If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives)

Yes, These Historical Fashions & Haute Couture Are Made Of Hand-Painted Paper.

Let me start by saying... what you are looking at is made of paper! Now, that I've got your attention, prepare to be amazed at the work of Isabelle de Borchgrave.

From the Medicis to Marie Antoinette to Jackie Kennedy's wedding dress, Isabelle de Borchgrave has made paper emulate the most incredible fabrics and fashions from all over the world. One has to look twice to realize that the formal gowns, ornate jackets - even shoes - on mannequins are not actually made from velvet, silks and satins.

Sumptuous and detailed, it's hard to believe they are crafted of hand-painted rag paper. Whether she is recreating an outfit from 16th century paintings or creating one for a modern day ad campaign, the craftsmanship and detail in everything from the shoes to the hairpieces will take your breath away.

Her works include paper recreations of Renaissance costumes of the Medici family, gowns worn by Elizabeth I and Marie-Antoinette, the fashions of Fortuny (known for their pleats) and the designs of grand couturiers Fredrick Worth, Paul Poiret, Christian Dior and Coco Chanel.

Some examples of her Medici fashions:

Gowns worn by legendary European 15th and 16th century historical figures including Elizabeth I and Marie-Antoinette:

Fortuny Fashions:

Jackie Kennedy's Wedding Dress:

She created a series of dresses realized with suede wall coverings for the Antelope Collection by Arte International in 2010:

For her present exhibit, Pulp Fashions, at San Francisco's Legion of Honor, she chose four famous paintings from their collection and recreated the fashions within them. Below are two examples:

The Belgian artist is a painter by training, but textile and costume are her muses. Working in collaboration with leading costume historians and young fashion designers, de Borchgrave crafts a world of splendor from the simplest rag paper.

Painting and manipulating the paper, she forms trompe l’oeil masterpieces of elaborate dresses inspired by rich depictions in early European painting or by iconic costumes in museum collections around the world.

The Paper Dress of Eleonora de Toledo, 1522-1562 (above) was inspired by a portrait of Bronzino (Gallery of Uffizi, Firenze) and began with a sketch, followed with the hand-painting of the fabric in her studio to yield the final masterpiece:

images and info courtesy of Isabelle de Borchgrave and The Legion of Honor

Exhibiting Now
At present, The Legion of Honor in san Francisco is the first American museum to dedicate an entire exhibition to the work of Isabelle de Borchgrave, although her creations have been widely displayed in Europe.

Pulp Fashion draws on several themes and presents quintessential examples in the history of costume—from Renaissance finery of the Medici family and gowns worn by Elizabeth I and Marie-Antoinette to the creations of the grand couturiers Frederick Worth, Paul Poiret, Christian Dior, and Coco Chanel. Special attention is given to the creations and studio of Mariano Fortuny, the eccentric early-20th-century artist who is both a major source of inspiration to de Borchgrave and a kindred spirit.

Pulp Fashion: The Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave, February 5, 2011 - June 5, 2011

A special thanks to my very hip parents who told me about Isabelle de Borchgrave and her work.

A Viagra-Laced Beer Is Launched To Toast The Upcoming Nuptials Of William & Kate

Bottled virility for the Monarchy. Raise a glass, and a body part, to the soon to be wed Royal Couple with this Viagra-laced beer from Brew Dog. The Royal Virility Performance is a limited edition artisanal brew made with various well-known aphrodisiacs in honor of Prince William's upcoming nuptials to Kate Middleton.

According to the specially commissioned label, the Royal Virility Performance contains Pfizer's magic blue pill (aka Viagra), chocolate, Horny Goat Weed and ‘a healthy dose of sarcasm’. The beer is a 7.5% ABV India Pale Ale and has been brewed at BrewDog’s brewery in Fraserburgh.

With this beer, the folks at Brew Dog wanted to take the wheels off the royal wedding bandwagon being jumped on by dozens of breweries; The Royal Virility Performance is said to be the perfect antidote to all the hype. Brew Dog claims "A beer should be brewed with a purpose, not just because some toffs are getting married, so we created something at our brewery that will undermine those special edition beers and other assorted seaside tat, whilst at the same time actually give the happy couple something extra on their big day."

James Watt, Head of Stuff at BrewDog commented:
“We put a bottle in a jiffy bag marked ‘Prince Willy, Buckingham Palace’. We sent it by Royal Mail as we presume they are most likely to know where he lives. As the bottle says, this is about consummation, not commemoration, so we hope he gets it.”

*The beer will be shipped on the 28th of April* Better snap some up, they only have 1,000 bottles available! Buy it here.

Louis Vuitton Creatures Made Of Small Leather Goods By Billie Achilleos.

above: detail of a Chameleon, made completely of Louis Vuitton's small leather goods.

Recently, Louis Vuitton tapped Chameleon Visual and the incredibly talented propmaker/puppeteer/artist Billie "Fingers" Achilleos for a second time*. In this instance, it was to create four bespoke animals made from Small Leather Goods for their AW11 Press event, which was held in Paris this week.

The Chameleon - for colour:

The Grasshopper - for sounds of zips and press studs:

The Beaver - for functionality:

above photo only, courtesy of tumblr

And the Armadillo - for the materials strength:

Imagery Provided by Louis Vuitton Press Department, via the artist

*Earlier this year Billie Achilleos, the self-proclaimed "Maker of Things" was approached by Chameleon Visual to produce some very unique creatures for the debut windows of Louis Vuitton’s New Bond Street Maison. Each of the 20 bespoke animals was carefully constructed out of genuine Louis Vuitton bags, purses and accessories and resented in dome jars.

The windows were such a success, they did it again for the New York store.

Here's a few images of those, courtesy of the artist:

above left: the window of the Bond Street store and right, in New York.

Bond Street, frog:

Crab and Fish:

New York:

Snake and Rooster:

The talented Billie Achilleous:

Louis Vuitton

All The Opus Watches (1 through 11) From Harry Winston & Various Horologists.

In 2001, Harry Winston launched the Opus series. The Opus concept was based on the idea of creating an exceptional timepiece each year in partnership with a gifted independent horologist. The partners work together as equals and collaborate to produce innovative and groundbreaking luxury watches.

The AMPLIFY chandelier’s aim is to put the Swarovski crystal effect into the hands of more people through the simple construction, easily accessible light source and sustainable materials.

Designer Yves Behar and his Fuse Project designed 6 different shaped lamps, each one carefully crafted to maximize refractions on the inner surfaces. This effect can be seen on the faceted shade material, thus emulating the cut and reflective nature of the crystal inside. Each chandelier becomes its own large glowing crystal.

While the Fuse Project's previous large scale lighting sculptures have showcased the crystal in a grand scale, with this latest project they wanted to bring the notion of accessibility and sustainability to crystal lighting.

Traditional chandeliers are made of numerous lights and crystals, they wanted to change this equation: 1 crystal + 1 low energy LED light + a faceted paper shade = AMPLIFY.

Resulting in multiple beautiful reflections and rainbow color bursts… Just what is expected from crystal, but this time the effect is amplified to get the most out of just one crystal.

AMPLIFY is a beautiful single crystal light, or it can be grouped to create a bigger effect.

Each of the six chandeliers will be available in production from Swarovski in the next year. To continue to amplify the concept of accessible crystal, each of the six unique lantern shapes are housed in a flat package that echoes the shape of the chandelier it contains: