Ispirazioni E Visioni, Salvatore Ferragamo Museum, 27 May 2011 to 12 March 2012

The exhibition currently taking place in the Palazzo Spini Ferroni in Florence displays some of the most iconic and interesting pieces ever created by Salvatore Ferragamo, since the brand's creation in 1927. 99 shoes created by Ferragamo between the 20s and the 50s can be found along 6 rooms, some of them paired with hats created by Stephen Jones, a british designer, or pieces from other artists. 

 

 

It was impossible to take pictures but the website of the museum shows some of the models on display, and I was able to recreate some of them by drawing – I let you judge of the quality!

Here are some of the shoes which I found most impressive:

 Sandal prototype, 1930, kid upper and pyramidal heel

 

 

1936, kid and canvas upper decorated by patchwork embroidery. 
Octogonal cork heel lined with kid.

  

                              Source: www.museoferragamo.it

 Sandal, 1938, cork heel and platform sole covered with suede. 

The model was created for Judy Garland.

1939, suede and kid upper. Cork wedge heel covered with suede and kid.

Sandal, 1939 – 1940, velvet and kid upper. 

Wood high heel and “flat through” sole covered with kid.

Cork platform sole covered with kid.

 

                                                                                                                              Source: www.museoferragamo.it

 Sandal, 1956, 18 Karat gold upper

Decolleté, 1959, Black suede with kid lining. 

The shoes were created for Marilyn Monroe.

                                           Source: www.vogue.it

1947, kid and vinyl upper, wood wedge heel covered with kid.

 Sandal, 1939, kid upper, cork platform sole covered with bakelite and kid. 

Bakelite heel.

This is one of the hats created by Stephen Jones, which was displayed with the Ferragamo shoes:

 2010, “je ne sais quoi”, “ABC” collection, London.  

Straw and satin cocked hat.

Dans la vie SS12, 18th September 2011, London Fashion Week

On Sunday, the 18th of September, Rira Sugawara presented the Spring Summer 2012 collection of her brand "Dans la vie", under the catwalk title "My pop Madonna"

Background: 

Rira Sugawara is a Japanese designer who studied at Waseda university, and initially learned design printing. She later used this method to create clothes under the brand "Dans la vie" from 2000 onwards. She now uses her own prints, inspired from japanese animated movies and described as Pop Art. She is currently a member of the council of fashion designers Tokyo

The Spring Summer 2012 collection consists mainly of dresses / skirts and short jackets, in four main sets: three different PVC sets with prints in flashy colours (yellow, red and orange) and one set of more classical clothes using cotton and tulle. The whole show was completed by several pop musics in a row, starting with Madonna and finishing with Lady Gaga.
  

                              

                                 

                                              

                             

                            

Izmaylova SS12, 18th September 2011, London Fashion Week

On Sunday Izmaylova presented their collection at the Vauxhall Fashion Scout in Freemason's Hall, in the trendy district of Covent Garden

Background: 

Designers Nathanael Gam (French) and Antonina Izmaylova (Russian, studied at the Chelsea College of Art & Design, and later at Central St Martin) created the luxury brand Izmaylova in 2010. Most pieces are representative of the russian luxury standards, with high-end laser cuts on leather dresses, feathers and Swarovski crystals as ornaments.

The Spring Summer 2012 Collection showed the ability of Izmaylova to create a proper atmosphere in accordance with the brand's image, with sounds and scenes of the Orient Express arriving just before the models started the catwalk. The designers used all the different tones of brown and orange, even gold, for the numerous pieces, staying consistent with the elegant theme chosen, yet creating very modern shapes representing the ideal of today's stylish and independent women. Most dresses were made of luxury materials such as silk, satin, leather and feathers, incorporating Swarovski elements here and there.

                    

                                

                            

                            

Fashion Fringe, 17th September 2011, London Fashion Week

On saturday the 17th September in the evening, the Fashion Fringe took place at the 8 Northumberland in Covent Garden.

Background:

The Fashion Fringe is a platform event for emerging talents, taking place every year during the September London Fashion Week. Three graduates participate to the final competition for a prize consisting of cash, catwalks and showroom space. This year the decision panel was constituted of five judges: Anne Pitcher (Managing Director of Selfridges UK), Bel Jacobs (Metro style editor), Claudia Schiffer (Top Model), Roland Mouret (Designer) and Roy Peach (London College of Fashion).

            

                                                  

The three brands presented this year included:

 Fyodor Golan
Golan Frydman (Israel) studied at the Istituto Marangoni. Fyodor Podgorny (Latvia) graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp

                  
                  

Heidi Leung

Heidi (Singapore) studied at Central St Martin  

                  

                   

        

Nabil El-Nayal

 Nabil (Syria) studied at Manchester School of Art

                  

                  

         

 The Fashion Fringe Award was given to Fyodor Golan