Campaigning MP Valérie Boyer, a member of Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party, has put forth another controversial bill to address the role of the fashion industry media in portraying healthy body images. Boyer, who wrote a government report on anorexia and obesity, is currently proposing "health warnings" on digitally altered photographs of people, stating that the image was "digitally enhanced to modify a person’s body image." The previous bill supported by Boyer and others came in April 2008, when France's lower house of parliament passed a bill that would make it a crime to promote "excessive thinness" or extreme dieting,. The bill would empower judges to punish with prison terms and fines of up to €45,000 any publication (including blogs), modeling agency, or fashion designer who "incites" anorexia. That bill, which followed closely after key members of the French fashion industry signed a government-backed charter, came under fire from fashion designers and some politicians. French fashion and politics weren't at the front of this effort, with Madrid's fashion week turning away underweight models in 2006, facing concerns that girls and young women were trying to copy their rail-thin looks and developing eating disorders.
posted by filthy light thief on Sep 23, 2009 - 37 comments

The Served is a family of sites that brings you a steady supply of top quality creative work in specific categories: Fashion, Industrial Design, Photography [some nsfw], Typography, and Motion Graphics. All projects are streamed directly from the owner's portfolios in the Behance Network, along with proper attribution and a direct link to contact information.
posted by netbros on Jun 8, 2009 - 5 comments

A complete archive of French magazine L'Officiel de la Mode, from 1921 to 2008. It's a treasure trove for fans of fashion, photography, advertising and design. [more inside]
posted by jack_mo on Nov 14, 2008 - 16 comments

"I haven’t figured out whether cracking open your computer, attaching it to an Underwood typewriter, then inserting it into a combination Victorian mantel clock/desk and calling it “The Nagy Magical-Movable-Type Pixello-Dynamotronic Computational Engine” is some sort of daft wit or evidence of a pedantry bordering on the pathological. " - Steampunk'd, Or Humbug by Design, design writer Randy Nakamura takes a look at the Steampunk phenomenon.
posted by Artw on Jul 23, 2008 - 115 comments

Dress patterns made from bleeding markers. Simple, but totally awesome. (via ymk)
posted by mathowie on Jul 7, 2008 - 33 comments

The Golden Age of Couture is an exhitibion at London's Victoria and Albert Museum exploring high fashion of the 1950s, inspired by designer Christian Dior's pioneering "New Look" styles. Beautiful things!
posted by thirteenkiller on Nov 29, 2007 - 24 comments

Fashion for the 21st century
posted by bijou on Aug 19, 2007 - 13 comments

"Couture [...] represents the fusion of fashion [...] and costume." The Metropolitan Museum of Art and its Costume Institute present designs by Charles Frederick Worth, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Christian Dior, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (see also), Paul Poiret, and other designers such as Lanvin, Vionnet, Schiaparelli, Givenchy, and Yves Saint Laurent.
posted by bijou on Aug 5, 2007 - 15 comments

Magazine fetish? Like flipping thru mags when you're bored? Tidningar lets you look thru a bunch of Swedish mags, page by page, ads and all. Neat if you're into design. (The link on the left under each mag is full screen--on the right is regular.)
posted by dobbs on May 18, 2007 - 12 comments

The Canadian Design Resource - from Beavertail rockers to Broomball shoes.
posted by dobbs on Sep 28, 2006 - 9 comments

Gen Art.
posted by hama7 on Jul 2, 2004 - 3 comments

Retrolounge is a compendium of the next new thing in design, art, architecture and fashion. I kid! Truly, go-go boots make me swoon.
posted by pedantic on Aug 12, 2003 - 7 comments

Pixeltees - use a (shockwave) editor to produce t-shirt designs. The low resolution, restricted palette and video-game connotations give interesting restrictions - a lot of designs are terrible, but some are pretty neat.
posted by andrew cooke on Jul 13, 2003 - 13 comments

600 pounds of thrift store clothing becomes 510 pairs of unique shoes. Puma's Top Winner Thrift project.
posted by modofo on Jun 18, 2003 - 7 comments

Morbid Outlook is a polished, eclectic Goth magazine with a killer design and content to die for. With hundreds of articles and images in the categories of Art, Music, Fashion, Lifestyle, Fiction and Nonfiction, this is one of the very best online zines I've seen yet. Go to any feature, and you will find a list of related-interest articles accompanying the story, and, usually, a listing of online resources or suggestions for reading as well.
posted by taz on Jun 12, 2003 - 31 comments