Do you know The Pet Conspiracy ?
Undoubtedly, my favourite Beijing band. I’ve stop counting how many times I’ve danced and jumped at one of their electro-cabaret concerts. We first met at a party at the Studio, then kept bumping into each others in Beijing’s night and music scene. It felt completely natural for me to get involved in their styling. They started by using some of Le Divan’s outfits for their concert with Peaches at Yugong Yishan last spring.
When you buy custom made garments from a designer, or when you buy garments online, you often need to know what are your actual body measurements. But if you don’t know how to measure yourself, it is very easy to get it completely wrong. Here is an easy method to help you.
*Diagram 1.1 – Standard Body Measurements.*
When you measure yourself, you want the measurements to be as accurate as possible so it allows you to make garments that fits perfectly. There is a few simple rules to follow:
Steelcase, the global leader in the design and manufacture of office furnitures and the study of the workplace has invited Le Divan, along with other renowned designers to re-fashion their award winning Think Chair into a new creation. The design has been unveiled and put on display at the grand opening of the new Worklife Beijing.
We have called our re-fashioned chair “The Melting Chair”
Fashion in China is a long way from excellency, but it is running toward it fast. Alice McInerney from Time Out did pick a selection of Chinese designers which are “pushing Chinese fashion forward”. It was in the last September issue of Time Out Beijing.
Those of you who are familiar with our studio did probably recognize it in the photos. We have been more than happy to host this selection of talented designers, at Le Divan, where the photo shoot of this dossier has been realized.
Backstage photos of a day with Feng Huan, Jen Qin, Li Huawen, Nie Yurong, Vega Wang, Xander Zhou, Zhang Chi and Zheng Ran :
Over the last 2 centuries, the female outfit has been enriched by a lot of new items. It is now very common for women to wear pants or blazers for example. Fashion would not be what it is today without the apparition of those types of garment in the women’s wardrobe. On the other hand, for men, the last 2 centuries have witnessed the slow disappearance of some very interesting items. I found very sad for example the almost total annihilation of the cape. I think I sometimes saw a cape on a catwalk but as far as I remember, I never passed the way of a man wearing such piece of clothe.
I decided last winter to try something. I made myself a long, big cape, that I would wear in many different occasion, cocktail party, art opening, streets, cafes,… The reaction of peoples was quite interesting. Most peoples loved it but could not help trying to find something to refer it to. They would usually refer to Dracula (I shall maybee sun tan a bit more) or to XIXth century European nobility. I was a bit surprised that nobody referred to super-heroes, which are the most typical XXth century cape wearer. It was probably due to the black color and very tailored cut of the cape.
While installing new mirrors at the studio, we, by chance, took a look at the other personality of Le Divan, upside-downed.
Isn’t personality reflection something to talk about with your shrink ?
As some of you might have notice, we are recently adding more and more touches of colors in our designs, to brighten up the sobriety of our usual silhouette. Accessories appeared to be the perfect spot for a hint of color.
So, while testing bag designs, we introduced more red, more blue, more green,…
**Wanderer Above The Sea of Mist**
**Collection automne-hiver 2009**
*[Caspar David Friedrich](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspar_David_Friedrich) -Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer (1818)
94.8 × 74.8 cm – [Kunsthalle Hamburg](http://www.hamburger-kunsthalle.de/)*
For our automne-hiver 2009 collection, we found inspiration on the painting “Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer” (Wanderer above the sea of Mist) by [Caspar David Friedrich](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspar_David_Friedrich). The picture shows a man from behind, standing on a rocky promontory, observing a tortured landscape, drowned in an intense and tumultuous mist.
More than just a person looking at a landscape, we see in that man a person of full self-confidence, which observes the beauty of nature, and it’s violence without being intimidated nor pretending to dominate it. He contemplates, admires and is probably experiencing a deep introspection. With poise, and humility, he faces a world full of grandiose, but which also is disturbing, even violent.
“Couture, Independent Designer, High Quality, Unique, Avant-Garde,…” are definitly not the first notions we think about when we come to face the mention “Made in China” on the label of a garment. And, YES, China is and will be for a long time, the world center of standardized mass production but NO, it is not the only way fashion goes on here.
Thank you all for coming yesterday evening at Punk Club for the UNIFORM X PUNK party. We had all the fun we could expect.
Thanks to Anina and her magic camera, there are plenty of videos.
Here is an interview of us by Nels Frye :
Nels Frye is the talented author of the blog Stylites.net
Nels Frye again, interviews Warren Pang, manager of Punk Club, host of the party. Warren, and all the Punk Club team, that I want to thank for his great collaboration.
And because the party was very much about having fun time, a last video to testimony about the great atmosphere we had during this event.
We hope to see you all to the next events, about which you’ll be informed here.