All Photos By Gail
In 1976, British automobile designer William Towns created the Microdot as an evolution of his 1972 Minissima concept. At just 6.5 feet long, this car for city dwellers is a gas/electric hybrid with a 400-cc gas engine running a 3.5 kW generator to charge the batteries that power the electric motor.
Continue reading Eye On Design: The Microdot Mini Automobile
Photos By Gail
Alexander McQueen never designed clothing simply to be worn — he created unforgettable experiences. This dramatic evening gown from his Spring/Summer 2001 collection perfectly captures the British designer’s gift for transforming fashion into performance art, blending meticulous craftsmanship with theatrical storytelling.
Currently on view in Costume Art, the inaugural exhibition in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s expansive new 12,000-square-foot Condé Nast Galleries, the striking ensemble immediately commands attention. This exhibition explores how fashion and fine art have long inspired one another, pairing nearly 400 historical and contemporary garments from The Costume Institute with artworks drawn from across the Museum’s remarkable collections. Continue reading Eye On Design: Alexander McQueen’s Fiery Vision Still Burns Bright
Photo By Gail
Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848 – 1933) made a series of jewelry designs composed of moonstones and Montana sapphires set in platinum. This necklace (circa 1910), one of the most elaborate, features moonstones of irregular sizes and shapes intersperse with the design of twisted scrolls, each enclosing four tiny sapphires. The piece could be worn as one large elaborate necklace with pendant, as seen here, or it could be separated into discrete items and worn as a choker or a bracelet with the pendent wearable as an independent brooch.
Photographed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Photos By Gail
Leave it to the Haas Brothers to turn a lamp into a conversation piece, which is certainly the case with Small Sloan (2016), a striking work by the duo currently on view in Uncanny Valley at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD). Crafted from blown glass, aluminum tiles, and electrical lighting components, the piece blurs the line between functional lighting and contemporary sculpture.
At first glance, Small Sloan resembles a strange organism rising from the ocean floor. Its reflective aluminum body branches upward into graceful, elongated stems that support clusters of delicate blown-glass forms. When illuminated, the translucent glass catches and diffuses the light, casting shimmering reflections that ripple across the surrounding walls and giving the sculpture an almost otherworldly glow.
Continue reading Eye On Design: The Haas Brothers’ Small Sloan Sculptural Lamp
Photos By Gail
Among the many fashion trends born during the Swinging Sixties, few captured the era’s spirit of experimentation quite like the Nehru jacket. Distinguished by its streamlined shape, stand-up mandarin collar, and lack of traditional lapels, the style represented a dramatic break from conventional Western tailoring. Named after Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, whose achkan knee-length long coats inspired the look, the jacket became an unlikely symbol of the counterculture and flower power movements, blending Eastern influences with the decade’s appetite for bold colors and new ideas.
Continue reading Eye On Design: The Nehru Jacket and the Psychedelic Spirit of the 1960s