Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Love PAMELA LOVE






As an avid jewelry collector, the first time I saw Pamela Love's collection I was instantly taken with her unique designs. Her eagle-claw cuff is the perfect rock n' roll accessory unlike anything
 I had ever seen.

Jewelry designer, stylist, artist, musician, Pamela Love is the coolest of cool girls. Her early designs were featured in Gap's Fall 2008 ads and she also collaborated with Eddie Borgo for Marchesa's spring fashion show. Pamela is quite the multi-tasker. In between constructing fantastical body armor for Frank Tell and tough-chic jewelry for Yigal Azrouël's Fall '09 shows, she also expanded her own line as well. Love’s Fall ’09 collection consists of quartz crystal necklaces wrapped in cobras, tribal-style bracelets composed of heishi beads bound together by leather, peacock rings decorated with emeralds, and eagle claw pendants dangling from delicate chains.

Her jewelry is designed to be worn by creative, free spirits with their own sense of personal style “and an eye for interesting things," Love told Joanna Williams for Closet Couture in an April interview. "Those sorts of contrasts are important. I like irony."





When did you know you wanted to be a jewelry designer?

I don't think it was something I ever really knew. It just sort of happened and one day I was like "Oh wow, I'm a jewelry designer."

What inspired you most recent collection?

Magic and Spirituality

Who would you like to see in Pamela Love?

People who really love and appreciate what I am doing

Who are your style icons?

Neil Young, Bianca Jagger, Jennifer Herrema of the band Royal Trux, Joan Didion, Bob Dylan, Edie Beale, Louise Nevelson, and my grandmother

Are you all about signature pieces?

I have a lot of signature pieces that I wear every day that aren’t my own. I wear a lot of stuff that I find, antiques.

What other jewelry designers do you love?
Elsa Peretti, obviously. I love what Derrik from Black Sheep and Prodigal Son has done — that stuff is unreal. I really love Digby and Iona.
How would you describe your personal style?
A mixture of high and low, like masculine-feminine, old and new. 
What's the first designer item you ever bought?
My mom bought it for me. It was a Betsey Johnson full-length floral bodysuit with a chiffon skirt. And I have pictures of me wearing it, somewhere. It was black, full length, long sleeves, floral.
Who are your favorite designers?

Ann Demeulemeester. I love Alexander Wang. Sonia Rykiel. Marc Jacobs is so great and classic. I love seventies Yves Saint Laurent for going out and dressing up. I love my friend Frank Tell. He’s doing the most amazing stuff.

What's something every woman needs?

A signature necklace, whatever necklace that you love, love, love or whatever ring that you never take off. A really amazing and wearable pair of heels, wedges, or pumps. And a really good pair of boots.



Interview excerpts from: 
Amina Akhtar for The CUT 
Joanna Williams for Closet Couture



Monday, June 29, 2009

SUMMER OF LOVE









Here Comes the Son
Fashion Rocks 2008
Photography: Steven Meisel
Fashion Editor: Edward Enninful
With Dhani Harrison and Sasha Pivovarova
Ahhh summer. Golden sunshine, vast blue skies, white sandy beaches, and crashing turquoise waves. Sounds like paradise.
There’s something in the air when the snow finally melts, the rain finally stops, and the foliage and gardens are in full bloom. Maybe it’s worries floating away in the warm breeze or maybe it’s the smell of barbecues drifting past our noses, but whatever it is, and I bet most would agree, there is something different about the summertime.
Attitudes are looser and so are the clothes. Off come the heavy sweaters and thick boots as chiffon, bathing suits, and sandals become the mode du jour and with that everything just seems, feels better.
For me what makes this time of year so great is not only the fact I get to live in my shredded jean shorts but the fact that it is finally concert season. Finally time to see my favorite bands and dance barefoot in the grass to those grooving jams under the golden sun. It is all one needs in life…
Well, maybe not all one needs. One also needs something a little floaty, a little fabulous, and of course a lot rock & roll to wear to all these musical escapades.
Kate Moss always gets it right with her rock and roll style, as does Sienna Miller, Mary Kate Olsen, and Nicole Richie. Their style oozes sixties bohemian luxe but with a modern take.
These ladies definitely took a few notes from the past. From the likes of Pattie Boyd, Bianca Jagger and Anita Pallenberg, the glamorous rock and roll girlfriends of the Rolling Stones, to the style of the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, the sixties era saw an explosion of new ways of expressing oneself.
As English Composer, Frederick DeLuis, once said,
“Music is an outburst of the soul.”
Well Mr. DeLuis, I think fashion is an outburst of the soul as well.

"On the occasion of his band's debut album release, Dhani Harrison channels his late father, George Harrison - and the mood of the Beatles era - as Sasha Pivovarova plays muse in the season's savage furs and luxe-bohemian layers."