Issey Miyake: A Drop d’Issey Eau de Parfum Fraîche

Imagine a raindrop as it travels through the elements, from grass to flowers, woods to roots, before eventually forming the pure morning dew, as this is exactly what the House of Miyake has formed in a drop shaped bottle. Providing the sublime boost of sensory experiences and the intimate spirits of nature that we all crave.

Issey Miyake: A Drop d’Issey Eau de Parfum Fraîche

To truly channel the message of this fragrance, the face of the bottle is stripped away from A-list star and replaced with the outdoors itself. A complex yet incredibly simple gesture, that generates joy for you to create for yourself, when wearing, that hasn’t been influenced by others.

Ane Ayo, perfumer at Firmenich, effortlessly designed this ode to nature as she was inspired by the transparency and captivating mineral dimension of water. As a modern twist, the scent carries notes of colourful, bashing flowers, that have had their petals dampened, hinted with a touch of lilac as it meets crisp cedar whispers and velvety sandalwood tastes – ending with a middle note of Damask Rose.

Issey Miyake: A Drop d’Issey Eau de Parfum Fraîche

Acting towards sustainable thinking, this bottle is made from 5% recycled glass and the cardboard used to house the fragrance comes from eco-friendly managed forests – giving back to nature is the true star of the show!

by Alicia Tomkinson

A Drop d’Issey Eau de Parfum Fraîche is available now here.

A Drop d’Issey Eau de Parfum Fraîche 90ml £87 RRP

The post Issey Miyake releases A Drop d’Issey Eau de Parfum Fraîche first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

Harvesting the May rose at Domaine de Manon, Grasse, 2018.
Image courtesy of Arnaud Pyvka for Christian Dior Parfums

Women have long been integral to Dior’s success, and more than 70 years later, Dior Parfums upholds this heritage with the recent Dior Stands with Women and Dior Chin Up campaign. Since 2006, Dior has initiated partnerships with committed female flower producers in the Grasse region, in an effort to revitalise the splendour of the fragrance flower industry in France.

Christian Dior making a tapestry in Milly la Forêt.
Image courtesy of Keystone-France / Colorisation 2020 Composite

Christian Dior was famous for flowers, shaping designs from the sweeping curves of petals, or translating the vivid blooms into print. Dior has highlighted the development of its gardens – which supply ingredients contained in the brand’s perfumes and make-up – along with the communities that nurture them.

Dior has ensured most of these places are progressively moving towards the principles of regenerative farming to increase their impact on biodiversity.

Christelle Archer at Domaine de Florapolis, Antibes, France.
Image courtesy of Arthur de Kersauson for Parfums Christian Dior

Christian Dior drawing at his office at 30 Avenue Montaigne, 1948.
Image courtesy of Association Willy Maywald/ADAGP, Paris + Paris 2021

Dior will also be prioritising eco-design for its packaging, focusing on refillable formats and gift packaging composed of more than 90% recycled materials.

by Sophia Ford-Palmer 

The post Dior underlines sustainability with its #BeautyAsALegacy initiative first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

“I think there is a definite and palpable lack of black voices in this space,” said Mondoa during our conversation regarding the creative community. “I remember entering the Royal College of Art (RCA)and keeping my eyes open for other black students – other people who look like me and can relate to my experiences and tastes. There are few of us in the grand scheme of things, and we’re dispersed around the college.”

She is not alone. Amid our current political landscape, millions of people worldwide are standing in solidarity and showing support for the #BlackLivesMatter movement condemning the actions of police brutality in the US. Sprung from decades of injustice and disregard, the Black Lives Matter Foundation was founded seven years ago by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tomet in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murder and is a “global organisation in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.”

Being at the forefront of public attention, due to the violent killing of black people such as George Floyd and Breanna Taylor, among others, the movement is growing both larger and louder. An influx of information has inundated our social media feeds, news outlets and day-to-day discussions, revealing truths of systematic racism that White people may find new, pushing them to reflect on their privilege and education.

Seven Swords by Catherine Mondoa

Growing up Maryland, US, Mondoa remembers being the only Black child in her first-grade class with feelings of isolation and the need to fit in, “I remember my mother doing my hair. She used to relax it with harsh chemicals so that it would look straight and be more manageable and acceptable for my surroundings,” she tells me, “After years of repeated use, the relaxer completely destroyed my hair, and my mom cut it all the way down to a short afro above my head. I remember walking into school that day and feeling incredibly ashamed.”

A feeling that no child, or person for that matter, should have to face – especially because of their ethnic background. Unfortunately, this wasn’t just childhood alone; themes of micro-aggression and bias have followed Mondoa, and other black men and women alike, in her footsteps, making her feel like ‘other’ more often than not.

“I remember people crossing the street when they saw me approach. I remember professors in university calling me and other black girls in my graduating class the same name throughout our time in uni because they thought we all looked the same. I remember the stick-thin white girls in my middle-school class commenting on my thunder thighs, curvier features common to black women and a family trait that I eventually grew into. I remember travelling around my college town and people constantly and immediately assuming that I attended the large state school and displaying immense shock when they learned I attended the private school up the street,” lists Mondoa, noting that these are only a few from many acts of discrimination that she has faced in her lifetime.

Catherine Mondoa’s Black Madonna interpretation

Throughout this time of civil unrest, everybody has a duty in order to create a positive outcome. From attending protests, donating funds, to simply just educating themselves; everyone can do something to make a change. Flocks of artists have been creating visual representations to endorse the movement. In times of adversity, creative voices always prevail – speaking on a primarily visual level gives them the ability to connect to people in a multitude of ways.

Mondoa, in the wake of BLM,  began to design protest t-shirts with the goal to fundraise for organisations and push the cause forward. Recalling her own protest experience as beautiful and uplifting, Mondoa felt empowered to be part of a “swell of people, around the world, speaking in one voice for change.”

Since then, her artistic venture has evolved, inspiring a much stronger sentiment, “Police brutality and other forms of systemic racism violate the Black body and I seek to honour the dead and to celebrate the living,” she explains, taking this opportunity to express her personal views and create a mode by which she can express her own blackness and background, “with or without the creation of the shirts, my partner’s prompt to create imagery to help people in her community understand and contribute to the BLM movement gave me the push to really examine my [own] identity and where it fits in the grand scheme of things,” she continued.

Black Madonna by Catherine Mondoa

Combining her background in the Roman Catholic Church with her heritage and experiences, Mondoa’s artwork heavily reflects the societal implications of White imagery within Black culture – highlighting the concept that “despite the geographic location of the biblical stories, we primarily see white figures as the central characters.” Her work confronts these traditional religious representations, such as the Virgin Mary (who is considered the pinnacle of femininity and most often depicted as pure white and motherly), and replaces them with the Black female form, associating her purity with that of a Black Woman.

Considering the phrase “give people their flowers,” the multimedia artist also explores elements of graphic design by writing BLM in a bouquet of funeral flowers and juxtaposing images of protests with fields of lilies. In the eyes of the media, Blackness often has negative connotations, “it’s easy for the media to spin stories of our suffering and to ignore the needs of our community,” says Mondoa, “we cry out because we are in pain [and] because of this, I consider Our Lady of Sorrows and imagery of the Virgin Mary as a comfort and an advocate for the suffering of her children.”

To Catherine Mondoa, justice for George Floyd looks like a compilation of many aspects, “It looks like taking action in the face of every instance of violence towards black people instead of hiding behind a poster child. It means pushing for justice for black women like Breonna Taylor and remembering that the Black community includes more than black men. It would mean defunding the police and investing in community outreach, including mental health resources, investments in education, and social work.”

Our Lady of Sorrows by Catherine Mondoa

“It would mean stopping polished company statements and surface shows of solidarity and instead hire and place black professionals on boards, invest in black businesses, donate to community organisations, invite black panellists as more than “diversity” speakers but as experts in their field like you would anyone else, and constantly challenge racial stereotyping and bias no matter how small,” she adds.

“My hope for the future is that the abilities of black artists, the richness of the black experience, and the flavour that we add to new spaces begins to take precedence as necessary voices and components in an increasingly global world,” Mondoa passionately expressed at the end of our conversation, urging everyone who can to use their privilege and platform to speak up and play their role in creating a positive, actively anti-racist outcome.

by Molly Denton

Follow Catherine Mondoa’s art account here: @beingmito

The post Glass speaks to artist Catherine Mondoa first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

Alexander McQueen SS20 backstage photographs by Adama Jalloh

Alexander McQueen SS20 backstage photographs by Chloe Le Drezen

Alexander McQueen SS20 backstage photographs by Liam Leslie

Blooming on the surface of ivory linen dresses and cotton silk tailoring, the print was originally taken from sketches drawn by the McQueen design team, while spending hours sat in a greenhouse full of endangered flowers. Back in the studio, the team further researched extinct blooms and worked on modifying the drawings – engineering each of them to fit a specific design template.

SS20 development samples from the Alexander McQueen studio

Drawing from the house’s extensive archive and working alongside the embroidery team to develop colour pallets, over time the new print was imagined – meticulously hand-embroidered into the fabric of the garments using fine silk thread. Exploded sleeves and cocoon backs flourished with McQueen’s intricate and intertwining representation of the most sacred of blooms.

Alexander McQueen SS20 backstage photographs by Chloe Le Drezen

by Augustine Hammond

The post Glass takes a look behind the seams of Alexander McQueen’s SS20 endangered flower print first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

Wild Flowers Collection. Juli Bolaños-Durman Collaboration x Jorum Studio.
Photograph by Shannon Tofts

Poignant and creative, Bolaños-Durman is joining artistic forces once more with independent Edinburgh-based fragrance brand, Jorum Studio, for the debut of her Wild Flowers collection. A commentary on social change, Wild Flowers is the latest showcase of Bolaños-Durman’s unique ability to transform abandoned, disfigured glass into visually captivating art with hand-cut detailing. 

Wild Flowers Collection. Juli Bolaños-Durman Collaboration x Jorum Studio.
Photograph: Shannon Tofts

Wild Flowers Collection. Juli Bolaños-Durman Collaboration x Jorum Studio
Photograph: Shannon Tofts

With Jorum Studio championing her work, Juli Bolaños-Durman will ask her audience to think deeply about the concept of upcycling in this modern era. Thanks to her powerful message, spectators likely be reconsider what we all often (carelessly) disregard as waste. 

by Maria Noyen

The Wild Flowers collection is set to launch at the Re.Use, Re.Think, Re.Imagine exhibition at the Hauser & Wirth gallery in Somerset from October 18 21019 to January 1 2020

For more information please contact hello@jorumstudio.com

The post Glass previews Juli Bolaños-Durman Studio x Jorum Studio Wild Flowers collection first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

The collection was true to Jason Wu’s style: 18 dresses all capturing the essence of what Autumn, according to Wu that is. From raised hemlines to floor-sweeping dresses, these eighteen garments were sure to provide enough diversity for any wardrobe.

The designer proves himself a master in pleating, folding and fabric manipulation. Forget jewellery, dresses are embellished with fabric, taking the shape of flowers and other botanicals. A white floor-length dress with black detailing looked as if it was almost fluid itself. Using the same technique there was a navy, perhaps one of the more autumnal looks in an otherwise very spring-like colour palette.

The second category in his 18-dress family were feathers. With a black feathered hemline being the calm before the storm. A storm that took the form of a knee-length dress covered in two different types of feathers, that ruffled with this faintest gush of air, a mesmerising sight to behold.

Yet the star of the show – well presentation – was a blush dress that through tailoring and fabric manipulation looked as if was cascading down, creating an elegant and stunning shape, morphing seamlessly with the mannequin’s bodice, almost becoming one.

It wouldn’t be a Jason Wu show without some flowers. The actual floral arrangements were more subtle as compared to his SS19 show, yet made a second appearance in the form of a poppy-print, getting us in the spirit for Remembrance Day.

Jason Wu proves to be a master of manipulating fabric and in doing so creating beautiful bouquets of dresses.

by Lupe Baeyens

The post NYFW AW19: Jason Wu first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

Fleur de Villes Floral Couture Mannequin

Top London florists including Bloomsbury Flowers, Amie Bone and Wild Things have partnered with design talents from Kate Spade to Olivia Burton, creating a series of mannequins dressed in spectacular couture creations entirely crafted from flora. From dramatic dresses to softly blossoming bridal couture, the exhibition will explore the artistry of flowers and showcase the best in floral design.

Fleur de Villes Floral Couture Mannequin

As well as giving visitors the opportunity to view stunning floral art, the event will feature a series of pop-up flower markets offering fresh-cut flowers, bouquets and other floral accessories. Shoppers will also be in with the chance of winning tickets to Jardin Blanc at the Chelsea Flower Show 2019. What a blooming lovely way to spend an hour.

by Rachel Parker

The Fleurs de Villes Floral Couture Installation will be on show in the Central Avenue of Covent Garden’s Market Building until October 7.

The post Fleurs de Villes exhibit Floral Couture in Covent Garden first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

This collection was very Noten – full of masterful tailoring, techniques and luxurious materials like silk-jacquards with flower ornaments which carried on with the theme of the show, silk and satin dresses, silk chiffon mixed with lace or sandals in plush pastel yellow velvet.

It was again packed with cultural references, this time around Noten went for Japan. Traditional Geta shoes got a more easily wearable makeover, lacquered Japanese cabinets were referenced in a patent pencil skirt and a coat with a floral lining and the kimono was referenced on multiple occasions in the form of jackets and coats.

Apart from the cultural background, there was also historical reference in Victorian embellished collars and blouses and ornamental jackets with voluminous sleeves, intricately embroidered and encrusted.

The last series of looks came in all black, giving space to the many different textures to stand out, while the show began in white. The colours chosen to brighten up the collection were acid yellow and azure.

by Sara Hesikova

Images courtesy of Dries Van Noten

The post PFW SS17: Dries Van Noten first appeared on The Glass Magazine.

Iris sandal in raffia with marine flower embroidery, Leticia Blossom in natural linen with marine floral embroidery,
Magnolia Blossom lace-up flat with cut-out sides

Dusty Meadow in natural linen and raffia embroidery, Hermione Meadow in black lace and raffia embroidery

by Alexia Sakellariou

Τhe collection will hit the stores in February and will be available at Browns, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and online at Matches Fashion and Net-A-Porter.

The post Tabitha Simmons floral designs for SS16 first appeared on The Glass Magazine.