Boston Symphony Orchestra's Project Debussy

Archive for the ‘Design’ Category

BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA’S PROJECT DEBUSSY

Fashion students inspired by the music of Claude Debussy debuted their designs

Posted by Charlotte Wilder on 2/3/2012 at 1:08PM | No Comments

(Designer Kowoon Jeong, from the School of Fashion Design and winner of the competition, watches her model get ready.)

Design a dress inspired by the music of Claude Debussy. That was the challenge given to area fashion and design students, who showed off their work at the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Project Debussy last night.

The young energy was palpable in Symphony Hall. “It’s great to get students involved with the music,” says Sarah Manoog, Director of Marketing for the BSO and the brains behind the annual Project series. “I did come up with it, but it’s taken on a life of it’s own,” she says. “The designers have really made it theirs.”

I snuck backstage before the show to see the dresses. Models shuffled carefully from the steamer to the jewelry and make-up tables as the designers hovered around them. Flowers were pinned on, trains held up, and fly-away hairs smoothed. They models and designers walked out for a preview before the BSO presented its Strauss, Dutilleux, and Debussy concert, featuring Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit and French cellist Gautier Capuçon — and patrons admired the ruffles and delicate stitching as the girls posed on the red carpet.

The actual fashion show took place just after the concert. Judging the dresses were Catheline van den Branden, president and executive director of the French Cultural Center, fashion designer Sara Campbell, Improper Bostonian columnist Jonathan Soroff, Alan Bilzerian, owner of the boutique by the same name, and Althea Blackford, executive producer and host of Style It Up. Designer Teresa Calabro secured the “People’s Choice” category, and Kowoon Jeong was crowned the overall winner of Project Debussy for her stunning moonlight-inspired gown.

And Manoog put it, “this event is great for Symphony and great exposure for the designers.” After all, who couldn’t use a bit of celebratory glam in February?

(Teresa Calabro, left, and Kowoon Jeong with their models / Photo by Stu Rosner)

Here are some photos I took backstage and during the pre-show walk:

(Nicole Clancy wears a design by Lasell College’s Lindsay Holcomb.)

(Katie Suji Kim, of Mount Ida College, says of her design, “the music flows like water, and reminded me of watercolor, so I used brocade to get the smudge-like effect of the paint.”)

(Alison models a design by Lasell College’s Amanda Erickson. Erickson sewed the gold details on the dress by hand.)

ETSY CRUSH: NERDY DIRTY

Posted by Anne Vickman on 11/18/2011 at 7:35AM | 2 Comments

Image courtesy of Nerdy Dirty

Graphic designer Nicole Martinez makes boldly colored prints that I can’t help but swoon over. The Miami, Florida native moved to Boston for her job as an art director for a local ad agency. “It’s nice to do side projects that are the furthest thing away from corporate,” says Martinez of her Etsy creations. “[It's] just fun design that makes people laugh … strangers from around the world buying your art simply because they dig it is the greatest compliment.” Martinez humored some of my questions about her quirky creations.

How did you end up with a career in graphic art?
I was gonna go to law school, and my best friend told me I would be miserable if I weren’t doing something creative, and she was right. I enrolled at Miami Ad School for art direction, and the rest is history. READ MORE

BOSTON FASHION WEEK: LILY & MIGS

Posted by Tanya Pai on 9/28/2011 at 11:17AM | 1 Comment

Editor’s note: Boston magazine is a Tent at Boston Fashion Week partner.

Jenn Barron and Lauren Antos met while interning at Betsey Johnson — so it’s not surprising that their spring collection is full of ultrafeminine pieces. Think flirty cocktail dresses and floaty blouses with eye-catching details (puffed sleeves, open backs), done in a palette of seafoam, cream, fuchsia, coral, and black. Check out a few of our favorite looks below.

Cascading ruffles add a youthful edge to eveningwear.

A crisp black-and-white halter is the perfect day-to-night piece.

We dig the peachy hue (and suggest you add a camisole).

An open back lends a dose of sexiness to an otherwise ladylike frock.

The dress is fun; mostly we're obsessed with her fabulous fishtail braid.

BEER + JEWELRY = BREWELRY

Posted by Anne Vickman on 9/22/2011 at 8:57AM | No Comments

Photo courtesy of Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project.

Beer and jewelry are two of my favorite things in the world, and now they’ve collided in the most awesome way possible. This year’s Best of Boston winner for locally made beer — Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project — just launched a wee collection of jewelry oh-so-appropriately dubbed “brewelry.” Owners Dann and Martha Paquette teamed up with Somerville jewelry artist Emily Scott, of E. Scott Originals, to craft necklaces and wristbands out of leather and upcycled steel from broken kegs that the brewers couldn’t reuse.

Doug Ruuska, a Boston-based photographer who has an engineering background and is a friend of the couple (“He’s the type of guy who probably has built robots in the past,” quips Dann), hacks up the kegs into smaller pieces that Scott can work with, a feat that Martha calls a “bitch to do.” READ MORE

FASHION PHOTO EXHIBIT ‘LOOK AT YOU, BOSTON!’ OPENS AT CITY HALL

Posted by bostonista on 9/21/2011 at 1:42PM | 1 Comment

Photograph courtesy of Beyond Boston Chic

Back in 2008, Martini Severin set out to document the unique style she witnessed on the streets of Boston with her blog, Beyond Boston Chic. In just three years, the blog’s popularity has skyrocketed — so much that she landed her own photography exhibit at City Hall, which opened this week. We chatted with Severin about her inspiration, putting together her first exhibit, and the best places to go in Boston for a heaping dose of chic.

What inspired you to create a street fashion blog?
I’ve always had an interest in fashion. I remember growing up and seeing how wonderful my mom and my aunts looked when they dressed up. And when I got older and lived in France, my interest in fashion really elevated because I realized I couldn’t just walk out of the house in pajama pants. I spent more time on my appearance. Then when I came back to Boston, I just kept looking for something else — something that wasn’t just magazines. I thought, well, I’m going to take inspiration from Bostonians, and I decided to just start taking photos of people. It’s been a really wonderful way for me to get to know the people in this city and talk to them about why they’re wearing what they’re wearing. READ MORE

BEHIND THE SCENES: FALL FASHION PHOTO SHOOT

Posted by bostonista on 9/1/2011 at 9:56AM | No Comments

High fashion and red paint very rarely make a happy pair — in fact, it’s usually quite the opposite. But this season’s fall fashion spread not only dared to bring them under the same roof, it combined them in almost every single shot with nary a drop spilled nor a (multi-thousand dollar) item of clothing ruined. Impressive, no?

To understand just how this was pulled off, look at the way in which the shoot unfolded: meticulous, pre-planned and checked at every stage of the operations. At the helm were Boston’s lifestyle editor Courtney Hollands and deputy art director Alyce Jones, along with photographer Chris Kilkus and a crack team of stylists, including a very paint-laden props stylist, Bonnie Anderson.

Check out our behind-the-scenes shots from the photo shoot, including makeup applications, hair styling, painting, and on-the-spot decision making, and we’ve compiled it all plus a few quotes from Hollands:

PAINT IT BLACK (WITH CHALKBOARD PAINT)

Posted by Shannon Fischer on 8/16/2011 at 10:18AM | No Comments

This week, I made my biggest (and let’s be honest: first real) design decision ever: I painted an entire wall in my home black. Black as in chalkboard paint. I know I’m several years behind the wagon on this, but this paint is the decorating equivalent of a Little Black Dress for your wall. I’m a little obsessed.

But it’s a weird paint, too: if you’ve used it already, you’ll know it’s matte, textured to the touch and up close, it’s crackled like fine snakeskin even three coats thick. As it turns out, it’s packed with the same things you find in sunscreen, nail polish, car tires, and Egyptian pyramids. As an homage to my new favorite wall — and to one of my favorite Wired columns — here’s a breakdown of some of the key elements: READ MORE

INTERVIEW: EMERSONMADE

Posted by Anne Vickman on 4/14/2011 at 9:41AM | No Comments

By: Anne Vickman

EmersonMade is one fabulous fashion line that we (and an increasing number of others) are swooning over. New Hampshire residents Emerson and Ryan Fry oversee the making of apparel and accessories for their online shop, Emersonmade.com, while splitting their time between New York City and their fabulous farm, which we shot for our last issue of Boston Home. The ever-busy Emerson took some time (while traveling through India!) to chat with Bostonista about her style and inspiration. READ MORE

EDITORS’ PICKS: PRESSBOUND

Posted by Tanya Pai on 2/24/2011 at 11:23AM | No Comments

Call me a late bloomer, but I just recently discovered the greatness that is Etsy’s Shop Local option. I was so excited by my “find” that I immediately emailed a fellow Bostonista scribe, who directed me to Pressbound, a shop stocked with letterpress cards, calendars, and journals in a variety of vintage-y, Polish-inspired designs (think: art deco flowers, playful fairy tale characters, and graphic birds). Everything is handmade using a combination of digital and block prints. Melissa Gruntkosky, the shop’s owner, is a freelance graphic designer and adjunct Emerson professor who teaches desktop publishing and design to grad students. Passing notes in class never looked so sophisticated.

etsy.com/shop/pressbound.

STUFF WE LOVE: DAREEN HAKIM’S MONTAGE SATCHEL

Posted by Tanya Pai on 2/4/2011 at 3:44PM | No Comments

One of our holy grails of fashion (like tights that resist runs, or a miniskirt that won’t ride up) is a bag that’s big enough to fit our notebooks, wallet, and gadgets and gizmos aplenty ― and stylish enough that we actually look forward to carrying it. Which is why we dig the Montage satchel ($495), from the new fall/winter collection by New York–based designer Dareen Hakim. The roomy tote is made from super-supple Italian lambskin accented with silver- or copper-mesh side panels . “It’s a day bag that you can carry anywhere and goes with whatever you’re wearing, so it’s kind of simplistic in a way ― but when it turns or catches the light, suddenly you have this amazing glimmer,” says Hakim. “I wanted to make it utilitarian but still have it be a statement piece that incorporates a touch of unexpected boldness.”

That juxtaposition of natural and industrial, hard and soft, encapsulates Hakim’s design philosophy ― and she herself is a study in contrasts. Beirut born and California raised, she has a bachelor’s and an MBA from Harvard and spent five years in private equity on Wall Street before launching a second career as an accessories designer. Though she now lives in New York, she has plenty of fond memories of our fair city. “Whatever the original culture of Boston was has evolved into a blend of all these different cultures that have infused a little bit of themselves into the city,” she says. “And that’s the beauty of it. I love that mix ― it makes for something interesting and deep that reflects the past and the present.”

Hakim’s first collection launched in January of last year; now it’s sold in 20 states and 10 countries. The Mesh Collection won’t be in stores until the fall, but Bostonista readers can preorder pieces and shop her current offerings via the Facebook page.

Archive for the ‘Design’ Category