfridges


From Monday 27th February until 1st April
World of Louboutin

Christian Louboutin is a craftsman with a true passion for shoes, with styles combining wit and glamour to represent the perfect blend of beauty and sex appeal for elegant women  around the world.
1212 marks the 20th anniversary of visionary shoemaker Christian Louboutin, whose unforgettable red-soled creations have enchanted the world as object of desire for two decades. To celebrate this milestone Christian Louboutin has re-issued 20 iconic shoe designs and 6 bags which embody his inimitable style and craftmanship. 


The lacquered red soles have now acquired iconic
status, giving an instant stamp of fashion excellence.













Wednesday 28 March 2012

Fashion Illustrator: René Gruau

Gruau's artistic talent in fashion illustration merited him publication at the age of 14 and by the time he reached 18, he was published internationally, in the US, Italy, and France. In his lifetime, Gruau worked for numerous magazines including Marie-Claire, Femina, Elle, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Flair, L'Officiel, Madame Figaro, L'Officiel de la Couture.
Gruau was hired by major designers like Pierre Balmain, Christian Dior, Jacques Fath, Balenciaga, Elsa Schiaparelli, Rochas, Lanvin, Elizabeth Arden and Hubert de Givenchy.


1909-2004

- René Gruau, Fashion illustrator for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar (in the 50s)











Fashion Illustrator: David Downton


"When I think about what chic is I think firstly of style. What is stylish to one person may not be stylish to another yet style is something we all crave. It is very hard to pinpoint but I think that people who are chic know they are chic. I believe that chicness is something you know when you see it and style is the one thing people aspire to having. When you see someone who has a certain elegance and style, it is undeniably chic. It’s a relaxed glamour." 


 David Downton is a London based fashion illustrator famous for his portraits of models, Erin O’Connor, Lily Cole and Linda Evangelista. He has been drawing fashion illustration at Paris Haute Couture since 1996 and worked on illustration for Tiffany & Co, Harrods and some of the big labels in Europe.




"The illustration I have created for The Chic Buzz Blog is an illustration of a woman, one who epitomises the international spirit of Chic Outlet Shopping® and with whom, I hope, there is a familiarity.  She of course is not a real person, she’s an imaginary person but I had a clear idea of what she would be. I knew she had to be chic, European and generic in the sense that she needed to portray to many people the idea of chic."
 David Downton





"When I was creating her I had a very different approach than to when I draw fashion illustrations or portraiture. My fashion illustrations are very much about the detail – the neckline of a dress, the drape of the fabric – and with portraiture it is easier still to suggest the spirit of style, because it is real and exists in my subject. I have found that the women who are the objects of my most successful drawings are of course beautiful, but they also have character, personality and individuality. Their strength is their personal style and how that comes across."

David Downton


Friday 16 March 2012

Designer: Sonia Rykiel

Sonia Rykiel
 "The Queen of Knitwear" 

She born in Paris in 1930, Sonia Rykiel did not have any formal education in fashion design.
She started designing out of necessity. She was pregnant and could not find anything that she liked, so she designed her own clothes.

"First I destroyed, undid what I had made. I wasn't satisfied with it, it wasn't me. It didn't relate to me. It was fashion, but it wasn't my fashion. I wanted to abolish the laws, the rules. I wanted to undo, overflow, exceed fashion. I wanted to unfold, unwind it. I wanted a lifestyle appropriate to the woman I was…this woman-symphony who was living the life of a woman mingled with the life of a worker.
I wanted airplane-style, travel-style, luggage-style. I saw myself as a woman on the go, surrounded by bags and children…so I imagined "kangaroo-clothes," stackable, collapsible, movable, with no right side, no wrong side, and no hem. Clothes to be worn in the daytime I could refine at night. I put "fashion" aside to create "non-fashion."
Sonia Rykiel



Sonia Rykiel by H&M 
2010


Sonia Rykiel by H&M 
2010


Sonia Rykiel
2008
Museé des Arts de Décoratifs

Sonia Rykiel
2008
Museé des Arts de Décoratifs

Sonia Rykiel
2008
Museé des Arts de Décoratifs

Sonia Rykiel
2008
Museé des Arts de Décoratifs

Sonia Rykiel
2008
Museé des Arts de Décoratifs

Sonia Rykiel
2008
Museé des Arts de Décoratifs
Sonia Rykiel
2008
Museé des Arts de Décoratifs
The Designer

MISSONI



Missoni is an Italian fashion house based in Varese. It is notable for its knitwear designs, made from a variety of fabrics in colourful patterns. The company was founded by Ottavio ("Tai") and Rosita Missoni in 1953. 


 Ottavio ("Tai") and Rosita Missoni




New Generation
Angela Missoni, Co-Owner and Creative Director of Missoni
Margherita Maccapani Missoni





When it comes to Italy most people think about excellent food and high-quality fashion.



Nowadays Missoni is more than simple fashion brand.
They design for children, men, women and home.


Limited edition San Pellegrino sleeve designed by Missoni Both are Italian brands who have banded together to promote ‘Made in Italy’ 
2010