Rottenfields. Decayed Elegance. Haute Culture. For the lovers of refined art, fashion and design.: October 2013

Saturday, 26 October 2013

Marko Mitanovski S/S 2010

Halloween special: Marko Mitanovski's "Lady Macbeth"

Friday, 18 October 2013

Halloween Special: Tim Burton's Magical Fashion

Filmmaker Tim Burton had joined forces with photographer Tim Walker to re-imagine A/W 2009's dark delights for Harper's Bazaar. Dark and grotesque yet full of charm. Might serve well as a Halloween inspiration.

Thursday, 17 October 2013

The Beauty of Death: Catacomb Saints Photographed by Paul Koudounaris

In 1578 word spread of the discovery in Rome of a network of underground tombs containing the remains of thousands of early Christian martyrs. Many skeletons of these supposed saints were soon removed from their resting place and sent to Catholic churches in Europe to replace holy relics that were destroyed during the Protestant Reformation. Once in place the skeletons were then carefully reassembled and enshrined in costumes, wigs, jewels, crowns, gold lace, and armor as a physical reminder of the heavenly treasures that awaited in the afterlife.

Over the past few years photographer Paul Koudounaris who specializes in the photography of skeletal reliquaries, mummies and other aspects of death, managed to gain unprecendented access to various religious institutions to photograph many of these beautifully macabre shrines for the first time in history. The photos have been collected into a book titled Heavenly Bodies released by Thames & Hudson early next month.

God Save McQueen

Alexander McQueen by Tim Walker

Sunday, 13 October 2013

Nokia L'Amour Collection

Time for a little stroll down the memory lane. In 2006, Nokia emerged with their L'Amour Collection made of three beautifully crafted phones. It was their second so-called "fashion collection" - a series of phones of bold, highly conscious and visually appealing design. Do you remember these days (before iPhone and touchscreen technology) when telephone companies used to experiment with the form and design of the phones to make them more remarkable and intriguing? We certainly do. These three were in the climax of such trend. I remember really liking the idea of such unconventional (and yet sometimes also impractical) design, but what truly hooked me back then was this brilliant advert. I remember seeing it on TV for the first time and being instantly enchanted with the richness of details and romantic, visually compelling style. Being a teenager interested in graphics I adored the way they managed to squeeze so much magic in one minute and how the art direction - the graphics, music, styling, set design, 3D animation etc. seem to visually suit everything else so harmoniously. No one really paid that much attention to the adverts back then in terms of art direction. I thought it was one of the most brilliant and inspirational ads ever made and it deserved a credit in spite of the marketing wheel behind it. Although both fashion and aesthetics in graphic design world had changed since then, I still find Nokia L'Amour Campaign visually enchanting and I still think it deserves to be remembered despite being out of date.

Also, you can watch 'behind the scenes' here.