FABIEN BARON

"If you can design one thing, you can design everything."
 -Massimo Vignelli

There's almost nothing Fabien Baron hasn't done, as if on a fast track to experience all aspects of a designer's life: Apart from being the creative director of Italian Vogue, French Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, he relaunched Interview magazine, helmed advertising campaigns for a bevy of fashion labels including Burberry and Prada, art directed for French Connection, is creative director of Calvin Klein, designed the cK One perfume bottle, designs furniture for Cappellini and Bernhadt, and of course, has his own eyewear line as well. And the list goes on.

Let's not forget his collaboration with Madonna on Sex, only one of the most controversial books ever published. And the man also goes behind the camera, working on ad campaigns and personal fine art.

Fabien's bathroom, designed by him

His work may span different mediums, but his touch is distinctly modern, sleek, and strong. Even the overt sexual tones in his advertising work have an urban, metallic feel. His product design has the same aesthetic: hard silhouettes, unexpected facets, no unnecessary adornment.

Apparently the title of Creative Director was invented because of him. "I was the first person to have that title," he has said. "I didn't want to be just the art director!"

And Creative Director he has been, shaping the face of fashion and advertising for the last two decades, deciding what we should desire, directing how we should look.
 
 Fabien Baron eyewear is available exclusively at seen@dempsey.

Kirk Originals: the second film

kirk originals: visually insane

The first in a series of short films by Kirk Originals, starring a vampire, a lonesome woman, and an overdose of modern surrealist disturbia. All the while showcasing Kirk Originals eyewear, of course. These are certainly not frames for wallflowers or melancholics.

Available instore.

"nostalgic for a summer by the beach that you never had"

is how Derek Lam's spring 2010 collection will make you feel.  (Nicole Phelps, for style.com)

Asbury Park, Rehoboth Beach and the East Coast were cited as Derek Lam's inspiration for this aqua-saturated, summer-ready collection. Like his earlier collections, his work channels American sportswear from the 50s and 60s, and treads effortlessly between elegant and playful. His spring 2010's colours smell of sea salt, ice cream, and bottles of soda. Prints abound merrily, especially that of the star, translated into a tiny print resembling polka dots from a distance.

Likewise the eyewear that accessorizes this collection carries the scent of nostalgia, through print-flecked sunset-toned shades.

*All runway images from style.com

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Derek Lam's eyewear collection is available exclusively at seen@dempsey, including his kooky cat-eyes of 2007. Materials chosen are handcrafted zyl and titanium.

It feels like it would be an endless summer to be a Derek Lam girl.

"classic with a sense of madness"

is how Phillip Lim described his own work.

His girls traipse in carefree separates, as if to the corner bistro or to the museum. A little preppy, a little flirty, but never sticking to the cliches of either.

No surprise then, that the fashion world should be excited about his new line of eyewear. His range of sunglasses celebrates mod and retro shapes, but is kept Phillip-fresh with flecks of lollipop color.

And the Phillip Lim 3.1 eyewear collection is now available exclusively at Seen@Dempsey. Philliphiles, you know what to do.

Seen: Runway: A Clean Start

Spring/Summer '10

White has the ability to look soft and virginal, even in its sheerest form...

but it also always looks sharp and clean, casual but crisp. An all-white suit throws up visions of Sharon Stone's white-hot killer character in Basic Instinct, Miami beach parties, sportswear, the white-on-blue landscape of Santorini, Greece. White screams sun and action.

The perfect foil to an all-white casual outfit? Shades that are clean, bold, minimal. A glint of metal, or a solid chic slab of black.