BEAUTY: Clothing--Emporio Armani

Ever since Mrs. Prada fell in love with the much-maligned nylon (people had bad memories of parachute pants from the 80s and 90s), the shiny, hearty material is back in vogue. And it was everywhere at the Spring Summer '20 Emporio Armani show at Milano Moda Uomo. So much so that some of the looks came with parachutes! But of course, Giorgio being Giorgio, the house executed all this nylon in gloriously cut pieces (read my rhapsodizing about how he changed fashion history forever here). Heavily and randomly pleated viscose trousers look great under shimmery jackets. Harnesses with pochettes, shirts with drawstrings at the collar, leather cummerbund storage packs, and sheer fluttery pants all add up to a deliciously Armani vision.

https://www.armani.com

BEAUTY: Mixed Media--Turiya Magadlela

These fun, colorful pieces by South African artist Turiya Magadlela utilize nylon and cotton pantyhose and fishnet stockings on canvas with sealant. I love the palette, and the unexpected material which, according to the artist, speaks to a more weightier and profound idea: the "fragility, transparency, beauty, pain, distortions and liberations of a woman." Magadlela won the prestigious FNB Art Prize last year and this year exhibited work at The Armory in New York City.

http://www.blankprojects.com/artists/turiya-magadlela/

BEAUTY: Art, Fashion, and Jewelry--Megan Mitchell

I am at a bit of a loss as to how to list the amazing work of Megan Mitchell... it is art certainly, but it also falls under the heading of fashion, especially since the world of beauty and fashion seems to be both Mitchell's muse and curse. And finally, it seems that she is working within the context of jewelry as accessories, celebrating both the exquisite (using faceted glass and sparkling beads) and the grotesque (she makes wounds, gashes, rashes, boils, scars, and other assorted enemies of commercialized feminine beauty). Her work reminds me of the fine jewelry of Kali Arulpragasam, previously here, who creates wearable bullet holes and knife slashes out of gold and semi-precious stones.

Top to bottom: Gash; Pox (view); Pox (view); Scar Tissue; Scratch (view); Scratch (view); Unwanted Hair; Weeping Wound

http://megjmitchell.tumblr.com/