PRE-WEDDING OCCASIONS

Went to the seaside for a friend who's getting married and took a few photos.

PRADA HEDI SLIMANE

I know that this article is perhaps irrelevant as it is très passé but I still think that this photo shoot by Hedi Slimane for Prada homme (spring summer 2009) is très chic and, in my opinion, the enduring image of modern menswear for the past 3 years (and present!).

SERGE LUTENS PALAIS ROYAL PARFUMERIE SHISEIDO

For those of you who do not know Serge Lutens, a brief description provided by wikipedia:

At fourteen, Serge Lutens was taken on as an apprentice by a hair salon in Lille, a period which he described as crucial to his appreciation of beauty in three dimensions.^[1] Lutens started to experiment with makeup and photography, using friends to pose as models.

In 1962 Lutens moved to Paris, where Vogue magazine hired him to create makeup, hair and jewellery. Throughout the 1960s he collaborated with photographers such as Richard Avedon, Bob Richardson and Irving Penn. In 1967 Christian Dior commissioned Lutens to create a makeup line.

Lutens' 1973 series of photographs (inspired by the artists Claude Monet, Georges-Pierre Seurat, Pablo Picasso and Amedeo Modigliani) was shown at theGuggenheim Museum in New York. In the mid-1970s he directed two short art films, "Les Stars" (1974) and "Suaire" (1976). Both were shown at the Cannes Film Festival.

Shiseido hired Lutens in 1980 to develop their product image. Throughout the 1980s he shot various advertising campaigns and films and designed makeup and packaging. These works won him two 'Lions d’Or' at the International Advertising Film Festival. In 1982, Shiseido commissioned Lutens to create a fragrance called "Nombre Noir".

In the early 1990s Lutens conceived and designed the "Les Salons du Palais Royal", a house of perfume.^[2]

In 2000, Lutens launched his own brand "Parfums-Beaute Serge Lutens".

For four consecutive years, 2001 to 2004, Lutens was awarded the "Fifi Award" for best Original Concept. In 2004 he was selected to participate in "Lille 2004 - European Capital City", where he erected his "Olfactory Maze" an installation of concrete and light where he recreated scents from the city of his childhood such as rain, earth and leaves.

In 2006 the "Sommet du Luxe" awarded Lutens the "Talent d’Or", and in 2007 the French Government gave him the title of "Commandeur" in the Order of Arts and Letters.

Serge Lutens currently lives in Marrakech, Morocco.

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I took the time to visit the boutique where one can purchase his perfumes. It was a devine experience - if every boutique in Paris had the same service, the world would be a better place. In any case, the perfumes are absolutely marvelous - very refined and somehow exotic. There's another thing that I like about Serge Lutens, it is his photography. Here are a couple examples. 


Cheers. 

ERWIN OLAF

Erwin Olaf is a northern photographer of whom I have an enmormous appreciation and a taste for his world of perfection (?) .  The colours in his work are wonderfully mute and at the same time very vivid through their harmony. Definately preferring this version of 60s/50s style.