Pierre Cardin - fashion to the people

I just read a brief note about Pierre Cardin in the BBC Magazine. It's brief and to the point: the man is 89 years old, lucid, and controlling a fashion empire. I am not very knowledgeable about designers; to be honest, the name "Pierre Cardin" seemed to me like such a classic, that I thought he was dead already. It's an inspiring story. Really. And he's right, out of all the other major designers from the 50's and the 60's, he's the only one that didn't sell his name to a multinational. He became one of them. I let you read the article. If you are in a rush, though, here are some fun facts:

• From humble Italian origins, Cardin moved to Paris with his father when he was 2 years old, fleeing from Mussolini. 

• He began his career by making costumes for film-maker Jean Cocteau (who is that guy? I so wished it said Jacques Cousteau, even though it doesn't make any sense ;-) ). 

• He never smoke a cigarette in his life (!!!); he never did drugs.

• I never new he was famous for Space Age creations. Some of them don't look so futuristic anymore... or I am also becoming more adventurous in fashion ;-).

• The reporter who interviewed him describes him as rather scruffy. This could sound a bit contradictory to his profession, but as the reporter well points out, not to his origins.

Beautiful Imperfection

Did you ever wonder how a woman would look like if she had the proportions of a Barbie doll? I always heard the typical story of how that person would not be able to walk properly because it is just anatomically impossible.

Last week I stumbled upon a the following picture, presumably featured in the Oprah Magazine:

I really like the contrast of this image. I am a very visual learner and it gives me the chill how unrealistic the figure of girl dolls are. Just as in my previous post my cousin can't tell where my niece got those crazy lyrics from, I am convinced that when young girls not only play with these dolls, but are surrounded by an environment that promotes these false image of women, create unnatural ideas of what women should look like without even noticing. This became very apparent the other day that I was window-shopping online. You usually see a garment on a pretty girl and wish you could look as gorgeous as she does... but the other day I saw a model that was a bit chobbier than usual. I swear it was just a bit. I didn't like it. I couldn't even think of buying that piece of clothes (I think it was a sweater). While rationally I know this is totally wrong, I was surprised by how embedded the idea was in my head. After 5min I was happy to see that picture. I hope these become more of a standard and less of an exception. Even if sales drop a bit for that company. Girls should not be used to seeing these unrealistic images of what they should become when they grow up.