Eye on Design: Accessible Icon By Tim Ferguson Sauder

Photos By Gail

The original International Symbol of Access (image below) was designed in 1969 by Susanne Koefoed. Enlarged above is the Accessible Icon, a recent redesign that portrays a person in forward motion, propelling through space. Surrounded by small images that depict various iterations, the new symbol represents people in wheelchairs as dynamic, rather than static bodies. The Accessible Icon Project began as a social intervention with the goal of making cities more inclusive. Its symbol is open source and available in a multitude of formats and sizes. This image was designed by Tim Ferguson Sauder, Brian Glenney and Sara Hendren between 2009 and 2011.

Photographed in the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in Manhattan.

Pink Thing of The Day: Villainess Neon Sign

May15

Photo By Gail

Villainess, accord to their Instagram Page, is a “Secondhand designer black clothing store and events destination located in the East Village.” The exact address is 181 Avenue B, and they appear be temporarily shuttered due to the Covid Life. It seems appropriate then, that their glorious Pink Neon Sign glows on, behind bars, so to speak.

Eye on Design: Head of the Moon Chest of Drawers By Pierre Cardin

May13

All Photos By Gail

Although Angelo Donghia, was the first designer to put his name on furniture in 1973, Pierre Cardin’s venture in the field was far more successful. Cardin opened a custom furniture shop in Paris in 1975, and in 1977, he licensed his name for furniture, lighting and rugs that translated his fashion aesthetic into designs for the mass market., who didn’t design the pieces himself, felt that furnishings were a logical extension of his brand: and deferred to the pieces as his couture furniture.

Installation View from Pierre Cardin: Future Fashion

The red and black lacquer chest of drawers, titled Head of the Moon, was designed in 1978. While it was not designed alongside the looks on view behind it, Cardin’s tight visual language creates a natural link between the two.

Photographed as Part of the Exhibit Pierre Cardin: Future Fashion at The Brooklyn Museum.

Eye On Design: Parabolic Evening Gown by Pierre Cardin

May6

All Photos By Gail

Technically, a parabola is a symmetrically mirrored U-shape. Pierre Cardin began working with the parabola in the 1950s, particularly in the 1957 Lasso collection. With the introduction of stretch fabrics and hoops in the 1960s, those sweeping, graceful parabolic drapes became amplified, evolving into ellipses and cones.

Some of Cardin’s “Parabolic” fashions collapse flat, are easily packed, and emerge as before — like his earlier Cardine dresses, which could be twisted, rolled and stowed effortlessly into luggage. Developed alongside Cardin’s investigations into furniture sculpture, the big, sculptural shapes of the Parabolic dresses were likewise designed to be seen in 360 degrees. And since they were made of stretch fabric, they had a bounce reminiscent of his “Kinetic” dresses from 1972.

Referencing his earlier “Lasso” or “Eye of the Needle” designs done in wool and mohair, in 1990s’ Parabolic Evening Gown, Cardin creates the shape as a pink and green silk parabola.

Photographed in The Brooklyn Museum.

Eye On Design: Floral Appliquéd Evening Dress By House of Chanel

Apr29

All Photos By Gail

At the end of the 1920s, the prior emphasis on lavish surface embellishment transferred to printed textiles, which were fashioned into a variety of romantic permutations. The elegant ombre-dyed silk chiffon of this evening dress was likely created for Gabrielle Chanel at her own Tissus Chanel factory in Asnières-sur-Seine, France. The delicate manipulation of the textile in this Floral Appliquéd Evening Dress (spring/summer 1935) is evidence of the superior capabilities of the Chanel couture workrooms

The gown’s bias-cut fabric drapes and clings to the figure, gathering into delicately ruched straps at the shoulders and swelling into soft folds around the hem. Individual picot-edged florets are backed with net to create volume and strategically appliquéd throughout the garment to further enhance the printed motifs, resulting in tactile bouquets that gently flutter when the wearer moves.

Photographed as part of the exhibit In Pursuit of Fashion: The Sandy Schreier Collection, on view through May 17th, 2020 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

Eye On Design: Upholstered Chair Hat By Karl Lagerfeld

Apr22

Photos by Gail

Karl Lagerfeld (1938 – 2019), an avid collector of rare books, art and antiques, conceived of a series of accessories inspired by eighteenth-century French decorative arts for his autumn/winter 1985-86 collection. The fashion designer worked closely with milliner Kirsten Woodward to arrive at this Upholstered Chair Hat, and other witty translations of miniaturized furniture based on Lagerfeld’s sketched interpretations of original objects from reference photos.

The resulting hats were a playful pastiche of historical references, infused with elements of Surrealism and executed with vivid opulence that was often characteristic of 1980s fashion.

Photographed as part of the exhibit In Pursuit of Fashion: The Sandy Schreier Collection, on view through May 17th, 2020 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

Eye On Design: Zebra Punk Party Dress By Anna Sui

Apr15

Photos By Gail

To create the look of the Zebra Punk Party Dress (which was part of her Spring 2007 Punk collection), Anna Sui combined ripped mesh leggings and armlets, references to Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm Mclaren’s punk fashions of the mid-to-late 1970s. The monochrome zebra print recalls the strict dress color code of the New York clubs that Sui frequented in her youth, such as Max’s Kansas City and CBGB.

Zebra Punk Party Dress is made from Silk chiffon with a nylon petticoat, leggings and sleeves; worn with brass/glass/plastic bracelet by Erickson Beamon for Anna Sui; cowhide boots by Ballin for Anna Sui.

Photographed in the Museum of Arts and Design in Manhattan.

Eye On Design: Black and Gold Evening Ensemble By Karl Lagerfeld for Chloe

Apr8

All Photos By Gail

Chloe is a French fashion house founded in 1952 by the Jewish Egyptian immigrant Gaby Aghion, who had a vision to offer luxury ready-to-wear. Karl Lagerfeld began designing for Chloe in 1966, and his creations from the 1970s were extremely influential.

Lagerfeld returned as creative director of Chloe in 1992, and was followed in due course by Stella McCartney, Phoebe Philo, and Natacha Ramsey-Levi.

This Black and Gold embroidered Tulle and Silk Chiffon Evening Ensemble was part of Karl Lagerfeld for Chloe’s Fall/Winter 1993 – 1994 Collection. Photographed as part of the exhibit, Paris: Capital of Fashion at the Museum art FIT in Manhattan.

Eye On Design: Christian Dior, Columbine Dress

Apr1

Photos By Gail

Christian Dior’s “New Look” was central to the postwar revival of the Paris couture system. In addition to selling individual couture dresses to private clients, Dior also sold licensed copies, like this one of his Columbine dress, which was produced in the US for American department stores. The number of such high-end reproductions was limited, but there were also mass-produced garments that catered to the desire for at least “a copy of a copy of a Dior.”

The Dress Pictured Here is a Licensed Copy of Dior’s Columbine Dress by I. Magnin and Lord & Taylor circa 1947. Photographed as Part of the Exhibit, Paris, Capital of Fashion at the Museum at FIT in Manhattan.

Eye On Design: Anna Sui, Cheerleader Ensemble

Mar25

All Photos By Gail

“When I think about pinafores and jumpers and compromised purity, it’s actually quite punk. Go further back and it’s all about mod and Twiggy and dolly birds and thousands of school girls like me pouring over magazines, reading articles from the front lines of pop culture.”

Throughout her career, Anna Sui has summoned the youthful spirit of the school girl but was an edge, embracing the complexity of teen-hood. For the fall 1994 Schoolgirl collection, Sui focused on Yves Saint Laurent‘s most iconic designs, which she reinterpreted in high-tech sportswear materials.fall 1994 Schoolgirl collection, Sui focused on Yves Saint Laurent‘s most iconic designs, which she reinterpreted in high-tech sportswear materials.

Saint Laurent was also a superb colorist, as reflected in the collection’s use of bold colors. The sportswear sensibility extended to a series of outfits inspired by cheerleader uniforms, many of which Sui accessorized with pom-pom hats by James Coviello.

Jacket Front and Back Detail

Schoolgirl Collection Installation View: Cheerleader Ensemble (far right) worn with plastic/wool pom-pom hat by James Coviello for Anna Sui; Plastic belt, two necklaces, and bracelets by Erickson Beamon for Anna Sui; fishnet nylon hose and acetate/satin-covered domestic cowhide short boots by Emma Hope for Anna Sui.

Photographed in the Museum of Arts and Design in Manhattan.

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Eye on Design: Accessible Icon By Tim Ferguson Sauder

Pink Thing of The Day: Villainess Neon Sign

Eye on Design: Head of the Moon Chest of Drawers By Pierre Cardin

Eye On Design: Parabolic Evening Gown by Pierre Cardin

Eye On Design: Floral Appliquéd Evening Dress By House of Chanel

Eye On Design: Upholstered Chair Hat By Karl Lagerfeld

Eye On Design: Zebra Punk Party Dress By Anna Sui

Eye On Design: Black and Gold Evening Ensemble By Karl Lagerfeld for Chloe

Eye On Design: Christian Dior, Columbine Dress

Eye On Design: Anna Sui, Cheerleader Ensemble

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