Costumes Parisiens at The Chester Beatty Library

Writing in the Journal des Dames et des Modes, (issue no.11 on 10th September 1912), Lucie Delarue-Mardrus noted: “if it were simply a matter of clothing oneself, fashion would certainly not exist. But it is above all a matter of attiring oneself, and whoever says attire says ornament, and whoever says ornament says art… So, ladies, be stylish. It is a great civic duty. Though Notre-Dame is a cathedral, it is nonetheless une dame. May your exterior be also the cathedral of your soul.”

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The Chester Beatty Library has a wonderful exhibition celebrating this Parisian fashion magazine. Running until March 30th, Costumes Parisiens has almost 150 of the Journal’s unique fashion illustrations. The exhibition is a vivid record of Parisian culture and fashion in the last years of the Belle Époque.

And bringing us bang up to date is Jean Paul Gaultier’s Spring Summer 2014 Haute Couture show in Paris, where he described his inspiration as: “Life is a butterfly! So all the collection is that!”

 

 

 

Tifamade

We love this from Tifamade – sandwiches and cakes on two wheels. Tiffany Iung started delivering sandwiches in and around Paris in 2010 when she was looking for a way to combine her two passions: feeding people and riding her bike.

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It’s homemade food with ingredients carefully chosen from the farmer’s market, all wrapped up in ecological packaging. The sandwiches and cakes are presented in a lovely old suitcase, which is very cute indeed.

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For a cool and quirky alternative closer to home, we love The Cake Cafe in Dublin

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The Panama Legacy – Smythson

To coincide with the launch of the Panama leather goods collection, Smythson has collaborated with young British artist Quentin Jones.

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We paid a visit to the recently refurbished flagship store on Bond Street to check out the exhibition, which consists of a series of ten artworks inspired by the Panama diary. Each of the pieces focuses on an individual high profile figure, from past or present, exploring their relationship with their Panama diary or book. The list of subjects includes Sigmund Freud, Katharine Hepburn, Bryan Ferry, Kylie Minogue and Dita Von Teese.

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In this article in AnOther, Jones talks about her inspiration for creating the collection of artworks

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London Design Festival

A trip to London never fails to inspire and our visit last weekend was no exception. There was lots going on as part of London Design Festival with a programme of over 300 events and exhibitions across the design spectrum.

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In a unique collaboration, Thornback and Peel teamed up with Winter’s Moon to show a range of vintage inspired homewares and mid-century furniture upholstered with their hand-printed fabrics – we love this vintage Ercol day bed upholstered in Pear ivory linen.

As part of the festival, (and for the first time), Karl Lagerfeld carried out an original photographic project for a furniture brand, Cassina

Once again, the V&A was the focal point for all matters festival related, with an exciting array of displays, installations, talks and workshops throughout the museum. Colonial Common, a pop-up bar at The Old Shoreditch Station, had lots of tastings, live music, and food from the likes of Beard to Tail and Anna Mae’s.

And located right outside the Tate Modern, this year’s landmark project, Endless Stair, remains open to the public until October 10th.

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Brown Thomas CREATE

Irish Designers CREATE is a pop-up installation in Brown Thomas Dublin featuring fifteen Irish designers from the world of fashion, accessories, millinery and graphic print and textile design. There’s also a very special curated archival exhibition from Ireland’s famous couturier Sybil Connolly.

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Angela Scanlon For Louis Vuitton

We’ve had the pleasure of working with the lovely Angela Scanlon over the years and it’s great to see her taking London by storm. We’re loving this shoot for the relaunch of Louis Vuitton’s iconic handbag, The Epi Neverfull, in a series of photographs taken around London.

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