Catch-up: in conversation with Hintmag's lovely Lee Carter
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It has been said that Catalonia’s longstanding separatist identity is best characterised by its offerings to the creative arts. The capital, Barcelona has been ascribed a design temperament at odds with the rest of Spain – a mixture of ‘Reason and Craziness,’ Seny i Rauxa, that delights in the biomorphic forms of art-nouveau and surrealism yet which maintains an unwavering reputation for technical excellence. Fashion has been central to Barcelona’s mercantile history since the end of the eighteenth century with its textile industry maintaining it as a hub for high quality clothing production. From the 9th to the 11th July Andrew Gow will be there offering coverage of the city's fashion week.
Originally from Glasgow, Andrew read English and German at Oxford University. Following his graduation in 2004, he has worked in fashion wholesale, retail and management consultancy. He is company secretary... [more]
Hear renowned Japanese fashion journalist, Take Hirakawa, and stylist/designer, Akiko Murata, discussing their new magazine, Lepli: a venture that proposes to stir up fashion education as we understand it. The name 'Lepli' comes from the French pli meaning fold. Any fashion creation is composed of a particular system of folds and a new designer's role, or indeed that of a fashion student, is to adjust this system in response to what is happening around them. It'll be out November 2007.
Between this week's shows, i-D contributors Ben Weller and John Colver have been combing Spanish beaches in search of the ultimate kouros for an upcoming issue. Here they are looking moody on the balcony with some Catalonian cats in the background.
Staged at Barcelona's brutalist style Olympic Pool (where Kylie's Slow video was done incidentally) and offering a breathtaking vantage point over the city, Thierry Mugler's retrospective brought grown French men to tears this evening. Unfortunately, lighting meant the video is kind of grainy but if you look closely you might be able to see the Sagrada Familia glimmering in the distance. The show, a joyride through Mugler's whole backlog was full of whiplash ponytails, soulful bondage and the motorbike girl/sexy cyborg getups as worn by Nadja, Tyra and Linda in George Michael's Too Funky. Too fabulous for words - everyone is back at the hotel now trying to calm down.
This is better than the first video - watch as crystals are painstakingly applied onto lips and eyes.
Don't ask me how i got here
Laurent (right), Art Director and Fashion Consultant for 080 Barcelona, has helped to mastermind the smooth running of this week's proceedings and it's because of him that Thierry Mugler's retropective will be showing this very evening! He also happens to be a huge fan of SHOWstudio. Here he is with the debonair Tet of Chinese Vogue.
Lee Carter of Hintmag warned me Jose's presentations are noted for their exceptional showmanship so I had to be vigilant my front row seat wasn't nabbed whilst noseying backstage. The collection turned out to be a captivating crescendo of camp with pink chiffon ruffle dresses appearing to coccoon larger and larger around a procession of calcimined girls. There was also accomplished tailoring, scalloped trouser legs that jiggled underneath gaping trouser pockets and fedoras worn playfully above the head rather than on. Sentimental, saccharine, almost smutty in its vie en rose glut, this was the work of a man who idolises women, a clear devotee to the erotic artform of femininity.
One of spanish fashion's biggest names, jose's show is a hot ticket this afternoon. Here he talks about his inspiration for the collection: the women of his family.
It's difficult to determine how exactly piqueras's take on the nu-rave look differs from london's homegrown versions. Maybe a little less nuanced?
From left: Katharina from Teutonic style bible Achtung, Isabelle from Qvest and Yiorgos, designer.
Futuristic, demure, saleable - the resounding verdicts from buyers and press after Yiorgos Eleftheriades's show. The Greek designer's summery metallic dresses, deconstructed suiting in raw silk and super 100s as well as his unisex structured shoulders took us into a space age elegance, without any evidence of shiny overkill. The broad brimmed hats were a hit even if they did threaten to fly off the girls' heads mid-strut.
