Amazing Alaia

The other day I made a pilgrimage to the Design Museum in Kensington to visit the exhibition of Tunisian-born Azzedine Alaia. He was a designer well known for his beautifully structured haute couture collections and was someone who generated excitement and respect throughout his life.

Alaia was best-known for his sensuous, body-hugging forms and he loved to experiment with the latest stretch materials and tailored leathers. On entering the exhibition you are greeted by this stunning collection, named 'Sculptural Tension'. Alaia originally trained as a sculptor and he always considered his clothing in sculptural terms.

Up close, you can see how he has used silver studs to embellish the inside of the pleats to this animal skin print outfit.

Chainmail links are like chiffon on the dress below, created in 2017 in the last months of Alaia's life.

Alaia used leather constantly throughout his career and his use of it was ground breaking. The 'Revolutionary Skins' section of the exhibition shows one of the first leather garments to gain attention in the fashion world. It's a leather coat from 1981, where steel eyelets were used as the only embellishment, and the powerful style of the coat was to define the style of the coming decade.

The dress below shows how Alaia could use leather in a way that it emulated other lighter fabrics such as chiffon and silk. The ruffle at the shoulder and the beautiful darts at the waist make it hard to believe that this is made from leather.

The 'Exploring Volume' section of the exhibition looks at Alaia's fascination with fashion history and the influences he took from the 17th and 18th centuries. He has re-imagined them using contemporary technologies and attitudes to the body.

As well as having an interest in creating form-fitting shapes, Alaia was also interested in volume and creating sculptural shapes that could redefine a woman's body and he pushed the idea to the extreme. Look up close at the bottom of this dress and you see the amount of fabric that has been expertly inserted into the seam, with an air of lightness and ease.

The dress below has a wonderful form-fitting bodice.

See how each pleat is perfectly uniform. The mirrored plinths make it easier to see the detail.

Black was Alaia's favourite colour and he would often use it on its own, combining a number of fabrics in a single garment to explore their different textural qualities. The section called 'Black Silhouettes' highlights this. I loved the leather dress below where pleats have been created in leather and edged with gold beads.

The simple use of black often meant that the dress became a graphic silhouette and you had to look up close to appreciate the workmanship that has gone into it.

Alaia gave his ideas form by draping, cutting and pinning fabric directly onto the statuesque models he worked with. He combined rigorous technical skills with an understanding of how women want to feel. This is beautifully shown in the red dress below which was in the 'Fragility and Strength' section of the exhibition.

Alaia was obsessed with testing the properties of materials. He gave soft fluidity to leather, and here he gives chiffon strength. These dresses are as powerful as a tailored suit, showing Alaia's technical ability in his use of the fabric. Chiffon is a very delicate fabric and can be difficult to work with but he makes it look effortless.

The final and most dramatic section to the exhibition is the 'Wrapped Forms' section that focuses on his use of stretch fabrics.

These dresses seem simple but each band of fabric is precisely engineered and cut to specific dimensions. The dresses were inspired by Egyptian mummification and join Western and Eastern traditions.

This wonderful exhibition is open until 7th October 2018. I highly recommend a visit.

Women, Fashion, Power

Yesterday afternoon was beautifully sunny (if a tad windy!) and we headed up to the Design Museum to check out an exhibition that is currently on there. The museum is situated in a great location, just along the river from Tower Bridge and at the end of Shad Thames, a cobbled street full of converted warehouses. We walked there from London Bridge station, along the river, taking in the views of the city across the water.

The exhibition is called 'Women Fashion Power' and traces the history of fashion for women, but also looks at how women of all ages and classes have used fashion to define and enhance their position in the world. The exhibition has been designed by architect Zaha Hadid and brings together interviews, film footage, photos and historic pieces of clothing. The exhibition illustrates how women have 'used fashion as an important tool of self-expression and empowerment to build reputation, attract attention and assert authority.'

It starts with images of world leaders from Cleopatra, to Elizabeth I,  and on to Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton, outlining each of their signature styles. There is also a section containing outfits worn by contemporary women, from designers to politicians, explaining why they chose that particular outfit. It was interesting to hear how Natalie Massenet of net-a-porter.com (who has a whole wealth of stunning outfits to choose from) chose a very simple black suit, or that Shami Chakrabarti of Liberty chose a white wrap dress, simple and classic.

These 1920s flapper dresses were very simple in style but very feminine with their beautiful beading. 

I loved the space-age influence of the 1960s dresses on the left and the fab flared black and gold of the Biba trouser suit on the right. If only I had the lifestyle to wear it!

The simplicity of these coats were very appealing.

I love the green of the coat on the right and know of the perfect Cheeky Leopard clutch bag to match it!

This Thierry Mugler suit was stunning in the flesh, with bold black leather detailing.

I know of another Cheeky Leopard clutch bag that would match this suit!

Both these shoes have a blingy element, but have about 80 years between them. The killer heels on the left are Laboutins from a few years ago, the kitten heel shoes on the right are from the 1920s.

This show wouldn't have been complete without a Vivienne Westwood item and two of her iconic outfits were represented in the show.

This dress made by People Tree is beautifully embroidered and almost looks like an outfit from the turn of the last century.

After a great time at the museum, we headed to Borough Market where we picked up a juicy racklette cheese toasty before heading on to the Hoxton Hotel for an early evening drink.

I love London!

It's always good to have someone to come and stay to remind you of how great your city can be. Last week Tatsuya, a very good friend from Japan came to stay and we had a fab time gallivanting around the city with him. He is an art lover and a foodie, a great combination in a city that has so much of that to offer. Every day was filled with gallery visits and restaurant samplings and we were more than happy to tag along and enjoy it all with him.

I'm embarrassed to say that it's been a long time since I've visited the National Gallery, but going with Tatsuya made it a lot of fun.  I homed in on the fashions from the Renaissance period where there were many beautiful embroideries and vibrant colours. Check out those bright pink tights and cut-out sandals! These were all outfits worn by men.

Food was an important part of Tatsuya's visit and we had a fab brunch at the Shard one morning. The views of London were stunning and it was great to see so much of the city from above. This was followed by a trip to Borough Market, an amazingly vibrant place with so much to see and eat! We managed to sample quite a lot, considering we had just come from brunch at the Shard!

 Afternoon tea in London is a must and we decided on the Wolsely which is reasonably priced and has a great atmosphere. We only managed to get through half of the selection before getting a sugar low and having to stop. We even got to see someone famous - the beautiful actress, Natasha McElhone.

If you're an art lover, no trip to London is complete without a visit to the Tate Modern, an awesome structure on the south bank of the River Thames. It is housed in an old power station that stands proudly in place. Views from the balconies include St Paul's Cathedral across the river.

We had just enough time to whiz around the permanent collection, which always amazes me.

 A quick trot through Chinatown and we saw this pile of bright red lanterns on the footpath.

Tatsuya even had time to pick up a Chinese snack on his way through.

A trip to the Design Museum was interesting. We got to see an exhibition on the architect Louis Kahn.

This was painted on the wall outside the museum.

I love you Valentine

While I was at the Yurakucho antique market, I happened to come across a Valentine typewriter by Olivetti. I love the design of these iconic machines and even have a poster of one in our living room - a limited edition brought out by the Design Museum in London. The typewriter was designed by Ettore Sottsass in 1969, is made of plastic, is as light as a feather and immediately became a design icon for it's bright red colour and space age design. I may be tempted to head back next month and pick it up.......