Dior 1957, photographed by Cecil BeatonCecil Beaton...It is impossible not to love him. Born in 1904 in London and coming of age at the peak of the 20s, Cecil Beaton was in love with the worlds of high society, theater, and glamour. Beauty in his hands was transformed into elegance, fantasy, romance and charm.His inspired amateurism led to a following among fashionable debutantes and eventually a full fledged career as the foremost fashion and portrait photographer of his day. He was so attuned to the changes of fashion that his career maintained its momentum for five decades; from the Sitwells to the Rolling Stones.I am sure you will be able to find billions of articles dedicated to the artistic genius of this Artist in the Internet. Today I would like to share with you an unexpected discovery I have made a little while ago.:-) I have decided to call it Beaton's resurrection in fabrics.
Cecil Beaton's Drawing Room
Photography By Cecil Beaton
Photography By Cecil Beaton
"Garbo's Eye" created after Cecil Beaton's SketchesIn October of 2009, when I was still working in Stephen Jones Atelier in London, I came upon fabulous selection of fabrics chosen by Stephen for his new Spring-Summer 2010 Collection. The work on hats for this Collection was just about to start. One of the choices was nothing like I ever seen before thick linen fabric named "Garbo's Eye". Apparently, this fabric was created after Cecil Beaton's sketches.
Turban hat made out of "Garbo's Eye", Stephen Jones Spring Summer 2010
Here you can see the Stephen's turban-hat made out of "Garbo's Eye". In addition, you can view his entire Spring-Summer 2010 Collection at www.stephenjonesmillinery.com . Imagine my complete surprise when just a week after my return to New York, I was contacted by no other than showroom director at Beaton's Fabrics, sir Andrew Ginger.
Andrew's e-mail came just in time. I just finished finalizing sketches of my third Collection and started the most difficult process of fabric selection for the hats I had in mind. Fabric selection is always very strenuous and almost mind exhausted experience for me. I take to consideration every single small detail: pallet, fabric composition, technical characteristics. The process of selection for me can correlate into hours, days, sometimes weeks of browsing my favorite fabric stores in New York City.
In his e-mail Andrew not only (I admit shamelessly and with great pleasure :-) ) spoke highly of my designs, but also suggested to send me the entire collection of Beaton's fabric swatches. The level of my excitement was simply immeasurable. I was anxiously waiting for my package although I did have an itsy bitsy shred of doubt. There were numerous occasions in the past when I was dreadfully disappointed by the fabrics which looked perfect on the pictures but in person lacked quality and color. The fact that I saw and touched magnificent "Garbo's Eye" made me believe that the rest of the fabrics should be just as beautiful.
When the package arrived a week later I was besides myself. If I could describe my feeling with a touch of theatrical note, I would say "I have died and gone to Heaven" :-). Every single fabric of Beaton's Collection was perfection itself. I was especially mesmerized by the quality of silks and cotton (and I very rarely use cotton in my designs). And this brilliant colors! They simply took my breath away. Not only that it was possible to use this fabrics for designs, but it was also suggested to use them for the creation of fabulous interiors. The same prints were available in wallpaper. I immediately started to dream of redecorating my Atelier. Can you blame me ? :-)
For the obvious reasons I will not be telling you today about my selection of Beaton's fabrics. I promise to post my new designs when my new Collection will premier. This time the divine inspiration came unexpectedly from Great Britain and through decades of time in the form of fabulous Beaton fabrics. :-) I can not help but being hopelessly in love with beauty that lives beyond time.
Turban hat made out of "Garbo's Eye", Stephen Jones Spring Summer 2010Here you can see the Stephen's turban-hat made out of "Garbo's Eye". In addition, you can view his entire Spring-Summer 2010 Collection at www.stephenjonesmillinery.com . Imagine my complete surprise when just a week after my return to New York, I was contacted by no other than showroom director at Beaton's Fabrics, sir Andrew Ginger.
Andrew's e-mail came just in time. I just finished finalizing sketches of my third Collection and started the most difficult process of fabric selection for the hats I had in mind. Fabric selection is always very strenuous and almost mind exhausted experience for me. I take to consideration every single small detail: pallet, fabric composition, technical characteristics. The process of selection for me can correlate into hours, days, sometimes weeks of browsing my favorite fabric stores in New York City.
In his e-mail Andrew not only (I admit shamelessly and with great pleasure :-) ) spoke highly of my designs, but also suggested to send me the entire collection of Beaton's fabric swatches. The level of my excitement was simply immeasurable. I was anxiously waiting for my package although I did have an itsy bitsy shred of doubt. There were numerous occasions in the past when I was dreadfully disappointed by the fabrics which looked perfect on the pictures but in person lacked quality and color. The fact that I saw and touched magnificent "Garbo's Eye" made me believe that the rest of the fabrics should be just as beautiful.
When the package arrived a week later I was besides myself. If I could describe my feeling with a touch of theatrical note, I would say "I have died and gone to Heaven" :-). Every single fabric of Beaton's Collection was perfection itself. I was especially mesmerized by the quality of silks and cotton (and I very rarely use cotton in my designs). And this brilliant colors! They simply took my breath away. Not only that it was possible to use this fabrics for designs, but it was also suggested to use them for the creation of fabulous interiors. The same prints were available in wallpaper. I immediately started to dream of redecorating my Atelier. Can you blame me ? :-)For the obvious reasons I will not be telling you today about my selection of Beaton's fabrics. I promise to post my new designs when my new Collection will premier. This time the divine inspiration came unexpectedly from Great Britain and through decades of time in the form of fabulous Beaton fabrics. :-) I can not help but being hopelessly in love with beauty that lives beyond time.
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