from Ar Avatars by Hop on the Spiral and Reed+Rader

We love the fashion story Ar Avatars, the newest collaboration between photography duo Reed+Rader and Hop on the Spiral’s Ryan Dye. Move over Inez & Vinoodh. Thanks to hair auteur Saya Hughes, who created the tresses for this project, for bringing it to our attention!

Tags: Ar Avatars, GIF, Hop on the Spiral, POP, Reed+Rader, Ryan Dye, Saya Hughes.

Tom Scott, whose Fall 2009 presentation took place in a garment district storefront transformed into a mannequin-filled drycleaning studio, took a step further in his exploration of fashion presentation as conceptual installation for his Spring/Summer 2010 collection last Thursday.

Inspired by “’some of the old-fashioned things you can find in your grandmother’s house,’” Scott upped the Fashion Week ante by moving the location of his most recent presentation out of the garment district altogether, and into Room 710 at the historic Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan’s contemporary gallery center. The hybridization of art-fair theatrics with clothing design resulted in a environment with charms hard to resist.

In a fully-furnished apartment redolent with the spirit of mid-century domesticity (complete with pink tiled tub, overstuffed couch and an array of milky glass plates filled with sweets on the sideboard), models dressed in Scott’s collection played the roles of glamorous residents in the household vignettes staged in each room. The attention-grabbing detail, beautiful light and authentic tone of the presentation almost overshadowed the understated beauty of the clothes themselves.

Taking cues from the nudes of photographers Melanie Bonajo and Georges Tony Scott, the designer showed knit separates and dresses and in muted flesh and pastel palettes that draped on or exposed on the body in unexpected ways. Notable pieces included a jersey drape-back curtain dress and sheer drape pants.

Visit Tom Scott

All photos by The Totam

Tags: 2010 fashion week, Chelsea Hotel, knits, Spring Summer 2010, Tom Scott.

Vena Cava’s Spring 2010 presentation at Milk Studios was equal parts traditional runway show, presentation and happening as models came down the catwalk, then arranged themselves on steel workladders accompanied live by Brooklyn experimental indie duo The Fiery Furnaces.

The looks centered around clean silhouettes in acid wash prints in shades of grey, black and dark brown punched up with details like nylon mesh, laser cutouts and safety-pin trim.

Some of our favorite designs included an orange cupra jersey asymmetrical minidress with a black mesh strap inset, and a sleeveless, halter duster with a rolled collar worn over washed navy leather jeans. The duster’s print was inspired by Ndebele house paintings in South Africa.

Designers Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai cited the character of Maude Lebowski as an inspiration, reflected in the styling of their models (and in Mayock’s hair!) who sported matte purple lips, Robert Clergerie shoes, black sunglasses and mystery-woman visor hats.

Clockwise from top left: Patrick Robinson, The Fiery Furnaces, Julianne Moore as Maude Lebowski (photo: Merrick Morton), Lisa Mayock of Vena Cava

Visit: Vena Cava

All photos by The Totam except where credited.

Tags: 2010 Spring Fashion Week, Milk Studios, Vena Cava.

The Totam never expected to discover San Francisco-based jeweler Alix Blüh’s workshop and gallery, Modern Relics, tucked away on a sleepy residential street in the heart of the Richmond district, but after spending a recent afternoon hearing the stories behind her wares, we’re delighted that the secret is out.

Located in a former jewelry school, Modern Relics’ high-ceilinged, spare loft houses Blüh’s studio upstairs and the showroom below, partly camouflaged by a whimsical, curtained window display. It took the better part of a year to transform the space to reflect the artist’s exacting standards, with walls paneled in recycled fence timbers, stenciled floors, turn-of-the-century glass display cases, old-fashioned bare-bulb lighting and a vitrine constructed from a cast-iron sewing machine pedestal. The resulting effect is at once ornate and austere, a curio parlor of fanciful oddities balanced by the weathered utilitarianism of a schooner-captain’s quarters.

Alix Blüh, named for family friend Alexander Calder, was formally trained as a painter at the University of Massachusetts and at Oxford, where she developed her passion for collecting and dealing in antiques in London flea markets. Raised among avant-garde artists in rural New England, Blüh creates sublime pieces of wearable sculpture inspired by the forms found in nature and historical objects of remembrance.

Alix Blüh jewelry

Using a meticulous wax carving technique, Blüh’s pieces are hand-wrought in precious metals, with a signature rough hewn texture. Lacy, carved coral and honeycomb forms are studded with pinhead-sized jewels. The artist’s variants on the cross, anchor and heart- symbols of faith, hope and charity that many sailors and their wives wore in Victorian times- have a medieval touch to them, and figure prominently in her latest collection. Blüh hopes her jewelry will function as personal talismans for the wearer:

“I have always been so moved by the stories found in nature, in time worn objects, in mourning jewelry and religious reliquaries…I want to create heirloom pieces that are not about fad and fashion but art and timelessness.”

Blüh’s reverence for beautiful mementos with sentimental value extends to her own collection of daguerreotypes, tintypes, mirrors and books, found throughout Modern Relics. She has been quietly showcasing a mix of handpicked antiques, reproductions, her own jewelry, and the work of like-minded creatives in her tiny atelier for the past year or so.

Clockwise from top left: Suga necklace on antique handmirror, Swallow thorns, tooth and jackalope, Swallow painted glass with 22K gold backing, reproduction scrimshaws

We love that Blüh views Modern Relics as a platform for more than just her own work; Blüh feels such kinship to the work of Brooklyn-based artist Ria Charisse, whose Swallow line of cast-metal creatures, woodland letters, and paintings of whales on glass layered w/ 22K gold leaf, that over half the space has been given over to Charisse’s creations. Swallow’s pairs of bird feet and pewter tooth are Totam favorites. An additional case features the dainty jewelry of Blüh’s assistant, Soojo “Suga” Rocereto.

Modern Relics is located at 771 Cabrillo Avenue between 8th and 9th Avenues in San Francisco. Gallery hours are Thursday-Saturday 12-7pm. Contact (415) 422-0477 or relics@alixbluh.com

Alix Blüh will also be exhibiting jewelry at the NY International Gift Fair this August- look for her at the Jacob K. Javits Center, Booth 535.

(All photos by Aileen Tat except where noted)

Tags: accessories, Alix Bluh, antiques, artist, jewelry, Modern Relics, reliquaries, Ria Charisse, San Francisco, sculptor, Suga Rocereto, Swallow, Victorian.

Tonight, join jewelry and accessories designer Ryan Matthew and bespoke tailors Jake Mueser and Amber Doyle for the opening night of their new venture, Against Nature, a men’s specialty shop located within the walls of Elsa, a cocktail bar in the East Village named for and inspired by fashion icon Elsa Schiaparelli.

8pm, 217 East 3rd Street.

(Elsa image courtesy Oliver Haslegrave via Gothamist, jewelry image Ryan Matthew via Thrillist.)

Tags: accessories, Against Nature, Amber Doyle, bar, East Village, Elsa, Jake Mueser, jewelry, men's, Ryan Matthew, Schiaparelli, tailor.

This year’s Bowie Ball comes hot on the heels of enthusiastic fans packing the sold-out theater at the Museum of Modern Art this past Monday, to watch a selection of Bowie videos curated and introduced by Thurston Moore. (Rob Sheffield at Blender.com posted a very apt description of the evening, along with six of the videos screened.)

Here’s another one I really enjoyed that night, for the Sottsass/Memphis-like set and for Bowie hamming it up in a pink shirtdress, strangers kissing him in the street:

“I am a DJ, I am what I play, I’m a believer, believe in me…”

Bowie Ball will feature DJs, performers and a fashion show, and is headlined by some infamous NYC clubland personalities paying homage to a variety of Bowie’s inventive and creative endeavors, including Motherfucker’s Michael T, Zandra Rhodes, Keanan Duffty, Lady Starlight, and Richie Rich.

And if you haven’t had your fill of the Chameleon of Pop by the time this weekend’s over, you’ll be glad to know that MoMA will be rescreening the Bowie videos December 19th.

Bowie Ball @ Santos Party House

Saturday, December 6th

10pm-4am

Tags: Blender, Bowie Ball, clubs, David Bowie, DJ, Fashion, Keanan Duffty, Lady Starlight, Michael T, MoMA, music, New York, performance, Richie Rich, Santos Party House, Thurston Moore, videos, Zandra Rhodes.