Art has always enjoyed a symbiotic relationship to fashion with painters such as Matisse often inspired Yves Saint Laurent but artist Sonia Delaunay was the original interdisciplinary designer.

The current art world is filled with examples of exhibitions using fashion to extend the artist’s statement past the canvas found in the work of Rubén Torres Llorca.

Sonia Delaunay

Dashing through the lobby the other day at FIT, I was stopped by the original designs of Delaunay.

The Department of Special Collections and FIT Archives showcased Delaunay’s illustrations and I TwitPic’d the vibrant geometric shapes. I was quickly retweeted by @saruzza sharing an upcoming Delaunay exhibition at Cooper-Hewitt next year entitled Color Moves: Art and Fashion by Sonia Delaunay,
March 18–June 5, 2011.

On view will be examples from the Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris, the Musée de l’Impression sur Etoffes in Mulhouse, the Bibliotheque Nationale de France and private collections around Europe and the United States.

A Sonia Delaunay study on display by The Department of Special Collections and FIT Archives

Sonia Delaunay

The show will feature her signature color palette and rhythmic shapes found in Delaunay’s 1920s fashion designs. Known not just for apparel but also weaved her trademark expression into graphics, interiors, theater, film and especially textiles.

Co-founded with her husband Robert Delaunay, the Orphism art movement, known for its strong colors and geometric shapes, has been widely interpreted by fashion.

My introduction to Delaunay began backstage at a Perry Ellis fashion show. As a fashion student, dressing the models was a frequent experience and in 1983 Perry Ellis devoted his collection to the Russian artist.

Sonia Delaunay

The hand knitted shetland and cashmere sweaters with the swirling Delaunay designs created the strong 80s trend of intarsia patterned sweaters. A knitting construction that requires to knot individual colors used in the design as every stitch creates the pattern is often a slower process compared to jacquard knitting or using floats. The result is a lighter weight finished sweater instead of the float technique which often doubles or triples the weight.

Below is an American Vogue editorial from August 1983 that got the American fashion industry spinning! Ironically, a year later I joined the Ellis team designing and charting knit graphs.

The Perry Ellis Fall Collection inspired by Sonia Delaunay featured in August 1983 American Vogue

Next week the fashion parade begins with designers presenting their collections for Spring 2011. And on September 10th, the public can participate in the festivities at Fashion’s Night Out.

But fashion’s paradox of the moment revolves around 2 contrasting philosophies either enticing shoppers to feast on the upcoming Fashion’s Night Out or fast, following the Six Items or Less experiment. Another influential group, The Great American Apparel Diet, is a reconsideration on consumerism and a movement to inspire thought about our consumption reflex habits, has attracted many followers. The contradiction is fascinating, especially designing future seasons that advocate newness and change. And the current economic reset underscores a move to frugality.

The rub between the dueling ideologies, you have to consider that a collection to be thought of as “successful” is required to sell-thru within 2-3 weeks making room for the next group to refresh the floor. But over the past 2 years, predicting Wall Street’s future influencing the shopper’s mood, has made it increasingly challenging to designers and retailers envisioning the next season. Creatively, we’re motivated by impulse, and “retail therapy” can give us a shot of dopamine, but, now, we’re gaining more control or responsibility with credit habits slowing demand in all retail channels.

Enter “slow” fashion. The “slow” fashion movement can be thought of as a reaction to the “fast” fashion that has dominated the malls and avenues. Quick, usually imported designs produced inexpensively have replaced wardrobes weekly. However, these impulse buys made from synthetic cloth are sometimes quickly discarded filling landfills instead of re-purposed for raw material. Throughout the evolution of my design blog Sparked.biz, I’ve written about the ecological influence for fashion and recently shared a thought provoking show at Pratt’s Manhattan Gallery ETHICS + AESTHETICS = SUSTAINABLE. Beyond the scope of environmentally friendly manufacturing, fashion devotees advocate fair trade practices and slowing down fashion’s cycle.

One of the more interesting events in the packed Fashion’s Night Out schedule is presented by Brooklyn’s Textile Arts Center and Ecouterre.com. From 6pm to 11pm, the evening will define the “slow” fashion movement with guest panelists, do-it-yourself workshops and of course, shopping, but sustainably!

August NY Fashion Model Drawing Meetup finished for the summer maintaining the brilliant light filling our studio and attracting a wide range of talented illustrators at The Center! Booking a new model for the group, Jolynn was styled from Hepburn inspired looks to a Park Avenue babe with a nod to fall wrapping up the session.

We’re up to 139 members having organized the Meetup last January and you can view pics and sketches from past Meetups here.

Illustration: Milco Flores, August 28 NY Fashion Model Drawing Meetup.

Illustration: Milco Flores, August 28 NY Fashion Model Drawing Meetup.

Model: Jolynn Carpenter, August 28 NY Fashion Model Drawing Meetup.
Photo: Christopher Musci

Illustration: Beverly Brown, August 28 NY Fashion Model Drawing Meetup.

Illustration: Nisa Pharms, August 28 NY Fashion Model Drawing Meetup.

Illustration: Nisa Pharms, August 28 NY Fashion Model Drawing Meetup.

Illustration: Eric Strausman, August 28 NY Fashion Model Drawing Meetup.

Illustration: Beverly Brown, August 28 NY Fashion Model Drawing Meetup.

Illustration: Geoffry Gertz, August 28 NY Fashion Model Drawing Meetup.

Illustration: Geoffry Gertz, August 28 NY Fashion Model Drawing Meetup.

Illustration: Yuan Jen Hsaung, August 28 NY Fashion Model Drawing Meetup.

A design from Kathlin Argiro featured
at Neiman Marcus.

Fashion designer Kathlin Argiro, a regular in the pages of InStyle and The Knot featuring her flirty cocktail and bridal dresses, is offering a shared showroom space.

Located in the heart of NYC’s historic garment center (37th / 8th ave), the airy loft space offers high ceilings and wrap around windows with an abundance of natural light.

The shared space also includes a showroom area available for meetings / appointments, 24 hour doorman building and is near Port Authority, Penn Station, and Times Square with all transportation.

The Kathlin Argiro showroom

The showroom/office is available immediately listed at $500 per month with flexible terms and can accommodate 3 desk spaces including all the amenities.

This is a wonderful opportunity for a creative entrepreneurial designer or brand looking for a NYC HQ with close proximity to manufacturing and suppliers.

Read more about Kathlin Argiro and her custom designs here and you can email Kathlin with questions about the arrangement using this address: kat@kathlinargiro.com.

An impromptu trip to California led Chris and I starting in Santa Barbara, the “American Riviera” to finishing in the lo-fi neighborhoods of Los Angeles. In between we traveled along California State Route 1 and took in the gorgeous views.

Unexpectedly, the lower temperatures in Santa Barbara County was welcome relief from the sweltering East Coast heat wave. Summer evening fires felt more September than August and beautifully lit the landscape.

The day before, we passed through the surfer town, Ventura, and ate breakfast at the great 50s decor Busy Bee Cafe. Downtown Ventura is filled with an abundance of thrift and vintage shops along with its theaters and cafes.

Spending a few days in Los Angeles we decided to rent a guesthouse through HomeAway.com. A cost effective solution considering the expense of hotel parking, but the experience gave Chris and I the feel of living in the neighborhood. Touring the diverse districts from Silver Lake, Echo Park to Los Feliz we discovered Mohawk General Store. The perfect lifestyle boutique featuring clothing, accessories, home decor and furniture.

For 2 non-drivers, we decided to take a break from the crowded roads and use LA mass transportation. The Metro, their subway and bus system was amazingly efficient traveling from North Hollywood to downtown. Created in 1995, the train stations are easy to navigate and decorative using inspiration from the different destinations. While investigating downtown, we stopped for lunch at Bottega Louie demonstrating the stylish renaissance taking place in the LA business district.

Returning the other day to Brooklyn, we were happy to bring the better weather and West Coast attitude with us!

Front lawn of Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort in Santa Barbara. Photo: Christopher Musci, August 14, 2010

The rainbow arch perfectly frames Santa Barbara’s beauty in front of Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort, August 14, 2010.

Old Mission Santa Barbara. Photo: Christopher Musci, August 14, 2010

Ventura’s Busy Bee Cafe, August 13, 2010.

Ventura’s Busy Bee Cafe, August 13, 2010.

Ventura’s Main Street, August 13, 2010.

Silver Lake, Los Angeles, August 16, 2010.

Silver Lake, Los Angeles, August 16, 2010.

Silver Lake, Los Angeles, August 16, 2010.

A decorative entry to North Hollywood’s Metro, August 17, 2010. Photo: Christopher Musci

A decorative entry to North Hollywood’s Metro, August 17, 2010.

A combination of performance and street art, NYC artist Joe Mangrum brings decorative beauty and symbolic healing to our city with his sandpaintings.

On the off day of Union Square’s Greenmarket, NYC’s biggest farmer’s market, Mangrum used the space as his canvas yesterday. A winner of the 2003 Florence Biennale where he received the prestigious Lorenzo de Medici award in New Media, Mangrum has been creating public art most recently with his sand series.

The Netherlands refer to this technique as sand carpets used for special occasions and holidays only lasting for one day. While Native Americans and Tibetan monks used sandpaintings for healing rituals.

Mangum has documented his special temporary installations in a new book for sale on his site and you can view more of his globetrotting art.

Bags of colored sand used by Joe Mangrum for his latest sandpainting in Union Square, August 10, 2010

The finished sandpainting by Joe Mangrum in Union Square, August 10, 2010

Detail shot of the finished sandpainting by Joe Mangrum in Union Square,
August 10, 2010

Dynamically illustrating time maybe less threatening than the conventional digital display, and designer Saikat Biswas replaces the minutes by a status progress bar in his Obligatory Designer Clock. A new take on the minimal theme with Biswas offering various cover designs such as guide lines or pin dots to let you know if you’re running late or if time is on your side.

Watch the video below and visit Biswas’ site to view the simple and effective timekeeper and more of his inventions.

Micro living may replace some of America’s McMansions that have become apart of the landscape for the last 10 years. As an apartment dweller myself, a micro-home would be an easy transition and resurrect the Sears & Roebuck kit houses from the early 20th century.

In an article from Bloomberg Businessweek about Japan’s micro-homes, the living small community has quickly been adopted by Japanese youths. As in the states, the search for larger space often brings you to outskirts, but these postage size homes in Tokyo are the compromise between city and suburban life.

Japan: Micro-Homes in the Big City via
Bloomberg Businessweek

The ‘less-is-more’ design challenge has inspired SUS, a Japanese aluminum manufacturer to market starter kits called tsubomi. The metal frame can be assembled in less than a day and costs about $17,000.

The web magazine, Small House Style, is a great resource for all things small featuring the eco-friendly and sustainable movement. Some of my favorite home styles have always been guest houses, bungalows and cottages. And, the design firm, Rocio Romero LLC, creates and assembles perfect minimal spaces. Their pre-fab homes start at $36,000 for 1150 sq. ft. Larger than Japan’s micro-communities but considerable much more compact than a super sized development.

Rocio Romero LV Series

An impromptu street art exhibition swathed East Village’s Saint Marks between first and A with these positive affirmations! Fellow art patron, Stacy and I stumbled upon the statements painted on discarded tables and boards orchestrated on the sidewalk.

Between feuding American political parties and an erratic stock market, stability continues to be a dangling carrot. But as the former bailed out car industry begins to demonstrate signs of positive growth, these declarations are definitely true.

And in the neighborhood, if you live in NYC or planning a trip, don’t leave Manhattan Island without a lobster roll from Luke’s Lobster. Stacy introduced me to the state of Maine delicacy.

Positve affirmations as street art on Saint Marks in NYC’s East Village.

Positve affirmations as street art on Saint Marks in NYC’s East Village.

Positve affirmations as street art on Saint Marks in NYC’s East Village.

State of Maine lobstermen at NYC’s Luke’s Lobster, www.lukeslobster.com.

Clothes Hanger by Donata Paruccini

Friday morning’s email from the Moss store’s The Daily New featured ‘clothes hanger’ in the subject line. The coat rack made from the pictured leather tethered balls cleverly becomes a display.

Designed by Donata Paruccini and manufactured by Edition Nouveaux Objet, France transforms the mundane hanger into a playful sculpture.

The atypical design won’t stretch out the shoulders and doubles as room décor. The concept reminds of last year’s MAD museum’s Totally Rad: Karim Rashid Does Radiators reimagining industrial design and function.