Interview

Two years before the rest of the world had their "Pandoran moment"-that poignant sensation of universality Avatar induced in most of us-designer Melissa Dizon got her eco-spiritual wake-up call in 2007 in the middle of a Philippine rainforest. Exhausted from surfing, she retreated to the shade of a nearby jungle for a hike, where she crossed paths with a Neytiri-like figure. It was a powerful and stirring visual. "A young, indigenous girl about 15 or 16 suddenly crossed my path." Dizon recalls. "She was wearing this amazing ACDC t-shirt, completely faded, and a woven skirt with a machete slung into her belt." The marriage of ancient customary dress and appropriated rock memorabilia spoke to Dizon: "I realized this was my future... how I want to look and how I want to live now." Dizon, formerly a New York-based designer for labels ranging from Todd Oldham to Levi's to Theory. "I came to Manila on vacation wearing head-to-toe Balenciaga." she adds with a laugh. These days Dizon, who now lives full-time in Manila, wears Eairth (emphasis on "AIR"), her own "101% sustainable" label.

 Eairth's designs synchronize indigenous and street style with seamless T-shirt dresses cut from a circular pattern for ease of movement and featuring hand-drawn geometrical patterns created by the local Filipino tribes with whom Dizon often collaborates. Loosely knit scarves resemble snaking foilage. Cape jackets feature towering hoods that could be worn to weather surf or storm (or New York snow). Based on the loose silhouettes beloved by Filipino women, most of Eairth's garments resemble attractive crumples of fabric until they are worn and transformed into cocoon dresses comfortable enough to sleep in.

Eairth's seasons rely on the vagaries of literal, localized seasons. The color palette varies from seashell pinks to murky jades to stonewashed blues, depends on what pigments tribes can harvest from the regional flora during any given time. Indigo, talisay leaves, and coconut husks are among the unconventional sources of Dizon's garment dyes, which she likes for the "irregularities" they preserve in her hand-woven fabrics. "It makes it quite special. I produce only 50 to 100 of each look," she says. "Even then, no two are the same."


EAIRTH IS AVAILABLE AT EVA NEW YORK.

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STILL BY TODD COLE. COURTESY THE ARTIST AND RODARTE.

While fashion insiders run towards Rodarte's designs, model Guinevere van Seenus wears them to run away from an omnious futuristic threat in "Aanteni," photographer Todd Cole's arresting short film that recently premiered on Nowness.com. Here we discuss the everyday fears and dark visions inspiring his collaboration with the Mulleavys sisters.


ANA FINEL HONIGMAN: What inspired the film?

TODD COLE: Kate, Laura and I wanted make a horror film. There is something incredibly beautiful in the distressed qualities of the Spring 2010 Collection—the burning, the shredding, the aged textures. I started with this vision of a woman running scared through the abandoned streets of sunny Los Angeles, as if she had escaped from a dark place wearing beautiful, distressed shards of clothing. T then the question was, what was she running from?

HONIGMAN: There seem to be lots of more worldly things to run from in LA.

COLE: We didn't want to make a slasher film, which could easily go south and become super corny.

HONIGMAN: What frightens you?

COLE: One thing we are all uneasy about is technology. Is this cell phone going to give me brain cancer? Will all the chemicals and additives in our food produce mutations through chromosome damage?

HONIGMAN: How do these fears relate to the imagery in the film?

COLE: Technology became the villain, as represented by the rocket engines. I found that footage to be particularly violent, and I placed it in the film in a way that was hopefully emotionally suggestive and a unnerving.

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Yesterday the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) announced its 2010 nominees for Mens and Womens designer of the year, and the Swarovski nominees for young designers. Our congratulations go out to the nominees.

But one element really struck us, and that was the Fashion Icon Award, the winner of which was announced as supermodel Iman. Lauren Bacall, this is not. This announcement is one with flare, and it's political in that the turncoat Iman's most recent hosts the Canadian edition of Project Runway.

There are many iconic moments in the life of Iman. In fact, you may remember her stylish, be-pelted cut as Martia, the shapeshifting alien of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. But the moment that, for us, turned Iman from supermodel to super-icon was her starring turn on the now-legendary The Rosie O'Donnell Show, in which the daytime host parodied the Somali star's immense gravitas by imagining her as an advice columnist in a segment called "Listen to Iman." It's the clip that we were hoping to post with this brief article, and it is of course the clip we cannot find.

Calling lonely strangers: If anyone out there can supply that clip, please send it in!

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CHRIS LEWIS IN 1982

For a while there, it seemed like Thierry Mugler had the monopoly on formerly defunct fashion labels that stage a revival that risks seeming ironic and in the process heroically reclaims its coolness.  Now, however, they have some competition for that highly specific crown. Ellesse, the iconic Italian sportswear label, has launched a  comeback, courtesy of designer Mauro Massaroto. Ellesse was founded by Leonardo Servadio in the 1950s, a tailor from Perugia who, in the 1950s wanted to wear more fashionable clothing while skiing. The brand became iconic in the 70's and 80's for inventing futuristic ski pants and onesie racing suits.  Eventually it expanded into tennis, at one point clothing Borris Becker. The brand may have been inspire by John McEnroe as much as Mugler. The current collection references the brand's natural touchstones, sportswear and a decadent weekend in late Twentieth Century St. Moritz, and drenches them in 90's nostalgia as if they were Goldie Hawn in Laugh In wwith rock n roll drapery.  The women's line will be paradise for those who love velour, striped hats, oversized shirts and light orange, and might actually give Muglier a run for his money.

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