Geometries. “Colors for a large wall” (in the picture) is an artwork by Ellsworth Kelly. I saw it for the first time at the MoMa in NY: a huge painting with perfectly symmetrical white and coloured checks, placed in the middle of a wide white wall. The American artist is one of the first figures of the Hard Edge Painting, developped during his years in Paris, between 1948 and 1954. Colour geometries have been used in fashion by the early Kenzo and Castelbajac, and today by brands loved by young people. Those fabrics, printed with stripes and checks, are included in the s/s collections, but softened by pastel colours or cooled by grey and blue shades and fibres that look technical. They are an important trend in classicwear too, but with some imperceptible but clear fashion sign, as in the case of the Brioni s/s collection by Brendan Mullane. Detail of “Colors for a Large Wall” by Ellsworth Kelly (1951)

Super Cool Clubbing Night. Giubbotto e jeans in raso, pelliccia (ecologica) sui bordi, stivaletti a punta e i primi gioelli per uomo: siano in pieni anni ’90. Gli abiti erano di D&G, di Versus, e di Krizia Uomo. Foto di Stephanie Pfriender Stylander.

Super Cool Clubbing Night. … Continua a leggere →

The rainbow on the catwalk. … Continua a leggere →

(Revisited) Icons. Is there a way to update an iconic style? It’s difficult, because the icon has a precise symbolic meaning, which is “untouchable”. The English poet Thom Gunn (1929-2004) chose to move to San Francisco to come out. In those years, the Sixties, even in the States this matter was a taboo (it doesn’t mean that now it’s a bed of roses…). In the picture on the right we see Gunn in a biker-casual outfit: checked shirt, gun belt and jeans. An iconic attire, in fact, adopted by many Hollywood stars, from Steve McQueen to Jude Law (when he’s far from the red carpet, of course). It reminds us the costumes of Brokeback Mountain, just to stay on the topic. Well, this week I throw down the guantlet: I try to “debunk” that old-fashioned image with a base close to the original, but with a modern styling. Look at the pictures, and tell me if I’m wrong. The English poet Thom Gunn