~ like ~ the modern Théâtre de la Mode

browsing my blog and realized how i have been neglecting it.

yes i have been mia from blogging, and wonder how i used to write at least a post each day.

just not so motivated recently. i am sorry.

it's getting creepily cold these few days; rainy and windy here in perth and yes i miss the sunny weather now. it's funny that when it's hot you are grumbling how you wished it's cold and vice versa. 

.......

 

if you had read about my Théâtre de la Mode post

you would be quite familiar and amazed of this event that happened during the post-war in Paris.

and

here is another reference of recent designer who had adapted this idea conceptually.

 

sara flamm and christopher kelly established the label T d l M (Théâtre de la Mode) back in 2007 and showed their debut autumn/winter 2008 collection 'willows' in london through installation of miniature wooden mannequins; taking inspiration from this postwar couture. 

likewise, even the label name is directly linked.

it was indeed an innovative approach for them to adapt this concept in this modern era but how would they apply to show the difference between these dolls and the 1945's miniature dolls?

 




this is where we could see that they were not just any other ordinary dolls but with unique animal looks; so called 'creatures of the woodland'.






when it is rather common for us to imagine and perceive that  dolls do usually wear high-end fashion or extravagance outfits, they had transcended this value by putting on casual-wear and modern tailoring on these creatures.

willow autumn/winter 2008

willow autumn/winter 2008

undeniably, each dolls had developed distinctive characteristic and mood through the outfits.


additionally, presenting their collections in miniature was what they considered as a reminiscent of Théâtre de la Mode and a homage to the french couturiers. 


and not to forget that it provided us to take a new perspective and challenge of contemporary fashion.

fashion is not only about fashion but also a reflection of how the world is today - quite a statement of recent economic climate that make it difficult to survive in the (fashion) world.


if you are interested in the designer's recent work visit the website
currently, it's a menswear label ( i think sara flamm is no longer with the label) which is based in london.


have a great weekend !



(image courtesy from T d I M) 
 

 

~ like ~ Jun Takahashi and his Graces

Jun Takahashi is the talented creative japanese designer behind the cult label undercover.

undercover

was founded back in 1988 (a brand originated with his friend);

later established as a company/fashion house (not until six years later in 1994)

never have i came across to this label, not until the year when i watched one of his earlier collection in class (around the same time when i watch Alice). i have vague memory about which collection it was, nevertheless it was one of those remarkable show i had ever seen.

his approach to designing are very much influenced by music (very much !)

his works is indeed artistic, unique and self expressive.

his version of deconstruction/reconstruction is somehow anarchy - taking his cue from the punk (he was a lead singer from a punk band himself) ;as well as inspired by life's dark side.

but yet they come along well and are still so beautiful, sending message out through his collection.

anyway,

just want to introduce his Graces if you haven't know so.

Graces

Grace is the name he gave to his dolls. 

 

doll-making in process

They are actually stuffed animal made by him and his teams (yes, doll-making is his hobby).

 

playful stuffed animal but yet quite haunting and surrealism - filled with his imagination and creativity.

they are large-scale creatures constructed from multiple cut-out parts of teddy bears, pearls, lace, light bulbs, wires ...

 

as unique or monstrous as they could be - Graces have multiple arms emerging out from body part and light bulbs supplanting onto their head; and 

as romantic or feminine as they could be - wearing vintage lace gowns and pearls.

Graces have indeed become an iconic symbol for him, prominently since his spring/summer 2009 collection.

spring summer 2009

Grace photo exhibiton in Dec 2008

doll-making performance in the Giardino di Boboli

an interview regarding his performance in the Giardino di Boboli

furthermore, he extended his experiment by travelling across japan; performing the doll-making with his team - taking its shape in front of the crowds; together with live soundtrack of electronic loud music or band on the background.

The Sound and The Fury performance across Japan

two limited edition fragrances was released in 2010 called Holygrace and Holygrapie.

perfume (( holygrace and holygrapie ))

here are videos from his doll-making performances

  

 

if you're interested in viewing more, visit his unofficial website

"The Graces spontaneously come out of me, genuinely, while making clothes is something more calculated, an entire process that requires teamwork. But doing both allows me to keep a balance in my creativity. Therefore, it makes sense to me to have everything linked." Jun Takahashi

(images courtesy from Jun Takahashi's blog)

my dolls

it's almost the end of may.

it's (usually) officially winter here in june.

the weather is getting chiller indeed.

i have been busy sewing and so the lack of blogging.(￣。￣ﾉ)ﾉ 

i was browsing through my old hard disc and found some very old works of mine. ( ´ ▽ ` )

here is a picture of a porcelain doll i have. i found her when browsing in a second-hand shop. i can't really remember but i bought her home for $20 i think. 

she is huge, almost like a size of a teenager. i had even given her a name. she is now being kept inside the closet back in melbourne, and i felt sorry about that.

well it was intentionally for a collection of mine based on tailoring. i put on a tailored jacket on her and that's what inspired me for the collection. sadly, i couldn't recall what the collection was called.

my doll

 

sketches of the collection

around the same time, i bought another smaller doll back home too. this time was for another small project. 

i remember how my friend who went hunting with me said that she could see a smile on the doll's face when i picked her up. believe it or not. hehe.

i had chosen the word 'abandoned' and so i bought her into play.

a doll.

you love her. you play with her. time goes. you got tired of her. you left her. you threw her away.

i wished i did better with the design and photoshop thing; looking back at it now.

hope you don't get too irritated looking at these images. 

i'm sorry if you do. (´ﾟДﾟ｀)

~ like ~ Akira Isogawa: Printemps Été

i was tidying up my table and came across this catalogue. 

thought i should scanned it and share.

this had to be one of the first few exhibitions i went during my first year in uni (￣ｰ￣;)

fresh and exciting.

so i bought the catalogue back home and then brought it along with me from mel to perth.

akira isogawa, one of the australia's leading fashion designer who loves textiles and colour. 

he always has original concept in his designs, not forgetting to merge his background cultural into it.

he had an exhibition installation back in 2004; opened at the national gallery of victoria, melbourne.

this particular installation documented his inspiration for summer Printemps-Été Collection 2005 and displayed his development from early stages to finished objects.

 

his journey indeed.

and what caught my eyes first were the huge cut-out paper-dolls!

 

for this particular collection, it was revealed that there are two important sources that inspired him.

the first would be the paper-dolls; where he played his abstract ideas by dressing the paper-dolls with found objects.

and the later was origami - the japanese art of paper folding. 

left: Origami: Diamond; middle: Diamond: Initial stage toile - small diamond; right: Diamond: Initial stage toile - enlarged diamond; 2004 designed, 2005 spring summer

these were them transformed into final garments.

i had put a few of my favourite pieces together so you could easily observed the transformation (・ω・)

left: bib top with sequins, circle layered skirt and belt with bear wallet ; right: series of paper dolls (detail), 2004, paper, collage

left: series of paper dolls (detail), 2004, paper, collage ; right: cathedral dress

 

left: earring singlet and sarong ; right: series of paper dolls (detail), 2004, paper, collage

left: series of paper dolls (detail), 2004, paper, collage ; right: feather bolero and japanese song book crop pants

left: leaf dress ; right: series of paper dolls (detail), 2004, paper, collage

left: flower embroidery top and circle skirt ; right: series of paper dolls (detail), 2004, paper, collage

left: hand-painted dragonfly top and feather petal skirt ; right: series of paper dolls (detail), 2004, paper, collage

what i love about is the concept and exploitation behind these; and of course the incorporation of dolls ♪♪

observing his titles from past years to today, i think (sorry if i got it wrong) he still exploits this particular inspiration into his collections. 

" i have so many ideas that it is almost frightening. if i started to write down ideas there would be hundreds or even thousands - so it is a matter of finding something relevant to what i am doing. ideas are always there in abundance... " Akira Isogawa

 

visit his website to view his past and current collections.




which one do you like?




(images courtesy from akira isogawa printemps-ete catalogue)

~ like ~ Théâtre de la Mode 1945

random stuffs.

the weekend was actually quite warm here,

and i hope it would stay longer.

going to do some sewing later

so i thought i should write something instead in the morning.

it's gonna be quite a long one today (・ω<)”

i'm going to introduce and talk about this particular event happened back in 1945. 

 

poster for Théâtre de la Mode exhibition in New York, 1946

Théâtre de la Mode 1945 ,

have you heard of it ?

there was a story behind this project with a strong message. 

but i'm just going to briefly talk about it, cause i just wanna show you how magnificent it was !

Théâtre de la Mode was a defined event of postwar couture. 

this project opened its door on 27^th March 1945.

it was intended to mark the freedom and celebrate the survival of French Couture after second world war.

furthermore, the couturiers were attempted to entice back the international market after the war when condition was deprived and under threat. 

la théâtre by christian berrard

it was a display of 237 miniature dolls dressed by fifty three well-known couturiers. 

but why dolls?

presenting fashion in real-life size was considered impractical when fabric were in short supply during war.

however, what would happen if the garments were presented on a division of adult size instead? in limited supply, dolls became practicable to prototype French couture, showing what could be visualized full-size when situation returned to normal.

evening dress by balenciaga

even though they were all in miniature version; the sewing and construction details were all done in perfection and finished meticulously.even their accessories were all made exactly like a real one !




  

one of the dress from la théâtre by christian berrard

 

 

Jean Saint-Martin constructing the structure of the dolls

the structure of the dolls

no harm to point out is the status of the dolls (*´ω｀*)

the figures did not resemble 'dolls' or even figures at all. if you noticed, they were actually constructed in wires.

day dress by molyneux, ensemble by georgette renal

 

day ensemble by lucile manguin,sport suit by dupouy magnin

it is understandable that raw materials were difficult to obtain that time thus metal which once lay all around the city by the Nazis were then used. 

 

  

evening dresses by jean patou

navy wool day dress by marcelle chaumont

How amusing (ノ∀｀)

the metal which once proposed to destroy Paris now became the skeleton and foundation of the dolls.

evening dress by madame gres

nevertheless;

despite well dressed and graceful; the dolls actually invited us an interpretation of the dissipated life after war with the presence of the wire structure as the body.

evening dress by balenciaga

i guess that this event is still remarkable today as the matter of fact that it was born under difficult circumstances and during a period of crisis after post-war.

dinner dress by lucile manguin

indeed, those dolls stand as a hope for future and also an honour for the creativity skills of the couturiers and artists of France; for been able to work together and bringing a symbol of new life and return of hope.

 

i think it is worth mentioning too about another project The Gratitude Train that took place a few years later.

this project marked the friendship of the americans and french.

the americans were generous enough to help and rebuild the french people's shattered lives after war by sending over boxcars of necessities in a train back in December 14, 1947.

touched by their kindness, the french decided to return their gratitude to the americans by sending back gifts in a total of fourty nine boxcars called The Gratitude Train two years later in 1949.

designed by maggy rouff

the Syndicate de la Couture de Paris which had designed
the théâtre de la mode dolls was involved in this too. 

designed by callot soeurs

this time, the couturiers dressed forty nine dolls which were constructed from the same wire design as the Théâtre de la Mode in period costumes that portrayed the changes in french fashions from 1715 to 1906.

designed by charles frederick worth

designed by elsa schiaparell

these delicate dolls were donated to the brooklyn museum in new york as a part of their costume collection today. (visit the link i provided if you are interested to look at the other incredible dolls)

and here is a video i found regarding the théâtre de la mode exhibition held in phoenix art museum last year  

take a glimpse !

wished i could have a close up look at these dolls one day (ू˃̣̣̣̣̣̣︿˂̣̣̣̣̣̣ ू)

maybe they would take a tour to australia someday? 

hope you found it interesting too ♡♡


and now it's time to continue my sewing.



(images courtesy from brooklyn museum, théâtre de la mode: fashion dolls: the Survival of haute couture)