A captivating exhibition dedicated to fashion designer Azzedine Alaïa is currently being housed in the famous Design Museum in London. Azzedine Alaïa: The Couturier, the first major display dedicated to the late style icon to be housed in the UK, comprises of over 60 rare garments spanning the artist’s stellar career from the early 80s until his last creations. It encapsulates Alaïa’s work ethic and personal approach that defied the rules of fashion—he was known...
One of the most exclusive handbags in the world, the Hermès Birkin bag has a fascinating story behind its chance creation. It’s the year 1983; Jean-Louis Dumas—the then-chairman of the luxury brand—is sitting next to singer and actress Jane Birkin on an Air France flight from Paris to London. Jane drops her diary, stating that she has yet to find a handbag that is stylish as well as able to hold all of her possessions....
Hubert de Givenchy, founder of the iconic fashion brand best known for dressing some of Hollywood’s most famous women, has died at the age of 91. Credited with putting Paris on the fashion map in the 50s, the designer was a real creative mind and visionary. An elegant and well-mannered man, Givenchy came from an aristocratic background. Born in the French town of Beauvais in 1927, he had a passion of textiles and fabrics—as well...
Fashion and art each require precision, imagination and an in-depth understanding of colour and shape. This is perhaps why the two crafts often collide in a professional sense. When fashion and art collaborations do occur, masterful products and designs will usually ensue. We shine a light on some of the best collaborations of the past few years and make our predictions for what projects we can expect to see in the future. Louis Vuitton and...
When you’re out and about on the street there are three things people notice about you first: your coat, your bag and your shoes. With these three items you can really make a statement whether that’s through style or colour. We decided to take a look at the statement handbag to see what has been fashionable through the ages, and what you should look for when buying a bag. History of statement handbags In the...
In a lavish and ambitious exhibition, Chatsworth House becomes the stage upon which the stylish legacy of the Cavendish family is revealed. Sixteen generations of the Cavendish family have occupied Chatsworth House and—over the centuries—shared their heritage and style through their wardrobes. House Style: Five Centuries of Fashion at Chatsworth, running from 25 March until 22 October 2017, seeks to uncover the history, intricate beauty and bewildering grace of the characters that lived in the...
Located far away from the hustle and bustle of Singapore’s business district, you’ll find a workshop that is home to some of the best craftsmen in the country. Since its establishment in 1938, all creations that emerge from this workshop have had to first meet the exacting standards set by the founder. The workshop and brand focus solely on crocodile leather handbags and accessories, which are notoriously difficult to work with. Each craftsman working here...
Dior, one of the most prestigious couture houses on the planet, is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. An exhibition in Melbourne charts its phenomenal history with an exclusive and elegant exhibition. When Christian Dior was asked by wealthy French entrepreneur Marcel Boussac to design for Philippe et Gaston—a renowned and established Paris fashion house—in 1946, he politely refused. His dream was to make a fresh start in the textile industry under his own name,...
The V&A unveils its newest exhibition to celebrate the Spanish couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga—famed for his pioneering fashion designs founded on structure, fluidity and breaking the status quo. His innovative clothing designs and groundbreaking manipulation of fabrics helped craft an immovable legacy within the fashion industry. Regarded by his peers as the pinnacle of style, his former apprentice Oscar de la Renta revered him as a designer ‘who never did anything in bad taste’, while his...
The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, unveils its latest exhibition that draws parallels with Van Cleef & Arpels’ high jewellery and traditional Japanese crafts. For centuries, Japan’s city of Kyoto has been a central hub for the creative arts. This year, the city’s National Museum of Modern Art will house its latest exhibition Mastery of an Art: Van Cleef & Arpels—High Jewellery and Japanese Crafts. The retrospective will focus its attention on French high-jewellery...
