Balenciaga Partners With Longtime Runway Composer BFRND on Musical Video Game
Balenciaga launched a video game with musician BFRND, Miami Design arrived in L.A., Gap released a collection with Dôen and Toteme opened in West Hollywood.
Balenciaga Music creates a video game with BFRND
Balenciaga Music, a project that focuses on the important role music plays in Balenciaga’s creative and cultural impact, has launched a multifaceted collaboration with French composer and musician BFRND.
Known for a genre-bending signature sound and a deep love for dark electronic and classical pieces, BFRND has produced original soundtracks for every Balenciaga presentation since 2017. BFRND, whose real name is Loïk Gomez, also happens to be Balenciaga creative director Demna Gvasalia’s husband.
The Balenciaga Music | BFRND Series consists of limited edition merch, a four-hour original playlist and an original eight-bit video game — offering a 360-degree experience.
The merch, available in stores and on balenciaga.com, includes T-shirts and zip-up hoodies that each come with an all-access pass embedded with an NFC chip. BFRND: The Game takes the player through various Balenciaga show sets and their respective musical tracks where they can collect iconic Balenciaga products to score points.
The game will launch with a worldwide contest, in which the top 30 players worldwide will be rewarded. The first three levels of the BFRND: The Game are accessible to anyone via a dedicated mini-site. A fourth bonus level is only accessible via the NFC (Near Field Communication) chip embedded in Balenciaga Music | BFRND merch.
Design Miami arrives in Los Angeles
The inaugural edition of Design Miami.LA took place at a private Paul R. Williams-designed Holmby Hills estate last weekend, joining the fair’s roster of global events in Basel, Paris and Miami Beach.
Founded in 2005 by entrepreneur, real estate developer and art collector Craig Robins, Design Miami focuses on museum-quality 20th and 21st century furniture, lighting and objets d’art from the world’s top galleries and showcases immersive design collaborations with celebrated brands.
The Los Angeles fair presented a lineup of many of the world’s leading international design galleries, offering an array of highlight historic and contemporary works and reflecting Design Miami’s place as the global platform for collectible design, while also remaining strongly rooted in the design scene of the fair’s new host city.
Ashlee Harrison acted as curatorial director for the L.A. edition, overseeing the presentation of international collectible design galleries and site-specific exhibitions throughout the three-acre estate, working with Henrik Purienne, the global creative director of the 2024 fair program.
Highlights included Friedman Benda (New York/Los Angeles) presenting a curated group exhibition with an emphasis on L.A.-based design practices, as well as international exhibitors, highlighting works by Darren Romanelli, Carmen D’Apollonio, Farrell Hundley, Misha Kahn and Samuel Ross.
Following the recent opening of a second location in L.A.’s Melrose Hill neighborhood, Southern Guild (Cape Town/L.A.) offered a globalized presentation of notable designers including Zanele Muholi, Zizipho Poswa, Porky Hefer, Andile Dyalvane, Rich Mnisi, Cheick Diallo, Nandipha Mntambo, King Houdekpinkhou, Patrick Bongoy and others.
R & Company (New York) showcased a combination of works by contemporary designers based on the West Coast including Lee Hun-chung, Rogan Gregory and Jolie Ngo, in a presentation that explored a design dialogue seeking to develop new avenues for growth in the industry.
Meanwhile, The Future Perfect (New York/Los Angeles/San Francisco) presented works by Genesis Belanger, created in collaboration with Bower Studios, also spotlighting works by Jane Yang-D’Haene, Chris Wolston, Leena Similu, and Eric Roinestad.
The fair also featured a Design at Large program, showcasing works in dialogue with the gardens and a talks program with curators, industry leaders and boundary-pushing designers curated by Harrison.
Gap × Dôen collection debuts with summery florals
Gap and California-based clothing label Dôen collaborated on a collection of women’s and kids’ apparel and accessories. Founded by the Santa Barbara-born Kleveland sisters in 2016, Dôen has become known for its nostalgic floral print dresses.
The limited 51-piece collection, which launched on May 17, features Dôen’s feminine take on Gap’s iconic styles, rooted in denim and khaki. The assortment includes matching sets, dresses, denim, matching tops and skirts, loungewear and accessories featuring floral prints, eyelet and flowy silhouettes.
Retailing from $19.95 to $158, the collection has shared styles and prints for matching moments in kid, toddler and baby sizing. Fronting the Dan Martensen-shot campaign are sisters Lily and Ruby Aldridge, alongside 11-year-old twin sisters Levia and Zahar.
“Gap partners with brands that champion originality and use fashion as a powerful form of self-expression,” Mark Breitbard, president and CEO of Gap, said. “Our collaboration with Dôen celebrates a feminine aesthetic brought to life through some of our most-loved essentials.”
“The timeless and iconic nature of the Gap brand is so inspiring to both Katherine and me,” Margaret Kleveland, cofounder and CEO of Dôen, said.
Katherine Kleveland, the brand’s cofounder and CCO, added: “It’s been a dream to watch our collections, so rooted in nostalgia and femininity, reimagined through the classic Gap lens.”
The Gap × Dôen collection is available globally on gap.com and at select Gap stores.
Toteme opens a West Hollywood flagship
Swedish fashion house Toteme opened a 2,600-square-foot standalone flagship store on Melrose Avenue in the former Benjamin Salon space.
Designed in partnership with the Swedish design studio Halleroed, the new location is the most comprehensive remodeling of a retail space the brand has undertaken and blends local modernist and Art Deco references with elemental materials and geometric shapes that subtly recall the brand’s signature monogram.
“The Melrose Avenue store is rooted in our Swedish heritage, but also captures the airiness and sense of freedom that California’s broad landscapes and architectural history inspire,” cofounder Karl Lindman said. “This is the first time we’ve had the chance to remodel a retail space from scratch, and we wanted to give it a distinct and distinguished character that paid tribute to downtown Los Angeles’ Art Deco past, as though the building was always here.”
Founded in 2014 by Lindman and Elin Kling in Stockholm, Toteme offers women’s ready-to-wear, shoes, bags, accessories and jewelry. They opened their first West Coast store in Palisades Village last November.
Toteme is open now at 8910 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, 90069.
Cameron Silver releases a new book
Cameron Silver, founder of iconic Melrose Avenue vintage boutique Decades, has published a new book, “Caftans: From Classical to Camp: A Fashion History.”
Arguably the world’s oldest-known garment, the caftan appears in every era and culture, from the chitons depicted on urns and murals in ancient Greece and Rome to the diaphanous versions wafting down today’s red carpets.
In the book, Silver guides us expertly through all the caftan’s manifestations and creations by the likes of Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino, Marc Bohan for Dior, Karl Lagerfeld, Emilio Pucci, Rudi Gernreich and Oscar de la Renta and showcases caftans worn in films, concerts and on the red carpet by the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Natalie Wood, Barbra Streisand, Princess Grace of Monaco, Jackie Kennedy, Liza Minnelli, Nina Simone, Billy Porter and Jennifer Lopez.
Silver is also the author of “Decades: A Century of Fashion” and starred in the Bravo reality show “The Dukes of Melrose.” The book hit shelves Friday.
Retrouvaí and Platinum Guild International toasts Sunita Kumar Nair
Los Angeles-based jewelry brand Retrouvaí and Platinum Guild International hosted an event to celebrate Sunita Kumar Nair, the author of “CBK: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, A Life in Fashion,” on May 16.
The Thursday night event, held at the Brentwood Country Mart, kicked off with cocktails and a Q&A in the courtyard, followed by dinner at Farmshop.
Published in November 2023, the book pays homage to Bessette Kennedy’s personal style, fashion codes and the impact she has left behind nearly two decades after she died in a tragic plane crash with John F. Kennedy Jr. off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.
Along with photography by Nan Goldin, Glen Luchford and Peter Lindbergh and interviews with Ann Demeulemeester, Yohji Yamamoto and Pieter Mulier of Alaia, Mario Sorrenti, Fabien Baron, Fern Mallis and Tory Burch, the book also features a foreword by Gabriela Hearst and preface by Edward Enninful, OBE and former editor-in-chief of British Vogue.
Isamaya Ffrench and FaceGym partner on a sculpting tool
Isamaya Ffrench, the British editorial makeup artist who has collaborated with Junya Watanabe and Vivienne Westwood and created looks for Björk and Rihanna, unveiled a collaboration with skincare brand FaceGym.
Announced May 15, Sculpt 01 is a Gua Sha tool designed to revolutionize your skincare and facial workout regimen and prepare the skin for makeup application.
“I have a deep interest in energy systems and massage, and am an obsessive collector of beauty implements from all over the world,” Ffrench said. “They have become a staple in my makeup routine.”
The tool is accompanied by a QR code linking to exclusive tutorials and routines crafted by Ffrench and FaceGym trainers.
Known for challenging beauty norms, Ffrench was named creative director of Byredo Makeup in 2020, where she created and developed the line for the brand. In 2021 she was appointed global beauty director of Burberry and in 2022, she launched her own line of makeup, Isamaya Beauty.
Sculpt 01 is priced at $60 is available at Isamaya.com and FaceGym.com.
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