oh Daphne

Fashion icon goddess is  Daphne Guinness, was recently “laid in state” by  Gareth Pugh  to showcase her  most recent collaboration with jeweler, Shaun Leane.  Miss Guiness who loves to put on a show always, loves her theatrical installations. I think she has outdone herself this time!  In typical  Guinness fashion she was laid out in a see thru Alexander McQueen bodysuit with an antique veil.  The only exposed body part was her arm in a one-of-a-kind chain mail glove made of gold and diamonds. This piece is for sale for 1.7 million bucks!   It's made of 18 carat white gold.    To create the glove, the two used 5,000 pave white diamonds to make a flock of birds and branches. This “labor of love” as they refer to it, is their rendition of a 21st century decorative armor and is only the beginning. Guest to the unique experience event included Tom Ford, Gareth Pugh, Tom Bowles, Sara Buys, Lily Cole, Sarah Burton, Sabrina Guinness, Paul Simonon and Vicky Sarge.

Contra Mundum - is  Latin for “Against the World:" it took over five years for this to beauty to be created. , the pavé white diamonds, set in the shape of a bird formation, and weighing over a thousand grams in 18ct white gold are stunning. Made in two parts, the cuff can be worn alone as a hand glove, or extended into an evening glove. Every detail in the piece, including the chainmail, has been carefully constructed by hand to ensure a perfect fit to Ms. Guiness's arm. The glove was molded from Daphnes' own hand, and is a stylized armour made of precious metals, studded with gems.

Delicate chainmail forms the foundation of this highly fantastical gauntlet; each ring looped in one by one to create an exact formation tailored to the individual. Striking diamond birds cascade around the arm, as though caught in mid-flight. Skilfully supporting the framework is a shimmering diamond branch that elegantly wraps around the upper arm. The hand is protected with a bold metal cuff, hand-forged and beautifully engraved. Birds are layered on the surface of the cuff amongst the sculpted branches. Carved in gold and set with diamonds, they soar among the delicate engraving as though liberated by the blowing wind.

For them it has become less a fashion item, more a work of art, something that pushes the boundaries of fine jewellery and symbolises their friendships with each other, and with Blow and McQueen, who was to design a spectacular dress to go with the glove.  Contra Mundum: " It’s about wanting to watch, but not wanting to be seen. I feel it’s a pact, if that makes any sense. And I’m not sure I could wear it to go out now, because it means too much.’

Spots

I am so pushing this on all my friends.... You will be so hot if you use this bronzer to lay around the pool party. You will love the sizzling multi-tone powder. You can roar with this little helper.

High Price

The new issue of Visionaire, a multi-format album of fashion & art  made exclusively in limited editions only. Published 3 times per year this is a collectors dream. Visionaire explores various themes along with innovative formats with every new issue.  Artists collaborate with Visionaire to achieve amazing Art moments.  Collaborators  are given unparalleled freedom to push Visionaire's original formats taking them to the next level.   I am really excited about the current  guest- editor  Riccardo Tisci, he is the creative director for the Givenchy label right now and he's rumored to be the chosen designer to continue as the head of the house of Dior.   Riccardo chose "religion" as its theme, fashion-worship, to be specific and has given us a great moment in Art and I will forever want it, and I say want it because I could never justify paying the high price.

Tisci convinced a few of his fashion pals to get to work for him  here we see Carine Roitfeld, for one, who let Karl Lagerfeld photograph her with lace over her mouth, there are reenactments of  various biblical scenes for photo spreads. Giovanna Battaglia styled Tisci's  muse Let T as a martyr , and  Lara Stone got lashed to a burning cross and photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. Finally, Tisci's own portrait shows him suckling at the breast of performance artist Marina Abramovic. This whole book comes bundled up in a wooden box, meant to evoke an altarpiece, and costs $495!!! Would you buy it for me?

the BARRETTE!

I can't wait to try this. It's just amazing!

Guido (Redken): They’re Goody barrettes! They sent me 6,000 barrettes…we’re not using all of them. Sarah [Burton] showed me pictures of the past and pictures of the future, and I wanted it to be a head that wasn’t too big…I wanted it to be very modern and hard, but kind of soft at the same time. I was thinking of reflection—plastics and metals—and that movie Tron, the original and the remake. So all those kind of things. I’d done a ponytail covered in barrettes before, but here I flipped it up and did the whole head. So that’s how I got here. It’s amazing that something so inexpensive—these drugstore things that you get on a card—can be made into something so beautiful. I always say to people about hair accessories: it’s not what you spend, it’s what you do with them.