Here’s a vid I found by Crane.TV featuring the amazing Italian contemporary artist, Aldo Lanzini.

This not being the first time I write about Aldo Lanzini, here you can see a lot more of his creations, including his drawings (the floral background created with pen ink), ‘Illegal Aliens’ and of course, his master crochet confections.

For those of you who can’t get enough of Yayoi Kusama, Vuitton collaboration or not, here’s the trailer for KUSAMA: Princess of Polka Dots. Not only do you get to take a peek at her drawing/obsessing process + talking about it but you also get to hear a bit about her background and how she came to be WHO she is today, still at 83, from London’s Tate Museum – gotta love her no?!

As If Louis Vuitton Doesn’t Suffer From Enough OCD, Come July, It’ll Get A Second Layer Of Repetition

Courtesy Of The Genius Japanese Artist, Yayoi Kusama

(photo: ART REVIEW)

Already one of my favorite artists for years now, I was very excited to hear about the upcoming collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Yayoi Kusama. Recently, WWD reported how Marc Jacobs had already alerted the masses of this pairing during his 2006 visit to her studios, where she in turn presented him with a Louis Vuitton Ellipse bag.

(via HIGHSNOBETTE)

Seen above, the bag’s monogram canvas was covered in dots, her signature motif (throughout her career). Such a moment was captured on film for the camera lens of Loïc Prigent’ in the 2007 documentary “Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton”, where Jacobs twirls the bag and comments, ‘That’s so beautiful, look at that.’

(photo: Frank Mura)

On July 10, before Yayoi Kusama’s major retrospective at the Whitney Museum July 12, LV will be unveiling it’s collection which is the most obvious collaboration of all – Even Vuitton’s president and CEO Yves Carcelle agreed by telling WWD, ‘In a fascinating way, the monogram canvas is as obsessional as Yayoi’s dots’ and who can deny that, really?

The collection will include apparel and accessories ranging from trenchcoats and silk pajamas to a pendant necklace and wristwatch.

(photos: Frank Mura + Courtesy Photo)

In October, a second wave of products will include more ’Kusamacised’ monogram leather goods. This time, the skins will be covered with Kusama’s tentacle-like “nerves”, another signature motif as seen in below installation.

(photo: Keiko Kioku)

Now, Vuitton being no stranger to artistic collaborations with contemporary artists, has so far had an impressive list of collaborators including Stephen Sprouse with his spray graffiti in 2001 + again with rose motif in 2009 and Richard Prince’s quirky “joke paintings” allover bags and deconstructed monogram in 2007. Yet it was the 2003 Takashi Murakami collaboration that really set the bar really high, garnering bigger success in sales and all due to his cartoonish eyeballs sprinkled throughout his designs alongside rainbow monograms, cartoon cherries and cherry blossoms.

“It’s really charming. It has the essence of the spirit of her work,” Jacobs said of the collaboration, describing Vuitton’s monogram and Kusama’s spots as “both timeless and endless.” All the pieces created for the collection have all been a true collaborative effort between designer and artist which then turns one into the other, over and over again, back and forth.

(photo: Frank Mura)

But ‘don’t fret my pet’ if you can’t wait until July to see dots for Vuitton has something special in store for next month. In June, an iPhone app (Hello….Droid?!) will become available where users can take pics and customize them with Kusama motifs – dots and tentacle-like ‘nerves’ – dedicated to the artist and her unique vision of the world.

(photo: Frank Mura)

In what looks to be a lot of fun, this free app — available in English and Japanese — will also allow users to share their creations in several ways. Users can not only share their ‘vision of the world’ via social media platforms, they can also choose to submit them to a dedicated site at louisvuittonkusama.com.

Can’t wait for it all!

(via WWD)

Count Your Blessings At The Beach This Year

Wearing Colombian Swimwear Label Agua Bendita, Yet There’s No Guarantee You’ll Look As Good As Bar Refaeli Does Here (Then Again, There’s Always Photoshop!)

With NYC beaches opening this weekend, why not bless the event with a few pieces from Colombian swimsuit label Agua Bendita? Meaning ‘holy water’ in Spanish, Agua Bendita, created in 2003 by Catalina Álvarez and Mariana Hinestroza has already launched 6 successful collections full of whimsy, patterns and lots of color.

Positioned as a brand that makes youthful and fun designs (see below)

like the cowgirl (R) and Che Guevara (L) illustrations on the bikini tops above, there is no denying there’s something for everyone.

With a lot of the pieces being handmade in Colombia, no one suit is alike, making your suit one-of-a-kind. Most of their designs made up of mixed patterns, come embellished with hand embroidery, sequins, mirrors and pom poms.

Love this super graphic combo above – the black + white bandeau bikini covered with a colorfully graphic jumper.

Loving the elephant print maillot with obi-like belt on the right.

And if your lil miss wants to wear the same two piece as her stylish mommy, there are kids versions too. Pictured is ‘Bendito Hawaii’.

“Bendita´s Girl”, the concept with which all women are “benditas” (blessed), is often represented by using national and international models such as Candice Swanepoel (South Africa) in 2010 and Bar Refaeli (Israel) in 2011 and again in (2012) for their “ONE WORLD” Collection. Another great thing about Agua Bendita is that they’re more than just swimsuits with additional offerings such as coverups, dressers, jumpsuits, pants, woven vests and bags. Click here to see where to buy.

p.s. Don’t forget to wear sunscreen!

(photos: AGUA BENDITA)

Prada presents ‘A Therapy’ by Roman Polanski

Drenched in a Seventies vibe (check out the movie poster above), this short, featuring Helena Bonham Carter + Ben Kingsley is one of the best fashion shorts i’ve seen lately. Look how perfectly Helena’s pearls lay on her chest while she talks to her therapist, complimenting the shape of her brows. Love how Ben the therapist, stops listening to Helena, his patient, to listen to his heart and appease his desire to get up, touch and wear her coat.

(via Refinery29)

Wanny Di Filippo’s Florence on Nowness.com.

Wanny Di Filippo’s Florence by Daniel Riera for Nowness is hypnotic.

Wanny, the famed Italian dandy, often featured on street style blogs like The Sartorialist and Style.com for his bold color and print combos accented by his signature cigar, soothes your senses here by describing his favorite haunts to Advanced Style’s Ari Seth Cohen with his great voice. Every shot carefully captures the many facets of Wanny including his beard, shoes, timepiece and everything else that makes him him.

(via NOWNESS)

Peggy Moffitt: The Total Look on Nowness.com.

‘Peggy Moffitt: The Total Look’ by Phil Pinto not only sneaks us a peek into the home of one of the most famous Sixties fashion + pop icon, but we also get to hear from Peggy herself how she collaborated on certain projects with trailblazing fashion designer Rudi Gernreich and how tired she is of talking about her famous pic of her in the scandalous topless maillot from 1964 designed by Rudi as seen below.

(photo Willliam Claxton)

Famous for her signature Vidal Sassoon 5point cut and doll eyes, she served as both model + muse to designer Rudi Gernreich (whose designs are shown throughout the film above) + hubby William Claxton.

Now if you want to channel Peggy in the suit above but don’t have the guts to go topless, try this tee (below) on for size designed by Commes des Garcons in collaboration with Peggy Moffitt from her personal archives.