Gwen Stefani x Pop Electric

I got an email from my husband last night saying, “If Pattern Pulp directed a video, there’s a good chance you would have done this.” He’s a good one, sending inspiration whenever it comes along…

So, what do we think? This video’s certainly interesting, especially in the overall context of references. Gwen Stefani’s always been sharp and this release, like ones of the past, is a cool combination of creative and commercial efforts.

From a visual standpoint, Baby Don’t Lie is a texture mash up within a computer wonderland. Striped pyramid planes bleed into houndstooth triangles, all while Gwen struts down her signature punk yellow path in variations of mismatched polka dots.

This highly processed reel feels very Japanese or even a bit K-POP, which makes sense since she just launched her Harajuku Lovers “Pop Electric” fragrance line last week. Always polished, in sync and business minded, Gwen’s brand encompasses a laser-like focus. Curious to hear your thoughts- do you think this is more Eastern or Western friendly…or both?

October 23, 2014 | By: Shayna Kulik

Advertising: Patterns in Print

Fall advertising’s in full swing and today we’re sharing examples from the home, kids and fashion worlds. Patterns are woven into each spread in artistic, abstract, fluid ways. Pratesi‘s Gatsby bedding line shares the duality of crisp geometry and loose painterly lines. It’s a beautiful balance and particular colorway. It’s like seeing a moodboard alongside the final product- something we’re big fans of.

Following in the footsteps of DVF’s successful collaboration with GAP Kids, Kate and Jack Spade have teamed up to release a limited edition kids collection. From the looks of the ad, it’s going to be print focused. This camo christmas tree is a fun alternative to the red and green themes we’re used to seeing come Christmas time. And…taking things up a notch to a sexier Bright Lights, Big City tone, Jimmy Choo’s Cruise 2015 campaign melds light, movement, sex appeal and a city skyline. Harsh lines are met with loose light. It reminds me of the old Sex and the City Movie poster, right?

October 22, 2014 | By: Shayna Kulik

Tuesday's Gallery Picks

In this week’s gallery picks, our artists explore the various ways of seeing the world around us and beyond.

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1. Canan Tolon’s paintings at first appear as purely abstract, but with time, the eye discovers familiar urban landscapes in the rhythmic painted streaks. She explores the visualization of space by creating an illusion of depth and engages the view in the game of seeking recognizable imagery and inventing a visual narrative at Von Lintel Gallery
2. Kate Shaw teases out an enduring fascination with interplanetary colonization and what it might mean. Following her travels from the frozen fjords of Iceland to the dense jungles of Costa Rica, Shaw presents here a series of imagined landscapes of the Red Planet at Fehily Contemporary
3. Penelope Umbrico allows the disorienting effects of the iPhone’s gravity sensor and the hallucinogenic effects of more than 500 camera app filters to break up, blend, distort, and de-stabilize the majestic peaks and summits that appear in the original photographs at Mark Moore Gallery
4. Judy Pfaff collages tree roots, limbs, honeycombs, and leaves with ambiguous biomorphic forms at Pavel Zoubok Gallery
5. Miya Ando uses her signature visual vocabulary—subtle gradations of form and color that capture moments in time—to explore impermanence. Hundreds of cascading Bodhi leaves change from green to yellow to orange and finally brown, alluding to momiji-gari, the Japanese tradition of traveling to scenic areas to view autumn leaves at Sundaram Tagore
6. Pedro Calapez ‘s latest exhibition meadow-curtain-round-broken line, offers a succinct overview of his fascination with spatial relationships, landscapes, and the significance of ways of seeing at Lynch Tham

October 21, 2014 | By: Shayna Kulik

Raquel Allegra: To Live and Dye

We love Raquel Allegra. Her textiles have a natural beauty to them that make you feel effortlessly put together. We’ve written about her collection and her patterns in the past, and wanted to share this recent collaboration with Merci Merci in Paris. To live and Dye in LA is an installation that overtook the store’s entrance and side wall. Everything about the strung up shirts, hombre gradient, mirrored case and chunky knit wall was breathtaking.

October 20, 2014 | By: Shayna Kulik

Friday Quick Links!

1. Pretty pumpkins that are DIY via Poppytalk
2. Lesia Paramonova & Hsiao Ron Cheng’s capsule collection via Style Bubble
3. Diana Sudyka’s whimsical artwork via Design Crush
4. Adrian Landon Wood’s take on traditional folk art via Arthound
5. Ailara Berdyyeva explores color and its application to weaving via Trendland
6. Loving Petra Börner’s sense of color via Anthology Mag
7. Knitting… with glass via Colossal
8. How fabulous is this DIY geometric wood flooring? via Vintage Revivals
9. Pete Cromer’s delightful Aussie bird prints via Miss Moss
10. Avi Fedida striking “Grit” furniture series via design-milk
11. Jess Wong’s hand lettering via The Design Files
12. DIY floral skull centerpiece via Honestly Yum

Contributed by Emily Gup

October 17, 2014 | By: Shayna Kulik

Worn Stories by Emily Spivack

By now, I’m hoping many of you have heard about Emily Spivack’s recent book release, Worn Stories. I’m a bit late in featuring it, but have been glued to all of the reviews and positive attention it’s been getting. Finally, jumping in!

Spivack has devoted many years to documenting stories about fashion, memory and historical relevance. She has a fascinating resume that includes curating, writing and speaking for art institutions and fashion platforms. They include Threaded, the Smithsonian’s only fashion history blog, Shop Well with You, an organization devoted to helping women with cancer improve self body image, the MoMA on historical fashion archiving and most recently, Sentimental Value, a site and exhibit devoted to collecting stories and clothing from ebay…which actually became the catalyst for this very book.

Here is Emily signing my copy at her release party – one that I plowed through upon returning home. The stories are smart, varied and a compelling window into our relationship with clothing. They dive much deeper than what we’re used to consuming through fashion marketing content, which is refreshingly honest. I highly recommend picking up a copy if you haven’t already…click here to purchase.

October 15, 2014 | By: Shayna Kulik