Fashion Illustration: A Contemporary Look

Colette, Anja Kroencke, 2012. I am so in love with this picture.

Sometimes it’s not the worst thing in the world to be a blogger with a camera, a notebook, and a dream. There I was, at the Brooklyn Public Library, minding my own business, taking pictures of the wonderful exhibit Fashion Illustration: A Contemporary Look when a guard looked over and said, “You can’t take pictures.”

“What?” I said, shocked.

“You with the library?”

“No.”

“Then you can’t take pictures.”

I next found myself in security, thinking that my camera would be confiscated (so not good), or that I would have to stand there and delete the scores of pictures I’d already taken (also not good), but, dear reader, when you find yourself in security after protesting that you just want to help promote the exhibit, do ask for the press office. When you are met with blank stares, just keep going along that track. PR office? Exhibit Manager?

And then, if you are very lucky, somebody as great as Barbara Wing, the Manager of the Programs & Exhibitions Department at the Brooklyn Public Library will come to your rescue, vouch for you with the guards, then take you behind the scenes, where you get to meet the handsome, baby-faced, utterly charming curator of the exhibit, Brandon Graham.

Not only did I not get my camera taken away, I got an exclusive tour and interview!

Charming Prints, Anja Kroencke, 2012.

The exhibit Fashion Illustration: A Contemporary Look, now on view at the central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, provides visitors with a wide range of work from artists currently creating gorgeous images for stores, fashion brands, newspapers, and magazines. It also gives a brief look back at the artist Antonio Lopez, who had a big impact on the ten other featured illustrators in the exhibit. “They were all inspired by Antonio,” says Graham. “They all wanted to get into fashion illustration after seeing his work.” What makes the work of Lopez so special? Graham explains he “brought in a new look, he brought sex appeal to fashion illustration.”

Untitled 1, Antonio, 1973, for 20 Ans magazine.

Lopez, who signed his work with the simple moniker “Antonio” liked to draw from live models; some of his muses included Jerry Hall, Pat Cleveland, and Grace Jones. Born in Puerto Rico in 1943, he moved to New York City with his family when he was a young boy and eventually attended the Fashion Institute of Technology. He moved to Paris in 1969 with his collaborator Juan Eugene Ramos and stayed until the mid-70s. While there he and Ramos lived with Jerry Hall and were close associates of Karl Lagerfeld. Some of his clients included The New York Times, Vogue, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Bloomingdale’s. The Balcony Cases inside the library are devoted to three decades of Lopez’s work from the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Untitled 2, Antonio, 1976, for Saks Fifth Avenue.

Untitled, Antonio, 1983, for Vanity.

Fireside Sweater, Frank Smith for Evan Picone, Antonio, 1964, for Best & Co.

Fourth of Four in Surreal Robe series: Robe and classical heads-B&W, Antonio, 1979, for Bloomingdale’s.

Some of Antonio’s friends, including, clockwise from top left, Anna Piaggi, Bill Cunningham, Grace Coddington and Valentino.

Graham chose the other artists in the show not only because they were inspired by Lopez but also for their “editorial work and established ad campaigns for major companies.”

What’s unusual about this exhibit is that, as Graham points out, fashion illustration exhibits are “usually retrospective,” but he wanted to showcase the art of Lopez, who died in 1987, as well as feature “what people are doing right now.” And if the work seems familiar to you, that’s what Graham was hoping for. “I wanted people to relate to it,” he says.

Helen of Troy, Samantha Hahn, 2011.

Walking into 2012, Richard Haines, 2011.

Girlfriends, Izak Zenou, 2012, for Henri Bendel.

The Girl with the Hat Box, Izak Zenou, 2011, for Henri Bendel.

Mandarine, Carlos Aponte, 2004. Yes, that is masking tape! Amazing!

Flower Pop!, Jennifer Lilya, 2011. Dress design by Diane von Furstenberg.

There are a wide range events surrounding the exhibit such as Fashion Drawing for Teens (Sept. 27, Oct. 4 and 11, at 3:30PM), a live demonstration of fashion illustration with Bil Donovan (Oct. 6, 4PM), even advice on how to start your own fashion line (Oct. 17, 7PM). There is also a film series to include showings of Valentino: The Last Emperor, Mahogany, and Funny Face. Following a screening of Bill Cunningham New York on November 27, there will be clips from Lopez’s private film footage featuring Grace Coddington, Jerry Hall, Bill Cunningham and others.

Vogue India, Sara Singh.

This being Graham’s first curatorial work, what he’s put together is both impressive and unique. As I looked at all the images I was amazed at how different (and striking) the work of each artist is. And to take fashion illustration and scatter it throughout a library, where it has the opportunity to be seen by so many people of all ages, whether they care about fashion or not? Brilliant. I look forward to future exhibits by Brandon Graham, I think he has a great curatorial career ahead of him. Can you blame me for taking pictures?

Jersey, Don Oehl, 2012.

Fashion Illustration: A Contemporary Look is on view at the Grand Army Plaza branch of the Brooklyn Public Library until December 1, 2012.

Brooklyn Public Library
Central Library
10 Grand Army Plaza
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 9AM-9PM
Friday and Saturday, 10AM-6PM
Sunday, 1-5PM

Ivy Style

Now on view at The Museum at FIT is the exhibit Ivy Style focusing on collegiate menswear from the early 20th century to today. The look originated at Ivy League schools like Harvard, Yale and Princeton, and while the style may have been appropriated from pieces common to an Englishman’s wardrobe such as tweed jackets and polo coats, the items were modified by companies like Brooks Brothers and J. Press to become something uniquely American.

From Apparel Arts, a magazine devoted to menswear.

Cornell University blazers: A 1926 Reunion blazer on left, at right a Class of 1918 blazer.

The striped blazers are both circa 1928.

I don’t normally think this about fashion exhibits, but I have to say, Ivy Style is easily the best written show I’ve been to in my two and a half years covering museum collections. I wasn’t sure I’d be so excited to see menswear but the gallery text was fascinating and informative, giving a real sense of what was expected of young male American undergrads in the early part of the last century up to 1967, at which time the Ivy style began to lose popularity. There was a uniform, as much as if these boys were in the military, and they were expected to follow it to a T! From class jackets emblazoned with the school’s crest to the 1920s Raccoon coat craze, from Madras shorts to evening wear to Princeton’s Beer Suits—oh yes, you read correctly—this exhibit gives you an amazing sense of what the look was and how much it’s been used by designers such as Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger from the 1970s to today. It’s especially interesting to see these clothes in light of today’s male collegiate crowd, which for the most part looks like what Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (himself a Harvard man, albeit one who dropped out) runs his empire wearing—black hoodie, jeans, khakis and those hideous Adidas flip-flops, worn with white socks!

Give me, any day of the week, the 1920s look straight out of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise, quotes from which adorn the beginning of the exhibit. I understand things have changed and college is not just the province of rich white young men anymore and costs a ton of money to attend. But still. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if a young college man today wore a (vintage) bow tie to class? I know I would love it!

The Raccoon coat craze of the 1920s is the most famous college sartorial fad in US history.

A wardrobe stocked with ties, slippers and a straw boater.

I love these slippers.

Madras blazer by Chipp, 1970. My 9-year old son says he wants a blazer like this.

Patricia Mears, Deputy Director of The Museum at FIT and organizer of the exhibit, who I had the pleasure of meeting at the press preview, agreed when I told her I thought it was a unique show. She also noted that the museum’s security guards, used to seeing ladies’ fashions on display, have had their heads turned by this collection. “They’ve been pointing out things they like!” she said.

There are several things I liked as well and now I find myself wanting one of J. Crew’s tipped blazers so I can join in all this Ivy League fun. Nothing I like more than appropriating men’s clothing!

Ralph Lauren ensemble, 2002. I want a blazer like this!

Corbin Ltd. patchwork jacket on left, 1970, Chipp Tartan patchwork jacket, right, 1974.

The height of Preppy Chic!

Brooks Brothers’ evening dress on the left, from 1907, on the right, from 1926.

Princeton Beer Suits, circa 1929-1930.

As for the Beer Suit, this has got to be one of the most interesting stories about an article of clothing I have ever heard. Get this: debuting at Princeton in 1912, the Beer Suit was repurposed work wear worn to protect “good clothes” from spilled beer. The suits could not be washed and could only be worn by seniors, a strict rule that was upheld by the student body! They were worn by alumni to reunions for 25 years (can you imagine how stinky they were after that time?), only then could alumni don reunion blazers. Beer Suits were decorated with images invoking politics, culture or student life. They never caught on at any of the other Ivy League schools so they are exclusive to Princeton University.

I’m trying to picture Scott Fitzgerald in his Beer Suit. He went to Princeton (and like Zuckerberg, he never graduated from his Ivy Leave school), but did he have one? I will have to re-read This Side of Paradise, his first novel, and about his time at Princeton University, to see if he mentions it.

Ivy Style is on view at The Museum at FIT until January 5, 2013.

The Museum at FIT
Seventh Avenue at 27th Street
New York NY 10001-5992
212-217-4558
Hours: Tuesday-Friday: Noon-8PM
Saturday: 10AM-5PM
Closed Sundays, Mondays, and legal holidays
Admission is free

Hermès Festival des Metiérs

As if my Hermès obsession wasn’t bad enough, Hermès decided to come to New York City and, in a beautiful old church on Park Avenue at 63rd Street, hold their Festival des Metiérs, with Hermès craftsmen from France in different stations showing how they practice their craft!

The festival was in an old church on Park Avenue at 63rd Street in NYC.

The lovely chandelier.

There was so much to see, from the saddle maker to the lady gilding crystal glasses with 24K gold paint, from a watchmaker to a maker of men’s shirts and ties. But you know me, forever stuck on scarves, jewelry and handbags and those stations were where I spent most of my time.

The threads used in sewing the leather bags. Look at those colors!

The ever-patient Pierre, making a Kelly Retourne and listening to endless questions.

Pierre, the wonderful Kelly craftsman, had a ton of people around his station at all times. He mostly got asked the same question: How long does it take to make a Kelly? Over 18 hours, he said. A woman engaged him in a conversation about leather, which ended up being really interesting. He was crafting a bag from orangey-red Togo leather, which is a pebbled leather Hermès uses in many of their bags and also for things like Ulysse notebooks and agendas. The lady asked him if it was his favorite leather and he said no, Togo is not a great leather, women like it because it doesn’t scratch easily and it’s okay if you take it out in the rain, but it loses its shape over time. When pressed he said his two favorite leathers are Barenia and Box calf. He pointed to his own leather apron and said it was made of Barenia. It scratches, he said, but it ages better and becomes distinctive because of the scratches. “My apron is going to look different than the apron of the saddle maker,” he said, pointing to the sellier station. The leather develops a patina according to how the person is using it and taking care of it. Fascinating!

He is actually working on the inside of the bag. A Retourne gets turned inside out at the end.

I wish I could've been there when he turned this beauty inside out and ironed it!

The gem setter placing a diamond into the detail of a gold cuff.

The gem setter was placing the tiniest little diamonds into an 18K rose-gold Collier de Chien cuff, one of Hermès’ most iconic pieces (usually made in leather). She said no glue is ever used, the setting is shaped to perfectly hold the diamond.

Her craft: setting diamonds into the pyramids of an 18K rose-gold Collier de Chien cuff!

The saddle maker.

An Hermès representative explains the silk-screening process.

By far the biggest crowds were at the scarf station, where there was a demonstration of the silk-screening process—a separate screen is used for each individual color used on an Hermès scarf!—and the engraving process. There were also beautiful 90cm scarves tied to two different bars. People (myself among them) couldn’t resist touching them, holding them out to admire the designs and the colors (my God the colors!) and to take pictures. Did you know it takes two years to make an Hermès silk scarf from the initial design to the finished product? Something else I learned is it’s up to the artist whether or not to sign their scarves, which explains why my Washington’s Carriage 70cm is not signed, but my Le Boubou H is.

The silk-screening station with all the color bowls.

The trays used to add different colors.

The scarves were irresistible!

First we touch, then we photograph!

The engraver explains her process of transferring art into a scarf.

Can you believe this exquisite picture will become a scarf?

This pattern is L’Art du Temari, one I am currently obsessed with.

I don’t know the name of this Scottish-influenced pattern but it is amazing.

I brought my very patient 5-year-old daughter with me to the festival. She was interested for awhile, until she found another little girl to run a race with in an empty spot behind where the Kelly bag was being made. “Oh look, Hermès daycare!” I joked with the other mother as we let the girls dash back and forth. I had one eye on my girl, the other eye on that gorgeous Kelly!

The festival will be in San Francisco from September 20-24 and in Houston October 10-14 before making its way to Asia. Since Hermès doesn’t do these festivals very often I am so glad I attended this one and if you get a chance to see it, don’t miss it!