Last Thursday, the Parisian born designer celebrated his 40th birtday.  Hedi Slimane essentially reinvented menswear after he began his working life at Yves Saint Laurent in 1997 when he was appointed by Pierre Bergé.

He left Dior in February 2007 to pursue personal creative freedom within his work.

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Innovative Swedish knitwear designer Sandra Backlund has done it again.  The way she takes on the age old craft of knitting is quite edgey and unique.   She works totally unconstrained and allows each piece to guide her.

“The human body is always the starting point.  I am really fascinated by all the ways you can highlight,  distort and transform the natural silhouette of the body with clothes and accessories.”

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Jean Paul Gaultier has chosen supermodel Agyness Deyn as the face for Ma Dame, his new fragrance which is described as a fresh floral scent that is electric & sensual.

Gaultier describes Ma Dame as the daughter in his collection of perfumes, “She is energetic, modern, and young in attitude, and that concludes the family.” The family includes Classique as the mother, Le MaleFleur du Male, as the father, the son is and Fragile is “sort of like the aunt.” He goes on to say, ”Ma Dam is my type of woman—at the same time fragile and strong, like a tomboy that is a little androgynous in attitude so, you know, she can cut her hair if she wants.”

Jean Paul Gaultier Ma Dame will launch in the US on September 1st, and will be exclusive to Macy’s through November, while it gets an earlier August launch in the UK.  Ma Dame will be available in 30, 50 and 100 ml Eau de Toilette and in matching body products.

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The Harlequin has arrived!

When the world slips into disarray and dark clouds push the sunny skies of happier economic times to the wayside, you can always trust the world of art, design and fashion to come to the fore and provide a wonderful alternative world full of colour and dreams, extravagance … and the Harlequin!

Miu Miu RTW Fall 2008

The Harlequin provides us with a wonderful world to escape to thanks to the vivid imagination of designers like Miu Miu, Karen Walker, Sass & Bide, Victor & Rolf and the like.

Sass & Bide Fall 2008

Colour, frivolity, and a little escapism to a happier place is not such a bad thing …

Vicktor & Rolf RTW Fall 2008

Alice had a ball in Wonderland,

didn’t she?

Maria Caldarera is one of my favourite designers to date.  I absolutely adore her aesthetic, her attention to detail, and the way she uses fabric as the master, and not the servant.  She truly is a creative revolutionary in the fashion world today.

Maria Calderara studied architecture in the 1980s before embarking on a fashion career.  During her architectural studies, Maria began designing jewellery, combining creativity and innovation with the Venetian craftsmanship tradition.  After completion of her Degree in Architecture in 1983, Maria extended her repetoire in jewellery design by presenting a Jewellery Collection twice a year.  In the same year she opened the doors of her Venice atelier in the Cannaregio district, surrounded by the city’s traditional goldsmiths and their work shops.  It is here where Maria Calderara produces her jewels alongside talented Venetian craftswomen, most of whom still work for her today.

In the heart of Milan, near Porta Venezia, Maria opened her first Showroom in 1985, personally overlooking the entire project.  To this day, it still stands out as one of the first Milanese examples of renovation and restoration of an industrial space.  A place whose appeal and allure derive from the charming harmony and the attention to detail Maria gave to the precious and exclusive materials chosen.

In her mid 1980s collection her jewellery were complimented by scarves and handbags, and from the mid 1990s Maria Calderara designed and implemented some womenswear in order to enhance and complete the identity of the brand she had built.

In 2000 Maria expanded her Milan Showroom by the acquisition of a space which was originally destined to house the Christian Stein Gallery.  Maria entrusted architects Cecilia Cassina and Ottorino Berselli to develop the renovation project.

Maria was invited by Robert Wan in 2002 to design a complete jewellery collection to update the image of Tahiti Black Pearls.  She chose the most particular and unusual shapes and shadings to create a series of necklaces mades with shantung silk strings, or threaded in light silk ribbons.  These pieces proceeded to be sold in the most coolest boutiques worldwide.  They were objects to be coveted.

In 2003 Maria Calderara opened her first flagship store in Paris, Rue du Cerche Midi, in the heart of Saint Germain.  Besides jewellery, accesories and ready to wear - which is by now, a complete collection - she works on a series of “Pieces Unique,” manufactured with objects collected during her travels around the world.  Each piece is numbered and exclusive.

The following year her second Showroom is opened in Place des Victoires, Paris, where two years later in 2006 Maria debuts her Autumn/Winter 2006/07 Collection on the Milan Fashion Week runways.

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Yves Saint Laurent, the man claimed to bring power to women through his art,  died on Sunday night at 11.10pm, the age of 71.

Said to be a shy boy, Yves Saint Laurent was born in Algeria (still part of France at the time) on 1st August 1936 to a well-off, socialable family of cinema owners.  When he was 13, the local patternmaker would run up patterns from the designs he had made for his sister and mother.   Through the sheer persistance and faith his mother had in his talent, she took him to Paris when he was 17 and secured a meeting with the editor of French Vogue, who was said to be quite impressed by his sketches.

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The following year he moved to Paris on his own, enrolled at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture, and soon won first prize in a competition for his design of a cocktail dress.  In 1955 he came to the attention of the most prestigious fashion name in the world:  Christian Dior, who said “Saint Laurent is the only one worthy to carry on after me.”  When, two years later Dior died of a heart attack while on holiday,  Saint Laurent was named his successor.  At 21 he was the world’s youngest couturier.

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After a brief stint in the army, YSL had come home to see he had been replaced by Marc Bohan.  Pierre Bergé, a young art dealer who had fallen in love with Saint Laurent at a Paris party, and soon became his business partner.  They remained lovers until 1986, although Bergé continued to play a key role in the designer’s life.

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Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he set the pace for fashion around the world.  In 1966 his Spring Couture show featured the first tuxedo for women, while the controversial Autumn Collection was inspired by Andy Warhol.   In 1968 he launched the “safari look” and first see-through dress caused a huge sensation at the spring collection.  It was at this time that he dedicated his Autumn range to the student protesters of May 1968, including duffle coats and fringed jackets.

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Saint Laurent’s final show in January 2002, after which he retired to his house in Marrakech, was treated by the French as an event of national significance. Two thousand guests, some of whom were rumoured to have paid £2,000 on the black market for the privilege, converged on the Georges Pompidou centre to see more than 350 classic pieces from the YSL label, as well as 40 new gowns.

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In his later years the depression that had haunted him all his life became more oppressive.  When he bowed out of fashion in 2002, Saint Laurent spoke of his battles with depression, drugs and loneliness, though he gave no indication that those problems were directly tied to his decision to stop working.  In December 2007 Saint Laurent was appointed a Grand Officier of the Légion d’honneur by President Nicolas Sarkozy.

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And so we come to the end of the life of a truly inspirational man of fashion.  The last of the traditional French couturiers.

“Fashion dies, but style remains”

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 Chanel, autumn/winter 2008-9
© Amando Grillo/VOGUE.COM

I’m really loving Chanel’s two-tone tights - aren’t they amazing!!! Described by Vogue as “The epitome of grown-up chic” it would seem that here is another fashion item to covet for autumn/winter 2008-9.

Konstantina Mittas showed at the RAFW Spring/summer Rosemount Australian Fashion Week and I really loved her flirty, sheer style.

Here’s an amazing backstage pic from Michelle Jank’s Show. Love the Black Birds!

 “Saint Dorothy” 10×10″ acrylic/pencil/marker on canvas,
 for sale at www.bluebottleart.com

       “Garden State” 12×12″ acrylic/pencil on canvas,
for sale at www.andreaheimer.com


“Saint Odilia” Patron Saint of eye problems
- for sale at www.bluebottleart.com

“Saint Amelia”  - Patron Saint of eye problems, 
for sale at http://www.bluebottleart.com/artwork/art_icon.php

“Girl N. 2″ SOLD

“Secret” SOLD

Andrea Heimer is one of my favourite artists, I love her aesthetic, the way she uses imagery and colour. Above are a few of my faves at the moment. She’s 27 and from Bellingham, Washington US, and a regular on the art scene. She’s just finished a series of exhibitions, and if you like what you see, check out her website for more information.