Kaws' Hong Kong Holiday

A new guy is in town and he's floating in Victoria Harbour now

We have a new visitor in town. He's a giant 37-metre long inflatable sculpture called Kaws that's literally floating in Victoria Harbour from now until March 31.

Kaws is the nom de plume for artist Brian Donnelly, a New York-based artist and designer who started off doing graffiti in Jersey City, New Jersey. He has admitted in interviews that Kaws doesn't have a particular meaning.

This piece, called Kaws:Holiday, is sponsored by the Hong Kong Tourism Board and Asia Miles. It is reminiscent of the bright yellow rubber duck by Florentijn Hofman back in 2013, but will this grey-coloured character called Companion upstage the cute duck?

It's strange that Kaws was chosen to do this art installation, when just a few weeks earlier a giant floral statue of Companion was erected in The Landmark's atrium as part of a collaboration with artistic director Kim Jones on French fashion label Dior's summer 2019 collection.

The inflated sculpture is 37 metres long

Kaws seems too commercialized now in terms of artistic merit. Last summer the artist collaborated with Uniqlo for the Kaws x Sesame Street collection, and he has also put his design on reimagined Jordan 4s and Yeezys footwear collection.

But hey does it matter? Our taxpayer dollars are being used to pay in part for Kaws to bring this giant thing over and cheer us up.

He also has an exhibition at PMQ until April 14. It's a Kaws invasion of Hong Kong!

Fashion and Design, Handmade and Machine

A Dior dress on the left, Alexander McQueen on right

Today I went to see the annual fashion-related exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This year it's called "Manus x Machina: Fashion in an age of Technology". It showcases handmade clothes and those made by machine, from the 1920s until today.

They were divided into different sections focusing on lace, sequins, artificial flowers, feathers and beading, presented in a white austere looking room with mini arches that almost had a religious feeling, like worshipping the best of fashion.

Gareth Pugh's outfit made with sraws

Some had interesting juxtapositions, like a 1920s Chanel sequinned evening dress, and then two others of similar styles but from the 1990s and 2000s next to it to show how technology has enabled designers to make 3-D printed outfits.

There were some outfits that were totally out there -- like a dress made completely of black drinking straws that were individually hand sewn onto the fabric. Another was a black dress that had white delicate tulip-like flowers coming out of the dress and the edges of the petals connected with each other to create a kind of bubble over the black dress.

Admittedly I preferred many of the older designs, that were so elegant and stylish even today, while the newer ones seemed to be only made possible with technology, or used it to prove how far they could go in pushing design forward.

Many brand names were featured, from Chanel and Dior to Alexander McQueen, Prada and Yoji Yamamoto. There were a few Chanel wedding dresses designed by Karl Lagerfeld, one a winter dress that was covered in white sequins and camelias.

Ethereal wedding dress from Chanel

The highlight of the show was another wedding dress designed by Lagerfeld with a very long 20-foot-train covered in the most intricate beading with sequins and pearls in a computer-generated design, while the dress itself is relatively simple. My friend said it was the perfect outfit to wear for your coronation.

While we liked the outfits, and how they were put together, the atmosphere didn't encourage people to celebrate and have fun with the fashion. Instead it just felt very serious and almost austere.

What a pity, with such gorgeous clothes, to not be warm and inviting, and inspire the next generation of designers to push boundaries even further.

I missed last year's exhibition that was fashion inspired by China that I heard was a very good show, but my yardstick is the Alexander McQueen one that fascinated and amazed us with his creativity and innovation.

Avant garde Iris van Herpen

Manus x Machina: Fashion in the Age of Technology

Until August 14

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

1000 Fifth Avenue

New York

Tel: (212) 535 7710

Dior Then and Now

Raf Simons impressed by how Dior's archival pieces are still so modern

I am mesmerized by designer Raf Simons' eyes. They are so clear and bright -- an intelligent person who has the smarts and optimism to get through life.

In Dior and I, director Frederic Tcheng follows Simons from the first day he meets the team of couturiers at Christian Dior, the people behind the dazzling haute couture pieces, to eight weeks later when he presents his first collection.

Simons is understandably anxious -- no one has only two months to put a collection together -- and on top of that transition from doing ready-to-wear to haute couture. There are language and cultural barriers, but the atelier is used to creative directors coming and going, and they take it all in stride.

Simons' fresh floral take on Dior's feminine silhouettes

Some have been there for decades, and they have magical skills to turn fabric into gorgeous suits, dresses, tops and skirts, the tailoring perfect. Even down to the last minute they are carefully hand-sewing things -- a group of them overnight if need be.

They love what they do and are there to serve not only the creative director of the moment, but also honour the spirit of Monsieur Dior. They love the idea of working for the fashion house, the history, but also the grandeur associated with the name.

With time quickly ticking away, Simons decides to pay homage to Monsieur Dior by taking the founder's classic pieces and style and reinterpreting them with innovative fabrics and modern touches.

It turns out the Belgian's style is very similar to Dior's -- as Tcheng cleverly picks out passages from Dior's memoirs and has them read out as voice overs, reminiscing about presenting his first collection at the age of 41, the frustrations, the tears, anxiety and excitement.

Simons uses Sterling Ruby's paintings to make his pieces

We see Simons with flashes of brilliance -- taking artist Sterling Ruby's paintings and making fabrics out of them, and deciding that the space where the fashion show will be held will have walls completely covered in flowers, an inspiration from Jeff Koon's floral Puppy, but also from Dior's childhood home as well.

In the end it comes together and the audience is mesmerized by the sumptuous designs that are feminine and sexy, silhouettes that are reminiscent of Monsieur Dior and yet have a modern touch.

They are not just Simons' ideas, but of the entire atelier -- it was them who translated the sketches into three-dimensional designs that take exceptional talent and experience to pull off. Interestingly the atelier are impressed by the accuracy of Simon's team's sketches, down to the millimetre, though haute couture is a work in progress, as they literally work on a model to figure out exactly what they want to do.

As a result Dior and I gives the general public insight into what it takes to put a collection together, as well as have greater appreciation for haute couture. They cost tens of thousands of US dollars to make, and so they are a form of art.

But throughout it all, it's Simons' eyes that show his emotions -- he is honest and scared, elated and frustrated.

Some criticisms of the documentary are that there was no context, that Simons was coming to Dior after John Galliano was fired in 2011 for making drunken racist slurs in a bar.

However, one could argue that kind of context could detract from Simons' story, and focusing it on him and Monsieur Dior is already a good contrast and interesting story to tell.