26 posts tagged "Carol Lim"
The Latest From Pitti: Less Is More
The economic news from Italy, Pitti Immagine’s ambassadors admitted at a diplomatic lunch mission today, is not good. But they contend they have every reason to be sanguine. The biannual Pitti trade fairs—menswear Pitti Uomo, womenswear Pitti W, children’s Pitti Bimbi, and the textile fair Pitti Filati—draw a more international crowd season after season; for the 83rd fair, to be held January 8-11 of next year, a full 40 percent of the vendors are international.
The big news so far has been the invited guests: Kenzo, which will present the Fall ’13 menswear collection, and Maison Kitsuné, which will stage its first ever show for women’s pre-collection. At lunch, Kenzo designer Humberto Leon and Carol Lim (left) professed their gratitude for the Pitti invitation, even if accepting it means their hectic international schedules, overseeing Kenzo and Opening Ceremony, became that much more hectic. (Leon estimated that he is now on a plane once every five days, with key stops in Florence, Tokyo, Paris, and L.A.) But in their way, Leon and Lim are shaking up the Pitti orthodoxies: They are, Pitti CEO Raffaello Napoleone said with a gasp, showing during the afternoon instead of the usual evening spot.
Kenzo and Kitsuné both hit a sweet spot a hair below the usual designer price point, which is likely no coincidence. “Smart casual is doing well,” Pitti Chairman Gaetano Marzotto announced in his opening remarks, calling out a bright spot in the market. (And adding, to a mostly tie-less crowd, “Like you are dressed now—you in particular.”) But the main-stage designers won’t be the only ones showing at Pitti. Among the other debuts will be Adidas SLVR, G-Star (which will show its latest collection created in collaboration with industrial designer Marc Newson), the returning Pitti veteran Andrea Pompilio, and the adored Japanese line White Mountaineering.
Kenzo, Kitsuné To Bring A Bit Of France To Florence
Last season’s Pitti Uomo guest, Carven, brought with it a strong Gallic flavor to the Italian menswear fair, in the form of an old French tradition: the waiters’ race. Evidently the mood is lingering. The fair has tapped two French brands, Kenzo (designed by the American duo Humberto Leon and Carol Lim) and Maison Kitsuné (by the Frenchman Gildas Loaëc and his Japanese partner, Masaya Kuroki, above) to present their collection at the fair’s 83rd iteration in January. Kenzo will show menswear, Maison Kitsuné womenswear. The fair runs from January 8 to 11, 2013.
Opening Ceremony London: Let The Shopping Begin
The Olympic Games don’t start until next week, but Opening Ceremony’s Humberto Leon and Carol Lim are already in London town finishing up the final touches on their first U.K. shop, a Covent Garden pop-up that will coincide with the Games. As previously reported, this is a temporary location to be followed by the permanent store opening down the street this fall, but it’s by no means a small undertaking. Brit designer Faye Toogood created “mechanical-looking” constructions for the windows, along with several art pieces on display throughout the store. And in OC fashion, Lim and Leon have enlisted a top crop of its frequent collaborators to create exclusive Olympic pieces for the 3,000-square-foot space, including Chloë Sevigny, Proenza Schouler, Band of Outsiders, Delfina Delettrez, and Adidas. Here, Style.com has a first look at some of the winning goods, including Delettrez’s finger ring ($302), Prism’s sunglasses ($409), Band of Outsiders’ tank ($87), and House of Holland’s dress ($322), before the store opens Thursday. And if that’s not already enough, the duo is debuting OC Annual, its new “collectible fashion and culture magazine,” in August, followed by its 300-page, tenth anniversary Rizzoli tome, due out in September.
Opening Ceremony opens July 19 at 31-32 King St., London, www.openingceremony.us.
Opening Ceremony Takes On London
It looks like there will be more than one opening ceremony at the upcoming London Olympics. Today, WWD reports that New York-based retailer Opening Ceremony is temporarily setting up shop at 31-31 King Street just before the 2012 Olympics get under way. The 3,000-square-foot pop-up shop, housing O.C.’s ready-to-wear line and collections from Olympia Le-Tan to Maison Michel, a debut Adidas x Opening Ceremony collection, and exclusive Olympic pieces from the likes of Proenza Schouler, Pamela Love, and Chloë Sevigny, will be followed by the brand’s first shop in Europe, opening in the fall (also reportedly on King Street).
“In the last ten years since we first opened our doors on Howard Street in New York, Opening Ceremony has expanded to Los Angeles and Tokyo, but we have had our hearts set on London since the beginning. Covent Garden is an historic, global shopping destination and we’re looking forward to what Opening Ceremony will add to its exciting future,” O.C. founders Humberto Leon and Carol Lim (pictured) say. Also on the horizon: a Topshop “sport-inspired” collection, due to launch in July.
Rocks Solid: Humberto Leon And Carol Lim’s Postcard From Thailand
Opening Ceremony founders and Kenzo designers Humberto Leon and Carol Lim recouped from fashion week(s) as well as anyone we know—with a vacation to an experimental film festival in Thailand, co-curated by Tilda Swinton and attended by the likes of Swinton, Ryan McGinley, Chloë Sevigny, Waris Ahluwalia, and Haider Ackermann. Below, they sent back a few photos from their time in paradise.
Carol and I were ready for a tropical adventure after Paris fashion week. We had been invited to the debut of Film on the Rocks Yao Noi, an experimental film festival co-curated by Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Tilda Swinton along with a fun group of artists and friends like Ryan McGinley, Chloê Sevigny, and Tom Sachs. Chomwan and Nat, the organizers of the event, didn’t let us down with the immersive, fun (and educational!) program that they put together with the curators. The experience of watching a range of films at different venues in and around the Six Senses eco-resort on Yao Noi was an unbelievable journey. We never thought we’d be going to a film premiere on a floating raft in the middle of the ocean! Apart from Ole Scheeren’s jaw-dropping temporary cinema, we traveled to the jungle to see a one-time-only performance by Rirkrit Tiravanija and Arto Lindsay, went snorkeling where Leonardo DiCaprio filmed The Beach, and ate a lot of amazing Thai food! Continue Reading “Rocks Solid: Humberto Leon And Carol Lim’s Postcard From Thailand” »