PROD. TAPELESS FILM
All posts by Francesca Bocca
17 PostsI make the trend!
My styling work has been selected to be part of Trend Hunter! Very glad about it, I love the way Jana Pijak described my styling choices, so thanks to her and to all the crew.
LATEX COUTURE
I am a fan of the fetish style. And when the erotic design meets quality, my stylish and provocative fantasies are finally fulfilled.
An example of excellent craftsmanship and creative taste is the brand Atsuko Kudo, which designs and manufactures a full range of ladies wear, exclusively in latex rubber.
Bras, corsets, dresses, hats and even stockings and shoes…the selection is very wide. The result is a seductive collection of garments that give an extreme feminine shape. Some pieces have a strong retro flavor, others seem stolen from the wardrobe of a super woman of the comics. The strength of these proposals is their versatility. A black shiny pencil skirt can give an unexpected flavour to an evening outfit, a body cage can awaken the couple’s routine in a boring winter and a latex hat could make us stand out in an elegant cocktail without necessarily seem a mistress in her day off.
Atsuko Kudo is now a well-known brand, published in prestigious magazines and worn by many celebrities. It is not accessible to all as quite expensive, but it remains a ‘good source of inspiration for those who want to dare with style.
Moody & Farrell
I am definetely a hat lover, long time fascinated by the millinery art. I personally own a small hats collection, but far away from the astonishing creations I am about to describe.
Today I want to introduce you to Moody & Farrell, a creative duo composed by solo hat maker Eloise Moody and her spiritual partner, deceased grandfather Michael John Farrell.
Eloise Moody has the rare quality to realize hats that carry the elegance and the grace of the tradition with an extraordinary creative twist, futuristic, sometimes.
Exploring her collection, is like travelling in a undefined century, where nature, irony and a powdery nobility smoothly and magically melt.
The Spring Summer ’14 collection is really outstanding, with its sophisticated entanglement of different inspirations. Other reviews describe it as an Elizabethan and Baroque blend, but I also see a Spanish/South American influence (traditional and religious).
What matters is that I love very much Eloise’s work and I hope to have chance to show some of her creations in my styling work one day.
Fashion from Jakarta
I have been always fascinated by the veil used in the Muslim culture, as I consider it an expression of femininity and elegance.
Despite the negative attributes that reference an archaic and oppressive society, I like to grasp more poetic aspects, related to the mystery and a to refined image of the woman.
The Jakarta Fashion Week (the largest fashion event in the Southeast Asia region) this year has featured 240 Indonesian designers/labels including those specializing in Moslem wear.
So I would like to bring under your attention the work of Dian Pelangi and Nur Zahra.
Dian Pelangi’s collection is a gorgeous explosion of colours and layering, that seems to me a fanciful desert explorer. Nur Zahra outfits look more traditional, bringing us back to the rural origins of the dress through a sweet and bucolic figure. Both the brands remind me the work of the Italian designer Antonio Marras, master in bringing into fashion the deep roots of his homeland, through meticulous research and high artistic expression.
Dian Pelangi http://dianpelangi.com/
Nur Zahra http://www.nurzahra.com
Miss Violence
Only after a few days I understood the meaning of certain choices made in this Greek film that has won a couple of awards at the Venice film festival.
This film tells a terrible story of family abuses, but does so with a extremely quiet narrative, with rhythm and framing meticulously defined. Style that at the first view can be found boring, too static, but now I appreciate it.
The film begins with the explosive event of the suicide of an young girl. Then it starts the slow discovery of the truth which corresponds to the same atrocious path that all the victims of family violence, are obliged to follow. They see the most obvious certainties to crumble to make room for the daily nightmare, like a storm after a sunny day.
A difficult subject, narrated without too predictable images or easy drama.
May in the Summer
May in the summer is a good story, well acted and well directed.
It is the story of a woman who simply stumbles and undermines a recently announced big decision: to marry the man who is convinced to love.
Due to the return to the family, which always destabilizes, due to the disagreement of her mother, fervent Christian against a Muslim fiancé, due to the general stress, this woman who seemed so determined, undergoes a transformation.
Finally, the tough decision to say no and break off the marriage, gives to her and to the spectator, a sense of liberation and rebirth.
This is a female story, but not sticky. It is about having the courage to say no, to start over, to fall in love, even if it seems too late.
Excellent work of the director Cherien Dabis, who directed and starred a movie that I really enjoyed.
The Canyons
During my first night in Venice I had chance to see “The Canyons” a non-competitive film directed by Paul Schrader. Director and main actors where present, except for Lindsay Lohan, who apparently was, as usual, into rehab.
The film tells a murky web of unhealthy relationships based on sex and lies and the corrupt, ruthless and decadent film industry’s system, also in relation to the progressive abandonment of the cinemas in favor of a home vision and the passage from the film to the digital age.
I believe that the strength of the film is the main character, Tara, played by Lindsay Lohan, which brings on set, through her troubled story and personality, a honest and real performance. So real that I immediately thought that the clothes worn by the actress had not been chosen by the costume designer, but by herself. Intuition confirmed by reading an article where there was talk that Lindsay also decided to wear a bright red swimsuit in order to direct the focal point of a scene on herself.
She appears morally and physically decadent but I personally like a lot the melancholic result of the mix between surgery, drugs abuse and depression.
Too bad the film fails to really dare, it remains a little too prudish and flat, but perhaps really coincides with the reality that describes.
Francy goes to Venice
For the first year I had the opportunity to go to Venice for the famous Film Festival. Since my arrival I breathed an unusual atmosphere. It seems to live in a timeless bubble, between frenzy and drowsiness, rebounding from histerical crowds to improvised decompression oasis. What is certain is that, if you love cinema, this is a tempting occasion to see many movies and be part of this always fascinating world.
Ying Gao
Ying Gao is a Chinese fashion designer who creates outstanding pieces combining urban design, architecture and multimedia. She takes inspiration from the transformations of social and urban environment. For Ying, garments are fragile protective space between body and external interferences. To express the mutations of the body and the world, she often uses sensory technologies that allow garments to become more impactive and interactive.
For example she designed an interactive dress made with super organza and electronic devices. That dress moves like a jellyfish in the water.
The dress you see in the picture above is her last “creature”: an interactive dress made with super organza, photoluminescent thread, PVDF and electronic devices, activated by spectator’s gaze.
Adult amusement
Jason Freeny is and artist specialised in sculpture and computer-generated imagery.
I like his work as he transforms innocent and beloved toys in anatomical models, giving back a mixed feeling, between cuteness and weirdness.
This is not the first example of “dissection art”, but Freeny’s work is funny and fresh so I suggest a tour on his website http://www.moistproduction.com ENJOY!
GOODBYE LONDON
Back from London, in Milano again…with a bag full of vintage hats, some cheap T-shirts, NO NEW SHOES (incredibile, ah?), old style British tea cups from charity shops and…a lot of energy and ideas for the upcoming winter.
I really hope to have chance to be part of interesting projects, even if now quality seems to be less important than few years ago. I believe that with small budgets we should make small good things, and not big ugly things…anyway, keep calm and fingers crossed!
London: Hometown of fashion?
Does style come from the streets? I believe we can get inspiration from many sources (art, history, cinema, music,…), but a walk in London is always good to refresh our style and have fun too.
Personally I love to observe people while I am hanging around the city, to catch the details of their outfits and imagine personalities and stories behind clothes, accessories and tattoos. For me, people are like books that you only see the cover or cakes that you only can smell (which can be sometimes an unpleasant experience!).
HACKNEY WICKED ART FESTIVAL LONDON
16TH – 17TH & 18TH AUGUST 2013
Hackney WickED is a dynamic force for promoting local culture – dedicated to providing a platform for artists to showcase their work alongside established and international names. 2013 sees the return of Hackney WickED Art Festival championing creativity through Exhibitions, Open Studios, Performance, Workshops…
My opinion: Hackney is the new (almost old) artistic pole of London, born and grown in the last 6 years, thanks to the efforts of artists who moved there because they were looking for cheaper and bigger locations. Now the community counts a large number of creative minds who are producing really interesting stuff.
Worthy to visit and keep an eye on!
Club to Catwalk: London Fashion in the 1980s at the V&A
10 July 2013 – 16 February 2014 Victoria and Albert Museum
A fashionable trip back in time, reliving the 80s through clothes. Club to Catwalk at the V&A, explores the creative explosion of London fashion in the 80s and explores how the impact of underground club culture reinvented the fashion worldwide. The exhibition traces the emerging theatricality in British fashion as the capital’s vibrant and eclectic club scene influenced a new generation of designers. John Galliano recalled, ‘Thursday and Friday at St Martin’s, the college was almost deserted. Everybody was at home working on their costumes for the weekend’.
My opinion: the exhibition is pretty small in terms of number of clothes displayed, but well organized and presented. Especially because outfits are divided by themes, so I had a complete overview of the main trends of those years. It looks like the alternative fashion scene was much more vibrant than the contemporary one, but of course their work was part of a big movement based on provocation and rebellion, now young designers are more focused on exploration of concepts and textile research.
It is worth a visit anyway, also to enjoy the the V&A’s permanent Fashion collection.
Hello world!
This is my first post. I’m starting blogging! Stay tuned : )