Balenciaga launched a video game in collaboration with musician BFRND, Miami design landed in Los Angeles, Gap presented a collection in collaboration with Doon, and Totem opened in West Hollywood.
Balenciaga Music teams up with BFRND to create video game
Balenciaga Music, a project highlighting the vital role music plays in Balenciaga's creative and cultural influence, has launched a multifaceted collaboration with French composer and musician BFRND.
Known for his distinctive genre-defying sound and deep love for dark electronic and classical music, BFRND has been creating the original soundtracks for every Balenciaga presentation since 2017. BFRND, whose real name is Loic Gomez, is also the husband of Balenciaga's creative director, Demna Gvasalia.
The Balenciaga Music | BFRND series will feature limited edition merchandise, a four-hour original playlist, an original 8-bit video game and a 360-degree experience.
Available in stores and on balenciaga.com, the merchandise includes t-shirts and zip-up hoodies with an all-access pass embedded with an NFC chip. In BFRND: The Game, players can experience different Balenciaga show sets and their respective music tracks, collect iconic Balenciaga products and earn points.
The game will kick off with a global contest, with prizes being awarded to the top 30 players worldwide. The first three levels of BFRND: The Game are accessible to everyone via a dedicated minisite; the fourth, bonus level, can only be accessed via an NFC (Near Field Communication) chip embedded in Balenciaga Music | BFRND merchandise.
Design Miami arrives in Los Angeles
Last weekend, a private estate in Holmby Hills designed by Paul R. Williams hosted the inaugural Design Miami.LA, joining a global slate of fairs in Basel, Paris and Miami Beach.
Founded in 2005 by entrepreneur, real estate developer and art collector Craig Robbins, Design Miami focuses on museum-quality 20th and 21st century furniture, lighting and art from the world's top galleries, as well as showcasing immersive design collaborations with big-name brands.
The Los Angeles fair featured many of the world's leading international design galleries, showcasing a host of historical and contemporary highlights, reflecting Design Miami's status as a global platform for collectible design while firmly rooting itself in the design scene of the fair's new host city.
Ashley Harrison served as Curatorial Director of the Los Angeles edition, overseeing the presentation of international collectible design galleries and site-specific exhibitions across the three-acre grounds, in collaboration with Henrik Plienne, Global Creative Director of the Fair's 2024 program.
Highlights include Friedman Benda (New York/Los Angeles), which presented a group exhibition focused on Los Angeles-based design practices, and international exhibitors featuring work by Darren Romanelli, Carmen D'Apollonio, Pharrell Handley, Meesha Khan, and Samuel Ross.
Southern Guild (Cape Town/Los Angeles) recently opened its second store in the Melrose Hill area of Los Angeles, showcasing the work of renowned designers on a global scale, including Zanele Muholi, Zizipho Poswa, Pokey Hefer, Andile Dialwane, Rich Mnisi, Cheikh Diallo, Ndipha Mntambo, King Hudekpinku and Patrick Bongoyi.
R & Company (New York) paired the work of West Coast-based contemporary designers including Lee Hoon Cheong, Logan Gregory, and Jolie Ngo in a presentation that explored design dialogue to find new paths for growth in the industry.
Meanwhile, The Future Perfect (New York/Los Angeles/San Francisco) showcased the work of Genesis Bélanger in collaboration with Bower Studios, and also featured work by Jane Jan-Dayene, Chris Walston, Lina Similou and Erik Ruynestad.
The fair also featured a 'Design at Large' programme, showcasing artworks in dialogue with the gardens, as well as a programme of talks curated by Harrison with curators, industry leaders and boundary-pushing designers.
Gap x Dôen collection debuts with summery floral prints
Gap and California-based clothing brand Doen have collaborated on a collection of women's and children's apparel and accessories. Founded in 2016 by the Santa Barbara-born Cleveland sisters, Doen became known for its nostalgic floral dresses.
The 51-piece limited collection, which launched on May 17, is Doen's feminine take on Gap's iconic denim and khaki styles. The collection includes matching sets, dresses, denim, matching tops and skirts, loungewear and accessories featuring floral prints, eyelets and flowing silhouettes.
Retailing for $19.95 to $158, the line comes in a range of styles and prints in sizes for kids, toddlers and babies. Photographed by Dan Martensen, the campaign features sisters Lily and Ruby Aldridge, as well as 11-year-old twin sisters Levia and Zahar.
“Gap partners with brands that strive for originality and use fashion as a powerful outlet for self-expression,” said Mark Breitbard, president and CEO of Gap Inc. “Our collaboration with Doon celebrates a feminine aesthetic brought to life through our most beloved essentials.”
“The timeless and iconic nature of the Gap brand is incredibly inspiring for Catherine and me,” said Margaret Cleveland, co-founder and CEO of Dawn.
Katherine Cleveland, co-founder and CCO of the brand, added: “It was a dream come true to see our collection, which is rooted in nostalgia and femininity, reinterpreted through a classic Gap lens.”
The Gap x Dôen collection will be available globally on gap.com and in select Gap stores.
Totem opens West Hollywood flagship store
Swedish fashion house Totem has opened a 2,600-square-foot freestanding flagship store in the former Benjamin Salon space on Melrose Avenue.
Designed in collaboration with Swedish design studio Halleroed, the new store is the brand's most comprehensive renovation of a retail space yet, fusing elements of local modernism and art deco with essential materials and geometric shapes that subtly evoke the brand's signature monogram.
“Our Melrose Avenue store is rooted in our Swedish heritage, but also embraces the sense of openness and freedom that comes from California's vast landscape and architectural history,” says co-founder Carl Lindman. “This was the first time we had the opportunity to renovate a retail space from the ground up, and we wanted to give it a distinctive personality that paid homage to Downtown Los Angeles' Art Deco past, as if the building had always been there.”
Founded in Stockholm in 2014 by Lindman and Erin Kling, Totem sells women's ready-to-wear, shoes, bags, accessories and jewelry, and opened its first West Coast store in Palisades Village last November.
Toteme is now open at 8910 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, 90069.
Cameron Silver releases new book
Cameron Silver, founder of the famed Melrose Avenue vintage boutique Decades, has released a new book, “The Kaftan: From Classic to Camp: A History of Fashion.”
Possibly the oldest known garment in the world, the caftan appears throughout all eras and cultures, from the chitons depicted on ancient Greek and Roman vases and murals to the sheer versions wafting down the red carpet today.
In this book, Silver expertly explores all the renditions and creations of the caftan by Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino, Marc Bohan of Dior, Karl Lagerfeld, Emilio Pucci, Rudi Gernreich, Oscar de la Renta and others, and showcases kaftans worn in films, concerts and on the red carpet by Elizabeth Taylor, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Natalie Wood, Barbra Streisand, Princess Grace of Monaco, Jackie Kennedy, Liza Minnelli, Nina Simone, Billy Porter, Jennifer Lopez and others.
Silver is also the author of “Decades: A Century of Fashion” and starred in the Bravo reality show “The Dukes of Melrose.” The book was released on Friday.
Retrouvaí and Platinum Guild International congratulate Sunita Kumar Nair
Los Angeles-based jewelry brand Retrouvaí and Platinum Guild International On May 16, we hosted an event in honor of Sunita Kumar Nair, author of “CBK: Carolyn Bassett Kennedy, A Life in Fashion.”
Thursday night's event, held at Brentwood Country Mart, began with cocktails and a Q&A in the courtyard, followed by dinner in the Farm Shop.
Due for publication in November 2023, the book pays tribute to Bessette Kennedy's personal style, fashion codes and the impact she left behind, nearly 20 years after she died in a tragic plane crash with John F. Kennedy Jr. off the coast of Martha's Vineyard.
The book features photographs by Nan Goldin, Glenn Ratchford and Peter Lindbergh, and interviews with Alaïa's Ann Demeulemeester, Yohji Yamamoto, Peter Mourié, Mario Sorrenti, Fabien Baron, Fern Mallis and Tory Burch, as well as a foreword by Gabriela Hearst and Edward Enninful, former Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue and CBE.
Isamaya Ffrench and FaceGym team up for sculpting tools
Isamaya Ffrench, a British editorial makeup artist who has collaborated with Junya Watanabe and Vivienne Westwood and worked on the makeup of Bjork and Rihanna, has announced a collaboration with skincare brand Face Gym.
Launched on May 15, Sculpt 01 is a Gua Sha tool designed to revolutionize skincare and facial workout routines and prep skin for makeup.
“I have a deep interest in energy systems and massage, and I'm an avid collector of beauty devices from around the world,” French says. “They've become staples in my makeup routine.”
The tool comes with a QR code that links to exclusive tutorials and routines created by trainers from Ffrench and FaceGym.
Known for challenging beauty conventions, Ffrench was named creative director of Byredo Makeup in 2020, where she conceived and developed the brand's line. In 2021, she was named global beauty director for Burberry, and in 2022, she launched her own makeup line, Isamaya Beauty.
Sculpt 01 costs $60 and is available to purchase at Isamaya.com and FaceGym.com.
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