Eley Kishimoto Journals

Starting your holiday shopping already? Here's a great idea for the pattern lover in your life. These cloth-bound journals are a collaboration between book manufacturer Noble MacMillan and one of our favorite fashion design duos Eley Kishimoto. Get them here.

Exhibition: Alexander McQueen at the Costume Institute

From HuffingtonPost.com:

Over 100 pieces by the late Alexander McQueen will be featured in the Costume Institute's next exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, WWD reports.

"Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty" will chronicle the designer's work over his 20-year career. Curator Andrew Bolton told the fashion newspaper, "McQueen had such a singular voice and he was a remarkable technician....He really was one of the most provocative voices of the past 30 years in fashion. His catwalk presentations were outstanding and straddle art and fashion. We want to get across two elements -- the spectacle of the runway presentations and the beauty of his craftsmanship."

WWD adds that the exhibit will be organized by themes, such as, "The Savage Mind," "Romantic Gothic," "Romantic Nationalism," "Romantic Exoticism," "Romantic Primitivism" and "Cabinet of Curiosities." It will launch with the Costume Institute Gala on May 2 with co-chairs Anna Wintour, Stella McCartney and Colin Firth and honorary chairs Francois-Henri Pinault and Salma Hayek putting together the fete. The exhibit will be open to the public from May 4 to July 31.

Interiors: Academic Center at University of Oregon

On a recent trip to the University of Oregon in Eugene, I had the privelege or visiting the John E. Jaqua Academic Center for Student Athletes. Full disclosure, my husband Marc Curtis had a big hand in the interior design of this building while working for ZGF in Portland, and brought some innovative solutions to the problem of recognizing award winners and donors while maintaining the integrity of the space.

From Marc:
"We designed this beautiful building, but there's a huge component of recognizing student athlete achievements, as well as major donors to the athletic department. The normal way, the ugly way, is to have a bronze plaque tacked on to the wall and unrelated to the space. We wanted to avoid that, so we spent a lot of time designing solutions that integrated these recognitions into the fabric of the building, inside and out. There’s a great deal of them, so these solutions are actually what defines the public space. As the viewer looks around in the space, the first things that catch their eye are those many examples…..We achieved this by incorporating graphic elements, typography, shapes, colors, and patterns into the materials that the space is built out of.
One example: The bathroom is a recognition of Don Essig, a famous announcer at U of O, and his famous line "It Never Rains at Autzen Stadium." We recorded his voice, created a graphic representation of that recording, and that became the tile pattern in the restrooms."

Another example is a wall of back lit steel laser cut panels that are the names of notable U of O professors."

-Claudia Brown

Get Inspired

Holly Fulton

Kolonihavehus | Glasser album cover

Get inspired with some geometric forms in all shapes and sizes.

Scenic Route

Gaetano Pesce for Meritalia

Scenic views are no longer just for Sunday drives. Designers over the past few seasons bring photographic sights onto the runways and even interiors. Gaetano Pesce's sofa lets you enjoy the views without leaving your home.

Prada, Carven, Christopher Kane, Miharayasuhiro

Register Now for Our Next Show!

Pre-registration for our January 10-12, 2011 show is now open. To register online, click here.

Spring 11: Stripes

Prada, Louise Gray, Marc Jacobs, Chris Benz, Tsimori Chisato

Stripes came in all many shapes and sizes this season. Many were bold, graphic and solid (Prada, Marni, Louise Gray, Cynthia Rowley,) some nautical (Tsimori Chisato,Clements Ribeiro) and others like Marc Jacobs and Chris Benz were inspired by 70's and 50's vintage respectively. And Kenzo also showed softened stripes on his Japanese textiles.