floral blend

photo by ivana profeta

last week, I was in miami for a wedding, which allowed me to explore the city for a couple of days. I was surprised by how much fun I had walking on the beach, visiting fisher island, and of course seeing the wynwood walls. actually the wynwood arts district was my number one place I wanted too see while visiting miami. I just thought it might be a place of style inspiration, which is something that I am always looking for. I don't necessarily love all street art, but I admire street artists who do something unique and visually stimulating. in los angeles, there is a lot of street art downtown, but wynwood is no comparison. there is literally something stand-out on every corner, which makes for eye catching photos. I took many photos in wynwood, but I must admit my favorite style moment came when I happened to wander into an interior and architectural design store, called glottman. that day I happened to wear my isabel marant floral dress with my missoni turban and it happened to blend perfectly with a floral carpet that I found on a wall with that store. I actually featured this dress earlier this year....as one of my surprise dress finds. immediately, when I saw this design wall print I thought it would make for an interesting photo so I asked my friend ivana to take some photos. I love the idea of blending in and with this carpet on the wall you could do just that. I thought this capture felt very renaissance, with an erik madigan heck influence, and I think the camouflage effect is quick striking. in a way, you have too look deep to find me. at any rate, this was one of my favorite miami moments and I must thank my friend ivana for capturing it. the funny part about this photo is that the designers in the store loved how I turned their wall into an impromptu photo shoot. at first, I thought they would tell me to leave the store, but I love how they encouraged me to do this....I guess you never know when style inspiration can happen!

into the woods

photo by erik madigan heck

I mentioned before about photographer erik madigan heck, who happens to be one of my favorite photographers at the moment. he does a lot of work for harper's bazaar and I believe he recently shot the cover of adele for time magazine, in such a beautiful portrait. at any rate, when I walked into that interior and design store in wynwood and saw that floral carpet wall I immediately thought of erik madigan heck's work, especially because he does so much with floral designs. I normally respond to black and white photography more, but how he plays with color and textures, is all so striking. I feel like you can't just look at his photos once, you have to stare deeply and observe all the detail. the photo I had in mind was this one from his september 2014 editorial entitled into the woods from harper's bazaar UK. the whole layout is eye popping and features model katrin thormann wearing various floral dresses in a magnificent garden. what's so great about this image is that her face is blurred out as well as the flowers in the background and all that is clear, is her dress. I have no idea how he did this image, but I find it all so alluring. I actually could stare at this all day, it almost feels like an ishihara test for your eyes. the other images in this layout are definitely more clear, but this is the one that popped in my head when I was browsing in that design store. its weird how images come to my mind when I see things in my everyday life, but erik madigan heck's photography has been a major influence on me, this past year. if you are unfamiliar do check him out, its very difficult not be inspired by his amazing eye!

the power of red

coleman dobson

its been a couple of years since I bought my maison martin margiela red dress from h&m and I must say I still find myself inspired by the look and feel of it. I remember buying it around christmas time so I thought I should definitely do something grand, to celebrate its beauty. lets also not forget that I try to make my life like a vogue italia editorial, so I thought I should do something cinematic with my canon rebel camera. my friend coleman looks very much like a john currin painting, so I thought I would have her wear my red dress. plus, with her pale skin and her silk bed sheets I thought that would make for an interesting combination. it feels very mysterious, with a touch of incognito chic, but most importantly I just love all that drapery. this is why I never get bored of this dress because you can wear it so many ways and I think lying down creates the most drama. of course, I enhanced the photo to make the red pop and I also added a tint of green with her silk sheets. the green was a little bit inspired by the cinematography from the 1991 polish/french film the double life of veronique. I just love the green tones and art direction of that movie and wanted to do something loosely like that. I think if you see the film you will understand. at any rate, I think this photo shows, just how alluring and striking a red dress can be. whether this dress is hanging in a closet or worn by somebody, it truly is a piece of art. I don't think I can ever forget that maison martin margiela collaboration.....it will always be my favorite and perhaps the most inspiring collection from h&m.

splendor in the grass

photo by annie leibovitz

not only was the double life of veronique a loose inspiration for my red dress photo project, but also this annie leibovitz image of supermodel karlie kloss, lying in the grass. in case you don't remember this photo is from the july 2009 issue of US vogue and the dress is by zac posen. its no surprise really that I would love this image.....I mean just look at that drapery and the beautiful contrast of her red dress and that green grass. this gown is signature zac posen with that silhouette and that stunning silk material. plus, I love the body language. its definitely eye catching and I am not sure if she is sleeping or just having a moment in the grass. either way, I just love all the mystery that this photo conveys. a couple of weeks ago, I featured another similar annie leibovitz photo of a model in a black dress and I think by now its safe to say that annie leibovitz is quite good at capturing drapery, especially from the back side. I know my image doesn't look like this one, but I definitely wanted to capture that dramatic drapery feeling. it really is difficult to sum up why I find photographs like this, so inspiring, but not everything needs an explanation. I think you just have to stare at it and let the photo speak for itself!

the way she wears her hat

ivana zannini

through vogue italia, franca sozzani, and the magic of instagram I have been able to connect with some really creative and inspiring people. last month, my friend ivana zannini came to visit from london. after a couple of years of chatting through social media, it was so exciting to actually meet her, in real life. from the beginning, ivana has always been a huge supporter of my photography and all the creative endeavors I engage myself in, so it was really nice to have some days to chat and to work on some photo projects together. ivana also has an amazing sense of style and like myself, she has an appreciation for fashion, photography, but above all, style. in addition, she also understands the beauty of hiding behind a hat. after all, its always important to keep a sense of mystery. for her last day in california, I wanted to take her to the beach. she had never been, so I knew she would appreciate all the natural beauty of the ocean. I didn't really say that she should wear something specific, but I loved how she just showed up in this eye-catching, dramatic hat. immediately, I was inspired by its shape and silhouette and knew I wanted to do something noir chic. ivana is always so kind and told me that any photo I had in mind she would do....and just like that I thought with the beach waves behind her and that lovely hat brim covering her face we could create something magical. I tend to work by instinct and I was just really inspired by the simplicity of this moment. it almost felt like our good bye moment in a bitter sweet way, but I knew that this would not be our last moment together and that I will see her again. so on that note, I must thank her for all the inspiration she brought me in the last month. very rare too meet inspiring people like her, but I am so glad to call her my friend. its really amazing how vogue italia and social media brought us together...such a small world when you think about it!

rosie assoulin

photo by nicole cohen

yes, we are now in the middle of the fall/winter 2015 season, but I am still stuck on many spring/summer collections from earlier this year. I try to stay in the now, but when it comes to the runway, I tend to be all over the place. for some reason, when I was on the beach last week with my friend ivana I couldn't help but think of the rosie assoulin collection from spring 2015. ivana's hat had such a look and shape that seemed straight from that season. the funny part is that I never mentioned that collection to her, as we love to talk about style, clothes, and hats, especially. I must admit that ivana was the one who made me aware of those jw anderson black hats for spring 2015...so I wonder if she is familiar with this rosie assoulin collection. either way, whether she knows it or not, this was the image I used as inspiration for that hat moment, we had on the beach. I just love the drama of that straw brim and the alluring mystery of this image. when I stare at this photo, it makes me think about the girl under the hat and who she might be, but I love that you can't figure it out. I always find that there is beauty in not knowing and this photo captures that, so well. I guess you could say this is noir chic at its finest. personally, I am quite envious of this nicole cohen photograph because it really is something special. on a side note, if you have never seen this rosie assoulin spring/summer 2015 collection I highly suggest you check it out. yes, the hats are stunning, but the dress silhouettes are very eye catching, as well. by far, one of my favorites of this year!