Where is Karl Lagerfield for Arsenal people??Or Marc Jacobs. Or Prada. It doesn't matter which one, I just want my boys dressed up in fancy designer too!Armani on football and fashion, "The theme of superheroes is very much at the forefront of my mind at the moment. I hope that my suits have a similar effect to the batman cape for the Chelsea team as they head to Moscow for the Champions League Final," says the designer, whose off the field outfit includes a single-breasted, two-button navy blue crease resistant lightweight wool suit, with flat-front, straight-legged trousers and a fitted jacket with a pronounced "Roman" shoulder line.
"Footballers are the gladiators of our time; iconic sporting heroes who make dreams come true. I wish the team the best of luck," Armani adds.
Pshh yeah you should wish them luck, they sure as hell need it !
I was just getting through to going over the Chanel resort collection when I stumbled onto Karl's ongoing project, The Museum That Travels. A pavilion designed by the renowned architect Zaha Hada. The museum that travels is a pavilion that will feature an exhibition of interpretation by the legendary quilted bag. This Mobile Art is making its way to London in June 2009(yipee!), after making stops in Hong Kong in 2008, Tokyo in May 2008, and New York this upcoming October. After that it will see itself through to Moscow then Paris.
20 international artists including Yoko Ono, Blue Noses, Daniel Burn,David Levinthal, Fabrice Hyber, Leandroerlich, Lee Bul, Loris Cecchini,Michael Lin, Nobuyoshi Araki, Pierre&Gilles, Sophie Calle, Soju Tao, Stephen Shore, Subodh Gupta, Sylvie Fleury, Tabaimo, Wim Delvoye, Yang Fudong, Y.Z. Kami, and Soundwalk will exhibit work inspired by th element of the quilted Chanel bag. The list of contemporary artists are truly the best and varied in the world so I can imagine the result of each piece will be unique, cheeky, and inspirational.
I urge you to check out the site, as there as an astounding tour of the pavilion with both Karl Lagerfield and Zaha Hadid commentating on the future of art, fashion, and design. You can also see the making of the pavilion in Honk Kong sped up in a short clip so you can view the building process.
If watching Gossip Girl taught me anything is you cannot never have enough hair candy. Flowers in your hair, skinny headbands, satin head wraps, the list is endless. I think the headband is fast becoming the new tights, you want them in every color and every style. Me a thinks a head dress up is in order so watch this space. Until then I have picked some marvelous images from hair band designer Jennifer Behr's site. Too bad they don't deliver to the UK.
Now I am trapped in my apartment working furiously towards my final deadline all I can do is web-surf and sigh with frustration at all the places I want to go to and people I want to meet instead of putting together my portfolio. On the other hand, the weather is dreadful so I don’t feel so bad. After wearing summer dresses and sunglasses for a whole week I find myself irritable with every gust of wind that rattles my window. Come back summer weather! On more of a sunshine note, back in the Middle East the Sheikh of Chic (Kuwaiti Prince Majed Al Sabah), and founder of of Villa Moda, London’s equivalent of Harvey Nics, has unveiled plans to open a Villa Moda store in my home town Bahrain!
Villa Moda opened in 2002 and sells everything designer from Armani to Prada. Majed Al Sabah’s aim was to bring luxury brands to the Middle East, and single handedly changed the way Middle Eastern women view shopping for brands. Villa Moda is so successful it boasted record profits of 25 million dollars last year alone.
Majed Al Sabah brought to the Middle East luxury brands women had to travel abroad for. He created a luxurious atmosphere to shop in hiring only top notch interior designers and architects to create a space where luxury went with luxury. I was lucky enough to visit his store in Kuwait as well as Dubai where I felt like I was shopping in London’s finest luxury boutiques. Mission accomplished Mr. Al Sabah.
But Majed is a visionary and I was thrilled to see him unveiling plans to develop an ambitious new project that combined retail, art, and fine dining to create a cultural experience for the Middle East.
His Villa Moda cultural projects design is based on his glass box in Kuwait; it will emphasize light, transparency and movement. Consumers in the Middle East will be able to experience his new concept for the first time as no retail experience has ever combined fine eateries and contemporary art with shopping. Confirmed brands for his new cultural project include Prada, Marni, Miu Miu, Victor&Rolf, Jil Sander, Martin Margiela, Nina Rici, Dries Van Noten, Issey Miyake, Vivienne Westwood, and Tsumori Chisato.
Below are images from his Damascus boutique which is in the center of the Syrian Bazzar. Though smaller than his stores in Kuwait and Dubai he mixes up high fashion along with Syrian antiques, jewelry and locally made beautiful garments. The clothes are draped on top contemporary furniture from Frank Gehry and Marc Newson ; Everything was sourced by Sheikh Majed himself. The furniture is always renewed and moved around, creating a continual evolving interior. And for the launch of his Damscus store he invited over 50 press and opinion formers to come to Damascus for an unforgettable weekend experience, you could probably still find a lot of the press releases online from Elle US, Wallpaper, Surface, Vogue Italy, Vanity Fair, New York Times Style. To read a short interview with the Sheikh of Chic , click here!
Having been to Dubai more than 6 times in the last few years I’m ashamed to say I still have not been to the Burj Al Arab. It’s always there outside my hotel bedroom window yet it wasn’t a priority to visit as much as it was priority to shop and soak in the sun. Now that I’ve written about tribal wear, and have gotten around to blogging and researching about it a bit more, I see many things differently in the Burj Al Arab interiors. There was so much fuss about it and still is it just seems to easy or tacky even to brag about it, but looking at the stimulating interiors of the atrium and underwater restaurant.
I can’t help but see ethnic , ethnic, ethnic patterns and prints and burst of color+inspiration.I can't help seeing a dash of Missoni as well. For those of you who haven’t a clue what I’m on about, the Burj Al Arab stands on an artificial island 280 meters out from Jumeirah beach, and is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge. It is an iconic structure, designed to symbolize Dubai's urban transformation and to mimic the sail of a boat. Inside the building, the atrium is 180 meters tall and has characterized itself as the world's only "7-star" property. I guess fashion blogging has allowed me to see inspiration in fashion almost everywhere including teh Burj which I think would be a great location for a shoot.
