McQueen and Gaultier- Two Great Designers, Two Great Exhibitions in Two Great Cities

We recently had the privilege of viewing a pair of incredible exhibitions featuring two of the most influential designers of our times....

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It was one of those unforgettable moments, one where you remember where you were and what you were doing; that horrible day when we all heard that Alexander Lee McQueen had left us in such a tragic way…The true visionary and sheer talent that he was, as is unfortunately often the case, finally came to be fully appreciated upon his untimely death.

The vision and talent were re-confirmed when we had the great good fortune to recently see the inspiring show “Savage Beauty” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the white hot universe that was Manhattan on a steamy July week-end.

We had been following Mr. McQueen since his "Bumster Trousers" from one of his early collections right out of Central Saint Martin’s, through his bad boy phase where he would only do interviews with his back to the camera, to his short stay at Givenchy. It was the latter stop where he learned, building upon his strong tailoring background, the softness and fluidity that ultimately remained in many of his best pieces, most recently embodied in the famous Kate Moss hologram.

The beading! The shoes! The head pieces created by Philip Treacy, ever immortalized by that other tragic figure (and Lee’s muse) Isabella Blow. They were all there to see.

The perfect cutting and seaming, which looked like jigsaw puzzles, all sewn to create such  masterpieces. And always in the back of your mind is the question… how on earth could a  pattern ever be made to replicate that which you are beholding?

The ability to see and experience these works of art so closely and personally is truly something that will stay with us for a long time. It is a credit to the curatorial staff that we were indeed able to get so close to these inspiring pieces. Inspiring, as well, was the sense of respect of everyone attending (and there were many of us attending the exhibit the day we were there- some had waited up to two hours to be up front and personal with many of Mr. McQueen’s most iconic pieces.)

In retrospect, this show was a stand out in its beauty and sheer drama, all underscored, of course, by his tragic demise. Dare we say it?: very spiritual...

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Alexander McQueen:”Savage Beauty”

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

Closed August 7^th, 2011

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At the other end of the spectrum, the following week-end found us in Montreal to experience the genius of M. Jean Paul Gaultier.

The theatricality of this show, upon entering the beautiful venue that is Le Musée des Beaux Arts in Montreal, brought a smile to one's face.

The exhibit included the ingenious (and slightly creepy) use of film projected onto the faces of the mannequins so that they actually appeared to be speaking, singing or better yet looking at you, and even at times whistling as you walked by. It was all pure joy.

And it was all there; the bustier made famous by Madonna, his use of denim in the most ingenious ways, through to the ad campaigns for his iconic "parfum".

The trademark and ever present irreverence never overshadowed what a true genius and "créateur" M. Gaultier is. The intricate workmanship and the ingenuity of his craft are never in doubt as the piece below shows:

This "animal pelt" is actually all done by the most intricate of beading...Jaw dropping indeed!

This show was pure delight. One left in awe of the talent, and above all, the joy this Gallic genius has given the world of fashion, and reminded of the extent to which he continues to play a major role in our collective popular culture. 

Bravo, M. Gaultier, Bravo! And as well, to the curatorial staff at the Musée des Beaux Arts in Montreal. Bravo!

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The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier

“From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk”

Musée des Beaux Art de Montréal

Continues till October 2^nd, 2011
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By the time you read this the McQueen exhibit will have closed its New York run. Hopefully it will move on to another venue. The Gaultier show will run in Montreal until mid autumn. We were truly blessed to have experienced first hand these two incredible shows. They will remain with us for some time- a reflection of the true genius of both Alexander McQueen and Jean Paul Gaultier.

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Photo Credits:

McQueen photos 2,4,5- The Metropolitan Museum of Art

McQueen photo 3- The Coincidental Dandy Blog

McQueen photo 6- Fashions Suit blog

Gaultier phot 2- Pierre et Gilles

The Interior Design Show, 2011

Trade Talks
We attended Trade Day at IDS11 on Friday past. (Minds out of the gutters right now, please- you know who you are!!) Trade Day is the day when only professionals get into the show, and there is always a raft of interesting guest speakers talking about their work. This year's lineup was: Thom Mayne, a founder of LA-based architectural company Morphosis; Michael Young, a British- bred Hong Kong- based industrial designer; and Jean-Marie Massaud, a free-thinking multidisciplinary French designer.

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Thom Mayne is a sort of "anti-stylist" whose buildings are shaped by the process of responding to context & program. A hallmark of many of the projects he shared with us is the creation of large amorphic voids of negative interior space, which end up essentially transforming themselves into positive objects. A concern he voiced is that the speed of evolution of ideas has far outstripped our speed of construction, rendering buildings virtually obsolete by the time they are completed. A take-home message for us was his assertion that Cartesian models of order have been exhausted and that the new system of order is biological. This is recognizable in his Pharé Tower in Paris, which is soon to begin construction.

 Image courtesy Morphopedia/ Morphosis Architects

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Michael Young struggled with jet lag to give a coherent talk, but managed to impart his need to be located right  at the source of production in order to thrive. In the same vein as Thom Mayne, he expressed frustration with the time lag between European "idea factories" and Asian production facilities; this is what drove him to decamp to Hong Kong a number of years ago, where he now seamlessly integrates his design process with the development of new manufacturing techniques. Mr. Young is a bit of a "rock star" designer, a man who has become his own brand and therefore brings a marketable caché to his clients. One of his successes is that he has served as a bridge for his Asian clients to access the corridors of coolness in the West. A hallmark project was his transformation of the Giant bicycle company from a solely sports-performance based brand to one that is now equally a lifestyle brand via his Citystorm urban bicycle line.

 Image courtesy designws.com

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 Image courtesy Fine And Rare Blog

Jean-Marie Massaud is a highly entertaining (if somewhat difficult to understand) Frenchman whose real talent seems to be his ability to formulate Big Ideas. Despite unfortunate technology glitches during his lecture his animation saved the day, and the few Big Idea projects we were able to see clearly were impressive in their originality. When hired to design something he knows little about, he heads right back to basics, virtually reinventing the wheel. Rather than assist in the plundering of pristine landscapes for new large scale resorts, he developed a concept for a high tech flying airship resort! And rather than plunk down a huge stadium surrounded by empty parking lots in a poorer area of Guadalajara Mexico, he created a "volcano" in a park that gives the neighbours desirable green space.

 Top image from Dezeen

Lower image courtesy via,fr

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Aside from their all being intricately involved in the lightning-speed world of new ideas, and playing in the huge sandbox that is China, the common element  amongst these three gentlemen struck us as being their outsider personalities. Each has forged an identity and  developed an impressive body of work by following his own non-conforming path. Of course this is not a surprise- this is usually the nature of innovators- but it does provide inspiration on a winter's day away from the office.


The Show

Between speakers we were able to take in the showroom floor. IDS, as opposed to its autumn counterpart IIDEX- Neocon Canada which historically has served the commercial design community, is decidedly residential in its focus. We were surrounded by sleek and sexy kitchen cabinets, outrageous appliances, bathtubs requiring structural floor support, and acres of fireplace concepts. Within this milieu, however, IDS always features up and coming designers in an area called Studio North, and within that a small area called Prototype. This, and another small section devoted to the work of design students, is where we find our interest. Below are some of the pieces that caught our eye.

And outside of all the home appliances, we were struck by a few other stand-out offerings like these beautiful tables and the colourful Guyanese chairs.

The After Party

After the show closed we attended a party in what is to us the city's best new furniture store- Avenue Road. A fabulous space- an old industrial structure given a restrained and tasteful make-over by Yabu Pushelberg- was filled with a superbly edited collection of furniture. Being a key sponsor of Mr. Massaud, Avenue Road prominently featured pieces from his new collection "Glass".

And our hearts raced when we spied these beautiful Brazilian pieces by iconic designer Sérgio Rodrigues.

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So, while not the best roster of speakers to have ever graced their stage, all in all IDS11was a wonderful day of inspiration and a welcome break from the late- January work week! The show is open to the public this weekend and closes this evening at 6:00PM.

IDS10 Toronto

We recently attended Trade Day at the Interior Design Show here in Toronto. This show always manages to bring some amazing talent to town to inspire us in the middle of winter. The three outstanding "Trade Talks" speakers were the highlight of the day.

Joshua Prince-Ramus of the New York architectural practice REX kicked things off with a call to arms on the need to power through real-world impediments to creativity (little things like clients and budgets). Along the way, he showed us some remarkable work.

Nipa Doshi described how her native India is inspiring the work at Doshi Levien, her design partnership in London, and how not everyone needs to use a computer to draw.

Jaime Hayon took us on a laughter- filled romp through his prolific mind & the zany pieces he has gifted to the world of decorative arts.

Doshi Levien sofa for Moroso

Jaime Hayon urn (?) for Spanish porcelain manufacturer Lladró

Gracious seat & table from Ministry of the Interior

Klaus by nienkamper: fabulous stuff, as always

MotI pavilion, best of the rest in "The Ultimate" Concept Spaces exhibit

As is often the case, the strongest part of the actual show was the Studio North & Prototype exhibit area, featuring many up & coming Canadian designers. Elsewhere, there were more fireplaces, plumbing fixtures and kitchens than you could shake a stick at. (This is, after all, the more residential sister to Neocon IIDEX held in the autumn) We felt that the Concept Spaces exhibit, entitled "The Ultimate" was pretty weak this year...but hey, that's just us.