Gareth Pugh at V&A

British designer Gareth Pugh, who debuted with a rather dramatic collection at London Fashion Week in 2005, is now set to launch his first selling collection in various stores including Liberty and Barneys New York. Pugh is inspired by shape and proportion, but his previous creations have also included slightly more alternative features; a rubber bunny suit, latex gimp masks and something that looks more like Christmas tinsel decoration.

To complement his debut collection this season, the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in London will host four live shows featuring Pugh's work as part of this summer series Fashion In Motion. The shows at the V&A are on this Friday 15 June at 12noon, 2pm, 4pm and 7.30pm.

Graduate Fashion Designers at PHM

If you haven’t done already then you should go and visit The Powerhouse Museum’s annual Student Fashion exhibition. Well, so we're told anyway.

While promising an interesting feature display, we're assuming that the 3D-geek glasses aren't really part of the installation. Three of the top graduating students from fashion design schools in Sydney will show case their work: Kim Deters from The Fashion Design Studio at the Sydney Institute of Technology, Amy Yong from The Whitehouse Institute of Design, and Sophie McGinn from UTS. The exhibition runs until 3 June.

“The six outfits vary in style and technique with inspiration drawn from a diverse range of sources, from classic children’s books and French perfume bottles to the theory that we are all connected through ‘six degrees of separation’.

Accompanying each student’s outfits is a display that reveals the creative process behind the designs from concept to fruition, including design drawings, methods of fabrication and fashion photographs.”

Immacolata and Her Friends

Talking about Swedes... Stina Persson (lovely name, great artist!), is holding an exhibition at the Gallery Hanahou, New York, named Immacolata and Her Friends. The exhibition, which is held between 24 May until 6 July, will feature works of Sicilian women Persson chose to feature for the German magazine Squint. Apart from her brillinat water colour paintings, there's also a separate section of fashion - check it out.

New York Fashion Now - V&A

From London’s Victoria & Albert Museum comes another brilliant exhibition not to be missed (remember Popoganda and Fashion-ology?). “New York Fashion Now” will showcase clothes and accessories from a range of New York's emerging fashion talent. But the angle is not just a selection of interesting clothes, but rather to illustrate New York as a working environment for the fashion industry. By emphasising how its creative legacy, successful fashion empires, and press & retail sectors work hand-in-hand, it’ll be a fascinating exhibition to visit. The display will feature twenty dynamic young design labels (most of them launched within the past three to seven years) such as Zac Posen, Maggie Norris, Thom Brown, Mary Ping and Derek Lam. It’ll chart the contributions each has made to the fashion industry and will include elegant sportswear, new menswear, expressions of craft and avant-garde design. Opened on 17 April it’ll run until 23 September.

Where Would You Wear That?

From Cincinnati with love comes this often-said phrase, which is also going to be the highlight of many "Cincy fashionistas" in June this year. The event, located at The Cincinnati Art Museum, is show-casing an intriguing collection of Japanese avant-garde Fashion designs, among whom über-cool Yohji Yamamoto's work is going to be featured. The exhibition is showcasing from 2 June 'til 12 August.

“Examine the work of several of the most forward-looking fashion designers of the twentieth century through this exhibition of more than fifteen pieces designed by Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto, and other avant-garde Japanese designers over the past thirty years. This innovative, multimedia installation showcases designers who have changed the way we look at clothing.”

From Andyland

Art-meets-fashion is apparently everywhere at the moment, not least in Antwerp, Vogue and Marie Antoinette etc... We were particularly pleased to be introduced to Andyland, a website that specialises in Swedish fashion illustrations. Featured here is an illustration by Kicki Fjell who has studied at Beckmans School of Design. Being one of the founders of Dedicated Followers of Fashion, Kicki Fjell’s fashion illustrations have been published in Swedish newspapers such as DN.

Antwerp Fashion

Dries Van Noten, Dirk Bikkembergs, Ann Demeulemeester and Walter Van Beirendonck... Antwerp's contemporary position as an international centre of fashion can be traced to the impact of these designers in the eighties. If, like us, you’re eager to know more about the Flemish fashion scene, we’d suggest a visit to the Mode Museum, which is holding a major exhibition from 25 January until 23 June 2007. The show named “6+ Antwerpse Mode in het Vlaams Parlement”, refers to the “Antwerp 6” constellation, but will feature a great number of other designers too.


When: 25 January - 23 June 2007
Where: Momu/The Mode Museum
Why: Amazing back drops by Marlene Daniels and Haider Ackermann, ubercool ladies, and highlights from Dries Van Noten

Vogue: Art on Demand

We love the fact that Vogue online show their repertoire of covers throughout the years; some of them are quite gross whereas other ones are more funky. But what’s even cooler is their art section, with posters photographed by legends such as Barry Lategan (the man behind some familiar Twiggy shots), Henry Clarke and Norman Parkinson. You can now be a lucky owner of one of these Vogue posters. To participate in the draw simply follow the instructions.


Traffic Queen, shot 1960 by Norman Parkinson

You See Me: the Nordic Lights for Louis Vuitton

The ever-popular Louis Vuitton brand continues to drive profits at luxury group LVMH. Last week art and fashion were joined as Louis Vuitton unveiled its newest piece of art: ”You See Me” by contemporary artist Olafur Eliasson, best known for his light installations and ”The Weather Project”, an enormous faux sunset that was on display at the Tate Modern in London. WWD reports.

”Louis Vuitton commissioned Mr. Eliasson, who lives and works in Berlin and Copenhagen, to create "Eye See You," a series of giant pupil-like, reflective chrome lamps that emit monochromatic yellow light, which are now on display for the Christmas season in the windows of the Louis Vuitton boutiques worldwide. The artworks are available for sale with the proceeds from a limited number of the works going to 121Ethiopia.org, a charitable foundation founded by Mr. Eliasson and his wife, Marianne Krogh Jensen that supports relief organizations in Ethiopia.”

She’s Like a Rainbow

“Why is red the colour of passion and revolution? Why is blue such a popular colour, whereas yellow has so many negative associations?” Questions like these are currently discussed and analysed at The Fashion and Textile History Gallery, New York. The exhibition was presented for the first time at The Rodin Gallery in Seoul, Korea in 2005.

While exploring the history, symbolism, science and psychology of colour in fashion, the exhibition called “She's Like a Rainbow: Colours in Fashion”, features more than 150 fashions, accessories, and textiles from the museum's permanent collection.

Young Fashion Designs in Germany

Now, who would’ve thought Hamburg, city of knockwursts and beer, would turn into a fashion capital for any lengthy period? Well, to prove us wrong, the Hamburgers have decided to dedicate a year’s worth of fashion talent in the city’s famous art gallery. Until April 2007, the Forum Gestaltung in the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe is being turned into a fashion centre for the latest innovative fashion ideas. Students from some of the major teaching institutions in Hamburg will be show casing their work. The schools that are presenting their works are students from the Product Design, Textiles and Fashion Design Faculties, AMD Akademie Mode Design, Akademie JAK Fashion & Design, and Fachbereich der Westsächsischen Hochschule Zwickau . This could be the place where the new 'Generation X' of Lagerfeldts and Jill Sanders are snapped up.

Rinze Van Brug - The Greatest Show on Earth

Hanging out in Amsterdam with graffiti buddies in the 90s, Rinze Van Brug has come a long way. Depicting two very different extremes in his work - one that is serious and considered; the other is creative and playful – Van Brug’s love of story is evident in the development of his works. Influenced by the vivid beats of electro music, his strong graphic design compositions evoke a dream-like ambience. The exhibition “The Greatest Show on Earth” (one of the images shown here), showcased at the Confused Gallery in London earlier this year, and is particularly interesting.

D Factory: The Business of Fashion

D Factory, Powerhouse Museum’s monthly design event, is organising another evening focusing on fashion, from a designer’s point of view. Sydney Fashionistas shouldn’t miss the event tomorrow where we’re promised tons of interesting information. Here’s what’s on the agenda: “Regular host and fashion aficionado Nell Schofield will be joined by three talented Australian designers to discuss the thrills and spills of Fashion Week. Juliana Foong from High Tea with Mrs Woo, Kirrily Johnston and Kate Hurst will give us an insider’s view on what’s involved in putting a show together and the importance of this major event for their business.”

When: 29 June 2006, 6-7.15pm
Where: The Powerhouse Museum, 500 Harris Street, Ultimo, Sydney
Cost: Free of charge