Charliewood: Faux Fur Flies at the Charlie Le Mindu NYC Debut

In a world of corporate apparel, you forget how much fun a collision of fashion and art can be. French artist/designer Charlie Le Mindu made his debut on the New York scene on Monday night with his performance art fashion show dubbed Charliewood.
I became a fan of Charlie Le Mindu's from dramatic human hair embellished runways in Paris a few years ago. At the Cedar Lake space in Chelsea, the show was a series of performances from New York's most celebrated artists. Debbie Harry was the grand hostess introducing the artist to a Gotham crowd, wearing one of his two-toned, long haired coats.
Various models in elaborately constructed headpieces strolled around the room while a giant mouth beckoned guests towards another space. A cabaret stage had dancers in avant-garde bodysuits and sculpted hair corsets titillating viewers. The mainstage had more dancers representing different body parts. Another dance featured great use of black light with long-haired neon embellishments on black bodysuits.
Burlesque queen Dirty Martini was sexy and hilarious playing a glam chicken lady. She wore a soaring feathered headpiece, feathered train, chicken beaks as pasties and mask. She trailed a grocery cart of eggs then handed out fried chicken from her crotch while sitting on a haystack. Punk drag performer Christeene rapped out an energetic performance on the spinning pedestal at the center of the bar. Breast-shaped cake truffles were served in all colors of flesh.
The crowd was the who's who of New York's art and fashion scene. It was full of designers, some fashion writers like me, models, actresses, artists. It was the kind of fabulous event that I miss from the 1990s where people were celebrated for being against the norm, and anything could happen. Wow, I really loved those days. Thank you Charlie Le Mindu for bringing Charliewood to NYC.

Photos by Mariana Leung

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Style Icon: Frida Kahlo

I just came back from visiting the Art Gallery of Ontario's wonderful exhibit, Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics and Painting in Toronto.  The tagline was "He painted for the people. She painted to survive."  It was a multi-media exploration of their dramatic relationship and how their personal lives or politics affected their art.  

While Diego Rivera was already a famous muralist, known for his political statements in his work when he met Frida Kahlo, she learned to come into her own as an artist as therapy for her extensive medical traumas.  Working through some of my own traumas in my personal life, I really connected with many of the self-portraits in the exhibit that depicted visual representations of her inner and physical pain.

What struck me from a style fashion standpoint was how important details like hairstyle, accessories and fashion were in the crafting of her personal in art and for the public.  In tribute to her ethnic background and politics, she adopted a style of dress that was inspired by her native Mexican and indigenous culture.  In photographs that were taken of Diego and her, or in portrait photos by other artists, she always had elaborate flower headdresses entwined in braids.  Her clothing was richly patterned and colorful.  In her self-portraits, she often depicted herself wearing huge necklaces, or elements of nature worn like a necklace.  There were paintings where she was framed in lace, evoking her religious beliefs. 

While Frida’s style was not the fashion of her era, it amuses me to realize how contemporary her look is to our present time.  The style of flower headpieces she wore was listed as one of the top trends of 2012 according to Etsy.   I have seen countless photo editorials of flower crowns on blogs as well.  She rocked the statement necklace before it became a “thing”.  Elaborately braided hair was been the beauty blogger’s darling for the past 2 years.  While her eyebrow grooming didn't become a trend, embroidered blouses certainly were. 

Frida inspired countless women to be brave, to express themselves and to love fiercely, and I salute her.

Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics and Painting is on exhibit until January 20, 2013.

Photos, Nikolas Muray, AGO.net,National Museum of Women in the Arts

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Libertine Spring 2013

In a world of big brands, how many designers are still artists?  Johnson Hartig of Libertine still paints, crafts, embellishes with his hands.  His fashion show at Pier 57 for New York Fashion Week reminded me of performance art of Downtown New York's past.

Vintage clothing pieces were embroidered, multi-colored paint spots was a running theme.  Gigantic papier mache cuffs embedded with large crystals was a popular accessory.  Mass production is definitely not a part of this business plan.  When my colleague Mdivani Monroe interviewed Hartig, he described everything from current politics, his friends and abstract nature as his inspiration.  I got the impression that he was probably one of those hyper children that used to have to be tethered to the playground in younger years...

Early champions of his work included Anna Wintour and Karl Lagerfeld.  Perhaps they saw in him an idealistic idea of fashion still being an art for art's sake  while they of all people know it is not true in their own circles.

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