Vive la Montreal!

Montreal is one of those unusual cities. For all intents and purposes it looks like a typical North American city, with towering office buildings and all the physical trappings that go along with this. However on the street you could be forgiven for thinking that you are in Europe especially in Old Montreal and other areas in the city. We try and get there at least once a year. It is the trip to Europe you have when not going to Europe.

We stayed at a fabulous new hotel called Zero 1, which was startlingly modern with black walls and white Saarinen inspired furniture.

A re-occurring theme which ran throughout the hotel was the below picture which appeared on a mural in the lobby and the Do Not Disturb signs. Tres Chic? no?

Montreal also has a fabulous array of restaurants. This was brunch one morning. Caussolet of eggs, tomatoes and chorizo.

Where else but in Montreal would people line up to dine at a chain restaurant? The food is that good! Specialising in Steak Frittes in a wonderful chic busy and vibrant atmosphere, Steak Frittes-St Paul is one such chain. Other restaurants could take a note out of their book. With 11 restaurants through Quebec, this is a must eat!

One of the main things on the agenda this trip was to see the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition at the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal. In the wake of Savage Beauty the McQueen Exhibition in New York, the Gaultier Exhibition does not disappoint. I cannot help but think that the popularity of the McQueen exhibition was as a result of his tragic and untimely death last year.

The Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal may not have the reputation or fame as the Met in New York, which made this exhibition very personal. One could view the creations up close and personal, without other people jostling for position. If one wanted to break Museum rules, one could touch these magnificent creations.

One of the most striking features was the use of animated mannequins. They have faces projected onto their heads and at times appear to be speaking to the visitor. The mannequins wink, blink, move their jaws and speak. The effect is a little creepy at times, however brilliant. Life has been given to what would generally be a static display.

“What will happen, what will happen? What to do, what to do,” one mannequin murmurs. Another, in a parrot-feather bolero, sings an aria. We even have Jean-Paul himself introducing himself and welcoming visitors to the exhibition.

Another wonderful feature was a moving catwalk with mannequins moving along it just like in a real show.

The workmanship was just wonderful. Thousands of ostrich feathers, sewn onto net, appliquéd 3-d pictures on another, sequins sparking in the light, caught ones eye on various outfits. Hearts of sequins flowed red sequined blood down the fronts of dresses, fabric printed with flesh and muscles, sequined tartans for the punk deluxe. Post-apocalyptic bikers in studded leather, elegant travelling outfits delighted the senses. It seems that it was all here before McQueen.

If one does get a chance to see this exhibition on its stops after Montreal, do! You will not be disappointed. Then again if one gets a chance to visit Montreal do!

Making Movies with Savoir Faire!

Well, Savoir Faires I have returned from Montreal and am compiling a report, and downloading pictures etc! So while you are waiting..........

Before we had video cameras, digital cameras and the high definition Flip, we had Super 8s and fashion!

And at the time advertising these cameras might have been a bit politically incorrect!

Jean Paul Gaultier in Montreal

The word on everyone’s lips lately in the design world was the recent Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art says its recent exhibition of costumes by the late designer Alexander McQueen was among its top 10 most-visited shows, with 661,509 people traipsing past some of McQueen’s most beguiling creations. Alas I was not one of them.

However another opportunity to see a very similar exhibition this weekend in Montreal has presented itself. (Oh, did I not tell you we are headed off to Montreal this weekend as it is a long weekend?).

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is presenting The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk, the first international exhibition devoted to the celebrated French couturier. Gaultier launched his first prêt-à-porter collection in 1976 and founded his own couture house in 1997.

This exhibition has kind of gone under the radar, eclipsed by McQueen. Dubbed fashion's enfant terrible by the press from the time of his first runway shows in the 1970s, Jean Paul Gaultier is indisputably one of the most important fashion designers of recent decades.

Very early, his avant-garde fashions reflected an understanding of a multicultural society's issues and preoccupations, shaking up – with invariable good humour – established societal and aesthetic codes.

Created between the early 1970s and 2010, these pieces have, for the most part, never before been exhibited. Many other exhibits are also being presented for the first time. Sketches, stage costumes, excerpts from films, runway shows, concerts, videos, dance performances and even television programmes illustrate Jean Paul Gaultier's fashion world.

So what exactly does fashion icon Jean-Paul Gaultier think he's learned most about himself after seeing 30-plus years' worth of his eye-popping creations together in a new show at Montreal's Museum of Fine Arts?

Looking as surprised as someone who's just seen their first cone bra, Gaultier has to think a minute about the question.

"To see all that work at the same time, it's emotional," he says, warming up to the topic. "It's emotion, what I have learned, that I am always sensitive to emotion.

Gaultier said he was pleased with the Montreal museum show, saying he was reluctant to have exhibits in the past "because for me, it's a funeral, an exhibition in a museum."

"I thought the shows were enough because I am alive," he added.

"I am very happy and proud of this exhibition. I feel at home," he said. "I could even sleep there."

Following its presentation in Montreal, the exhibition will embark on an international tour, with presentations at the Dallas Museum of Art (November 13, 2011 - February 12, 2012), the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young (March 24 - August 19, 2012), the Fundación Mapfre – Instituto de Cultura, Madrid (September 26 – November 18, 2012), and the Kunsthal Rotterdam, the Netherlands (February 9 – May 12, 2013).

Of course faithful Savoir Faires I will give a full report on my return. Have a wonderful weekend all.

Is this Where Lady Gaga Gets Her Inspiration?

The door to the room where we sat chatting suddenly opened. A dead woman entered. Her superb body was modelling a dress of white satin that was wrapped around her like a shroud and dragged behind her. A bouquet of orchids hid her breast. Her hair was red and her complexion livid like alabaster. Her face was devoured by two enormous eyes, whose black pupils almost overwhelmed her mouth painted a red so vivid that it seemed like a strip of coagulated blood. In her arms, she carried a baby leopard. It was the Marchesa Casati. –

Gabriel-Louis Pringué -1914

Was she the Lady Gaga of her day?

Snakes Alive at Lalique or Tempting Savoir FAire

Lalique, the expensive, ubiquitous, famed master glass maker famed for their fabulous glass, crystal, perfume and jewellery has had a fascination for snakes in their long history. Lalique and their slippery serpents have tempted me for years.

I love it when companies such as Lalique constantly delve into their company’s archives to update designs to reinterpret them for a changing customer base. Birds hiding amidst twisted foliage, snakes coiled around trunks of trees . . . fern-crooks . . . feathers . . . scarabs . . . naiads swimming . . . knights in full armor. ...have all had a place in past and current Lalique designs.

Starting off making jewellery with fabulous art nouveau designs Rene Lalique moved to the production of glass objects after the WW1. His company produced an array of items, from decorative pieces for the home through to light fittings and panels for ocean liners.

Snakes have been a theme in jewelry since, well since people started making jewelry. Every culture and every generation has translated this creature into rings, earrings, pins and bracelets. Lalique carried this over to his glassware producing and an amazing array of vases and perfume bottles with the snake as a main decorative feature.

Objects of fashion such as the evening bag below were not exempt from this decorative treatment. Lalique’s use of fighting snakes as guardians for the contents of a purse references not only the temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but the general mood of titillation that was central to Art Nouveau. The work’s realism is underscored by the slippery-looking snake skins embroidered into the bag’s surface with silver thread.

The snake has been updated in Lalique’s portfolio in these serpent pendants with onyx and carnelian stones and other fashionable pendants for the woman with a bit of individual style.

However perhaps the ultimate was the release in December 2010 of theSerpent Necklace, based on an original René Lalique design dating back to 1898. This one-of-a-kind necklace, shaped like a coiled serpent and studded with diamonds and emeralds, pays homage to the 150th anniversary of René Lalique’s birth by bringing his original design to market now for the first time. The Serpent Necklace, a fine example of Lalique’s commitment to craftsmanship today, required more than 700 hours of work.

Are you tempted yet?

Thinking Outside the Box

I have always been influenced by packaging. For years ever since I was small I would save the boxes with which things would come in especially perfumes and luxury goods. I have amassed a collection which is quite large much to the chagrin of those around me. Living in a rather isolated community when young these were the links to a world of style and glamour that was beyond the boundaries of our small town in Australia.

So lately we have seen certain orange boxes being taken to new heights and used as a decorating feature.

One has to admit that Hermes boxes are a perfect shade of orange. I do not have one, however what a thrill it must be to have one in your hands direct from the store and opening it to see what is inside! I guess there is a reason that they have been called one of the most desirable boxes to receive.

As packaging design goes I do think it is brilliant. The most perfect shade of orange teemed with the chocolate brown details and logo, is a tour de force in understated chic.

Ok, now we come to the decorating thing. While any box is a great storage item, these are gaining popularity as decoration within themselves. Iconic orange Hermes boxes used for display storage: cool or contrived? Are they inspiring or a cliché? It depends on who you are talking to.

Why are we not decorating with red Ferragamo boxes? Or Lanvin or H&M?

I guess because no other box except maybe the Tiffany blue box are tell tales of the wealthy. For those of us who cannot afford to go shopping at Hermes, an empty box is the next best thing and equally as satisfying. At least it is something from Hermes.
The main thing here is a box that is too pretty to throw away, should be put to a good use while being decorative. Do you think the use of boxes such as these could become ubiquitous, like status shoes "casually" dropped on the floor, or are they just a classic element of design?

Just Because

Does one really need to explain or write commentary when one comes across a photo like this?

I think not!