The skills of Gucci’s artisans were available first-hand to Australians this week – and Rescu. was on hand to give you all the gossip.
For all the glitz, glamour, catwalk shows and skyscraper prices, the origins of most high-fashion pieces, particularly handbags, are quiet and humble.
Artisans make them by hand in ateliers across Europe, using skills that have been handed down for generations – and are rapidly disappearing.
An occasional lucky reporter is allowed into the Chanel embroidery atelier, where they keep embroidery samples from every Chanel collection and a vintage file of inspirational materials going back to the 1800s – but now Gucci has opened their doors.
They sent some of their most prized artisans to Australia to work in the Gucci flagship stores, so customers could see the care and skill that went into every single product. The Florentine artisans showed their skills in custom-built workshops in Sydney, working on three of the house’s most prized and classic handbags.
Customers at the private events could even request personalised bags and watch them being made in front of them.
Artisan training is one of the key elements in couture collections – no fashion house’s dresses and bags would ever make it to the consumer without the work of artisans, but they are a vanishing breed.
Australians were lucky to see the rare art at its best.
Image: Artisans.
Shoe fanatics are having a good year.
First Christian Louboutin made the news with a beauty line and an exclusive with Disney, and now Manolo Blahnik is making shoes for the masses.
Unfortunately, Aussies can’t yet get their hands on them – but Rescu. has all the news.
Blahnik, who is 69, has announced he’ll collaborate with the UK shoe chain Kurt Geiger, who produce high-end shoes at the pricier end of affordable. Given that Manolos typically sell for upwards of 400-500 dollars, this is big news.
However, it’s not exactly as if Blahnik is slumming it. The exclusive range will be sold via Geiger’s shoe salons in Liberty and Harrods, the most exclusive department stores in London. No news on exactly what the collaborations will cost, but we’re hoping for extravagance which we can pinch our pennies for, rather than unattainable elegance.
Blahnik has stores worldwide, so if the venture goes well he may expand into other areas, including Australasia.
Why London? Manolos may sound exclusively Italian, but in fact the first Manolo Blahnik shoe store opened in London – and it’s still their only location in the whole United Kingdom, until now.
Will you be lusting over Geiger and Blahnik’s collaborations?
Image: Manolo Blahnik shoes.
Rescu. loves a worthy cause for fashion. Shopping should make everybody feel good.
Luckily, Country Road and Red Cross are helping to make the whole ordeal that much sweeter.
If you donate clothes to the Red Cross this May, you go into the running to win a $100 gift card from Country Road. The promotion only runs from 22 to 26 May, but there are 7 gift cards to be won every day, all over Australia.
Collaborations between shops and charity stores aren’t new, but there’s one in the UK causing major press interest – and it might be copied in the US and elsewhere.
Marks & Spencers, a clothing and department store, has launched an initiative called “Shwopping”, where for every new item you buy from Marks & Spencers, you donate an old item to Oxfam.
Even without a system in place to encourage you, this is a lovely way to pare down your wardrobe, get rid of last season’s jumpers and do good – second hand shops across Australia need donations more in winter.
So bag up all your old clothes (preferably cleaned first) and head into a Red Cross donation store.
Image: Red Cross.
In honour of Lanvin’s forthcoming coffee-table book, which sounds just delicious, Rescu. have investigated the best books for your fashionista friends.
Lanvin’s book is focussed on pictures of the work that goes into making a single dress, according to Alber Elbaz, the charming head designer.
“I wanted to show the people. All the people… We went back to make sure that every single person involved is in the book, that nobody has been missed out,” he told Grazia.
Alexander McQueen; Savage Beauty is the coffee table book to end them all. With its gold glittering skull, it’s a poignant reminder of the designer’s short life, but the pictures and commentary inside, with items from every collection he ever made, are insights into just how innovative he was.
In Vogue: The Illustrated History is for the magazine buff, keen to see exactly what shaped Vogue into its current sleek incarnation. Once upon a time all its covers were illustrated, and the 1960s editorials have to be seen to be believed.
Viktor & Rolf’s coffee table book is for the spookier and odder fashion fan, with miniature porcelain dolls dressed to the nines in their most famous looks, including the ‘Love’ dress and the dress which looks like a bed, complete with pillow hat.
Gucci’s coffee table book, released last year, is for the reader, with 52 essays about the brand. It’s also hefty, and less fashionable-looking than the other items, with the simple Gucci red-and-green band on the cover – but it hides surprises.
Dior Couture by Patrick Demarchelier is the ultimate in couture photography – and, unintentionally, a swan song for John Galliano’s brilliant designs, as it was released just before he was arrested for yelling about Hitler in a Paris bar. The photography, however, is beautiful, and it will become a classic.
Image: Dior Couture.