On Location: An interview with Stephen Jones

Today I had a moment of reflection of the year past,... and realization that I don't want my life to fall into a mundane predictable existence. Now, having settled back into life in LA, I often think back on last year and how amazing it was, traveling the world and encountering different cities and places every few days. Life was spontaneous, full of adventure and uncertainty. Even though I was traveling for work, each day presented new challenges, discovery and wonder, I was nurturing intrigue and feeding my soul. I don't want to lose that "joie de vivre". I sometimes wonder, "has my world now become smaller, for being more aware of, and, present in it, or larger, for my endless experiences." Whatever the case, I'm all the better for it.

Today I'm remembering our time in Antwerp and recall when I first became familiar with the famous milliner, Stephen Jones, by my friend Perry. He had gone to see his exhibit and was thoroughly impressed and inspired. Unfortunately, due to my lack of time in town, I missed seeing the show and can only hope to be able to catch it stateside. The exhibit is now in its final days at the MoMu Fashion Museum in Antwerp closing on February 13th. It is my understanding that the exhibit will tour America in 2011, with the first stop being New York City. Hmmm, looks like a brief trip to NYC may be in my foreseeable future. For anyone looking for a dose of inspiration, I'd suggest checking it out!!!




Below are hat creations by Stephen Jones.

Antwerp, Belgium: Dries Van Noten - Fall Winter 2010/2011 Full Fashion Show

This visit to Antwerp was stunted due to my plans to fly home to the US for unfortunate family circumstances. Having only one day to take in the city before my departure, I made my way to the Dries Van Noten boutique, meeting up with Tony. At one time, years ago, I was an avid fan of the Belgian designer, but more recently have fallen out of touch with his current collections. I figured now was as good a time as any to get reacqauinted.
The collection was beautiful as I expected. Highlighted in the store were the signature well tailored womens wear of classic silhouettes, patterned silk and satin dresses watercolor stained in jewel toned hues and jackets and blouses ornamented with beautiful pewter sequins, beads and embroidery, suggestive hints of ethnic flare. The store was charming and a bit sparse with a winding narrow staircase leading to the second level where the menswear collection was on diplay.



Most noteble was the fragrant scent throughout the store. Tony's inquiry lead us to find that we were succomb by "Portrait of a Lady", the French parfume Frederic Malle. We are now on a quest for the aromatic scent seeing as how it is not offered in stores yet. Our scheduled Paris trip is nearly three weeks away, that said, you know where we'll be. Before closing, Tony made his puchase, a fashionable white polo style tee with navy blue sweater knit sleeves. In all, It was good to have gotten reacquaintanced, Dries Van Noten is here to stay.