Biyan on style.com

Once again (after appear on Gossip Girl)Indonesian maestro got a international recognition from the number one fashion website style.com for one of his beautiful embellished canvas jacket for SPRING SHOPPING GUIDE, i am personally amazed by his dedication in our local fashion scene and hopefully it will be more expose about his collection in the international scene.
http://www.style.com/trendsshopping/shoppingguide/012913_Spring_Shopping_Guide/

ripped white tee

Adam levine pull plain white tee successfully on his singing competition,one of most captivating white ripped tee inspired me to create a bit twist of my Berskha ripped tee and i love the result.

Fashion House of Death (1964);The Correspondent:Rasya

To the uninitiated, the name Mario Bava or the word Giallo might not strike the right chord. So, I’ll start with a little explanation. First, Mario Bava. He is known among the horror movie fans as The Italian Godfather of Horror, because it was his movies that started a long and glorious era of Italian horror production, lasting from 1960 to 1994 in what is the longest lasting run of any phenomenon in any movie genre. Having his directorial debut in the age of 46, after working most of his life as a cinematographer, Bava rocked his home country with Black Sunday (1960), a beautifully shot black & white gothic horror tale about  a vengeful witch which became a massive critical and financial success in Italy. It was thanks to this many other directors stepped in to the genre and the Italian Horror Golden Age started.

But Bava’s legacy didn’t stop there, because he did more. Four years after his directorial debut, Bava made another influential horror film, Fashion House of Death (1964), which created a new horror sub-genre, Giallo (Italian horror/thriller). The term giallo derives from a series of crime-mystery pulp novels entitled Il Giallo Mondadori, first published by the Mondadori publishing house, starting from 1929, and taking its name from the trademark yellow cover background. The series almost exclusively consisted of Italian translations of mystery novels by British and American writers, such as Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Ed McBain, Rex Stout, Raymond Chandler, etc. Over time, the term Giallo is used to refer a very specific type of Italian-produced horror/thriller. The film subgenre that emerged from these novels in the 1960s began as literal adaptations of the books, but soon began taking advantage of modern cinematic techniques to create a unique genre which veered into horror and psychological thrillers. The giallo film genre proved to be a major influence on the slasher film sub-genre.

Fashion House of Death (1964) also introduced many characteristics of the Giallo movies, such as:

-          Theme of sexuality or repressed sexuality & betrayal

-          Brutal and gory murder scenes, usually with beautiful women as victims

-          Twist in the end, usually revealing the identity of the killer(s)

-          Elaborate set pieces and camerawork, usually putting the audience as voyeur watching someone else’s movement

-          Stunning cinematography with delicate use of colors

-          Non-linear narration, requiring the audience to interpret the storyline for themselves

-          Expressive use of music

-          Relying heavily on the use of sound and sight to build tension, as opposed to CGI or quick cut Hollywood movies depend on these days

-          The killer(s) usually wears dark fedora hat, black raincoat, and black leather gloves complete with sharp objects as weapons (e.g: knife, axe, and scissor)

But not only that, as a movie, Fashion House of Death (1964) is very worth watching and paying attention to.

As the title suggests, the plot involves a series of murder befalling young and beautiful fashion models in a certain house of fashion in Rome owned by the recently widowed Countess Christina. Drug abuse, adultery and blackmail are daily routines for the beautiful models working there. But now, the line of small felonies is permanently crossed with the bloody murder of one of the house's top models, Isabella. When she is murdered by a masked killer in the park near Christina's atelier, terror begins to spread between the other models, and dark secrets begin to come to the surface as her bright red diary is found. Several others undergo the same merciless treatment, killed by a raving psychopath dressed much like the Invisible Man in gruesome ways, like pitting their face against a boiling cauldron or smashing their head against a tree trunk, all for the sake of keeping the scandalous diary’s content secret. What dirty facts lie beyond all the glamour and eroticism the fashion house possesses?

Enhanced with the use of red, green, blue, and black colors, the movie wields a very gorgeous cinematography to watch. It’s as if we’re looking at something otherworldly, that is taken deep inside our nightmare but is put in the real world. The music, very 1960’s, may feel out of date to some but surely works in the film’s favor. Its camerawork is lush with its murder scenes excellent. Every one of them is filmed with loving care and sadistic relish. Of particular note is the murder in the antique shop – a girl in ripped clothing is pursued through a maze of furnishings and mirrors by the killer, all the while bathed in primary colors – it's a standout scene, one that only Bava could have filmed. But there are a number of similarly impressive moments in Blood and Black Lace (like the boiling cauldron I mentioned in the above). This movie reeks elegance now matter how you see it.

And Bava sure didn’t think much of his characters, considering the set pieces & expositions make them more like tools for the murderer to use. Bava works so hard to decorate the aura of women with all the curtains, statues, dresses, mannequins (somehow commenting on the proceedings) and engaging close-ups. He created an aura of intimacy by capturing the fear in their face as he off them.

When we look deeper into it, the fashion house and the murder of models serve as symbols in the movie, symbols of selfishness, pride, and vanity. I’d even go so far this movie is a social commentary of bourgeois elites running rampant even today. The owner, designers, and pretty models live everyday without a care of how the rest of the world turns. They think nothing of others but themselves, mainly because they have everything easy, either because of their looks or their money. They enjoy wealth, good clothing, and spoils behind or in front of each other’s backs. But when a vicious terror strikes them down one by one, we begin to see the downfall of the so called nobles. How they are quick to cover for themselves while sacrificing what others might need, not knowing the threat won’t stop just because of it. But, that lack of understanding of the rest of the world proved to be their demise as one by one they meet slow and painful death in the hands of the murderer. I feel like it’s another symbolism how, no matter how lush their lives are, in the end, they’re just small parts of this world as a whole. They can be taken out anytime, but nothing would change. The sun will still rise, the moon will still shine, life still goes.

All in all, this movie serves as a great artistic merit, be it to see the dark side of a fashion house, introducing yourself to the rich culture of Italian horror, or simply wanting to watch a cool horror movie. Enjoy!

Review by

Omar Rasya Joenoes

ELLE indonesia february issue

I love these month issue featured effortless fashionista Alexa Chung, British most well known for her style and that jacket that she wear on the cover is irresistible.

Vogue february issue

I love these month approach to featured Rooney as their cover,the "it girl" last year will be back right on her track as a fashion darling with her upcoming film and can't hardly wait too her dragon tattoo kick ass sequel.

ABG Dibalik Runway

I meet one of the youngest fashion journalist last two year in the fashion event and since then i meet her a lot and keep make me wonder with her talent and captivating smile, she just lauch her latest book about behind the stage of fashion runway and how she become so close with numerous local top model and her experience that probably will gave us a closer look to fashion industry from the eyes of teenage girl.

The correspondent:Dini

Fashion entrepreneur and radio DJ herself, Dini is a lovely person and soon as i talk to her i can feel the confident and  identify her mesmerized personality, her fashion statement is casual and sometime she recreate her tee collection for a different look, i love her pose on the picture above ,she naturally got a million dollar looking pose.

The correspondent:Abe "risk taker"

Some people love to take a challenge in fashion just like Abe, sartorial friend of mine with surprising approach to his fashion statement and i love his attitude toward his very own leather collection and not to mention his other shoe fetish ( collecting more than 25 pair of shoe) looking forward to see his view on fashion within my blog.

The correspondent:Feri

He travel half way around the globe to some fashion capital city like New York,Milan and Paris for work but what interested about these casual looking man is that he just true to his signature look that is simple but a twist of semi formal as his this year fashion resolution.

The correspondent: Anggun by visy Primadonna

About her "Anggun"

I knew her, was not as she had entered the international stage, but since the age of 7 , I was no different from the figure of a Anggun C. Sasmi, she's not the only woman who is independent and willing to take risks when it but, first she is a charming and sparkling or I prefer to call : she got the "Sense of Diva" consciously or unconsciously, her persona reach deep into perspective for me before she jumped go to international, a dazzling career with the charisma of a Diva and performance timeless era. He is Anggun C. Sasmi.

Her style which used to be very rock and roll, cabaret and doc martin are legendary, now she is sexy and sensual, can not believe my endless fascination with her latest appearance , I followed online or print media then her concert, Last year featured in  the local franchise magazine Amica I saw her wearing the Jean Paul Gaultier couture  for the cover of the magazine as well as some local designer from Indonesia, wooow very intriguing.

I personally really honest Big Fans "Anggunesia" which is not just  about her why this or that but rather than inspired how she can look very sensual, supported by the talents and attitude of a star very humble.

It also has its own signature as an Indonesian woman and whatever style she has, she is very strong and sometimes flexible, but does not reduce the value contained therein. She knows her curve and she knew there was a beautiful body and she can decorate it and no one can leave the form for example she never felt needed to blondes her hair , or Whitening her skin face, might be possible, even if so, it's not Anggun but the artist who fear " Old "and lost her job. She proved that pretty is natural and beautiful  Indonesian Woman should be, just look at the magazine Amica and her concert. She wore  couture gown but, did not reduce the aesthetic of beautify, actually, give more to her beauty

Ohhh Anggun your beauty  is  timeless , Viva for Anggun ...

By Primadona

In my Shoe

as i told you before about "The:correspondent project", i gave everyone i know the oppurtunity to shere their thought and perspectives about fashion even to their personal essential fashion item, i got tons of positive respond and i will premier my first correspondent tonight about her fashion muse and next about my friend who got the oppurtunity to travel around the globe and what change his sense of fashion statement later on his daily look.enjoy ;)

The correspondent

i will be back with my new exciting post and larger than life project involving real people who love fashion in my upcoming post,i am so excited to receive the respond from these people that i know and they really into these project. Thanks to my correspondent the lovely Fandi for your encouragement and surprising news toward my blog in europe.

Disney

D&G fall 2011 mens collection is always stuck in my head, i love to have my very own interpretation on these playful collection from my personal closet and i found out that simply mix and match (Disney sweater and Topman bomber jacket) to face the uncertain weather here in the city lately.

Fashion Display