SHAUN KEARNEY

• 2012-01-14

  I Just love the work of fashion Photographer Karim Sadli. He captures all the things I love about fashion. There is a cool urban yet feminine delicate approach to his work. His images in all their simple, mostly black and white exude a classicism, a stillness, imbuing the subjects with a real freshness to them. Elaborate backgrounds and set ups, over done props and distractions are done away with, focusing the eye on the subject stilled in movement. Super chic!

  I particularly like his shoots for Dazed and Confused and I-D, speaking of which I met Jefferson Hack on a  project  very recently who has always been a complete cool style icon for me. 

  Sadli  has shot some of the most beautiful Ad campaigns for Isabel Marant, Balmain and Givenchy and maybe mine one day :)

  
  

• 2012-01-08

  Ok so I finally got round to seeing the De Kooning exhibit at the Moma before the closing on Jan 9th, and I was happy I did. Willem de Kooning holds the title of being arguably the last great Modernist painter.

  de Kooning’s classic European training as a youth in Amsterdam set him apart from his American counterparts and allowed him to carve out an authentic voice in the newly born Abstract Expressionist movement of the twentieth century. He also succeeded in creating a bridge between the Modernist problem of cubism and the beginning of the post-modern, pop culture era. 

  de Kooning leaves me breathless with passion and a zest to design with color.
  

• 2012-01-07

  Pop’s New sensation Sky Ferreira is shot by Mario Testino in this months V magazine and the pics are just stunning.If your not familiar with Sky then watch out! She is the next big thing!! These photos pay homage to Madonna and her ever evolving style throughout the last 3 decades.

• 2012-01-04

  Most influential woman in Fashion

  

  I have been a long time fan of Comme des Garcon and designer Rei Kawakubo is by far one of the infuential women in fashion still working today. There is always a debate in my industry about whether one has to sketch great to be a good designer.  Well, this is the living proof of a woman who can work without drafts and explains her ideas to her constructors in hand waving terms. She really creates clothes like a sculptor who has to feel and mold the materials to create the form she desires. As a designer I love to sketch but often there is something missing in the process for me and that emotional connection happens when  garments are draped in 3D form. “Designing is never final, there is no beginning and no ending” says Kawakubo.

  Being part of an industry where one has to consistently creatively compromise on so many levels and share the beginning  with so many players  before forming the creation is often a challenge. I have always admired designers who have built very successful empires and done it with their own rules. “In terms of creation, I have never thought of suiting any system or abiding by any rules-either a long time ago or right now. In this respect I have remained free”   Kawakubo says forty years later! 

• 2011-12-24

  If I want a taste of Merry Old England in New York, this is the place to feel at home! Thanks to the lovely Lisa Smilor from the CFDA who introduced me to the historic place earlier this year! 

   This Steakhouse owns the largest collection of churchwarden pipes in the world. The tradition of checking one’s pipe at the inn had its origins in 17th century Merrie Old England where travelers kept their clay at their favorite inn – the thin stemmed pipe being too fragile to be carried in purse or saddlebag. Pipe smoking was known since Elizabethan times to be beneficial for dissipating “evil homourse of the brain.” Keens’s pipe tradition began in the early 20th century. 

  The membership roster of the Pipe Club contained over ninety thousand names, including those of Teddy Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, Will Rogers, Billy Rose, Grace Moore, Albert Einstein, George M. Cohan, J.P. Morgan, Stanford White, John Barrymore, David Belasco, Adlai Stevenson, General Douglas MacArthur and “Buffalo Bill” Cody. 

  In 1905 Lillie Langtry, actress and paramour of King Edward of England, took Keens to court for having denied her access to its gentlemen-only premises. She won her case, swept into Keens in her feathered boa and proceeded to order one of the famous mutton chops.

  Quite the story but the Mutton chops are really insanely good!

• 2011-12-23

  I I WANT FOR XMAS YOU IS YOUUUUUU!!!!! BABY!!!!!!…well one can dream! Happy Holidays! XS

• 2011-12-22

  

  Ice Skating in Central Park is always a great way to start the countdown to the christmas Holiday! I saw a girl wearing these KILLER boots! Who knew Ice skating could be so cool and edgy!

• 2011-05-03

  I absolutely loved the photographs shot by Alasdair McLellan of the beautiful Lara Stone in Self Service. McLellan is a fellow Brit who has quickly become one of my favorite fashion photographers right now! His photographs are known for being both idyllic and severe… an intriguing combination.

   His work continues to inspire me, and I’m not the only one. His captivating images and can be seen everywhere you look in fashion — from the editorials of Vogue and covers of i-D Magazine to campaigns for Louis Vuitton and Calvin Klein.

   -SK

• 2011-05-02

  On Friday morning, being the good Brit that I am, I woke up extra early to watch the Royal Wedding with my family and friends. We were all beyond moved by the ceremony and ritual of it all, as well as the sheer loveliness of the bride in her gown. How fitting that Princess Catherine wore McQueen! I thought the dress was simple and elegant, modern with a vintage feel, and the bride looked gorgeous, happy and incredibly poised. What a day for Sarah Burton and the house of McQueen!

  Then, this morning I happened to walk by the Alexander McQueen windows at Bergdorf Goodman and was stopped in my tracks. For a few minutes, I went back in time to the moment when I met the man himself at a Paris hotel. I was in town to go to Premiere Vision, the textile show, and Lee was staying in the room next to mine. We chatted in the bar for a while, talking a lot about New York and London, house music, and our favorite clubs of the 90s…some of my favorite topics! Although this was many, many years ago, it remains a conversation I will remember forever.

  Tonight, the much anticipated “Savage Beauty” debuts at the Costume Institute Gala. Between the exhibition opening and the Royal Wedding, McQueen is very much on my mind - on everyone’s mind in the fashion world, I think. I can’t wait to make my way to the Met to see his art up close, to celebrate a legend and the incredible work that continues to inspire us all.

  -SK

• 2011-04-28

  

  I am such a Royalist and am SO excited for tomorrow’s wedding! Scones and crumpets at 6 am…. I can’t wait!

  Nothing more to say until we see the Prince and our new Princess walk down the aisle!

  -SK