Jasmology

I am bored to tears with all those hyper-starched, tailored clothes which seem to be more like cardboard than cloth.  Looks which come matched  with 50s hair styles drenched in spray where each strand has been backcombed so much that the hair ends up looking completely frazzled, yet standing erect to attention.  The catwalk seems to be in a continuous loop, referencing those period styles which the television series Mad Men re-ignited in the collective imagination.  I want to nudge things in another direction, what about our inner goddess?

Kirsten Dunst on the red carpet in Cannes ( promoting the film “On The Road”) inspired me to take action.

Photo curtesy of SGP

First, let’s take a look through mythical time to see what a goddess could be. Most obvious would be to look towards the Pre-Raphaelites, but I personally have a penchant for William Adolphe Bouguereau when I want to imagine what a “goddess” should look like.

THE HAIR

The Birth Of Venus

by William Adolphe Bouguereau

Musee D’Orsay, Paris

People usually reserve goddess hair for wedding days but I think it could  definitely be used everyday

This is the image from my bedroom window.  Behind this quaint quintessentially Italian vista, a piazza, a cluster of dusty pastel houses that lie behind a roman arch looms a forbdding umbrealla of towerblocks, whose mirrored panels suddenly make me feel that I am living on the equator, and who now block out the snow peaked alps which made my spirits rise when the Milanese smog haze abated.

Last Thursday I decided to take a trip to Florence from my country house in Tuscany. The whole trip was a upheaval from start to finish. The amount of speed cameras along highway there (the FI-PI-LI) had mushroomed – and I could not help myself from getting charged up (and therefore pushing the accelerator pedal down) from my Rihana blasts on the sound system – which all meant that the poor Gleeks (formally known as “my children”) in the backseat – were subjected to emergency stops every few minutes.

Ok. I will say it once, and I will probably say it a million times again, there are just too many people on in the world, and a lot of those people had decided to go to Florence on that very same day as me. So Florence vision that day was summed up in a mass of swarming bodies. Exhausting!

Florence’s cunning plan to this obvious overpopulation problem, is to turn it into their positive, and squeeze as many of these car driving tourists out. Those who naively think that they can simply drive into the centre are sucked dry from fines given to their car rentals by millions of city cameras perched all over the city keeping a close eye at those number plates. You simply can’t drive in – unless you pre-fix it with your hotel.

I was unable to put my finger on the unsettling feeling that this caused me until I saw the Monocle podcast covering the Prix Pictet

Last Thursday I decided to take a trip to Florence from my country house in Tuscany.  The whole trip was a upheaval from start to finish.  The amount of speed cameras along highway there (the FI-PI-LI) had mushroomed – and I could not help myself from getting charged up (and therefore pushing the accelerator pedal down) from my Rihana blasts on the sound system – which all meant that the poor Gleeks (formally known as “my children”) in the backseat – were subjected to emergency stops every few minutes.

Ok. I will say it once, and I will probably say it a million times again, there are just too many people on in the world, and a lot of those people had decided to go to Florence on that very same day as me.  So Florence vision that day was summed up in a mass of swarming bodies. Exhausting!

Florence’s cunning plan to this obvious overpopulation problem, is to turn it into their positive, and squeeze as many of these car driving tourists out.  Those who naively think that they can simply drive into the centre are sucked dry from fines given to their car rentals by millions of city cameras perched all over the city keeping a close eye at those number plates.  You simply can’t drive in – unless you pre-fix it with your hotel.

If you chance on a Milanese, more likely than not you will find that they often come with a year-round mandatory tan.

Serious sun ray exposure is a must

(credit to weekends away: winter = ski, summers = beach bathing).

So, sunglasses are serious business in Italy.

Day or night, rain or shine glasses are worn on everyday people with a flamboyant confidence that we would usually expect to only find on veteran starlettes.

Miu Miu S/S 2013

Rasior Sunglasses

Miu Miu S/S 2014

50s-retro

Tom Ford

Tom Ford S/S 2011

Olivia Palermo in Elizabeth and James

Celine

Celine Papillion F/W 2013

Prada

Tom Ford’s “Anouk”

I agree, that yes, glasses can instantly make anyone look much more alluring, and superstar-I-need-downtime-from-my-fans-mysterious , but in my case as I am hopeless at taking myself too seriously in the glamour department, my eyepieces need to come with a twist – something kookie and vintage is my call. For me Tom Ford‘s Anouk cat’s eyes do the trick.

Something Even More Edgy

Tom Ford ‘Nikita’ Cat Eye glasses, S/S 2010 eyewear campaign

Tom Ford ‘s NICO from the SILMO 2009 collection

OPTICAL CONTOURS THROUGH TIME The cat’s eye shape first became popular in the 1950s and 1960s, before this it was all about the bug-eye glasses of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.

From Left: Marilyn Monroe, 1967 in Bug Eyes; Audrey Hepburn style icon immortalizing the Cat Eye style; Dame Edna(Barry)Still refusing to let go of this enduring style

When Audrey Hepburn‘s used of the “cat’s” in the 1961 her film Breakfast at Tiffany’s the new trend started.

Suddenly they were seen on everyone, from Marilyn Monroe, Barbara Windsor, Dinah Manoff, Mary Whitehouse, Amy Lame, and then much later, Barry Humphries. Dame Edna (Barry) Still refusing to let go of this enduring style

The upturned comma at the edge became a seminal look for Dame Edna. She faithfully continues to make this eye glass shape part of her signature style. Tom Ford realised that he had stuck gold with this feline shape, so he has continued with the Cats Eye, playing and evolving its shape.

Money can buy you anything, but the ability to style interior environments that are both chic and yet relaxed, and informal is down to innate talent and Florence based interior designer/architect Michele Bonan is someone particularly skilled at creating these types of environments, and  is one of the few interior designers who have managed to break onto the global arena with a signature, fresh contemporary style. To date Bonan is mostly celebrated for the  work he has done with the Ferragamos (The Lungarno Collection) , the JK Place hotels in both Capri, and Florence ( and soon, Rome. too) and Casa Tua

Jas spoke to the designer to find out how his Florentine background has influenced the way he works

Q: As you live in Florence is this town the DNA to your style?

A: Florence is bursting with artisans – that have skills that the rest of the world envy us for. I have a huge respect for their work. Just going for a short walk in this city leaves you full of inspiration. Few know this but the original inspiration for Emilio Pucci’s bold graphics originally came from Florence’s Duomo.

, Emilio PUccis Bold Graphics, lines, Florentine gothic, Duomo Florence

Florence Duomo, Emilio Pucci’s Bold Graphics, Detail Florence Duomo

Q: What are your favourite spots in Tuscany ?

A: I have no specific place, for me each small town, each little street inspires me

Q: How has the landscape of Tuscany influenced your style?

A: Well, this is hard to answer it depends on the project, and not Tuscany as such. I approach each project as a puzzle, I look at the location but more importantly I need to understand the client and his needs in a deep and meaningful way. When we come to a project we have to work with the client’s objects that may not fit with my aesthetic but we always have to find a way of working with them, and enriching what they are and how they are presented Having said that, I am Tuscan by birth and I know it intimately. What I can say is that each particular location has its own “materials” , this always needs to be taken into account and respected for example; In Umbria…., while on the border of Tuscany/Lazio there is Cotto/Travetino, by the sea in Forte dei Marmi there’s marble. Secondly it’s important to understand what others did through history. And finally there is my own personal elecletic style

14 Italian chefs were asked to prepare their dishes inspired by the art of pictorial painting. These compositions where then placed on a transparent “canvas” and then photographed by Alfonso Catalano.

The transparent canvas upon which the ingredients where placed turned the works into translucent paintings.

We talked to Alfonso about this project:

Q. Can you tell me a little about you? Describe yourself in 3 words.

A. Versatile, curious and ironic.

Q.   How do your approach the idea of photographing food?

A. I am not known as a ” food” photographer per se.  My general approach is to always use original ideas and techniques to express an idea.

Chef Enrico Cerea

Q.   What do look for when taking a picture?

A. When I make the photo I pay a lot of attention to the composition. In general to the border of an image. I always ensure that an image has to contain a balanced between its aesthetic value and  the need to illustrate the content in a clear way.

Q. If there are any pointers that you could give an aspiring food photographer what would they be?

A. To keep grounded while  and to taking risks and being tough. In my career I have seen many “one hit wonders” – that try, find things to much of a challenge and then give up.  If you have to make a living as a photographer, you have to remember that it is a demanding job that requires a lot of perseverance and self-sacrifice.  The efforts are bearable if you are motivated by a deep passion.

Q. Can you talk about the conceptual process in representing the tastes of food in your pictures?

A. For Colortaste my inspiration was the abstract art of the 1900s, and looking at the work of great chefs, their artistic gestures,  such as the  action paintings of Pollock. So I asked the cooks to use ingredients like pure color, to turn their creations into works, their recipes into paintings; evoking the atmosphere of the paintings from the 1900s  to become painters and to see their works as compositions.

I wanted to turn the kitchen into a laboratory; of  a  mixing up of the senses, where taste, sight, smell… it’s a known, in fact, that you eat with your eyes.

Q. Having seen some of your photography work, it makes sense some major influences for you would be painters.  Is there something in particular you’ve taken from each?

A. For Colortaste what inspired me were the greatest exponents of abstraction of 1900s. Painters such as Kandinsky, Mondrian, and then again Lucio Fontana and Jackson Pollock. Finally, in more general terms when considering the play of light, I always think of Caravaggio’s paintings.

Paintings by (from top left to right, from beneath left to right):

1. & 2. – Kandinsky, 3. Piet Mondrian, 4. Pollock

Q. If you had to pick a favorite camera…what would it be?

A. In general, for the enormous versatility, I use cameras with a  small format size ; Normally I go for the the latest Nikon cameras (Nikon D4).  For special commissions I use the medium format cameras (that I use only for particular jobs) its with ‘Digital Dorse Phase One’.

Q. What’s the most fun you’ve had on a set?

A. Photographing the chef Valeria Piccini – during  the various attempts to photograph of her famous “Stuffed Gnocchi”  dish.  In trying to obtain the perfect  “stain” and  taken in  by the force of time, even my jacket turned into a palette.

Dolce&Gabbana, ss 2013

Durability is the new luxury bench mark.  Status labels are not enough, and what screams rich louder than anything?  ”I am so expensive this doesn’t even get to be dry cleaned.”

This phenomenon hit home when I visited the showroom of the current king of  ”absolute luxe” – Brunello Cucinelli where I found a pair of pale beige shoes trimmed with feathers.  These shoes and accompanying price tag that edges towards four digits are one of those items that take “luxury” to the next step to a category called “absolute luxe.”

While my immediate thought is – how do you clean that?  For a few  out there – that limited life span is a non issue – yes, we are not referring to that 1% – but that 0.0001%

Raffia all Round:

Dolce&Gabbana, SS 2013

Brunello Cucinelli, 2012

This is my theory behind the current popluarity of raffia, another material not known for its durability: bend it too much and it will break for sure. For this season Burberry went for it in a big way with spectacular results – but there were a few other companies who deserve a shout out too.

Roberta di Camerino

ON THE STREET

Anna Dello Russo with Paula Cademartori raffia bag

WISH LIST

CLOSE UP

Paula Cademartori

Fall / Winter 12/13

Roberta di Camerino

S/S 2012

Ralph Lauren wedge

ON THE CATWALK

Raffia Dolce and Gabbana dress

IF YOU CAN’T PULL OF A RAFFIA DRESS

Dolce and Gabbana

Burberry bag

Giorgia Surina

at the Burberry Prorsum

AW12 Menswear show wearing Burberry

raffia coat, bag and shoes

Marni,

Woven Collection, Spring Summer 2013

Burberry Prorsum,

spring 2012, trench coat (close up)

Prada,

Raffia clutch, spring 2012