Archive for June, 2010

British Vogue’s Alexandra Shulman, was yesterday awarded a Master of Arts by The University for the Creative Arts. The MA acknowledges Shulman’s outstanding contribution to the fashion industry. Paul Coyle, the Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University, described the celebrated editor as ‘an inspiration’.

During Shulman’s 18-year reign at Vogue, circulation has increased by almost 25%. This award follows numerous others Shulman has received, most notably her OBE in the 2005 New Years Honours List.

Famous fashion alumni from UCA include Zandra Rhodes, Karen Millen, Jeff Banks, and the duo behind Gharani Strok, Nargess Gharani and Vanya Strok.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

Youth culture and trend expert Joyce Thornton provides a monthly look at emerging design talent.

There seems no doubt that Astrid Andersen is a young designer going places. Her recent final collection of menswear at the RCA (Royal College of Art) MA fashion show, created a fantastic finale, wowing the crowd. Her colourful pieces are inspired by Spanish matadors and American hip hop culture. These disparate cultural references both emphasise male power and masculinity, which Astrid has translated into a great, strong statement.  

Her bold choice of materials included mixing leopard print, pink sheepskin, beadwork, fur, devore techniques and gold chain embroidery. Her maverick layering of colour and texture and her creation of strong structural shapes stood out in a memorable and up-beat graduate show.

Astrid studied at the renowned Danish fashion school Teko before coming to London to study for her MA. She has already had her talent recognised, winning the Brioni Creativity and Innovation Award last year, and the River Island MA bursary. She also had her ‘pre-collection’ featured in i-D magazine. She created three looks for River Island that have already been snapped up in their stores, and most recently, she has been nominated for the prestigious, ITS#NINE Fashion Award. This international competition is sponsored by Diesel and will be judged in Trieste, Italy in the middle of July. This year the RCA has an impressive 4 fashion design graduates listed in the final 12.      

For more information on Astrid click here to visit her official website.

As part of an ongoing project to study new patterns of urbanism, architect David Adjaye showcases a photographic survey of Africa in a special exhibition entitled ‘Urban Africa.’ The exhibition, which runs from the 31st of March to the 5th of September at the Design Museum in London, presents Africa in a new light, offering visitors a unique snapshot of the country today. This detailed survey documents the nature of city life in a developing continent in a variety of guises. On entering the exhibition you are faced with a room full of colourful maps that display geo-cultural information such as languages, borders & capitals and flags in a rather unique manner. A video wall then projects video of the buildings and places that are special to the architect, while a further room features an overwhelming amount of snapshot images, which depict the often overlooked and understudied African city as “a complex, dynamic and successful environment where people live and work.” ‘Urban Africa,’ which runs alongside ‘Sustainable Futures,’ is a colourful and informative exhibition, especially relevant in the run up to the World Cup in South Africa this year.

(Images: Mpdclick)

Who knew designer fashion and football could be combined with such winning results?  Sepp Magazine’s latest issue contains a must-see photo shoot that proves that football and fashion can be a beautiful thing.

Sepp Magazine is a premium publication officially sanctioned by FIFA that focuses on uniting fashion and football.  The magazine, named after FIFA President Sepp Blatt, discusses the issues surrounding football, the lead up to and occurrences during the World Cup, life and fashion.

“When we launched Sepp in 2002, few designers, except maybe Armani with the Davids – James and Beckham – and Dirk Bikkembergs sport couture, cared much about football. Since then, a squad of luxury labels has tapped into the global obsession with football, and player’s rare ability to convey and magnify style trends. Mirroring that, The Beautiful Game, is designed to reflect how top brands now develop products specifically with soccer’s global reach in mind, how they use famous players in their advertising and other related news. As Sepp hears about new deals and announcements on a regular basis now, we have decided to start this online column to support our print version and bring you the latest football fashion news at once.”  – Sepp Magazine

 The robust magazine, which is only printed every two years, has just released its 5th publication, which was released to coincide with the FIFA World Cup™ and UEFA European Championships.  Filled with interesting articles such as Fashion on Football and From Bikkembergs with Love, as well as Karl Lagerfeld’s drawings of some of football’s high fliers, such as Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba and Frank Ribery, the recent issue is cited as a must-have for any style-obsessed football lover.  Mpdclick’s must-see element is the über chic photo shoot featuring Sepp Magazine’s collaboration on football jerseys with some top names in fashion design.  The likes of Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani, Paul Smith, Osklen, Versace, Marni, Dries van Noten, Wunderkind and others, contributed their exquisite one-of-a-kind jersey prototypes to the seemingly budding relationship between fashion and “the beautiful game”.

The magazine is currently on sale via newsstands and Colette, averaging around €6. For more about this magazine, visit the official website: www.sepp-magazine.com.

Image source: high snobiety (blog) and Sepp Magazine

After spending 21 months of designing, PUMA have produced the ‘Clever Little Bag’. PUMA have been successful in its puma.safe project, launched more than 10 years ago to focus on the social and environmental impacts the brand have.  The most recent of the developments came in the form of a new design for the shoe box. PUMA teamed up with renowned industrial designer Yves Behar, the founder of design studio Fuseproject, to create the most sustainable design possible. Over 2,000 ideas were conceived and over 40 packaging prototypes were made, however the best solution found was to eliminate the box.

The ‘Clever Little Bag’ is to replace all the cardboard shoeboxes, consisting of a single sheet of cardboard that fits around the footwear. The sheet can be removed in the store and then reused, the bag then also replaces the need for plastic carrier bags. The bag itself protects the contents from damage from the point it leaves the factory until the customer takes it home thus saving on production as less materials are being used. The new sustainable design will mean that the paper usage will be reduced by 65% and carbon emission by 10,000 ton per year, with the target of the remaining packaging material to be sustainable by 2015. Due to the change in design PUMA will now be able to reduce water, energy, and diesel consumption by more the 60% each year.

“I was excited to partner with PUMA and contribute to such a game changing project,” said Yves Béhar. “PUMA’s initiative to look closely at one of the most challenging issues facing the retail industry in regards to sustainability and environmental harm was inspirational. In changing the packaging and distribution life cycle from the ground up, we hope our new design and comprehensive solution encourages other retail companies to follow suit.”

The new bag will be launched in stores as of the second half of 2011, but if you can’t wait that long to see the new product it is currently on display at the London Design Museum 31 March- 05 September as part of the Sustainable Futures exhibition.

Image source: puma.co.uk