Lion Fishes at Custo Barcelona

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Both visually stunning and fiercely dangerous, the venomous lion fish relies upon layers of ornate camouflage to catch it's prey. Each multi-colored tendril floats effortlessly above fan-shaped pectoral fins and spiky dorsal fins, mesmerizing anything brave enough to venture into it's space. When prey is close enough, the lion fish quickly opens its jaws to snaps it up -- a tragic, yet beautiful, end to life. The same could be said about Custo Barcelona's Fall 2011 collection, with its layers of thrashed knits, dangling appendages, and quilted silk. Both dangerous and mesmerizing, it showcased the Dalmau brothers fearlessness as designers and their willingness to make a statement without compromise. And several of the pieces (in an abstract, dreamlike sort of way) even shared a resemblance with the lion fish.


Custo Barcelona, Fall 2011

"Always a stimulator of the optical senses, Custo Barcelona, introduced their Fall/Winter 2011 collection at Lincoln Center with flair and vibrancy. If you had a fetish for the feel of different textures, it would be impossible to resist the urge to dive on the runway. The pieces merged wool resembling a shag rug, leather, and other indecipherable fabrics with intense graphic designs, all forming a collection of beautiful chaos that had the fashion world captivated." - thefabulousreport.com










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Pineapple Brides on Parade


Nope, not an April Fool's Joke! While we're sitting behind our computer screens trying not to get duped by media pranks, Russian designer Venera Kazarova is having the last laugh. Yesterday, at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Russia, her pineapple-clad brides (and flower girls!) danced down the runway with sparklers and party poppers. A celebration of love? Probably not. But fun to watch, nonetheless.


So, why pineapple? What does it have to do with marriage? I'm guessing there's a tie in with it's reputation as "rare, beautiful, and coveted" during colonial times. Any takers?

"Its rarity, expense, reputation and striking visual attractiveness made it the ultimate exotic fruit. It was the pineapple that came to literally crown the most important feasts: often held aloft on special pedestals as the pinnacle of the table's central food mound. Into the 1600s, the pineapple remained so uncommon and coveted a commodity that King Charles II of England posed for an official portrait in an act then symbolic of royal privilege -- receiving a pineapple as a gift." - Levins.com





Images: daylife.com