Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
STOCKHOLM FASHION WEEK 2015

FASHION

Stockholm Fashion Week turns island into Mars

UPDATED: Stockholm Fashion Week lifted off with tennis legend Björn Borg's show on Monday, which saw an island transformed into Mars and welcomed four astronauts who will travel to the red planet for real in 2026.

Published: 24 August 2015 14:50 CEST
Updated: 24 August 2015 22:31 CEST
Stockholm Fashion Week turns island into Mars
The fashion pack took their selfie sticks to Långholmen island. Photo: The Local
More than 30 Nordic designers are showcasing the Spring/Summer collections they hope we will be wearing or be inspired by this time next year, with most of the catwalk events happening at Stockholm's Berns, a nineteenth century building that doubles up as a night club, hotel, restaurant and conference venue.
 
But sports brand Björn Borg instead took over Långholmen island in the Swedish capital on Monday evening, to create a Mars-themed environment complete with red rocks, dust and a giant crator underneath Västerbron bridge, for what is sure to be one of the most talked about catwalks of the entire week.
 
Four volunteer astronauts who are taking part in the Mars One mission — designed to create a human colony on the planet from 2026 — were flown in for the show and sat centre-stage on the makeshift red planet, as models showcased the Swedish brand's latest sportswear collection with a space-age twist.

The astronauts included Alexandra Doyle, 29, who was born in South Africa but grew up in the UK and is down to the last 100 candidates hoping to make the final selection for the mission.

She told The Local she was thrilled to have been part of the show and said travelling to Sweden had also long been a dream, alongside the much more dangerous journey to Mars that she is training for.

“I love it, oh my god yeah I absolutely love it. I have been wanting to come to Sweden – especially Stockholm – for such a long time, but I have never had the opportunity.”

The law graduate who funded her studies by working by day as a dental nurse, said she was “the opposite of scared” about being part of the space mission.

“When you first hear about the Mars One project I think it either fills you with awe or with wonder or it makes you feel sick.” 

She then explained that she definitely fell into the former category, before making a reference to a passion for Nordic history.

“I am in absolutely in awe of the pioneers that have gone before us – the first discoverers of the New World, the Vikings…and just the next step is Mars, the next step is space exploration…it’s the most exciting, amazing thing I could think of.”

Björn Borg said in its press release that it wanted to pay tribute to the Mars mission because it felt a connection between its hardwearing clothing and the challenging upcoming space journey.
 
 
 

These four volunteer astronauts will travel to #Mars for real in 2026 #trainingformars #BjörnBorg #SFW2015

A photo posted by The Local (@thelocalsweden) on Aug 24, 2015 at 11:58am PDT

 

Elsewhere, leading Swedish labels including Whyred, Cheap Monday and Carin Wester were scheduled to host their own shows in the coming days, while organisers highlighted Giorgi Rostiashvili, ATP Atelier and All Blues as three of the best newcomers to look out for on the catwalks. In total more than 450 brands are being represented.
 
Stockholm Fashion Week first launched in 2005 and while it does not have the same lure as Paris, London, New York or Milan, it nevertheless attracts growing numbers of global bloggers, journalists and designers keen to spot the trends coming out of Scandinavia's most fashion-conscious capital.
 
This year's event was launched by Sweden's Minister for Enterprise and Innovation, Mikael Damberg.
 
The Swedish fashion sector had sales of 237 billion SEK ($28 million) in 2013 and is one of Sweden's most important creative industries. 

FASHION

Paris exhibition celebrates 100 years of French Vogue

A new exhibition in Paris will tell the story of 100 years of French Vogue - from the post-war 'New Look' of Christian Dior through the sexual liberation of the 1960s to the dangling-cigarette waifs of the 2000s.

Published: 7 October 2021 08:21 CEST
French Vogue celebrates 100 years
French Vogue celebrates 100 years. Photo: Thomas Olva/AFP

But as well as celebrating the magazine’s storied history, the exhibit comes at a time of turbulence for the publication.

Just last month, it was confirmed that its editor of 10 years, Emmanuelle Alt, was out and wouldn’t be replaced.

She was not alone.

Looking to cut costs, owner Conde Nast International has axed editors across Europe over the past year, and put international Vogue editions under the direct control of global editorial director, Anna Wintour, in New York.

New York-based Anna Wintour now has overall control of French Vogue. Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

Like much of the media industry, Vogue is struggling with tumbling sales and ad revenue in the digital era.

But the latest twist is also part of the endless push and pull between New York and Paris going back to its early days.

“The whole history of French Vogue is one of back-and-forth with Conde Nast in New York – growing more independent for a while, then being reined back in,” said Sylvie Lecallier, curator of the new exhibition, “Vogue Paris 1920-2020″, which opened this weekend after a year’s delay due to the pandemic.

The Paris edition was often the loftier, more bohemian sibling to its more hard-nosed New York version.

But it was also the hotbed in which much of 20th century style and womenhood came to be defined.

“Paris was the place to hunt out talent and content and bring it to New York,” said Lecallier.

The exhibition charts the evolution from art deco drawings of the 1920s through the erotic image-making of photographers like Helmut Newton in the 1960s and 1970s.

Its last peak was under editor Carine Roitfeld in the 2000s, who brought back a provocative Gallic identity by ridding the newsroom of foreign staff and becoming a fashion icon in her own right.

Her successor, Alt, was a quieter presence, though she still oversaw key moments including its first transgender cover star, Brazilian Valentina Sampaio, in 2017.

But internet culture has created “a perfect storm” for Vogue, says media expert Douglas McCabe of Enders Analysis.

“The first 80 years of Vogue’s life, it had the market to itself, it was the bible for fashion,” McCabe told AFP.

“But online today, there are so many other ways to get your information. Influencers, Instagram, YouTube — everyone’s a threat.”

In a world where new fashion trends can blow up around the world in seconds, it has become much harder for a monthly magazine to set the pace.

“It’s not that they can’t survive for another 100 years — but they will be differently sized,” McCabe said.

Vogue has tried to branch out into different areas, including events.

“I used to work for a magazine, and today I work for a brand,” Alt said on the eve of French Vogue’s 1,000th issue in 2019.

But the big money was always in print, and Vogue Paris sales are dropping steadily from 98,345 in 2017 to 81,962 to 2020, according to data site ACPM.

It is perhaps unsurprising that the new top job in Paris, redefined as “head of editorial content”, went to Eugenie Trochu, who was key to building the magazine’s online presence.

She declared herself “thrilled to be part of Vogue’s international transformation”.

For the curator of the exhibition, it is ironic timing.

“We had no idea it would end like this when we started work on the exhibition,” said Lecallier.

“Who knows where it will go from here.”

The exhibition Vogue Paris 1920-2020 is at the Palais Galliera in Paris’ 16th arrondissement. The gallery is open 10am to 6pm Tuesday to Sunday and is closed on Mondays. Tickets for the exhibition are €14 (€12 for concessions and under 18s go free) and must be reserved online in advance. 

SHOW COMMENTS