Madonna Live

1. She was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Her name should be placed next to the word 'show-woman' on dictionaries all over the world.

2. The highlight was without a doubt 'Like A Prayer' mashed up with Meck's 'Feels like'. Freshest old thing I've heard in ages. (check out clip from her Montenegro appearence http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi80THfrJic&feature=related ).
3. Danced and sang for 2 hours, did not interact much with the audience (which was ok I thought), did not really get the whole point of the Britney-video. I'm promoting her this way because?

4. Why-oh-why there was no encore? The screens featured GAME OVER and game over it was.

Athens was 'Sticky & Sweet' tour's final european destination. Next up, Miami on the 26th of November.

Ticket Anyone?

I could go to Madonna OOOR ...sell my ticket and tour Australia.

OMG! This is half the fun. Not only people are selling Madonna tickets for stupid prices, stupid* people actually buy them.

(*i would have said desperate fans, but NO MY DEAR. What for a fan are you if you do not already have a ticket?? if you did not qeue, stay stuck in front of your screen whilst pulling a sickie, beg, steal and borrow to get it minutes after the release? Afff..)

a) AUCTION IT: auction your €80 ticket, get €600 for it and you could be spending Xmas in the Big Apple. If you have two tickets, even better, you get a bonus €600 to have a blast at 5th Avenue.

b) PLACE AN ADD: why auction and make unknown profits? Sell it. Place an add and name any price you like, i.e. say €400 and get the new i-phone.

AND THE WINNER IS...

c) SHAMELESSLY SELL IT FOR 8 TIMES THE PRICE. Because you're worth it:)

O.K. seriously now. Seeing Madonna performing live is priceless. I'd rather live on crisps than miss this!! (which is what I'm doing fyi, tempted as i am to sell my mate's ticket and buy tickets to go see her on each and every remaining tour location)

Sticky & Sweet Athens

Got one of these yet?
Damn right i'm going! To quote Robbie Williams, Face it she's Madonna.
The whole town is pumping up for this Saturday's live concert, with Madonna coming to Athens for the first time ever. Like a vehhh-rgin.

On Thursday 25th, greek visual/street artist George Callas is officially saying Kiss my art, Madonna (Justify my art). He will be featuring his paintings in his first solo show at Gallery Spilioti Projects in Athens. The theme of Mr. Callas’ work focuses exclusively on her pop majesty, Madge. This is a good one to start with.

“Kiss my art, Madonna” - Opening : Thursday 25 September 2008, 1 Sofokleous Street, Athens - exhibition ends on the 10th of October 2008.

And there's more...

The notorious (to some) Villa Mercedes is hosting a 'wannabe Madonna' competition at a themed party on the same night. Get your heart-shaped glasses on, do nasty things to your hair and show them how it's done.

On your way there play 'Like A Prayer' in the car in full volume, and sing it like a maniac too.
(WHEN U CALL MY NAAAAME it's little PRAYER, i'm down ON MY KNEEEEEES...etc.)

Let me also inform you of Madonna's tour playlist so you can download the lyrics :p

Intro/Candy Shop - Beat Goes On - Human Nature - Vogue - Video Interlude - Into The Groove - Heartbeat - Borderline - She s Not Me - Music - Video Interlude - Devil Wouldn t Recognise You - Spanish Lesson - Miles Away - La Isla Bonita/Lela Pala Tute - Romanian folk interlude - You Must Love Me - Video Interlude - 4 Minutes - Like A Prayer - Ray Of Light - Hung Up - Give It To Me.

Are you getting Into The Groove yet?

Film is in Fashion

Purple's in fashion, recycling's in fashion, blogging is in fashion. You know what else? Filming.

Which is not bad AT ALL. Especially when it comes with a challenge. Here's the deal: you are given a topic, a line and a character and you have to make a movie out of them in 48 hours. Sleep or no sleep.

Just make a movie, out of scratch. Piece of cake to you it should be. You use youtube.com, you've watched so many other online videos, and admit it, you've said so many times "I would have done it bettah".

Carrie Bradshaw had a movie after her and she's not even real:)

Ok, here's a test:
Category - Drama
Item - 14cm heels
Character - Girl Next Door
Line - "oops i did it again"

Got it? Good. Next step, enroll at http://48hourfilm.gr/simetoxi.php. Clock starts ticking on the 31st of October.

The good news: your movie (and you) could be travelling to the U.S. to compete for the title "Best 48 Hour Film of 2008".
The ...costly news: enrolment means you have to pay 135€ (or 175€ apparently if you are late - after the 10th of Oct. that is).

Oh, and the test, I made it up ok? It's not gonna be as shallow as that. It's just gonna be as playful (i hope).

Are you gonna give it a go?

tic...toc..tic...toc...REC.

Recycle Fashion...

Everyone talks about seasonless fashion these days. To be honest, talking about it is becoming fashion in its own right: "scary, seasons are slowly fading into one, have you seen Prada's winter collection? It's actually bikini tops and t-shirts" and other scary comments of this nature.

Well, some do nothing about it. Some, recycle tins, glass and plastic. And some, have thought of recycling the fastest consuming products of our days: clothes and accessories.

You've worn it once, worn it twice and now it is sitting there on your shelf occupying precious space you could be using to store...what you've just bought. Recycle it for God's sake!

What's Mine Is Yours one way to do it. Swap, sell or buy. That's the simple concept so that nothing goes to waste. Check it out, i love it: http://www.whatsmineisyours.com/ 13,000 eco-conscious registered users.

For those of you living on or visiting the rainy island UK, also check out the Affordable Vintage Fashion Fair http://www.myspace.com/vintagefashionfairs and add them on facebook too http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5002117858 .

If only we could organise something like this in Athens too...
I say I start with a garage sale.

Happy Monday dahhlings.

more on Athens Fashion Week

And some unofficial stuff...(don't quote me on this one):

ART & FASHION cultural program
Athens Fashion Week is enriched with new ideas and new programs, with the purpose of appealing to a bigger and broader audience and the aspiration of it becoming a grand celebration throughout the city. It wants to introduce fashion to all ages, especially the young, focusing on the significance of fashion and how it influences and shapes our daily life.

Particular emphasis is given to the presentation of cultural facts from all aspects of art (musical, figurative, dance, cinema, design, new forms of expression, etc.) and parallel events (congresses, competitions, reports, commercial meetings, etc.) that are associated with the fashion world; for example, the creation of an International Fashion & Art Festival that will highlight the wider social dimension of fashion.

The Cultural Program has been organized by the following well known greek artistsof contemporary art: Konstantinos Rigos (choreographer), Alexandros Psychoylis (Artist), Yiorgos Tzirtzilakis (Architect), Dimitris Arvanitis (Graphic Designer), Nadja Argyropoulou (CURATOR), Andonis Kioukas (Film Director).

FASHION & ART___________________________________________
Exhibitions

HAND-PAINTED DRESSES: Painted Dresses of Pepi Svoronou 1961-1979.

FASHION IS WHATEVER: Four designers, THREEASFOUR, JUSSARA LEE, SHOPLIFTER and ZERO + MARIA CORNEJO whose work goes beyond the limits of catwalk and fashion, approaching sculpture, architecture and performance, present a fashion curatorial in collaboration with HYDRA SCHOOL PROJECTS. Assiduity: Dimitris Antonitsis.

Jean Charles de Castelbajac retrospective “Gallierock”: Photograph exhibition of TIM &BURRY- LONDON Famous singers and groups of Britain that are photographed with vintage pieces Jean Charles de Castelbajac.

WORKSHOP: FASHION & ART
60 students from schools of Fine Arts, Architecture, Graphic design, Photograph, Stage design, Clothes Design and Fashion will take part in this workshop that will take place all week in Gazi, creating original works that explore the relation of fashion and art. On the seventh these works of art will be available for the public to view at a grand show that it will also constitute closing of the 8th Hellenic Fashion Week.

Workshop 1: Photograph and Fashion
Rapporteurs: Designers, Fashion Photographers, Graphic Designers, Stylists
Workshop 2: Reason - Plot - Weaving - Mask
Rapporteurs: Designers, Art directors, Stage designers, Costume designers
Workshop 3: From Architecture to Clothing.
Rapporteurs: Designers, Architects.

FASHION IN CINEMA_______________________________________
Program of projections of films (cinema), documentaries and video clips on the subject of fashion and the persons that marked fashion history. (In collaboration with the “Nights Premiere” and the magazine “Cinema”. Curator: Filep Motwary

FASHION ON STAGE_______________________________________
Dance performance: Greek choreographers (Konstantinos Rigos, Apostolia Papadamaki, Antonis Foniadakis, etc.) create a vertebral representation of dance on the subject the fashion specifically for Hellenic Fashion Week

Presentation of WORKSHOP: art & fashion. Fashion Show. with live music
Street art & Fashion: Music performances, dance, skateboard, grafity, hip hop, DJ's

Exciting or what?

Athens Fashion Week

Ok people, the news we've all been waiting for...

OMG do I see JEAN CHARLES de CASTELBAJAC, AF VANDEVORST, BERNHARD WILLHELM and MARIOS SCHWAB in Athens?

Voila the official press release:

The Hellenic Designers Association is organizing the 8th Athens Collections (the Official International Fashion Week in Athens) for Spring/Summer 09 at “Technopolis” in Gazi on October 6-12, 2008. The “Athens Collections” is under the auspices of the Municipality of Athens, the Ministry of Economy & Finance, the Ministry of Development, the Ministry of Tourism and Development, with collaboration of ELKEDE (Centre of Technology and Planning), OPE (Organization of Promotion of Exports), SEPEE (Hellenic Fashion Industry Assoc), SKEE (Hellenic Clothing Industry Assoc), ELSEBBYE (Shoemakers Assoc), EBEA

Greek designers, members of the association, ANGELOS BRATIS, ANDRIA, ASLANIS, CHARA LEBESSI, CHRISTOFOROS KOTENTOS, CHRISTOS COSTARELLOS, COSTASFALIAKOS, DAPHNE VALENTE, DIMITRIS DASSIOS, DEUX HOMMES, ERIFILLI, FILEP MOTWARY, FRIDA KARADIMA, KATERINALEXANDRAKI, KATERINA KAROUSSOS, KATHY HEYNDELS, KONSTANTINOS, LIANA CAMBA, LOUKIA, MAKIS TSELIOS, MARIA MASTORI, MI-RO, NILOLAS, NIKOS-TAKIS, PARTHENIS, SIMEONI, SMARAGDI, VASSILIOS KOSTETSOS, VASSILIS ZOULIAS, VICTORIA KYRIAKIDES, VELOUDAKIS, VRETTOS VRETTAKOS, YIANNOS XENIS, YIORGOS ELEFTHERIADES are participating in the 8th Athens Fashion Week.

Also, well known foreigner designers: Jean Charles de Castelbajac, AF VANDEVORST, BERNHARD WILLHELM, MARIOS SCHWAB, CASSETTE PLAYA and Cypriot AFRODITI HERA, ELENA STRONGYLIOTOU and ELENA ANTONIADES will be presenting their collections at this year’s event.

Honorary guest at this year’s event is Jean Charles de Castelbajac, one of the bigger names of French fashion whose work extends far beyond the realm of clothes, shoes and accessories and encompasses creations from works of art up to objects of daily use. An exhibition of his work will take place, after Paris and London, in Athens during the 8th Hellenic Fashion Week. In addition, he will be featuring his collection for Spring/Summer 09.

The artistic direction of Technopolis will be overseen by the famous French designer and icon Jean Charles de Castelbajac.

In October Hellenic Fashion Week begins collaboration with Flanders Fashion Institute (FFI), the official organization of fashion of Belgium, which organizes Antwerp's Fashion Week. During this collaboration a new Belgian designer will show in Athens and a new Greek designer will present their collections at the next Antwerp's Fashion Week.

Organisation: Hellenic Fashion Designers Association
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Andonis Kioukas
Sponsors of communication: L' Officiel, Madame Figaro, Votre Beaute
International Press office: TOTEM Kuki de Salvertes, Paris
Production: ATHENS FASHION PRODUCTIONS.

Moviiiies

The 14th Cinema Festival is officially on. The premiere is tonight showing Entre Les Murs at Attikon Cinemax Class - Apollon Cinemax Class. After party (partyyy!) at Pasaji, City Link. See full programme at http://www.aiff.gr/ . Let's go to the movies.

Glassic Update

Artist Irene Matinopoulou posing next to her work "I want us to sit on the same table", a 3D glass object featuring a table and two empty seats, inspired by the fact that people no longer chat face to face (sitting on the same table) but through their computer screens.

The opening of the first Artistic Glass Meeting was a success, showing that there is a lot of talent going on in Athens in this very particular corner of the art world. Inspiration was driven from life, movement, forms, shapes and feelings and was very creatively reflected on the very fragile material that glass is. Here's something different, go see for yourself, as noted on earlier post, at Deinokratous #35 str., near Dexameni, Kolonaki. How about placing something classy and glassy on your wall?

Athens Swing Cats

So you are not in London now that fashion week fever is high. So you are in hot hot Athens. I say you stylishly dance the disappointment away!

Athens Swing Cats, a team that's said to have taken its first lindy hop steps in London's club 100, promises to make you swing every part of your body this Saturday and every saturday for the rest of the year.

Swing? How stylish, every way you see it. And lindy hop is surely one cooool trend these days.

If you are a beginner, go to Chorologie, 76 Piraeus str. at 13.00. If you can already swing alright, go there at 14.00. Oh, and have €10 on you, everything's got a price nowadays.

Now watch this to get yourself into the mood:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKAbinFYhqo

Classy Glass

1η Συνάντηση Εικαστικού Γυαλιού

Anyone in Kolonaki, Athens tomorrow?

If yes, do something arty for yourself and visit the opening of the first exhibition of Artistic Glass in the evening.

Decorative designs and interesting objects made of glass are going to be exhibited at Deinokratous str. #35, Lycabettus, doors opening at 19.30. The exhibition will last till the 22nd of October.

A friend is amongst the artists showing their work during the event so I'm supporting it thumbs up. Her work is driven by the alienation caused by the modern way of living, see if you can spot it out.

Technology is contributing to that so after you've read this post turn off your pc and go make some new friends.

Have a Happy Monday.

Mango a/w 08

I came across Mango's new catalogue yesterday and I tell you this season looks like one big hit for them.

Not only I found the catalogue interesting enough to flick through, then read through all the way, then flick though again, it also sent me straight to the store to check out the new collection.

You will find a shoot of the limited edition collection by Penelope and Monica Cruz, with the beautiful brunette sisters modeling it themselves for the lens of Mert & Marcus, who have also signed work for brands like Louis Vuitton, Giorgio Armani and Miu Miu.

Selected snapshots from the catwalk show are showcased too, all priced and easy to follow. (In general the entire catalogue is priced, with amounts ranging between €12.90 and €169, yummy!).

Editorial shooting of the rest of the basic collection is naturally there aswell, but what I found so clever and wonderful and brave and meaningful in many ways, was Lauren Hutton's shoot, themed "we love you, lauren" and tagged "a sex symbol of the '70s and an icon today, Lauren Hutton is an example of how to grow older naturally with style". Signs of age proudly there, but the vibe of the woman was so intense that could compete with any teenage model, gives a great example that growing old doesn't mean loosing your charm and makes you want to be her when years go by and stop trying to be the 15-year-old cover girl.

As far as my visit to the store is concerned, I stayed till closing time, trying every single item on and desiding that Mango has by far the best fits in what is rightly considered a proper catwalk collection.

Useless bit of information: I ended up buying just a pair of shoes, but that's only because I really needed it for tonight and plan to go back there and make a serious total after I've smashed my piggy bank later this week:)

Check out mango.com and deside for yourself.

Fash Off!

Not sure who's going, i just like BBB, like shoreditch and sure as hell i always like a party;)

Thought i might share - says RSVP only so if you're planning to attend you know what to do.

Missing Isabella...

London, Aquascutum a/w 06

picture credits: Alecca Rox

Hello mi deers,

NY fashion week is still at large, with Vera Wang, Custo Barcelona and Calvin Klein being top of the list for most fashion editors today. I am not going to be a fashion pirate and reveal what they showed for s/s 09 - in any case, what do you care? you are just about to organise your winter wardrobe.

However, I am going to make a point of how much I miss Isabella (Blow) and post the above picture, a rare one of some of this century's worth mentioning fashion editors as well as a reminder of the soon-to-follow London Fashion Week. In case you are going, here's whom you should be contacting:

http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/uploads/documents/CatwalkContact.pdf

oh, and the schedule, it's final and it's out. Have a look:

http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/uploads/documents/Final%20schedule.xls

Isabella may not be sitting front row with her red lipstick on this season, she will be though in the heart of every true fashion lover, inspiring and supporting what London exports best: fresh, pure, young talent.

Athens Green Design

High heel peep-toes by designer Costia Gouroutides, made out of the material used for olive collection sacks. A stylish example of the fact the fashion doesn't need brand new materials to happen. Anything can have a second life as a fashion item, and this planet is running out of space for waste.

New York Fashion Week is at its peak, with models walking kilometres of catwalk in what will be next spring/summer's hot trends.

A few thousand kilometres away though, in the city of Athens, Greece some people are rather worried about whether we'll be able to distinguish between seasons for much longer, looking at the heat from a different angle.

Tonight, the Green Design Festival had its opening party. People were told there are no press releases to be handed out. Print-outs would be such a waste of paper and I am pleasantly surprised someone finally noticed.

So what made them involve fashion into this project? Fashion, we just can't get enough... Fast fashion, more clothes, more production, more waste by the time the new season hits the catwalk? 'Cause we don't want to be out of fashion, do we now?

Here's a different approach:

IS GREEN THE NEW BLACK?

WOULD ECO-FASHION STAND AT THE FOREFRONT OF DESIGN?

Eco Chic’ Fashion design exhibition aims to answer these questions and address the preconceived link of Eco fashion as compromising, be it in style or quality. More so it empha- sizes that it can be as glamorous, experimental and innovative as fashion must be. A pool of Designers from countries such as Greece, UK and many more set out to use Eco friendly, recycled and recyclable materials, vintage pieces and their unlimited imagination to create evening dresses and accessor- ies in order to prove that Eco fashion can be chic and inspira- tional. Green Design Festival will host the exhibition, which highlights that Fashion and environmental awareness are two concerns that can sit comfortably together.

curator: Melita Skamnaki

associate curators: Μaro Panagiotakopoulou, Wilhelm Finger

collaborator: Angeliki Papahroni, NATASHA XIDI

exhibition designer: Angeliki Athanasiadou

Participants:

ANDRIA

ANGELOS BRATIS

SANDRA BUCKLAND

VASSO CONSOLA

DEUX HOMMES

COSTIA GOUROUTIDES

JUNKY STYLING

ATHENA KOUROUKLI

ERIFYLLI NIKOLOPOULOU

NOIR

DIMITRIS NTASSIOS

ORSALIA PARTHENIS

DAPHNE VALENTE

VICTIM FASHION ST.

(source: http://www.greendesignfestival.gr/eng/index.htmlndesignfestival.gr/eng/index.html)