The Campana Brothers

Fernando and Humberto, are the Campana Brothers. Both born in São Paulo, a mix of a lawyer and an architect who decided to join and create/design furniture from ordinary material. They started at the beginning of the 80's causing controversy and lots of critics but this brought massive attention on them.

By the early 90's they were already known in Europe and the U.S. And in 1998 they presented an exhubition along with lightning designer Ingo Maurer at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.

They have by now an amazing and long resumé, including São Paulo Design Week, Moss New York Design Week, Milan Design Week  and collaborations for Hotel Athens, Venini, Klein Karoo, Lacoste and many many more.

This year, Maison & Objet, selected the design duo as "Creator of the Year" for the significant influence to the design and architecture scene. 

Here's a selection of my favorite pieces created by them.

 "The Banquete Chair".

 "Alligator Lace" for Lacoste.

 "Alligator Lace" for Lacoste - detail.

 Tennis for Melissa.

 "Rivivo" for Venini.

 Garden Design for São Paulo Design Week.

"The Favela Chair" at the São Paulo Design Week.

Humberto and Fernando Campana.

Ghesquière's.

Nicolas Ghesquière was born in 1971 in Comines. His dad owned a golf course and his mom was a fashion lover... 

In his resumé, Agnès B (aged 15), then Jean-Paul Gaultier where he made an internship with the designer. In 1995, he got hired as a licensed product designer for Balenciaga, making an  approach to the brand. "It's OK. I will go and I will see what the potential is and see what is going on. So it was not the most glamorous way to approach the brand. But it was interesting to work on this license and to see what was left from Balenciaga." Two years after this, he got named as Balenciaga's new creative director.

After this happened, back in 1997, all of his collections started to succeed, giving more reputation to the house and to himself.

"We've developed the brand," he told Interview magazine in January 2010. "I probably feel more solid because the brand is solid and I feel stronger than my years. But I put so much pressure on myself, which makes me very insecure. With my designs and my ideas, I want to please myself first. I'm always very stressed about making a new proposition every season. But in a way, it's a kind of addiction. In another way, it's a crazy pressure. I try to stay quiet about the whole situation, because fashion itself can be crazy, and everyone wants a part of you."

After more than 10 years working for the famous fashion house, he gained everyone's respect and admiration. Every season me, and many more, waited for each Paris Fashion Week to see what Ghesquière's proposal for the season was. And it was always mind blowing. Unique silhouettes, weird/new materials, volume, show... The whole package to make of his show one of a kind.

After all this success, after dressing Nicole Kidman for her wedding, working with Charlotte Gainsburg, getting Twilight's hated Kirsten Stewart as spokeswoman and image for the brand... Ghesquière decides to leave Balenciaga behind.

"With an incomparable creative talent, Nicolas has brought to Balenciaga an artistic contribution essential to the unique influence of the house", said François-Henri Pinault, chairman and CEO of PPR.

Is not confirmed what Ghesquière's future will be. If he would launch his own brand or start with another house... By the moment I will make a little homage to one of the designer's I admire the most. Here's a selection of my favorite designs.

 ♥

H&M and Maison Martin Margiela

Everyone's being dying of anxiety since a gossip started more than a year ago that the swedish retailer, H&M, would open a store here in Mexico... And finally that day came!

With 3 floors, 4200 square meters this store is the beginning of H&M's expansion in Latin America. Starting in Mexico City with zero risk of being a failure, because since they open their first store outside Europe back in 2000 all they keep getting is more and more success, more fans, more clients and of course absurd amounts of money.

The opening is one huge event but for me the biggest, and the one that everyone have their eyes on, is H&M's new collaboration with the Belgian designer, Martin Margiela. A few months ago the news were broke all over the internet, published on NYMag, videos on YouTube... It was all over! And it has been a long long wait since we saw those and read about it and finally there are just a few days before we can get our hands in some cheaper Margiela pieces.

The retailer is known for always offering their customers fashion at an affordable price, trends and of course not the best quality (but at least better than Zara). A few collaborations after, this strategy maintain the growth and success of the house.

Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Viktor & Rolf, Roberto Cavalli, Comme des Garçons, Matthew Williamson, Jimmy Choo, Sonia Rykiel, Versace and now Margiela for H&M. Excitement for this collaboration is up to date becuase Margiela created a collection based on his most pieces, from the plexiglass heel shoes, the candy wrap clutch, the oversized coats, the two-dresses-dress... this promess to be a huge success and mayhem at stores worldwide... but anyways, I'll be part of that mayhem to get a MMM piece with friendly price tag, not one with the £3000 on it.

Here are some of my picks from this awesome collaboration.

Iris Apfel: Goddess.

It's been quite a while since I last posted an entry here. For many reason I've been off but I guess is about time to make a comeback and what a better way than writing about someone you really admire.

Iris Apfel is a businesswoman and interior designer, known for Old World Weavers, the textile firm she created with her husband, which they ran until 1992 and for being A fashion icon. She worked for Women's Wear Daily and now, being 92 years old, she's everywhere: magazines, ad campaigns (MAC), covers, editorials, fashion lectures, special events and also consulting. 

Her own and unique style has given her a special place in fashion, styling celebrities like Lindsay Lohan and stores like Bergdorf Goodman. And in 2005 she was honored by the Metroplitan Museum of Art with an exposition called Rara Avis (Rare Bird): The Irreverent Iris Apfel, showing her exhuberant and idiosyncratic wardrobe, which combines pieces from Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, flea market findings, textures, colors, patterns... an aesthetic that's truly hers.

Dazed & Confused photographed Iris in the celebrated 2D Fall/Winter 2012 collection from Comme des Garçons for their current issue, so here are the photos and also a video they posted on their official website.Enjoy and welcome back!

 

 

CREDITS:
PHOTOGRAPHY AND FILM Jeff Bark
STYLING Robbie Spencer
HAIR Duffy at Tim Howard Management
MAKE-UP Lisa Houghton at Tim Howard Management
MODEL Iris Apfel
SET DESIGN School Float
PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSISTANT Christopher White
STYLING ASSISTANTS Elizabeth Fraser-Bell, Jessica Bobince
CASTING Noah Shelley at AM Casting