Chic Escapes - New York City

Chic Hunters is in a New York State of Mind. Big Apple, welcome Chic Hunters. Watch out for chic updates.

Chic Inspirations - Alexey Brodovitch and Fabien Baron

The earlier post which mentioned something about a vintage Bazaar cover had us thinking of the glory days of Harper's Bazaar. If you look at the history of the magazine, it was very successful only during the reign of Carmel Snow (1933-57) and Liz Tilberis (1992-1999).

It helped that both editors in chief had strong, creative and brilliant art directors on their side. Snow had the trailblazing Alexey Brodovitch whose layouts energized the fashion magazines at that time. And Tilberis had the minimalist Fabien Baron.

Alexey Brodovitch

Fabien Baron

Both Brodovitch and Baron believed that type and photographs are equal in their power. A single letter magnified to the size of a page is just as provocative and inspiring as a photo of a model wearing the latest fashions. Both also believed in the power of dead space - be it black or white. This is something that is missing in a lot of magazines now. The common practice now in magazines is that every space on a page is littered with text and images; there is no breathing space.

Alexey Brodovitch

Fabien Baron

If you look at the images and layouts, including the covers, produced by Brodovitch and Baron, there is a lasting elegance to them, a quality that is missing in American Bazaar right now. American Bazaar it seems is confused in its direction: month after month, the covers, the fashion editorials and the stories are weak. Their only saving grace are the photoshoots they do with the designers. They pale in comparison to the UK and Australian editions.

Chic Photo of the Week

Chic Hunters loves this desktop especially the orange pencils, and the vintage Bazaar cover and mood board in the background.

Chic Reads - Model As Muse and Avedon Fashion 1944-2000

Models are everywhere right now especially with the Model As Muse exhibition at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum and the Richard Avedon exhibition at the International Center of Photography. The two exhibitions couldn't be anymore better timed as both supplement each other. The books from the exhibition are equally divine.

Avedon photograph many of the fashion legends like Dovima and Dorian Leigh (pictured below).

Chic Hunters is in eager anticipation of the delivery of these books from Amazon.com.

Chic Fashion - Cool Summer by Michael Bastian

Ah,  if only men can dress like these guys this summer! Michael Bastian has really succeeded in modernizing the preppy look by cutting the clothes closer to the body. 

If you look at the clothes, they are really basics that should already be in a men's wardrobe. But what makes Bastian's desirable is that the silhouette is young and modern. The great styling helps as well.

Chic Escapes - JK Place Capri

Chic Hunters loves Capri because it is simply breathtaking. The views to and from Capri are the most picturesque. The Fraglioni rocks are the isle's most iconic landmarks. The small piazza in Capri is filled with designer shops from Dolce & Gabbana, Hermes, Bottega Veneta etc. Walk around the piazza and imagine all the people of who have walked there before: Jackie Kennedy, Valentino, Sophia Loren. 

The people who visit Capri are also of the fashionable and chic set - the ones with the yachts, those who have villas in Anacapri, or those who choose to stay in the many luxurious hotels in Capri. (Not the ones who come for the day in tour groups.) Imagine women in flowy Pucci caftans and Hermes Panama hats and the famous Carpi sandals. Think of men in seersucker pants and linen shirts.

One of the most beautiful hotels in Capri is the JK Place Hotel, which overlooks the blue waters of the island. Unlike most hotels in Capri which are traditional and baroque, JK Place is contemporary and has the feel of a super chic home store - Kelly We

arstler meets Jonathan Adler meets Thad Hayes.

JK Place is made to feel like a home - there is a living room filled with designer books, a dining room in a handsome shade of blue and a veranda that looks into the blue yonder. The pool area is stunningly spare set in a minimalist garden.

The rooms are nautical in theme. Chic Hunters stayed at a room with a blue and white motif. We especially loved the canopied bed and the black white photos of sailboats.

We look forward to another summer of enjoying aperitifs at JK Place's terrace.

Chic Transformation - Roger Vivier

Bruno Frisoni's sketches of shoe designs for the house of Roger Vivier come to life. It's amazing how the finished products are made exactly as per Frisoni's renderings. 

Imagine wearing this gladiator sandal in the Isle of Capri 

or this stiletto Kyte shoe at a summer party in the Hamptons. Oh so chic!

Chic Reads - Thad Hayes and The Cultivated Life

In eager anticipation of an Amazon.com delivery:

Thad Hayes: The Tailored Interior 

Published by Rizzoli

Hayes interiors are handsome and timeless. They are an oxymoron actually as they are classic and contemporary at the same time. His clientele includes 10021 habitues and this book offers a rare glimpse into the rarefied world of the moneyed set.

The Cultivated Life: Artistic, Literary and Decorative Dramas 

by Jean Philippe Delhomme 

Published by Rizzoli

One of the foremost fashion illustrators, Delhomme captures the nuances, the drama, the glamor of living a fashionable life. His illustrations in this book also poke fun at our obsession with appearances and fashion labels. A delight to read and look at.