Antimonide - fashion spot -

Coming this month is a special edition book about fashion “enfant extraordinaire” the Belgian born fashion designer Olivier Theyskens. Published by Assouline, this book is a wonderful photography essay by Julien Claessens, accompanied with a text by Sally Singer, the fashion news and features director for the US edition of Vogue.

“When he was twenty, Olivier Theyskens dropped out of design school to create his first collection. Within the next year, Women’s Wear Daily head­lined his “Star Quality,” Harper’s Bazaar christened him an “Instant Icon,” and The New York Times singled out his work in coverage of the Metro­politan Museum’s Costume Institute, where it was already enshrined. That Winter, Madonna wore Theyskens to the Oscars.

source: Assouline

The latest STERN photography special is dedicated to Nobuyoshi Araki, and boy are we certain that there isn’t anyone else out there that can tie up beautiful women as skilfully as the Japanese master of photography. Araki is definitely the Japan’s most famous photographer, but his popularity is not exclusive to the country. It is difficult to describe Araki’s elaborate array of work with European photography terms. None would suffice to explain the 69 year old’s almost manic picture capturing, having published over 300 photo books and sleeping as they say, with a camera on his bedside table each night.

Araki’s visual language is Japanese – technical, aesthetic and full of contents. It is rooted in Japanese 20th Century culture, the rapid change of society and the levelling of social structures.

STERN photography Nr. 56 “Araki” is in stores from 9 June and costs 18 Euro. The special can be ordered using order no. 70080173 through the Stern postage service, either on the phone (+49) 1805 / 8618000 or in an email stern-Service@guj.de.

The exhibition at the Jeu de Paume, Paris (until January 4) is almost identical to that of the V & A Museum in London one year ago. Lee Miller was without doubt an extraordinary woman. Her beauty, first was surprising, since an early age to his 70 years: a pure beauty and sculptural. The men fell under her charm, Man Ray, Picasso, Robert Roland Penrose and many others.By her mid-thirties, already flooding the covers of British Vogue, Lee Miller chose to be at the other end of the camera in order to document the end of World War II. (She was one of only five female war correspondents.) Her photographs of London’s rubble & decay are amongst the finest war records. In Germany, at times her eye was cool – perhaps for self-protection – as when she photographed SS soldiers and their children, all dead by suicide. Although, when she encountered Hitler’s bathtub, she jumped in and playfully took a self-portrait. Her sweeping landscapes of the Middle East are like a lesson in geometry; and finally, the abstract female torsos she photographed can still moisten a few pants. Her knack for finding beauty in the most wretched places had quickly earned her “one of the seven most distinguished photographers.” [Vanity Fair]Lee Miller produced some of the most powerful photographs seen this century, from portraits of her friends such as Pablo Picasso, to her work as a correspondent with the US army in World War II. Beginning her own studio in Paris with artist Man Ray, she went on to work with Vogue, and in France, Egypt, and New York, being best remembered for her witty Surrealist images.

A first preview of the upcoming Balenciaga campaign shot by David Sims and featuring Charlotte Gainsbourg, muse to Nicolas Ghesquiere.

This Summer is starting with and exhibition of Karl Lagerfeld’s pictures of France’s most-visited landmark : the chateau de Versailles and its famous gardens.
Entitled “Versailles, à l’ombre du soleil” (Versailles in the shadow of the sun) the show consists in a selection of 40 photographs which depict the palace and gardens of Versailles as a “panopticum” of light and darkness.
The opening took place on June 9 with guests such as Caroline de Monaco in Haute Couture Vintage Chanel, Elsa Zylberstein, Marie-Josée Croze, Elodie Navarre, Joana Preiss, Audrey Marnay and Gaia Repossi.

Vogue Paris has to chosen 2 French “Supers” as the June/July 2008 issue cover girls : Noemie Lenoir and Laeticia Casta. The gallic bombshells have been snapped by Mario Testino.
We definitely like that frenchy sexy choice !

Tim Walker’s first retrospective at the Design Museum in London is opening next week on May 9.
Seen in respected fashion magazines such as the British and Italian editions of Vogue or Vanity Fair to name a few, Tim Walker’s work is viewed as one of the most imaginative being produced today.
The show will explore the design and planning process that goes into producing the sets and scenery in his photographs. Visitors will be able to gain access to an array of images, sketches, source materials rarely seen. The exhibition space will be transformed into a larger than life photography studio where a giant sized camera and oversized picture frames will place the viewer in the world of the fashion photo-shoot.
To coincide with the show ‘Pictures by Tim Walker’, a book published by teNeues will be available to the public.

From May 9 2008 to September 7 2008
DESIGN MUSEUM, Shad Thames, London SE1 2YD
www.designmuseum.com
www.teneues.com

Photographer Tim Gutt and Art director Shona Heath have chosen B Store in London to show their latest project, “Previous Arrangements”.
The clothes featured in Previous Arrangements were selected from designer Peter Jensen’s archive. Tim Gutt and Shona Heath say that they are particularly attracted to Peter Jensen style. They have already incorporated his clothing in their previous work. To quote them, Peter Jensen’s clothes “seem to celebrate a cinematic iconography, they enhance narratives and they bring the cast to life. His pieces are beautiful, timeless and courageously simple.”

An earlier collaboration in 2006 between Gutt, Heath and Jensen created a stereoscopic photo story shot in Central Park, New York for a 3-D View-Master. Rarely seen in the intended format, the piece will also be exhibited with Previous Arrangements for the duration of the exhibition.

Tim Gutt is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Arts in the Netherlands, his work often resists categorization as it shifts between the spheres of art and fashion. His recent exhibitions include Inner City at Claire de Rouen Books, London and Case Study at Plymouth Arts Centre. His work is featured in a range of publications for clients as diverse as the Henry Moore Institute and The Pet Shop Boys, while his editorial work features in French Vogue, Art Review and Another Man.

Shona Heath unique sensibility has led to some of the most visually arresting fashion editorials of recent years, most notably in Italian, British and American Vogue as well as Another Magazine and Dazed & Confused. She works with a range of photographers who include Nick Knight, Craig McDean, Tim Walker and Serge Leblon.

Collaborative projects between Gutt & Heath have been published in Kilimanjaro, 032c, British Vogue, Beaux Arts, and Dazed & Confused.

B Store has been selling Peter Jensen since opening in 2000.

www.bstorelondon.com

March 14 – April 12 2008

‘Made In London’ an exhibition of photographs by Babette Pauthier in Paris !
Vernissage / opening on February 28 at 7.00 pm at le 66 – 66 avenue des Champs Elysees 75008 Paris

Le 66 – new concept store in Paris.

www.le66.fr

Hollywood starlet Kate Bosworth has been unveiled as the new Calvin Klein Jeans poster girl.
She is taking the reigns after other fashion icons such as miss Kate Moss and our favourite, the young Brooke Shields who famously claimed : “You wanna know what comes between me and my Clavin’s? Nothing.”



The black and white pictures shot by David Sims are a return to a “clean, pure and simple all-American” look said Malcolm Carfrae*, senior vice president, global communications. The campaign is due to launch in more than 35 countries with print and outdoor media timed to coincide with February 2008 magazines. *source:WWD

We believe this minimalist style, over a white background, echoes the Avedon “In the American West” portraits… or even his infamous photographs for the same brand in the mid-90s. What a better way to represent Calvin Kleins Jeans as the quintessential American clothing company?