Lana Del Rey - Once Upon A Dream

Lana's dark, drowsy and hauntingly beautiful remake of a Disney's classic for the upcoming 'Maleficent' starring Angelina Jolie. Can't wait!

Christmas Special: London Window Displays Part 2

Here's the 2nd part of the Christmas window displays special. Harrods never ceases to amaze their clientele and this year they've transformed their windows into dazzling Gatsby-esque Art Deco tale of Christmas Express where passengers sit around in beautiful 30's sets awaiting to reach their snowy destination. Each window represents different carriage and every single one is lavishly decorated with a wondrous detail. Watching people around us, we have to admit it's pretty hard for a passer-by not to stop and contemplate those beautiful views for a while. Such a shame though that displays like this are so temporary - despite of advertising itself, the magic with which it resonates make them deserve an gallery exhibition stand alone. Well, perhaps one day someone will bring back all those sets in a curated exhibition - how amazing would that be? 

We couldn't help to resist the temptation to add a bit of a personal flavour so we shot the windows in a way that creates a bit of narrative between the mannequins + we found this brilliant track made by Caretaker (a spacious and a bit eery remake of 20's tunes combined with scratchy sounds that reminds of train's wheels clashing with rusty rails) and we couldn't not combine it altogether. So...

Press play down below, sit back and enjoy the pics! Thank You, Harrods!

Lana Del Rey - Young And Beautiful (DH Orchestral Version)

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

"Snow White and the Huntsman" is a true feast for the eyes. We all love the way it tackles the preconception of clarified distinction between beauty and evil. As the story itself is known to every human being, the only true display of creativity in regards to the production could be (and was indeed) shown throughout the brilliance of the art direction. 

Yet again, a three times Oscar-winner Colleen Atwood proved her position as one of the most remarkable couturiers-on-set. Her designs represent the psyche of each character scrupulously conveyed into every detail. For instance, in Queen Ravenna's case, this symbolism was achieved by the use of the materials like beetle wings, branches that resemble porcupine spikes, dragon scale alike sequins and rooster feathers. One of the most difficult costumes to make was the feather cloak, as it took four weeks to hand-cut and mount each of the feather to the garment. But beside the haute quality of every design, there's also the matter of quantity:

We made 250 of the Warrior Costume. That one [Snow White] was 20. The Huntsman was about 15. The Wedding dress was a one off. There were three of the gold dress. There were two of the cape, one of which got totally oil slicked out. It looks cool but it’s kind of destroyed. It’s a one off because she wears it for a very short time in the movie. And there’s three of the Reptilian costume because it’s an action costume as well. All the pieces of that come off so you can shoot without the heavy skirt if you want it to be less weight. The shoulder pieces come off so that in between takes Charlize (Theron) can be comfortable in it but it’s also got stretch in it. That dress has huge stretch arm pits in it. There are all kinds of things like that incorporated into it if you know you’re going to [use it that way].

The fairest design of them all, however, might be Charlize Theron’s wedding gown, worn during Ravenna’s royal union to Snow White’s father, the ill-fated king. “The inspiration was more architectural” Atwood says of the severely corseted dress. “The sleeves were made out of parchment that was cut and manipulated into a caged skeleton. It was our way of telegraphing [the queen’s] evil edge. All of the fine embroidered details are actually leather. I really wanted it to not be a fluffy wedding dress. I wanted it to have an edge to it, and that’s why I decided to go with pleats.” Although Sanders offered input about Atwood’s designs, the Oscar winner reveals that this particular costume rendered the director speechless. “He didn’t have a lot to say when he saw this one,” laughed Atwood. “It had the ‘wow’ factor for him. We could tell in early stages that this design would just work.”

In terms of set design and direction, the strong emphasis on the aesthetically driven scenery makes the movie visually compelling, conveying every scene into little independent art piece. While watching it we couldn't stop thinking of the immerse and extensive research behind it all, executed during the creative process; these loads of perfectly calibrated mood boards, visually describing the exact feeling behind every character, costume, set and scene. 

Also, there's a treat for the connoisseurs of the post production. The most marvelous end credits sequence you've ever seen, directed by Henry Hobson. The overall feeling of the movie conveyed into dimly lit trace of the costumes' details accompanied by The Florence and the Machine song "Breath of Life". Who knew the end credits sequence had that much of an artistic potential!


Snow White & the Huntsman - End Titles Sequence - Henry Hobson from bootsmith on Vimeo.

Max Richter: Vivaldi Recomposed - Spring 1

Composer Max Richter has done a brave thing for any artist in any medium: He's messed with a classic, specifically, Vivaldi's four violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. He has a new album simply titled Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi, The Four Seasons.

Richter says that as a child, he loved The Four Seasons. But as he grew older, that passion faded.

"As a child, I fell in love with it," he tells NPR's Audie Cornish. "It's beautiful, charming music with a great melody and wonderful colors. Then, later on, as I became more musically aware — literate, studied music and listened to a lot of music — I found it more difficult to love it. We hear it everywhere — when you're on hold, you hear it in the shopping center, in advertising; it's everywhere. For me, the record and the project are trying to reclaim the piece, to fall in love with it again."

Listen to the piece called "Spring 1" and see whether he succeeded in enchanting you by his brave attempt. He surely did enchant us. We instantly fell in love with its uplifting spirit.

Aphex Twin - Jynweythek Ylow

We instantly thought of this song after watching Alexander McQueen's A/W 2013. It would make such a perfect soundtrack for the show!

Florence and the Machine - Falling

Vanessa Carlton - Hear The Bells