marc newson for boucheron

julia necklace by marc newson for boucheron
Julia by Marc Newson for Boucheron

I love Marc Newson, he’s one of my favorite designers. I discovered his creation for Boucheron on Alain Truong’s blog while writing about Helen Mirren’s photograph by Snowdon.

Click here for a larger image of the necklace. Below is a detail.

julia by marc newson for boucheron necklace detail

I will not pretend here to understand anything about fractals so besides the Boucheron website, you can read about the creative process here.

marc newson julia for boucheron

Unique in all senses and simply stunning.

 


Marc Newson
Boucheron
Marc Newson for Boucheron
+ boucheron par marc newson @ STONED with carl


heidi klum for vogue germany

heidi klum by francesco carrozzini for vogue germany june 2009 portrait
Heidi Klum by Francesco Carrozzini for Vogue Germany June 2009

In my last post I was telling you about Amber Rima’s blog Sprinkled In Pink and I couldn’t help but notice that she hearts Heidi Klum which is a nice coincidence since I love her too and Oh Joy! Project Runway has just returned.

I love the show. I watched seasons 2, 3 and 4 this summer waiting for season 6 (I even tried to watch Project Runway Australia for a bit but couldn’t go past the first 4 episodes or so, they just seemed to be bitching all the time and the truth is I missed Heidi and Tim).

 

heidi klum by francesco carrozzini for vogue germany june 2009
Francesco Carrozzini for Vogue Germany June 2009

 

So Vogue Germany devoted its June issue to Heidi. It’s truly “All About Heidi”, something like 70 pages with her, no other model, and 4 editorial spreads shot by 5 photographers from May 28 to April 3. Cover is by Francesco Carrozzini, fashion editorials are as follow : “Desire me” by Alexi Lubomirski, “Heidi” by Francesco Carrozzini, “Rodeo Drive” by Claudia Knoepfel & Stefan Indlekofer, “L.A. Confidential” by Paola Kudacki. (The latter was shot in the Harpel House by architect John Lautner.)

There’s a nice making-of of about 30 minutes which you can see here.

 

heidi klum by francesco carrozzini for vogue germany june 2009 sitting
Francesco Carrozzini for Vogue Germany June 2009

 

As you can see, I really love Francesco Carrozzini’s photos. But I also love that one by Alexi Lubomirski, because even though she’s a brunette, it still looks very much like her :

 

heidi klum by alexi lubomirski for vogue germany june 2009
Heidi Klum by Alexi Lubomirski for German Vogue June 2009

 

In fact, the whole story by Alexi Lubomirski “Desire Me” is very beautiful.

I chose only B&W photos here, but there are plenty of color shots. “Rodeo Drive” & “L.A. Confidential” seem to be all color while “Heidi” seems Black and White only. “Desire Me” is mixed. You can see 3 of the editorials here and the scans where a lot of the pictures you find on the web come from are here @ achAT’s fashion scans

 


Heidi Klum @ models.com
Francesco Carrozzini
Alexi Lubomirski
Claudia Knoepfel + Stefan Indlekofer
Paola Kudacki


helen mirren by lord snowdon

helen mirren by lord snowdon vanity fair 1995
Helen Mirren by Lord Snowdon, 1995 for Vanity Fair

So the other day Alexandre, my sweetest neighbour Alexandre, lent me the first 2 “seasons” of Prime Suspect with Helen Mirren. I had seen some of the episodes on French television a few years ago and my recollection of the series was that it was quite good but mostly it was worth watching for the female detective played by Helen Mirren.

And sure enough, the thing is a bit dated now, but then there’s her.

Helen Mirren.

I love her. Totally. Absolutely.

I looked for a picture of her to post here, at first couldn’t find anything with a mention of the photographer – because who cares, right – until I stumbled on this article by photographer Amber Rima on her blog Sprinkled In Pink.

This portrait by Lord Snowdon was featured in the exhibition that took place at The National Portrait Gallery in London from February to May 2008 entitled “Vanity Fair Portraits / Photographs 1913 – 2008″. (The exhibition is about to open in Canada. It will be at the Royal Ontario Museum from September 26, 2009 to January 3, 2010.)

But back to the Mirren/Snowdon picture. Something funny happened and browsing the web I found myself living my own little version of “Blow-Up”, for I found on the site of the Chris Beetles Gallery a version of the photograph with a different “framing”. Also the coloring is quite different. It seems much more orange. See below :

helen mirren 1995 by snowdon chris beetles gallery
Helen Mirren, 1995 by Snowdon.

It is not unusual for the press to cut into the pictures, to reframe them, so Vanity Fair kept the square format but zoomed in on Helen Mirren. My guess as to the different color tone, is that their version being less yellowy feels a bit more modern.

(There has been a retrospective of Snowdon at the National Portrait Gallery in 2000 and you can see the photo of Helen Mirren with the same warm tone and framing as the one @ the Chris Beetles Gallery.)

Now the funny thing about all this, is that I found a different photo of the same shooting on this article at the Daily Mail Online and she’s actually smiling :

helen mirren 1995 by snowdon alternate mail online
Helen in her dressing room, 1995, by Lord Snowdon.

 

Photograph of Helen Mirren © Snowdon.
Snowdon @ the Chris Beetles Gallery.
Vanity Fair
You can buy the book Vanity Fair: The Portraits: A Century of Iconic Images @ the Vanity Fair Store.
&
96 images from the book are available for purchase as gallery-quality custom prints here.


fourreau noir by serge lutens

georgia o'keeffe jack-in-the-pulpit no IV 1930
Georgia O’Keeffe, Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. IV, 1930

Yesterday I received an invitation from the Salons du Palais Royal for the launching of the latest Serge Lutens perfume Fourreau Noir (there’s promise of champagne…) and since I have been obsessed with Georgia O’Keeffe for the last couple of days I immediately thought of this stunning painting by her.

Fourreau Noir will be a Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido exclusive so I guess my favorite non-blonde will have to rely on samples to test it. Or else make another trip to Paris

However, there was another release this year which is not an exclusive  : Fille En Aiguilles. (Other reviews in French here and here and in English here @ Perfume Shrine.)

I am quite curious about those two but not in such a hurry to test them for my wishlist of Lutens perfumes is already very long and includes such gems as Borneo 1834, Fumerie Turque and Vétiver Oriental, the great MKK being on top.

I currently wear Daim Blond.


Serge Lutens @ the Non-Blonde, @ Nathan Branch and @ Perfume Shrine.

Parfums Serge Lutens & Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido.

The painting of Georgia O’Keeffe, Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. IV belongs to the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington.


the colored crocheted jewelry of studiokarma


Yellow Brown Necklace With Large Crocheted Rings (detail) by StudioKarma.

I am always amazed by the beauty of felt or crocheted jewelry. There are a few extraordinary shops @ Etsy – you regularly find their items on the front page – and StudioKarma is one of those. Her necklaces are simply gorgeous.

They are OOAK, but you can ask for custom items anyway. I found this one below in the sold section, and it is one of my favorites :


Multicolored Nacklace With Various Crocheted Rings.


white wood felt booties for babies

white wood felt booties for babies
White Wool Felt Booties for Babies by Joli Bebe.

Handmade in Australia using 100% pure Australian wool. This is probably what you would be wearing on the white soap carpet


gold and silver jewelry line by groc


They Fit Together by groc.

I love the curvy shape of that ring. (Actually it is a set of two silver rings which you can wear together or separately).

Groc is a jewelry line made by Jimena Bolaños and Jordi Costa who live in Costa Rica and the collection is very beautiful and full of interesting or funny items. Besides Etsy you can see a gallery on their Flickr.


gorgeous handmade clutches by red ruby rose


Tree Rings, silk-lined clutch bag by Red Ruby Rose.

Rowena Dugdale @ Red Ruby Rose makes the most wonderful and gorgeous clutches. Her choice of fabrics is very sophisticated and the one above “tree Rings” is one of my favorites – it is lined in deep red silk – but I also love this silk starburst luxury clutch bag a lot. All of Red Ruby Rose’s creations are Limited Editions, but she loves custom orders, so if you are interested, just browse through the sold section of her shop to see if there is any fabric you like, providing it is still available she will make it for you…


japanese snow earrings by giovanna torrico bijou


Japanese Snow Earrings by Giovanna Torrico Bijou.

Just featured on the front page of Etsy, those earrings have an extraordinary architectural quality. You should really check the original photo to fully appreciate their dynamic for the square format I adopted here does not do Giovanna Torrico’s creation fully justice. They are in fact quite long.

Giovanna Torrico works mostly with sequins, she writes :

Vintage sequins have been my signature material since 2000 – suspended on steel wire they provide continous movement while revealing their sculptural and aerial quality. I enjoyed giving form to this year’s geometrical twist made possible by the discovery of a forgotten vintage sequin box in San Francisco. These sequins are a precious and disappearing resource, they were last cut in the 1940’s.

I particularly love the color of these ones :


Felted Vintage Sequin Loop.

And it is quite remarkable that while using vintage material, Giovanna Torrico’s jewelry collection be so totally modern.


felt slippers by art.i.choke

pink-and-brown-pompon-slippers-by-oyku.jpg
Pink and brown pompon slippers by art.i.choke @ Etsy.

art.i.choke was founded in 2006 by Turkish designer Öykü Thurston in Istanbul. She had studied the art of felt-making in Zushi, Japan in Haruka Ichihara’s studio and then went on to graduate from the “Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising” in Los Angeles.

She uses the traditional techniques of felt-making to produce modern wearable items. Every piece is hand shaped and therefore unique. And you can find the collection @ Etsy.

I am not exactly into hats – except when it comes to Blythe dolls – and even less into shawls, but I really love those slippers. They come in different colors and even if I like the pink & green ones a lot, my favorites are really the pink & brown above. They are available in all sizes from 6 to 10.