10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Miuccia Prada

Last week, at the Sunday magazine T Magazine, complementary to the New York Times, there was a release of a whole new profile on Miuccia Prada. The article by Andrew O’Hagan was not only an absolute delight but an eye-opening experience to a whole new perspective of who’s the real magnate behind one of the biggest and most recognized fashion brands, Prada. I thought it will be a good idea to highlight the biggest achievements of Miuccia Prada, not only because of her amazing role in the fashion industry but because I think is important to remember these as daily basis information.

1. When Miuccia Prada was born (1949), the fashion house of Prada already existed, and was managed and created by her grandfather, Mario Prada.

2. The first piece created by Miuccia Prada was a black nylon rucksack (1978). This piece was not only an absolute success on the fashion house sales but the piece that made Miuccia decide her ultimate role as a head designer in the fashion industry.

3. Miuccia Prada is currently married to Patrizio Bertelli, which is the current CEO at Prada S.p.A.

4. Miuccia Prada on her opinion towards the design aesthetic: “…not interested in the silhouette and I’m not able to draw. It’s complicated.»

5. Miuccia Prada had a brief role on the Performing Arts field, training as a mime, and performed several times at La Scala Opera House.

6. Miuccia Prada has a Ph.D. in political science from Milan University.

7. Miuccia Prada is not only the head designer at Prada, but also the head designer and founder at Miu Miu.

8. The current fashion brand name, Miu Miu was given based on her childhood’s nickname.

9. Because there’s always a story behind the design, Miuccia Prada has an infinite love for the antique jewelry.

10. According to Miuccia Prada, her current work can be defined as a “self-portrait.”

Calvin Klein & Francisco Costa

From the many names and brands today building the daily fashion industry, some of them are more recognized than others, sometimes because of their iconic pieces, their sponsored events, the designers and even the lifestyle around the designer. This time, in 2013, the legendary fashion brand, Calvin Klein, has gained a major recognition because of its more recent main designer, Francisco Costa.

As a designer, the job is not only to be the brain around the wonderful designs, but also to promote the brand and the name all the way. By promoting the brand professionally, traveling is a must on the to-do-list and in this month, May 2013, Francisco Costa paid an amazing visit to Savannah, GA, to the Savannah College of Art and Design.

By coming to the city of Savannah, he not only had several visits around the historic district, but had one-to-one talk sessions at the SCAD Museum of Art, attended the SCAD Annual Fashion Show, and before leaving, Costa authorized a temporary and exclusive exhibition at the André Leon Talley Gallery, displaying some of the most beautiful dresses used by celebrities at the Academy Awards 2013 event, and some of the pieces of his most recent collection S/S 2013-2014. Lucky for me, I was able to go and visit the exhibition, which I though was completely breathtaking. I simply loved it.

My favorites until today are the silver-bead pencil-like dress, originally worn by Jennifer Lawrence and the black and white dress originally worn by Rooney Mara for the February 2013’s issue in Vogue Magazine (USA).

Gold Bottled Hair

The biggest advantage of design is that creativity can be manifested through any type of media or basically any type of object that can be transformed or used into something different. Also, the field of design is so broad that no matter the place or the location, if it’s done in the right way and the originality leads all the way, the final product will be, hopefully, a total success. Now, if we think about the leading cities that are hosting the greatest artists and best art pieces today, the number one place jumps between New York City, London, Milan or L.A.

As I mentioned before, design, when done successfully, the place or location is one of the many factors that matters for a good inspiration reflection. This time, in New York City, the place where many artists live and where art is appreciated more than we can imagine, art can be found anywhere, even on a drugstore window display. This past week, Simon Doonan, one of the best visual merchandisers in New York City at the moment, created a really original window display and design for one of Duane Reade pharmacy’s stores, using gold bottled packaging products from the hair-care brand, Nexxus.

The final product is an amazing centerpiece where Joanna Stubbs enlarged image is displayed by surrounding it with the gold bottles creating a hair-like sculpture. The display represents a wave of cascading curls. If you live in New York City, the window display is located at 51 west 51^st street, close to Radio City Music Hall.

Source: The New York Times

We’re NOT a Fashion Sketch!

Remember the pictures that you once saw of the first supermodels and the pictures of women who were considered beautiful without being skinny or in the worst of cases, a suggestion of anorexia profiles? Cindy Crawford and Marilyn Monroe were some of the few names and faces that were converted into fame after being photographed and featured on several recognized magazines and ads published through all around the world. The idea of skinny wasn’t as supported as it is today, until Twiggy came in featuring a skinny, sweet and European profile into the fashion world. The fact that the skinny type of human became a stereotype to follow created some controversy and problems through all around the world. It caused trouble yes, but it didn’t stop and it even grew stronger.

Thankfully, today, in 2013, there was finally a model agency, Star Models from Brazil that spoke out about this issue, creating an ad campaign called “You Are NOT a Sketch!” Only the image speaks by itself and the newest and current generations with access to the Internet medias will be able to see how the fashion sketches are NOT an example to follow as a role model. Until now the impact has been reflected and discussed all over the Social Media Portals (SMP), and this is why I found about the ad. But, from my point of view, I don’t think and I don’t know if this is related directly to the ad, but the latest cover of Vogue Magazine US features one of the latest supermodels in the industry, Kate Upton, suggesting a healthy model based on natural curves and an incredible look-a-like appearance to Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly. The June Issue comes out May 21^st. Hopefully the main article featured on the magazine mentions a change on the model body’s perspective.

MET Gala 2013 – NYC, NY, USA

Imagine being invited to one of the biggest annual events in New York City, sponsored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art inspired on a special theme. What would you wear? What accessories would you use and how would you style your whole outfit? Would you go for something edgy if the theme was Punk? Well, this year for the spring season 2013, the MET Gala at New York City was hosted on May 6^th, and the special guests included recognized Hollywood stars, fashion designers, special celebrities, and recognized super models.

Because of the important matter of the event, dressing up is a requirement, but the originality of the outfit is what will have the entire social media portals upon the person who is wearing it and how it is wearing it. As always the big fashion crimes happened but thankfully, to balance the event, fabulous and elegant choices were made. Giselle Bundchen made a fantastic appearance wearing the color that never goes out of fashion, black, including the accessories on the same dress designed by Anthony Vaccarello. Kim Kardashian made the big ups with an overdone flower print, and Madonna is always an icon but sometimes the outfit might be overdone.

Because the MET Gala is about the involvement of art and originality, the outfit is not only completed by the accessories, but also by the entire make up and hairs do. Many mohawks were seen, special hair combs, and original make up finishes creating a look of a mix between high fashion and punk were beautifully used by Sienna Miller, Nicole Richie and Lily Collins.

I bet the night was an impossible night to forget. A mix of high society, Hollywood stars, and fashion designers is an event that I wish someday I’d be able to attend.

Inside Jay & Daisy’s World

What is it about the 1920’s that keep us so interested in reviving and recycling the fashion pieces, accessories and formal scenarios? Is it the wonderful idea of accessorizing every inch of the outfit? Is it the impeccable wardrobes that the middle-high class people had? Or is it the uncomplicated love and society stories that the film industry has portrayed during the last couple of years? We’ve seen pieces from Woody Allen such as “Midnight in Paris”, Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor, and television series such as PBS’s Downton Abbey. Today, in 2013, the responsible for showing the magic and beauty of this decade through the world of film, is Baz Luhrmann. Luhrmann is recreating the once-again production, recognized and outstanding literary work, The Great Gatsby.

For creating a masterpiece, you need a team that achieves successfully everything from production design, film production, edition, to photography direction or costume design. One of the team players this year for the exclusive film production was Tiffany’s & Co., who was the brand responsible for accessorizing all the costumes selected. From head accessories to beautiful crystal bracelets worn by the stylish female characters, the replicas are already for sale on the Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship. For special promotion and advertising, Tiffany’s has always made itself aware of its existence for the daily customer, and this time Richard Moore, Tiffany’s VP of Visual Creative Merchandising, was the official designer of the flagship store’s windows. From the literary piece, to the sketch to the actual window, the process is now available for the curious customer and audience.