Textile Swatches

CHANEL Paris-Bombay Pre Fall 2012

'The mix of English chic with Indian influence is something very elegant', Karl Lagerfeld when explaining the idea behind his Paris-Bombay Metiers d'Art 2011/12 shown earlier this week at the Grand Palais in Paris.

The Metiers d'Art show is Chanel's annual show that is a tribute to the gifted craftspeople that produce the amazing workmanship apparent in Chanel products. In 1997 Chanel acquired 7 craft workshops or ateliers including- Maison Desrues (buttonmakers), Maison Lemarie (feathers and plumage), Lesage (embroidery), Massaro (couture shoemaker), MaisonMichel (hatmakers), Goossens (jewellers) and Guillet (floral presentations).

The collection exemplified the elegance and savoir faire of Parisian fashion and Chanel's ateliers combined with the rich, artisanal works of India. Combinations of classic Chanel tweed jackets with Nehru collars with raw silk tunics; metallic evening gowns cut to look like saris and Parisian tailoring all heavily decorated with intricate embroidery. The collection displayed true qualities of design and craftsmanship.

Here's a short video of the atelier of embroidery Lesage and button-maker Desrues working on the Paris-Bombay collection.

 

The hats and the whimsy!

 
 
Hats, used primarily as head coverings, have been around for a long, long time. Women, from the early days were expected to have their heads covered by veils, hoods, etc. It was not until the end of the 16th century that women's structured hats started to be seen, and in the late 17th century women's headgear started to be seen as fashion. The word, 'milliner', a maker of women's hats originated from the city of Milan, where the best quality hats were made in the 18th century.

The hats at the Royal Wedding were fabulous and so whimsical. Here are some of my favorites...

Pulp Fashion: The Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave

I'm so inspired by the show I saw last Saturday at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. My friend and mentor, Yoshiko Wada, took me to see the terrific and inspiring exhibit, 'Pulp Fashion: The Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave'

Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave is a painter by training, who for more than fifteen years, has created an astonishing and original body of work. After a visit to the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in the mid 90s, she was inspired to experiment with fashion design through the medium of paper. 

Painting and manipulating paper, she forms trompe l'oeil masterpieces of elaborate historical dresses. Her work spans 300 years of fashion history from Elizabeth I to Coco Chanel- encompassing the worlds of Mariano Fortuny and 19th c. Venice, the Medici costumes from the Renaissance, gowns worn by Elizabeth I and Marie-Antoinette to the creations of the grand couturiers Frederick Worth, Paul Poiret, Christian Dior and Coco Chanel, and even kaftans of ikat and suzani patterns.

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The exhibit will run till June 5th, 2011 at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco

 

When traveling, buy crafts to help support the local craftspeople

When visiting foreign countries, it's a great idea to purchase crafts as gifts and for yourself. You bring home something unique and support the local economies and craftspeople. As quoted in the NY Times article- Is there a Right Way to Spend Money When Traveling here, 'Crafts are the best things to buy; they have people's dreams woven into them.'

Here are some of the unique crafts we came across when recently traveling in India.

While in New York

Last week walking around the streets of SoHo in New York, I came across the very fun windows of the store and cafe, Nespresso on Mercer and Prince streets. They were created by Indian designer Manish Arora. Manish is best known for his flamboyant, avant garde and fantastical designs in vivid colors.

The windows are intricately detailed- embellished in sequence, glitter and embroidery. They feature skyscrapers, Lady Liberty, taxicabs and the best of art deco NY.

Manish has recently taken the helm as creative director of womenswear at, Franco-Spanish brand, Paco Rabanne. His first collection for Spring-Summer 2012 will show in Paris in October 2011... stay tuned!

To learn more about the designer, check out his website here

ALETA artisan fabrics for Interior Design

Aleta Bartel-Orton, a Canadian living in London, founded her fabric company Aleta in 2003. She is best known for specializing in fabrics inspired by the decorative arts of 17th century Mughal India, from the finest reproductions of ancient textiles to contemporary reinterpretations of classic motifs. The 'Aleta' line consists of 100% natural fiber fabrics- cottons and linens and is manufactured in England. 

                        

                                                

In addition she distributes the renowned block printed floral textiles of Brigitte Singh and she has a specialty paint collection with bespoke paint company- Francesca's Paint. The colors coordinate with Aleta's fabric collection. Colors such as Mughal Spring, Indian Summer and Monsoon Rains.