Savoir Faire Italian Style

Only half way through winter and design houses and Savoir Faire are already thinking of what we are going to wear in Spring/Summer 2011? I know it seems a bit pre-mature for this, but hey we need something to keep our minds off the snow that is starting to accumulate outside! I am always impressed by the Italian's innate sense of style and their designers. One that always manages to impress is Bottega Veneta.

Now, I am not some young 20 year old, however there are certain elements from the 2011 Spring/Summer Collection which I would wear. Thomas Maier for Bottega Venata is taking us on a summer holiday filled with mixes of hyper casual and semi formal in outfits in a monochrome colour pallet.

The emphasis here is on a fine balance between technicality and refined technique mixed the ease and movement of athletic wear.

The ease of movement behind these super smart casual suits does not betray the fabulous tailoring that is lurking beyond those seams. They are classic and would suit any man who wears his clothes with confidence.

Even these are short shorts, the styling is brilliant, in a Indiana Jones meets Tarzan sort of way.

Although colours border on shades you might find in camouflage wear, they are just right when presented as a whole.

Definitely something to translate into our everyday style!

A rose is a rose is a rose

“What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;”

(Romeo & Juliet Act II, Scene II)

For most the rose is a symbol of romantic love, however to the designers of these modern day posters for various Shakespeare plays, more than romance is implied.

During Shakespeare’s time the rose took on a number of other associations, representative of both the divine and the profane. The image of the rose was used in both religious and secular contexts to represent a multiplicity of different images and settings, to invoke a variety of intellectual and emotional responses from those who encountered it, and ultimately, to mediate between the human and the divine.

The images below illustrate this perfectly. The roses depicted here are charged with emotion and passion. Some fearfully laden with doom and violence, they hint at the unknown.

Of course it could be a given for illustrating Romeo and Juliet with the image, but Hamlet? This is a masterstroke! To me not only death is implied but the long lost friendship which has been cruelly taken away from our young prince.

Henry IV clutching a rose in place of a crown! Symbolism is high here, with the play taking place during the War of the Roses. The rose takes on the symbol of victory in place of a crown. However, the victory is not all sweet, but painful as well with the blood trickling down the palm of the hand.

The Polish poster for Love’s Labour’s lost hints at the bitter twist at the end of the play which was unusual for Shakespeare. The rose again is prominent again symbolising both love and death

So shall we believe Gertrude Stein when she so candidly writes “A rose is a rose is a rose”?