Post on May 17th, 2011 in 70 years of Fashion, Art, and Fabric.

I have always had an interest in seeing how advertising and perception of products has changed over the years. I find it very interesting to look through old design and fashion magazines to get inspired by the photography, illustration, and design. I also like to see how editors and advertisers were trying to direct their readers during a given period. The scarf editorial in fashion magazines is of particular interest to me and it has changed very little over the years. The colors of the season and the invention of a variety of different methods to style the scarf have been the primary focuses throughout the years. Looking back through press clipping files from our archive, I have selected some wonderful bits and pieces from the 1940s, 50s, 60s, and 70s. Within our archive we also happen to have a very special collection of the first French fashion magazine from the late 1700s. The last image is a hand colored plate from that collection and is the first "scarf" press/advertising that I am aware of.

-Sam

A 1960s Vanity Fair Cover

Magasin de Modes Nouvelles, 1786

Post on April 27th, 2011 in 70 years of Fashion, Art, and Fabric.

There is currently an exhibition on at the Philadelphia Museum of Art about Roberto Capucci, the Italian Alta Moda designer. I have not seen it yet, but it looks to be a wonderful exhibition for a designer that is (regrettably) little known in the US and the UK. Ascher worked extensively with Capucci in from the Mid 1950s until the Mid 1960s. He was particularly fond of our mohair fabrics. I have included seven pictures from his 1959 collection, that were created with Ascher silks and some specially woven degrade mohairs. I hope you enjoy them.

Post on April 13th, 2011 in 70 years of Fashion, Art, and Fabric.

I have been meaning to write about Yohji Yamamoto’s book, My Dear Bomb for several weeks, as I picked it up at his retrospective and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have struggled with finding the right way to approach discussing it. The book is blunt, highly opinionated, and endearing as I think all good autobiographies are. I heartily recommend reading it and think it is best to form your own opinions, rather than dilute the work with my personal analysis. Here is a small selection of my favorite passages to tickle your interest.

“Museums are even worse. No designer really wants his clothes displayed in one. They are where fashion goes to die. It is the same with retrospective-I will have no part of them, either”. P.85

“To assume that the future awaits youth would be a fearful mistake. On the contrary, I have far more of a future than most youth. They speak of the ceiling hanging low, pressing down on them from above. I know nothing of that sentiment. Rather than prattle on endlessly about art and concept, one is better served by living.” p.69

“These days the avant-garde has fallen to the status of simply another genre of fashion. In its original sense, the term simply meant being a little ahead of the pack and it did not necessarily indicate iconoclasm or rebelliousness. It is rather easy to imagine and create wildly fantastic clothing with no regard for the realities of the world. The true avant-garde sensibility though is one that acknowledges reality while simultaneously providing a glimpse of the solutions and surprises that tomorrow will surely bring”. P.85

 “If one struggles with the basics and plods steadily, painfully, forward, at some point one will discover a mode of judgment and a battle strategy that is entirely one’s own. Endless repetition and the study of the classics. After that one may topple the establishment. It is the same as waging war.” P.63

“I do not believe in anything like enlightenment. Existing in this world are individuals who dedicate their sleazy energies to the creation of something without flaw. Far grander than these, however, are those humans who grapple each day with the realities presented them. They realize that humans cannot possibly produce perfection, and based on that fearless acknowledgment they forge an aesthetic of humility.” P. 119

Post on March 22nd, 2011 in 70 years of Fashion, Art, and Fabric.

The pop up shop came to end and it was a tremendous success. It was great to be able to reintroduce our company, our products, and our family’s story to London once again. Over the course of the month that we ran the shop we met all types of wonderful people from long lost admirers of the artist squares to people intrigued by history of our company and the direction we will take it in the future. All in all it was a wonderful experience, and we can’t wait to get back to London in a more permanent fashion in the future.

With the pop up finally wrapped up I had a much needed day off and was able to finally go across the street and see the V&A exhibition of Yohji Yamamota. The exhibition was certainly interesting. Yamamoto’s designs are absolutely intriguing. I find his design to be incredibly modern, yet the fabrics he uses are intimately linked to the history of Japanese clothing. His clothing reminds me of abstract, organic, sculpture. The exhibition is laid out in wide open room with mannequins dispersed throughout. The layout allows you to see the clothing from 360 degrees and really appreciate the attention to detail that goes into each piece. You are also allowed to touch and inspect the pieces allowing you to appreciate Yammamots mastery of cutting. The pieces are lit in the all too trendy fashion of exposed fluorescent bulbs emitting a harsh white light. The lighting does not do the work justice and the sculptural nature of the bulbs distracts from the focus of the exhibition. This is a display trend that needs to end as it seemingly has invaded most window displays and exhibitions in London. There are several pieces in the exhibition that absolutely wowed me in terms of their form, and in addition to the fact that they actually looked to be wearable. I won’t waste anyone’s time recounting any individual pieces, but I would wholeheartedly recommend that you go see it yourself, and take the time to really inspect your favorite piece as it is not an opportunity often afforded at museums.

Seeing the pieces in person was the highlight for me. The cutting and draping of his work is really unbelievable. Cutting is a craft that I find is often underappreciated. It is a fine balance between mathematical precision and art and seems to only be able to be mastered with a lifetime of practice.

I am always a little disappointed to see clothing like this on mannequins as to truly see the designers original intentions, it needs to be worn and flowing. On the way out of the exhibition I picked up a copy of My Dear Bomb, by Yohji Yamamoto. It is an autobiography and book of poems that focuses largely on Mr. Yamamoto’s personal principles, thoughts on design, and a general discussion of his craft.  After having read it over the weekend I became quite conflicted about the intent of the exhibition, as it would seem to me at complete odds to Yamamoto’s well defined and uncompromising personal principles. The book was rather wonderful and honest, and I will have to take the time to write about it in a subsequent post. My suggestion would be to read the book and than go see the exhibtion.

Post on January 11th, 2011 in 70 years of Fashion, Art, and Fabric.

I have always loved the preface to Oscar Wilde’s work The Picture of Dorian Grey. It gets me thinking about the importance of art and design. It also makes one think about the role of fashion as a creative endeavor, as art and utilitarianism are according to Wilde, mutually exclusive. It is a very complicated bit of writing, and could be discussed at length, but I will leave that for others to do, and simply attach it to provoke what thoughts it may.

-Sam

Preface to The Picture of Dorian Grey

The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim.

The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.

The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography. Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.

Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty.

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.

The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass. The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass.

The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium.

No artist desires to prove anything. Even things that are true can be proved.

No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style.

No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything. Thought and language are to the artist instruments of an art. Vice and virtue are to the artist materials for an art.

From the point of view of form, the type of all the arts is the art of the musician. From the point of view of feeling, the actor's craft is the type. All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.

Those who read the symbol do so at their peril. It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.

Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital. When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself.

We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.

All art is quite useless.

- Oscar Wilde