Hooked on Hicks in Paris

It is no secret that I am a huge fan of David Hicks. As most of you know there has seen a resurgence in the Hicks style, and his electric colours and bold interiors are making a comeback. The revival in part can be attributed to Christophe Aboville the brand’s artistic director.

The David Hicks France boutique opened in 1973 on Rue de Tourmon, just across the street from the first Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche boutique. Recently (well in 2010) the boutique underwent a renovation. Gone was the fashionable neutral palette of the safe 90’s, to be replaced with the David Hicks' signature hot pink, bright orange and brilliant red colorations. The boutique’s interior, coming straight from the psychedelic combines colors, geometric shapes, antique furniture and contemporary style. Chic while different from the conformist standards the Hicks style reigns supreme.

Thanks to Aboville, the David Hicks line of carpeting, wallpaper, furniture and objects are lovingly edited and recreated, from the original and are now available at the boutique.

A recent commission in Paris is the below apartment. It's unusual to see this amount of color in a Boulevard Haussmann apartment, which is most often a study in muted tones, however it works brilliantly.

”My greatest contribution as an interior designer has been to show people how to use bold color mixtures, how to use patterned carpets, how to light rooms and how to mix old with new,” –David Hicks on Living — with Taste (1968)

Byzantine Chic at the Airport

Turkish airlines recently unveiled their new First Class/Business class lounge at Istanbul’s International Airport. Sometimes one shudders at the banality of airports and airport lounges around the world. Very few airlines get it right and passengers are met with bland lounges that cannot escape the fact that one is in an airport waiting for the departure of a flight.

Given Turkey’s rich artistic heritage the airline has hit the nail on the head, in a lounge that just oozes an ambience of Byzantine Chic, with a 21st century jet set edge. The airline has used curved arches which reflect Turkey’s Ottoman roots and heritage to give a modern and fresh take on travel and to alleviate the boredom one associates with waiting in an airport.

What is truly remarkable is the atmosphere created by the juxtaposition of startlingly modern architectural elements with the appearance of classical dome representing thousands of years of culture in the Ottoman Empire. The illusion of depth created by the use of mirrors makes the new lounge incredibly light and spacious. As a result of this superb architectural solution the lounge offers at once a quiet oasis for those who want to rest, a fashionable restaurant for those who want to enjoy the pleasure of eating and drinking, and a tranquil cafe with soft piano music for those who want to read a good book.

The lounge which features a 150-year old olive tree is able to accommodate 2,000 passengers per day. The lounge is divided into several sections, among which are a billiard hall and library, a TV wall, business centre, and a play room for children. The lounge also includes private relaxation rooms, showers with special toiletry kits, and a private infant room.

Now I cannot afford to travel at the pointy end of the plane so I cannot see myself ever gracing the threshold of this wonderful lounge. The only thing that mars this for me is picturing the actual business class traveler occupying this space. Whenever I am trudging my way to the back of the plane or exiting, the business class cabin always seems to be occupied by the less than glamorous. On exit the business class cabin always looks as if a bomb has hit it. Will they appreciate this fabulous interior and all its services?

No Sex, No Lies, No Videotape

In today’s fashion world the clichés of modern fashion photography are manifold. I am not sure whether I am showing my age here, however there is a predominate feature that unifies them all, and that is the almost unshakeable belief in the power of seduction. Let’s face it sex sells, so they would have us believe. This could explain the dominance of male photographers today, however there are few exceptions to the rule, and one of these is Sarah Moon.

I remember years ago as a teenager in a remote town in Australia devouring all I could lay my hands on to escape to a world of fashion and glamour. Flipping through a magazine I came across an advertisement for the Jean Deprez perfume “Bal a Versailles”. The accompanying photo immediately captivated me. It transported one into a completely different world than what was normally found in fashion magazines and the like. An unusual thing was that, the photo was actually credited, Sarah Moon. Ever since I have been a fan!

Anyone who has opened a fashion magazine in recent years is likely to have seen Moon's work. She also shoots editorial features for Vogue, Marie-Claire and others; has directed commercials and short films and has even illustrated a John Deere annual report.

Born in 1941 she modeled for the likes of some of fashion’s most iconic photographers such as Helmut Newton, Irving Penn and Guy Bourdin. However she was never entirely comfortable in that role and first picked up camera in 1970.

Before long, she was working for Barbara Hulanicki, creating wistfully lovely images for Biba and, most famously, for 20 years, for the quintessentially French label, Cacharel. One of her most memorable images for the label is of a model lying across a Brobdingnagian sewing-machine, its giant needle poised for action. Most of you will recognize Moon’s photographs for Cacherel fragrances, notably Anais Anais.

Sarah Moon’ images are about an imagined world full of Romanesque heroines, who inhabit isolated, surreal and fictional worlds, straight out of dreams.

When men appear, her pictures move towards a more disturbing surrealism and a dangerous mystery is inferred. These are photographs in which the bizarre and unusual confront ordinary reality.

Moon over time has created some of the most heart-stoppingly beautiful fashion imagery that goes against every so-called commercial trend, from the need to establish eye contact – it is only rarely there – to the belief that the most alluring fashion photograph must be glossy, even hyper-real.

A sweet nostalgia invades Moon's magical universe, monochromatic and sometimes sepia-printed or vibrating with saturated colour, where time is the enemy.

"Of course, if something is really bad then I will retouch it," Moon says, "but only very little and never trying to make a woman more beautiful. I don't need to do that. They are beautiful and it is my job to work with the light. I don't feel it is my place to make any sort of moral judgment on people who choose to work in that way, but I suppose it does falsify the approach to a human being. It's a coded language of sex, glamour and gloss, a leveler, too, imposed for marketing reasons."

The Well Dressed Englishman

The London men’s clothier Austin Reed was founded in 1900 and set up shop in Regent Street in 1926 as one the first men’s department stores. The clothes were aimed at the upper middle class male, and the firm commissioned some of the best illustrator-designers of the day to promote its brand.

Austin Reed currently the holder of two royal warrants was the perfect place to be outfitted for all of the occasions an upper middle class male might find himself in. From travelling to the far reaches of the Empire, a journey by Wagon Lit, weekends in the country or an evening on the town these were the perfect clothes.

Sports were well catered for, whether you were playing tennis or Hunting, all could be obtained at Austin Reed’s.

The posters used in advertising captured each situation our man with style might find himself in. Highly indicative of the era in which they were created in, the illustrations give us something to aspire to. Life was full of an elegance that was not forced. This was a style of clothing and illustration that seemed to be innate and bred into the gentleman who was completely outfitted at Austin Reeds.

Well known for their impeccable tailoring and clothes that quintessentially defined the English man at a fraction of the cost of Saville Row, they are still in business. Whenever in London, I always pop into Austin’s.
It is also reassuring to see that none of this elegance has left Austin Reed through the subsequent decades, as they still promote a well-dressed gentleman who has not got a personal tailor.

Savoir Faire with a Touch of White

Savoir Faire is just loving the Elie Tahari fall campaign. All the originality and sophistication of high 1930’s glamour is captured here with Film Noir undertones, albeit updated for the 21st century.

The richness of the colours and darkness of the environment is offset brilliantly with the white arum lilies (which just happen to be a favorite of mine).

Its in the Bag with Enid!

These days the ladies handbag or purse is a just another object turned out by the so called luxury market, usually adorned with a logo or some other recognisable feature that makes it instantly recognisable. For some if it does not have a logo it is not worth having. Coupled with the amazing amount of fakes and copies that flood the market it is very hard to tell in some cases whether you have paid thousands of dollars or a couple of hundred for the object of your desire. Used as a status symbol these bags are seen by the owners, as something which will draw envious glances from friends and passers-by.

There is no question that the material and workmanship in such bags can be of the highest quality, but do we really want to carry around a bag that is as exciting as a loaf of sliced bread, with someone else’s initials on it?

Not so in the mid 60’s if you owned and Enid Collins. For the young American woman in this era, an Enid Collins was the ‘must have” fashion accessory. They were fun and fabulous, the right bag for a casual mode of dress which the Americans championed. The very features and hallmarks of these bags, which spearheaded their popularity back then, are making them just the right accessory for today’s eclectic approach to dress.

Instantly recognisable for their artsy, whimsical handbags, these bags are highly collectible. Founded by Enid Collins and her husband in Medina Texas, they primarily made two types of bags - wooden box purses, and canvas bucket style bags. Each purse was hand decorated with paint, sequins and rhinestones in themed designs. As time went by more ornamentation was added, as this made them more popular.

The design aesthetic was very similar to items coming out of Scandinavia in the 50’s and 60s which gave them a sort of European cachet. Although logos and signatures did appear on the bags it was a discreet reminder that this was a bag by Enid Collins. It was more like the signature of an artist on a painting not the blatant advertising that is apparent today.

Never intended to be fad creations, Enid Collins finished all of her handbags with leather trim, mirrors, brass findings and fasteners. They were intended to be good quality, fun day bags. A bit of glitz on the way to the grocery store!

The designs all had names;--each told a story--each had something special or personal that the prospective customer could relate to. Some of Enid's classic designs are "Money Tree," "Road Runner," "Night Owl," "Carriage Trade," "Cable Car," "Sea Garden," "Love," and many more.

During the late 60s, the Collins company manufactured complete do-it-yourself kits called Sophistikits in which customers could make their own Enid Collins ‘original’.

Enid Collins purses and bags combined a love of art and fashion by their creator. Now one of the most instantly recognisable bags of the current retro/vintage craze, for the young lady about town these are a must.