Irenebrination: Notes on Architecture, Art, Fashion, Fashion Law & Technology

Trademark Infringement as a Work of Art: "Cease & Desist Grand Prix" by MSCHF

In the last few posts, we looked at a copyright infringement case and at contemporary designs that bear some resemblance with creations from a few decades ago or with rare antique pieces. Quite often everybody seems to be copying each other or infringing someone else's copyright and trademarks. Legal matters have therefore become as trendy as ever nowadays, with big brands lamenting the damages caused by counterfeit products, designers who often seem to rip off each other and students claiming their work was stolen by fashion designers and houses.

It was only natural therefore for MSCHF, a conceptual art collective known for a wide range of interventions engaging fashion, art and technology (you may remember their controversial "Satan Shoes" that attracted Nike's ire), to come up with a new drop aimed at provoking companies and to get a "Cease & Desist" letter from them.

The ironic project entitled "Cease & Desist Grand Prix" was launched yesterday: it consists in inviting consumers to buy from MSCHF's site a shirt that illegally incorporates logos of major companies (at the time of writing all the shirts are sold out).

The first company infringed upon that sends a Cease & Desist letter to MSCHF, will help shoppers who bought the shirt with a print of their logo winning a Grand Prix hat.

All the eight companies involved - Amazon, Coca-Cola, Disney, Microsoft, Starbucks, Subway, Tesla and Walmart - are large enough to be worth infringing upon, according to MSCHF, and all of them tend to be very alert when it comes to copyright infringements. 

While MSCHF is perfectly on trend with the "Cease & Desist Grand Prix", the idea behind the project is not merely that of provoking these huge companies: MSCHF receives so many "Cease & Desist" letters that they thought they could turn them into an artwork and comment in this way about the state of American copyright law that too often protects large companies (it is practically impossible for an independent creative mind to sue a huge group or company as nobody has the financial resources these giants have...). 

Yet MSCHF didn't maybe expect to see some companies embracing their project: Subway didn't seem too bothered and took the "Cease & Desist Grand Prix" with irony, posting on Twitter a shirt with MSCHF's logo and tweeting, "Two can play at this game. Who's interested in this bad boy? Hurry before @mschf shuts us down."

Maybe not all companies are ready to stop sending "Cease & Desist" letters to artists, but some of them may be willing to have a good laugh with the artists involved or maybe to establish not a collaboration but the same relationship that existed between Campbell's and Andy Warhol, that may grant them the permission to use certain logos in the artistic realm to make a comment about society, capitalism and consumer alienation without being intimidated by long and expensive legal battles.

The Auction House as a Trendsetter: From Sotheby's Mughal Spectacles to Tiffany's & Pharrell Williams' Partnership

It is undeniable: some auction houses have become trendsetters and not just for their attention to new forms of art like NFTs. Visit Sotheby's site, watch their videos, read about their auctions and discover inspiring lots, rare trinkets, vintage fashion pieces and intriguing juxtapositions between art and textiles. Yes, that's true, most of us can only look at these pieces, especially when it comes to rare fine jewels, as these sparkling gems, decadent diamonds, alluring aquamarines and magnificent opals are destined to the very few billionaires of the world. That said, we can all pretend we are shopping for something extraordinarily unique from an exclusive auction or from the vault of an eclectic collector.

Quite often these auctions end up being almost more educational than a museum visit, after all, official institutions may not have the money to buy certain pieces or they may not be interested. So the current selections offered by auction houses end up providing creative minds with some truly wonderful ideas. Obviously, I'm not the only one who feels this way. Tiffany's and Pharrell Williams seem engaged in the same window-shopping exercise at exclusive auctions that many of us are finding so entertaining and almost even educational.

Yesterday, at Kenzo's show in Paris, Pharrell Williams donned sunglasses rimmed in diamonds and with an emerald studding on each temple. He didn't give us the details, but he announced a new design collaboration - or rather partnership (maybe to be unveiled next year) - with Tiffany & Co, now owned by LVMH. The exquisite sunglasses were just a sample, an idea of what may follow. This is actually not the first time Williams tries his hand at jewelry design: in 2008 he collaborated with Louis Vuitton on a fine jewelry collection and, being a Chanel ambassador, he often wears the French house's pieces.

The problem with these sunglasses, though, was that they aren't that original: they are indeed the revised version of two pairs of extraordinarily unique spectacles, incorporating lenses made of emerald and diamond rather than glass, that were on auction last year at Sotheby's.

The jewel-encrusted spectacles, believed to have originally belonged to royals in the Mughal Empire which once ruled over the Indian subcontinent, were part of the Arts of the Islamic World & India auction that took place last October and they were exhibited to the public in Hong Kong and London.

On Sotheby's auction catalogue the magnificent artefacts were described by William Dalrymple, Writer & Historian as "the work of a supreme master, both of gemstones and of optics. This is a slice of diamond and a slice of emerald; through which you can see."

The "Emeralds for Paradise" spectacles featured emerald lenses (from gemstones from the Muzo mines, at the foothills of the Colombian Andes; the richness of their saturation and depth of their green hue is an indicator of their origin) in diamond-mounted frames.

The drop-shape lenses (of approximately 20mm width, 30mm length and 2.95mm thickness) from the 17th century (circa) were made from two flat cut emeralds, and set in a silver frame (19th century) mounted with old-cut smaller diamonds and emeralds. The spectacles look exotic and glamorous, something that the Wizard of Oz may wear.

The second pair of spectacles, dubbed "Diamonds for Light", had transparent diamond lenses in an ovoid-like form (measuring approximately 26mm in length and 1.60mm in thickness). In this case the diamonds probably came from the famous Golconda mines of Southern India, known for supplying the largest diamonds to the Mughal treasuries (the region produced some of the most famous diamonds in the world). The spectacles got this name for the association of diamonds with light and the Muslim symbolism of light with the presence of God.

While the extraordinary pieces appeared on the market only last year at Sotheby's and were previously unseen, there are lengthy and scholarly researches about them as their conception and production fascinated many. The two pairs of spectacles bring indeed together science, beauty and belief.

Researchers were mainly fascinated about the way the gems (the lenses were made from a single 300-carat emerald and a single 200-carat diamond, possibly the largest ever found) were sliced to create the lenses as this stage would have required extraordinary technical skills and mastery (remember that the Mughal gemstone cutters carved them by hand…).

Another aspect that fascinated the researchers that studied the emerald spectacles is the Islamic association (the Mughal rulers practiced Islam) of the colour green with that of paradise, salvation and eternity. Emeralds were indeed held to have miraculous healing powers and to ward off evil.

According to Pliny the Elder's "Natural History", emerald could soothe the eyes; Emperor Nero used emeralds to watch the gory gladiator combats, thus protecting his sight from the bloody scenes, while beryls framed as spectacles were also found among the belongings of Charles V of France, confirming their status as reserved for Emperors and Kings. Mughal emperor Shah Jahan is said to have used emeralds to soothe his tired eyes after weeping for days following the death of his wife Mumtaz Mahal (for whom he built the Taj Mahal).

The frames of the spectacles also had a very interesting story: the lenses were probably part of an optical apparatus, probably in the form of a pince-nez. This style of glasses was favoured by Jesuit missionaries and their arrival at the Mughal Court at the end of the 1570s may have also influenced the spectacles' original frames.

Pince-nez often appeared in artworks found at the Mughal court such as Farrukh Beg's "Miniature with a Sufi Sage, after the European Personification of Melancholia" (Folio from an album belonging to Shah Jahan, ruler of the Mughal Empire. Ca. 1615-1616; if you analyse it carefully, you will spot two pairs of pince-nez on a table).

The lenses were later integrated into new frames (in silver for the emerald spectacles; gold for the diamond ones), that could probably be dated around the 1890s. The frames were decorated with rose-cut diamonds set in the Pachchikam technique, incorporating at the same time a European open claw design, popular in the 18th-19th century. When the emerald and diamond Mughal spectacles were auctioned, chairman of Sotheby's Middle East and India, Edward Gibbs stated in an interview, "As far as we know, there are no others like them." Well, now there is another pair around, a copy of those spectacles. 

Pharrell Williams' spectacles for Tiffany call to mind for their shape, use of diamond frame and single emerald studding on the temple, the emerald Mughal spectacles. In this new version, though, Tiffany replaced the emerald lenses with dark ones, something that transformed the concept behind the glasses, that turn from a masterpiece of craftsman with mysterious healing power into a high-end accessory. 

You do not need to wonder why Tiffany had to copy these magnificent artefacts, you can perfectly guess it - nobody can indeed sue you if you copy an extremely rare artefact from the Mughal era (besides, let's face it, they may be from the Mughal era, but they look remarkably on-trend...).

As members of hip-hop groups can often be spotted wearing diamond-studded spectacles, producing such a design is obviously a way to reach out to more fashionable, younger and extremely wealthy consumers. LVMH, Tiffany & Co.'s new owner, is also hoping to renew the historical jewelry house, through super hip collaborators like Williams. 

 At the end of last year Tiffany and cult streetwear brand Supreme came together releasing a logo T-shirt in Tiffany blue (Pantone 1837 C; rather than Supreme red), a bracelet, a pearl necklace, a heart tag pendant, heart tag earrings, and two keyrings, one of them featuring a pocket knife shaped like a key. The problem with such collaborations is that they generate immediate media revenue, but they do not contribute to create the next Elsa Peretti.

The Italian-born former Halston model who became a jewelry designer, created for Tiffany a series of iconic designs, from the diamonds and pearls "by the yard" concept and mesh pieces to her "Bone" cuffs, a fluid design incorporating organic forms that pay homage to the human body. Available in its small, medium and large version, this piece moved from anatomy as it consisted in a wide metal band with a protuberance that allows the bracelet to fit comfortably over the wrist bone.
 
Jumping on the hippest bandwagon is definitely rewarding for what regards social media, but lethal in the long run: Pharrell Williams in his amazing diamond spectacles was a perfectly Instagrammable moment with the potential of getting the media revenue skyrocketing, but Peretti's bone cuff remains an iconic piece that even mere mortals may be able to afford (if you opt for the small version in silver or black finish over copper).

Peretti's pure, minimalist and timeless designs had an important role in Tiffany's net sales, but they made history mainly because they were created for women who could buy the pieces for themselves (rather than being gifted them by men...).

Tiffany's diamond spectacles donned yesterday by Pharrell Williams remind us about two things: first and foremost while the Mughal Empire was renowned for advancing jewelry craftsmanship across South Asia and had master artisans, we, in 2022, have simply finished original ideas; second, while there will always be a sort of insurmountable gap between certain brands such as Tiffany's and most consumers out there, there is still something that definitely unites us mere mortals with them - a passion for looking at antiques on sale from top auction houses, with the difference that we can only desire such pieces, they, instead, are able to reproduce and resell them as well.

Everything Is Illuminated (Even When It's Not That Conceptually Strong): Loewe Vs Cinzia Ruggeri

Fashion is made of cycles, rhythms and patterns that keep on coming back almost on a loop and the older you get, the more you're able to spot certain ideas, inspirations and nuances. Take Loewe's A/W 22-23 menswear collection, for example.  

Creative director J.W. Anderson went down the surreal and bizarre path with these new designs: taking the piss out of our collective obsession with tecnology and the metaverse, he opted for fun items such as hems of shirts and shorts waistbands that seemed detached from the models' bodies like in a distorted digital picture on which a crazy filter had been added; T-shirts with prints of bodies and faces that created optical illusions and more random mad pieces such as a coat integrating metal sink eyelets rather than more ordinary grommets. 

The collection also featured bodysuits and clinging tops that incorporated fairy lights, while the sleeves and lapels of coats and trench coats blinked with tiny dots of lights.

The designer here was making a reference to the fact that, as we often stare at our mobile phones, the screens lit up our faces, so in this case the wearer is backlit. Throughout the last few years we have seen a proliferation of garments integrating wearable technologies, but the main attempt of the designer in this collection wasn't creating highly technological pieces.

The collection featured indeed quite a few Instagrammable pieces, some of them unwearable as well, but designed only for the purpose of the show. Still, the meaning attached to some of the designs, especially the luminous ones was maybe a bit superficial. 

The garments integrating lights also called to mind the first LED garments designed in the '80s and in particular Cinzia Ruggeri's LED dress, that returned throughout the decades in other more technological forms and interpretations. 

Yet there is a key difference between Loewe's and Ruggeri's designs: Ruggeri's dress was an early experiment that was filed in the history of fashion under the "behavioural garments" category. A shy wearer or a wearer who had a speech impairment may have used to reach out and communicate, the late designer once explained. Ruggeri recounted indeed that she lent the dress to a friend for a party where also Umberto Eco had been invited. As he passed next to her, Ruggeri's friend switched on the lights via an embedded button in the belt to acknowledge the presence of the honourable guest, creating a surprising effect.

In Loewe's collection (that also includes sweaters with built-in gloves with fingers sprouting streamers View this photo, in a way vaguely reminiscent of Ruggeri's gloves sprouting grass View this photo - who knows, maybe Anderson is a fan of Ruggeri...) the conceptual message is less relevant and more passive - our lives are backlit through phones, so what? The thing is, nowadays in fashion it doesn't matter if something is not so conceptually strong, as long as it is visually striking and proves immediately Instagrammable.

Freedom of Expression or Copyright Infringement? Hermès Vs Mason Rothschild's MetaBirkins

We have recently seen how even the most unexpected characters out there are jumping on the non-fungible token (NFT) bandwagon. But the NFT bandwagon is also attracting legal cases based on copyright and dilution infringements. In the last few days, for example, there has been the case of Hermès suing American artist Mason Rothschild over NFTs inspired by the French luxury house's famous Birkin bags.

In May 2021 Rothschild launched a single "Baby Birkin" NFT in collaboration with Eric Ramirez. The NFT consisted in the animation of a 40-week-old fetus growing in a transparent Hermès' Birkin bag, launched on the curated social and shopping platform Basic.Space and sold for about $47,000. In that case Hermès didn't contact the authors to complain about the NFT as that was just a one-off.

A few months later, in November 2021, Mason Rothschild launched instead 100 "MetaBirkin" NFTs and an Instagram account linked to the project: the artist's MetaBirkins are essentially Hermès' Birkin bags reinvented in bright coloured fuzzy faux fur. Some of them are also inspired by artworks by Van Gogh, Goya, Dali, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Hokusai, Twombly, Rothko and Maurizio Cattelan. The NFTs were launched and sold on the OpenSea platform.

A month later Rothschild received a cease and desist letter from Hermès. On his Instagram page the artist wrote: "The First Amendment gives me every right to create art based on my interpretations of the world around me (…) MetaBirkins is a playful abstraction of an existing fashion-culture landmark. I re-interpreted the form, materiality and name of a known cultural touchpoint. MetaBirkins are also a commentary on fashion’s history of animal cruelty and its current embrace of fur-free initiatives and alternative textiles."

The artist also sent a message to OpenSea, as the latter agreed with Hermès request and removed the MetaBirkins from its platform (Rothschild started selling them on Rarible, another NFT platform).

After receiving Hermès' letter, the artist added a disclaimer on his site stating: "We are not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with HERMÈS, or any of its subsidiaries or its affiliates. The official HERMÈS website can be found at www.Hermès.com."

Yet the saga continued with a trademark lawsuit (Hermès International et al. v. Mason Rothschild), filed by the French luxury company. Rothschild is currently accused of trademark infringement, false designation of origin, trademark dilution, cybersquatting, and injury to business reputation and dilution under New York General Business Law.

Rothschild took again to Instagram to explain that his lawyers at Lex Lumina PLLC highlighted that the First Amendment in the US Constitution gives him the right to make and sell art depicting Birkin bags, "just as it gave Andy Warhol the right to make and sell art depicting Campbell's soup cans."

That's an interesting example, but maybe that doesn't apply to him: Warhol was sued for other works that he appropriated such as the flower photograph by Patricia Caulfield, but Campbell's was instead happy to see their product on the walls of museums and collectors' homes. Warhol did not seek permission to use the cans from the soup company as Campbell's Soup artworks were seen as non-infringing because it was clear to the public that it would have been unlikely for the company to sponsor paintings. The use of the cans remained in the artistic realm and Warhol didn't do commercial products such as T-shirts, so Campbell didn't complain.

Now there are different issues to consider when it comes to the Hermès / Rothschild case. The French luxury house accused Rothschild of trying to get rich by appropriating the name of its famous bag, stating: "Defendant is a digital speculator who is seeking to get rich quick by appropriating the brand METABIRKINS for use in creating, marketing, selling, and facilitating the exchange of digital assets known as non-fungible tokens ('NFTs'). Defendant's METABIRKINS brand simply rips off Hermès' famous BIRKIN trademark by adding the generic prefix 'meta' to the famous trademark BIRKIN. 'Meta' and 'metaverse' refer to virtual worlds and economies where digital assets such as NFTs can be sold and traded."

In favour of Hermès you can argue that while consumers may have been aware of the distinction between Campbell's soup and paintings representing a can of Campbell's soup, the Hermès / Rothschild case may be more complex as nowadays we all hear about this or that collaboration between an artist and a fashion house, so some consumers may genuinely believe this is an official partnership. Besides, Rothschild added a disclaimer on his page, but he didn't add the disclaimer on any of the other channels selling or promoting his NFTs.

As stated in Hermès' claim, the Defendant's activities, "create the false and misleading impression that Defendant is sanctioned, assigned or authorized by Hermès to use the BIRKIN Mark to advertise, manufacture, distribute, appraise, offer for sale or sell infringing products bearing the BIRKIN Mark when Defendant is not so authorized."

The prices of the NFTs contributes to generate confusion: a Birkin handbag is an exclusive piece of luxury that can be bought only by people on a mysterious waiting list. The bag is extremely expensive going from $9,000 to hundreds of thousands of dollars and even millions, as proved by the Birkin bags you spot at auctions (Birkins current available from Sotheby's reach $65,000).  

Besides, while Rothschild mentions Freedom of Expression to use the name MetaBirkin, he was very annoyed when other people took his idea and started producing "fake MetaBirkin", that had him complain about possible infringements of "his" copyright.   

Rothschild may have appealed to parody if the project aimed at satirising fashion or art, but he stated he had more serious intents and claimed that the project was a critique of the fashion system as well.

Maybe a safer way out for Rothschild, apart from pointing out the differences (the material - faux fur and fur patterns never used in Birkin bags) would be to insist on the "metaverse" aspect of his project: Hermès and other fashion companies are registered in specific fields, they can sell perfumes, accessories, garments and in some cases home décor items. But most of them aren't registered to sell digital products in the metaverse. Birkin is a name registered indeed in connection with leather goods, and not in connection with virtual products.

So the most important aspect of this case is if the court establishes that, to be able to prove a possible infringement of copyright, Hermès should be registered as producing also digital products (or do specific rights automatically extend to the digital space and the metaverse, so that it will not be necessary to register digital designs separately?)

As things stand the situation may be further complicated: Hermès is seeking monetary damages, including Rothschild’s profits (according to OpenSea that amounts to over 200 Ethereum, around $900,000) and wants Rothschild to transfer the MetaBirkins.com domain to it and to "deliver up for destruction to Hermès all unauthorized products and advertisements in his possession or under his control bearing any of Hermès' Federally Registered Trademarks or any simulation, reproduction, counterfeit, copy or colorable imitation."

But NFTs are stored on the blockchain where records cannot be altered once they are entered; and if an NFT of a Birkin that was sold became inaccessible, the individual owners of the allegedly infringing NFTs would be damaged (and will Hermès also end up going after them? and is it actually legal to go after the people who bought a MetaBirkin NFT, if the non-fungible token in question is not actually a picture of a bag infringing someone's copyright, but a smart contract and lines of code on the blockchain?). So there is a lot to be decided by the court here, besides, what may happen if a contemporary artist that Rothschild took inspiration from for one of his Birkins - say Cattelan - or if a museum preserving a painting Rothschild moved from for one of his bags decided also to sue? 

What could have been the best solution? A collaboration. After all the MetaBirkins look cool enough to be desirable, at times cooler than original Birkin bags, and Hermès isn't at the moment producing any NFTs nor virtual accessories.

In previous posts we have looked at bootlegged designs that are more desirable than original pieces and at fashion houses ending up collaborating with people that only a few decades ago they would have sued (think Dapper Dan).

More recently we saw Los Angeles-based streetwear brand Cloney, that usually produces parody designs, releasing a Covid-19 vaccine inspired black hoodie with the trademark Valentino "V" signature logo accompanied by the word "Vaccinated" in Valentino red. Valentino Creative Director Pierpaolo Piccioli bought five hoodies, kept one for himself and gifted the others to friends. Then, humoured by the design and realising its potential, Piccioli decided to actually contact the brand's founder, Duke Christian George III, but not to sue him. Together they reached indeed an agreement, turned the hoodie into a Valentino x Cloney collaboration and produced the same hoodies featuring both logos (100% of the profits from the project were donated to UNICEF to support its work with the World Health Organization's global COVAX program).

Hermès may have arranged a similar solution rather than getting angry at not having thought about such an idea before Rothschild. Maybe that was what Rothschild was hoping for, attracting the attention of the luxury fashion house with an unsolicited unofficial project that may have scored him a proper collaboration, something that didn't happen.

The case teaches us that, while artists should maybe be more careful and aware of copyright issues, companies should also realise that artists, independent designers and bootleggers quite often have better ideas than their own teams and that collaborating with them may be a better solution than starting complex litigation procedures.

Will Melania Trump's NFTs Shed Any Light on Her Puzzling Style Choices?

Since NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) became trendy last year after Beeple's purely digital work set a record in March, selling at $69,346,250 USD, many people - maybe too many - jumped on the non-fungible token bandwagon. There is undoubtedly some great digital art out there, but there are also cringing commercial experiments. One of the latest and most unexpected supporters of non-fungible tokens is, surprisingly, Melania Trump. In December the former First Lady of the United States announced she was going to release from then on NFTs in regular intervals.

"I am proud to announce my new NFT endeavor, which embodies my passion for the arts and will support my ongoing commitment to children through my Be Best initiative," Mrs. Trump claimed in an official statement.

The first NFT was entitled "Melania's Vision" and consisted in a watercolor of her eyes by Marc-Antoine Coulon. Available for two weeks in December 2021, the limited-edition digital artwork was sold at 1 Solana, a form of cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or Ethereum, or $150, and also included an audio message from Mrs. Trump ("My vision is: look forward with inspiration, strength, and courage"). Melania's NFTs are currently minted on the Solana blockchain, but a representative of Solana spoke to disassociate the blockchain from any political connection and explained that the former First Lady's project was not part of any Solana-led initiative.

A new item became available earlier on in January - "The Head of State Collection". This package is a commemoration of the Trump Administration's first official state visit and it actually includes three items: the white broad-brimmed hat Melania donned to receive President Macron of France (the French president and his wife were the first official visitors to the White House in April 2018), described on Melania's site as "iconic" and "one-of-a-kind" and designed by Hervé Pierre, the French-born, New York designer-turned-stylist; an original watercolor on paper by Marc-Antoine Coulon portraying Melania in the hat and a non-fungible token of the same watercolor with a detail in motion (Download Melania_NFT_Hat). The starting bid was set at approximately 1.800 SOL or $218,160.00 for the group.

Melania is apparently trying to do some good through the sale as a portion of the proceeds derived from this auction (even though they don't tell us how much...) will provide foster care children with access to computer science and technology education. 

NFTs, considered as dubious artworks by skeptical art critics, are already controversial, but you wonder why Melania jumped on this bandwagon. It's not rare to see biographies or even documentaries about former first ladies, recounting their time at the White House, but Melania seems to be hoping to profit opting for a completely new approach.

Who knows, maybe her next NFTs will be interesting from a fashion point of view: the former First Lady often had many of us wondering what was she thinking when she opted for specific ensembles, such as colonialist evoking attires when she visited Kenya and Egypt; inappropriate super high Manolo Blahnik stilettos to visit the Hurricane Harvey victims and the army green hooded jacket of "mass distraction" by fast fashion brand Zara that featured on the back a painted slogan that read, "I really don't care, do u?" when she went to a Texas border detention centre to visit immigrant children who had been separated from their parents.

Maybe Melania's next NFTs will feature a selection of her most bizarre and puzzling style choices with some audio explanations that may shed some lights about them. Or maybe she's just releasing the NFTs to get distracted from the Capitol Hill riots investigations or the possibility of her husband Donald Trump running again for president in 2024 (the metaverse is a safer and fun place compared to this scary possibility...) or this is just a way for her to build a crypto empire and disappear before Donald comes back. For her sake, you can just hope this new and ephemeral venture will not end like her jewelry line or her "Caviar Complexe C6™ with Lipid Matrix Receptor™ Technology" skincare range that never got into the shops.

Politics in Art: More Passion? No, Thanks, Says Tracey Emin

In 2011 the then UK Prime Minister David Cameron installed an artwork by Tracey Emin in 10 Downing Street, the official residence and the office of the British Prime Minister. The artwork in question was a neon piece, stating "More Passion" in bright red letters.

Cameron had invited Emin to create an artwork after he became prime minister, and then installed the neon sign in a prominent position, outside the first-floor Terracotta Room. The artwork was gifted by the artist to the UK government and Cameron also received Tracey Emin at an International Women's Day reception at 10 Downing Street in March 2011.

When Cameron installed the piece in the Prime Minister's official residence some critics expressed their surprise, after all the controversial artist's career, installations and works in general do not really align with the values of morally stern conservatives.

Who knows, maybe Cameron genuinely loves Emin or maybe inviting her to create a piece was a way to prove the public he was terribly cool, on trend and loved British contemporary artists. Or maybe it was a way to show the country he was young and unbearably hip, after all the neon piece oozed a sort of irresistibly perverse glamour with a naughty twist about it, thanks to its red letters hinting not just at love but at lust.

Cameron's passion for a controversial artist didn't reflect in his politics: in the aftermath of the August 2011 riots, Cameron did a speech at a youth centre in his Witney constituency in Oxfordshire that mentioned "the slow-motion moral collapse" of the UK. "Crime without punishment. Rights without responsibilities. Communities without control. Some of the worst aspects of human nature tolerated, indulged – sometimes even incentivised – by a state and its agencies that in parts have become literally de-moralised," he stated. His personal priority, he added, was mending the UK's broken society.

Surely Emin's work didn't represent the perfect antidote to the "moral collapse", but was an invitation to having more fun and maybe proved that Cameron either said things he didn't believe in, or picked art he didn't really like (or didn't understand...). Or maybe his decorative choices proved that, like most politicians, he was just a bundle of political contradictions.

Time passed. Cameron went. Then came Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Brexit and Coronavirus. The neon piece by Tracey Emin stayed. Johnson's premiership has so far been characterised by his cluelessness at immediately acting against the pandemic. Lockdowns were eventually implemented in late March 2020, but, it was recently revealed that, while the majority of people in Britain were respecting the rules and regulations, the Prime Minister was holding lockdown-breaching parties at No 10. Well, maybe he was just taking to the letter what Emin's artwork said, "more passion" indeed and fewer rules for him.

Yesterday Emin stated she wanted her artwork removed from No 10 due to the PM's behaviour. On her Instagram page she accompanied a picture of the artwork with a short message, "This is my neon that hangs at 10 Downing Street. It was a gift from myself to the Government Art collection. I am now in the process of requesting that my art work be removed from 10 Downing Street. I feel More Passion is the last thing this present government needs. This current situation is shameful."

Emin explained to The Guardian that she found the UK's Prime Minister’s behaviour and lack of contrition "bizarre", highlighting that, while people were in lockdown, unable to see their dear ones or attending funerals of family members online to avoid spreading the virus, the Prime Minister was partying in Downing Street. Neon pieces, Emin added, are usually associated with a party atmosphere and, she concluded, people at No 10 certainly do not need "any encouragement on this level". 

Emin actually doesn't want the piece back because it was a gift, but would like to have it removed and maybe hung in another place like a British embassy or be put in storage. The government art collection, managed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, is indeed usually displayed in official residences such as UK embassies all over the world, sometimes there are also consultations with artists to see where a work may be displayed. At the moment No 10 is said to be in talks with Tracey Emin about removing "More Passion".

Legally speaking you can't do much about such a situation: the artwork was a gift and as such (unless there are specific points made in a dedicated contract) it is owned by the government that may decide what to do with it. Emin may mention moral rights in this case, though: the work is correctly displayed and attributed to her in No 10, but being associated to a Prime Minister who doesn't seem to respect the legislation in force, may damage its meaning (the "More Passion" message may sound like an encouragement to misbehave...) and the artist's reputation. 

Tracey Emin's story makes you think about those fashion houses and designers who decline to dress a politician/first lady, as it happened when Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, Derek Lam, Christian Siriano and Phillip Lim (among the others) publicly stated they wouldn't have dressed Melania Trump (still she could have afforded any kind of design she fancied...) after her husband became US President. Emin's case also calls to mind the cases of various musicians who warned politicians not to use their music or sent cease and desist letter with the same intent.

In the history of music and politics there are a few examples, from Bobby McFerrin who wasn't that happy when in the '80s George H.W. Bush adopted "Don't Worry, Be Happy" as his campaign theme, to Donald Trump who enraged many musicians and bands among the others Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, Leonard Cohen, Eddy Grant and R.E.M.

Music-wise it is possible to review a licensing agreement to make certain songs and compositions unavailable specifically for political events, but these can be tricky requests. Neil Young, for example, dropped his copyright infringement lawsuit against Donald Trump (the singer and songwriter stated he couldn't allow "his music to be used as a 'theme song' for a divisive, un-American campaign of ignorance and hate") after his songs "Rockin’ in the Free World" and "Devil’s Sidewalk" were used at a Trump rally in Tulsa (though it is possible that the case was settled out of court).

Having Tracey Emin's "More Passion" work removed from No 10 may not instantly turn Boris Johnson into a reliable politician and inspire in him more compassion, which is what Emin demands from the government. But maybe the artist could push things further: as she previously collaborated with jeweller Stephen Webster releasing "More Passion" necklaces and cuffs and on a limited-edition black resin cuff designed exclusively for the charity (RED), it would be good to see a new charity piece by Emin and Webster (a "More Compassion" piece maybe?) with a percentage of sales going to charities helping people hit by Covid or to the NHS. A wearable work of art that could benefit a charity would indeed be more valuable than any artwork hanging in any official government residence. 

Arts & Ceramic Crafts: Polly Apfelbaum's "For the Love of Una Hale" @ Arcadia Exhibitions, Glenside, PA

In yesterday's post we looked at specimen marble pieces from the 18th and 19th centuries and attempted a comparison with fashion. But there are also artists working along the same lines, creating works in which different small segments create fascinating compositions.

Polly Apfelbaum, for example, handcrafted last year quilt-like ceramic works during an extended residency at Arcadia University, in Glenside, Pennsylvania.

The multidisciplinary artist combines art history, the applied arts, and popular culture in her installations in which she often assembles fabrics or rugs, ceramics, drawings, paintings, sculptures and found objects. Apfelbaum will launch her next exhibition entitled "For the Love of Una Hale" in a few weeks' time (February 3 through April 17, 2022) at Arcadia Exhibitions (Arcadia University, 450 S. Easton Road, Glenside, PA). 

The event examines the early influence of artist, antiques dealer, gardener and drag show performer (as Una Hale) David Ellinger (1913-2003), whose paintings hung in artist Polly Apfelbaum's childhood home in nearby Abington, and of Pennsylvania German craft traditions on the artist's hybrid sensibility.

Among the pieces on display there will also be terracotta and glaze pieces like Apfelbaum's "Joseph's Coat Abstract", "Purple Fire" and "Pennsylvania Diamond Quilt" (all 2021). In these pieces the artist created geometrical abstractions or kaleidoscope-like configurations using coloured segments (you can imagine them replicated on luxury bags, so you can bet Apfelbaum will at some point be asked by a prominent fashion brand to do a collaboration of some sort...). Some of them evoke intricate Amish style quilts; others call to mind the geometrical beauty of specimen marble table tops, but all of them are ways for the artists to go back in time and trace her inspirations.

"The goal is to interpret the personal as political," states Apfelbaum in a press release about this exhibition. "I'm starting to look back at my history, where the inspiration came from, and how my personal experiences relate to the complex life and work of the painter David Ellinger."

Image credits for this post

Polly Apfelbaum,"Joseph's Coat Abstract", 2021, terracotta and glaze. Courtesy of the artist and Arcadia Exhibitions.

Polly Apfelbaum, "Purple Fire", 2021, terracotta and glaze. Courtesy of the artist and Arcadia Exhibitions.

Polly Apfelbaum, "Pennsylvania Diamond Quilt", 2021, terracotta and glaze. Courtesy of the artist, Frith Street Gallery, London, and Galerie nächst St. Stephan, Vienna.

A Design Trend from the 1800s That You May Want to Replicate in Fashion: Specimen Marble Pieces

A passion for antiquity and cabinets of curiosities encouraged a very unique fashion in Italy throughout the 18th and 19th centuries: tables tops, compact cabinets and assorted objects that incorporated visually striking selections of the most beautiful marble samples around.

Aesthetics prevailed over scientific criteria when the samples were selected and so most of these pieces are valuable for their eye-catching chromatic nuances, rather than for any mineralogical interest.

At the same time, there were compositions that also integrated marble samples excavated from ancient pavements (that were in some cases integrated also in other works such as church altars or sections of villas) or even featured lava samples.Most of these samples can be admired in neatly arranged cabinets containing marbles and hardstones or in table tops in which they were arranged to create geometrical motifs forming mesmerizing effects. The idea behind these pieces was indeed displaying the art of Italian marmisti (marble workers) who, through them could show their skilled craftsmanship and the beauty of their country.

Specimen marble pieces, especially table tops, were usually produced in Rome or Naples and collected by wealthy tourists in Italy for their Grand Tours.

It isn't so rare to spot specimen marble tables at auctions: Sotheby's has got some wonderful examples in an auction entitled "Stones III", that will close tomorrow, that features quite a few tables incorporating up to 180 marble specimen, often forming geometrical micromosaics.

The polychrome marble pieces, especially the table tops, can be incredibly inspiring also in fashion. You may argue that in fashion we can use techniques such as collage, patchwork or quilting, to create the same effects. But to create a piece inspired by these works, we could use the same principles behind the art of the Italian marmisti and select not just any leftover fabrics, but high quality textiles of different types, and come up with a wearable cabinet of soft curiosities that could show our knowledge of fabrics as well.

An example? Antonio Marras' A/W 2022-23 menswear collection. Inspired by '90s and grunge, it features designs that integrate bits and pieces of checked, tartan and Prince of Wales patterned fabrics. While in some cases the panels in clashing and contrasting patterns applied onto shirts and kilts add a punk twist to these garments, giving the illusion the designs were repaired with these patches, in others, like in the case of a sweater, the samples of fabrics were applied in a careful order and formed a visually-plesant configuration that called to mind the art of the Italian marmisti.

Apparently the idea came to Marras not from the marmisti, but from a sewing exercise the designer applied to while in lockdown and created a patchwork sweater upcycling tile-size scraps of collection leftovers.

Yes, you're right, this is definitely not a new idea, but it is a timeless trick that can help you coming up with something unique - your very own personal wearable cabinet of soft curiosities integrating exclusive textile samples.

Body of Work: Prada Men's A/W 22-23

While watching a runway show, it sometimes happens to identify an item inspired, borrowed or stolen from another era, fashion show, collection or designer. After all, the history of fashion is cyclical, made up of occurrences and recurrences.

That déjà vu sensation must have washed over some fashion commentators and fans alike during Prada's A/W 22-23 menswear runway that took place yesterday in Milan at Fondazione Prada's Deposito venue, turned by architectural studio AMO into a sort of stage where theatre and cinema met.

Marking the end of a shortened edition of the Milanese menswear fashion week that, due to the Omicron variant spreading fast, caused some companies and brands to cancel shows for safety reasons (to ensure a stronger presence of exhibitors also Milan's Salone del Mobile was postponed from April to June 2022), the show was presented to socially distanced 200-plus guests, respecting the health safety protocols against Coronavirus in Italy, which meant FFP2 masks and proof of full vaccination (Super Green Pass).

The runway opened and closed very glamorously with two special models, actors Kyle MacLachlan and Jeff Goldblum. The former donned a sculptural executive coat that wouldn't look out pf place in Patrick Bateman's wardrobe if a new adaptation of "American Psycho" was ever done; the latter a dark, furry mohair hemmed and elbowed overcoat.

Other actors also appeared in the show - Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Asa Butterfield, Damson Idris, Tom Mercier, Jaden Michael, Louis Partridge, Ashton Sanders and Filippo Scotti - something that triggered that déjà vu sensation, calling to mind Prada's Autumn/Winter 2012-13 men's runway, that featured Willem Dafoe, Gary Oldman, Tim Roth, Jamie Bell and Adrien Brody, among the others.

Maybe this show was a way to celebrate the 10th anniversary of that runway or maybe it was a development of that collection: in that case Miuccia reminded us that men with power - temporal, political, social and sexual - dress to proclaim their position. In that collection power was expressed through the severe cut of the garments and of the double-breasted suits, the stiff high-collar shirts, luxury details such as astrakhan-collars, and through the layered look devised to project and protect the wearer's superiority.

In this case the narration changed: this collection, entitled "Body of Work", was actually about archetypes and job roles. The designs on the runway were indeed representations of uniforms from the Prada perspective, even though they were interpreted in luxurious ways. 
 
Bombers were elongated and decorated with furry mohair trimmings; jumpsuits came in pink and blue nylon with conceptual prints and messages, while the comfortable knitted long johns from the A/W 21 collection were replaced by lightweight nylon, leather and cotton boiler suits or separates, maybe to highlight the end of smartworking and the return to work and to activities done in the outdoors. Matching separates cleverly styled with backpacks with white or gray/silver straps created the optical illusion of seeing the models wearing a high visibility garment and turned them into Prada bin men (View this photo).  

Colours such as baby blue and pale pink, and blurred prints of human shadows and flowers revealed, though, that these were luxury items and not proper work uniforms. The outerwear offer was as usual strong with trench coats, parkas and oversized bombers accessorised with backpacks, gloves and triangle-shaped pocket belts.

Some leather trenches and coats in this catwalk show - the second physical one by Miuccia and her current co-creative director Raf Simons since he was hired in 2020 - featured a very exaggerated silhouette that means wearers will have to negotiate doors.

That was a bit of a faux pas actually as these silhouettes were too reminiscent of Demna Gvasalia's designs for Balenciaga (View this photo; mind you, Gvasalia's exaggerated silhouettes also point at Raf Simons' previous menswear collections, so maybe here you had Simons taking the piss out of Balenciaga?). 

The main point of this collection, according to Miuccia Prada, was highlighting the importance of work. Workwear can indeed be elevated in her opinion and turned into something elegant that should make people feel important, hence the sculptural coats, mohair trimmings and couture suits.

For what regards the set, the déjà vu sensation extended to the futuristic tunnel that led backstage, a more technological sci-fi version of the red tunnel that led models in the S/S menswear collection film out onto a beach that was again a symbolical metaphor for a return to normality.

Normality may be around the corner if Omicron is the last stage of the Coronavirus pandemic that reshaped our lives and habits in the last two years. Yet, even if we return to a pre-pandemic life, we may never see a mechanic fix cars in a garage in Prada tech silk attire, well, unless Miuccia decides to open a Prada garage, which wouldn't be a bad idea seeing that she already has the uniforms.

So those of us mere mortals who may want a piece of this show, should maybe just forget luxury workwear and head in a few days' time to Spazio Meta, the Milanese recycling start-up that collects elements from runway show sets and resells them at very affordable prices - they usually have bits and pieces of Prada props and you could use them to redecorate your work space.

From Philosophy to Fashion & Film Wardrobes: Nino Cerruti (1930 - 2022)

It is not rare to stumble upon a novel or a film in which a fashion designer or house is mentioned, but there aren't too many modern brands that appear in both.

Cerruti 1881 was instead among the main brands favoured by Wall Street banker Patrick Bateman in Bret Easton Ellis' controversial novel American Psycho. When the book was turned into a film directed by Mary Harron, costume designer Isis Mussenden collaborated with the Italian fashion designer Nino Cerruti and his brand to recreate Bateman's mid-'80s suits. There is also one scene in the film in which violent Patrick (Christian Bale) attacks the Asian owner of a laundry, shouting at her that you can't bleach a Cerruti.

In the film psychopath yuppie and slave to designer labels Patrick is dressed to kill, but at the time the Cerruti company asked not to show him wearing the famous brand when the main character was killing his victims. This decision reflected the politeness of the original founder of Cerruti 1881, Nino Cerruti, who died yesterday at 91 at Vercelli hospital, following complications from a surgery.

Born in 1930 in Biella, the Italian town famous for the production of textiles and yarns, Cerruti took over his family's textile company in 1950 after his father died. Though at the time Cerruti hoped to become a journalist and was studying philosophy, he managed to rise to the occasion and turned fashion into his vocation.

In 1957 he presented his first line (Hitman) considered at the time revolutionary for its deconstructed jackets, followed by the brand Flying Cross founded with Osvaldo Testa in 1962.

As the years passed, he expanded, including luxury lines and fragrances, grouped under his Cerruti 1881 brand (an iconic year for the designer, marking the date Cerruti's grandfather founded in Biella the textile mill Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti).

In 1967, he opened the first Cerruti 1881 boutique in Place de la Madeleine in Paris (designed by da Vico Magistretti): his trousers became fashionable among French ladies and were also appreciated by Coco Chanel. In the '60s he also hired Giorgio Armani, who worked for Cerruti for six years, learning the importance of sartorial softness, before going on to found his own famous company in 1975.

In the '70s the brand launched knitwear, shirts and a casual line, Cerruti 1881 Brothers, followed by a sportswear line that became popular with tennis and skiing enthusiasts. In the meantime, the collaboration between the brand and cinema that had started with Arthur Penn's "Bonnie & Clyde" (1967), featuring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the infamously stylish gangster couple that went on to inspire hundreds of runways, continued in the decades that followed.

In some cases Cerruti 1881 provided wardrobes for actors and actresses; in others Cerruti himself collaborated with a costume designer to create a suit or a dress for a specific character.

The brand's designs appear in Lewis Teague's "The Jewel of the Nile" (1985), Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" (1987), George Miller's "The Witches of Eastwick" (1987), Garry Marshall's "Pretty Woman" (1990), Paul Verhoeven's "Basic Instinct" (1992), Adrian Lyne's "Fatal Attraction" (1987) and "Indecent Proposal" (1993), Jonathan Demme's "Philadelphia" (1993), Robert Altman's "Prêt-à-Porter" (1994) and Mary Harron's "American Psycho" (2000), just to mention a few ones.

Rather than being iconic, most of the designs created for films aimed at functionality: even the elegant red and black gown with a cut out motif on the back donned by Kathleen Turner for the opening reception in "The Jewel of the Nile" had to be functional as it allowed her to get off the a dinghy and on a motorcycle. Her practical ivory linen T-shirt and military green wallet skirt in the same film, helped her character performing impossible stunts, including crossing the desert, climbing a mountain and running on a speeding train, almost to prove that these were stylish clothes to live in.

Through films Nino Cerruti became friends with various actors, among them also Jack Nicholson, whom he dressed in 1995 in black suits for Sean Penn's "The Crossing Guard" and in white linen trousers, pink silk jacket and matching pink duster, in comedy "The Witches of Eastwick", an ensemble that was also a tribute to the '80s, a decade of excesses, kitsch and freedom as well.

Designer of Ferrari’s Formula 1 team, in the mid-1990s, he launched the womenswear collection Cerruti Arte, designed by Narciso Rodriguez in 1995. But five years later he sold a controlling stake in the company to Fin.Part, an Italian industrial group (now defunct) that later bought also the rest of the company and Cerruti departed to focus on the textile mill Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti in Biella. 

The Cerruti star waned as the years passed: in 2005, after Fin.Part went bankrupt, the brand passed to American private equity firm MatlinPatterson, and was sold to China's Trinity Ltd. in 2010 (Trinity entered into liquidation this year). Nino Cerruti remains instead an important chapter in the history of Italian fashion, representing the quintessential entrepreneur: he was indeed an innovator, a decision maker and an indefatigable textile researcher as well.