Acne Paper on Inge Grognard

Inge Grognard for Martin Margiela

Don’t miss the current (Spring/Summer) issue of Acne Paper. Of particular interest is the interview with the make-up artist Inge Grognard, whose work often confutes traditional notions of beauty and of what falls under the category of make-up. Grognard has collaborated with a number of Belgian designer (Dries Van Noten, A.F. Vandervorst, Jurgi Persoons) and is particularly well-know for her collaborations with Martin Margiela, whose runway show often used a combination of “accessories” (such as veils and masks) and make-up to cover the model’s eyes and shield their identities.

In the interview with Anja Cronberg for Acne, she recounts her early work with Margiela, who she had met in high school, as well as of her own projects: “I use myself as a model—Grognard says—I use dolls or masks, and then my husband [photographer Ronald Stoops] documents it.”

Yves Saint Laurent Retrospective

Original sketch for the Wedding Dress from the collection sketchbook; Fall-Winter 1988; Graphite on paper, gazar sample; Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent; Photo Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent

***Update: Yves Saint Laurent died Sunday, 1 June 2008. His obituary is here.***

The opening of this retrospective exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has flown surprisingly under the radar for being so close to New York City. Curated by the French costume historian Florence Müller, the emphasis is on the dialogue between Yves Saint Laurent and art, both in terms of considering his garments as actual art objects and in recognition of his inspirations found in art. The display is broken into four themes: sketches, gender-bending, color usage and lyricism. The exhibition includes over 160 looks spanning his entire career culled from over 5000 ensembles and 15000 objects belonging to the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent.

The museum’s website, while lacking a bit in object photographs, does have a few video clips along with brief biographical notes on his life.

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The exhibition runs from May 29 to September 28, 2008, before moving on the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.

Upcoming Fashion Lectures

1920s New Yorker cover from "What a Dame! Tracking the Origins of the New York Woman in 1920s Media and 1930s Film" by Lisa Santandrea

April seems to be introducing a slew of fashion lectures. This Friday April 4, the NYU costume studies MA is hosting its yearly symposium, "The Seventh Richard Martin Visual Culture Symposium." The keynote speaker is Jan Glier Reeder, curator of the Brooklyn Museum Costume Documentation Project. Other lectures' topics include a talk on guerrilla stores (by Emily Marshall Orr) and a lecture by Lisa Santandrea, which tracks the origin of the New York Woman in 1920s Media and 1930s Film.

The symposium is taking place 6:00pm to 8:00pm in the Einstein Auditorium, 34 Stuyvesant Street, New York, tel. (212) 998-5700.

Coming up next week at the Fashion Institute of Technology is a talk by Christian Louboutin, which has been organized concomitantly with the Louboutin’s exhibition curated by the graduate students at FIT. (The talk is to take place on April 9 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at FIT’s Katie Murphy Amphitheatre.)

The next day (from 6pm to 8pm) a panel titled “Women Rule Fashion”—moderated by FIT curators Molly Sorkin and Colleen Hill—will engage in a discussion on the way the fashion industry has historically and at times uncharacteristically allowed women to gain leadership positions. Joining in the discussion are designer Catherine Malandrino, Vogue editor Sally Singer, photographer Maria Chandoha Valentino and Susan Sokol, president of Vera Wang.

Cloak and Dagger: Design Espionage

Printer's Sample Book, American, 1870, from the Multiple Choice Exhibition, currently on view

Tonight (Tuesday March 18) at Cooper-Hewitt:

Cloak and Dagger: Design Espionage

"In past centuries sample books served to record patterns and motifs used in decorative arts and were carefully guarded by manufacturers against espionage attempts from competitors. In this panel, held in conjunction with Multiple Choice: From Sample to Product. Cooper-Hewitt invites you to join intellectual property lawyer Harley Lewin, and Susan Posen, CEO of Zac Posen, in a conversation with Eric Wilson of The New York Times on how designers strive to protect their work in a knock-off culture."

The event takes place at 6: 30 Members and students with valid ID: $5; non-Members: $10.

Great Designers Symposium at FIT

The designer Jean Patou

Don’t miss the Museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Symposium that will take place Friday March 14 and 15 from 9:30am to 5pm in the Haft Auditorium. Dedicated to the broad concept of “great designers,” it includes an impressive array of speakers including Caroline Evans (who will present her recent research on Patou) and Hamish Bowles (who will speak on Molyneux). On Friday, two of the most interesting New York designers, Marya Cornejo and Isabel Toledo, will also be speaking about their own work. The next day presents an equally interesting roster with Kaat Debo (artistic director of the in Antwerp) speaking about Raf Simons and men’s fashion as well as Jessica Glasscock, who will discuss the work of Stephan Sprouse, on whom she is curating an exhibit for Deitch Projects. Andrew Bolton will be in conversation with Anna Sui, while the design duo Boudicca is also scheduled to speak.

UPDATE: Word is, Hamish Bowles has been moved to Saturday, 2 pm. Assistant Curator of Accessories Clare Sauro will change places, and speak tomorrow instead on shoe designer Christian Louboutin (who has an enjoyable exhibition that just opened at FIT, curated by the FIT graduate students in the Fashion and Textile Studies Program).