Cabaret Chic On The Roll

Ever since Liza Minnelli sang and danced through Bob Fosse's 1972 movie Cabaret, fashion designers have regularly channelled their inner Sally Bowles.

And now the fashion sorority is again turning to the fishnet-clad cabaret singer for inspiration. Not only is tuxedo-dressing back in the spotlight, so too are flapper dresses, sequins, white shirts, tailored micro shorts, hot pants, bows and feathers.

Given the array of vaudeville-inspired garments on the racks, it is hardly surprising we are mixing our white shirts with our bow ties, tiny shorts and fishnets, and our tuxedo jackets with our sequined skirts and dresses.

In fact, the current cabaret looks merge the androgynous Emcee - all top hats, tails and heavy make-up - and the seductive Sally Bowles - in suspenders, eyelashes to-die-for, and that black bowler.

All this divine decadence was highlighted in a knock-out beauty spread in the June issue of UK Vogue. Featuring Canadian model Jessica Stam and shot by photographer Patrick Demarchelier, it showcased eyes that shimmered and sparkled in silver and gold, sequinned shorts, hot pants, feathered capes, stay-ups, bowler hats, and glitter shoes.

It is not surprising that Cabaret's style has infiltrated UK collections, given that John Kander and Fred Ebb's hit musical has been revived in the West End. But the steamy costumes of the Kit Kat Klub are also inspiring local designers.

Whatever the reason for the current fashion Zeitgeist, there is no denying its cabaret roots. Sydney label Ksubi has credited French cabaret singers among the inspirations for its latest collection of sexy, structural swimwear and corsets, fashioned from lace and leopard prints.

New Zealand label Sylvester - all ruffled knickers, tuxedo jackets, fishnets and bowler hats - has also taken its cues from cabaret stars of bygone eras.

Meanwhile, Sydney labels Milk & Honey and This is Genevieve have also channelled a kind of fashion hybrid of Emcee and Sally Bowles - all top hats, canes, sequins, and dancing shoes.

Source: WA Today

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Designer Book On The Process

What would you make for the writer who has most influenced your life? The question has been asked of 50 of the world's best-known designers, from the couturiers Christian Lacroix and Paul Smith to the architect India Mahdavi.

Their imaginary creations for authors including Haruki Murakami and Ian Fleming will be shown in a series of exhibitions across Paris until September, and have been collated in Design et Littérature: Une Liaison Inspiré to be published this week.

The architect and designer Claudio Colucci conceived a lounge sofa made from carbon fibre for the James Bond writer Ian Fleming. "I have always liked the fantasy element in design," he said. "Too much function bores me. I thought of creating an amphibious car, but that already exists, so I designed a lounge-sofa for drinking champagne, for two, of course."

The fashion designer Christian Lacroix imagined a mid-20th Century wrought-iron chair for the French novelist, Patrick Modiano. Lacroix said: "I like his form of melancholy; like him, I'm nostalgic."

British designer Paul Smith has sketched a 19th-century-inspired chair, customised with old material, for lyric writer Patti Smith, his "favourite rock literary icon" and modern "capturer of emotions".

The architect India Mahdavi designed a cat-shaped sofa in homage to Japanese author Haruki Murakami. Mahdavi, who chose a cat because the animal appears throughout Murakami's work, said that when she was introduced to the novelist, "it was like entering someone's dream, in a universe where fantasy and reality are mixed".

The writer Esther Henwood said she thought of the idea for the series of exhibitions and the book because of her interest in the relationship between the arts. "The different art forms – music, design, literature, fashion – are seen as being separate," she said. "Yet they are interrelated ...

"All the designers told me how much they love and are influenced by literature in all their work, even if it is not apparent." She said she was so "delighted" by the responses that she told design houses limited editions of the works should be created.

"We are holding a series of exhibitions across Paris," she said. "Some of the works have been imagined for great literary figures, such as Proust, Tolstoy and Flaubert. Others were conceived for contemporary writers who will have the chance to see the designs that have been imagined."

Source: The Independent

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