The Photo-Fixated Fashion of Mary Katrantzou

Spring 2014

While digitally photo-printed fabric is fairly standard by now, London-based designer, Mary Katrantzou really does take it up a notch. In fact, because she designs not just the textiles, but the clothing they are made into, she’s been managing to make it new, season after season since Fall 2009.
Katrantzou finds inspiration in everything from men’s brogues to interior design photography. I'm thinking that the aesthetic might simply be called “Photoshop,” where there are no limits to possibilities of image manipulation. Details like the decorative scrollwork on banknotes or the perforations on a wingtip shoe are enlarged to colossal proportions, and the "scale tool" pours her models into gigantic perfume bottles. Nothing, be it a formal garden, a No. 2 pencil, or a skyscraper is safe from being sliced, chopped, duplicated, mirrored, and illogically reconfigured. Then, on top of the dazzling (and sometimes dizzying) print effects, the fabric is engineered into garments, with architectural precision."It's hellishly difficult to put a placement print on a bias-cut dress," said the designer when she started working with softer silhouettes.

You can see all of her collections at Style.com, where these photos are from. It seems that each season's review expresses some version of wonder as to how Katrantzou has succeeded, yet again, in causing jaws to drop.

Spring 2014

Fall 2009

Fall 2013

Fall 2012

Spring 2013

Spring 2011

On the Case

These trompe l’oiel iPhone and iPad cases are by Zero Gravity and are on sale right now at Fab (as they most certainly are). The thing is, how would I ever find my phone if it looked like yet another open chocolate bar on the sofa?

Trompe L’oeil Gift Guides

Le jeu de l'oisif
Think of these paintings by Jacques Poirier (1928-2002) as “found” gift guides His trompe l’oeil extravaganzas are crammed with such a dizzying quantity and variety of objects that you’re bound to hit on some gift solutions while studying them.

Poirier put aside his successful career as an illustrator when he was in his early fifties, and devoted himself full time to painting. The world on which he trains his hyper-realism is part junk-drawer-on-steroids and part prop closet of William Harnett and Joseph Cornell. He’s known for embedding puns, anagrams and rebuses into his elaborate works--efforts which, are completely lost on me, since they are in French. You can see more of his work here(where these images are mostly from), and you can read more about his background here.

There is no site for Poirier's illustrations, but you can look at some of his illustrated book covers at Antiqbook, where I did a search for his illustrations.

Hopefully, between the balls of twine, glass orbs, playing cards, doll fragments, scrimshaw and bits of hardware, you’ll at least find inspiration.

Labels link to the product, clockwise:

Scrimshaw book, giant jacks,
antique-games book,
Ikebana shears, game of jacks,
bust of Thomas Jefferson,
fuzzy dice, Scrabble.


Coquillages

Pencil sharpener, shell print,
crank sharpener, Shell Chic,
kraft paper pads, electric sharpener,
crow-quill pens, calligraphy book,
Speedball ink.


Artnica

Binoculars, pipe, tape measure,
magnet, gazing ball


Le vol d'Icare

Crane, Radio Flyer red wagon,
Lego architecture, Erector Set


Histoire d'h

Eco edition playing cards, sealing wax set,
leather driving gloves, Michelin Guide,
alphabet nesting blocks


Le cavalier seul

Faux storage books, book clock,
horse mannequin, Dr. Seuss's ABC


Then again, there's always Chanukah gelt (or gift cards, as they call it today).