Billy Baldwin – Decorate

One of the first books that got me into decorating, I came across Billy Baldwin on my mother’s bookshelf. What struck me initially was that he had this tiny apartment (as did I, at the time,) and yet he still managed to create a fantastic space in which all of the elements worked together to make something so visually appealing. His book wasn’t just about decorating, although he did have this wonderful, snappy style, it was more about living. Yes, he had his iconic pieces such as his slipper chair, but it all seemed to be more about how people interacted, about pulling up a pouf and having a conversation, than perfectly placed pieces. It struck me as a very good place to start.

Dorothy Draper – Decorating is Fun and In The Pink

Dorothy Draper inspired a whole era of design in Hollywood Regency. One of the first professional women to decorate, her iconic spaces created at the Carlyle, the Fairmont and the Metropolitan Museum’s original restaurant around their fountain (where I spent many childhood afternoons,) still inspire countless imitations. At KOTUR we often refer to her bold use of color and geometric patterns (she was famous for her chequerboard floors,) in our collections.

 Tony Duquette – More is More

Duquette was a set designer, jewelry designer, costume designer and decorator, and his maximalist approach is something I’ve always admired. Specifically, his contribution to America’s adoption of Chinoiserie, and the lavish sort of lacquer filled, glossy and sumptuous interiors of the 1960’s he produced have inspired me both at home and at Kotur, where we often look to Duquette for a little dusting of magic.

David Hicks – On Decoration

A full set of Hicks’ original, out-of-print books bought at abe.com is one of my most treasured possessions. The debonair British King of Print who reigned supreme in the 60’s and 70’s was known for his unabashed use of color and geometric design, no matter how grand the project he was dealing with. His prints still seem just as of the moment today as they did when they were first produced in his heyday – I have his wallpaper in my son’s bedroom and his printed linen forms the canopy of my bed. Eclectic and unfussy, yet always attention grabbing in the best sort of way, Hicks is a designer I have looked to for inspiration time and time again.

 Photo courtesy of amazon.com

So said Irving Penn, one of America’s most celebrated photographers, a prolific artist whose work crossed the boundaries of fashion and art, and one of the major image-makers of the past century.

During his 70-year plus career, Penn’s work as a photographer spanned everything from still life to fashion, advertising to portraits, lurching from the experimental to the everyday and crossing almost every aspect in between. He is credited with being one of the first photographers who showed his medium to be as powerful as that of art, producing photographs every bit as iconic as paintings.  Art critics have referred to him as classical and minimal, his technique as restrained. No matter what he turned his lens to, however, there remained an instantly recognizable factor in his work. Known for his signature stripped back sets and simple backdrops as well as his often black and white, highly contrasted images, his subjects  – be they film stars, street scenes or still life – stand stark and angular. The lack of anything else featured seems to highlight their character – there is quite simply nothing to hide behind in an Irving Penn portrait.

Born in 1917, Penn wasn’t always going to be a photographer. He studied drawing and graphics at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art before finding himself as the assistant to the art director at Saks Fifth Avenue. From there he moved to the art department of Vogue, working on layouts. Soon he transferred to photography, and so started the dominant professional relationship of his career. Throughout his sixty-year plus tenure shooting for the magazine, Penn shot over 150 covers, countless ground breaking fashion stories and almost every major face of each decade under his watch. Whether his shots were of the 1950’s French model Bettina in her nipped in skirt suit, of 90’s super Cindy Crawford with her beach hair, of a naked Marisa Berenson dripping in gold or of the likes of Amber Valetta and Nadja Auermann, his images for the magazine zone in on their subjects’ strength and personality, and they more than stand the test of time. Some of the first images he ever took for the magazine whilst on his first assignment in Paris in 1950 feature his long time collaborator and wife Lisa Fonssagrives. In ‘Woman with Flowers,’ one of his most famous, you find an energy and use of fashion as a form of expression that make her as much a woman of now as she was of then. At KOTUR we are always interested in style that is rooted in substance, in the sort of presence that comes from personality and fashion that is about more than the clothes we put on. For these reasons straight off we find Penn’s photographs hugely inspiring to see.    

 Irving Penn’s photography is curently showed in it’s largest retrospective yet, named Beyond Beauty, which end at the Smithsonian Museum on 30th March 2016.

Photo Courtesy of Conde nast, Smithsonian Museum, The Irving Penn Foundation

]]> http://www.koturltd.com/blog/2016/03/irving-penn-beyond-beauty-2/feed/ 0 http://www.koturltd.com/blog/2016/03/irving-penn-beyond-beauty/ http://www.koturltd.com/blog/2016/03/irving-penn-beyond-beauty/#comments Thu, 17 Mar 2016 06:15:38 +0000 admin http://www.koturltd.com/blog/?p=24629 ]]>  Irving Penn’s photography is showed in it’s largest retrospective yet. Following his death in 1997 aged 92, the Irving Penn Foundation has donated 100 pieces of his work to join the Smithsonian’s already 140 piece strong collection. The result will be an exhibition of both well known and never seen before works that reflect the entirety of his career. Entitled Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty, it is an aptly named celebration of an artist who made us all look beyond the beauty to the people on the other side. It’s a lesson we could all do well to remember.

 Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty end at the Smithsonian Museum on 30th March 2016

 “Young Boy, Pause Pause,” American South, 1941
Portrait of Salvador Dali, New York, 1947
“Girl Behind Bottle (Jean Patchett),” New York, 1949
“Kerchief Glove (Dior),” Paris, 1950
“Head in Ice,” New York, 2002
“Frozen Foods,” New York, 1977
Truman Capote, New York, 1979
“Issey Miyake Fashion: White and Black,” New York, 1990
“Ball Dress by Olivier Theyskens for Nina Ricci,” New York, 2007 

Photo Courtesy of Condenast, Smithsonian Museum, The Irving Penn Foundation

We first came across Marcelle as a client of KOTUR. She was one of our first customers to purchase KOTUR shoes (see KOTUR’s Gilda and Guzels on window display in her other retail store, D&Me), and we were delighted to meet her in person. With her couture like approach, taking beautiful and unique pieces and reworking them into something entirely new, hers is fashion that exists for women who want to stand out from the crowd and clothes for those who appreciate the beauty of true artisanship. For these reasons and so many others, we at KOTUR love what she does. We are not alone. Worn by everyone from Kate Moss to Poppy Delevingne, Thandie Newton to Courtney Love, One Vintage has become a mecca for those seeking something truly special. Here, Marcelle talks us through how it all began, along with some of her most special items:

Marcelle Symons: I started One Vintage with a vision of a confident, individually styled, ageless woman in mind.  In my experience, confidence in fashion often comes most from ladies who don’t like to follow trends, who don’t want to turn up to a party in the same dress as someone else. They would rather have a unique piece that carries a story.

Since I can remember I have collected beading, embroideries and inspiring relics. I used to sell inspiration samples to designers, then I decided to create garments that were made only from original antique textiles, taking items like vintage dresses, kimonos and Victorian tops and breathing new life into them by imagining them in a completely new way. One of the main reasons for One Vintage’s success is that it suits ladies who would rather spend their money on a one off exclusive piece. Many of my clients wouldn’t wear pure Vintage, but I believe OV has changed that perception because they value the aspect of what we do that transcends “ fashion.” This is about timeless pieces with an element of couture. For me, someone who is mostly in denim all day, juggling work, kids and staff, I think wearing a truly unique piece is something to look forward to. We rely on these nuggets to shine and feel good. Here are some of my very favorites.

 Lucia Tait Tolani

Lucia was a dream client. She came to the store looking for something to wear to her pre wedding party and zoomed in on this piece instantly. It was a 19^th century silk kimono I had reworked into a long dress with slits on the side and a plunging neckline.  It suited her tall, slim figure, and had amazing golden dragons embroidered on it showing an extraordinary workmanship that you just don’t get today. For Lucia, I think the history behind it appealed, as did the fact that it was totally unique. She finished it off with KOTUR’s birdcage bag. Done!

Poppy Delevingne

Poppy chose one of a series I did of deconstructed Victorian dresses to wear to her pre wedding party in Morocco. I took the soft white cotton silhouettes and reimagined them into modern shapes, adding old, faded Rajasthani trims around the neckline and waist. The appeal of these dresses is that you can wear them with flats on a sunny day or high heels at night. They are really very versatile, perfect for a wedding or a party.

Thandie Newton

Thandie is one of my most cherished clients. She is an intelligent actress who makes choices based on a personal agenda and loves things that are unusual and different. She chose this cocktail dress for a dinner given by Alexandra Schulman of Vogue in London. Originally, the asymmetric top was part of a long dress that was falling apart and the bottom was a heavily beaded Emperor’s kimono. I joined them together to make a dress that she fell in love with. Thandie really appreciates things different from your every day; she’s a champion of anything artisan made.

Sera Hersham Loftus

An interior designer with a very luxurious aesthetic, Sera is a woman whose own approach to design is quite similar to my own. Her approach is sumptuous and sexy, with an eye for unusual fabrics – and that’s what she looks to us for, too. She has worn one of our Kimono dresses with lace sleeves several times, both in a photo-shoot and barefoot at her own party. It’s flowy and it suits her personality and it shows that no two people look the same in something as unique as this. These are clothes that are all about individuality and one’s own spin on things.

Kate Moss

Kate Moss’s white Victorian top was actually originally a skirt. She bought a whole series of these to wear to festivals one summer, and one of the reasons they work so well is because they are actually so versatile. You can chuck them on over a bikini or a pair of leather trousers. The quality and feel of that vintage cotton just speaks for itself, and they can be styled in so many different ways.

Courtney Love

Courtney contacted me a few months ago to say how much she loved my pieces and that she would love to wear some of them on stage. I love how bold she is, I admire her spirit and how liberal she is in the way she wears things. She has worn two of our kimonos, a full length one with lamé detailing on it to a premiere in Toronto and then a short version on stage. She makes them look utterly Rock and Roll.

Photo courtesy of whowhatwear.com, onevintagedesigns.com, life.com, facebook.com

Photo Courtesy of sotherbys.com

Photo Courtesy of Tate Modern

At KOTUR, our approach to shoes is to imbue them with decoration and pizazz, making them little parties for your feet. In our Moroccan inspired Guzels or our flower festooned Jardines, the idea is that the shoe, like our bags, does plenty of talking. This exhibition is a wonderful celebration of extraordinary designs with just the same approach. Starting with the very oldest pair in the exhibit, some slippers from ancient Egypt adorned with gold leaf, through a pair of leather Venetian mules complete with a foot high platform from 1600, some jewel encrusted heels designed by Roger Vivier for Christian Dior in the 1950’s (often known as Fabergé for the feet,) and Zaha Hadid’s six inch high Nova shoes complete with cantilever system, it becomes immediately clear that the intention behind all of these no matter which era they come from is to elevate their wearer to another place. The most recognizable pairs from the show – such as Vivienne Westwood’s purple platforms, responsible for Naomi Campbell’s famous catwalk fall, Carrie Bradshaw’s Jimmy Choos from SATC, the tiny pieces of history that are Chinese silk embroidered slippers designed for bound feet in 19^th Century China, Alexander McQueen’s Armadillo booties or Moira Shearer’s Red Shoes from the 1948 film of the same name, seem to only to enforce the point. In this wonderfully laid out walk through the history of shoes, one that reflects on what they say about both their wearers and their makers – the power, pain and pleasure is there for all to see.

Shoes: Pleasure and Pain is on at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London until 31 January 2016

Photo courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum

1. Ai Weiwei in front of his Tree Sculpture
2. Ai’s installation - Bicycle Chandelier” (2015)
3. Ai Weiwei in front of his work “Coloured Vases”
4. Stroller
5.The scene inside one of six containers that comprise Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s work “S.A.C.R.E.D.”
6. Another scene from Ai’s work “S.A.C.R.E.D.”
7. Ai Wei Wei in front of his work ‘ Straight’
8. The work “He Xie” by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s is shown at his exhibition
9. Ai Weiwei’s Tree Sculpture at the RA

Photo Courtesy of Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images, Reuters, Royal Academy of Arts