s u p e r s a t u r a t e d

update: Santa Fe

caradefabio — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:24:50 +0000

Can’t get to New Mexico? Take a stroll over to 375 Valencia, better known as the local roaster de jour, Four Barrel Coffee. The rustic industrial interior makes a great home to John Trenholm Abrahams new show Mountain of Nature.

Natural wood peaks through the native geometric patterns that are the focal point of the Santa Fe trend. Abrahams does a lovely job of mixing hot colors with the cool majesty of nature. Check out kewlio’s flickr set of the complete show, which is up at Four Barrel until the 15th of April.

update: UV color

caradefabio — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:59:36 +0000

from the 2009 New York Toy Fair…

Divagalactica

caradefabio — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:16:11 +0000

From the top of the pop charts this week come two videos with one aesthetic, hereby dubbed: divagalactica. Marked by strong shoulders, robotic accessories, high-cut legs and even higher stilettos, the videos exist in a future where women yield their cyborg sexuality as a weapon.

Beyoncé, aka Sasha Fierce, her booty-bouncing cash-hustling alter ego, has gotten quite a bit of press for the fashion parade that is “Diva”. The wardrobe is ripped from the runways, heavily relying on futurist Gareth Pugh for the constructed silhouette. The fringe sunglasses that she sports are rivaled in robo-glamor and dysfunction only by Lady GaGa’s screen specs.

Known for her consistently outrageous looks, Lady GaGa designs many of her own outfits, as seen in her video for “Poker Face”. The shoulder padded leotard theme continues, this time in candy colors. She is particularly fond of latex, trotting about town in custom cut suits. The latex look is the first to cross over into street culture, almost entirely thanks to American Apparel’s wet look leggings that can be seen at clubs across the country.
Indeed, latex seems to be everywhere, finding it’s newest poster girl in Silk Spectre II from this week’s number one box office blockbuster, Watchmen. The movie adaptation of the beloved graphic novel has been scrutinized by true blue comic fans, who undoubtedly have taken note of her new threads. Set in the 80’s, the plunging black lines and leg-liberating cut are dead-on diva.
In fact the superhero roots of the divagalactica trend can’t be ignored. Beyoncé reportedly fell for designer Thierry Mugler’s retro robo looks after attending the superhero themed gala at the Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute last year. She’s tapped the designer to create a wardrobe for her upcoming world tour that kicks off this month.

Attack of the 90′s Supermodel

caradefabio — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:11:21 +0000

The year was 1990, the song on the radio was Freedom, and George Michael was bringing us from the sexy simplicity of a bad boy in blue jeans to the new sex icon of the time: the supermodel. The video for the song was a who’s who of the runway, boasting Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Tatiana Patitz and Linda Evalgelista. It’s hard to believe that these women were at the height of their careers close to twenty years ago. Hard to believe, because they are landing some impressive campaigns this year.
Open any fashion magazine and you’ll find Linda Evangelista’s bold features set against Prada’s lace suits, or the statuesque Stephanie Seymour for Valentino. Of the lot, YSL comes out on top with a towering and nearly unrecognizable Claudia Schiffer echoing the unmistakable geometry of the Hollywood sign behind her. In fact, YSL may be credited with starting the trend when they used Naomi Campbell last season.
Could these brands be looking to reinforce the confidence of their sales base by using older models? Or maybe they are reading our desires to flashback to more prosperous economic times, when models wouldn’t get out of bed for less than $10,000, and celebrity was left to the professionals.

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color: UV

caradefabio — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 02:50:51 +0000

As the fluorescent trend hits full throttle, designers are looking for ways to push the colors even further. This spring, they’ve done just that, amping up the colors by turning out the lights. Black light, or UV light, once popularized in psychedelic smoke shops and Roger Moore era Bond movies, has been used in three major fashion campaigns this season. Two of these, the Louis Vuitton Stephen Sprouse and DKNY, are both nostalgia campaigns, employing the device to point back twenty years to the heart of the trend. Beyond the hot colors we are familiar with, there is a striking addition to the black light palette: blue. It is the very color of the UV light itself, at once deep and electric, blue and purple, which contrasts the familiar fluorescents, and breathes new life into the palette.

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Do You Know the Way to Santa Fe?

caradefabio — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 03:11:10 +0000

If you hadn’t already guessed from the fleets of Minnitoka moccasins scurrying around this winter, the latest ethnic aesthetic to be co-opted by the fashion world is native to the land.
Now that it’s again safe to wear your American pride, it makes sense we would turn to indigenous prints that recall the romance we once felt for the land (ironically captured in the aesthetic of the culture we crushed to get that land)
Much of what’s on the market can be traced back to the classic American wool house, Pendleton, who has collaborated with two heavy hitters this season. On the heels of Nike’s Pendleton pack for Fall, Opening Ceremony launched their apparel collaboration which sets the traditional blanket patterns against Americana plaids. Just a few Months later, heritage outdoor label, Penfield, revealed their FA 09 offerings at the Bread and Butter show, including a woolen print easily mistaken for the Pendleton weaves.

Stella Bugbee’s take on the trend is unexpected, decorative and functional. Navaglow Tape comes in three different patterns and is a great way to freshen up reused packaging. And speaking of packaging, the trend appears yet again on the cover of MGMT’s 2008 dance sensation, Oracular Spectacular.

As we move into Spring and Summer, look to see the bold patterns stick, as the colors transition to 90’s pastels, where lavender and turquoise become dominant. Think ‘Saved by the Bell’ opening sequence.

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Six Degrees of Bacon

caradefabio — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 02:01:36 +0000

The recent wave of baconmania has overcome the Internet with the same undeniable, consuming aroma of the classic breakfast side. This month, San Francisco will see the first ever Baconcamp, a day long celebration of the beloved belly meat, with all proceeds going directly to the American Heart Association. Wondering about your hometown bacon festivals? Consider downloading the Bacon News iphone app. Bacon cuff links, bacon blogs, scented bacon suits; someone even tried to knit bacon ( yes it’s possible) While grabbing my morning cup of coffee at Dynamo donuts the other day, I was greeted by arguably the most imaginative breakfast pastry; their bacon maple donut. The most far reaching example of this craze was the nearly viral “bacon explosion” recipe. Fueled by it’s Superbowl appeal in January, it finally ended up the subject of a New York Times article towards the end of the month ( note ironic nytimes health banner at top of page). The unimaginable excess of a bacon lattice wrapped around pork sausage stuffed with, you guessed it, more bacon, is audacious in it’s fat content and it’s architecture. It’s America’s favorite sin on a plate. Gluttony (you thought it was greed? Think of the masses) embodied. And where as in the past, you might have sprung for t-bone steaks or spare ribs, bacon is lean on the wallet and relatively recession friendly. I haven’t done the math, but you might even be getting more fat per dollar than any other food product. Hopefully Michael J Nelson did his arithmetic. As we speak, he is engaging in a month long, bacon only diet, a la Morgan Spurlock. You can follow his ‘Month o’ Bacon on Rifftrax.com
Comfort food in America’s time of need. Let’s just hope the gym membership is still in the budget.

This just in: Baconnaise
I think I’m going to be sick

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