David Keochkerian

I recently stumbled upon the work of David Keochkerian.
From what I know, he is a photographer from France.
What struck me most was how dynamic and vibrant his pictures are.
He uses infrared photography to produce photos with bold, vivid colours.
It’s these bright contrasts that I love in his work. I think they create real beauty..

Rashad Alakbarov..

Rashad Alakbarov uses shadows and light to create pieces of artwork.
His pieces often look like a random collection of items, but then a picture is revealed in the shadow.
The items he uses often look like junk and are recycled.
I love the piece which is created with coloured plastic..

Movement Captured through Photography

Gene Kelly Dancing

Gjon Mili photographed for LIFE from 1939 until his death in 1984.
He photographed many celebrities from Gene Kelly to Pablo Picasso.
Mili trained as an engineer and was extremely interested in technology. He was actually one of the first people to use the electric flash for photography.
I think his work reflects his love for technology because it truly captures movement and is so dynamic and expressive..

Nora Kaye Dancing

Picasso Drawing

Girl Skipping

A stroll through SoHo..

Last weekend I was wandering round SoHo, doing some shopping when I stumbled upon a small Marilyn Monroe exhibit. It had been put on by Erno Lazlo as a gift to New York and if that wasn’t enough, it was also free!

The exhibit featured clothes that Monroe had worn as well as some of her personal items. In many cases, it showed the item and then a photo of Marilyn wearing it. It was only small, but I really enjoyed it, and finding it out of the blue made it even better..

Beauty and Dance..

I have just been to see the New York City Ballet perform George Balanchine’s Nutcracker.

It was really beautiful, however I was amazed at how much detail went into a lot of the costumes.

The costumes and set used were the original pieces from the fifties, when Balanchine choreographed the show. The costumes were all designed by Karinska. She collaborated with Balanchine for the majority of his ballets and from this she became an innovator and created new, more practical ways of making tutus. Through a different method of layering fabric, she created tutu’s which didn’t ripple or bunch up. This has now become the standard way in which tutu’s are made.

Karinska’s costumes are truly beautiful. However, as an audience member, I feel like there would be so much more detail and embellishment if I were to see one of her garments up close. She once said that the detail wasn’t just there for the audience, it was to make the dancers look beautiful too..

Anna Sui

So, I know it’s been too long since I last posted. I’ve been really busy and have recently moved to New York. I’m currently doing an internship at Anna Sui. It’s a bit of a big step for me, moving to another country and seeing how the fashion industry really works, but I’ve learnt a lot of really interesting things.

The Anna Sui Offices

Before I began working at Anna Sui, I had never really known much about Anna’s fashion. I had heard of her of course, but all I knew was that she used a lot of print and made somewhat cutesy dresses. However the more I look at her clothes, the more I admire her designs.

Anna Sui’s first collection was released in 1991. She has won a range of awards and has shops all over the world. Her shows often feature top models and she has various collaborations with companies such as Anthropologie, Target and Coach.

Look from Spring 2013

Anna Sui’s designs are often inspired by a mix of romanticism and punk, as well as a lot of vintage, history and art. It seems like a random combination, yet the way Anna does it seems to work. While I don’t think you can see strong influences in every design, when you watch a collection on the catwalk, you can definitely see both of these influences running throughout meshed together with floral prints. I was actually lucky enough to get to watch the Spring 2013 fashion show live and work with the collection before and after the show. I was amazed at how the garments looked dynamic on the catwalk, yet were very wearable for day-to-day life. I think it is this combination which has kept Anna Sui’s such strong fan base..

Famous Owl Hat from Fall 2012

Forties Inspired Prints

‘I love history. I love art. I like to mix it all together, but in the end it somehow has to all make sense.’ – Anna Sui

Anna Sui

Little Black Dress

‘One is never over, or underdressed with a little black dress.’ – Karl Lagerfeld

Rene Gruau…

Probably the most well-known fashion illustrator, Rene Gruau worked for many companies including Dior, Givenchy and Vogue.
He uses strong lines and block colours creating bold, dramatic pieces.
I love how his illustrations reflect the time and the era in which he created them..

Aneta Kowalczyk…

Black and White Portrait

I recently happened to stumble upon the work of Aneta Kowalczyk.
Her black and white portraits capture beauty and seem to capture stories behind them.
However I also love her fashion shoots.
They are very dramatic and she seems to work really well with the models, capturing their facial expressions beautifully.
I have included 3 different shoots below in this post and each of them shows a completely new style of photography.
I particularly like the idea behind the ‘Still Moving’ shoot, I think it really works well with the clothes and fashion used within it..

‘Fairly Dream’

‘Arsenic’

‘Still Moving’

Fashion Underwater…

Mermaid – 1939

Photographer Toni Frissell liked to experiment with new method and techniques in her work.
She worked for both Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar in her time, as well as photographing parts of the second world war.
Even though she has taken a whole array of different, stunning images, she is probably most well-known for her underwater images.
They are a very modern style and look very ahead of their time.
I think there is something incredibly moving about them..

Weeki Wachee Spring – 1947

World War II – March 1949

Vogue 1950

Vogue May 1942

Vogue 1940