London's Macintosh Typefaces

It’s been over two months since I left London and came back home to Kansas City.   I’ve asked myself over and over again, “What was the point of my time in London?”  I haven’t figured it out yet.  I am reminded of the Steve Jobs anecdote about how he dropped out of Reed College, and then for the pure fun of it, audited several calligraphy classes there.  Years later, these calligraphy classes became the foundation of Mac computers’ typefaces.  So perhaps I will discover the purpose in the years to come.

  

When I was in London, I had all these grand plans for side trips throughout Europe: Barcelona, Vienna, Copenhagen. But I fell in love with London.  I fell in love with the rows of tiny chimneys atop the townhouses, with the Capability Brown designed parks, and with the winding streets that revealed a bit more of the city with each turn.  I fell in love with my long walks along the Thames, with the electrifying theater of the West End and with the inspiring programming at the V&A.

  

And I fell in love with the English countryside too.  The rolling hills of Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire; dabbled with white sheep and their little black faces; each view more beautiful than the next.  But most of all, I fell in love with the quiet politeness of England.  A country so thoroughly courteous and thoughtful, that I hope it stays with me forever.

  

Fashion in Motion

The other night I had so much fun attending another Fashion in Motion event at the V&A.  The runway show was put on by fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto.  I had never heard of him before, and I'm not particularly familiar with Japanese fashion.  But I thought it would be neat to check out something new.

The show began with techo-like music in the background with a live flute playing and the fashion designer himself doing a mixture of living singing and chanting.  All the while models walked down the runway, expressionless.  The effect was haunting.

Midway through the show, the above model walked out, slowly dancing.  She stopped at the end of the catwalk and danced languidly for two or three minutes, while models continued coming up and down the runway.  The music became quieter and all the attention was on the dancing model.

 

When the model stopped dancing, there was an outburst of cheerful music and models began coming down the runway skipping, doing cartwheels and dancing happily.  The colorful clothes mixing with references to traditional Japanese clothes heightened the effect.

I particularly liked the above dress from Yamamoto's collection.  One of the first types of art I fell in love with was Japanese woodblock printing at the Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C., and I loved seeing Yamamoto's references to artists such as Hasui and Hiroshige as seen in the above dress.

I Essentially Had Dinner with Colin Firth

The Victoria and Albert Museum hosted another fantastic lecture the other night featuring Colin Firth's wife, Livia Firth, who is the founder of the Green Carpet Challenge, which is an organization that works to create sustainable fashion that is made ethically.

Livia Firth said that she was not into fashion until her husband was nominated for several awards for his role in the movie, The Single Man.  She realized that she would be featured on the red carpet a great deal and wanted her evening gowns to have more of purpose than just a regular red carpet dress.

One focus of the Green Carpet Challenge is to avoid materials that are sourced from sweatshops.  Firth pointed out that while it may seem democratic for a consumer to purchase a $2 t-shirt, it is not democratic for the person who made the shirt.  Above, Meryl Streep is wearing a Lanvin dress made out of fabric that the Green Carpet Challenge considers sustainable.

The Great Carpet Challenge also focuses on production processes that are environmentally sustainable. Some fashion designers have made clothing made out of recycled plastic bottles, such as the dress Viola Davis is wearing above.

Livia Firth is doing incredible work and is making an impressive impact on the fashion world.  Industry heavyweights such as Stella McCartney, Alice Temperley and Anna Wintour have all supported the Green Carpet Challenge in various ways.  But some questions were left unanswered.  What about poverty-stricken people who can afford only a $2 t-shirt?  Additionally, while it is commendable to stop purchasing clothing made in sweatshops, how do we address the underlying issues creating poverty for those people who do work in the sweatshops?

Hello, Jenny Packham!

I pretty much died and went to heaven last Friday evening.  I was beyond fortunate to attend the Jenny Packham fashion show at the V&A.  The show took place in the room that houses the sweeping paintings of Raphael.  Beneath these grand pieces of art, Jenny Packham's glittery, diaphanous designs came down the catwalk.  The intricacy of the dresses' beading against the gossamer fabrics was really something to behold in person.  I'm officially hooked on fashion shows.

Holy heavens, I couldn't get enough of the these cheeky fascinators the museum volunteers wore!

Blair wore it first: Leighton Meester wore this dress on an episode of Gossip Girl.

Does this look familiar?  While Kate Middleton did not wear this specific dress, she did wear a dress made out of this fabric while she was on the 2011 Royal Tour of North America.

Golden Globes alert!  Sandra Bullock wore this dress to the 2011 Golden Globes.

Fit for a Duchess!  Kate Middleton wore this dress shortly after her wedding to the ARK Gala.

The models were so young, tall and willowy.  I met this model after the show.  We talked for a bit, and I was taken by how sweet, radiant and poised she was.  This picture does not do her justice!