The Banke Hotel in Paris, an artsy place

Derby Hotels Collection, the prestigious Spanish chain of hotels, opens its first establishment in Paris. A Baroque pearl in a Haussmann-style setting, the Banke Hotel is located just steps from the Palais Garnier and the city's big department stores. Everywhere the previous vocation of the building is evident, right from the medallions on the spandrels of the entrance portico. Formerly the headquarters of a major bank, the building blends opulence with austerity. The heavy wrought-iron doors reinforce the inheritance from the previous century.With its gigantic chandelier and diaphanous vermilion drapes, the vestibule is more evocative of the world of theatre than high finance.
There is an impressive collection of jewelry and contemporary art displayed on every floor of the 94-room hotel, and this aesthetic splendor adds to the atmosphere of refinement so characteristic of the Derby Hotels Collection.

Images courtesy Derby Hotels 

To view more, click on The Banke Hotel- Paris

When Blade Runner meets Splash

Young designer Iris Van Herpen is the grand winner of the Dutch Fashion Awards 2010. Not only did she win the Mercedes Benz Dutch Fashion Award, she was also awarded with the Dutch Fashion Accessory Award and the Dutch Fashion Incubator Award 2010. During the ceremony that took place in the Hague on November 5, Van Herpen showed pieces from "Synthesia" her futuristic collection, and also pieces from her new collection "Crystallization." We could describe her latest collection as "the process of water turning into crystal," breathtaking creations spun from thousands of nylon threads that shimmered like a waterfall of light.....

To view more, click on Iris Van Herpen
Photos courtesy Peter Stigter

Peter Lindbergh: " On Street "

Whether he is photographing Kate Moss or Catherine Deneuve, the melancholy pictures of Peter Lindbergh look behind the star cult, styling and make-up to reveal the individual personality in all its strength. Born in 1944 in Lissa, Poland, Lindbergh grew up in Germany, and currently lives in Paris, Arles and New York. He began photography in 1971 and established himself as an advertising photographer. He is considered to be one of the world's preeminent fashion photographers, particularly in black and white, and is credited with helping create the supermodel phenomenon of the 1990s. As a visual teller of tales, Peter Lindbergh frequently arranges his compositions to resemble famous film scenes from early German cinema or from the free dance of the 1920s.
Despite a Berlin exhibition that made its debut in September and another set for Shanghai next year, Lindbergh is very much rooted in the moment. "Fashion photography has gotten a little lost. There is a lot of carnival going on. The hair has gotten too crazy and the make-up. At the moment, everybody is trying to do young. They have to look young or dress young. Youth is so overdone," he said. "All the advertising and magazine covers today - they don't look like natural women. For me, that's a real pity. There's all this retouching. A little humanity would do good, especially in fashion photography."
WWD, 2010


A large new Peter Lindbergh exhibition " On Street " is currently on view at C/O Berlin Museum, from September 25, 2010 to January 9, 2011.

Kate Moss for Harper's Bazaar, New York, 1994

Mariacarla Boscono, New York, 2008

Monique Olsen for Vogue Italy, NY, 2006

Comme des Garcons, Pont A Mousson Factory, Nancy, France, 1988

Milla Jovovich, Karen Elson for Vogue Italy, Downtown Los Angeles, 2000

Milla Jovovich for Vogue Italy, Downtown L.A, 2000

All images, courtesy Peter Lindbergh and C/O Berlin

To view additional photographs of the exhibition, click on " On Street," Peter Lindbergh.

Holiday Gifts: United Bamboo Cat Calendar 2011

It's holiday season, and December is the month to give and receive.... For the next few weeks, I will occasionally post gift items selected for being unique, lovely and designed to benefit a "good cause."

To promote their cult brand United Bamboo, fashion design duo Miho Aoki and Thuy Pham had the genius idea to recreate their fall and resort collections in miniature for feline models. A casting call with over 100 cats, from which a dozen of the "best looking" were selected to be photographed by Noah Sheldon. Among the winners were a Persian, a Russian Blue and a Maine Coon. This is United Bamboo's second annual charity calendar, which raises money for Animal Haven and Kitty Kind. The twelve images will also be on view at Creatures of Comfort New york starting November 17.

For cat lovers, a 2011 Feline Calendar

Limited edition 12 month calendar featuring beautiful kittens in United Bamboo Ready-to-Wear. Photos by Noah Sheldon. Design by Studio Lin. 13.35" x 10".

Features:
Silver foil panel
12 pages french folded high gloss sheets
Each month blind embossed onto page
Backing board silver foil stamp 2011 months
Butcher paper sleeve with silk-screened number and pattern on back