catherine smith editorial

tumbling about as a fashion writer and observer living in New York City.

One to Watch: COOEE by Catrine Åberg

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In the haze of late August, I scrolled through Instagram and paused on a two-inch explosion of fantasy technicolor chic.  Elena Perminova, recent streetstyle star and fashion grasshopper had a thin, plexiglass cuff on her wrist – what stopped me was the bracelet’s closure, an industrial bolt.

 Reading the comments, I found the brand name : Cooee.

 Cooee?  What is that?!  I had to know. 

And I had to have that cuff.

One web-shop glitch and an email to customer support, and I was soon trading emails with Cooee founder (and now friend) Catrine Aberg.

Click to read my interview with the Stockholm-based designer, who is gaining acclaim and attention (from the likes of Moda Operandi, with a trunk show for her SS13 collection in September) for her unique use of plexiglass and metal, always with a hint of whimsy and an element of surprise.

 

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4 months ago

Hermès Éditeur - “Couleurs de L’Ombre”

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Hermès Éditeur

“Couleurs de L’Ombre”

by Hiroshi Sugimoto

For the third “carré d’artiste,” Hermès artistic director Pierre-Alexis Dumas invited Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto to partner (for the second time) with the iconic house.

Sugimoto presented Dumas with his COULEURS DE L’OMBRE project in 2010, in his Tokyo studio.  

“I can still remember it very clearly.  At the center of a large, light-filled room, rising like a column from floor to ceiling, there stood a very dense, immaculately clear prism.  This was an experimental device whereby, every morning, the sunlight passing through the prism would create a world of colors, projected like shadows on the white walls of the studio.”  Pierre-Alexis Dumas, artistic director, Hermès of Paris.

For ten years, Sugimoto photographed the varying gradations of light with a Polaroid camera.  Inspired by the scientific experiments of Goethe and Newton exploring the origins of color (the analysis of light, broken down and captured, and its corresponding emotional impact on the beholder), Sugimoto went on to create endless abstract images of color.

Sugimoto and Dumas selected 20 Polaroids to transfer to silk using inkjet technology; 20 scarves each in a limited edition of 7 — the total 140 scarves measuring 140 cm x 140 cm.

The COULEURS DE L’OMBRE silk scarves were presented in Miami’s Design District, Dec. 7 - 9, 2012 during Art Basel.

4 months ago
Rita Ora performed last night at the Top of the Standard. If you’re not listening to her now, start immediately.

Rita Ora performed last night at the Top of the Standard. If you’re not listening to her now, start immediately.

7 months ago

an Italian designer with an American dream

Danilo Gabrielli’s FW12 collection is up online, and it’s inspired by the ’40s.  Just wanted to share this campaign image, and the story I wrote about him, below.

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10 months ago
Jean Shrimpton and Terence Stamp.  Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn.  Jerry Hall.  Ringo Starr and Maureen Cox, Liza Minelli and Joel Grey.  Princess Grace and Cary Grant.  Sophia Loren, center. As I prepare to move, I am rereading the large, beautiful books that have filled my apartment in the past year.  One such book, GUCCI: The Making Of, has received little of my attention, though it should be showered with care. The beautiful black tome is a tribute to the brand, the quality, and the individuals who wear and carry the pieces.  Edited by Maria Luisa Frisa, Stefano Tonchi, Frida Giannini, et. al, the book is expansive, elaborate, captivating.  

Jean Shrimpton and Terence Stamp.  Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn.  Jerry Hall.  Ringo Starr and Maureen Cox, Liza Minelli and Joel Grey.  Princess Grace and Cary Grant.  Sophia Loren, center.

As I prepare to move, I am rereading the large, beautiful books that have filled my apartment in the past year.  One such book, GUCCI: The Making Of, has received little of my attention, though it should be showered with care.

The beautiful black tome is a tribute to the brand, the quality, and the individuals who wear and carry the pieces.  Edited by Maria Luisa Frisa, Stefano Tonchi, Frida Giannini, et. al, the book is expansive, elaborate, captivating.  

11 months ago
with Samantha Moray at MoMA’s Party in the Garden, sponsored by Cartier. April 22, 2012.

with Samantha Moray at MoMA’s Party in the Garden, sponsored by Cartier. April 22, 2012.

12 months ago

NYFC | A Fool’s Fête

New Yorkers for Children’s spring benefit, New Year’s in April: A Fool’s Fête, was hosted on April 10, 2012 at the Mandarin Oriental  The event raised a record high of over $580,000 to benefit youth in foster care in New York City.

Atmosphere - Image via WWD

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1 year ago

Accidentally deleted this post!  My column made it’s way across the sea from the December 2012 issue of Sense & Style.  2011 highlights and what to look forward to in 2012.

1 year ago
Gorgeous. Couture image on Vogue.com

Gorgeous. Couture image on Vogue.com

1 year ago
Dévastée S/S 12 Paris, FR  In the showroom of designers Ophelie Klere and Francois Alary of Dévastée. CS:  What was your vision, and your inspiration for the collection? OPHELIE:  “Devastee has many principles – codes – like black and white, shapes, very quite street, classical…and also very, very graphical pictures.  So the inspiration more for this coll is about and started from a book with many, many letters of Andre Breton, the French surrealism artist.  When he wrote to his daughter, Aube, so from “Lettres a` Aube”, and he sent many cards with landscapes from the South of Frances where he was spending all of his summers.  So that’s the place where we have grown, so we have created dresses with big landscapes, and stuff like that.  That’s the first point where we started from…After we add silver prints or silver touches, and many things.”    CS:  That silver coat looked incredible on the runway, with the bodysuit underneath.   OPHELIE:  Smiles.  “We were looking into transparence, and different techniques of fabrics where you hide the threads and you get a kind of lace, but its not lace, its just an effect of the fabric.”   CS:  Could you tell me more about the materials for the collection, is it mostly silk?   OPHELIE:  “The collection is mostly silk for the summer, we wanted to keep the natural fabrics…the silver is not paint, it is the threads.”    CS:  I loved the models that you chose, like the girl with the short blonde hair.   What did you think about when you were going into model casting?   FRANCOIS:   “We wanted really girly models, very feminine.  Because the concept of the collection is symmetries and the themes are quite hard with something that could be sad, so we wanted the girls to be very feminine and happy, and kind of joyful girls.  It would not have been the same at all with gothic girls with black hair – it would be too much.”   CS:  Our magazine is published in Asia.  Are you selling in Asia yet, or do you plan to?  FRANCOIS:  “Yes, most of our customers are in Asia.  Many in Japan, China, Taipei, Korea.”   “Hong Kong,” adds Ophelie.  

Dévastée

S/S 12 Paris, FR 


In the showroom of designers Ophelie Klere and Francois Alary of Dévastée.

CS:  What was your vision, and your inspiration for the collection?


OPHELIE:  “Devastee has many principles – codes – like black and white, shapes, very quite street, classical…and also very, very graphical pictures.  So the inspiration more for this coll is about and started from a book with many, many letters of Andre Breton, the French surrealism artist.  When he wrote to his daughter, Aube, so from “Lettres a` Aube”, and he sent many cards with landscapes from the South of Frances where he was spending all of his summers.  So that’s the place where we have grown, so we have created dresses with big landscapes, and stuff like that.  That’s the first point where we started from…After we add silver prints or silver touches, and many things.” 

 

CS:  That silver coat looked incredible on the runway, with the bodysuit underneath.

 

OPHELIE:  Smiles.  “We were looking into transparence, and different techniques of fabrics where you hide the threads and you get a kind of lace, but its not lace, its just an effect of the fabric.”

 

CS:  Could you tell me more about the materials for the collection, is it mostly silk?

 

OPHELIE:  “The collection is mostly silk for the summer, we wanted to keep the natural fabrics…the silver is not paint, it is the threads.” 

 


CS:  I loved the models that you chose, like the girl with the short blonde hair. 

 What did you think about when you were going into model casting?

 

FRANCOIS:   “We wanted really girly models, very feminine.  Because the concept of the collection is symmetries and the themes are quite hard with something that could be sad, so we wanted the girls to be very feminine and happy, and kind of joyful girls.  It would not have been the same at all with gothic girls with black hair – it would be too much.”

 

CS:  Our magazine is published in Asia.  Are you selling in Asia yet, or do you plan to? 


FRANCOIS:  “Yes, most of our customers are in Asia. 

Many in Japan, China, Taipei, Korea.”

 

“Hong Kong,” adds Ophelie.

 

1 year ago - 1

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