naomi alessandra

Braided dress (representing copper), Threeasfour Fall/Winter 2010

Brilliantly experimental designers threeASFOUR drew upon the esoteric world of alchemy as a point of inspiration for their Fall/Winter 2010 collection. The collection featured garments that twined around the body and evoked the seven metals involved in the alchemical process. Their runway performance in New York presented looks that represented lead, tin, iron, copper, mercury, silver and gold to reach a final crescendo of a dress that combined all seven metals to form something completely transformed and exalted.

Since ancient times alchemists have sought to transmute common substances, through mystical symbolic practices, into the most precious of all elements–gold. As well, our world mythologies tell us tale upon tale of the pursuit and ultimate fulfillment of similarly inconceivable goals. » Read the rest of this entry «

Wolf headdress and socks by Topshop Unique, shirts and leggings by Helmut Lang

Wild things ran rampant on the Fall/Winter 2010 runways, gnashing their terrible teeth and showing their terrible claws.  Wolves in particular made a striking appearance at Helmut Lang in New York and again at Topshop Unique’s woodland romp in London. I’m a sucker for wolves, as many of those closest to me can attest, so I simply had to mash up Emma Cook’s fabulously feral animal headdresses for Unique with Lang’s antithesis of the traditional wolf-howling-at-the-full-moon hippie shirt to create a true Where the Wild Things Are moment. » Read the rest of this entry «