Acne Paper on Inge Grognard

Inge Grognard for Martin Margiela

Don’t miss the current (Spring/Summer) issue of Acne Paper. Of particular interest is the interview with the make-up artist Inge Grognard, whose work often confutes traditional notions of beauty and of what falls under the category of make-up. Grognard has collaborated with a number of Belgian designer (Dries Van Noten, A.F. Vandervorst, Jurgi Persoons) and is particularly well-know for her collaborations with Martin Margiela, whose runway show often used a combination of “accessories” (such as veils and masks) and make-up to cover the model’s eyes and shield their identities.

In the interview with Anja Cronberg for Acne, she recounts her early work with Margiela, who she had met in high school, as well as of her own projects: “I use myself as a model—Grognard says—I use dolls or masks, and then my husband [photographer Ronald Stoops] documents it.”

On Fashion Curation

Specter: When Fashion Turns Back (V&A, 2005)

Don't miss the new issue of Fashion Theory, which is entirely dedicated to fashion curation. Edited by Alistair O’Neil, founder of the MA in Fashion Curation at the London College of Fashion (and, in the interest of full disclosure, one of my thesis advisors), it has a great range of engaging articles exhaustively covering debates on the topic, which have taken place across the academic, journalistic and museum realms.

Among the articles included is an assessment of the history and various iterations of the fashion designer retrospective and its attendant criticisms by N.J. Stevenson, as well as an account of the history of fashion photography in the museum by Val Williams, the director of the Centre for Photography and the Archive at LCF. Also included are articles by Amy de la Haye and Judith Clark, and an interview with Penny Martin of SHOWstudio (also a subject of the second issue of Fashion Projects), about the notion of virtual curatorial practice as it pertains to fashion.

In addition, the issue features a range of exhibition reviews: Caroline Evans reviews the recent Victoria and Albert exhibition "Surreal Things: Surrealism in Design." O'Neil reviews the ground-breaking exhibition by Judith Clark "Spectres: When Fashion Turns Back”—an exhibition which, in my opinion, highlighted the blurring of boundaries between curator and artist and exemplified howcuration can be understood as an artistic practice in its own right.

Francesca

Tokion Creativity Now Conference 2008

"Fashion Fades Style Remains" Silk-Screened Poster by Katherine Bernhardt from Picture Box

Coming up this weekend at Cooper Union is the Tokion Creativity Now conference, which always proves quite engaging . Perhaps most topical to my interests is the second day of the Conference (Sunday May 18th), as it will include a fashion panel moderated by T magazine contributor Alex Hawgood and a panel on Gary Panter moderated by Brooklyn publisher Picture Box, which just published a book on the famed illustrator.

The excellent publisher has an actual brick and mortar storefront in Carroll Gardens--which makes it, in this day and age, all the more exceptional.

anp quarterly no.10

From ANP Quarterly, Issue 10

The new issue of ANP Quarterly was just published and, among other topics, it features a sprawling interview by Brendan Fowler with Sarah Lerfel--one of the owners and the main buyer of Colette--on her role in the art and fashion worlds. Also included is an article by Aaron Rose on the men's magazine illustrator Tom of Finland as well as an interview with the owners of the new Chicago concept store Golden Age.

The LA-based magazine, edited by Brendan Fowler, Aaron Rose, and Edward Templeton, is now in its tenth issue and can be found free of charge in a number of stores across the US, but in actuality one might have to subscribe to read it on a regular basis. However you get your hands on it, it makes for an engaging read, particularly as it gives ample space to its subject—the interviews tend to be many pages long. It reminds one a bit of the much-missed magazine Index both in the interview-format and in the range/type of people it tends to cover.

Francesca

Books on Fashion and Sustainability

If in London, don’t miss the London College of Fashion and the Centre for Sustainable Fashion’s celebration of the launch of Eco Chic The Fashion Paradox by Sandy Black. The event, which will take place Wednesday May 7th, will start with a a round table discussion and Q&A session with Abigail Petit of Gossypium, and Orsola de Castro of From Somewhere and will be followed by a book signing. (It is scheduled to take place at 6:00pm at the Terrace in the London College of Fashion, 20 John Princes Street, W1G 0BJ).

Also out is another book on echo fashion Sustainable Fashion and Textiles by the engaging theorist and practioner Kate Fletcher. The book which can be ordered on Design Journeys is sure to satisfy the need for practical as well as symbolic solutions to issues of sustainability in fashion. Fletcher is, in fact, one of the pre-eminent theorist/proponent of Slow Fashion—a concept, which developed after the Slow Food Movement, with the aim to create meaningful networks and relations through clothes by slowing down processes of productions, consumption and care.

Francesca