I LOVE IT...

    Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo

Icona Pop are a Swedish DJ electro house duo formed in 2009 with Electro House, Punk and Indie Pop music influences, conformed by  Caroline Hjelt and Aino Jawo, who grew up in Stockholm.

Their biggest hit has been "I Love It", written by Patrik Berger, Linus Eklöw and Charlotte Aitchison, also known as Charli XCX.

The duo received international attention following their debut single "Manners", which was released by Neon Gold on FrenchKitsune Music, and the extended-play album Nights Like This on English Mercury Records.

Since September 2012, the duo have been based out of Los Angeles, California, and New York City, New York.

"I love it" was the opening and the anthem of the 20th Top Model of the World contest,  and... I love it.

THE MOST FADDISH BEAUTY PAGEANT IN... الجونة

  El GOUNA...

      This photo of El Gouna is courtesy of TripAdvisor

The last March 26, I went to Egypt on a Travel unexpected to a heavenly place called El Gouna, (meaning in Arabic: الجونة, the lagoon), a tourist resort, developed and owned by Sawiris’s Family, Eng. Samih Sawiris and Orascom Hotels and Development, dating from about 1990, and located on the Red Sea, in the Red Sea Governorate of Egypt, 22 km north of Hurghada International Airport.

In this beautiful place there are three centralized areas, housing shops, bars and restaurants: Downtown, Tamr Henna square and the Abu Tig Marina. 

El Gouna has 18 hotels, some of which were designed by the American architect Michael Graves, with 2,895 rooms rated from one star to five stars; a six star hotel is currently under development next to the Abu Tig Marina Extension.

I was invited to be a judge of the preliminary competition by the World Beauty Organization (WBOEUROPE), to select the semi-final group of beautiful girls that came with a dream of become the new Top Model of the World 2013. www.topmodeloftheworld.com

I stayed 4 days in the spectacular Movenpick Hotel, time enough to feel the hospitality and friendship of the staff of the Hotel, the place that served as headquarters for the 47 beautiful contestants who came from all over the world to get this title, a place that received the retinues, national directors, the professional choreographer who did an amazing work, assistants from every countries, judges and organizers of the event; the Beauty pageant that had been, masterfully conducted, for over 20 years by Mr. Detlef Tursies, the same that conducing the prestigious Miss Intercontinental contest.  www.missintercontinental.com

The winner of the 20th version was the stunning Colombian model, Monica Palacios, 6,2 tall (1.88), a bilingual girl with perfect measurements, and who represented the Caribbean. The first runner-up was Anthonia Isaiah Inara, a beautiful black girl from Gulf of Guinea, (everybody knows that I love the Ebony beauties), the second runner-up was Taynaz Burcu from Turkey; the Canadian Savanagh Walker and the Ukrainian Ganna Zhadan, complemented the final frame.

                                      Monica Palacios the new Top Model Of the World 2013

The preliminary event and the final gala were outdoors in a beautiful place called Marina 2. The presenter was the singer Keith Tynes, former member of the legendary Group “The Platters" world famous for his hit: "Only You" who, with his powerful and beautiful voice was the entertainment of the night. Watch details of the great night in the following video:

It was a great experience, an spectacular beauty festival, full of colors, sun, sea, history , fashion and glamour, in a paradisiacal place, surrounded for Jet-set personalities and with the most beautiful models, becoming the most 'faddish' pageant around the world.

See more information about the Top Model of the World pageant at: www.topmodeloftheworld.com

A TOUCH OF WARHOL...

Andy Warhol (1928-1987), was an American artist who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as Pop Art. His work explore the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture and advertisement that flourished by the 1960s.  After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became a renowned and sometimes controversial artist. 

Although best known for his silkscreen paintings, Andy Warhol was also an excellent draughtsman. Drawing was a constant part of his artistic practice. It was just this, his 'early work', the subject that, current creative Dior designer, Raf Simons chose like a leitmotif for his Fall 2013 Ready to wear collection, and that  he did under an agreement with the artist's foundation.

The Andy Warhol Museum in his native city, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, holds an extensive permanent collection of art and archives. It is the largest museum in the Unite States dedicated to a single artist.

Andy Warhol early work:

Parker Tyler, the American author, poet and film critic, in Art News, December 1956, pointed out that Warhol’s shoes were fetishes. Shoes are one of Warhol's most frequently used motifs. Even before he began his illustrious career in Pop art, Warhol loved shoes and much of his early work was drawings of shoes. He did a whole collection of Diamond Dust shoe pieces.

Hand and Flowers, ca.1957. Offset lithograph and watercolor on paper Sheet Size 14 1/4 x 10 inches. 

Dior Collection:

Against a dreamy futuristic background of cloudy blue skies and  silvered spheres mirroring the idea of artistic clouds hanging across the room, that reflected models as they walked by the backdrop, Christian Dior presented their stunning Fall/Winter 2013/ 2014 Ready-To-Wear Collection.

While still respecting 'the codes' (Dior codes), Raf Simons with his particular surrealist style showed off a mix of reflective silhouettes, accentuating the waist, evoking the 'Bar' suit, but without neglecting the rectangle silhouette characteristic of the 20s.

Silhouettes that were moving between elegant tailoring, remembering the 'corolla line' (1947), but more morbids, and with less obvious construction, in the cloth coat dressing with the tuxedo style black lapels, and coats with a sash tie, very...very Dior, passing by a fully crocheted outfits, with winding peplum, and mix of textures like crochet with houndstooth, where the strapless neckline is the protagonist, in the surrealist bodices, touching leather textures, up to get a series of beautiful and very wearable languid chiffon dresses.

The predominant neutrals colors palette: black, gray, and white are beautifully contrasted with tones and tints like red, pink and ivory.

A focal point are the monochromatic high heels, in contrasting or prints, to underscore a very cool indented/reverse/half heel, complemented with monochromatic hand bags decorated with Warhol's shoes.

In this collection I saw Simons, more belonging to a Dior house.

Enjoy the collection...

THE "FORD"...

"For whom are you in mourning Mademoiselle?" Paul Poiret asked Chanel. "Why, for you, Monsieur" she answered.

Prior to the 1920s black was often reserved for periods of mourning, But when in 1926 Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel published a picture of a short, simple black dress in American Vogue, the story changed. This dress made it, of black crepe de chine, knee- length and decorated only by a few diagonal lines, was comfortable and accessible for women of all social classes.

Vogue called it "Chanel's Ford", because its mass appeal rivaled that of the Model T, (The car produced by Henry Ford's Motor Company from September 1908 to October 1927).

                                     Henry Ford pictured with the Model T 

Vogue also said that the 'little black dress' would become "a sort of uniform for all women of taste".

The little "Ford" dress by Coco Chanel

After his publication in Vogue, the critics sneered at everything from its cut to its color, with rival designer Elsa Schiaparelli going so far as to dismiss the design as "widow's weeds", but the infallible Chanel brought the color black out of mourning away from the clergy, turning it into the very essence of Parisian chic. And yet "women immediately started wearing it," says Pamela Golbin, 20th-century curator of the Louvre's Museum of Fashion and Textiles".

Sketch of Coco Chanel wearing the 'Ford' dress, by Karl Lagerfeld current Creative Director of Chanel.

Since the famous little "Ford" dress created for Coco Chanel, every self-respecting couturier and fashion designer has brought out their own version, but the little black dress legend started with the little 'Ford' dress.

Mademoiselle Chanel's maxim: "A woman who doesn't wear a little black dress is a woman without a future".

THE 'GONDOLAS' CITY...

Last year I wrote twice in this blog about Medellin, the Colombia's second largest city, first when she was selected in a group of 25 cities including Hong Kong, Sao Paulo and Toronto, and the second time when she was placed among the top three most innovative cities, just behind Tel Aviv in Israel and New York in U.S., in a yearly contest run and sponsored by Citi, and the Marketing Services Department of  Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Magazine that teamed up with, the nonprofit organization, Urban Land Institute (ULI)  to award to a city, wherever in the world, the title of "Most Innovative City of 2012 ".

I am proud to mention that Medellin, the 'Gondolas' City, as today I named, won finally this honorable title like, The Most Innovative City of 2012. Congratulations to all paisas.

The gondolas connect the higher suburbs of the city with the major subway lines making transportation faster and more efficient.
See more at:  http://online.wsj.com/ad/cityoftheyear


The present:

The Metro of Medellin is quickly gaining a reputation for being one of the most innovative transit planning bodies on the planet and this project, the Green Corridors, should only solidify that reputation.

The future:

LA NOUVELE NOIR...

                                        Men look from the 20’s

I love jazz music and I love the 20's Fashion, to me the era when women and men were best dressed and the era that was the base and birth of the contemporary man look. I think that if I had lived in a bygone era, was in the 20s, in the Jazz Age.

The Jazz Age was a feature of the 1920s (ending with The Great Depression) when jazz music and dance became popular.

When I say Jazz, is coming to my mind the King Of Jazz Louis Armstrong (1901 – 1971), who was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana, whom coming to prominence in the 1920s as an "inventive" trumpet and cornet player, becoming a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance.

With his instantly-recognizable gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also skilled at scat singing (vocalizing using sounds and syllables instead of actual lyrics).

Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz music and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over", whose skin-color was secondary to his music in an America that was severely racially divided. He rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African-Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for desegregation during the Little Rock Crisis. His artistry and personality allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society that were highly restricted for a black man.

At Milan Fashion Week (MFW), the design duo Dsquared2 have presented his Fall 2013 male collection, named La Nouvelle Noir (The New Black), inspired in the Jazz Age, highlighting the fashion of the 20s Jazz scenes, but with a new language because they mixing the impeccable 'Gatsby' men look from the 20’s with Denim fabric, giving an affordable and wearable aspect to the new collection that for sure will have a great acceptation between the young guys.

This catwalk featured with all ebony models to accent the leitmotiv Le Nouvelle Noir. 

The reinvention of the double-breasted coats, long until hips, is a focal point of this collection, giving to this garment from the 20's, a contemporary and modern vision.

Like at the 20s when the round frames (horn rims or metal), were worn by men and women with no style difference between the sexes, the models wore on the runway.

Key items from the Gatsby' men look, like the classic vest or sweater vest, are present in the new DSquared2 collecion.

The combination of textures, and colors with the denim fabric, give to this collection, the accentuated and subtle combinations, of current fashion trends.

The colors palette are composed mostly of 'tinta unita' colors (solid colors), monochromatic tones, black, brown, camel, blue, salmon, red, ivory,  white, red, and greens both military and textures like Scottish.

The military tendency is present in this look with a khaki shirt, the cargo pants, braces connected with belt, handbags and Army Berets.

The models complemented the look donning mohair 10 gallon Fedora hat.

When something has a good fashion language, we do not need to talk much about it, the collection speaks for itself.

Enjoy the collection...

THE GREAT GATSBY...

This will be a year with a Gatsby flavor, and one sample of that is The Great Gatsby (2013), the romantic drama film, with adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel of the same name, (book that is stands as the supreme achievement of his career), and co-written and directed by Baz Luhrmann, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio (Jay Gatsby), Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher, and Jason Clarke.

Movie that follows the story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession,” it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.

Filming began on September 5, 2011, in Sydney, Australia. Originally scheduled for a December 2012 release, but on August 6, 2012, it was reported that the film was being moved to a summer 2013 release date, due to conflicts in the production schedule. In September 2012, this date was confirmed to be May 10, 2013.

And following with the Gatsby subject, like in his menswear collection, which they named La Nouvelle Noir (The new Black), designers Dean and Dan Caten, the design duo DSquare2, retum again for the new fall 2013 women collection, the Jazz Age like subject but focusing this time in the 'Gatsby' silhouettes from men and women.

Sleek beaded and rich embroidered, sequin, feather dresses are the focal point taken from the 'Gatsby era'.

But what I think is the best contribution from this collection, is the decidedly masculine look on the catwalk where designers used the Gatsby menswear to re-create the new Gatsby girls.

Like in the menswear collection, models were donning their colorful oversized Fedoras, and we have to give a special mention to the double bow ties with a femininity touch.

I love this slightly olive dress with a militaristic inspiration, accessorized with a leopard Army Beret.

A glam mix collection where mixed of masculine and feminine silhouettes and mix of rustic with ultra bright textures: silk with wool, and silk with jerseys.

Worthy of mention is this large cardigan without buttoms accessorized with a double brooch over the subtle silk dress.

The color palette is large and rich in inks and  tones like ivory, antique pearls, charcoal, oxford gray, misty blue and green, olive, green Egyptian, savannah green, burgundy, turquoise haze, ochre, mystic gold, plum royal, purple cream, dark purple, berry wine, and the eternal black.

It is a rich collection, colorful, plenty of textures, mixed silhouettes, a Gatsby Glam collection.

Enjoy the collection...