Hasta La Ideas

These days, fashion designers rarely agree on seasonal trends such as hemlines and skirt shapes, but runway watchers remain abuzz over statement shoes, even if they are all but invisible to those without front-row seats. Celine’s minimaluxe ready-to-wear and steady stream of hit handbags was recently outshined by the house’s furry stilettos and sandals, including a Meret Oppenheim-gone-grandpa style that is flying off store shelves. The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology has seized the moment to present an exhibition that highlights the extreme, lavish, and imaginative styles that have made shoes central to fashion. We asked writer Nancy Lazarus to put on her reporting shoes and size up the show, on view through Saturday.

Roger Vivier’s Eyelash Heel pump, designed by Bruno Frisoni for the fall 2012 “Rendez-Vous” limited edition collection. (Photo: Stephane Garrigues, courtesy Roger Vivier)

“Everything here is wearable, it’s just not walkable,” said Colleen Hill, co-curator of the Museum at FIT’s “Shoe Obsession” exhibit. Leading a tour of the show during its final week on display, she explained that the focus was extreme, extravagant 21st-century shoes and boots. Hill and co-curator Valerie Steele included not only fan favorites like Blahnik and Louboutin, but also the latest experimental prototypes.

The exhibit’s selections represent a commentary on an era rather than a reflection on wearability, Hill noted. “The inspiration for these shoes is sculpture and architecture. Some are shoe objects, one-of-a-kind or limited editions,” Hill said. Three styles are on display: single-sole stilettos, platforms, and more avant-garde heel-less shoes favored by the likes of Daphne Guinness and Lady Gaga.

Recent shoe designs tend to rely more on manmade materials. A few prototypes utilized 3-D printing processes. One experimental design was made of resin, while a pair of slippers was glass. A pair of Pierre Hardy heels sported neoprene, more often associated with athletic wear.
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Milan 2013: London designer Ron Arad has created a range of 3D-printed spectacles and sunglasses for eyewear brand pq.

Speaking to Dezeen yesterday at the launch in Milan, Ron Arad explained: “The brand wanted to advertise the fact that it’s printed but I said let’s not go on about it. But it’s printed. It’s the first pair of glasses that I know about that is one piece of material; it’s monolithic. It’s polyamide.”

The frames are built entirely from nylon powder using selective laser sintering (SLS) technology, with hinges made by scores in the material rather than from additional metal parts. “It has a stem that’s flexible one way and stops the other,” said Arad.

Above: Archway style from the Springs collection
Top: Angel style from the Springs collection

Each style is name after a station on the London Underground’s Northern line, including Old Street, Kentish Town and Golders Green. The Angel shades have droplet-shaped lenses, the Colindale models come with round lenses and the Highgate and Archway designs both feature an exaggerated bridge.

All frames are available in a selection of colours and the sunglasses some with tinted lenses in various shades. Arad has also designed a range of glasses that can be adjusted to fit any face for the same company.

Above: Balham style from the Springs collection

Arad was one of the first designers to work with 3D printing in 1999. “In 1999 we had our first outing with what in those days was called rapid prototyping,” he said. “We did vases, lights and jewellery. There was a lot of excitement in the technology then, it was obvious it was on the cards and would be embraced by lots of people.”

Other 3D-printed designs released in recent months include American football boot studs and a dress for Dita Von Teese, while a race to create the first 3D-printed house is on between a canal house in Amsterdam, a plastic dwelling to be assembled in three weeks and a home modelled on a Möbius strip.

See all our stories about designs by Ron Arad »
See all more news about 3D-printed architecture and design »

Read on more more information from pq:

Pq eyewear designed by Ron Arad introduces Springs

Pq, the original eyewear brand designed by Ron Arad adds Springs, a new collection to the pq family this spring.

Springs are a one-piece, one-material, monolithic creature. The gill-like sides allow the arms to hinge inwards freely but restrict them from opening outwards beyond the perfect width and perfect pressure for the head. A progenitor to Angel, and Corbs, now they are just part of one growing Springs family.

Standing out from the crowd, they are as playful as they are individual. Seven new styles within the SPRINGS collection share the cleverly integrated vertebrae giving a fluid continuous line unbroken by hinges and extraneous details. These unique frames enjoy curvaceous shapes and volumes, and are lightweight yet highly durable.

Made in the UK, embracing technology to overcome the constraints of traditional production techniques, Springs are made using SLS (selective laser sintering), a technique pioneered by Ron since the early 1990’s.

Pq launched in 2012 as Arad asserted; ‘There are very few ideas in the world of glasses.’ Pq’s name emanates from two letters side by side in the alphabet which together resemble a pair of glasses.

Springs also includes the distinctive Corbs, the first in the family produced from solid and laminated acetate.

The post Springs 3D-printed glasses
by Ron Arad for pq appeared first on Dezeen.

Fubiz est fier de vous présenter le nouvel épisode Fubiz TV Issue 19. Au sommaire cette semaine, nous avons sélectionné le meilleur de l’actualité de l’univers créatif et nous avons eu la chance de rencontrer le designer français Mathieu Lehanneur. Une interview à découvrir en exclusivité, dans la suite de l’article.

Whether you lost yours last summer and need a replacement pair, or you are simply looking to up your swim style game this year, you may want to take a look at Everest Isles’ soon-to-launch Mayol…

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Layers of blue fabric pleated into origami-like patterns bounced down the catwalk at Central Saint Martins graduate Jaimee McKenna’s Autumn Winter 2013 show.

Knitted from lambswool, the fabric were felted to create a more rigid material that could be creased into tessellating pleats in various styles.

“I found an image from a 1950s Vogue of an elaborate pleated skirt that had such structure and presence,” McKenna told Dezeen. “I then developed my own felt that would hold its structure but still have a beautiful drape once it was pleated.”

The pleating allowed clothes to concertina when the models walked, creating movement through each of the layers.

The blue colour used for the entire collection was inspired by an ultramarine shade first mixed by post-war French artist Yves Klein.

A couple of garments were dip-dyed in a darker hue, influenced by swatches McKenna experimented with during her first year of study.

Extra bands of folded material formed chunky armbands or belts, with tights and shoes matching the dresses.

As part of the same Central Saint Martins graduate show at London Fashion Week earlier this year, Eilish Macintosh presented outfits tied up with knotted lengths of rope.

See all the collections we’ve featured from Autumn Winter 2013 »
See all our stories about fashion »

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by Jaimee McKenna appeared first on Dezeen.