Where's Manish Arora Going After India's Fashion Week? Disneyland!

Above: Designer Manish Arora & his collection at India's Fashion Week

Okay, not really. Besides, he's already been there from the looks of his latest collection.

Fashion week in New Delhi had some drama (the wardrobe malfunction on a Belgian model during the showing of Rajesh Pratap Singh's collection) and some truly amazing clothes. One of the more unusual...okay, bizarre... collections was that of designer Manish Arora with futuristic warrior headgear on models sporting Disney icons clad in crystal, embellishing dresses, scarves and more.



Manish Arora's 'Ultra Man Meets Lichtenstein' collection at the Delhi fashion week had people talking. Known for his irreverent designs, colorful patterns and unusual runway accoutrements, Arora's most recent collection incorporates Goofy, Mickey Mouse, Minnie, Pop Art and lots of knee and shoulder pads.



The Disney cartoon characters clad in armor and the work of Japanese artist Keiichi Tanaami were rendered on silk, velvet and brocade dresses inspired by Japanese samurais, gladiators and medieval knights.. and to me, personally, Ultra Man.



Arora's models walked the ramp wearing lion masks and metallic armor shields, shoulder and knee pads, most embellished with Swarovski crystals.





"For me, fashion is glamorous and happy and shiny - that's why I show all this," the designer told reporters after the show.



"My clothes always have a sense of humor and Walt Disney provided that for me."



The majority of the collection lacked the Disney characters, but certainly didn't lack stopping power. Take a look at some of the collection:












And of course, Ultra Man:


Around 80 designers showcased autumn and winter collections on the runway or in stalls at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week.

Designer duo Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna took inspiration from city life for their 'Lost in the Urban Maze' collection - the grid lines of the city mimicked in sleek suits and dresses in various shades of brown and blue.

Creative designs were not the only thing that made news at the fashion week on Friday. The shoulder drape of a Belgian model slipped sideways during designer Rajesh Pratap Singh's show, exposing her breast for a second. Photographers clicked away but most in the audience remained oblivious to the slip-up.



Clothes coming undone on the ramp are nothing new to the fashion world, but in India it sent newspaper editors and TV producers into a feeding frenzy. Some TV channels repeatedly broadcast the footage, blurring out the model's breast, while newspapers published reports with photographs of the model.

See Manish Arora's site here.

Laurina Paperina's How To Kill The Artists

Meet Laura Scottini (aka Laurina Paperina), an italian artist with a wonderfully wicked sense of humor.



Her collection of drawings, installation and videos in the exhibit "How To Kill The Artists" is a hilarous and purposely ironic twist in which contemporary artists and cartoonists are being attacked by objects of their own creation, most of which brought them great wealth and or fame. I have gone to to trouble to locate images of the original pieces of art which Laurina references because some of you may not be familiar with the artists or the works.

The Installation:



Now, to better understand the following drawings, I have attached the artist's originals below Laurina's drawings/paintings so you can fully appreciate the satire.


Above: Paperina's painting with all the 'artists' from her collection


Jeff Koons:

Above: Paperina's Jeff Koons Vs His Dog

above: Koons' Balloon Puppy

Keith Haring:

Above: Paperina's Keith Haring's Dog.

Above : keith haring's famous dog icon

Joseph Beuys:

Above: Paperina's Joseph Beuys Eaten By Wolf.

Above: Joseph Beuys and Coyote, performance piece

Jackson Pollock:

Above: Paperina's Pollock

Above: Jackson Pollock at work

David Shrigley:

Above : Paperina's David Shrigley

Above: David Shrigley's photo "severed hand"

Maurizio Cattelan:

Above: Paperina's Cattalan Does Not Surf

Above: Maurizio Cattelan's Charlie Don't Surf

Barry McGee:

Above: Barry McGee (aka Twist)

Above: Barry McGee Sprayed

Above: Graffiti artist Barry McGee (aka Twist) at work

Takeshi Murakami:

Above: Paperina's Murakami Vs DOB

Above: Takeshi Murakami's DOB

Andy Warhol:

Above: Paperina's Warhol Vs. Marilyn

Above: Andy Warhol's Marilyn screenprint

Frida Kahlo:

Above: Paperina's Frida Kahlo

Above: Frida Kahlo's Self Portrait as the Little Deer

Jean Michel Basquiat:

Above: Paperina's Basquiat Vs. His Monster

Above: Jean Michel Basquiat, untitled

Above: Although not ready for download quite yet, she has animated videos which will be available for viewing on her site.

More about the artist:

Laurina Paperina (in english "Little Laura - Little Duck")
1980, Born in Rovereto. She lives and works between Mori (Trento, Italy) and Duck Land
2005, Academy of Fine Arts, Verona, Italy
1999, Art Institute, Rovereto (Trento), Italy

The artists' statement (in italian followed by english):

Io gioco con l'arte.
Il mio lavoro è un'elaborazione ironica della contemporaneità e sulle identità che la compongono. Elaborazione che nasce sintetizzando un linguaggio dove diversità e contraddizione si compenetrano e dove l'influenza dalla cultura di internet e della tv, dei fumetti e dei video games, della fantascienza e dei cartoons, generano un complesso insieme di elementi che si trasformano in un apparente caos ma lasciano intravedere delle forme riconoscibili.
I personaggi che popolano i miei lavori sono dunque ironia dipinta e sono frutto della mia fantasia, sono forme dinamiche e colori sgargianti di una sorta di "virtual reality" simile ad un video games dove la finzione e l'apparenza giocano simulando la realtà.
In sintesi il mio lavoro è un gioco ironico sulle sue esperienze che non ha un fine ben preciso se non quello di rappresentare le diversità di pensiero e come queste possano coesistere,
come se ogni elemento fosse un frammento indispensabile di un puzzle.

[I'm sorry...my english isn't good !!!]

I play with art. My work is an ironic elaboration of contemporaneity and the elements which are part of it. It is an elaboration stemming from a language sysnthesis where diversity and contradiction are intertwined and where the influence of internet culture, TV, comic strips, video games, sci-fi and cartoons are generating a complex set of elements, which, although turning into an apparent chaos, are letting themselves be seen in recognizable forms.
Characters populating my works are "painted irony": they are the fruits of my fantasy, dynamic forms and flamboyant colors of some sort of virtual reality resembling a video game where fiction and appearance interplay and simulate reality.
In sum, my work is an ironic game on my experiences, which has no specific purpose but to represent divergencies of thought and the way such divergencies may coexist, as though each element were an indespensable fragment of a jigsaw-puzzle.

Visit her site and see much of her other work.

Product Pick Of The Week: Mirabilia Range Hoods

The MIRABILIA line of kitchen hoods from Falmec.

above: the Manhattan

The line is composed of two versions, Oval or Rectangular. Made of decorated glass and with a light, it's more than a hood for your range or stove, it's a functional design element that provides light as well as ventilation.


above: the Comet

above: the Elektra

above: the Zebra

above: the Natura Gold

above: the Ice

Both designs are available in plain white frosted glass as seen below:



All the designs have very easy access to changing the bulbs:

as well as nicely designed electronic control panels:



Falmec S.p.A.
Via dell'Artigianato, 42
31029 Vittorio Veneto TV - ITALIA
Telefono 0438 5025 - Fax 0438 501531

Go here to purchase or for more information.