Art Inspires Fashion Archives - Sara is in Love with…

Art Inspires Fashion: Roses by John Rawlings

20th November 2016 2 Comments

lumas, art inspires fashion, john rawlings

Art Inspires Fashion is back! Some of you missed this category of posts, and I know you were right because styling outfits taking inspiration from paintings and photographs is something I love to do as a former university of applied arts student.

Today’s inspiration is the photography called “Roses” by John Rawlings taken in 1948. The American Rawlings was one of the most important photographers of Condé Nast from the 1930s through the 1960s and created numerous covers for the magazines Vogue and Glamour. His style of photography was very forward and influences many fashion photographers till today.

The picture “Roses” is part of the Vogue Archive collection of Lumas and shows an elegant lady wearing a stunning vermillion velvet hat with rose appliqués. I was instantly enchanted because the picture captures true beauty and prestige in a very sensual way.

My look includes the essential things of the artwork: Smooth and shiny materials, delicate flower petals and gorgeous berry colours. While the appearance of the lady is uncompromisingly elegant, my style has a different edge and can be understood as a translation to modern times. If necessary, the lady in my picture can run for the tube or carry a dozen shopping bags (after all she is an independent girl), but she will look just as beautiful as John Rawlings model.

Have a closer look at the picture and get it for your home here.

Picture: Roses ©, John Rawlings, VOGUE Archive Collection, www.lumas.ch

In Uncategorised

Lovely Label: Azumi & David

16th November 2014 2 Comments

azumi and david, made in london, shoe bag

Already a classic: Azumi and David’s heeled bags

Azumi and David, contemporary still life, ss15

Silk scarves as a canvas for modern still life paintings

Azumi and David, pizza box bag, newspaper bag

From everyday objects to it pieces: Azumi and David give pizza boxes and newspapers a new meaning

No barking, no growling: A dog is the perfect bag for sure

The illusion of carrying items of everyday living: A’N’D still life bags

azumi and david, leather necklace, gem necklace

Leather crystal necklaces with Austrian glass gems and pearls

Azumi & David are a London based fashion designer duo that I’ve been admiring for a long time. I love their work with it’s surreal touch and their ability to add a complete new context to everyday objects.

I got introduced to Azumi & David about five years ago. Since then I’ve been following their work and have had the honour to become friends with this lovely Japanese-British couple. They both studied fashion at Central Saint Martins in London and started to work together in 1995. They have progressed through a variety of projects from limited edition artist’s books, performance art and moved on to fashion and accessory. Their first two stockists have been the Pineal Eye London and Colette Paris; nowadays their things are sold all over the world.

In their SS 2015 collection “Contemporary Still Life” Azumi and David took inspiration from the 16th to 17th century Dutch still life oil paintings. They combine fruits, vegetables and flowers with modern objects such as plastic water bottles, light bulbs and cosmetics. Azumi and David created a range of silk dresses, digitally printed scarves, jewellery and bags. They’re releasing new versions of their ingenious shoe bags as well. If you don’t have one yet, the time has come!

With Azumi and David’s contemporary update, still life pictures do not belong to the museums anymore but become wearable for style hungry people.

Visit their page and their online shop here.

In Uncategorised

Lovely Label: Doll Eyes

2nd November 2014 1 Comment

Whenever you start to suspect that you might have seen it all, totally unexpected something new comes in your life that hits you like a blast. This is what happened when I found Doll Eyes and their kawaii fashion. Their pieces are like the golden ticket to your dreamland, and no day can ever be grey and dull with fashion like this. Read in the following interview with the designers what inspires them and how they started to create their amazing things.

Interview with Dolls Eyes

Your Label just launched in February 2014 and we still don’t know a lot about you. Please tell us who is behind your label and how you started it.
Doll Eyes is a collaboration between NYC-based designers Elena Kanagy-Loux and Stella Rose Saint Clair. Both admirers of each other’s personal style and work, we always knew we might end up working together in some capacity. Doll Eyes formed quickly after we made the decision to collaborate on a small project, and soon we were stitching together a whole collection!

Your Easter Mass collection is full of cuteness, fluffy pieces and cute bunny faces. It seems like a perfect pastel dream from a children’s book. What inspired you?
We love holiday themes and Easter is one of our favorite holidays because it combines some of the sweetest things from our childhood with an unsettling religious undertone. For Easter Mass, we collected everything we love about the commercialization of Easter and chose to display the collection in a local art gallery that functions as a satanic church.

If you think about the perfect occasion to wear one of your outfits, what pops into your mind?
Doll Eyes clothing is all about fun and every piece has a decadent quality. Everything we do is over the top and we consider that to be a mantra for life when it comes to wearing our clothes. Even if your day is full of mundane tasks, wearing Doll Eyes will transport you to a place of fantasy.

You state your fashion as experimental. It looks like something between art, couture and wearable fashion. Where do you see yourself?
That’s exactly it. We consider ourselves to be artists and fashion just happens to be our medium. While our goal is to balance more wearable pieces with our runway looks, our favorite creations are ones that have no bounds and like works of art, speak for themselves.

Let’s talk a little bit about the future: What are your plans for your label?
We just released our first official seasonal collection “Les Filles Goulues” or, The Gluttonous Girls of which select items will be available for purchase in Spring 2015. The collection is inspired by 1760’s meets 1960’s fashion with a nod to french culture and the feeling of the clothes came from our love of the Czech film Daisies. We are currently working on a bigger collection which will also debut next Spring. Stay tuned!

You can shop Doll Eyes here and please don’t forget to visit them on Facebook.

In Uncategorised

The Toy World of Anne-Sophie Cochevelou

24th February 2014 8 Comments

dolls in fashion, anne sophie cochevelou, performance art

anne sophie cochevelou, doll dress, barbie dress

barbie necklace, barbie earrings, barbie fashion

anne sophie cochevelou, balloon dress, girl with balloons

What is more exciting than fashion? Just one thing: When fashion meets art! Today I want to take you with me to the odd and bizarre world of Anne-Sophie Cochevelou. This woman crosses these borders with an extraordinary virtuosity and is not afraid to experiment at all.

Anne-Sophie is a young designer of fashion costume and jewellery from Paris. She graduated at Central Saint Martins London with a MA in Performance Practice and Design. Her work is full of various cultural references. It’s not about trends at all, but a mixture of fashion and performance art.

The toys of her childhood are Anne-Sophie’s biggest inspiration and especially dolls are omnipresent in her work. She says that since she is too old to play with them, she discovered to wear them as a piece of art and wear them out. Anne-Sophie is a master of creating the most extraordinary looks from found, used and unwanted materials. Dresses don’t need to be made out of fabric in Anne-Sophies creative world, but everything can be worn.

When I found Anne-Sophie’s blog, I immediately felt a strong connection between her and me, even if what I wear is so much more commercial than her work. Is her work fashion or anti-fashion? I don’t care, it’s wonderful in it’s colourful vibrancy and it makes me dream. Anne-Sophie Cochevelou, Sara is in Love with you and hopes to see in a doll dress on the streets of London one day!

Please visit Anne-Sophie Cochevelou’s blog and shop her jewellery here.

All pictures belong to Anne-Sophie Cochevelou. Photographers: Pic 2: Taka YoshiKen, Pic 3-4: Simona Zemaityte,
Pic 6: Constance Doyle

In Uncategorised

The Punky Cat

5th January 2014 18 Comments

silver dress, Pearls & Swine, cat fascinator, metallic

Not Rock N’ Roll, but Punk N’ Pink!

metallic dress, pastel pink hair, Cat hat, pink dr. martens

Leather, studs, fishnet tights and metallic: What a bad girl look!

Pearls & Swine, cat fascinator, silver dress, Yiddish Chutzpah

Like a futuristic and rebellious cat woman, do you agree?

veiled fascinator, cat hat, cat fascinator, pink hair

But still not without cuteness. Also a black heart is still a heart…

silver, metallic dress, studded gloves, black leather gloves

Cat Woman wears gloves, a heroine can’t leave fingerprints for sure.

Pearls & Swine, Cat hat with veil, cat woman, metallic dress

You don’t wanna see my claws, I assure you.

pink doc martens, cat women, cat hat, Pearls & Swine

Fishnet tights with stars to enhance the futuristic look.

veiled fascinator, veiled hat, cat hat, Pearls & Swine

What a funny feeling to have whiskers suddenly!

Yiddish Chutzpah, silver dress, metallic look, Spanish Fashion

Beautiful detail at my back: Round black buttons.

Dr. Martens, pink, fur, Serena, Doc Martens

The probably most comfy and warm boots I’ll ever have: My pink Dr. Martens.

Yes, I love everything cute, but today cuteness includes a hint of punk. The dress I am wearing is from my favourite Spanish label Yiddish Chutzpah. Their latest collection (which I introduced here) is inspired by punk and designer Gema Alonso influenced me too in how I styled my dress.

Of course there are no other shoes than Doc Martens to be considered. Because I am no true punk but rather a candy girl, I choose pink ones with a cosy pink fur on the inside. I must say, they are probably the best fitted shoes for winter I ever had. It’s no coincidence, they are popular among postmen and police officers (of course not in my pink version).

A punk inspired look is never complete without fishnet tights and a few studs. As a contrast I wear my new cat fascinator from my hat genie Pearls & Swine. The silver dress reminds me a little bit of a garment for a female super heroine. A futuristic cat-woman, why not? When it’s cold outside, I am a huge fan of staying home and watching science fiction movies, maybe it reflects already in what I wear. At the moment I am very much into Star Trek again, just like in my teenage years.

Even I agree, that it takes a little bit of courage, to walk through the city like this, but I think “Let them stare, at least I can make sure they see something extraordinary today.”

How do you like this punky look lovelies?

My Outfit:

Dress: Yiddish Chutzpah, Hat: Pearls & Swine, Shoes: Dr. Martens,
Tights: Lip Service, Gloves: H&M (not recent)

Thanks to Yiddish Chutzpah for the dress.

In Uncategorised

Dear Mister Koons…

1st February 2013 29 Comments

Jeff Koons, Fashion, Maison Margiela, Pearls and Swine

Dear Mister Koons, may I apply as an artwork of yours?

Pearls and Swine, Jeff Koons, Disco Ball, Fascinator

I have the best qualifications: I am colourful, bright and happy.

Of course I have a wide experience with metallic shine as well.

Jeff Koons, Pearls and Swine, Fascinator, Disco Ball

A strong pop culture inspiration belongs to my key competences.

So, what do you think: OUI /NON? (Please choose OUI)

If you can’t decide yet: Here is more shine to convince you.

Twinkle, twinkle, I know you can’t say no!

Maison Margiela, Jeff Koons, Fashion, Look

I have already packed my bag. See you in rainbow land!

When it comes to art, Jeff Koons is one of the first artists I mention when asked about my favorites. His work is a dance on the border between cult and kitsch to me, there is humour in it and every artwork of his seems to twinkle with one eye. Koons’ art makes me happy, like a bright outfit does. Most of my other favourite artists, create dark, disturbing or surreal work and I think this has nothing to do with my taste in fashion (expect if I am in the gothic mood, which happens every now and then). Koons’ work on the other hand, walks hand in hand with all the other things I love in life, especially my taste of fashion: It’s like a dream from a world full of rainbows.

Do you remember my Art Inspires Fashion post about Jeff Koons? I wanted to wear the outfit since I posted it and couldn’t get it out of my mind. Now the moment is here and I can finally present you me wearing the Jeff Koon’s inspired outfit. It is not exactly the proposal from that post, but a little bit a changed version. The multi sequin skirt from Asos, the Kate Rohde bangle and the Maison Martin Margiela for HM handbag, follow exactly the inspiration post. I combine them with similar pieces as proposed from my existing wardrobe. There is even a big improvement to the inspiration post: After posting it, Pearls & Swine created this wonderful fascinator, which reminded me of Koons’ shiny tulip sculptures at first sight.

The fascinator is the key piece of the outfit, together with the handbag. The Maison Martin Margiela for HM bag fits very well, because Koons often reproduces everyday’s objects in oversized versions. This giant candy wrap follows a similar idea. The difference between it and a Koons artwork is, that I can use it to carry around my stuff, while Koons’ colossal sculptures are released from a practical use and wait for admiration only.

I just have to say something too about the Kate Rohde bangle: It’s a magical thing and I wear it like a talisman. I can watch again and again how it looks when the sun shines on it. It’s the most amazing bangle I ever had, it looks like it was made in a crystal wonderland, where Koons’ balloon dogs chase each other playing hide and seek. All in all, this outfit is the most colourful one, I showed you for a while and I think all the strong colours have a lot of positive energy. I hope you feel it too and it makes you smile.

So now I want to hear from you: How do you like this look?

My Outfit:

Fascinator: Pearls & Swine, Skirt: Asos, Top: Primark,

Belt: Asos (sold out), Shoes: Bordello at Attitude Clothing,

Handbag; Maison Martin Margiela for HM, Bangle: Kate Rohde at Edition X

In Uncategorised

Art Inspires Fashion: Jeff Koons

4th November 2012 13 Comments

Jeff Koons, fashion, inspired, Maison Margiela

Earrings: Kate Rohde seen at Edition X, Jacket:Karl seen at Net-A-Porter,
Bow: The Velvet Village seen at Etsy, Top: Steffen Schrout seen at Stylebop, Skirt: Asos, Belt: Asos,
Shoes: Nasty Gal, Clutch: Maison Margiela for HM (available 15.11.12), Bangles: Kate Rohde seen at Edition X

Because you loved the first Art Inspires Fashion post about H.R. Giger so much, I am delighted to present you the next and very different one: Let’s enter the world of Jeff Koons!

Jeff Koons is an American artist, probably most famous for his sculptures in stainless steel with mirror finish surface. Especially the huge balloon dogs he made can’t be overseen. They have become monumental icons of modern art. Koons’ work is colourful, fun and always on the border between kitsch and cult. Beauty and innocence are issues of many of his pieces as well as sexuality. I think he is one of the artists, reaching people not at all involved into art as well as art geeks. Most of his art pieces look joyful and happy-go-lucky, all of them are a visual blast. You will always have a heart full of colours and a smile on your face after visiting a Jeff Koons exhibition.

Of course the outfit fitting to art like this needs to be colourful and metallic: The multi-coloured sequin skirt (Asos) reminds me colourwise of the Tulips Koons made (see picture below). Combined with a shiny turquoise top (Stylebop), a golden jacket (Net-A-Porter) and a star belt (Asos), the outfit is as joyful as Koons’ art.

Have you ever seen Koons’ shiny egg shell sculptures? There is a resemblance between them and this shoes (Nasty Gal). The pink shiny handbag (Maison Margiela for HM) could have been made by Koons himself and it’s a good idea to combine it with a bow in the same colour (Etsy). Last but not least the jewellery: The bangles and earrings are made of jelly and designed by amazing Australian artist Kate Rohde (can be bought at Edition X). With its bubbly shapes this jewellery reflects very well the artificiality and playfulness seen in Koons work.

Now your Koons outfit is complete! Ready for going to the museum?
Is there a special artist you would love to see an inspired by outfit here in the future?

Jeff Koons, Tulips, 2004, Hannover (Source: Wikipedia)

In Uncategorised

Art Inspires Fashion: H.R. Giger

4th October 2012 11 Comments

Jacket: Gareth Pugh seen at The Corner, Clutch: Boohoo, Crow Skull Necklace: Tenebris,
Fishnet Tights: Jonathan Aston seen at Tightsplease, Spike Headband: Etsy, Bodysuit: American Apparel,
Skirt: Asos, Diamond Claw Rings: Ebay, Bone Heel Shoes: Ebay

I am very pleased to introduce a new category of posts to my blog: Art inspires fashion. I had this idea while visiting a Jeff Koons exhibition a few weeks ago. Without thinking about a connection to the artist and his work I chose a very colourful outfit. At the exhibition it happened, that a group of visitors mistook me for a piece of art, while I was admiring a sculpture. Because of this little encounter I realized that I always try to choose a fitting outfit when I visit an exhibition and came up with this new post category. I hope you are as exited as I am.

To start with, I would like to present you a H.R. Giger inspired outfit. Giger is a Swiss artist and designer. His most popular work is the set and creature design for Ridley Scott’s movie “Alien”. His paintings are surrealistic, but he has a different approach to surrealism than Magritte or Dali as example. Giger’s work is very dark, the fusion of technology and human flesh is omnipresent and a lot of sex and erotic happens in his often huge airbrush-paintings. Without repeating himself or getting boring he created one after one art pieces (and I think he is still doing it) showing new visuals from a world full of terror and darkness.

So, how could an outfit look, inspired by this artist? I’ve visited his museum in Switzerland recently and got inspired. For sure is that the whole outfit has to be very dark or completely black. Many of Giger’s creatures (no matter if human or alien or something between) do wear fishnet stockings (Tightsplease) on their breathtaking long legs and always very high heels. So this two things are musts as well. When I found this bone heel shoes I knew they would be perfect. While the bone boots (Ebay) are the most extreme piece in the outfit, every piece has a little bit of edginess: The sexy body (American Apparel) shows scandalously much skin and is paired with a shiny wet look skirt (Asos). The jacket (Gareth Pugh, seen at The Corner) has an extremely broad collar which makes something like a tiny body shape transformation if you wear it.

Last but not least the accessories, all of them kind of creepy or spiky: An adorable spike clutch (Boohoo), a bird skull necklace (Tenebris), claw fingerings (Ebay) and of course a headband with spikes (Etsy). Now your Giger outfit is complete!

I do hope Giger would like this outfit and say that it fits in the world he paints.

What do you think?

In Uncategorised

Fashion Mexicana

9th February 2012 No Comments

Während es draussen eisig kalt ist, erfreuen uns die Bilder von den neuen Frühlings/Sommerkollektionen. Dieses Jahr haben sich einige Designer vom mexikanischen Flair inspirieren lassen. Bunte Farben, auffällige Muster, die extravagante Frida Kahlo und fröhliche Skelette bringen eine geballte Ladung romantische Lebensfreude in den Kleiderschrank.

Vielleicht entspringt dieser Trend der Sehnsucht nach mehr Wärme und Fröhlichkeit im grauen Alltag. Was kann da ein besseres Vorbild sein als Mexiko, wo sogar der Tag der Toten (Dia de los Muertos) ein farbenprächtiges Fest der Freude ist?

Natürlich sind auch Accessoires sehr wichtig für diesen Look. Zum Outfit gehören auf jeden Fall Blumen ins Haar und der Schmuck darf ruhig opulent sein. Das englische Schmucklabel Tatty Devine hat gleich seine ganze Kollektion dem Mexikothema gewidmet. Von der Frida Kahlo Brosche, über die Papageien-Kette und bunt verzierte Totenköpfen ist hier alles zu finden für das perfekte Mexiko-Outfit. Damit steht der ausgelassenen Fiesta nichts mehr im Wege.

Wer noch nicht genügend inspiriert ist, sollte sich den Film “Frida” mit Salma Hayek als Frida Kahlo schnappen und dem Zauber von Mexiko total erliegen!

Links zu den abgebildeten Mexikoschätzen:
Tatty Devine
Navyboot
Vivien of Holloway
House of Holland
Mara Hoffman