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 | Newsletter | 29 July 2011 |
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| CURRENT LES SMOKINGS - MUGLER LIVE NOW! | |
| In the final residency of our Les Smokings series, the creative team behind the revived house of Mugler take to the LiveStudio at Bruton Place for a fashion-focused and truly extraordinary performance piece, inspired by the theme of the SHOWstudio Shop exhibition Practice to Deceive: Smoke and Mirrors in Fashion, Fine Art and Film. Menswear head Romain Kremer and Creative Director Nicola Formichetti collaborate in a session intended to reflect the creative process within the Mugler studio itself, constructing a series of 'ephemeral' outfits inspired by the menswear classic of Le Smoking. Conjured from unconventional materials with a decidedly restrictive shelf-life, this finale to our exhibition and the Les Smokings series alludes to the 'smoke and mirrors' of the fashion industry, bringing the concept of this behind-the-scenes series entirely full-circle. Les Smokings - Mugler is broadcasting live NOW on SHOWstudio.com. Tune in to see all the action! | |
| CURRENT MING XI COUTURE 2011 | |
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 Taking from the influences of Asian aesthetics and culture seen throughout the Spring/Summer 2011 haute couture collections, our latest fashion film Cygnet stars Chinese model Ming Xi in exquisite creations by Atelier Versace, Valentino, Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel and Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci. Shot by Nick Knight during sittings for this year's summer issue of V magazine, Cygnet sees Ming Xi swathed in a mix of feathers, lace, silk satin, beaded tulle and organza - a cygnet growing gracefully into a high-fashion swan, if you like - presented alongside the editorial story that gracefully outlines spring's finest haute couture creations. [more] | |
| CURRENT LES SMOKINGS - GILES DEACON | |
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 The process film charting award-winning British couture star Giles Deacon's residency at Bruton Place is now online. Taking on the challenge of creating a one-off Le Smoking inspired by the smoke and mirrors theme of our Practice to Deceive exhibition, Deacon devised a silvered leather tuxedo jacket dripping with fringe in homage to rodeo tailor Nudie Cohn, creating his unique garment during a one-day, one-time-only live stream. Artfully crafting his tux, fielding questions from the public and papering the walls of our studio with mirror foil, Deacon proved his mettle as a creative all-rounder, as this process film amply demonstrates. [more] | |
| CURRENT IN FASHION, LADY AMANDA HARLECH | |
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 Our latest In Fashion interview with one of contemporary fashion's guiding forces, Chanel collaboratrice and former Galliano right-hand woman Lady Amanda Harlech, is now on site. Captured during an intimate one-on-one conversation earlier this month, Harlech shares her thoughts on her life in fashion, working with two of the most celebrated designers in contemporary fashion - John Galliano and Karl Lagerfeld - and offers a unique insider's view of the artisan form of haute couture. Passionate, inspired and inspiring in equal measure, this is a rare profile of a woman wielding immense influence over the course of fashion past, present and future.[more] | |
| COMING UP LES SMOKINGS - HAYWARD RE-STREAM | |
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 From 18-20 July 2011, SHOWstudio was transformed into a tailor's workshop as the third talent to grace our Les Smokings series, Ritchie Charlton of tailoring house Hayward, took up residence at our Bruton Place studio. For three days Charlton and his team took up our challenge of crafting a tailored tuxedo, using methods that have formed the backbone of the British fashion industry for centuries. For the all-important fitting we had a special guest appearance from music legend and Hayward client Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, who modelled the final one-off piece exquisitely. Tune in to watch our edited version of the live stream where Charlton answers questions from the public as he puts the finishing touches to the hand-tailored tux. The Les Smokings residency of Hayward will be re-streamed from 18:00 BST each day, from 3-5 August 2011 [more] | |
| FROM THE SHOP BADGE SET, 2010 | |
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 When famed stylist and accessories designer Judy Blame took up residence in our LiveStudio, not only did he handcraft a flatcar adorned in his trademark tribal bricolage, but also compiled four unique badge sets in the monochrome palette of our Blackwhite show. Each entirely distinct, the sets feature a signed print as well as nine customised badges that impressively capture the signature bold geometry of Blame’s designs and exemplify his enduring interest in pop art.[more] | |
| FROM THE ARCHIVE DESIGN_DOWNLOAD: ALEXANDER MCQUEEN | |
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 As our immaculately tailored Les Smoking series draws to a close, we thought to glance back to our design_download project, defying the elitist nature of high fashion and offering all and sundry the chance to download paper patterns from some of the world's foremost fashion designers. The third in our series came from the hands of the late, great Alexander McQueen himself, when lucky viewers were offered the chance to examine and assemble the garment pattern of a kimono-inspired jacket from McQueen's Autumn/Winter 2003 collection. With razor-sharp cut and an inspired reworking of historical styles, this garment is a quintessential example of McQueen's celebrated ability to shock and seduce through fabric. A gallery of submissions showcases viewer's re-interpretations of this trademark McQueen style, while a selection of the most accomplished interpretations were displayed as part of SHOWstudio: Fashion Revolution at Somerset House in 2009. It's not too late to try your hand at this challenge - the pattern is still available, so download the PDF, puzzle out the technique and get sewing! [more] | |
| LATEST ENTRIES BLOG | |
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Les Smokings - Hayward: Final Fitting  The latest stage of our Hayward Le Smoking - and indeed an integral stage of any tailor-made suit - is the fitting on a human body. Hayward client Bobby Gillespie has volunteered to stand in for us today as fit model, as Ritchie Charlton sees his painstaking creation on a... [more] | |
Resort 2012: Prada  For any woman hankering after the reconfigured Lily Pulitzer florals, impressionistic post-war golfer scribbles or geometric silk bowling shirts that look as if a bored seventies housewife went stir-crazy with a Bedazzler from Prada's Spring/Summer 2012 menswear collection - fear not! Miuccia is never one to leave her loyal customers... [more] | |
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Following the live stream of our one-on-one with the iconic, enigmatic and influential Lady Amanda Harlech, next week we launch the edit of our in-depth discussion unpicking Harlech’s pivotal role in the fashion industry. Working alongside two of the most influential designers of our time - John Galliano at his own label and during his first year in haute couture at the house of Givenchy, and since 1997 with Karl Lagerfeld under his eponymous lines, Fendi and of course Chanel - Harlech is an insider's insider, proving herself one of the most influential (if often unseen) women in modern fashion. Harlech lifts the lid on her experiences of Galliano’s beg-and-borrow days, her closer-than-close work alongside Lagerfeld at Chanel, and aspects of her life that feed the imaginations of some of the most creative and prolific designers in fashion today.
Underlining the Asian inspiration of the Spring/Summer 2011 collections, Nick Knight’s latest haute couture shoot for V magazine features up-and-coming Chinese model Ming Xi and a selection of Paris’ finest creations styled by Jonathan Kaye. Our live shoot offered an unprecedented insight behind the scenes and inside garments by the likes of Jean Paul Gaultier, Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci, Valentino and John Galliano for Christian Dior, metaphorically unpicked by SHOWstudio.com fashion director Alex Fury. Alongside the process showcase, we launch a fashion film created from footage captured during the editorial sitting, set against a soundtrack provided by Ming Xi herself and animating these exquisite, one-off garments into vibrant life. 
Our final Les Smokings resident is a true legend, past, present and future - the house of Mugler. A sensation since his earliest Paris shows, Thierry himself found an able successor in the label's Creative Director Nicola Formichetti, fashion editor and stylist to Lady Gaga, who took up the reigns last year and has succeeded in revitalising the house. For Les Smokings, Formichetti collaborates with Mugler menswear head Romain Kremer to reinvent the classic Le Smoking for a modern audience and label. 'My approach is personal and always very eclectic,' Formichetti once said of his work, which often fuses the realms of pop and high fashion. 
The third live stream of our Les Smokings series sees tailor Ritchie Charlton of Savile Row stalwart Hayward move from 'The Row' to Bruton Place for a three-day live residency. From Monday 18 July 2011, Charlton and his team will take up the challenge of hand-crafting a tuxedo jacket to the most exacting standards, using traditional methods that have formed the backbone of the British fashion industry for centuries, simultaneously earning a tiny street in Mayfair its soubriquet as the birthplace of modern menswear. The final one-off piece will be modelled by music legend and Hayward client Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream.
