FashioninJapan-publisher about scouting, keywords, privacy
Loic Bizel is the creative mind behind the magazine FashioninJapan.com. He speaks about the founding idea, the editorial concept, trend scouting, archiving trends, his method to elaborate keywords, the difference between men's and women's wear, and the privacy of photographed people...

Short Message 29/10/2009 - Your opinion belongs to your point of view! The experimental sushi restaurant DOTS in Vienna invites to the opening of the exhibition of Norbert Brunner’s work on 2 November. The recipients of the Austrian artist’s installations can decide by walking around the arrangements of hundreds of dots, which information from the art work is the preferred one. Norbert Brunner shows with his work that the point of view (culture, language, geography, religion…) is influencing our perception.

Short Message 27/10/2009 - Puppet and puppeteer is the title of the exhibition of the Viennese fetish fashion store Tiberius from 5 Nov to 2 Dec. Designer Marcos Valenzuela und store owner Karl Ammerer invite on 4 Nov to the opening party. They are writing in the invitation that ‘...puppets get alive with puppet players; and vice versa. This is what most of the people think. But at Tiberius everything is different.’ Surprises are promised at the exhibition that shows puppets in fashion by Tiberius. The accompanying photo book is a charity for ‘Doctors for Disabled’.

What are men's dreams?
The style world of Marc Ecko is the one of a boy who has materialized his imagination of being a cool man...

Short Message 27/10/2009 - Trends of society reflected in luxury fashion The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo presents new views on luxury in times of a challenged world (financial markets, ecology, etc.) from 31 October 2009 to 17 January 2010. Some 100 fashion creations from the collection of The Kyoto Costume Institute (KCI), dating from the 17th century to current times, document our changing times and values from the perspective of luxury, through fashion - a field that sensitively reflects human desire and the trends of society www.mot-art-museum.jp

Short Message 27/10/2009 - Guitar streams from the canyons in North San Diego, influenced by coyote howls Guitar streams from the canyons in North San Diego, influenced by coyote howls The California based band ‚Transfer’ is on US-tour, performing new British-Rock/American-West songs with chilling lyrics from the album ‘Future Selves’ (release date 3rd Nov). On the band’s website, you can listen to the first song ‘Losing Composure’ www.transferband.com. What you shouldn't miss, is to watch the video from a concert in San Francisco: 'White Horse' by Transfer

Textile design of the 20ies, 30ies, 40ies
The Czech born Jacqueline Groag was an influential textile designer in Britain in the post worldwar II era. She studied textile and pattern design in Austria. During the late 20ies and early 30ies, Groag designed textiles for the 'Wiener Werkstätte' in Vienna...

Fashion as political instrument
The history of the Jews in the Central European Alpine region goes back to the expansion of the Roman Empire. During National Socialism, the field of fashion was one of the instruments to make Jewish Austrians quasi-'homeless'...

Short Message 26/10/2009 - Gender Check is the title of the exhibition about ‘Femininity and Masculinity in the Art of Eastern Europe’ from 13 Nov 2009 to 14 Feb 2010 at the MUMOK in Vienna. ‘Gender Check’ follows the changes in the representation of male and female role models in art - especially as they develop under different socio-political conditions. The exhibition documents Eastern Europe since the 60ies from the propagated ‘sexless society’ over the self-confident portrayals of the body in the 70ies and new challenges after the fall of the wall in 1989 until today’s practises of reading gender www.mumok.at.

How to dress up in a kind of jazz
Imagine a modern Betty Page in parachute trousers, ski-couture jacket, gaiters boots and balloon bag walking on the street in a rhythm such as she is just listening to Mile Davis' Kind of Blue. When she comes along, a captivating scent of tobacco, honey, patchouli, raspberry, camomile makes you sure: she is a kind of jazz...

Short Message 24/10/2009 - Halloween fashion mask On 31st October, the Londoner Fashion and Textile Museum invites kids to a workshop where they can make a super-fashionable mask for Halloween.

Japanese culture on jewellery and perfume
The French jewellery house Van Cleef & Arpels has a strong connection to Japan such as you can find in the current perfumery line that is inspired by the garden styles of the world - even the Japanese garden art. When Van Cleef & Arpels was founded in 1906, Japanese prints have been in fashion. The Europeans got many new ideas from the Japanese culture of colour and light, line, composition and perspective. Van Cleef and Arpels created pieces like the 'Jardin Japonais' clip (1924) or the 'Paysage Japonais' (1930), which were inspired by the iconography of Japan...

Short Message 23/10/2009 - 'He's got looks that books take pages to tell' sings fashion-music darling Mika in 'Blame It On the Girls', performed live at the Ellen show on 22nd Oct 2009; when he is playing the piano, he looks sometimes like Elton... Since 19th October the music video to the single is online, directed by Nez Kahmal. This year, Mika was already in a photo shooting for Vanity Fair in London; Mika tours in US: 23 Oct Los Angeles, 24 Oct Oakland, 26 Oct Seattle, 27 Oct Vancouver… www.mikasounds.com.

Short Message 23/10/2009 - Söhne Mannheims - the musicians with critical texts encourage people to make their own opinion and fight for humanity perform on 30 Oct Stuttgart, 1 November Nürnberg, 5 November Vienna, 30 November Hamburg...

Art-craft of the middle ages
Goldsmith Christian Fail is one of the jewellery-artists who is working at Skrein. He shows the working place of a goldsmith which stands in the center of the store. The grey sack is for the gold that falls down while working on the jewellery...

The denim style of breaking conventions
The Diesel:U:Music Tour comes after Berlin, New York, Tokyo, Helsinki, Oslo, Paris, Madrid, London, on 12 Nov to Vienna and on 17 Nov to Miami. The Italian jeans label Diesel's new talents express lust for life, enjoy to party, prefer extraordinary style and love to break conventions with surprisingly behaviour...

Inked denim hangings
'inked' had been even most of the jeans at the 'inked'-store opening party on 20th October 2009; not only the ones that were hanging on the walls beneath computer screens and on the illustrating photos. Some early birds have worn the 'inked' jeans already on this evening.

"I am at home on the racetrack; I love driving. I'm a Mustang girl." Queen Latifah
On 16 October 2009, the video for the song 'Fast Car', featuring Missy Elliott, from the new Queen Latifah album 'Persona' premiered. It shows the dynamic side of the US musician, actress and producer, Grammy Award winner and Academy Award nominee Queen Latifah. In the same month, Queen Latifah's first fragrance - an elegant oriental scent - started the international roll-out at Macy's in New York. Queen Latifah exercises that the choice of who you are is yours...

Absurd art videos about the experience of space - Short Message 19/10/2009 ...seen at the website of the NRW-Forum Düsseldorf. The museum closes from 1 Nov until January 2010 for renovation. In the meanwhile, the visitors can enjoy each day one of in sum 101 videos from ‘Notebook’ (2004) by John Wood - Paul Harrison. Check out the absurd video on occasion of the museum's renovation nrw-forum.de/harrison-wood-preview

“You in yourself have the whole of the universe. When I cut you up in a certain way, I cut up the universe.” William S. Burroughs - Short Message 18/10/2009 Video: William S. Burroughs cuts pages of books, newspapers and brings the words into a new meaning; in the documentary Burroughs says: “When I cut you up in a certain way, I cut up the universe.” By cutting up texts, he creates gaps in time and space. William S. Burroughs’ experimental writings, the ‘Cut Ups’, are on screening during the exhibition ‘Rip It Up and Start Again’ about five artists with influences on the international art scene of the 1970s and 1980s (William S. Burroughs, Charles Henri Ford, Ray Johnson, Arthur Russell, Philippe Thomas) from 10 Oct to 22 Nov 2009 at the Kunstverein München. In official art historical discourses, however, they received little attention and remain virtually unrecognized to a wider public till today.

Design trend: 'human power'
One trend was elaborated by designers in the last years consequently: environmental friendly design. But this year, they have reached a new stadium. The design products are not made of recycled material only, but mostly enriched by the work of people such as the German military jacket in a new fashionable cut and hand-embroidered in India, or in Austria artfully handmade coats and jackets from skydivers' parachutes. The factor 'human being' and the main role of people's work is the most important difference to the trends of the years before.

Style guides made of the abstraction of popular culture - Short Message 17/10/2009 The American artist Jason Salavon’s work ‘Field Guide to Style & Color’ (2007) and ‘374 Farben’ (2007) is on view on occasion of the exhibition 'Fenomen Ikea' from 6 Nov 2009 to 28 Feb 2010 at the MKG (Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe) in Hamburg (Germany). The title '374 Farben' means ‘374 Colors’; the artist has named it referring to Gerhard Richter’s abstract paintings ‘Color Charts’ of the late 60ies/early 70ies. For his analytic work, Salavon has simplified each page of the IKEA catalogue into pure color and arranged 374 pages into charts. The Columbus Museum of Art-documentary gives insight into the artist's analytic view on trends in popular culture.

Interview about trans-seasonal fashion and over-national sale
Vienna Insight by Karin Sawetz: I have met Brussels based designer Aleksandra Paszkowska in Vienna to speak about her label 'Y-dress?'. I decided to show her one of the most famous cafés, the Café Havelka. A meeting place for artists, literati and musicians; this is the most common version Viennese are telling tourists. The special relation of Viennese people to the café is mostly not a theme, because it is not easy to explain...

What makes the boyfriend style so sexy?
Probably the boyfriend look gets its sexiness from the fact that the 'feminisation' of male pieces tells the story of a woman and a man who are in love and don't want to miss each other. But would men wear Girlfriend jeans? As long as there are no Girlfriend jeans on the market, man can use the boyfriend cut! Imagine him with crunchy back...

The idea of post-it notes seen on the catwalk
Oversize tees and leather boots are covered in coloured paper inspired by Post-it notes. Paper is a material that can be found through the womenswear 2010 collection of Maison Martin Margiela. The post-it idea - to remember something or somebody - is integrated into the catwalk scenery too: little bits detach themselves down the catwalk leaving traces where models have passed...

Men's business wear for the ones who think alternative
In October 2009, the Graz (Austria) based brand Dresscode21 has presented itself with an interesting concept: creating men's business wear that express alternative ways of thinking; in fashion as well as in business. A good reason to investigate further...

Going fishing or into the disco; or both?
US designer Dinna Soliman combines for SS2010 new interpreted, very practical inspired pieces like the fisher's vest with pockets, originally for the bait to attract the fishes, with the classical development of dance wear - the retro-80ies disco-striped legging...

Does a chicken express cultural identity? - Short Message 13/10/2009 The Washington gallery ‘Conner Contemporary Art’ exhibits the artwork ‘The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project (DC)’ of the Belgian designer Koen Vanmechelen from 7 Nov – 31 Dec. The artist questions ethical themes like genetic engineering, globalization, and individuality. Does a chicken express cultural identity? Therefore the artist has started a global enterprise, The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, a systematically crossing all breeds of chickens to create a world-mongrel chicken www.connercontemporary.com

The artists and designers’ utensils for love affairs - Short Message 13/10/2009 Vienna has a long tradition in ‘love-things’; for example, Sigmund Freud has redefined sexual desire while living in this city. The KlausEngelhorn Depot exhibits until 23 Oct 'Love Design' - lightings, furniture, and accessories by artists and designers like the Austrian Elke Krystufek, the Italian Matteo Cibic, the Brazilian in Switzerland living Andrea Knecht, the French Arik Levy etc. www.klausengelhorn.com

Kids and parents zones at the design fair for furniture, fashion and jewellery 'Blickfang'
The Blickfang in Vienna (16-18 Oct) is traditionally very kid-friendly. At the kids-playzone, parents check-in their kids for getting more freedom at the tour on 3.500 square meters. In 2009, for the first time 8 labels for young fashion and furniture such as 'Pagabei' or 'das möbel' are on show in the special 'design for kids' space. This exhibition space with playground in the kids-zone is made for parents and children to experience together the world of design...

Design Pieces collected by the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago - Short Message 12/10/2009 The MCA Store has selected new pieces for the colder days such as the Gangsta Baroque Scarf by the Germans Catrin Krause and Holger Grabowsky showing ornaments of the High Baroque (ca. 1650-1720) combined with modern gangster signs, or a bag looking like a dog by designer Jennifer Liu. The ‘dog’ comes with seasonal extras like tartan antlers and striped knit top. From the Austrian Walking-Chair Design Studio, the MCA Store has chosen the Urban Gridded Notebook. While you are writing into the book, you are inspired by 127 international cities which appear as street grids on the paper’s pattern. The 256 pages notebook is created by the US John Briscella who is living in Europe and Japan www.mcachicagostore.org

Critical texts that encourage people to make their own opinion; heard at Söhne Mannheims
The musicians perform on 19 Oct in Mannheim, 30 Oct Stuttgart, 1 November Nürnberg, 5 November Vienna, 30 November Hamburg...

Glittering red crystal cross supports humanity
Pierre Lang's designers have created a jewellery set consisting of a cross pendant with glittering red crystals and two ribbons in coral and cherry red for a Red Cross charity. Celebrating the 150 anniversary of the organisation which was founded after the battle of Solferino during the Austro-Sardinian War in 1859 by the...

Social life and men's underwear
The US brand Jockey shows under the title 'Cult meets Art' the cooperative collection of the Spanish label Diez Diez by Carlos Diez at the 50th Cibeles Madrid Fashion Week...

The pink ribbon trend at Dirk Bikkembergs' male underwear
Pink ribbons on male underwear are one of the strongest trends of the last years, such as seen at Dirk Bikkembergs FW9/10; although pink ribbons are strongly connoted with a very female theme. On the most masculine clothing piece they are serving for a new cheekiness. It is made for men who are...

Music theatre in 30ies marathon dancing style - Short Message 8/10/2009 ‘The Debt Rattle’ by ‘The Citizens Band’ is not a classical musical – more a music theater in the tradition of the European political stage productions (20ies to 40ies) of the last century. The stage-party of a disparate group of bankers and showgirls in the rhythm of 30ies marathon dancing is about basic human values. The Citizens Band is mixing classical songs and original compositions from over 150 years for looking to the past (Wall Street crash, war, immigration, xenophobia, poverty) into a better future. 'The Debt Rattle' goes on stage on 22 – 24 Oct in New York www.thecitizensband.net

Styling tips for the street walk; seen at Kamik, Luis Trenker, Purisme
While the circulating Fashion Circus is presenting the new looks for spring/summer 2010, some of us are questioning 'How to dress up for the current season?' The Fashion Circus' new trends spring/summer 2010 are influencing our perception of the fall/winter fashion 2009/10 - that's a fact. The keywords in fashion are...

Viennese designer Rose Beck about styling rules shoes/bags and bags like sculptures
Question: The white ‘Berlin’ bag looks like a balloon in the moment before he takes off from the ground. What's the idea behind? Why have you named the bag ‘Berlin’?

Audiovisual installations composed from a combination of pure mathematics - Short Message 5/10/2009
Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda exhibits data.tron/data.scan until 13 Dec at the Surrey Art Gallery, Canada. The audiovisual installations are composed from a combination of pure mathematics and the data present in the world. Each single pixel of the visual image is strictly calculated by mathematical principle. Visitors will experience the universe of data in the infinite between 0 and 1 www.surreytechlab.ca (On the video you can watch the collaborative work CYCLO of the computer-sound minimalist Carsten Nicolai from Germany and Japan’s Ryoji Ikeda.)

Short Message 5/10/2009 - “Is everybody in? The ceremony is about to begin…”, reads celebrated writer William S. Burroughs the words of Jim Morrison over the music by The Doors (video>YouTube). New York's School of Visual Arts will host a program of films, readings and performances in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the publication of William S. Burroughs' controversial novel Naked Lunch on 10 October www.schoolofvisualarts.edu

Cosmic philosophy inspires dessin - Short Message 4/10/2009
Soirée dessin with sound in homage to experimental American artist, musician and cosmic philosopher Sun Ra on 23 Oct from 20.30 to 23.00 at Fondation Cartier in Paris. Watch the video with scenes from the movie ‘Space is the Place’ (1974); Sun Ra and his band are playing themselves. http://fondation.cartier.com

The Burberry-check as mono-chromatic draperies
Burberry's SS2010 women's collection and the limited fragrance edition have two things in common: the transformation of the Burberry-check and the playful lightness. The 25th anniversary of the London Fashion Week was celebrated with a party hosted by Burberry. Video screens served party-comments from social media sites including Twitter and Facebook; a YouTube-user has commented the music selection for his/her catwalk movie with "[ Sorry about audio track ]" ...

Green Showroom in Paris - Short Message 2/10/2009
“It’s a fact that consumers increasingly demand more good quality as well as sustainability, which has led to a new movement called ‘slow fashion’,” states Dutch designer Rianne de Witte in her invitation to the Green Showroom in Paris (1 – 4 Oct) www.green-showroom.net

Green Porno by Isabella Rosselini - Short Message 2/10/2009
‚Green Porno’ is the first movie directed by Isabella Rosselini. She is playing the starring roles like spider, wale, or in this video the role of an earthworm. Just received an invitation to the opening of the exhibition ‘Green Porno by Isabella Rosselini’ on 8 Oct at the NRW-Forum Kultur und Wirtschaft in Düsseldorf. The exhibition runs until 11 Oct www.nrw-forum.de

Quiksilver video with music by Tha TrickaZ - Short Message 1/10/2009
Quiksilver invites to music, skate boarding, and art with Tony Hawk on 20 and 21 Nov at the Grand Palais in Paris. Take a preview at the extraordinary skate location Grand Palais on a video with the 'Robbery Song' by Tha TrickaZ.

Urban Gardening - Short Message 1/10/2009
‘Urban Gardening’ with the Swiss brothers ‘Freitag’ who produce bags of used material from the road like truck tarpaulins, seat belts, bicycle inner tubes, recycled airbags… The Walking Chair Gallery www.walking-chair.com invites to the fashion tactics to direct the consciousness towards urban structures on 1 Oct, 19.00 (on display until 31 Dec 2009) during the Vienna Design Week (1 – 11 Oct 2009) www.viennadesignweek.at

"There is only a thin line between being lonely or free" from 'Leaving Circus' by Ivana Helsinki
"There is only a thin line between being lonely or free" writes Helsinki based designer Paola Ivana Suhonen as an insert into the movie to the new spring/summer 2010 collection 'Leaving Circus' of her label 'Ivana Helsinki'. The track 'Stallion' comes from Brooklyn based singer/songwriter and new music darling Alexa Wilding...

The Fashion Circus; Fashionoffice Insight by publisher Karin Sawetz, Oct 2009
This month's insight is about the Fashion Circus. I found similarities in Britney Spears' song 'Circus': "I'm like the ringleader - I call the shots
I'm like a firecracker - I make it hot - then i put on a show"

Tour de la Mode Vienne; Vienna Insight by Karin Sawetz
...It was an entertaining evening with interesting talk partners; almost everybody had to tell something that was new. But such as the Viennese use to say: 'One has always the 'Bummerl' (translated 'bad card')', the models in the upheated bar windows get the flash lights and not the most brilliant questions. Like the model who told me that it's not the helmet why it is hot in the windows...

The idea of guilt-free shoes
The UK shoe brand Beyond Skin will present the new 2010 collection at the 'Estethica' during London Fashion Week. The lookbook opens with the quotation of Mahatma Ghandi: ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’. The design of the ethical footwear is surprisingly classic with a modern touch that remembers partly New Wave style in the tradition of Memphis design. Bold colors and minimalistic lines have the refreshing appeal of a sea breeze...

Lingerie in Scandinavian style
Mette Hoff presents the new Hoff by Hoff spring/summer 2010 lingerie, night- and homewear collection: "I was trained to be a designer at the Danish Design School in Copenhagen... Before starting my own company I worked for some years in the design studio of a big Danish department store as a designer of their private labels, especially with lingerie and nightwear. This was where I got the idea to create a lingerie collection for the fashion conscious woman, ... to get rid of the many useless bows, frills and multicoloured laces..."

Short Message 28/9/2009: Aéthérée will present the SS2010 collection at the Rendez-Vous Femme in Paris (2 – 5 Oct)
The Swiss Ly-Ling Vilaysane who is co-designing the collections with Adrien Escaravage (born in France), said in an interview with Fashionoffice in 2009 "Home means for me, what my heart feels, when I’m somewhere. It’s not a question, where you were born or what nationality you are. This is something, which everybody can have, something very private. You don’t have to put it on your passport, you don’t have to say it to anybody, it is something between you and your feelings…“ http://rendez-vous-paris.com/

Short Message 25/9/2009: Liniert at the Vienna Fashion Week
The Austrian label Liniert will present the ‚Krachkollektion’ at the Vienna Fashion Week today. The designers of Liniert have already released a preview on the collection that is inspired by actual socio-political themes earlier this year with the statement that “…The naive fact that turns against ourselves is that we rather trust the usual, the conventional, than the non-conformist and strange…” The show will begin at 16.00 in a tent in front of the MQ (Museums Quartier) in the center of the city. The Fashion Week runs until 27 Sept. Program and details on http://www.mqviennafashionweek.com. Interview with Liniert>

Short Message 24/9/2009:

>The US fashion, film, and art organization ‘Gen Art’ invites fashion designers, editors, buyers, bloggers and fashion consumers to join the new platform ‘Discover’. You can submit a t-shirt design to the theme ‘inspiration’. The winner will have their t-shirt produced and win a VIP travel package to Gen Art’s Shop NYC http://discover.genart.org

>Fashionable dance party with guest artists like Hercules and Love Affair (>YouTube) and video projections by the art and fashion movie producers FLY16x9 www.fly16x9.com on 26 September at MOMA, The Museum of Modern Art in New York. More about the premier of MoMA MiXX dance party www.moma.org/momamixx

>Website about clean energy fashion. CEF collects content about clean energy such as the video from the Los Angeles catwalk show of the Eco Nouveau (>YouTube, www.econouveau.com) designers Gary Harvey, Bahar Shahpar, and Amanda Shi. CEF has sent a glossary too: Eco-Fashion...uses organic raw materials, such as cotton grown without pesticides and silk made by worms fed on organic trees...doesn't involve the use of harmful chemicals and bleaches to colour fabrics...is often made from recycled and reused textiles. High-quality garments can be made from second-hand clothes and even recycled plastic bottles...is made to last, so that people keep them for longer...comes from fair trade - the people who make them are paid a fair price and have decent working conditions www.cleanenergyfashion.com

Fashion inspired by 'Manitou'
Jeroen van Tuyl presented his spring/summer 2010 collection during the Paris Men's fashion week not on the catwalk but as a performance with the title 'Manitou'. The Manitou collection is influenced by the Native Americans' respect for nature...

Short Message 23/9/2009: Fashion and music darling ‘Mika’ in a photo shooting for Vanity Fair in London (>YouTube). ‘Pop wonderboy’ Mika’s album ‘The Boy Who Knew Too Much’ came out on 18 Sept in Italy, 22 Sept in America etc. Mika will tour America in October. Find out more on www.mikasounds.com

A designer on the decadence of untroubled lightness
'Sugar' is the name for one of the leading patterns in this collection of dresses in floating materials. Stine Goya who graduated in 2005 from Central St. Martins in fashion design with print, creates a lightness of water and air that she entitles 'bubbles of spring'. The decadence of these bubbles come from their untroubled lightness...

Short Message 22/9/2009: ‘Going Down’ by musician Szenario; directed by himself (>YouTube). The Viennese is part of the independent group of musicians under the keyword ‘Supercity’. From 5 to 10 Oct, Supercity runs the RUN VIE Festival on 8 locations in Vienna with more than 25 Hip Hop-Underground acts www.supercity.at/RUNVIE

Juggling with design-rules
Question: With this ring the wearer looks like a mutant with advanced flexible finger. What has inspired you? Product and jewelry designer Fabian Seibert: The perfect bodies in the media that influence our perception of beauty in a way that makes most of us feel not attractive enough. The media definitely raise the standard. This gradually gnaws on one's self-confidence...

Short Message 21/9/2009:

>Viennese design night with chocolaterie, Champagne and Cidre. During the Vienna Design Week, a group of artists and retailers start a new cooperation to show fashion, jewellery, accessories etc. with culinaric and musical highlights in the ‘Kettenbrückengasse’ quarter on 8 Oct, beginning at 18.00. My advice: start with chocolate, Cidre und Champagne at the Chocolaterie/Pâtisserie au marché www.fruth.at

A holistic approach to beauty
The natural cosmetics label Bioemsan invited to a seminar about cosmetics and healthy nutrition with the title 'Beauty from In- and Outside'. Interview about the distribution concept of natural cosmetics, what a dentist has to do with Bioemsan, and if there are any meta-rules to gain beautiful skin through healthy nutrition...

Short Messages 18/9/2009:

>Swedish humour on fashion films. The wearable magazine ‘T-post’ goes cross-media. Watch the witty documentary ‘A T-post family Portrait - Karin & Carina’ (>YouTube). “We are in the final stages of completing the first film in a series of documentaries highlighting people in the T-post family. This first film gives you a chance to get to know Karin and Carina. Every six weeks they neatly check every single Tee for misprints and holes, and folds and package them to be shipped out to all four corners of the world. But before the package is shipped they singlehandedly check all 2500 address labels to make sure that they accurate. Karin and Carina are two cool and lovely women and this is our tribute to them.” The film will be released this fall. www.t-post.se

>Fashion films done from designers and brands, fashionable movies about musicians, artists, icons… The 2nd edition of the annual Fashion, Style and Beauty Film Festival ‘ASVOFF’ (A Shaded View On Fashion Film, founded by Diane Pernet) shows from 25 until 27 September in Paris movies like a Hussein Chalayan documentary, Roisin Murphy retrospective, film by Alia Raza about Chloe Sevigny etc www.AShadedViewOnFashion.com

Short Messages 17/9/2009:

>The underlying role of aesthetics in ideology and culture: Sean Snyder investigates the “transformative role of the archive in relation to digital imaging technologies, developing a methodological approach to the structuring of information. Utilizing the interpretative potential of documents and databases, his work explores documentary practice as a historical construct, and more generally the underlying role of aesthetics in ideology and culture…” exhibition ‘Sean Snyder’ at the ‘Index the Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation’ from 16 Sept - 25 Oct www.indexfoundation.se

>Just received a text from Gina Drewes & Tiberius on occasion of the show at the Vienna Fashion Week on 24 Sept. (Note to the text: fashion design in Austria is strongly directed by quasi-governmental institutions and revolution begins with breaking through the ‘desiderata’. At this time, rural clothing such as Dirndl is on the wish list of influential groups.) “barROCK a symbiosis of Prèt à Porté designer Gina Drewes and the fetish fashion of TIBERIUS (Valenzuela-Abril). An exciting mix of sensuality and desire. Far away from dusty wig and Alm-Chic barROCK initiates a new era and refuses to use antiquated stereotypes.” www.mqviennafashionweek.com

>‘Yearning For Home’ (video on youtube.com/watch?v=LZYOVvflO20) by the now in America (NY) living British born singer Siji from his new album ‘Adesiji’. “My self-titled sophomore album 'ADESIJI', is a full portrayal of where I currently stand as an artist and human being and the experiences that have come to shape my character. A few of the songs are about the current war, the environment, my yearning to take a closer peek at my ancestral homeland (Nigeria), where I grew up in as well as the spiritual side of my roots". www.sijimusic.com

What's about the sexiness of men's legs in our times?
On 3 September 2009, the Spanish label Jan iú Més presented the men's wear SS2010 in Barcelona. Question: Alongside to the short trousers, even your long pants in partly transparent materials are presenting men's legs in a sexy way; never before experienced a fashion trend with such a strong focus on men's legs. What's about the sexiness of men's legs in our times?

About curating a fashion store or He's got the look, Vienna Insight by publisher Karin Sawetz
He leads me to the 'Outdoor' section of the BR-Fashion Concept store with pieces from Geospirit, True Religion etc and an extraordinary mirror which he has found in Paris. "Are you traveling a lot?" Wolfgang Olzinger told me that he travels for the store collections every season to Germany and Italy to find things that are looking good. I like the way he is measuring himself in the mirror and captured the moment with the camera of my mobile before...

A delicate story about a man and a woman inspires jewellery
The Austrian jewellery designer Mona Moore presented her new spring/summer 2010 collection with a story about a man and a woman in a boudoir. The story becomes more delicate when the man reaches for a camera. This is a reason to look closer at the work of the Austrian and her website...

Mapping a city with apparel, shoes, and art
The work of Momo (born in San Francisco, living in New York) is a perfect extension of Y-3 into the art world. Momo is known for his maps and minimalistic street art. For Y-3, the collaborative label of Yohji Yamamoto and adidas (Y stands for Yohji, 3 for the three stripes of adidias), he has used silkscreens, stencils, and paint, to put his stamp with bright colors on everything from women’s blazers to men’s trousers...

Exploring the ruins of New York City
The New York based online broadcast network VBS announces the newest productions for the French boots label Palladium. The videos are made in the style of travel movies about 'places both weird bizarre as well as unknown with a nod towards exploration,' explains VBS. They are about burning underground coal fires in West Virginia, abandoned subway tunnels in NYC, and missile silos long forgotten...

Short Messages 11/9/2009:

>Girl With One Eye (Live) by Florence and The Machine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5Zoxf3G6u8. The video is from the time before Florence Walch was discovered by the fashion world such as Vogue or UK designer Paul Smith. Her new track ‘Drumming Song’ will be released on 13 Sept http://florenceandthemachine.net

>Just received following letter to the editor: “As a teacher of (business) English at a fashion college in Vienna (Michelbeuern) I really appreciate your website as a useful source of information for state-of-the-art teaching. It's a pity that the texts which are high standard contentswise are full of mistakes as regards correct use of vocab and grammar. To be more professional I would strongly advise you to have some proof reading by a competent native speaker.” (The text is not translated by Fashionoffice; the teacher’s letter was originally written in English.)

Fashion for two and four legs
The Berlin fashion designer and veterinarian Michaela Irmscher has opened the new online shop 'fuchs and fjonka' for the ones with two and four legs. She collects artful products from Scottish designer Donna Wilson who creates knit toys for pets or William Wegman's collection made of bacterical free fabrics...

Short Messages 10/9/2009:

>The video-interview youtube.com/watch?v=73Ks_nEs18g with the UK designers of Harriet’s Muse is about FW9/10 inspired by the environmental and economic situation. Just received an invitation to the private viewing of Spring/Summer 2010 ‘Come Fly With Me’ on 20 Sept in London. They will present key pieces like the ‘handkerchief skirt/dress’, the cheeky ‘finback corset’ and the irresistible ‘tutu bag’.

>Win a full-tuition scholarship to study fashion at one of The Art Institutes schools, including The Art Institute of California – San Francisco. Call for students (open to high school seniors across North America) to create an original ‘evening wear’ design for the Fashion Design category or an original Fashion Marketing, Merchandising or Retail Management plan for the corresponding category. Deadline 20 Nov 2009 www.artinstitutes.edu

Country cultures are the sources for global color trends
The Bangkok based Thailand Institute of Fashion Research (inFASH) presented the color trends for the fashion and textile industries fall/winter 2010/2011 and spring/summer 2011, elaborated together with 14 European and Asian countries. "... our research team worked closely with several design and educational institutes, trade associations, local brand owners and manufacturers to identify Thailand’s exact trends," says Pradit Ratanawijitrasilp, director Infash. How the European and Asian experts are perceiving the look into the future of colors becomes clear by reading the intro of spring/summer 2011...

The mobility of youth cultures in the 80ies
The Austrian division of Vespa refers back to the style of the 80ies Mods and Poppers; both had been Vespa riders. Mods represented the working class with the aim to become like the upper class and the Poppers had been the upper class kids with the aim to show it permanently. On the other side had been Punks. Whatever; the fashion addicted Mods, Poppers, and Punks have already played in the 80ies with different fashion styles...

Short Messages 8/9/2009:

>The fashion of a new gender culture: counter-hegemonic mixed with androgyny. Seen at the work of Stefán Orschel-Read who studied at the Central Saint Martins menswear design. Just got an invitation to the Spring/Summer 2010 show on 20 September at 19.30 during On|Off in London www.onoff.tv

>Designers that promote human rights, the environment and traditional skills of diverse cultures are on world tour with the ‘Ethical Fashion Show’: 1 - 4 Oct during Paris Fashion Week, 20 - 22 Sept in New York, 6 - 8 Nov in Rio, Milan in March 2010, Barcelona in April 2010 www.ethicalfashionshow.com

>Austrianfashion.net has just sent a printed catalogue about Austrian designers to announce in which fashion city (Paris, London, New York, Barcelona) you can meet them in Sept and Oct. On the website www.austrianfashion.net you can use the designer listing with direct links to the designers’ sites for details.  

>Vienna has a new Fashion Week! Settled on different locations of the trendy Museums Quartier in the center of the city, the former MQ-Fashion-Shows are extended into the ‘MQ Vienna Fashion Week’ (24 - 27 Sept) www.mqviennafashionweek.com

Design concept for women's mobile phones
For fall/winter 2009, Sony Ericsson presents the new fashion mobile phone designed by DolceGabbana with the name 'Jalou'. Probably the name 'Jalou' - the French word means jealous, was chosen because the accessories-like mobile is made to impress others; a very female attitude...

Short Message 8/9/2009:

>Political messages with a fashionable appeal. Uruguayan multimedia artist Martin Sastre express the lifestyle and thinking of today’s people in esthetical edgy pop-trash-culture video stories. The emotional spice of his art is made of stories with a surprising twist. Watch the video: KIM X LIZ (2008) by Martin Sastre youtube.com/watch?v=b1b2vO0HEZ4. The Hayward Gallery, London, present his work ‘We are the World (Something has to Change for Everything to Stay the Same)’ from 8 Sept - 30 Sept www.hayward.org.uk

With the head through the wall; heard at Ohrbooten
Some weeks before the election in Germany, the Berlin band Ohrbooten have released a new album and single. The band's politically critical texts are about the difficulty to choose a political party, making up one's own opinion, and about going with the head through the wall. The band has created an own style: the 'Gyp-Hop' style...

Good girl-stereotypes associated with fashion and beauty
In 2009, the Viennese Festival for Digital Art and Cultures 'Paraflows' (10 - 20 September) has chosen the topic 'Urban Hacking' to show how we are exploring, questioning, and shaping the urban infrastructure by using digital media. The fashion shop and hair salon 'be a good girl' is one of these 'infrastructures' which became a space for an artistic intervention in the exhibited work 'be a bad girl' by Elisabeth Grübl and Sabine Heine. In a night action...

Short Messages 2/9/2009:

>15 designers create from the same fabrics individual clothing pieces in one week! Screen printing and manufacturing techniques are the only tools of the designers which can be chosen freely. The Forum Stadtpark (Graz, Austria) invites to the fashion show “collection:slippy IV” on 5 Sept 20.00,  the afterparty begins on 22.00 www.collectionslippy.lila.cx.

>They set the pattern – is the motto of the coming art and fashion show ‘Crossing Cultures_Cuba’. The motto is in German language a nice play of words: ‚Sie geben den Schnitt vor’ means as much as they are the avantgarde in making the pattern. In Sept artists and designers from Cuba will arrive in Graz to work together with Austrians. The results will be presented on 18 Sept 19.00 (fashion show 21.00, followed by a Salsa-party) www.aai-graz.at  

Fashionoffice Insight by publisher Karin Sawetz, Sept 2009
Sometimes it is not important how you catch the ball - you have to catch him in the right moment! But how is the right moment defined in fashion design?

The attention of web users
Fashionoffice has collected traffic data delivered by Google Analytics to find out how much influence the RSS Feeds, Trendletters, online and offline advertising etc. have on the virtual consciousness of web users...

A snake to drape, glasses to veil a secret, illustrated skateboards...
On Stevie Boi's website you can find a huge (faked) snake to drape around the body, skateboards or glasses in a modern-baroque Italian-Venice style; such as they are veiling a secret. Question: Your glasses are looking like masks. What's the idea behind your creations? ...and is this your music and voice on the website?

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