8 posts tagged "Elie Top"
Will You Keep It Surreal This Season?
With Impossible Conversations, the Schiaparelli/Prada Costume Institute exhibit fast approaching, perhaps it’s no surprise that surrealism has again found its way into fashion’s collective (un)conscious. Elsa Schiaparelli famously collaborated with the likes of Salvador Dalí, and Miuccia Prada has done more for the cause of surreal style than anyone since. And there were more than a few designs on the Fall runways that echoed the theme.
At Lanvin, Alber Elbaz and Elie Top nodded at artists like Man Ray and Joan Miró with playful costume jewelry such as crystal eye brooches and a chain belt with plastic lips. Diane von Furstenberg referenced the movement, too, with interlocking hands on a body-hugging dress. Some designs, like Mary Katrantzou‘s digitally printed labyrinth gown, made the surreal wearable, and some, like Stephen Jones’ spiny headpieces for Giles (left), seemed destined to stay on the runway—or perhaps, one day, the museum gallery.
CLICK FOR A SLIDESHOW, and let us know if you’ll be keeping it surreal this season.
Lanvin, Made In—And For—The Shade
Lanvin jewelry fans can add something new (and slightly more affordable) to their wish lists: Alber Elbaz has created a new sunglasses collection with De Rigo that is scheduled to hit the counter—in Paris at least—in time for New Year’s Eve. The first wave of 18 styles (13 for women, 4 for men, and one for all) take their cues from, on one side, the Art Deco-inspired jewelry designed for Lanvin by Elie Top and, on the other, industrial elements, with hammered silver or horn frames set with rivets. Prices start at around €300.
Out Of Africa (And Into The Marais)
Yaz Kurhan, better known as her nom de jewelry Yazbukey, is not one to hide her light under a bushel. For her “Fabulous African Saga” accessories and new home decor, Kurhan took over Tigersushi in Paris’ Marais neighborhood for a collection launch party with her likeminded friends, including stylists Catherine Baba and Elisa Nalin (above left, with Kurhan), Purple‘s Caroline Gaimari, Lanvin’s Elie Top, Sarah Lerfel from Colette, and Michelle Harper, in town from New York for Couture week. Fancy friends, however, doesn’t make for a stuffy hostess: Kurhan comfortably installed herself on a throne made of plastic grocery-store crates (made for the occasion by Diplomates, the Paris art collective) and greeted her guests.
Kurhan chose Africa as the theme for her Fall collection, based on childhood memories growing up in Saudi Arabia. “My dad was part of the Turkish embassy there and he organized the Islamic conference for many years,” she said. “I remember playing with the children of all the African dignitaries at the conference, and although I’ve never visited Africa, I got a feeling for its diversity from that experience.” Kurhan, who divides her time between Paris and New York (where she dreams up accessories for Zac Posen’s Z Spoke line), continues to work in Plexiglas, creating flattened versions of everyday Africana, including flora, fauna, and everything in between. Case in point: There are tiger’s paw necklaces with scratch-mark traces, snake sunglasses, and banana hair pins—as well as a ghetto blaster bag. And for the first time, plastic wall decals join the wearable offerings, including a portrait of Naomi Campbell and a lion’s head.
A Magazine And Acne Paper Play Host In Paris
The party people were out in force on Friday night in Paris’ Marais to celebrate the latest editions of two—get this—print magazines. The revolving-editor A Magazine chose Giambattista Valli to helm its new issue: his chosen theme, “real beauty,” and his cover, a portrait of River Phoenix by Michael Tighe (above right). Marina Abramovic, Nan Goldin, Chiara Clemente, Lee Radziwill, Peter Schlesinger, and Kenzo Takada all collaborated on the tenth issue, as did Sasha Pivovarova, who did a series of self-portraits. “This magazine is about what nourishes me; it’s another way to show my inspirations,” said Valli, who opened his exploration with a 1975 quote from Yves Saint Laurent: “What we imagine may be very beautiful but nothing replaces reality.” (To buy, visit www.bruil.info.)
Around the corner at the very private Maison de La Chasse, Maria Berenson and editor Thomas Persson (below right) co-hosted a fête for the new issue of Acne Paper, the Studio Issue, and Kristin Scott Thomas and Bruno Frisoni (below left), Nicola Formichetti, Lanvin’s Lucas Ossendrijver and Elie Top, and Catherine Baba all dropped by to mill in the hunting house’s drawing rooms. The mag includes visits to, or representations of, the studios of artists like Matisse, Pollock, and Hockney, as well as photographic portfolios by Helmut Lang and Eric Boman. A nude Leigh Bowery (shot by Bruce Bernard as he sat for a portrait with Lucien Freud) appears on the cover (above left), and hostess Berenson is inside, shot by Katerina Jebb in Jean Cocteau’s house in Milly-La-Forêt. “Marisa’s grandmother, Elsa Schiaparelli, was so close to Cocteau it was natural to shoot her in his old house,” Persson explained of the spread, “and Acne is based on the idea of a creative collective, so we focused on artists’ studios as the place where creativity happens.” (To buy, visit Acne, 10 Greene St., NYC, or www.acnestudios.com.)
Yea, Nay, Or Eh? Blake Goes Buggy
It didn’t take long for Alber Elbaz’s Spring ’11 Lanvin collection to make its real-world debut. Blake Lively donned the opening look from the new collection—one of the tone-setting long, slit-skirt numbers, complete with Elie Top’s fabulously bedazzled bug at the neck—for this weekend’s Spike TV Scream Awards. She dressed up the look with a loose ponytail and a wristful of bangles, but her main accessories were her admittedly great gams: The actress spent most of the night holding her skirt open, lest you miss them. We love the look, which Blake does proud, but could do with a little less of the big reveal. What say you—yea, nay, or eh?