MG ICON

What a cool business project. Lola’s sense of style is undeniable – it’s not hard to guess why. Here are some of my favorite bits of M’s recent interview with Alicia Quarles (The Associated Press) in New York:

.

Lola has been bothering me for ages about designing clothes. [Stella McCartney] started giving Lola fabrics and inviting her into her showroom and asking her opinion on things, giving her sketch books and stuff like that. Stella always pushed her.

.

Lola has been around all of the shoots I have done and all of the campaigns I have done. She is always hanging out backstage. The last two tours I have done, she has been working in the wardrobe department. On this last tour she dressed all of the dancers.

.

[Lola] reminds me of me when I was younger. She just goes for it and tries different things. It doesn’t look like she thought too much about it. That is how I used to be, but after years and years of everybody commenting on the way I look and dress and being photographed, one starts to become self-conscious and starts to plan things more. You end up judging yourself more, what looks good and what doesn’t.

MG ICON is an affordable juniors’ clothing line, designed by Madonna and Lola. It includes jeans, shoes, fingerless gloves, necklaces and other accessories. Many of the pieces are inspired by Madonna and Lola’s dance roots. It debuts at Macy’s this fall.

Sticky & Sweet, the DVD

Today's lunch break was x-tra x-tra special: the Sticky & Sweet DVD has finally arrived!

And a cool surprise came with it: an exclusive calendar, that Fnac stores were giving away for the first buyers. It may not be a top quality item, but it sure feels good to bring something new to our collection!

The years may pass by, but the feeling of excitement is always the same, everytime a new M release hits the stores. The moment I got my hands on the DVD, I felt that good old impulse of heading home straight away, to absorb every second of it.

But I had to wait until dinner time, to press "Play": the extras, finally the extras! And all I can say is: WOOOOW!!! What a stunning Behind-the-Scenes footage! What a wonderful testimony of S&S's greatness! Definitely worth the wait...

Top image by Madonna X Portugal

W.E.: production day 0

The script is written, the actors are casted, pre-production is over: W.E. is about to come to life. The Director arrived in London today, to start shooting the new project.

A stunning heritage

I'm still amazed with the recent photos of M and Lola in New York. She may still be in her teens, but the time is now: Lola is becoming a gorgeous woman. These girls set the town on fire!

March 25, 2010

M and Lola leaving "Fela!" at Eugene O'Neill Theatre, New York

20 Years of Vogue: the single, the unprecedented success

And so it happened. On March 20, 1990, Sire Records released "Vogue", Madonna's 28th single.


In the US, massive airplay and sales demand in response to the music video made way for the single's number 39 debut, on April 14th. Five weeks later, "Vogue" reached Nr. 1, displacing Sinéad O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U".

In the UK, in knocked Snap!'s "The Power" off the top position and stayed there for four weeks.

History would soon be made: "Vogue" became the biggest hit in M's career, hitting Nr. 1 in over 30 countries - it would only be surpassed 15 years later by "Hung Up", which topped the charts of over 45 countries worldwide.

The world was surrendered to M's new sound, embracing the dawn of a new era.

Source: Wikipedia

20 Years of Vogue: deep in history

Vogue: a highly stylized form of modern dance, characterized by photo model-like poses from Vogue magazine, integrated with angular, linear and rigid arm, leg and body movements.

It is said that voguing was born in the 1930s, at the Harlem ballroom scene. Back then, it was called "performance": dancers started recreating poses from models and movie stars and translated it into dance. The movements were a combination of lines, symmetry, precision, grace and fluidity. Modern Dance meeting Fashion and Cinema.

This dance movement evolved along the century, in the gay club/ballroom scene. It became part of gay subculture, keeping its boundaries underground.

It would stay this way until 1989, the year when Malcolm McLaren released "Waltz Darling", a funk / disco / voguing inspired album. The video for the 3rd single, "Deep In Vogue", finally brought voguing to the surface.

Later that year, another artist would be inspired by it. Voguing would soon become a worldwide phenomenon.



Source: Wikipedia

20 Years of Vogue: the B-side

December 1989. "Like a Prayer" had already scored 3 global hit singles and a 4th one in Europe ("Dear Jessie"). Surprisingly, "Oh Father" didn't get the same recognition - perhaps it was too mature for the radio waves. And because the last single was about to be released, Madonna and Warner agreed to record a new song. The plan was to include it as a B-side to "Keep It Together" and ensure the single's success in the charts.

To write and produce the song, Madonna decided to create a new partnership and invited DJ and remixer Shep Pettibone - probably as a consequence of his brilliant remix work for "Like a Prayer" and "Express Yourself", the latter being even used for the video and the stunning MTV VMAs performance.

.

.

And somewhere between December 1989 and January 1990, at the turn of the decade, Madonna and Pettibone were creating something that would make history...

20 Years of Vogue

A night in New York (II)

Leaving Eugene O'Neill Theatre, NYC

March 18, 2010

A night in New York (I)

Leaving the Morimoto restaurant, NYC

March 18, 2010

From retro to haute couture

Fashion photography has always been one of Madonna's strongest and most enduring medium, going back even to the "pre-Madonna" days - in 1980, she was already modelling retro couture for The Village Voice.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.
But it wasn't until March 1995 that Madonna the Icon entered the world of fashion advertising. The campaign was for Versace's haute couture collection, exquisitelly captured by Steven Meisel.

One of the amazing outtakes that surfaced a few months ago was from this photoshoot.

Check out the complete session Through The Looking Glass.
.

MDG

.

After signing a deal with Iconix Brand Group for an upcoming clothing line (MG Icon), M has teamed up with Dolce & Gabbana to design a new eyewear brand: MDG.

.

«Designing an eyewear line with Madonna was a new experience for us. The oversized and wraparound designs are sexy and very feminine, like our clothes. Madonna's creative contribution and unique point of view were key, even in designing the MDG logo».

M also stars in MDG's advertising campaign. Shot by Steven Klein, the images are inspired by film noir. Product and campaign will be released in May.

.

She was back, brunnette and with a nose piercing!

With Rosie Perez at the Soul Train Awards

March 15, 1994

.

After wrapping up her magnificent (but "grueling") Girlie Show tour in December '93, M stepped out of the scene, for a well deserved pause. For the following 3 months, we didn't hear from her at all. That was how I began 1994: religiously flicking every magazine I could find, every week, hoping to hear from her again. There was no internet and the mags were all we could rely on.

Finally, in March, there she was, on US mag, causing us a multiple impact: she was brunette again and wearing a nose piercing! Oh-my-god! We all went crazy.

She looked happy, fresh and totally cool, having a gal's night out with Rosie Perez, at the Soul Train Awards.

.

Madonna was back in town, with one hell of a look!

«Collaboration. I like being his muse».

At Tom Munro's book launch (Soho House, Los Angeles). Gorgeous!

March 6, 2010

In LA with David

At the Kabbalah Centre, Los Angeles

March 6, 2010

Pre-Oscar party

At the Bryan Lourd Pre-Oscar party, Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles

March 5, 2010

Soho House

At the RADD Grey Goose party, Soho House, Los Angeles

March 4, 2010

Masquerading

February 27, 2010 - Kabbalah Centre, New York

.

March 9, 2009 - Kabbalah Centre, New York

March 20, 2008 - Kabbalah Centre, London

March 4, 2007 - Kabbalah Centre, Los Angeles

March 20, 2005 - Kabbalah Centre, London

Purim is a festival that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people living throughout the ancient Persian Empire from a plot by Haman the Agagite to annihilate them, as recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther.

It is celebrated annually, according to the Hebrew calendar, on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar, the day following the victory of the Jews over their enemies. Purim begins at sundown on the previous secular day. Purim is characterized by public recitation of the Book of Esther, giving mutual gifts of food and drink, giving charity to the poor, and a celebratory meal; other customs include drinking wine, wearing of masks and costumes, and public celebration.

Dressing up in masks and costumes is one of the most entertaining customs of the Purim holiday. Costumes and masks are worn to disguise the wearers' identities. Mistaken identity plays an important role in The Book of Esther, as Esther hid her cultural origins from the king, Mordecai hid his knowledge of all the world's languages (which allowed Bigthan and Teresh to discuss their plot openly in his presence), and Haman was mistaken for Mordecai when he led Mordecai through the streets of the capital city of Shushan. According to the Talmud, Haman's daughter, thinking that it must be Mordecai leading her father around, dumped a chamber pot on her father's head as he passed by, and, realizing her error, committed suicide.

Source: Wikipedia