Being self confessed awkward, Bonnie Hansen is far from it when it comes to being behind the camera. She has a way about her and an ease when shooting, making her team, especially today’s model on set, Stephanie Claire Smith, comfortable. She is confident and knows what she wants out of a shot. Working quickly, Bonnie recognises when she’s got the shot in the bag, yelling ‘yep, I think we’ve got it!’, moving onto the next without hesitation.

Even though Bonnie comes from a more commercial background, she has a tailored eye for editorial, feeling her images are often ‘quite dark, more darker side of things’. Bonnie credits having worked and previously being resident photographer at Harris Scarf, in their advertising department, as helping her gain exposure and valuable contacts to models, agencies, hair and makeup artists and other creatives. This gave her the confidence to make it on her own as a photographer. Success to Bonnie, a chocolate-loving, Vogue-reading fashion photographer, was realising that she could support herself doing what she loves – fashion photography.

Hope you enjoy our interview with the talented, passionate and sometimes awkward Bonnie Hansen, and one thing’s for sure her laugh is infectious.

We all can get lost in the world of movies, theatre and the arts. Lost in the portrayal of these actors on stage and screen, transforming through costume from mortal beings, to immortal characters. It was seeing the transformation of her mother on stage into character through clothes, Kathryn describes, that sparked her interest in clothes and fashion. She is not only a fashion designer, but also a storyteller, revealing a little more about herself with each collection. Confessing that her collections are somewhat autobiographical.

In meeting Kathryn, the gorgeous petite designer behind her name sake label, I came to know a fun-loving, deep-thinking dreamer. Starting her journey in Toronto she honed her love of fashion at Studio Berçot in Paris. Whilst in the city of love, she also got to understand women, their likes and dislikes in clothes by creating one-off pieces for her friends. It was during this time, Kathryn interned at a fashion driven PR agency, working at a few high profile runway shows and cementing her desire to be a designer.

Even though Kathryn loves fashion, she is not obsessed by it, she loves “collaborating with the stylist, photographers and film makers”. The “ability to create a world, dream and express yourself through clothing”.

I was mesmerised by the detail of her clothes, and the way she tells a story through a cleaver and intuitive mix of fabrics and colours. She is a talented, young Australian designer with a strong point of view and a different take on fashion. Not succumbing to trends, and keeping her collections transeasonal, which is something I believe should be truly applauded.

“What I love about fashion … the ability to create a world, dream and express yourself through clothing”

http://www.kathrynbeker.com/

I’ve admired Philip’s work for quite some time now and have often associated his name with celebrity styling. However, as we chat about all things styling, Fashion Torque and where the fashion industry is heading in Australia, I have come to discover the many layers to his styling and his love of Australian fashion is over-flowing, even after more than two decades in the industry. His belief in the industry, promoting young designers and wanting them to prevail is a passion of his, having been a designer himself, he knows the challenges of starting up.

It was quite difficult editing our chat down, as I felt we could have talked for ever. Enjoy!

With Fashion Torque … We wanted to create this community of fashion people… Whether you’re an insider or not, you can feel an affiliation with the community.

The Art Deco times of 1920s and 30s seemed like a time of opulence and decadence! A time of glamour and the OTT! But also a time where modern fashion, the silhouettes and how we dress today were born through the clothes of many designers of the time, including Chanel and Lanvin. Whilst Edward Steichen was the godfather of fashion photography, who’s work paved the way for many fashion photographers today. In 1923 he became the chief photographer at Condé Nast, with many of his covers for Vogue on show at the exhibition.

Paola Di Trocchio, Assistant Curator for International Fashion and Textiles at the NGV, explains how together, both the fashion and photography compliment and showcase the times of Art Deco.

Stephane Gassiat was a fashion designer in Paris and Berlin during these times. A time where he feels fashion still had an air of mystery around it. He invited me to his home to chat about his time at Thierry Mugler and all things fashion.

The fashion shows at Mugler at that time, they were crazy!

After a delicious Parisan lunch, a glass of wine, 2 coffees and 4.5 hours later I narrowed down our chat to a two-part interview. I felt like I could have kept talking with Stephane for so much longer. I hope you enjoy!

Part I

Part II

Other clips you may enjoy and thank you to:

Thierry Mugler Defile avec Diana Ross courtesy of Jan Greeve

Mugler S/S RTW Runway 1991 courtesy of Yukikoandthe

Jacques Fath – 50′s fashion clip courtesy of eukryptos

Jacques Fath 2001 clip courtesy of Boetiek.tv

http://www.boetiek.tv

Louis Féraud Autumn Winter 1998 1999 Paris 4 of 5
Haute Couture woman courtesy of Fashion Channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/FashionChannel

Even though Ophélie Klère and François Alary play on morbid themes, they do it in a playful and quirky way, enticing a smile rather than a frown upon onlookers. Here you won’t find your typical ghouls and goblins, but smiling ghost-like characters and monochrome florals which the pair have turned into a brocaded pattern.

They have an effortless, hipster vibe around them partnered with notes of sophistication, evident in the tailoring of their jackets and shorts. It’s like the Dévastée girl just rolled out of bed and looked chic and cool without even trying.

Art and creativity are spawned out of the most interesting circumstances and such is Bene’s Artesans. Born in the early 80s, during the Spanish Democratic Transition of the late 70s, creativity thrived during these times, and Bene’s Artesans came to life from the hands of Maria Jose and Joseph. Here Oriol, the oldest son, shares their story.

Tell us how your family got started and what led them to producing such beautifully bespoke jewellery?

Well, My parents started the first pieces around the late 70′s in many town markets around the country. It was the way in which they found their independence. They were involved in the worldwide hippie movement, located here like many of our parents around the globe. They worked very hard, hand to hand for many years to build a united humble family and business.

Can you give us some insight into the processes and materials you use in the making of your jewellery?

We always make custom pieces. Every part of the process is hand made, from design to the building processes. Many parts of the process is done on fire directly, without moulds. My father (Joseph) enjoys modelling silver, gold and bronze, very much, with the flame. Here we create the colours, like patina, using chemical reactions and oxidation.

What inspires the jewellery?

They (my parents) appreciate the rudimentary and classic iron crafters, and work more or less in this way. We are also influenced by the art and the avant-garde tendencies evident in our city (Barcelona, also referred to as Catalonia by the locals), like the Modernism Architecture of Gaudí and the contemporary partners of his time. But I think, the inspiration (of my parents), comes from some kind of spiritual restlessness. But sincerely, forgetting the surface, I think inspiration flows from just an unconditional love for every thing in this life.

You, being part of Bene’s Artesans and making jewellery first hand, have you studied jewellery making or is it something you learnt from your family?

Yes, for sure! I learnt all of it from my parents. Most of the time, they experimented first with the materials. So I must say, I’m lucky, that I’ve learnt more directly, with a bit less failing experiments.

Do you have a preferred materials to work with?

Fine materials is all we use. They are better for body and better to work with also.

I imagine creating a collection can take quite a lot of time. Is this the case and how often do you work on a collection?

We always try to make a new collection every summer and winter season.

The fashion industry changes at such a rapid pace and trends come and go within each season.
Do you feel the need to constantly follow trends and do they influence your designs at all?

Well, we don’t really focused on fashion trends. Perhaps they are unconsciously present in our designs. When making our jewellery, we try to create timeless pieces.
In fact, we hope our customers can decide for themselves what era the pieces relate to.

Explore some more work from Bene’s Artesan’s at benesartesans.com/prestashop