TRAVEL: TAKING A WALK ON THE ART SIDE IN TUSCANY, ITALY

A view of Florence, from the surrounding hills.

Tuscany evokes instant images in most travellers’ minds: of pastel-hued buildings, green landscapes, magnificent sculptures and mouth-watering meals.

For many, though, it will be the art that leaves the most lasting impression because creativity is on display everywhere in this part of Italy. Whether it’s the age-old sculptures on the squares of major cities such as Florence and Siena, or more modern works on display in smaller towns, art is an inescapable part of the Tuscan experience - and perhaps nowhere more so than in Pietrasanta.

This coastal town in the province of Lucca has attracted artists for centuries, drawing them with its marble. According to local lore, Michelangelo was among the first sculptors to recognize the quality of Pietrasanta’s stone.

Art on the square in Pietrasanta.

In the 1400s, marble helped the town to grow in importance and influence, but the area fell into decline in later centuries, as malaria became a scourge. (Tuscany is again confronting a huge mosquito problem because of the proliferation of Asian tiger mosquitoes.)

Since the mid-1800s, Pietrasanta has seen a revival with the construction of art schools and ateliers, and the renewed extraction of its famous stone. Nowadays, artists such as the Colombian painter and sculptor Fernando Botero and his artist wife Sophia Vari spend a good part of their time in Pietrasanta.

Siren call in Pietrasanta, by Luigi Galligani.

Both have several pieces of artwork that can be seen in the town, but apart from such renowned figures, visitors to Pietrasanta will be struck by the many other items on display, on squares and in galleries.

For several months of the year, the local authorities also host diverse temporary outdoor shows that give one the feeling of taking a stroll with art.

Because of this distinctive ambiance, Pietrasanta is well worth including on the itinerary of Florence-Lucca-Pisa-Siena, cities that are more on the beaten track.

Art in Pietrasanta (photo: Turismo Versilia)

Detail of a painting by Botero, in Pietrasanta.

COUTURE: THAI BRAND BUSARDI GOES GLOBAL IN REGAL STYLE

Busardi

Showing for only the second time at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week, the mother-and-son team of Thai brand Busardi impressed viewers with their timeless, elegant dresses.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” said an American spectator after the show on July 7. “But it was a really pleasant surprise. Everything was beautiful.”

Busardi: playing with the light.

Busardi’s Autumn-Winter 2015 collection had a majestic quality, in keeping with the “queen of the night” theme. According to creative director Busardi Muntarbhorn, the designs were meant to show the victory of light over darkness, and love over fear.

That’s a tall order for mere clothing, but the collection - shown in a grand Parisian building, where the models walked from room to room, with light from outside flooding in - managed to deliver on its promise.

The designer in fact played with darkness and light, using a range of colours for the gowns, including black, navy, deep purple, silver, electric blue, pink-beige and sky hues.

The most striking piece was perhaps a black brocade cape and dress festooned with feathers and incorporating Busardi’s signature guipure lace appliqué. This was supposed to embody fear, but it garnered expressions of admiration.

Besides brocade and silk, Busardi also employed duchess satin, organza, Chantilly lace and embroidered tulle, among the fabrics.

Busardi: a gown meant to embody "fear".

The artistry of the designs reflected the Thai reputation for superb tailoring and also highlighted the tradition of craftsmanship.

Co-founded in 2009 by mother and son, Busardi and Tuck Muntarbhorn, the brand is a semi-couture concern based in Bangkok, and it draws on the skills of artisans in the heart of Thailand. It was the first Thai label to show during Paris Haute Couture Week last season.

Before launching the brand, Busardi Muntarbhorn was creative director and head designer at the family-owned Yoswadee, founded by her mother and currently described as Thailand’s oldest surviving fashion house. She thus comes from a tradition of couture and is now aiming to go global, with Tuck’s expertise.

“She does the designs, and I do everything else,” Tuck told Tasshon with a smile.

Busardi also worked with Austrian designer Nora Rieser for the accessories of feather headpieces, masks and collars, and Rieser said it was a pleasure to see her creations presented on the runway. 

Nora Rieser

She produces custom-made pieces, which were being shown for the first time during Couture Week. The feathers are all individually cut, draped and shaped by hand before being shown onto calf-leather bases, she said. With colours going from berry red to shiny black, the pieces are meant to complement the dresses with which they’re worn.

In Busardi’s case, the match was memorable, and the models wearing the gowns and “feather art” did so with confidence and verve.

Another aspect that made the show stand out was the diversity of the models, representing African, Asian and European origins. With this, as with the designs, Busardi is showing the way to go. - L. McKenzie and J.M. De Clercq.

Busardi: the regal look.

Busardi Muntarbhorn (right) and her son Tuck.

COUTURE WEEK: MIXED FEELINGS AT PATUNA'S GOTH FEST

Judging from the comments made after Patuna’s Autumn-Winter 2015-2016 collection in Paris, one either loves or hates the creations of this Georgian-born designer.

Patuna: vetvet ensemble

An enthusiastic spectator with multi-hued hair gushed, for instance, that the show was “spectacular, amazing”, while a dour man who seemed to be a fashion buyer said the designs were “not in the least beautiful”.

“I didn’t like it at all,” he told Tasshon. “That’s not the way to use fabrics like velvet.”

Some spectators applauded loudly, while others declined to clap, making a quick exit from the Hotel du Louvre, where the show took place on July 6.

“There was just too much going on with those dresses, and some of the models didn’t seem to know what they wanted to do,” said another viewer.

The event started with a performance by singer Flowr, dressed in black and belting out the single “Logo” in melodramatic fashion, with accompaniment from pianist Denis Horvat. That set the stage for the models who emerged onto the runway doing what seemed a version of the goose step. Whatever it was, it had many spectators bemused.

Patuna: lace gown.

To say that the designs were daring would be too easy. They were over the top, eye-catching and intriguing, and will especially appeal to people who appreciate evening wear in which baroque meets biker-rock.

These were gowns, in fact, that instantly conjured up the image of leaping onto a Harley-Davidson motorcycle to head to a Gothic ball.

Patuna said that her ideas spring from art and that she used the French capital for inspiration, mixing trends from the 1930s with modern themes.

“Paris and France always inspire me,” the designer told Tasshon. “I love the architecture and history. That's why I called this collection 'Moonlight in the Streets of Paris'."

Employing silks, laces, velvet, chiffon, and other fabrics, she produced dresses that indeed mixed various influences and perhaps also reflected her own background.

The designer

Born in Georgia into a family of artists, Patuna studied ballet, drama and art. She eventually went into the medical field and became a dental surgeon, but she left this sector seven years ago to pursue her passion - fashion - and is now based in the United States.

As one spectator noted, if haute couture fails, Patuna will always have something “to fall back on”.

But with her engaging personality and individual style, the designer seems sure to increase her following, and among clients rather than dental patients. - J.M. De Clercq and L. McKenzie

Patuna: pink is for partying?

BIGGEST INT'L MENSWEAR FAIR 'BRINGS LIGHT' TO FLORENCE

Visitors at Pitti Immagine Uomo in Florence, Italy.

Pitti Immagine Uomo, the world’s leading trade fair for men’s fashion, has again shown that it is the destination of choice for new designers in Europe and for buyers from around the globe.

The 88th edition, which took place June 16 to 19 in Florence, Italy (see previous article), attracted more than 30,000 visitors, two-thirds of whom were buyers, according to the organizers.

Florence Mayor Dario Nardella (left)
 and designer Nino Cerruti.

“Pitti brings a light to the fashion companies, big and small, in Florence, and it celebrates the history of Italian artisanship,” Florence’s mayor, Dario Nardella, told Tasshon in an interview at the fair’s opening ceremony.

“We’re proud to see it grow and bring visitors from around the world to our city,” he added.

The number of buyers rose by 5 percent from last year, as Pitti expanded its scope to include new designers and brands from various countries and also launched a number of special events.

European visitors came mostly from Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland, while the fair also noted growth from Japan, Turkey, India, and Taiwan, among other countries, the organizers said.

Exhibition of vintage Cerrutti designs.

The sense of excitement was palpable at the main venue - the Fortezza da Basso - and at other locations around the historic city, as designers presented runway shows and iconic brands held a range of meet-ups to showcase their spring-summer 2016 collections.

The fair’s highlights also included an exhibition devoted to the work of 84-year-old Nino Cerruti, one of the leading figures in Italian men’s fashion for almost five decades, who attended the event, graciously greeting fans. It ended with a bold and playful collection by Moschino, Pitti’s Menswear Guest Designer, after a highly praised runway show by four African brands.

For the latter, Pitti joined up with the Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) to focus on Africa as part of the fair’s Guest Nation project. The EFI is a flagship programme of the International Trade Centre, a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.

Dent de Man SS 2016.
© Pitti Immagine and G. Giannoni

“It’s another view of Africa. This presents the Africa of design and creativity, the Africa with passion, enthusiasm and hope for the future,” said EFI founder and director Simone Cipriani, who expressed pleasure at the success of “Constellation Africa”, as the show was titled.

The brands - Dent de Man, MaXhosa by Laduma, Orange Culture and Projecto Mental - represented Nigeria, South Africa, Angola and the Ivory Coast. The designers drew glowing reviews for their inventiveness and vision, with clothing ranging from knitwear to striking off-beat ensembles.

Ivory Coast-born, Britain-based stylist Alexis Temomanin of Dent de Man particularly impressed spectators with his daring use of Java prints, incorporating traditional Ivorian elements, such as masks. But all the designers brought something fresh to Pitti Uomo.

Vincenzo Ciancio

At the main venue, among the more typical trade fair displays, other designers also stood out - such as Vincenzo Ciancio. He's one of the stylists behind the trendy Italian Hamaki Ho brand. Cianco says that the company’s youthful yet refined style is inspired from the street and from skaters.

The brand used basic colours of grey, white, blue and black, for a kind of “summer-yacht” look, and paired the clothing with hip sneakers, caps and other accessories for their spring-summer collection.

Notable at the fair as well was the parade of male fashionistas, strutting like the proverbial peacock throughout the four-day event. Where did the idea come from that men don’t like to dress up? - Text and photos by Tasshon, unless indicated.

MaXhosa by Laduma SS16. © Pitti Immagine and G. Giannoni

TOP MENSWEAR FAIR HIGHLIGHTS ETHICAL FASHION, STYLISTS

The world’s most important trade fair for men’s fashion, Pitti Immagine Uomo, will host a slew of new features for its summer edition, highlighting ethical fashion and honouring stylists from Africa, Europe and other regions.

MaXhosa by Laduma
(photo: S. Deiner)

Taking place June 16 to 19 in Florence, Italy, the fair will present a special edition of its Guest Nation Project, in which a particular area is designated for the “rising stars” of fashion from various countries, said Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of Piiti.

Speaking to reporters in Paris, Napoleone said that Guest Nation will focus on African designers in 2015, in its first collaboration with the Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI), a flagship programme of the International Trade Centre, which itself is a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.

The Ethical Fashion Initiative links the world’s leading fashion talents to marginalised artisans - the majority of them women - in East and West Africa, Haiti and the West Bank.

Active since 2009, the Initiative enables artisans in low-income areas to connect with the global fashion chain, according to Simone Cipriani, the director and founder of the project. It also facilitates the development and production of high-quality, ethical fashion items that are delivered to luxury brands in a professional manner, he added.

Dent de Man
(photo: J.D. Pryce)

The EFI says that its aim is equally to “enable Africa’s rising generation of fashion talent to forge environmentally sound, sustainable and fulfilling creative collaborations with local artisans”. Under its slogan, “not charity, just work” the Initiative advocates for a fairer global fashion industry.

A special event titled “Constellation Africa” will thus promote young and talented designers from the continent at Pitti Uomo, and a runway show scheduled for June 18 will feature four brands that give priority to manufacturing in their home countries and are already known on the international market, said the fair’s organizers.

The brands are Dent de Man, MaXhosa by Laduma, Orange Culture and Projecto Mental, all of whom will present their men’s collections. The designers hail from Nigeria, South Africa, Angola and the Ivory Coast.

“I believe that Pitti Uomo is the best platform to showcase these innovative designers from Africa, the continent which hosts the future of fashion and couture“, said Cipriani.

Simone Cipriani
(photo: McKenzie)

“The richness of materials and the beauty of their designs are truly unique. This is where our global society is going: increasing interconnectedness. Global and local dimensions [being] brought together through fashion,” he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Napoleone of Pitti said that the designers are four “real talents” who will do “something new and very interesting” that “must be seen”.

Apart from the African stylists, Pitti has named Moschino as the Menswear Guest Designer for this edition. The Italian house, founded in 1983 by the late Franco Moschino, will put on its first men’s runway show since American designer Jeremy Scott took over as creative director in October 2013.

Design by Moschino

In addition, Thomas Tait, the London-based Canadian designer who won the LVMH Young Fashion Designer Prize last year, has been selected as the Women’s Wear Guest Designer. He will create a special event for the Pitti audience on June 17.

The fair is also putting on an exhibition titled Il Signor Nino, which celebrates the work of 84-year-old Nino Cerruti, one of the leading figures in Italian men’s fashion for almost 50 years. The show has been curated by Cerruti and fashion journalist Angelo Flaccavento. It will take place at the Marino Marini Museum.

With this season’s theme of “That’s Pitticolor”, the fair’s Fortezza da Basso venue will be a site of installations, light plays and the first digital art projects, said the organizers. There will be an “Open” section that goes beyond “gender distinctions” and an “Unconventional” space to present “the most vibrant voices in the area of luxury underground styles”, said Napoleone.

Raffaello Napoleone

He added that Pitti would no longer present women’s collections under a gender sign but that these would be distributed around the 59,000-square-meter space according to styling criteria.

A Born in the USA section, in cooperation with the Liberty Fairs group, will be a highlight as well, bringing “some of the best born and made in the USA brands to Florence,” Napoleone told reporters.

Some 1,150 brands will participate in the fair this year, and the organizers expect to welcome a greater number of visitors than the 30,000 who attended in 2014. - L. McKenzie & J.M. De Clercq

Moschino

JEANNE LANVIN AWAKES, GOES THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

The Lanvin exhibition plays with mirrors.

Fresh from its super-successful retrospective of Tunisian-born stylist Azzedine Alaïa, Paris’ Museum of Fashion, the Palais Galliera, is now offering an impressive show that honours French designer Jeanne Lanvin.

Running until 23 August 2015, the exhibition features more than 100 creations from the oldest French fashion house still in business, and Lanvin’s artistic director Alber Elbaz and the Galliera’s director and curator Olivier Saillard have designed the display in such an imaginative way that it will appeal even to those not necessarily interested in fashion.

Using mirrors to reflect and recreate Jeanne Lanvin’s world of the 1920s and 30s, Elbaz and Saillard manage to take visitors back in history while still highlighting the timeless beauty of the designs.

“The theme is sleeping beauty and the mirrors reflect the past and reveal the present,” Elbaz told Tasshon.

The poster for the show.

Most of the garments are displayed inside glass cases with a mirror-panel that plays tricks with the vision: viewers see multiple images, of the clothing, ceiling and even themselves.

Elbaz said the idea for the mirrors was just pure intuition. “Sometimes things just come,” he said. “When we put the mirrors up and turned the lights on, and we saw the reflection of the clothes and the ceiling, it was like magic. The idea is of sleeping beauty and magic.”

This theme has particular resonance for Elbaz because when he was brought in as Lanvin’s artistic director 14 years ago, the company’s owners set him the task of arousing a “sleeping beauty”.

Since then, he has done a much-lauded job, all the while expressing a deep admiration for Lanvin’s founder. Indeed, this exhibition seems almost like a private and heartfelt tribute to Jeanne Lanvin.

Lanvin started as a milliner.

Born in 1867, the designer started her career as a milliner and some of her exquisite hats are included in the display, alongside the haute-couture dresses for which she eventually became famous.

With their remarkable embroidery, intricate beading and elegant cut, these dresses are the stars of the shows, and viewers will find themselves marvelling at the originality and craftsmanship.

To prepare the garments for this retrospective, experts spent “hundreds of hours” doing repair work, Elbaz said.

“Have you ever seen museum experts at work, with the gloves and all that, as if performing a very delicate operation?” he asked as he gave a tour of the exhibition to fashion editors and writers.

Alber Elbaz

The show also includes sketches, scrapbooks, paintings and photographs, as well as dolls that may have belonged to Lanvin’s only daughter Marguerite, whom the designer considered her muse. The Lanvin logo actually represents a mother-and-daughter team.

“The whole spirit of the fashion house is summed up in that logo,” Elbaz has said. That spirit is just one reason this is a perfect exhibition to view en famille, as children will appreciate the fairy-tale quality.

“When you can have your feet on the ground and your head in the moon, it’s just perfect,” Elbaz said. - Tasshon 

PARIS FASHION WEEK: NOTES OF CASHMERE AND ELEGANCE

Allude: the amazing cashmere coat (photo: S. Fujii)

YDE: youthful, daring and elegant?

Danish designer YDE and German brand Allude ended Paris Fashion Week in fine style on March 11, with a collection of sophisticated garments for the woman “who knows herself”.

YDE had the final show of 90 official runway events, and featured materials such as cashmere, satin, silk and furs, all in designs with that intrinsic feminine cut for which Ole Yde has become known.

YDE

Each piece in his Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2015 collection combined wearability and extreme elegance and would not have looked out of place in a haute-couture show. Short black evening dresses gave way to graphic prints and fur-bedecked coats, most worn with flat heels.

The pairing of the designs with shoes by Christian Louboutin added to the panache of the overall look, giving the whole collection a modern yet classic feel. And live piano music at the venue - the imposing town hall of Paris’ 4^th  district or arrondissement - enhanced the sense of sophistication, even as a street market took place on the sidewalk outside.

The market, with fish, fruit and vegetable stalls, seemed an essential part of the set, as "the woman who knows herself" also knows what she needs to buy for dinner. Indeed, the filet of hake was fantastic, just like the fashion show.

ALLUDE

Earlier in the day, German designer Andrea Karg, founder of the Allude brand, also set a tone of ultra-elegance with her outstanding collection of winter wear, shown in a hotel particulier (mansion house) in the 16th arrondissement.

Allude

The “Queen of Cashmere” told Tasshon that for this season she wanted to “play with shapes”, so she experimented to see all the different ways this could be done with her preferred material.

She incorporated other fabrics as well into her cashmere designs, changing silhouettes and giving the garments a flow that somehow matched the wearer’s movement.

“I put my favourite material cashmere into a dialogue with other materials such as leather and I developed this to emphasize the intensity of each aspect,” she said backstage.

Combining unexpected hues with classic winter colours, Karg managed to highlight the versatility of cashmere, showing that it can be used for gowns, ensembles and hip yet stylish coats. And yes, sweaters too. - Tasshon

YDE

Allude (photo: S. Fujii)