Blinding Beauty

I've spent the better part of the past year looking to make my house a home. Nails have slowly punched their way through the walls to support artwork (I've received as gifts and some I've dared create on my own) and picture frames hosting more than a few funny childhood memories and my slightly over the top rubber face smile as I jumped from 15,000 feet. My bedding has gone through two iterations in less than 12 months and carpets in a variety of patterns have added a bit of warmth to some drafty stone floors. Lighting, while not the final frontier by any means (we still have walls to paint and shelving to hang) is the next bold adventure. 

When I moved in last spring it seems like everywhere I looked there was a dimmer switch connected to a different set of lights. Awesome for setting the mood but with every bulb recessed neatly away into the ceiling it didn't add much in terms of decor. After weighing the pros and cons of adding fixtures I've settled on a set of small crystal chandeliers to flank my dining room table. The search for the perfect light has led me on more than a few amazing online adventures and I've found more beautiful pieces that I can count. On a much grander scale I've found several light installations installed all over the world that continue to take my breath away. 

It's no secret that I'm more than slightly enamored with the style of Louis Vuitton when it comes to fashion, but when it comes to architecture and their stores, they also never fail to amaze. In an effort to add a bit of conceptual art to their Rome based store, LV installed a plasma screen staircase that can change at the touch of a button. Visitors stop by daily to see water cascade out the doorway, flowers blossoming their way upwards or even an LV trunk opening to reveal some of their most tantalizing goods. 

The LightScraper  is at its most basic a custom built aluminum structure, fabricated with a layer of semi translucent mesh, however its magic comes when it begins to interact with its surroundings. Visitor's positions are tracked via an infrared camera mounted at the peak of the structure, and transposed into musical notes causing an ever changing experience of light and sound. 

Bringing together two incredible artisans with diverse backgrounds can result in some of the most awe inspiring pieces of dream-like beauty. So is the case with Andy Cao and Xavier Perrot who are the artists behind the chandelier trees outside the KENZO headquarters in Paris. The trees, made of steel, wire, mesh and more than 3,000 cut crystals is a dynamic way to let natural light do all the work. 

Roso is the London based partnership behind the incredible "Clark's Light" outside of the Clark Shoe's office building. The commune looks to merge architecture, art and design in a free flowing format merging high tech and organic shapes. Based around the singular concept that “light is only seen when reflected”, Roso’s ‘Light’ explodes dramatically from the building as if it is splintering across the open air of the courtyard. Thousands of shiny discs are attached to suspending wires, casting light in each and every direction, giving a pixelated effect of all of the surrounding colors. 

Hang some lanterns overhead and I'm good to go. Set designer Michael Levine did just that by suspending 200 illuminated PVC balloons over a square in Toronto. The balloons were tethered together by an intricate web of nautical rope and fitted with lights that were controlled and programmed to change colour to the sound of the audience and live music below.

While the lighting I've picked so far doesn't quite compare in scale to the pieces of art that are brightening up rooms and courtyards all over the world, they're a start. They're simply small details that add some glamour, a little sophistication and a lot of charm to a space that I'm continually looking to make all my own. If it only takes something as small as a single bulb or shard of mirror to reflect, refract and repurpose, maybe by adding a new outlook, perspective or bit of brilliance, bright can be the new black. 

Sounds of Gray

A rainy day in the big city can put anyone in a mood... add hump day and we've got an entire population of dark trench wearing, umbrellas over our face toting, urbanites on a mission not to smile.  The only brightness are the spots of red, green, purple and pink from the Hunter boots slightly exposed from a tucked in pant leg.

If you're like me and opened your dishwasher to find a family of ants having a field day (even after the exterminator came last week), you may or may not have thought to yourself, for reals yo?! We could curl up, roll down the shades and call in sick. I wouldn't blame you. In fact, I'd probably be pretty jealous that you had the guts to say, "alright peace our wednesday, see you next week!" OR we could embrace it. I'm not talking looking for the sunshine, put on some pump up tunes and dance around in our offices as if the sun is actually shining. I'm saying, let's embrace the gloom and dig right on in. Throw on your comfy "work clothes", order the most non-light drink at Starbucks (i chose hot cocoa and threw in an extra splenda for good measure) and hide your feet in wool socks rather than anything with the world dress in the title and head right on out into the world.

Sounds crazy, right? Meh, I think sometimes I'm most productive when the weather is a bit more doom than boom. I don't long to be outside or think about my evening plans on some outdoor restaurant patio sipping margaritas; I'm ok being in the office watching others outside running between buildings. My favorite aspect of a rainy day is the soundtrack that goes right along with it. There are your standards, your Gusters, your Jack Johnsons and Colbie Caillat... those slightly somber tunes that keep you swaying to the sounds, feeling reflective and wondering when the next time is that they plan to go on tour.

And then there's my gray skies play list. I hit the Joshua Radin pandora station, hunker down and let my mind wander. Some are love songs, some are about harder days or saying goodbye and some are just about rain.

Brett Denen - Aint no Reason
Regina Spektor - The Call
Rosi Golan - Been a Long Day
Jose Gonzalez - Heartbeats
David Barnes - Little Lies
Natalie Walker - Color Blind
Teitur - I was thinking
Gungor - Beautiful Things
Old 97's - Questions
The Afters - Summer Again
The Swell Seasons - Falling Slowly
Barcelona - Get Up, Get Up, Get Up
Gabe Dixon Band - And the World Turned
Sean Watkins - Hello...Goodbye

I think one of the lessons I've spent the most time learning is that sometimes it's ok to let yourself wade around in the blue. As long as there's that light (maybe it's just thursday or a cupcake at lunch), feeling a bit slower, quieter, slightly more introspective, can be just what you need to really enjoy the days that are wonderfully, blindingly full of light. Let yourself enjoy the solitude that comes with the rain. If rather than feeling angst, we enjoy the sounds and wait for the sunshine, maybe gray skies are the new black.

j'adon't dior.

Celebrity endorsements are often the key to a designer going from fashion house to power house. Nicole Kidman has worked with Chanel, Emma Watson proudly sports Burberry brit and Julianne Moore went nude for Bulgari. When the relationship goes down, it threatens to take the whole house with it. And when the walls crumble because of spewed hate, my loyalty crumbles too. 

When the rise to fame is utterly stratospheric and the world is made hazy by money, power and position it's sometimes hard to see the difference between good and evil. Marc Jacobs and Calvin Klein both infamously survived rehab and Yves St. Laurent spent his life fighting the demons that Alexander McQueen couldn't outrun. At the heart of fashion's most recent headline grabbing scandal of destruction is John Galiano. As of today he is officially fashion's latest casualty of shame. And falling with sales is the relationship the legacy fashion house maintains with its newest face and the world's newest Oscar winner Natalie Portman. 


Galiano was suspended from Dior late last week after being accused of launching into a verbally abusive and anti-Semitic tirade against a French couple seated next to him at a bar (lowlights include telling the woman, "Dirty Jewish face…you should be dead," and the man, "f--king Asian bastard, I will kill you." The woman subsequently was not a Jew. 

Upon another video released this weekend, Galliano, who has been with the label since 1997 has been outwardly fired. 

When asked post acceptance how she felt about the designer, Portman was rushed off stage by her PR team. Given time to think, she has since decided to speak out. "I am deeply shocked and disgusted by the video of John Galliano's comments that surfaced today," she said in a statement issued last night. "In light of this video, and as an individual who is proud to be Jewish, I will not be associated with Mr. Galliano in any way. I hope at the very least, these terrible comments remind us to reflect and act upon combating these still-existing prejudices that are the opposite of all that is beautiful."

I think what's most jarring is that in a world where progress seems to be everywhere, stem cell research, human right and advocacy campaigns, bringing running water to 3rd world civilizations, the one line that still seems to divide is religion. As Portman states, the world is full of beauty but what's so sad is that for every moment of beauty there's seemingly an excess in moments of hate.  


I still remember in the 7th grade when a classmate point blank stated to me on the bus that, "if Hitler had done his job I wouldn't be so lucky to miss a day of school" for a Jewish holiday. I remember being slightly stunned and alarmingly confused. Didn't he know, my day off consisted of putting on an itchy suit and sitting in temple for hours reading from a book in a language I couldn't read ... and fasting? 10am music class.. umm, yes please! 


My sophomore year of high school I went to the National Young Leaders Conference in Washington DC where I roomed with 3 people, 2 of whom had never met a Jewish person. The third told me his dad's boss was a Jew, so he understood. I was asked if I'd hidden my horns or removed them for the debates we'd had over the rationale for the separation between Church and State. My horns? Was he kidding? When I got back, I read an article in the paper about another local girl who shared the same story. Washington, DC... seems like a pretty progressive town. Where were these people coming from? And that horns rumor, for real? 


I grew up in a world where Jews were all around. In high school my class was full of Jewish friends who also were dismissed from class during the holiest days of the year and in college it seemed as though you couldn't throw a pair of black stretchy pants without hitting a girl with a sideways ponytail. The differences between Jews and those who were not never seemed to factor in to the equation. Some of my friends were, some were not. Some designers are, many are not. As Adam Sandler lists off the Jews in Hollywood its easy to assume the town, and many more across the United States, overflow with individuals who pronounce cream cheese as shmear and consider brunch to be the primary meal of a day.


What I've learned throughout my life is that this just isn't true. 


I was lucky to grow up in a world where religion didn't matter, where you were given the same liberties, regardless of religion to openly be who you were without fear of harassment or aggression. I spent my adolescence at Bar/Bat Mitzvahs and since, much of my early adulthood watching friends break the glass under the chuppuh. It's stories like Mel Gibson's narration to an LA policemen or Mr. Galliano's tirade on some unsuspecting dining companions, which seem to be sparked by alcohol and pent up ignorance that take me back to that place of a confused pre-teen who for the first time saw that people could be evil simply because they wanted to be, simply because they didn't understand. 


I've often considered fashion designers to be free spirits; individuals who see beauty in the smallest spark of inspiration. It's amazing to me that those who can create something from nothing, who see potential and possibility from a single piece of fabric can be so close minded and so closed off to those around them. Natalie Portman is one voice; she's a Jew. I am one voice; I'm a Jew. You are one voice; you may or may not be a Jew. The point is that it doesn't matter. Use your voice and share in the hope. That religion, which is intended to give peace and comfort can be a personal choice that doesn't effect or persecute anyone else. 


Who knows, the Oscar red carpet was ruled by shades of red and purple, maybe in the coming time shades of progress and peace will be the new black.