Just smile – Easter weekend is calling and the sun is out. Blue jeans and a white tee are always a good idea and I love them in combination with my favorite spring cardigan, for which Stella McCartney asked artist and friend Jeff Koons to create the artwork for «K is for Kindness» in her #StellaAtoZ series, and the message is spread loud and clear on the back of this cardigan. The perfect remedy for gloomy days and a must-have for for eternal optimists, it’s knitted with cheerful intarsia of a natural landscape reminding you to smile.
Dropping on 3rd of December at 14:00 GMT: Stella McCartney‘s first three exclusive artist tees, all individually numbered, limited-edition pieces featuring the artworks of George Condo, Ed Ruscha and Cindy Sherman and supporting causes of their choosing. Inspired by the McCartney A to Z Manifesto, only 30 of each will be made globally.
Stella’s A to Z Manifesto originated during lockdown; a moment of pause that allowed the community to reflect and return to the world more mindful. A guiding alphabet, each of the 26 letters is a conversation about our values, brought to life through the visions of global artists – ranging from next-gen talents to friends of Stella like Olafur Eliasson, Jeff Koons, Sam Taylor-Johnson and more.
Blending fashion, art and sustainability, this is what Stella does best!
Last April, Jeff Koons and Louis Vuitton teamed up on a limited edition «Masters» capsule collection of bags and accessories. This month, the duo will launch a second collaboration inspired by iconic pieces of legendary artists such as Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, Édouard Manet, Nicolas Poussin, J.M.W. Turner and François Boucher. This second chapter will debut on October 27, 2017.
«Boucher’s Reclining Girl is a painting I often visit in the old Pinakothek in Munich. It strikes me as one of the most sensual images ever painted.» – Jeff Koons
François Boucher Reclining girl (1752)
Alte Pinakothek museum in Munich, Germany
Paul Gauguin Delightful land (1892)
Ohara Museum of Art in Kurashiki, Japan
Presently at the Grand Palais exhibition “Gauguin l’Alchimiste“, Paris
Édouard Manet Luncheon on the grass (1863)
Musée d’Orsay in Paris
Nicolas Poussin The triumph of Pan (1636)
National Gallery in London
Claude Monet Water lilies (1916)
Matsukata Collection
National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo, Japan
J.m.W. Turner Ancient Rome (1839)
Collection of Tate in London
This morning while I was working on another post, I got an e-mail from Louis Vuitton that made my heart leap with joy and that I wanted to share with you immediately. The French Maison is collaborating with Jeff Koons for a collection called «Masters» for which the famous American pop artist remixes the iconic artworks of the old masters and presents them in a way that encourages new interpretations.
Since Marc Jacobs enlisted Stephen Sprouse to create the now-iconic graffiti range in 2001, Louis Vuitton has led the way in the fashion/art collaboration stakes. Koons, whose Balloon Dog (Orange) holds the record for the most expensive art work by a living artist after it sold for $58.4 million at Christie’s New York in November 2013, follows in the footsteps of Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, Daniel Buren and Damien Hirst by partnering with Louis Vuitton.
For his collaboration with Louis Vuitton, Koons seeked inspiration from his Gazing Ball series that he started in 2013 as a series of plaster reproductions of famous ancient sculptures, each one set with a blue mirrored sphere. It’s these hand-painted Old Master reproductions that appear on the limited-edition Masters range of iconic Louis Vuitton handbags as well, from Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Titian’s Mars, Venus and Cupid, Fragonard’s Girl with a Dog, Van Gogh’s Wheat Fields and Cypressesto Rubens’ Tiger Hunt.
The beautiful interior of the Rubens Palm Springs backpack (more photos below…)
The name of each original artist is emblazoned across the front, and their biography and portrait are featured inside. Absolutely new for Louis Vuitton is that a collaborator features his own initials on the bags. A sign for the importance of his status.
Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons Masters Collection
Fragonard Speedy 30
Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons Masters Collection Titian Neverfull MM
Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons Masters Collection Da Vinci Speedy 30 in Poppy
Fans of Koons’ Inflatables series get their money’s worth; each piece is finished with a leather tag in the shape of the inflatable rabbit that Koons famously cast in polished stainless steel in 1986.
My personal three favorites are:
Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons Masters Collection Rubens Palm Springs Backpack
Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons Masters Collection Rubens Keepall 50
Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons Masters Collection Van Gogh Montaigne MM
The Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons Masters collection will be available from April 28 in stores and at louisvuitton.com. Below you can enjoy the beautiful teaser.
Happy Easter to all of you, my fabulous readers! This year, I would like to share with you some of the probably most stunning Easter eggs ever seen, coming from the house of Fabergé, a name that is synonymous with eggs of the most luxurious kind.
In New York City, Fabergé has been sending the residents on their biggest ever egg scavenger hunt to raise millions for charity. Almost 300 giant egg sculptureswere scattered around the city’s five boroughs. The jeweller had commissioned renowned artists, designers and architects to create the two-foot tall eggs as part of a citywide art display. Among those participating in the project are Tracey Emin, Mark Quinn, Zaha Hadid, Ronnie Wood, Peter Beard, Diane von Furstenberg, Marchesa, Oliver Theykens and Bruce Weber.
Those amazing egg sculptures are auctioned off (bidding has already started) until April 26 on Paddle8 to raise money for the conservation organization, Elephant Family. The hunt will also gather funds for Studio in a School, a program that brings visual arts to New York City’s public schools.
Some of the amazing egg sculptures by famous artists such as Jeff Koons or Julian Schnabel will close on Paddle8at 12:00pm EST on Tuesday, April 22nd. Live auction begins on Tuesday, April 22nd at 07:00PM EST.
Fabergé is hoping that the New York initiative will repeat the success of The Fabergé Big Egg Hunt in London in 2012, which set two Guinness World Records and raised more than $15 million for charity.
In London, Fabergé has teamed up withHarrods for a creative collaboration that will run until 21st April 2014. An exhibition space has been set up in the famous department store, with the famed Brompton Road windows and façade dressed in Fabergé flags, telling the story of the legendary jewelry house.
On display is a a rare masterpiece, an original Fabergé Egg – The Apple Blossom Egg, together with other historic Fabergé treasures. This Egg was designed in 1901 and is beautifully crafted in gold, diamonds and nephrite.
Harrods Exclusive
To celebrate the extravaganza, Fabergé has created a limited-edition Spiral Tassel Pendant, available exclusively at Harrods. The modern, playful, diamond-set egg comes with a stunning gemstone tassel, finished with amethyst, tsavorite, or spinel.
As promised in my previous post last week, here are all the details concerning the amazing collaboration between Dom Pérignon and Jeff Koons, which was launched during New York Fashion Week.
Personally speaking, I am crazy for this project as it involves three things I adore: champagne, the colour pink and one of my favourite artists! The limited edition‘Balloon Venus’ is based on Jeff Koons’ work that was inspired by the Venus of Willendorf, a tiny paleolithic figurine discovered in Austria and dated to around 23 000 BC.
The Balloon Venus is part of Jeff Koons’ Antiquity series that begun in 2008, playfully exploring motifs from the History of Art with his trademark creative verve. The artist adapted the Balloon Venus sculpture for Dom Pérignon, by transforming the original statue in a smaller version which when opened, reveals a bottle of Rosé Vintage 2003. 650 will be produced, of which 20 will be sold in Switzerland for CHF 18’500.00 each.
Jeff Koons also designed better priced limited-edition gift boxes for the Dom Pérignon Rosé 2003 (CHF 449.00) and the Dom Pérignon Brut 2004 (CHF 199.00), available exclusively at Globus in Switzerland.
The launch event in NYC was held at the Stephan Weiss Studio in Greenwich Village. The berry-coloured ambiance was truly amazing, with different installations to explore the ‘Balloon Venus’ by Jeff Koons.
Born in 1955, Jeff Koons is one of the most recognised and solicited of all contemporary artists. He currently resides and works in the city of New York. Earning worldwide acclaim with his large-scale sculptures he has received numerous awards and honours in recognition of his cultural achievements. For him, “the real power behind art is to put us in contact with feelings”.
Throwing a bottle of Dom Pérignon with his wife.
Today, Dom Pierre Pérignon’s visionary mind and exceptional boldness to declare, at the end of the 17th century, to make “the best wine in the world” is in the hands of Chef de Cave Richard Geoffroy who creates each vintage of Dom Pérignon with pure excellence.
Champagne is my guilty pleasure and when it comes in a package like the ‘Balloon Venus’, I feel like a kid in the candy store, being on cloud nine!
It’s easy to forget in the daily madness of Fashion Week that New York is about more than fashion. But the party never stops in the city that never sleeps. So to kick off the S/S 2014 season, many amazing events took place. Here is one ordinary Tuesday night to give you an idea how busy it can get but of course how much fun it is at the same time. I still enjoy those days and nights very much and couldn’t agree more with Holly Golightly in the movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” : “I’ll never get used to anything. Anybody that does, they might as well be dead.” Speaking of which…
The evening started with a cocktail hosted by bloggers to celebrate the new Atlas collection at Tiffany & Co.’s famous flagship store on Fifth Avenue, which has been a magnet for the famous and fashionable. I mean who can resist those diamonds sparkling from streamlined showcases that surround pedestals of granite and burl wood. A place where dreams come true…
Around 7.30 pm, I was heading down to 37th street in the dynamic, up-and-coming Midtown West Hudson Yards neighborhood to see the Narciso Rodriguez S/S 2014 runway show in an intimate surrounding. A study in minimalism, those clean cuts and feminine chiffon fabrics showed that sex appeal doesn’t need much.
Next stop: 711 Greenwich Street. The Stephan Weiss Studio with their spacious, two-level event space were the perfect location to host the launch party for Dom Pérignon’s new collaboration with famous artist Jeff Koons (photo with me below). A detailed post will be coming up shortly.
One thing is always missing at those events, food! So very late at night, I went with a friend to Buddakan to finally eat dinner…
Balloon Dog (Orange) © Jeff Koons
With Jeff Koons in New York City in 2013 for the 
Gazing Ball (Ariadne), 2013, Plaster and Glass
The beautiful interior of the Rubens Palm Springs backpack (more photos below…)
Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons Masters Collection
Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons Masters Collection
