Catherine Servel is another one of these whimsical photographers that I absolutely love… like M&M she has a distinctive color pallet, vibrant yet, muted…

When you look at clothes all day, sometimes photography tends to bleed together… “Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful…” I think as I scroll around searching for something to take hold of me. Sure, I’m a sucker for Mert and Marcus the color pallets and moodiness are so irresistible… Catherine Servel is another one of these whimsical photographers that I absolutely love… like M&M she has a distinctive color pallet, vibrant yet, muted but with her, there is a definitive lightness, a soft humor that draws me in, makes me smile… the bunny with the ruby slippers, the kitty mask and tutu. I love it, I love it all.

View her portfolio on CatherineServel.com

While I know everyone and their mother has been posting about Gareth Pugh’s incredible SS09 collection… I just couldn’t let this one go by without posting about it either. It’s amazing how he pushes the envelope by choosing form over function. While I do believe there are pieces in this collection that are by far some of the more wearable pieces he’s ever designed… gorgeous as anything I’ve seen.. there are his more experimental pieces going between science fiction and Elizabethan references. I do believe that there is a lot of Star Wars in this, with the light side and the dark side.. and of  course the white armored look which I can’t help but to think of a storm trouper.

Science Fiction in Real Life

Gareth Pugh SS09 on the runway, and a couple of Stom Troupers calling collect… photo by Steve Schofield in his series about people who dress up as (science) fictional characters.. it’s a great photo series.

Life and Legend

Elizabethan revival, in the most modern of ways… of course you know I can’t help but to post neck ruffs.

Maybe, just maybe, someone will put these two together in a film as successfully as Gareth Pugh so Rocky and I can agree on a movie…. we’ll see.

Street fashion photography has been around for ages… long before blogs came along, it existed in print, in the east magazines dedicated to street fashion and here in the west in music magazines club photos… blogging of course has got to be one of the most natural mediums for this type of photography and it’s been taking off these past few years. And there is no doubt that these street fashion photographers are becoming established names in the industry.

Style Clicker started on Christmas Eve 2006 by Gunnar Hameleh is the street photographer for Munich. Recently he’s partnered with Condé Naste (German Vogue, GQ, and Vanity Fair) making it possible for him to travel around Europe getting shots of stylish people… and he’s even photographed me!  Well, he got me when we met up in Munich for a nice coffee and a good conversation. Here we talk about the impact of blogging on fashion, the beautiful people of Stockholm, and trusting your instincts…

The Coveted: How did you start?

Style Clicker: The first post was on Christmas Eve, a photos of my wife in the basement of the house, it’s was an untypical picture for my blog… but that was how it started.

TC: Were you reading blogs at that time?

Style Clicker: Not so much really. I had a small software company with my brother. There was this  whole web 2.0 thing, and I really like this idea that people could start anything, and you could reach a whole  public.

We wanted to start a community, where people could upload their own pictures with a map, but it already existed, and the quality of the pictures wasn’t that good. Then I saw Hel Looks, the Sartorialist, the Face Hunter, and I thought I could start that in Munich. It would be a challenge because It’s not the #1 fashion city in the world.

TC: How do you think street fashion blogs are changing global fashion?

Style Clicker: It’s kind of a media revolution going on right now. i don’t see print magazines as competitors, maybe they see us a competitors.

First of all it’s free… it’s very fast.. the impact of the street, was always important in fashion.

It has always been that way, designers get inspiration from the clubs and the streets, it was only available to the elite, who had the time,  were able to access the clubs and travel to the different streets, now anyone on the internet can get that information. So the gatekeepers are left out in a way. Directly from the creative people in fashion on the streets and in the clubs to to the consumer. That’s what I like, there is no editor. Of course bloggers pick who they like, but there is no advertising money in the equation.

Bloggers are very free, and they pick what they like. Main difference, is it’s very authentic, it’s real people, and it’s real places. The users can identify much more with real people than with models who are so beautiful, and you cannot reach it anyways, they are photoshopped, and photographed some location people usually cannot go.

It’s easier for person to say “I could try that out.”

TC: What are you obsessing on these days?

Style Clicker: Photography is an obsession, it’s like a meditation. I don’t meditate, but I do photography. When I’m taking pictures, I forget everything around me. I love to do that. Even if Style Clcker hadn’t become successful, I would have done photography.

I’m thinking about moving to Sweden. There is a lot of work to do before, it may not even work. But I would like to do it. Stockholm is gorgeous, a beautiful city, great people. The whole city has great style. Homes are nice, very tasteful… it’s a street photographers paradise.

It has always been that way, designers get inspiration from the clubs and the streets, it was only available to the elite, who had the time,  were able to access the clubs and travel to the different streets, now anyone on the internet can get that information. So the gatekeepers are left out in a way.

TC: Describe your method.
Style Clicker: Usually I go on Saturdays, it’s easier to scan people. In the beginning I felt like I was a hunter… but I felt that was too much pressure, so now it’s like a walk though the city, and even if I don’t find anyone. I always take it like a gift if If find someone.

The first thing is I give them a compliment… it’s always a nice beginning for a nice conversation.

TC: What’s your favorite part about being a street fashion photographer?

Style Clicker: The people. When I start talking to them, in a short period of time you meet very nice and interesting people. In the beginning I was not so interested in trends, what interests me is the personality of people, and of course people who are creative in their clothing, who express themselves through their clothing. Not so much trends, but how each style fits to the person.

When I walk around I scan all the time. Then I see somebody, sometimes from behind, and I try to catch up to them, and If I like them I ask to take their picture.

TC: Has anyone recognized you?
Style Clicker: Yeah, then it’s easy to ask,  I don’t have to explain who I am. Once someone said “you photographed all my friends, and I felt bad you didn’t ask me… now…”

TC: Where are your favorite spots for finding people?
Style Clicker: Stockholm, people are very friendly.

TC: What’s special about Munich?
Style Clicker: Munich is quite small, it’s a very cozy town. I think in a way it’s very traditional with all the lederhosen and dirndls and Oktoberfest…  on the other hand people have style, but it’s kind of conservative sometimes. It’s pretty much money here, it’s the money capital of Germany. I wish people would be more confident in trying new things. If you keep your eyes open you can find the creative people. You can find them anywhere really, sometimes it’s faster, but sometimes it takes longer.

Berlin, of course there’s the scene, the creative ones, it’s probably the biggest scene in all of Europe… for people who want cheap rents and do some thing creative, you go to Berlin. But I get the impression that there is kind of a uniform for them as well. Actually I was walking around for three afternoons and it was not so easy to find people to photograph.

TC: What have you learned from all this?
Style Clicker: I learned, not to be corny, but to really trust in yourself, and do what you want to do by heart. If you have a hobby start a blog. You don’t have to have much money to do something. You really can reach things… I would have never thought I would have a street style blog in Munich, and now it’s very established, it’s amazing.

While some like Alexander Wang, are very Homes and Garden worthy,  I was delighted to see Judi Rosen, the designer behind The Good, The Bad and The Ugly NYC (and to see her wearing ReMix Vintage Shoes). Her home is rather of wonderland of oddities, flea market finds and bad taxidermy. She loves the kind of stuff I know would get vetoed by my other half, but persoanlly… I’m smitten. It’s really great to see how her designs and her living environment kind of overlap in a kitchy-collaged-utlra-girly way.

Here she is wearing her Cut it Out cocktail dress, and a vintage bag with a chicken foot…

Some ephemeral items of home decor… I love these strange pictures!

Which was what caught my eye in the beginning with these dreamy pictures I found on Dripbook by Magdelena Krajewska. These beautiful images with the double buns.. but I noticed the strikingly ethereal clothing she’s wearing. Unfortunately designer of the clothing wasn’t listed, but I was captivated by the form and the weightlessness, the kind of clothing I wish I could see more of. For when I do grow up,  I’ll be wearing dresses like these.

Oh Mother of Pearl, so semi-precious in you soft focus world… Ah, one of my favorite songs by Roxy Music comes to mind whenever I see these lovely images from Swedish Blogger (just 16!) Arvida Bystrom… it’s a glimpse into the world of the artist teen, where everything and everyone is glistening with pristine beauty. She’s also really great at finding amazing artists and showing her favorite photographers, and poetry. It’s so inspiring.

In case you were wondering what song I was talking about, or if you just wanted to hear it again. Bryan Ferry is just so amazing.

There are no posters around Paris for this exhibition, and had it not been for a post on Cafe Mode, I’d probably never had known about it. At the City Hall Library is an 250-photo exhibition of French photographer André Zucca’s vision of Paris during the Nazi occupation. To be honest, we were in a rush, the exhibit was in French, and we gathered our collective knowledge of the WWII and what had happened, and talked about other exhibitions which relay raw, unflinching experiences of the holocaust in Berlin and in Los Angeles. Not really a political person, I went through this experience of seeing fabulously dressed women on sunny days at first inspired, but then disturbed remembering, the very serious circumstance the photos are taken.

André Zucca was a photo journalist before the war, and during the occupation, he photographed for a Nazi propaganda publication the Signal. He had access to color film, at a time it was near impossible to find. The photos in the exhibition are unpublished, probably a catalog of daily life, of pretty women. I have no idea why the City Library chose to display these works in this way, in an unreal and apolitical, and in a very real way I was caught up in the beautiful 1940’s fashion…

The first casualty of war is truth…

…what’s disturbing about this exhibition, is not how much things have changed, but how they have not changed.

I’d like to think that I’m somehow different from these women. That I would be miserable, that I would fight back, escape, something. I think what’s disturbing about this exhibition, is not how much things have changed, but how they have not changed. How I go about my day-to-day life, often forgetting my own country is at war, and a morally questionable one at that. Or the suffering I feel helpless against, in the world, and even in my old neighborhood (there’s no homeless or prostitution in my new neighborhood, but the problem didn’t go away because I moved).

What disturbed me most about this Life in Occupied Paris, is that I didn’t want to see the grim reality, that I was quite comfortable in a beautiful, detached world. That indeed, it’s the path I chose quite often.

Images Via Cafe Mode, France 24

There are some blogs that make me wish it was appropriate to just redirect their content on to my page. That should be ok? Right? Haha… It’s not ok. But I do want to take a second to talk about Sonny Vandevelde, who I’ve mentioned before, who supplies all the great back stage pics on Hint, and also has a lot of photos on A Shaded View on Fashion (another blog with excellent content).

Since I’ve subscribed to Sonny’s blog, I really feel like I’m getting a glimpse into the Fashion World, back stage at Fashion Week, taking the metro with models, meeting designers, of course photo shoots….etc. And the cool thing about Sonny, is his great sense of humor and the lightness he brings around. You can see it by all the goofy pics of models. It makes me wonder if the bitchy fashion scene really exists.

Oh dear, I hope not.

Anyway, instead of doing a boring link list, this week, I’m just going to focus on one blog… And that’s Sonny Photos. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

And of course, a pic of the Sonny and Lek:

Todd Anthony Tyler is really good at keeping in touch. A great photographer who keeps me updated on all his new work. Most recently, hes’ sent over the latest from the CUE SS08 collection. I really liked it instantly, as the layering and textures are very expressive, and the muted colors are seasonless and can be paired with neons, florals, or dark oily blacks. Today, I read over at Style Bubble an interesting prediction of fashion trends slowing down, around the time a more substantial silhouette hits the runways. I wasn’t able to find verification on that, but I did feel the sense that perhaps people are wanting to wear clothes that they could feel comfortable in. Comfortable both physically and metaphysically. Which I hear around the water cooler, women agonizing over the latest seasons impossible silhouettes and outrageous colors.

I feel a little more adventurous, rarely asking if I can ‘get away’ with some clothing. Sure, there’s lots of times, where people have a good laugh over my attire, but wearing sensible clothing is a virtue I’ve never longed to achieve. I really do appreciate designers making more unconventional clothing for us to experiment with, because getting dressed has never been about fitting in, but standing out. But more forgiving designs, and versatile colors really help get people to step out of the box, and learn to wear what they love rather than what they ought to.

I really want to thank Todd Anthony Tyler for sending these along, there are so many great designers who live off the internet grid, and particularly since he does a lot of work in Shanghai, it’s such a pleasure to get to know about designers I’ve not seen before.

And to see Todd in action at the CUE photoshoot…

Imagine you are in a far away land, and maybe you already are. The population is completely different from you, and you have a hard time finding clothes you like. If it were me, I’d probably have you all send me clothes (if you would be so kind) but Megan Fischer took a totally different attitude. She started designing her own clothes. After working a few years in the corporate world, she took off on a sabbatical in China that truly changed the course of her life. It’s where she started Matsu Design.

I don’t know about her, but in my own experience of living in another country, it all becomes blaringly obvious that your fashion sense is not universal. Although, I lived in London, I still felt like I stuck out like a provincial sore thumb, dressed in clothes off the Banana Republic sales rack didn’t really fit in with the swanky London fashion scene. But in a county where you are of a more northern European build in a country where everyone is way smaller than you, can prove a whole set of problems besides ‘fitting in’.

I admire Fischer’s innovation and creative solutions, the clothes she made look neither North American nor Asian, but a combination of the sorts. She also got together with fellow ex-pat Todd Anthony Tyler to photograph her collection. They wanted to develop a more editorial look to present the line of clothing. Tyler’s done a wonderful job of doing so.