Y H B H S (card catalog) selection 23

Walter Van Beirendonck, fashion designer, artist
"my collection AVATAR was inspired by this book!"








Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson



While stuck in Munich due to snow, Walter Van Beirendonck writes:

"The book that inspired me enormously and which introduced me to the new digital worlds, is now probably dated, but i loved it than,back in (i think) 1992. It was called SNOWCRASH. My collection AVATAR was inspired by the book! I'm writing this mail on Munich-airport,waiting for a delayed flight dued to the SNOW! ....another kind of snowcrash!"

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plot summary taken from here...

"The story begins and ends in Los Angeles, which is no longer part of what is left of the United States, during the early 21st century. In this hypothetical future reality the federal government of the United States has ceded most of its power to private organizations and entrepreneurs. Franchising, individual sovereignty and private vehicles reign (along with drug trafficking, violent crime, and traffic congestion). Mercenary armies compete for national defense contracts while private security guards preserve the peace in gated, sovereign housing developments.

Highway companies compete to attract drivers to their roads rather than the competitors', and all mail delivery is by hired courier. The remnants of government maintain authority only in isolated compounds where they transact tedious make-work that is, by and large, irrelevant to the dynamic society around them."






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Walter Van Beirendonck is considered to be one of the main trend-setters in men’s fashion by the professional press. His designs are very recognisable by either strong graphics or innovating cuts and unexpected colour combinations.

Walter works besides the collections, regularly on projects: Designing costumes for theater, ballet and film, curating expositions, designing objects, think-thank for commercial projects and products,image-making for pop-groups, illustrating books, designing commercial collections... Walter is buyer for the 'Walter'-store and co-curator for the 'Window'-gallery.



visit his site here....

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valentino garavani

"i love beauty, it is not my fault."

2008 January 23, Valentino shows his last Haute-Couture show, and retires fully from the world stage

VALENTINO THE LAST EMPEROR is a feature film that has captured the hearts and imaginations of audiences. It is a behind-the-scenes look at the world of fashion, featuring access never-before allowed in the high temples of Haute Couture. The legendary Valentino is the star of the film, along with his longtime business partner, Giancarlo Giammetti. VALENTINO THE LAST EMPEROR follows them for the final two years of their careers, and show the struggles the two men face as they confront the final act of a nearly 50-year career at the top of the world's most glamorous and competitive game. The struggle of art against commerce is at the center of the film. In the end, however, the story proves to be not one about money or expensive clothes, but about love.

"Yves Saint Laurent was born August 1, 1936 in Oran, in French Algeria. His father owned a chain of movie houses and was prosperous. His mother loved fashion. The childhood, however, was traumatic and tortuous. He was a delicate and effeminate boy who, as the Telegraph obit points out, had a solitary childhood amusing himself with his creative fancies, like making paperdolls to play with.

Yves St. Laurent
taken from Artnet.com

Visiting the apartment at 55, rue de Babylone, where St. Laurent lived from 1969 until last June (he died at age 71), was like stepping into a home of unimaginable sophistication, filled with rarities most Americans have no knowledge of, like Limoges enamels, Roman cameos and Renaissance silver.

Yet overall, St. Laurent’s apartment, which lay hidden behind anonymous doors on the Left Bank, was much like the designer himself: He was reclusive, belying a dazzling creative mind that produced a profound and lasting impact on fashion. His collection, which he formed with Bergé over five decades, is bound to make a similar impact in the art world, ratcheting up the very notion of collecting and prices in the art market, too.