Harmatia Courtesy of Eugene Lin

I can finally unveil the new collection from designer Eugene Lin on my blog. I have worked with Eugene on a separate magazine shoot but this time around I got to experience the full extent of his beautiful work by styling for his lookbook. His new Spring/Summer 2010 collection is called Harmatia.

The Inspiration:

Harmatia From the verb hamartanō

1. Greek: sin, to miss the mark; error; failure
2. A tragic flaw.
3. A localized disturbance of the normal arrangement, organization, or patterning of tissues during development.
4. A developmental anomaly resulting in the formation of a mass composed of tissues normally present in the locality of the mass, but of improper proportion and distribution with dominance of one type of tissue

“A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the LORD your God.” - Deuteronomy 22:5

“For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” – James 2:10

Based on the Biblical theology of “sin” – “to miss the mark” as coined by Aristotle in PoeticsBCE), Eugene Lin’s Spring / Summer 2010 offering brilliantly subverts the structure and conventionality of menswear pieces, deconstructing details and playing with the eye to create a focused and stunningly original debut collection. The silhouette is slim, soft and controlled, with razor-sharp jackets and coats. The inverse relationship between fabric and cut highlight the mastery of his cutting skills as strict traditional shirts melt effortlessly, crisp stripes undulating over the imaginative pleats, fine shirting caressed into sensuous dresses and skirts. (335

Echoing the theme of missing the mark and the equality of all sin, collars, lapels and waistbands break and blend seamlessly, emphasized by the clever manipulation of stripes. The palette is tight and smart: white and ecru, sky, royal, cobalt and navy blue with a contrast of platinum. Luxurious textures of fine cotton voile, herringbone and striped woven shirting and sumptuous solid and digital printed silk jerseys, all finished with exquisite engraved shell and horn buttons.

This original sin is simply too irresistibly tempting to miss.

Credits:

Photography Anna Fayemi
Styling Wafa Alobaidat
Styling Assistant Dalia Al Sadiqi
Hair and Make up Artist Justine Sullivan
Model Lizzie Tovell at Independent

All artwork and images copyright Eugene Lin 2009

Styling Portfolio : Eugene Lin Lookbook

It's so exciting to get mail through the post, its even nicer when it has your name in the credits. Eugene Lin's lookbook which I styled for was sent to my address by Eugene himself and I was so glad to see the final outcome. I will be posting the high-res images and behind the scene footage of the shoot pretty soon so watch this space.

Tate Modern Story Bits

My obsessesion continues with all things raw and skechbooky. I snapped up a gorgeous layout at the Tate Modern of a storyboard, photograph of a studio, and film reels. I love the black and white quality, the use of typewriters font, and the diff use of papers and text with images.

America and Korea meet @ The Saatchi

On my summer gallery cruise I checked out the Abstract America: New Painting and Sculpture exhibition in Kings Road. The last time I was there I was trying out delicious food on the street food market and before that it was to check out the contemporary Middle Eastern Art exhibition. I really shouldn't critic what I don't know much of but I had to share this with you from the Saatchi site. This is absolutely hilarious - It was in the website under the reviews section.

A message to the artists included in Abstract America: Apologies for some of our art critics in the UK. A number of them know very little about contemporary art, obviously. But they do sometimes get there eventually, usually by the time the art is no longer very contemporary. 20 years ago they gave the thumbs-down to our Warhol, Judd, Twombly, Nauman, Guston, Marden exhibitions, that included many of their greatest works - if that's any consolation.

The top floor of the Saatchi featured Korean Contemporary Art for the first time on an international scale. They had some stunning pieces!

Sejima and Nishizawa @ The Serpentine

I am extremely grateful to have visited the last 4 architectural pavilions at the Serpentine Gallery. This time around architect duo Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa from SANAA embrace light and transparency with their design. Describing their structure the architects say:

‘The Pavilion is floating aluminium, drifting freely between the trees like smoke. The reflective canopy undulates across the site, expanding the park and sky. Its appearance changes according to the weather, allowing it to melt into the surroundings. It works as a field of activity with no walls, allowing uninterrupted view across the park and encouraging access from all sides. It is a sheltered extension of the park where people can read, relax and enjoy lovely summer days.’

Sejima and Nishizawa created a Pavilion that resembles a cloud or floating pool of water, sitting atop a series of columns. The metal roof structure varies in height, wrapping itself around the trees in the park, reaching up towards the sky and sweeping down almost to the ground in various places. The last two structures by Gehry and by Olafur Elliason and Kjetil Thorson were a litte more experimential+exciting and if I wanted uniterupted views of the park wouldn't I just walk in the park? It was a sweet pavilion but if you must visit also check out the Jeff Koon art inside the gallery.