2011 Fashion

storm king, part 10: i've never been to england

but what has lasted in my imagination, at least since last winter, are david hockney's dreamy renditions of the yorkshire landscape, which you can see here.

these "new york trees" are my dream of england.

and in the night...

puddles, park chairs.

bryant park, nyc. sept 27, 2010

splashes, color

today was a dreary, wet one.

but there were a few brights spots, at the market:

all photos © anita aguilar

morandi (let's move)

latte. photo © anita aguilar

more photos, etc. here

i want to move.

i want to move to morandi.

yes, morandi, the restaurant.

it’s a perfect plan—pretty west village spot, right there on waverly and 7th avenue south. (i used to live a few blocks away, i know it will be easy to fall back into a routine...reunite with the dry cleaners on 8th, the guys at the magazine store on hudson. i could start running again, by the water…)

if I lived at morandi, when the weather is nice, i could start the day with breakfast at 8--or ease into the brunch hour-- at a table outside.

i could have a skim latte and something simple—a selection from the basket of sweet breads. everything in it has a distinct and delicious ring, and indeed there are enough for each day of the week: brioche with chocolate and hazelnuts to make the monday less mopey; cherry spirals on tuesday; a simple cornetti, midweek; sweet pistachio bread on thursday; the panetti al forno-–a bit more savory, with prosciutto and raisins--for the friday morning after the night before; bombolini –little italian donuts!--as the precursor to a more luxurious weekend brunch; and, ricotta fritters to celebrate the 7th day.

is it working for you?

there are eggs, served with salt cod or skirt steak or more simply, with grilled tomatoes and country bread.

there’s salad: arugula or escarole, seafood, or spelt.

a more serious commitment can be made--meatballs with pine nuts and raisins, or an egg pasta with a classic meat sauce. (i’m not sure i could make that my first meal of the day—but i wouldn’t dream of messing with you, if you could. in fact, you could wind up being...my hero.)

but that is how a day could start at morandi. imagine where we could go from there?

sounds like a nice little life, ay?

ok, then.

let’s move.

Bibhu Mohapatra at NYFW - Upcoming Designer

A star in the making, Bibhu Mohapatra, recently showcased his Spring 2011 collection at New York Fashion Week and we must say we were impressed with his collection. Born and brought up in India, Bibhu has worked with the likes of Halston and J. Mendel under Gilles Mendel.

For Spring 2011, Bibhu put a swingin' 60's spin on classic dresses and separates by adding giant, white-rimmed and oversized sunglasses and colorful caps. His collection contained several architecturally structured pieces that were chic, stylish and wearable.

There was something charmingly retro about some of the garments themselves: an amethyst satin cocktail dress featured large, bubble-like inlays, and a smock-like trench in crisp white could have been swiped from a Jackie O exhibit at the Kennedy Center. The color palette was soft, tones like grass, stone, dusk, plum, and black, which were feminine and mysterious.

The dresses felt feminine but still fresh, and with crisp origami folds wrap-around belts, would be perfectly suited to a chic work setting.
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Bibhu’s label launched with his first collection during New York Fashion Week in February 2009. The Bibhu Mohapatra collection is currently sold at select boutiques around North America including Bergdorf Goodman. In January 2010, he was awarded the “Women’s Apparel 2010 Rising Star Award,” by The Fashion Group International.

We love his collection, which was fashion forward yet feminine, wearable and youthful with a chic element to it.

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sukkah city 2010

sukkah city was an invitation to reimagine the sukkah – a temporary structure created for use for one week during the jewish festival of sukkot, as a symbol of the transience of life and dependence on god, and to foster a reconnection with nature. the international competition received 600 entries from 43 countries; a jury of 14 designers selected 12 works as finalists. those pieces lived temporarily, appropriately, in union square for 2 days, on september 19-20. a "people's choice" winner will remain in the square through october 2.

from an architectural standpoint, this presented an interesting design challenge, both conceptually and formally, with its strict parameters regarding size (it must enclose a minimum square area of at least 7 x 7 square handbreadths), dimension (at least 3 walls, but the third doesn’t have to be complete; if it has only 2 complete walls “the third wall of at least 4 handbreadths" must be within at least 3 handbreadths of one the complete walls), materials (no bundles of straw for the roof, though individual sticks may be okay. the roof may also not be made of utensils or food). questions of orthodoxy apparently factored into the voting--at least for the people's choice competition-- just as heavily as the innovative design elements.

as public art it seemed to serve its function: to inspire engagement, calm, thoughtfulness, curiosity, crowds, education...and photography.

here are a few shots from monday afternoon:

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time/timeless by peter sagar (uk)...