Hi dear followers! Its so amazing and special for me to restart my blog after such a long break. And this time around restarting really means doing things in a very different way. Initially I wasn’t into showing photos of myself but after gaining some confidence on instagram I’m finally ready to start an outfit section here on the blog.
Taking into account that this years holiday windows at Parisian department stores have been unveiled in early November I guess I am not sharing some great news. But anyway for me the Parisian Christmas windows are always such a great thing to catapult you into the Christmas spirit that I simply have to share some impressions with you.
Christmas facade at Printemps Haussmann, Paris in collaboration with the British trench coat maker Burberry. Can you spot the little boy flying with his umbrella from London to Paris, picture CKM Printemps Haussmann, Dec 2014
After the Whitney in New York a Jeff Koons retrospective has hit the Centre Pompidou and we came to see it while in Paris last week. So that’s the most unemotional and boring sentence I have ever started a post with. But somehow it describes my initial feelings towards his art very well. Jeff Koons – “The king of kitsch”, how Forbes calls him, goes for the obvious and plays it bold – bright colors, children’s toys and sex! As a matter of fact his works do not seem to blend well with my minimalist, discreet aesthetics that are mostly defined in black and white as well as nature inspired neutrals. So what made us go there? Did we got caught up within the heavy advertisement?
Jeff Koons Centre Pompidou – The Retrospective, after the Whitney in NYC the show arrived in Paris, pic taken by CKM
Around a year ago shortly before Christmas I discovered Innocent smoothie bottles with knit beanies while lunching at Cojean, the organic canteen of Paris famed department store Printemps. I immediately thought how cute is that. These bottles are actually wearing beanies to protect their – well caps – “against the cold of the fridge”. A few weeks later fall 2014 collections were presented and as usual knitwear was a repeating theme. But this season it wasn’t just about coziness. Much more at several brands the sweaters were that big that they gave a feeling of the wearer being caught in a spiders web. At Commes des Garçons the idea of human beings locked up in woolen textiles spinning around the body got really scary! In June we visited Dover Street Market, the multi floor shopping empire owned by the Japanese brand Commes des Garçons. Again something knitted caught my eye! One of the three several floor spanning columns was covered in colorful knit reminding me of South American native crafts and evoking joyful childhood memories. Until that time to me woolen textiles had always been something functional that keeps you warm and creates a cosy atmosphere at home. But far beyond that I started to realize that they can evoke strong feelings ranging from cuteness to discomfort. However, I had never seen or been aware of sculptures or installations made out of textile! Are there artist working mainly or solely with textiles?
Besides being functional and decorative textiles can evoke strong emotions, like cuteness in case of the bottle beanies, fear in case of the Commes des Garcons fall 2014 runway look (pic style.com) or happiness in case of the knit enveloped column at DSM NYC (pic http://experiencenomad.com)
Strolling through Frieze Sculpture Park on a sunny Wednesday morning with two bored children on hand there was nothing around that seemed to make the hours until opening of the fair shorter. But at a time I had almost given up there it was. A giant wooden Pinocchio, Mickey Mouse or Simpsonesque clown? Whatever it was my children were immediately delighted. While they started exploring the, OK lets call its sculpture, I somehow couldn’t help but wonder. I would consider myself as a person with quite some interest in contemporary art, but I would really have allocated this piece more to a theme park than a contemporary art fair.
KAWS “Small lie”, (2013) at Frieze Sculpture Park, London Oct 2014
So we are back from almost one week London art trip and there is really so much to talk about. Let’s start with one of my first impressions from Frieze Artfair London. For all, who haven’t yet visited an art fair here comes a short explanation: Art fairs are actually supposed to be trade shows, where private collectors can purchase pieces. However, according to New York Times about 80 percent of Frieze visitors are just spectators. The idea of art fairs isn’t new! It originated in the 20ies in Germany and constantly grew in line with the growth of the global art market, particularly in the major art buying countries, USA, China and UK. The biggest art fair in the world is Art Basel, which is hosted at 3 different locations Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong. Frieze, which originated in the UK in October 2003, is the second biggest fair…
Carsten Holler’s installation “Gartenkinder” at Gagosian Gallery booth at Frieze London. pic http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/en_uk/blog/carsten-hller-giant-playground-frieze-london
Last Monday we just arrived back from one week in Paris. And what to say it was incredible. Paris in September is always so inspiring – the fall collections have arrived in store, breathtaking exhibitions like AD Interieurs and the Biennale des Antiquaires et de la Haute Joaillerie open their doors, all the restaurants reopen after the big summer break and many of the stores like Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche organize cool events to draw customers to the retail floors. On the other hand the woman’s summer collections for 2015 are in full run. At the moment they are in Milan and next Tuesday they go into the last round hitting Paris. So what to start with? Fall 2014 trends and shopping tips? Inspirations from our Paris trip? Streetstyle and runway news from fashion month? Maybe I start with the thing that’s still most present in my mind …
For the 27th Biennale des Antiquaires YSL’s favorite interior designer Jacques Grange designed a layout inspired by the gardens of Chateau des Versailles. To round up the experience Francis Kukurdjian design a special scent for the perfumed fountain at the entrance, pic taken by CKM
Prior to continuing with my fall trend reports and shopping list I want to present you some pics from the “Au Panthéon !” installation by photographer JR, which we saw during our Paris stay shortly before summer holidays. Have you heard of him before?
The cupola of the Parisian Pantheon wrapped in a JR black and white collage.
As mentioned a few times before I am not a beauty shopping addict and usually don’t like to try around a lot. However, lately I started to develop an interest in the use of vegetal and essential oils, herbal tinctures and the likes. For that reason I started to enjoyed shopping at Herboristerie du Palais Royal and L’Herboristerie Médicale de la Place de Clichy in Paris. When I heard that a French heritage apothecary called Buly 1803 has been revived – by the way the reopening was well publicized at the time of the couture shows in WWD and the US Vogue revealed Caroline de Maigret’s favorite Buly products – I immediately knew that I had to visit what sounded to me like the French answer to Santa Maria Novella during my next stay in Paris.
The newly opened Buly 1803 store at 6 rue Bonaparte, Paris
Hats are definitely a big topic this upcoming fall. I somehow feel that the whole thing started with Emmanuelle Alt fighting the NYC cold with a black Maison Michel Virginie fedora back in February 2013 (… or thats at least where the whole hat theme started for me!).
Emmanuelle Alt, editor in chief of Vogue Paris wearing Maison Michel Virginie fedora in black, photos@http://aloveisblind.com, http://coffeestainedcashmere.tumblr.com