Bid to win NY Fashion Week tickets & help Haiti

Daniel Saynt of FashionIndie.com has put his tickets to the following shows up for auction, in an effort to raise funds and help Haiti. Bids are still affordable, could it be you?

PORTS 1961
http://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/113964

NICOLE MILLER
http://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/113965

ADAM
http://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/113966

DKNY
http://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/113967

MARC BY MARC JACOBS
http://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/113968

BADGLEY MISKHA
http://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/113969

Throw it in the bag (don't)

I keep her in Louboutin, Louis Vuitton
Gucci down to her feet, yup, just like me
I'm the one with them ones
F*ck the price on the tag, just throw it in the bag

1. Some hip hop/RnB songs are such fashion anthems.
2. What is it with the shoplifting theme these days?!
(also see 'Vol de Jour' directed by Karl Lagerfeld)

So cold, I could wear a blanket

Next Athens Fashion Dates

By now you must be wondering when are the next fashion dates for Athens. Nothing has been officially announced yet, but I suggest you start making arrangements for the end of March. More specifically, Fashion Week Athens is more likely to take place at its usual Technopolis venue between the 24th and 28th of March, whereas Athens Xclusive Designers Week is heading for the days between the 20th and 23rd. As I said, no releases are out yet but the word is on the street so be prepared.

The importance of costumes in theatre

Whilst at the rehearsal last Monday, I thought I might pop the question: Why are costumes so important for the delivery of a role? The director, protagonists and costume designers of ANNA 11/M provided answers from their own points of view:

The director, Christos Strepkos (Michani Technis) - above left: "The costumes are like a second skin on performers. The characters are visualy incomplete without them. For me, it is very important to work with costume designers that are able to communicate the message I am aiming to express accurately and realistically".

The protagonists, Natassa Dailiani, Deppy Paga & Christina Skaza - above left to right:

"The costumes are vital in performing. They complete the character and directly influence the way we play the part".

"They are our work uniform, if the stage is our 'office' they are the 'suit'. If you go to work in the wrong dress code it counts against you and your tasks".

"The costumes play the most imortant part, they are our job tools. They have to be right for the job to be done, for the character to be delivered".

The Costume Designers, Celebrity Skin (1/2 of, Dimitris Strepkos above): "Costume design is where I started my career from and I know well that the nature of the character reflects on them. The shapes, the colours are all symbols the audience has to read. You have to understand each role well and do your research. I found it particularly interesting bringing the avant garde spirit of Celebrity Skin to everyday people costumes. Adding touches of elegance to real people is what art is really after, isn't it?"

Exclusive preview: Celebrity Skin costumes for ANNA 11/M

When invited to the final rehearsal for ANNA 11/M, I was particularly curious about the creative direction of the costumes, signed by Celebrity Skin. The results had me all excited. The duo known for it's extravagant, saturated gowns managed to tone down their style and adjust it to roles that are tragic rather than glamorous. Celebrity Skin explain the work paths they went down to dress characters such as protesters, everyday women and a nurse.

"The protesters play a vital role in creating the mood of where it all takes place. We spent hours inspecting images from the streets of Madrid back in 2004. Protesters were mostly wearing white t-shirts and had hand-painted the words "Terrorism = Poverty" in green.

We decided to exaggerate this by switching the t-shirts for long, rectangular tops made from raw white fabric, with oversized angular shoulders semiologically resembling protest signs. We applied the paint in the same manner the original protesters did, passionately and messy".

"Anna, the lover. She is naive, frivolous, bubbly. She is Angel's affair. Still, she is under stress to find out if he made it alive. We chose ash, smoky colours for all the characters. Particularly for her, we made a short, sexy dress paired with high heels. It's meant to be 11 o'clock in the morning, we wanted to show that she has no worries other than looking good. And now Angel, of course".

"Anna, the wife. She is most probably the most affected of all. She is at the waiting room expecting life or death news on the father of her child. We chose even darker shades and a Yamamoto-inspired long skirt to make her look imposing in space.

Next to her at the waiting room is the wife of a Romanian immigrant. We walked the neighbourhoods of immigrants in Athens, watched how they dress. Those people are hard-working, poor people. They cannot afford style but they are not concerned about it either, they have greater worries. Their clothes were mainly mis-matched and out of date and we followed this pattern".

"Anna, the mother. She is a comical figure in the darkest sense of humour. Everything on her is aristocratic but have twists of exaggeration, surreal details to match her character, like the decorated hat and the random frill.

The nurse accompanying her is dressed after research too. Seriously. We visited hospitals in Athens just to see what nurses wear during night shifts! We surprisingly noticed a pattern: white unbottoned robes, tight dresses, skin colour tights and cheap plastic shoes. It was like a uniform, we even asked them what their shoes were and went for them!"

Overall, Celebrity Skin didn't aim to adjust the characters to their aesthetics, but adjust their style to the needs of each role. It was all designed to support the plot and that took hours of reading the script and watching how the actresses move during the rehearsals. Well, I must say it paid off!

ANNA 11/M - theatre reflects on life

When tv reflects on life, you get a documentary, a movie, even a series. What happens though when this reflection is put into a theatrical play?

"ANNA 11/M" is Paloma Pedrero's transfer of the terrorist attack that shook Madrid and the world on March 11th 2004, through the eyes of three women named "Anna". No random Annas. They all have Angel in common, Anna the lover, Anna the wife, Anna the mother. Angel was on the tragic train to Atocha and the three main monologues Pedrero put together manage to tell the story, unravel the horror and at the same time project some of the most powerful ways a woman can love a man.

Both the script and costumes are based on real witnesses testimonies with peaks of surreal, ironic moments that make this no ordinary drama. Skillful stage direction, semiology and well-worked, good performances give you all the good reasons to go watch this whether it's paying tribute to the memory of the event, recognising the tragedy terrorism brings or simply interested in the mutli-angular approach of love.

"ANNA 11/M" will be on Pandou's stage (Karaiskaki 28, Psurri) starting this Wednesday the 3rd and every Wednesday and Thursday after that. Had the honour of watching the grand rehearsal and I strongly recommend you check it out.

Stay tuned, exclusive costume photos and some interesting insights on their importance as perceived by the actresses, the director and Celebrity Skin, the costume designers themselves.

Direction-Sceneography: Christos Strepkos
Translation: Maria Chatziemmaouil–Dimitris Psaras
Costumes: Celebrity Skin
Music: Dimitris Karalis
Lights: Nikos Sotiropoulos
Assistant Director: Stavros Kolokouris

Starring: Deppy Paga, Natassa Dailiani, Christina Skaza

Pandou Multispace (Karaiskaki 28,Psurri,tel. 210 3314601-2)
Opening 3rd February
Wednesdays & Thursdays
Starting at 21.15
Ticket Price 15є, 10є (students)

February in burgundy

When you have to leave home in the morning only to return late at night, you have to be comfy and warm. This is what February starts like.

Double face dress: Gaffer and Fluf, Whitebox.
Turtle neck top: any turtle neck top.
Hole punched jacket: Miss Selfridge, an oldie.
Fits-it-all handbag: Anna Economou, Whitebox.
Walk-on-cotton boots: Déjà, featuring the perfect heel to walk on all day.

Sales windows classic

For this blog at least. It's the windows of London Selfridges back in the sales of 2004, rising from my archive. I don't think I've come across any other windows that get the message across so directly, both in the sense of what's happening in-store as well as what we hope will happen after we leave the till. May you always bring home life-changing buys, amen.

Sales stickers & stuff

Sales are everywhere in Greece and so are the sales decs. Loud, tempting, bright, pop, brave or even silly. I find there's something about them. Here's what's out at the moment:

The straight forward approach.

The baroque approach.

The 3D approach.

The oldskool approach.

Putting your cards on the table (window) approach.

The spell-it-out-for-you approach.

The tag-for-the-short-sighted approach.

The elegant approach.

The circling the prey approach.

The we-do-not-go-for-stickers, curtain approach.

The we-totally-go-for-stickers, full window approach.

The sinking approach.

And the winning detail:

This one would be totally lost in translation for the non-Greek readers. I guess it's something like making a card to wish someone "Merry Christmas" and instead of spelling out "merry", you stick the face of a person named Mary - kindergarden humour, I know:)