Do you fancy a Cinderella shoe?

The story of Cinderella has always been one of my favourite fairy tales.
Now, The Disney studios have made a live-action movie inspired by the classic fairy tale, "Cinderella" It brings to life the timeless images from Disney’s 1950 animated masterpiece .
The Berlin Film festival (5-15th of February) hosted the European premiere of the film . There was an exhibit that gave a look behind the scenes of the production of Cinderella. Here is a link with some pictures.

 

 

To celebrate the release of Cinderella, Disney Consumer Products asked nine designer shoe brands to create their idea of the Cinderella’s glass slipper.
Here they are:

 Alexandre Birman

 Charlotte Olympia

 Salvatore Ferragamo

 Jerome C. Rousseau

 Jimmy Choo

 Nicholas Kirkwood

 Paul Andrew

 René Caovilla

Stuart Weitzman 

Swarovski, produced Ella’s glass slipper for the film under the direction of Academy Award®-winning costume designer Sandy Powell.

The shoes were displayed at an exhibit at the Berlin Film Festival, and will also be on display in early March at Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship store in New York City.

They will be available for order in the following retail stores around the world, as well as in some of the designer brands’ own stores.

• United States – Saks Fifth Avenue (New York and Beverly Hills)
• London – Harrods
• Paris – Galeries Lafayette
• Milan – Excelsior Milano
• Moscow – Tsum
• Tokyo − Isetan Shinjuku
• Dubai – Level Shoe District, The Dubai Mall

And finally, the trailer of the Movie:

 

 

Enjoy!

Warm regards

Kristien

 

The craft of the "Plumassier" .

What is a "Plumassier"?, I asked myself when I heard about the "Birds of Paradise" exhibition.
Here is a blogpost about it.
A Plumassier is an exceptionally talented artist, mastering the art of feather handling and embroidery.  He or she treats, dyes and applies the fragile feathers which frequently embellish haute couture garments and various stage costumes.
In the late 19th century , in Paris , there were more than 300 plumassiers.
Today, there are almost no plumassiers left in Paris, or anywhere else.
Those remaining, are working together with big 'Haute Couture ' houses like Chanel, Givenchy, Nina Ricci, and Jean-Paul Gaultier.

 

Bolero by Nelly Saunier for Gaultier 1997

 

'Maison Lemarié' , founded in 1880, was purchased in 1996 by Chanel.

They have a huge stock of feathers, some of them dating back a century.

 

An original Maison Lemarié shipment box . Inside: exquisitely constructed feather pads and imitation wings from around the 1920s.

 

Exotic birds are protected species now; the remaining stock of these feathers are very precious. They cannot leave France and are only used for unique pieces.

The feathers of swans, peacocks, vultures and ostriches are imported from South Africa.

 

Some examples:

In 2009 Karl Lagerfeld designed a costume worn by prima ballerina Elena Glurdjidze, a senior principal dancer with the English National Ballet. She danced the role of 'The dying Swan'.

The costume required more than 100 hours of work, many of these at Lemarié.

 

 

 

 

 

The dress worn by Nicole Kidman for the Chanel N° 5 Advert:

 

 

 

Alexandre Vauthier dress haute couture autumn - winter 2013-2014

 



 

Want to know more?
Some interesting links:

http://www.lemarie-paris.fr
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2005/jan/28/fashion.hautecoutureshows
http://culturebox.francetvinfo.fr/le-travail-minutieux-des-plumassiers-sublime-les-robes-haute-couture-139463

Enjoy your Easter holidays
Warm regards
Kristien

 

 



Feathers, fashion and art: Birds of paradise.

Last week, an exciting exhibition opened in the fashion museum (MoMu) in Antwerp (20/3 - 24/8/2014):

 

 

"This exhibition is a tribute to the elegance and refinement of the application of plumes and feathers in fashion and haute couture. Through a mixture of 19th-, 20th- and 21st-century accessories, garments and couture dresses, the different characteristics of the various plumes and feathers are highlighted: sophistication, femininity, lightness, wealth, luxury".

Some pictures:

 

Dries Van Noten

 

 Marlène Dietrich's swan's down coat

 

 

 

 

Roger Vivier

 

 

British artist Kate MccGwire makes sculptures with feathers:

 

 



 

Want to see more?

Have a look Here and here: the MoMu facebook page.

Here is a short video:

 



 

"Plume embroidery is typically used in haute couture and evening wear owing to the costliness of the feathers, their elegant form and the technical refinement of feather embroidery. 

The exhibition also covers the craft of the 'Plumassier' and the diverse techniques of feather embroidery."

More about this in my next post.

Enjoy

Kristien

 



 

 



 

 

Sparkling boots.

These are the most expensive boots in the world!

 

The shoes were made for the Business of Design Week in Hong Kong (Dec. 2–7 2013), dedicated this year to Belgian creativity.

They are the result of a collaboration between the Antwerp-based diamond companies Diarough/UNI-Design and A.F. Vandevorst.

A.F. Vandevorst is a Belgian husband-wife fashion design team, An Vandevorst and Filip Arickx.

They launched their first collection in Paris in 1998 after graduating from the Fashion School of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. They are known for their contrasts in fabrics, textures, and colors, often layering silky lingerie-inspired pieces with tailored jackets. Here is the link to their website.

 

An Vandevorst and Filip Arickx designed a pair of black leather ankle boots with a paisley pattern completely covered 1,527 carats of white and natural, champagne, grey and pink colored diamonds from Diarough/UNI-Design. A team of highly skilled craftsmen set all 38,883 diamonds on the boots. The diamonds were placed on the boots , using 4,753 grams of gold. For the A.F.Vandevorst cross-shaped logo, extremely rare reddish pink diamonds have been used.

Her royal highness the Belgian Queen Mathilde witnessed the unveiling of the diamond boots on the 4th of December in Hong Kong, together with 400 VIP guests.

 

 

 

The Belgian queen with the A.F. Vandevorst designers duo.

 

If I may be honest, I don't really like the boots.
Although the paisley pattern and the gems are exquisite; the boots neither look stylish or elegant.

This exclusive pair of boots is for sale!

In case you have size 39 (UK 6, US 8.5) and 2.348.000 euro ($ 3.2 million), they could be yours.

Would you wear these boots?

Have a nice weekend

Kristien

 

Chocolate and fashion.

Le Salon du Chocolat, "A must for the chocoholic".

The "Salon du chocolat" is a huge international festival of the chocolate industry. It's first edition dates back to 1994 in Paris and has since been touring the world.
Belgium is worldfamous for it's chocolate. Now, for the first time, the salon came to Brussels, this past weekend.

1. The highlight of the event was  the world famous chocolate fashion show with stunning couture outfits made and inspired by chocolate, designed by the countries top chocolatiers and some of Belgium's most exciting fashion designers. The outfits were worn live on the catwalk at the Gala preview evening for the show and displayed throughout the event.
Have a look:

 

 

Fashion accessories:

 

 

 

2. There was a 'Choco Demo' area, where well-known Belgian chefs, pastry chefs and chocolate-makers created exceptional recipes , revealing some of the tricks of the trade.

 

 

In the "Chocoland" area children could make biscuits, lollipops , macaroons and chocolate masks.

In the "bookshop area", there was a world of gastronomic litterature where you could have your books signed by the authors.

 

 





3. Magnum , the famous Belgian  ice cream surrounded by chocolate, celebrates its 25th birthday this year and was at the Salon with "The Magnum Pleasure Bar".

 

 

There, you could create a personalised Magnum.

 

 

And there was much, much more...

If you missed Brussels , the Salon will visit Zürich in April , Paris at the end of October and New York in November.

Here is the official website.

Enjoy

Kristien