Coutorture

Elle Decor Women In Design

coutorture — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:14:12 -0800

Last night we attended an event put on by Elle Decor called Women In Design in which women all of all ages grabbed some sparkling water and white wine and listened to a panel discussion about interior design and architecture from the female standpoint. On the panel were, Annabelle Seldorf, Bunny Williams, Celerie Kemble, and fashion designer Cynthia Rowley. Rowley talked about her move from an all-white loft apartment (pre-children) to a townhouse with hardwood floors (post-children) and the tendency for elements of her collection to make their way into her home decor. The event included Elle Decor's first annual award for outstanding achievement in design, called the Vision Award, which was earned by Paula S. Wallace, who is the co-founder and President of the largest art and design college in America, namely, Savannah College of Art and Design. The women, led in discussion by Elle Decor's Editor in Chief, Margaret Russell (left), spoke about a range of topics including the recession and the challenges of working with demanding clients. Although not much of the conversation focused, in particular, on their perspectives as women, the point was taken that those who sat on the stage had more than earned their powerful positions in design. To read press literature from the event, click here.

Fashion In 50 Seconds 10/31/08

coutorture — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:16:48 -0700

The magazine industry suffered greatly this week with major layoffs at Conde Nast and Time Inc and significant restructuring within those companies. Mens Vogue, for instance, will be 'absorbed' into it's parent magazine, Vogue. The men's magazine retained only its Editor and Chief, Jay Fielden.

Zaha Hadid, architect du jour thanks to the Chanel Mobile Art Exhibit in Central Park, has opened an installation exhibit at two venues in Manhattan. The installations show Hadid's interest and talent in large-scale, organic shapes--not to mention, business sense.

Photos of Charlotte Ronson's collection for JC Penney have surfaced, calling a lot of attention to the somewhat celebrity designer and her ability to strike while the iron is hot. Her collection for JC Penney, called I [Heart] Ronson, will retail between $15 to $65. Pictured above.

If you're a window person, you'll be happy to hear that holiday concepts for Selfridges (the Macy's of London when it comes to tourist-attracting windows) have been released. There will be a window designed by Alexander McQueen and an overarching theme of Santa as urbanite.

Nicolai Ouroussoff Should Be A Fashion Critic

coutorture — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 09:17:10 -0700

Nicolai Ouroussoff, the New York Times' architecture critic, has us longing for a more critical fashion press with his review of the Chanel's Zaha Hadid art and commerce extravaganza. With every new zinger your editor and creative director found themselves giggling as we wavered between shock and pleasure at the sheer volume of practically scandalous observations.

It’s not just that New York and much of the rest of the world are preoccupied by economic turmoil and a recession, although the timing could hardly be worse. It’s that the pavilion sets out to drape an aura of refinement over a cynical marketing gimmick. Surveying its self-important exhibits, you can’t help but hope that the era of exploiting the so-called intersection of architecture, art and fashion is finally over."

It is a real shame that the best piece of fashion writing we have read in ages comes from an architecture critic but then given the propensity of fashion houses for banning criticism it is no wonder that the Times had to send an architecture critic to do a fashion writer's job.

Why it is that fashion has sunk to such a level of discourse such that we cannot even critique our own internal promotions and marketing campaigns is a question that is much on our mind this morning as we ponder our own place in the style symposium.

We find breathless colorful commentary that expresses the writer's level of cool caché is what is rewarded in fashion journalism over high minded debate or serious inquiry. As a press core we give in to the worst criticism leveled at the industry by blindly pursuing the agenda of oblivious cool. As Ouroussoff points out, it is a crime for which we are rightly lambasted.

But traumatic events have a way of making you see things more clearly. When Rem Koolhaas’s Prada shop opened in SoHo three months after the World Trade Center attacks, it was immediately lampooned as a symbol of the fashion world’s clueless self-absorption. The shop was dominated by a swooping stage that was conceived as a great communal theater, a kind of melding of shopping and civic life. Instead, it conjured Champagne-swilling fashionistas parading across a stage, oblivious to the suffering around them.

And the greatest tragedy of this simpleton agenda? Fashion brings down the entire creative arena from interior design to architecture by continually playing the dim witted blithely unaware younger sister even when we have so much more to offer. Fashion more than any other industry brings together creative minds by helping us consume the best and the brightest in our daily lives. And yet we never focus on those aspects. Why? Perhaps it is that abominable behavior instantly guarantees "it" girl success much to the chagrin of our more serious sisters and indeed many players in fashion. The over the top sex appeal becomes the story to the detriment of deeper issues and wider creative evolution. Creative minds like Zaha Hadid accept commissions from the well funded in the hopes of creating better work and yet we collectively stymie the efforts by focusing on pathetic consumptive marketing efforts. It is a deeply cynical cycle, one that we never seem able to break.

The pavilion’s coiled form, in which visitors spiral ever deeper into a black hole of bad art and superficial temptations, straying farther and farther from the real world outside, is an elaborate mousetrap for consumers.

Why is it that we engage in this behavior as an industry? Is it that we are scared of discovering that underneath our slick exterior we will be found lacking? Do we really lack any kind of confidence in our own products? Ironically by never looking beneath the surface we engage in a kind of self fulfilling prophecy that damns us to ridicule. By never rewarding the inquiring minds, by overlooking or banning the gadflies, and by promoting syncophantic charades of hip we continue our reign as the attractive domineering dim wit ruler of the creatives but God help us all if our consumers outgrow our childish antics. The rest of the creative world almost certainly has if Nicolai Ouroussoff's review is any indication.

Chanel's Mobile Art to Open Monday

coutorture — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 06:28:17 -0700

Chanel’s Mobile Art Zaha Hadid "spaceship" has arrvied in Central Park amid a frenzy of preparations, workers, and press as it prepare to open to the public on Monday October 20th. The pavilion houses 18 modern artists’ odes to the iconic Chanel 2.55 handbag. Women's Wear Daily with photographer Talaya Centeno, whose photos we present here, was there to capture the scene.

Outfit: Fish Camp For City Dwellers

coutorture — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:46:44 -0700

Our original Coutorture editorial of the Trovata Fall 08 collection has made us want to head upstate to go camping. This outfit, inspired by Rocio Romero's Fish Camp, is a compromise between a New Yorker's style sensibility and a prefab camping trip. Just for the record, we don't find it strange whatsoever to be in the middle of the woods wearing Oscar de la Renta heels. You could absolutely cook up a tagine, read a book, or wave to your friends who are running around in Teva's, while relaxing on the porch of this little place. Fish Camp, a prefab that measures 312 square feet, might be small to some, but to a city dweller, it's a fine amount of space for a simple retreat.

Instant Gratification: United Bamboo Spring 08

coutorture — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 17:26:36 -0700

It wouldn't be any fun if we stuck with cardinal rule of only covering the season most recently shown during fashion week. That is, we think there's value in all kinds of fashion coverage, and we think our readers can navigate the differences. Yes, the United Bamboo Spring 08 collection was shown during New York fashion week last September, but now you can finally wear it and no matter how closely you follow fashion, everyone can agree that immediacy is a treat that's occasionally nice to indulge in. This Coutorture video, taken from the Unted Bamboo show, has us really excited for Summer. United Bamboo, known for it's structural details, showed a softer side for Spring 08 that kept to nudes and basic, preppy garments. This (though it never stuns the crowds at fashion week) is the reason the brand is so coveted by downtown artists and fashionistas. Something about its sense of architecture and origami, combined with a slightly American version of prep-school chic, make for a range that feels effortlessly cool season after season.

Links: United Bamboo Spring 08 photo gallery United Bamboo Spring 08 video United Bamboo Fall 08 video