mimiprint

2011-09-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

I have a new blog ~ please visit www.mimiprint.tumblr.com
Thanks,
Mimi

How much are you willing to pay for a tee?

2009-11-16T11:21:00.001-08:00

The ultimate - Balmain

Balenciaga

Alexander McQueen

Lanvin

Des Artistes

Designer tees are blowing out of the stores and their prices keep climbing. So far Balmain has the leading price tag on a "jewel sketched" tee for $1175. Close followers are Lanvin ($800-900) with their whimsically illustrated tees and Balenciaga ($400-500) who collaborated with artist and designer Brian Lichtenberg on a shoe t-shirt that will blow your socks off. Alexander McQueen's sculls are a shabby $295 and if that's still too pricey for you, check out Des Artistes whose Eco friendly designs seem to scream "buy me" with a $117 price tag.

No matter what you pay, you shouldn't ignore the printed graphics trend because it's here to stay for at least another couple of seasons. This is how your tee could become an investment...

xoxo,

Mimi

Digital Printing is the future

2009-10-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

Alexander McQueen ss10

Prada ss10

Manish Aurora ss10

Basso and Brooke ss10

Why do I even waste my time learning how to screen print? Sooner or later digital printing is going to take over the tedious cutting and counting of screens and we will all be able to afford gorgeously colored prints with a million colors. Or more monotone ones with a million shades of grey. For now this technique stays exclusive for the "Exclusives" like Alexander McQueen, Prada, Basso & Brooke (see above), Jason Wu and Narciso Rodriques - just to name a few of the big ones out there.

More and more high end designers are reaching out to digital printing as a vehicle for their clothes. It sets them apart and gives endless possibilities to let their print fantasies run wild. In addition it prevails mass marketers like H&M and Forever 21 to knock them off because guess what- they can't afford to digitally print. At least not yet....

Anna Wintour loves prints

2009-09-22T14:38:00.000-07:00

(click on image to enlarge)

It's official - You heard it here first: Anna Wintour loves prints!!!

My interest was peaked a couple of weeks ago watching the fabulous Anna Wintour on David Letterman in a black & white printed dress. The more I started researching her look, the more I realized that this woman is a serious printoholic. With all this buzz around "The September Issue"- which you have to go see ASAP - I had no trouble finding pictures of Anna wearing one gorgeous printed number after the other. So it turns out that she's got her daughter hooked as well....
Long live Anna for promoting beautiful prints!

xoxo,
Mimi

Men's bottoms....

2009-08-26T14:33:00.000-07:00

Neil Barrett S/S 10, Dries Van Noten S/S 10

Dior Homme F/W 09, Patrik Ervel F/W 09

Hugo by Hugo Boss S/S 10, Givenchy S/S 10

.... and yes - men shall wear printed bottoms as well! Not until Spring 2010 however. As usual men's shows and trends are often inspired by the previous season's women's wear collections - and this time is no different. While women will have plenty of print going on on their legs this fall/winter season, men will have to wait until next year. That's not necessary a bad thing because I think a printed pant on a man looks much fresher in the Spring/Summer season than in winter. The most wearable and tasteful versions were by Neil Barrett and Dries Van Noten. For you riskier boys out there - you might want to check out Givenchy's printed harem pants...

Whatever you chose - risky, safe or edgy - if you want to make a statement, don't miss out on acquiring a printed pant gentlemen!

Girls - Get your bottoms ready for Fall

2009-08-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

Marc Jacobs, Narciso Rodriguez, Hussein Chalayan, Vena Cava

Cavalera, Tori Burch, Miss Sixty, DVF

Everybody's doing it - from Rio to Paris - PRINTED BOTTOMS! Get ready for a fun Fall/Winter season and switch it up with printed jeans and leggings instead of a traditional printed blouse.
If you want to join the club, your printed bottoms need to be slim and sexy though. The printed Harem pant is so last season!

So go crazy at Marc Jacobs with swirl printed leggings or stay on "a budget" with Miss Sixties Rococo printed slim fits. What's super fresh are all the monotone patterns and no-print prints, for those of you who don't want to go all the way out there like DVF's animal jean.

Spread the print love and go shopping my friends! And stay tuned for some men's bottoms updates...

xoxo

Printed wetsuits with homage to inner strength

2009-08-04T09:29:00.000-07:00

I discovered something genius!

Printed wetsuits, conceptualized and designed by "...BY DIDDO" http://bydiddo.com/ - a design studio based in Amsterdam whose creator Diddo has collaborated with Frank O. Ghery, Bono and UNESCO.
These wetsuits are everything else but your usual surfing attire. I cannot better describe them that their creator who posted the following on his website:

"The first edition contains four original designs: a rusted iron diving suit evoking the days of Jules Verne, the anatomic musculature suit as a homage to our inner strength, a wet suit which gives the illusion that the wearer has been attacked by a group of hungry sharks and finally a whale shark patterned suit that celebrates the brilliance and originality of our natural water world."

If I only surfed or dived - this would be my number 1 choice. I looooove them!!!

Printed item of the week

2009-07-31T09:09:00.000-07:00

This one is easy, stylish and affordable! Available at Urban Outfitters and only $39!! It's the perfect piece to dress up a tee and transition into fall... There is just SO many scarves out there, printed, fringed, gathered, wide, skinny. A trend not to be missed!

TGIF everyone!

xoxo

The ueber cool Henrik Vibskov

2009-07-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

Henrik Vibskov

Fall/Winter 09

Quinny by Henrik Vibskov

Spring/Summer 09

(possibly on sale at Aloha Rag)

Spring/Summer 09

Fall/Winter 09

The hippest thing you can own right now is something (anything!) printed by clothing designer, artist and musician Henrik Vibskov www.henrikvibskov.com - no matter if you're boy or girl!

This creative soul studied Fashion Design at Central St. Martins in London and has been active in film, music, and the visual arts for several years. During the past few seasons his fashion shows have been installation like settings and besides his Oslo boutique, he also opened one recently in Copenhagen. Either one, not to be missed during your next shopping trip!

I personally can't wait to get my hands on some pieces of his from another ueber cool place - the multi brand boutique Aloha Rag www.aloharag.com - one of the few places in NYC who carry his clothes.

And for all of you hipster parents out here, now you can stroll your baby in style, because Henrik also collaborated with the company Quinny on the design of a stroller (see above). Check out the website for more www.quinnydesign.com

Can Peter Dundas, Pucci's new artistic Director fill Emilio's shoes?

2009-07-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

Peter Dundas first collection for Pucci F/W 09

Matthew Williamson's last collection for Pucci S/S 09

Pucci 1960s

Emilio Pucci at his workshop 1960's

Last September Norwegian-born designer Peter Dundas was appointed new Artistic Director of Pucci replacing the "king of boho" Matthew Williamson.

The house of Emilio Pucci, back in the 50's and 60's, was best known and loved for its prints and lightweight fabrics. Emilio Pucci, the son of a wealthy Italian aristocrat, revolutionized the fashion world by introducing lightweight casual wear in bold prints in the early 1950s. His use of clashing colors was so unique that it made his creations stand out from that of other designers of his time. Soon he was declared the King of Casual Couture with a fan following that was almost unheard of at that time. Celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall and Jacqueline Kennedy were seen in Pucci clothes.
As most of you know today scarves from his early years, along with vintage Hermes scarves, have become highly collectible items.

Knowing about about the history of Emilio Pucci and seeing his early creations makes me wonder and seriously question the direction of Pucci with the appointment of Peter Dundas. Dundas showed his first catwalk collection for Fall/Winter 09. It was somber, non identical (a mixture between Rodarte and DVF) and almost grunge - Nordic, to say the least. Now this might as well be Mr. Dundas' style and were it carrying his name , it might even evolve into something hip, but at this point I am wondering how much dissolution is good for a brand? Why turn a hot, colorful, Italian brand into a cool, grungy Nordic affair? Admittedly, after the 50s, 60s and 70s, the brand never lived up to it's hip reputation again. Even with Matthew Williamson as Artistic Director, it looked more Palm Beach than downtown hip, but in my opinion it did not need a 180 degree switch. It needed someone with the eye of Marc Jacobs or Proenza Schouler to shake it up, twist it and give birth to something everybody wants. I have some ideas myself...;))

Above some looks from Matthew Williamson's last collection for Pucci Spring/Summer 09 and Peter Dundas' Fall/Winter 09 Collection for Pucci.

Francis Bacon inspires Dries Van Noten - art executed in design

2009-07-24T09:37:00.000-07:00

I went to see the Francis Bacon exhibit recently and - oh my was I blown away! I knew his work from images mostly, but seeing his work in reality was a unbeatable experience. Every painting slapped me in the face not only with its content but also with its COLOR! I was so inspired putting color palettes in my head....and apparently I was not the only one.

Dries Van Noten, as you know the guru of print and color, for his Fall/Winter 09 woman's wear collection has "taken the shades of Francis Bacon's paintings—shrimp pink, beige, ocher, orange, and mauve—and deployed them in a way that gave life to pieces that might have seemed boring in other hands"- according to http://www.style.com/. And what life he gave them! I could see the whole collection clearly - solids, prints, color combinations, put together in such refinement and in consistency with their inspiration.

Above I put together 4 "boards" to show you how art and design collaborate in the very best way.

...and if you live in NYC - go see the Francis Bacon Centenary Retrospective at the http://www.metmuseum.org/special/se_event.asp?OccurrenceId=%7B3AF19FEC-F29F-4C13-9544-59FCD426201E%7D through August 16, 2009 - no excuses!

Enjoy:)

Alexander McQueen - QUEEN OF PRINT

2009-07-16T14:51:00.000-07:00

Resort 2010

F/W 2009

S/S 2009

We all know Alexander McQueen for his creative, crazy yet very focused, cutting edge vamp designs.... AND as of late for his unusual, gorgeous prints that are so breathtaking I can't stop looking at them.
This year's by now well known Spring/Summer collection which included full on looks in wood textured prints and exploded shattered glass patterns definitely created a frenzy in the textile design world..... But McQueen didn't seize to amaze there - he continued with a super innovative fall collection followed by a surprisingly wearable but still edgy resort show. Alexander - since Dries has already taken the King of Print place in my heart, you can be my Queen!

Sweet Fairy Tale - art meets fashion

2009-07-14T14:03:00.000-07:00

Remember last year's S/S Prada collection with the fairy tale prints? I just found out who the talent behind the creation of this delicious dreaminess is. It's Taiwanese born artist (1979!) James Jean, currently residing in LA. Through his work he creates a fantasy world reminiscent of one of my favorite movies Pan's Labyrinth. Leprechauns, fairies, beautiful aliens, transforming figures - everything is skillfully sketched out with such easiness it seems. Absolutely stunning! Check out his website http://www.jamesjean.com/.
Prada's choice of fantasy illustration and print was in my humble opinion a spark of genius. Her collection and James Jean's drawings launched a series of interpretations and knock offs in the fashion world to be seen to this day.
BTW - notice how popular collaborations of designers with artists are becoming? Stay tuned for more!

Enjoy and start dreaming..............................................

Europe trip - zoom on Dries

2009-07-13T17:03:00.000-07:00

So you guys - I am finally getting a chance to catch my breath and report about my trip to Europe. First print stop was one of my faves - Dries Van Noten in Antwerp. The building, the store, the window displays and of course the prints - absolutely to die for! Needless to say, I wanted EVERYTHING!!

Stay tuned for more inspiring news from Antwerp, like printed paper dresses....

xoxo

Crazy for Lanvin...

2009-06-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

What better way to start my print blog than with this exquisite resort 2010 collection from Lanvin. Whatever Monsieur Alber Elbaz touches turns to gold and I love his whimsical yet super sophisticated approach to clothes. Apparently his fun t-shirts from this pring sold well, because he's doing it again... I could see myself in one of those cute tees....oh wait, there's the printed sneakers too....bliss!!

Welcome to Mimi's print world

2009-06-21T15:39:00.000-07:00

Hi,

This is Mimi. I'm so excited to start my print blog! I will be covering everything cool, pretty and current when it comes to prints, surface design, graphics and art. I've been designing prints for over 10 years now and am very particular about what I like and don't like. Here you will see only stuff I LOVE! So welcome to the journey and I can't wait to share my news with you:)

xoxo,

Mimi