"La Novia", The "Manolete" Editorial, Final Part.

 "La Novia" is the final part of "The Manolete" editorial I have been introducing you for the past several weeks. If you have missed 3 previous parts of the editorial you can find them here: Part 1 , Part 2 and Part 3. Today, along with "La Novia" head piece ("The Bride" in translation from Spanish), I am posting the entire editorial. "La Novia" was inspired by what happened during  the final hours of Manolete's life. As Manolete laid dying, Manolete's doctor Garrido and his team managed to stop bleeding. With in minutes Manolete underwent surgery and was given several blood transfusions. Despite all the effort his condition remained critical. To make sure that Manolete receives the best care possible the official doctor of the Madrid bullring was called to asses the situation. Dr. Giménez arrived at 4 o’clock but unfortunately too late. Manolete was pronounced dead at 5. And while the entire Spain was left to mourn his death in the state of shock, there was one more person left heart broken.

 Sino. For well over a decade Manolete was a Spanish cultural hero. He earned unprecedented amount of money estimated at $4 million in the first eight years of his career in the 1940s. This is precisely why he was so financially valuable to the countless those who made money of off his career: agents, promoters, bull breeders and advertisers. Sino, as I mentioned before, was never accepted by Manolete's family. What touched me the most is the fact that while Manolete was dying, Sino was not aloud to be by his side, not even for a moment. The reason - Manolete's family and his agents were afraid that the last minute marriage can occur in which case the vast fortune of Manolete will be inherited by Sino. And so...she never had a chance to say "good by" to the love of her life. In the editorial, I tried to reunite Manolete and Sino in the final hours of Manolete's life.

 "La Novia" became one of the most challenging hats I have worked on. Not only because it was styled after traditional Spanish head gear  called "peineta" known for the complexity of the cut out design, but also because I decided to create it using the new to me technique - laser cut wood. The design had to be drawn and measured out. I probably destroyed close to 40 panels of the thinnest wood before "La Novia" came out exactly like I envisioned her to be. White pearl glaze solution I mixed using my own proportions was a cherry on top of the cake . And so here you have it - a complete editorial inspired by Manolete whose life story touched me so deeply. I hope you have enjoyed it. I am wishing all of you wonderful week ahead. :-)

The Most Beautiful Christmas Windows of 2013 Holiday Season From All Over The World. :-)

 The Holiday Season is here and it is somehow difficult for me, yet again, to wrap my mind around the simple fact that another year is coming to an end. But here it is on my desk - my favorite French Vogue 2013 Calendar pointing to the inevitable fact: there are few short weeks left until Christmas and New Years. 5 years one  row now, just about this time in this Blog I celebrate the beauty of the Season recognizing that it is not the end of another, old year I am so happy about, but rather the anticipation of the beginning of the new. And so one of my most favorite things is to look at  Christmas Window Displays from all over the globe. New York turns into Fairy land every December and so it is became a great tradition for my friends and I to spend one pre-Christmas Sunday in New York gift  shopping, wearing fabulous hats, having lunch at Bergdorf's and dinner in another fabulous place (we choose different one each year). I am looking forward to this Sunday since this is exactly what I will be doing - spending it with my friends. :-) This year global Christmas displays look as gorgeous as ever with my #1 favorite - Lord & Taylor. :-) I am seriously considering to dedicate couple of hours on Sunday looking at every single detail of these windows. :-) I am hoping your Holiday Season as beautiful, kind, generous and bright as mine. Enjoy every minute of it and I hope this post at least will put you in the mood for the magic to come. :-)

 Lord & Taylor Christmas Window Displays, 2013

 Saks 5th Avenue Christmas Window Displays, 2013

 Tiffany Christmas Window Displays, 2013

 

Galleries Laffayete Christmas Window Displays, 20013 

Harrod's Christmas Window Displays, 2013

Harvey Nichols Christmas Window Displays, 2013

Printemps Christmas Window Displays, 2013

TSUM Department Store in Moscow Christmas Window Display, 2013

All images are courtesy if Instagram official accounts of the store featured in combination with images byWWD site in.

Congratulations, Suzy! :-)

There is a great little legend going around in fashion circles about Suzy: apparently Ms. Menkes literally crushed her very first Chanel show back when back by pretending to be a cleaner. She appeared at the venue at 5 a.m. on the day of the show with a broom, a mop and a handkerchief around her head (what a great fashion statement by the way! ), hid for 4 hours waiting for the show to begin... the rest is history. It is this kind of fierce dedication to the ever changing world of Fashion that makes us love Suzy so much! This and fantastic, kick-ass, must read, objective, educated, well written reviews Suzy delivers Season after Season. Congratulations, Suzy, on receiving Special Recognition Award at British Fashion Award Ceremony for the outstanding 25 year service as a fashion reporter. We are cheering for 25 more years to come! :-)

My Atelier For "Tatler" Hong Kong, December 2013 Issue.

Today I am posting a new editorial with several hats created in my Atelier and requested by "Tatler" Hong Kong for December 2013 Issue. Always such a pleasure to work with an amazing stylist Ise White and her creative team (Lauren Temple my hat is off to you!). We have done several editorials to date for different publications and I am looking forward for more exciting editorials. The hat on the top image is actually a part of SS2014 "Confessions" Collection presented at Lincoln Center this September. We currently have over 50 orders just for this style along. :-) The name of the hat is "The Survival Of The Moust Wanted", Part 1 (yes, I did spell "moust" correctly) and this hat is a perfect example of how impractical style beats functional and rational approach to choosing fun head gear.

I say, lets ditch function all together for a little bit or at least for this Holiday Season. Gold sequined structured beret and pearl encrusted hat you see on the second and third images are actually the hats of what I call "intermediate production" - production between collections. We have so many hats created in the Atelier that are not a part of any Collection that at times I even forget to name them. :-)

So excited for this upcoming Christmas!!! Not only we are planning on expending in 2013 moving the production to a bigger Atelier while the existing Atelier will continue to serve as show room and class room for my Millinery School. I am, finally, in the process of  hiring a production team, production manager and expending my staff into a team of approximately 10-12 people. Not easy for me - I am on top of every stitch, perfectionist and do not have an easy time trusting with production. In addition, I have resolved to NOT hire any interns on site. This is something I decided to do a long time ago. I know many professional Milliners choose to have interns working on hats. I understand financial benefits of it - minimum or no pay at all, but at the end quality suffers tremendously. I am also not a great fan of non paying jobs, never supported it, never though it is right and not about to change my mind about it now. Believe me, I have met hats done by the interns and decided that thank you, but no, thank you. Quality - is something highly appreciated by every one in the industry. My Presentation at Lincoln Center served  me as a great proof of that (not that I was unaware of it before). Nothing more disappointing than coming into close contact with badly made hats. So many stylists I spoke to say that many of the hats they pull for the photo shoots are falling apart. At the end of the day - it is MY name on the label and, believe me, I take it very seriously. We are also starting to receive a lot of requests for apprenticeship - this is something I am open to and will definitely consider in 2014. :-) So all in all, 2014 is the year of expansion for my brand. So unbelievably excited! Wishing you great and super productive week ahead! :-)

"Islero", The "Manolete" Editorial, Part 3.

It is well documented that Manolete was thinking about retiring not long before his final battle. He was exhausted of  demanding schedule, long lived rivalry with the Mexican matador ,Carlos Arruza, and his rivalry  with brave young bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguin, who often challenged him publically. The relationship with Sino was also a struggle because Manolete's own family refused to accept her. She was not welcomed...

 Several days before August 28th it was announced that Manolete will be fighting at Linares Bullring along with Gitanillo de Triana and Luis Miguel Dominguin. The public was beyond excited, afterall, it was announced that Manolete will be fighting against fierce bulls of Miura. On the chosen day, in unbearable hit,  10,500 people fill the ring with great expectation for the corrida to come. After a brilliant "faena" with the previous bulls, the time came  for Manolete to fight the fifth Miura bull. His name was Islero, furious, powerful, fierce bull with horrendous horns. It was immediately after the final act of "muleta"  when Islero dug his horn deep into the bullfighter’s right thigh. Manolete was carried out of the arena while the public went literally insane appalled by the devastating goring of their idol. But nobody was worrying just yet. Remember, Manolete was gored 11 times in his professional career and 11 times he made full recovery...

 I thought how difficult it must have been for him to be able to sustain so much pressure. It wasn't just about being a #1 bullfighter but, I believe, Manolete was also in search of the stability when it came to his beloved Sino. The situation with Sino was more exhausting than performing on the arena against the most powerful bulls of Spain because it involved Manolete's family...Next week I will be publishing the final part of Manolete editorial. Today I am leaving you with the hat I named "Islero" and wishing you wonderful weekend ahead.

Photographed by Ed Hafizov for "Anya Caliendo. Couture Millinery Atelier." Stylist - Anya Caliendo, Models - Anastasia Z and Dzmitry Patuk, Make Up Artist  - Roshar, Corset - Jane Woolrich Designs.

Inspiration Files: In Love With Emerald Green.

 The Fall is usually a season of color revelations for me. The beauty, of course,  can be found in any color, but somehow favorites among color combinations prevail while many others stay unnoticed or neglected until ..well, in my case, Fall arrives. This Fall I find myself almost obsessively drawn to emerald green as if I have never seen the color before, I am discovering it in entirely new way - the regal color, the chosen color on the pallet of "classic" colors. I actually kept a separate color file (as I do with all colors I love) for the emerald green for quite some time now wondering if I could work myself up to creating emerald hat. Still not resolved on this one since green has so many undertones. Today I am leaving you with the fabulous selection of emerald green images starting with the head image of Lanvin necklace in emerald green. I hope you enjoy it. :-) Wishing everyone fantastic week ahead. :-)