Bobbin Talk

Ben Van Leeuwen and His Artisan Ice Cream

I know BobbinTalk is meant to be more of a fashion, emerging designer blog, but I will admit this immediately: I am a sucker for ice cream, gelato and frozen yogurt! So on a sunny summer day like today I'll share a bit of my love for ice cream.
I like simple ingredients and strong flavors, and for most New Yorkers like me who love ice cream the Artisan Ice Cream Van Leeuwen truck is already a familiar and desired sighting. They are usually parked on a few key corners like 15th St and Fifth Ave, and Greene Street below Prince St., but you can find their exact location every day on Twitter at: @VLAIC

via: bitchcakesny

Van Leeuwen's ingredients are collected from small organic farmers and their flavors are simply irresistible because they have significantly less sugar than your usual frozen treats. Amongst their most popular flavors are: French chocolate (from Michel Cluizel), Sicilian pistachios, vanilla from Papua New Guinea and my favorite right now - the Earl Grey!

A couple of days ago at a part at Debut New York boutique I felt really lucky to not only sample a few different flavors but to also talk to the owner and founder of the artisan ice cream business: Ben Van Leeuwen.

See what he had to say about his passion for finding the best ingredients.

Debra Rapoport - The Artist - Part I

Debra has been featured numerous times in various publications including New York magazine as a really stylish woman with a unique style, so I was really excited to meet her. What I discovered was that she doesn't just have a love for fashion and accessories, she is a genuine artist who creates incredible wearable art pieces. She has been creating for years with a consistent concept of utilizing found or used objects and her ability to create interesting objects but stay true to her vision is fascinating! It is impossible to show you in one post all the wonderful things that I photographed so it is my pleasure to bring it to you in a few different posts!

The first one is about this neck-piece created out of shredded newspaper wrapped in vintage silver thread, vintage metallic copper ribbon, dried baby eggplant

Tziporah Salamon - Sneak Peek

I had the pleasure of taking some photos and videos of two extremely stylish ladies Debra Rapoport and Tziporah Salamon. They both opened their incredible homes and closets to me and my camera! I feel so lucky! I am still working on editing a lot of the footage, but wanted to give you a taste of what's coming! Here is a look into Tziporah's apartment! I would call it a museum with rare period clothing and accessories. She has created a fascinating one woman show, revealing her own life journey through changes of costume from her own collection. The best part is that this is not an "act". It is her and her clothes the way she dresses every day! See her website for more info: TziporahSalamon.com

The mysterious feel in her apartment is heightened by  dark red walls and artfully displayed accessories and clothing from around the world.

Her favorite pieces are traditional Chinese garments with incredible embroideries. She layers them with beads and always adds a hat.

All photos by Aneta Genova! {with a Hipstamatic camera app}

Shades of Blue - Antoine Cancre

Digging through my Parsons Fashion Design thesis previews photos I discovered Antoine Cancre and realized I never featured his collection.

A strikingly thin and tall Frenchman Atoine presented a mesmerizing women's collection in shades of blue fabrics. In between his fast talk and thick accent and an endless array of azure variations the whole experience was so striking I can't understand who did I ever forget to feature him.

Can you imagine having a wardrobe of clothes with variations on one color...  and wearing them every day, even only just for a month!

Garden

Been dreaming of gardens lately and planting my own flowers and vegetables. Isn't this be a nice entrance to a magical garden?

Photo taken at Saugerties, NY.

You can buy this art photo for $10 as a 4"x4" print on supra lustre, metallic or matte Kodak paper. Professionally printed and shipped to you in a rigid cardboard mailer. (S&H $2.50)

paper options

lustre - slight sheen (not glossy) metallic matte

Behind the Scenes at Net-a-Porter

If you ever wanted to take a peek in the offices of Net-a-Porter you can thank Business Of Fashion for their behind the scenes video. The 44,000 square foot headquarters in West London has the dreamy, white furniture open space that most people would dream to work at. Natalie Massenet, founder and chairman of Net-a-porter.com, one of the most popular high-end fashion retailers walks the viewers through the offices and talks about what it takes to run an empire.

Quite inspirational! If you didn't get a chance to see the live stream you can see the highlights of the interview next week at BOF.com.

KABURA

Founded in Columbia by artist Cristina Lopera (already featured at Bobbin Talk with her illustrations) Kabura is a fashion line of beautiful colored scarves. “In Kabura we design from our ethnic and cultural origins. We reinterpret our textile heritage in order to create our own language that could adapt to the aesthetic and functional needs of the present time.

"We work with an exceptional group of authentic weaver women," says Christina. "Women that have inherited their knowledge from one generation to another. This knowledge will guarantee that each one of our pieces have a touch of perfection, something that only hands with wisdom could provide. It's for this reason that we have a limited production, but with an excellent quality. Those are garments that not only have a value for their materials, but moreover for the history that lay behind!"

In Arabic language Kabura means “to grow” and our fashion line grows with the idea that everything in life starts from a single grain and blossom into a beautiful flower. Cristina explains the creative concept as “... collections made under the concept of cold and heat, regardless of a seasonal cycle. Working in South America, where almost all the countries lack seasons and have altitude-related weather patterns, we design and manufacture garments for cold and hot seasons at the same time. As a result, we are outside of parameters from which other countries design, providing us with great freedom. This provides an easiness to fulfill our clients’ necessities at any time, without being off season.”

And here is my favorite scarf! It reminds me of my grandmother's hand-work. So beautiful!

If Your Clothes Could Talk

It is already a reality! MIT scientists announced this week that they have created a new kind of fiber capable of detecting and emitting sound.

Professor Yoel Fink and his team have developed a process for making fiber that can act like a microphone or a speaker. MIT's Press Office says: "Applications could include clothes that are themselves sensitive microphones, for capturing speech or monitoring bodily functions, and tiny filaments that could measure blood flow in capillaries or pressure in the brain."

Just imagine the stories they could tell... Reality TV to a whole new level!!

Antwerp - The Future of Fashion

The graduates from Antwerp Academy have incredible fashion shows with cool concept collections! Can't wait to see how those translate into wearable collections in the near future!

Amsterdam Fashion Week

As Amsterdam Fashion Week wrapped up yesterday the videos are amassing and I am happy to share:

My favorite so far is Roparosa with big shoulders and geometric shapes and a fun 80s influence. I have to admit: It it looks like so much fun!