Currently in soft launch mode with an official opening date on the 23d May, the Great Northern Hotel is reopening in all its splendor seconds from the ever-busy Kings Cross station in London. Built in 1854 by Victorian architect Lewis Cubitt, the six-storey hotel has gone through extensive renovations, featuring 91 elegant rooms inspired by the old-school glamour of rail travel. Understated luxury is key at this upscale hotel, with a pantry on each of the six floors where guest can help themselves to homemade cakes, coffee and tea, as well as a handpicked selection of reading materials. Each room feature bath products by Malin & Goetz, bespoke furniture and audiobooks as well as personalized playlists by leading DJs. The Grade II listed building is also home to the Art Deco inspired restaurant Plum + Spilt Milk as well as the grand GNH bar, serving a selection of enticing cocktails such as the Oriental Express and Last Call.
Great Northern Hotel
Kings Cross NC1 4TB / 44 (0)20 3388 0800
London Pictures courtesy of the Great Northern Hotel
Versace devotees descended upon New York’s Lexington Avenue Armory Wednesday night where Donatella Versace showed off the latest Versace Versus capsule collection with J.W. Anderson at an elaborate runway show-cum-party. Revelers filed into the dimly lit space, where blue lights glowed and music thumped.
Donatella Versace has learned a lot from Versus’s collaboration with Christopher Kane, which lasted three years – mainly that new talent stirs up an older brand. Versus mixed with JW Anderson proved a heady cocktail – young, sexy and just a little bit out-there. Cut-out pieces for boys and girls, lace, zebra print and crisp white go-go boots were highlights.
The Versus symbol since the brand launched in 1989, the safety pin is still puncturing holes in designs nearly 15 years later. This time around, it appears on jackets for men and cute babydoll shapes for girls.
Angel Haze performing.
Leigh Lezark in a Versus dress and Versace jacket.
The Bolero ballet is one of the most important and beautiful artistic event in Paris.
Such is the intensity of a new production of Bolero at Opera de Paris that even with a running time of just under 17 minutes it is the hottest ticket in Paris and the talk of the fashion, art, music and dance.
Created by artist Marina Abramovic in collaboration with choreographers of the moment Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet and featuring costumes by Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci, the show is the fusion of some of the hottest contemporary talents in art, dance and fashion. Critics have hailed the result of collaboration as hypnotic and magic.
Riccardo Tisci designed beautiful, but really beautiful dresses for the ballerinas. On creme silk background, the only thing that covered the “parts” were ornaments of sequins embroidered onto tulle that featured rib cages, spines and jaw lines. In movement they are like waves in air. They shed several layers as they dance just like the life cycle of animals or flowers losing their petals. They become these moving skeletons, strong and fragile at the same time.
Marina Abramovic and Riccardo Tisci
Riccardo Tisci costume sketch
At the Opéra Garnier, Paris from May 2 until June 3.
This May, Karl Lagerfeld has turned his attentions to interiors with a guest-edited edition of France’s Architectural Digest.
The futuristic apartment is located in the Quai Voltaire in Paris. The Kaiser chose the vanguard of contemporary design, and reinvents the concept of the Parisian artist studio in the terms of the twenty-first century.
Perhaps the most exciting feature of the magazine is a inside peek at Lagerfeld’s apartment. In a recent interview, Lagerfeld mentioned that he has two houses side by side; one for visitors and meetings, and the other completely for himself where no one is permitted to enter – not even his house staff. We can only assume that the apartment featured is his ‘public’ space!
In the living room, retractable glass walls reveal a small sample of the huge collection of books by Karl Lagerfeld (40 000, through its various residences)
Karl Lagerfeld’s silhouette is reflected in the frosted glass conceals the large library lounge. A chrome chair Marc Newson and two stools Jasper Morrison (gallery Kreo) face a leather sofa with futuristic shapes, signed Amanda Levete (Established & Sons).
In the bedroom the Richelieu embroidery and old quilt covering the bed contrasts with the counting of the walls. Television is itself hidden behind a glass without tin. The hallway leads to dressing.
In the Bedroom, a chair by Jean-Marie Massaud (Cassina) adjoins a console and a convenient Martin Szekely (gallery Kreo) topped with an iPod dock.
In the dressing room, Goyard trunks and clothes neatly hung on racks chrome.
At one end of the lounge, assembly Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec (Kreo gallery) is the holder of one of the many stations iPod Karl Lagerfeld. On the left, the beginning of a long corridor-display favorite art books of the master of place.
In the bathroom, ultra white lighting bath overlooks a Corian. Scales tailor-made for the towels are reflected in the mirror above a console Martin Szekely (Kreo gallery).
In the kitchen all stainless steel, refrigerator left contains only Coca-Cola light. The two storage cylinders purchased from Colette contain table linen and household products.
Around a table in aluminum and stainless steel by Martin Szekely (Kreo gallery), six chairs MY 68 signed Michael Young (Sawaya & Moroni)
It’s a place to sleep, bathe and work,” says Karl Lagerfeld about his Paris apartment.
I WANTED AN APARTMENT WITH GLASS AND TRANSPARENCY EVERYWHERE … AND THERE IS NO COLOR HERE, BECAUSE I AM CONSTANTLY SURROUNDED BY COLOR. I PREFER TO LIVE IN A NEUTRAL ENVIRONMENT.
Moma’s ingenious new interactive installation, Rain Room, opened May 12 in a lot next to the museum, where only ten people are allowed into a mysterious dark space to stroll through a storm without getting wet. The exhibit, which debuted at the Barbican Centre in London last year, utilizes 3D motion sensor cameras to pause the rain wherever a body is detected.
Rain Room is a carefully choreographed downpour—a monumental work that encourages people to become performers on an unexpected stage, while creating an intimate atmosphere of contemplation.
Here’s video from the London show:
Rain Room will be on view at the New York City Museum of Modern Art through July 28.
Designers including Diane von Furstenberg, Manolo Blahnik and Mario Testino have created bespoke masks for a charity event. The Elephant Family – an initiative that aims to protect Asian elephants and their habitat – enlisted the help of a host of leading artists, photographers and creatives to participate in their Animal Ball.
“Picasso said that the elephant is evidence that God is an artist and it is this quote that is the starting point for anything we do at Elephant Family. The animal kingdom is the ultimate inspiration for any creative mind,” said Ruth Powys, Elephant Family CEO. “Elephant Family is known for working with the most esteemed fashion and design luminaries in the world in exciting and engaging ways to raise awareness for our cause and we wanted to create the ultimate sense of occasion with our next venture.”
The masks – from the unusual and abstract to the more exotic, opulent and feathered designs – will be on public display at Sotheby’s London until May 15. Other names to participate include Missoni, Mario Testino, Ashish, Jasper Conran and Giles. All proceeds from the ball, which takes place on July 9, will go to the Elephant Family and Habitat for Humanity – a partnership aiming to tackle the conservation issues in Asia. To purchase tickets, email RSVP@elephantfamily.org
Manolo Blahnik
Diane von Furstenberg
Jasper Conran
Piers Atkinson
Robbie Honey
Beulah London
Rachel Trevor Morgan
3DEye
Natalie Ellner
Mario Testino
Fleet Ilya for Coco de Mer
Carrie Jenkinson
Another Amazing idea from the Elephant Family – look out New York, London is going to whip away your crown as THE party hosts…
PUNK: Chaos to Couture – The Met’s 2013 Costume Institute exhibition, opening Thursday May 9, will examine punk’s impact on high fashion from the movement’s birth in the early 1970s through its continuing influence today. Featuring approximately one hundred designs for men and women, the exhibition will include original punk garments and recent, directional fashion to illustrate how haute couture and ready-to-wear borrow punk’s visual symbols. Focusing on the relationship between the punk concept of “do-it-yourself” and the couture concept of “made-to-measure,” the seven galleries will be organized around the materials, techniques, and embellishments associated with the anti-establishment style. Themes will include New York and London, which will tell punk’s origin story as a tale of two cities, followed by Clothes for Heroes and four manifestations of the D.I.Y. aesthetic—Hardware, Bricolage, Graffiti and Agitprop, and Destroy. Presented as an immersive multimedia, multisensory experience, the clothes will be animated with period music videos and soundscaping audio techniques.
A gallery devoted to “DIY: Graffiti & Agitprop” is a mix of splashed and spray-painted designs by the likes of Dolce & Gabbana and Alexander McQueen alongside the bold statement tees of Katharine Hamnett and Moschino.
A section devoted to “D.I.Y. Hardware” shows designers such as Gianni Versace and Viktor & Rolf substituting punk trappings such as studs and spikes for conventional couture trimmings.
House of Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci (2007-8)
Alexander McQueen paint-splatter dress from the Savage Beauty exhibit dedicated to the designer a couple years ago.
Maison Martin Margiela designs (2006)
Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, “God Save the Queen” shirt (1976-80)
One of the exhibition’s seven galleries replicates Seditionaries boutique, located at 430 Kings Road in London from 1976 through 1980.
Standing sentry at the entrance to the exhibition are a John Galliano-designed fall 2006 Christian Dior haute couture ensemble, complete with red leather harness, and at left, a late 1970s “parachute” shirt and “bondage” trousers from Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s Seditionaries.
In the final “DIY: Destroy” gallery, a row of webby knitwear includes several patched and crocheted ensembles from the fall 2008 Rodarte collection. At far left is a cotton dress from Yohji Yamamoto’s spring 1993 collection.
A historical reproduction of the toilets at CBGB, New York 1975
The LP case-shaped book cover of “PUNK: Chaos to Couture”
Check the video:
“Punk: Chaos to Couture” exhibition preview of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, May 6, 2013.
PUNK: Chaos to Couture will run from May 9, 2013 – August 14, 2013 at New York’s The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
An Exhibit celebrating the costume collaboration between Prada and Gatsby opened in New York with a roaring 20s style bang.
The Great Gatsby hits theaters onMay 10th, but fashion fans got a sneak peek at costumes from the movie at the opening of the “Catherine Martin and Miuccia Prada Dress Gatsby” at the Soho Prada flagship store in New York City.
The wide iconic staircase of the Rem Koolhaas-designed Prada store is ideal gallery for the exhibit, allowing viewers an up-close look at the intricate beading, embroideries, feather work and furs used in the costumes. Several suits designed by Brooks Brothers for the film are also paired with dresses on the store’s second level.
Pieces from the Miuccia Prada and Catherine Martin collaboration.
Miuccia Prada and Baz Luhrmann.
Carey Mulligan in Prada.
Anh Duong.
Michelle Harper.
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mia Moretti and Katy Perry, all in Prada.
Katy Perry in Prada.
Miuccia Prada Dress Gatsby is on display at Prada Soho(575 Broadway Ave., New York) through May 12th, then will head to Prada’s Tokyo boutique for display June 14-30 before its final stop at the label’s Shanghai boutique in mid-July.
Chef Andrew Carmellini is returning to French cuisine with the opening of Lafayette, his new project with restaurateurs Luke Ostrom and Josh Pickard - the winning team behind blockbusters Locanda Verde and the Dutch.
The message you get from the moment you walk into the brightly mirrored and tiled restaurant is “save room for dessert.” Up front, where one would expect a bar, is a retail bakery and pastry shop, stacked high with well-burnished breads and croissants by Per Se veteran James Belisle and bright tartlets and macarons by former Aureole pastry chef Jen Yee.
Craft alum Damon Wise is working as the chef de cuisine and the menu focuses on the country’s rustic south: House-made ravioli au pistou reps the eastern tip butting against Italy; grilled octopus with smoky eggplant and pipérade pledges allegiance to the Basque border; and roasted lamb chops with burnt orange and olives evoke France’s Moroccan ties.
Here’s a look around the space, which was designed by Roman & Williams.
Josh Pickard, Andrew Carmellini and Luke Ostrom at Lafayette
Terry O’Neill is a British photographer who gained renown documenting the fashions, styles, and celebrities of the 1960s.
He has captured some of the most evocative images of our time for more than 50 years. From a nonchalently beautiful Faye Dunaway poolside at the Beverly Hills Hotel the morning after her Oscar win, David Bowie plus his white dog in full glam rock regalia and the sculptural beauty of Romy Schneider in Saint-Tropez, to a fragile young Kate Moss in a black lace bodysuit.
A selection of his intimate portraits has been brought together in a new book; ‘Terry O’Neill : The A-Z of Fame’.
Terry O’Neill
Charlotte Rampling
Romy Schneider
Paul Newman and Clint Eastwood
David Bowie
Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney
Lauren Hutton
Mikhail Barychnikov
Paul MacCartney
Brigitte Bardot
Twiggy
Jane Shrimpton and Terence Stamp
Tina Turner
Robert Redford
Harrison Ford
Faye Dunaway
Kate Moss
Images taken from Terry O’Neill, published by ACC Editions.
