Lifestyle

Lifestyle // Women's

Stylish Space: Kelly Wearstler Studio

Kelly Wearstler was famous for interior design before launching her fashion collection, so we expect her showroom to be chic in every way. And it is, perfectly complementing the metal jewelry and unique prints Kelly designed for Spring 2013. Its Hudson River views were particularly dramatic during the storm that drenched the beginning of New York Fashion Week.

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Lifestyle // Women's

In Detail: Digital Prints

This season technology meets textiles. Prints are made modern with computer-generated graphics devoid of repeating patterns. A few seasons ago, designers Mary Katrantzou and Peter Pilotto bursted onto our fashion radar with their cutting-edge techniques and now, as Ken Downing would say, “If it’s not a digital print, it’s not a print worth talking about.”  Below we zoom in on some of Fall’s wearable kaleidoscope-like optical illusions.

Erdem

Erdem Fall 2012 look 21.

Mary Katrantzou

Mary Katrantzou Fall 2012 look 7.

Peter Pilotto

Peter Pilotto Fall 2012 look 19.

Roberto Cavalli

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Lifestyle // Women's

Seeing Things: Man Ray Lee Miller

One of the most thrilling ways to understand Art is to recognize the ways in which it is generated out of the experience of daily life.  While some artists rely on theory as the fuel for their visual expression, others are inspired by the thoughts, feelings and perceptions born from the everyday. The exhibition at San Francisco’s Legion of Honor, Man Ray Lee Miller, tracks the creative relationship between two pioneering Surrealist artists. As lovers and later as friends, the relationship inspired their work and helped shape the history of modern art.

The heart of the exhibition lies in the years between 1929-1932 when the artists lived together in Paris.  Prior to this time, Lee Miller had been a successful model in New York.  She was beautiful, talented, and intellectually aware.  Man Ray was already a formidable force in the Surrealist world, combining painting, sculpture and photography.

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Lifestyle // Women's

On Set: A Dune For Brunello Cucinelli

Brunello Cucinelli

Sure looks like sand...

By now you must know the story—how Brunello Cucinelli started with Italian cashmere sweaters and has developed into a head-to-toe, casual-luxe lifestyle brand, produced by cherished artisans in a medieval town in Italy. (If you’re unacquinted, you’ll enjoy the video here.)  There’s an unmistakable Cucinelli look nowadays, comprised of delicious layers of ultra-soft, wonderfully textured, neutral-colored separates that bridge urban sophistication and country coziness. The September Book from NM contains an insert dedicated to the women’s Fall collection, photographed by Alistair Taylor-Young. It shows two women, swaddled in Cucinelli, contemplating the change of seasons on a windswept sand dune. Except that’s not a sandy beach, it’s a studio filled with semolina—the wheat particles used in pasta.

Brunello Cucinelli

Not sand.

Somehow semolina seems appropriate, since Cucinelli’s company is renowned for its outstanding employee cafeteria, and the epic industry dinners that it hosts in Italy every season.

Brunello Cucinelli

The plumed necklace is exclusive to NM.

You may also notice the plumed necklace worn throughout the shoot—it’s exclusive to NM.

Up Close: Brunello Cucinelli runs through August 26 online and in NM stores.

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Lifestyle // Women's

On Set: The Art of Fashion, Fall 2012

A behind-the-scenes view of The Art of Fashion photographer Erik Madigan Heck and crew in action. Have a glimpse of how they created the surreal images of the Fall 2012 campaign.

Art Director: Peggy Bennett

Creative Director: Georgia Christensen

Video Director: Joe Turner Lin

Producer: Randy Elia

Stylist: Ryan Hastings

Hair: Tamara McNaughton

Make up: Deanna Melluso

 

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Lifestyle // Women's

Inspired: Lela Rose Channels Santiago Calatrava

Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas.  Photography by Mei-Chun Jau.

Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas. Photo by Mei-Chun Jau.

It’s little surprise that Lela Rose knew the work of Santiago Calatrava long before his gleaming white, steel-and-cable suspension bridge became Dallas’ latest piece of “starchitecture.” Rose happens to be the daughter of Dallas philanthropist and arts patron Deedie Rose, who played a role in selecting the Spanish architect for the project.

Though Lela now lives and works in New York, she watched the bridge take shape during trips home to oversee the opening of her first freestanding boutique. “I kept looking at that bridge, with its fluid, bending lines,” says Rose. “You usually think of architecture as structured and rigid, but Calatrava talks about ‘the poetry of romance,’ and you really see that in his work, the bending and undulating forms. It’s very romantic to me.”

The "Very Calatravan" look 28 from the Lela Rose Fall 2012 collection

The "Very Calatravan" look 28 from the Lela Rose Fall 2012 collection

No wonder, then, that Calatrava’s “fusion of structure and movement” was the jumping-off point for Rose’s fall collection.  Silhouettes are long, angular, and lean, and Rose worked with fabric mills, showing them photos of the architect’s bridges and railway stations, to develop fabrics and patterns such as the swooping Linear Labyrinth.

Nice touch: When the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge had its formal opening in early March, Elisa Summers, granddaughter of the bridge’s namesake, was wearing Look 28 in Linear Labyrinth. “That fabric is so Calatrava,” says Rose. “It couldn’t have been more perfect.” 

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Lifestyle // Women's

A Visual History of The Art of Fashion

When the world’s top photographers intersect with high fashion (and the occasional celebrity model), the Art of Fashion happens. Richard Avedon was tapped to create the first Art of Fashion campaign in 1994. This slideshow describes some of what followed. You can find the complete timeline and an NM creative director’s first-person account of working with the great Lillian Bassman in the September issue of The Book.

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Lifestyle // Women's

The Art of Fashion: Mood Films by Erik Madigan Heck

Photographer Erik Madigan Heck’s saturated and seemingly brushstroked shots blur the lines between photography, fashion and painting. This surrealist specialization extends to another medium of creativity for the artist, film. As a supplement to the captivating Fall 2012 Art of Fashion campaign in the September issue of The Book, NM commissioned three art films from the youngest artist ever to shoot for the storied spread.

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Lifestyle // Women's

The Art of Fashion Revealed for Fall 2012

The Art of Fashion

Art of Fashion featuring Alexander McQueen Fall 2012

Debuting nearly 20 years ago, The Art of Fashion print campaign continues to intersect the world’s top photographers with high fashion, from Richard Avedon in 1994 to today’s Fall 2012 campaign debuting the work of Erik Madigan Heck (the youngest photographer ever to shoot the Art of Fashion.) The Fall campaign features 25 designers including Alexander McQueen, The Row, Mary Katrantzou, Alaia Paris, Oscar de la Renta, Haider Ackermann and Céline.  “I knew when I first started taking pictures that it was something that would allow me to create in a more contemporary manner,” says Heck. “Painting was great, but I wanted a more time-relevant medium to express ideas and photography seemed to be it,” he says. View the 27 images and read more about Heck in the September issue of The Book.

The Art of Fashion

Art of Fashion featuring Akris Fall 2012

Two original Erik Madigan Heck prints from The Art of Fashion portfolio will be auctioned October 20 in conjunction with the Two x Two for AIDS, a 13-year-old Dallas event that has raised over $34 million for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) and the Dallas Museum of Art’s Contemporary Art Acquisitions Fund.

The Art of Fashion

Art of Fashion featuring Haider Ackermann Fall 2012.

The Art of Fashion

Art of Fashion Oscar de la Renta Fall 2012.

View The Art of Fashion campaign in the September issues of Vogue, Vanity Fair, and The Book by Neiman Marcus

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Lifestyle

Seeing Things: Made In L.A.


Pearl C. Hsiung, 13-panel painting, oil-based enamel, vinyl mural on window, at the Hammer

Pearl C. Hsiung, 13-panel painting, oil-based enamel, vinyl mural on window. At the Hammer.

MADE IN L.A. is the first major biennial in Los Angeles, a collaborative effort organized by the UCLA Hammer Museum and LAXART, a dynamic nonprofit space located in Culver City. Art production has exploded in L.A., fueled by the prevalence of outstanding art schools, affordable studio space and a town whose “no limits” ethos is a global magnet for artists. The biennial’s goal is to expose, promote and celebrate this proliferation via the 60 emerging and under-recognized artists featured in the show.

LAXART, Culver City-  Exterior wall mural by Slanguage (Mario Ybarra, Jr. and Karla Diaz), 2011

LAXART, building exterior, mural by 777 Crew.

On the weekend of June 2, the three venues housing the biennial opened on successive days.  The Hammer drew record crowds on Friday night; LAXART dominated Saturday afternoon with the opening of the collaborative, Slanguage; and Barnsdall Park Municipal Gallery in Los Feliz drew the community on Sunday.  Uniting the venues is SoundMap, a mobile audio experience, prepared for viewer listening while traversing the city to the various locations. (Download free from iTunes.) The biennial is characterized not only by the visual component, but also by a roster of events that includes music, performance and public programming through September 2.  In addition, an irreverent boardwalk biennial at the legendary Venice Beach Ocean Front Walk will take place July 13-15.

Liz Glynn, "III", 2010, reclaimed wooden forklift pallets, housing for performances, 16 x 27 x 27'

Liz Glynn, "III", 2010, reclaimed wooden forklift pallets, housing for performances, 16 x 27 x 27'

As for the art itself, the range is broad in terms of technique and execution. While residing in L.A., the artists hail from different cities and countries, representing an international array of concerns and viewpoints. Painting and sculpture are featured alongside multiple videos, installations and architecturally integrated pieces. 

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