UNRAVEL: Knitwear in Fashion 16/03-14/08/2011

The upcoming MoMu exhibition Unravel: Knitwear in Fashion will introduce the visitor to a wide variety of exquisite knitted garments and accessories from across the last centuries, with a focus on high fashion pieces and their vernacular interpretations. Top pieces by national and international designers and labels (Ann Salens, Vivienne Westwood, Sonia Rykiel, Missoni) historic couture pieces (Schiaparelli, Patou, Chanel) as well as more avant-garde and cutting edge pieces by established designers and newcomers on the international fashion scene (Sandra Backlund, Maison Martin Margiela, Mark Fast), will sit side by side to reveal the richness and diveristy of knitwear in high fashion.

New installations by renowned knitwear designers will be juxtaposed with historic pieces presenting different technical and conceptual approaches to the art and craft of knitting. Ann Salens, the famous Antwerp designer from the 1970s, will get a special homage in the exhibition in the form of installations by contemporary Antwerp-based knitwear designers. 

The exhibition will address the important decades of knitwear in fashion, demonstrating knitwear's popularity both on and off the catwalk, and unravelling the changing status of the relationship between knitwear and fashion. Thematically, it will showcase the various roles knitwear has played in social and fashion (r)evolutions and will address knitwear's different and fluid association with comfort, wellbeing and chic.

 With Unravel: Knitwear in Fashion, MoMu and Woolmark proudly present a mix of contemporary and classic knitwear design houses, as well as young designers and historical garments. The exhibition will challenge certain established ideas and show that far from being old-fashioned and dowdy - knitting is highly versatile, luxurious and a continuing source of inspiration for high end fashion.
The exhibition catalogue will be published by the Fashion Museum and Lannoo Publishers. (as of March 16th 2011)

French business school to offer its leading luxury programme at its Suzhou campus

 

January 2011. Starting in September 2011, SKEMA Business School will offer its Master of Science in “Luxury and Fashion Management” at its Suzhou campus in China.

Thirty students will follow the programme, which has been designed for young managers to understand the ins and outs of the Chinese luxury market. Emphasizing an applied, problem-solving approach to management, the programme - taught in English - also includes three hours a day of Chinese lessons. Students will visit local specialists in silk, ceramic and porcelain making and must complete a mandatory three-month internship at an Asian-based company.

“Today, China is the world’s third largest market in luxury goods with a growth rate of almost 30% in 2010,” said Ivan Coste-Manière, director of the programme. “Forty percent of the Asian population is less than 20 years old and Shanghai has become a central point of the luxury trade. By offering this programme in China we are opening up new opportunities in a burgeoning market and at the same time reinforcing the school’s international presence and reputation.”

Since opening in 2008, SKEMA’s China campus, located in the Suzhou Technology Park, has hosted 500 students from the school’s Grande Ecole and Master of Science programmes. All students have followed a semester of intense Chinese lessons and courses on China’s socio-economic systems and how to do business in Asia.

The “Luxury and Fashion Management” programme will continue to be taught at SKEMA’s Sophia-Antipolis campus in the South of France.

 
Press contact: Neil Atherton at Noir sur Blanc
Tel: +33 1 41 43 72 83   E-mail: natherton@noirsurblanc.com

About SKEMA Business School
SKEMA Business School is one of France’s largest Grande Ecoles with 6,200 students and 138 permanent faculty members.  The school offers a wide range of degree programs, including bachelors, Grande Ecole (Masters in Management), Masters of Science, specialized Masters, PhD and MBA.  The school currently has sites in France (Lille, Sophia-Antipolis, Paris), China (Suzhou), Morocco (Casablanca) and the United States (North Carolina).  Campuses will also soon be added in India and Brazil. 

SKEMA Business School was created in 2009 by the merger of CERAM Business School and Groupe ESC Lille to offer greater resources to its students, its corporate partners, and its 20,000 alumni. http://www.skema.edu/

Royal Ascot Fashion Show 2010 features top British designers

The Royal Ascot Fashion Show, returns to the Bessborough Restaurant for the five days of Royal Ascot.

The catwalk frontliners for this year are the Grand Dame of British fashion and three times British Designer of the Year, Vivienne Westwood; maestro of milliners, Stephen Jones; fashion’s finest Amanda Wakeley, who recently received an OBE for her services to the fashion industry; entourage to the stars Matthew Williamson; and the holder of three Royal Warrants, Gieves & Hawkes.

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Rachel Trevor-Morgan: Milliner to HRH The Queen

So moving swiftly on from ‘Priscilla Queen of the Desert’, we bravely turn to HRH Queen Elizabeth.

Yes my lovelies, I got to chat to the Royal milliner Rachel Trevor-Morgan, which was an amazing honour.

Rachel’s pieces jumped out at me whilst I was reading about the latest Ascot hats from this year, and I couldn’t wait to ask her how she got to design hats for the Queen…

* * *

You have a very broad range of pretty designs – how would you describe your style?
Feminine, glamorous, elegant, flattering.

What made you decide to become a milliner and how long have you been in business?
I must have been made subconsciously aware of hats by my mother’s love of them – she had a reputation for always wearing a wonderful creation on Sunday mornings. My childhood ambition was to become an actress and it is from this sense of the dramatic that my passion for millinery evolved. I served a traditional apprenticeship with Graham Smith, a brilliant milliner and a perfectionist; in my mind his workmanship is second to none. Learning my craft in his workroom was the best start I could have wished for, he offered a rigorous training in the disciplined craft of millinery whilst maintaining the individuality of design and flawless finish which are central to its art. This background gave me a strong base in couture millinery.
I am now entering my 19th year in business which sounds a frighteningly long time!

Read More Here

Hey Sailor!

After a looooooooooooooooong break Hatastic! is back with a gorgeous milliner called Kat Toronto and her hat company ‘Hey Sailor!’ www.hey-sailor.com

I absolutely adore her pieces especially as I had the task of having to use a pheasant feather in a bespoke piece for one of my clients, and having never used feather before, I am in awe…

How would you describe your designs/hats?

Pheasant Feast Fascinator by Hatastic!

Most of the hats that I design for Hey Sailor! are inspired by an era, be it the 1940s or the 1740s. I like to call my designs “Vintage Inspired Hats of Distinction”.

What made you decide to become a milliner and how long have you been in business?
Hey Sailor! hats stemmed from my search for whimsical vintage hats about five years ago. I am the singer for the band Ragwater Revue and my stage persona is a 1940s noir femme fatale, so of course I needed some amazing vintage 1940s tilt hats, but I wanted mine with a twist!

I began making my own vintage-inspired hats because after searching and searching on places like eBay and other vintage clothing sites, I was unable to find the vintage style hats that I so longed for. My background is in textile and costume design so with that knowledge under my wing I taught myself the art of millinery.
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An A-Z of Fashion for Royal Ascot

Forget the official rules, here is an A-Z of practical ‘dos’ and ‘dont’s’ when it comes to Royal Ascot fashion:

Ascot As usual, Ascot will act not just as the backdrop to the world’s finest race meeting, but also to the colour and variety of contemporary and traditional fashions.

Beauty A fresh-faced female will be picked out from the crowds at Royal Ascot by Europe’s leading model agency, Models 1, to become ‘The Face of Ascot 2010.’ Scouts will be on the lookout during the opening two days of the Meeting.

Cravats Just not quite the done thing these days. Wear ties with Morning Dress unless you’re at a wedding!

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Beach Blanket Babylon

No – not the rather hip and trendy bar in Nottinghill (although it is the official venue of London Fashion Week 18–22 September – so quite cool really),

but Steve Silver’s Beach Blanket Babylon, the longest running musical revue in theatre history! It’s a zany musical spoof of pop culture with extravagant costumes and outrageously huge hats.

A resounding ‘Ahhhhhhhh, that’s what she’s trying to get at!’ I hear you cry. Well yes, if you think of Priscilla Queen of the Dessert, you are halfway there!

The reason I’m whittering on about crazy type of hats is that I was asked if I could make three pieces for the ‘Seaside Sisters’ who are attending London Summer Craftacular on 22 August 2009.

The brief they gave me was,‘We are going for a retro seaside look’ and later ‘We’re making pinnies and sailor scarves and we might even have Seaside Sisters tattoos!’~

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