Tuesday: Having lectures that introduce the history of fashion

is one of the many programs we are introducing into Shanghai.

Starting with Azzedine Alaia – a master couturier – Olivier Saillard,

the Director of the Galliera Museum in Paris, gave a beautiful lecture

with projections of both the Galliera exhibition

and the Museum of Modern Art exhibition

videos of Alaia’s work that we projected onto the gallery walls.

For me it is always interesting to listen to Olivier, he is so knowledgeable,

but to see so many young people and journalists with questions was fascinating…

an enthusiasm little seen these days in Europe.

Wednesday: A very important mission for us has always been to introduce

young designers and photographers and give a chance

to show their works in a professional venue,

so spending the day reading portfolios was a day

of discoveries and great moments.

An exceptional panel for our first review was

Olivier Saillard of Galliera Museum; Vogue China’s fashion editor,

Yichi Zhang;  Director of China Numero,

Karchun Leung; gallerist Dean Rhys Morgan;

Cyril Rahon of 10 Corso Como Shanghai, and myself.

We all found amazingly that each of the students were following their own path,

trying to find an individual style, and many want to be entrepreneurs

and do their own brand… an idea that is getting more and more rare in Europe.

Every time I think about young designers and pushing fashion ahead,

Anna Piaggi comes first to mind.  How much she did for fashion –

young talents in design, photography, and illustration, all were encouraged by Anna.
Here, a photograph of Piaggi in a Stephen Jones hat,

with an illustration by Tony Viramontes that clearly captures both their spirits.

Thursday: Dean Rhys Morgan is the author of the new Tony Viramontes book,

and curated the exhibition just opened at 10 Corso Como Shanghai.

More than 100 original drawings of the great illustrator were on view

showing work from the best magazines and designers of the great 80’s.

So many people attended and Dean gave a beautiful speech to introduce the artist.

 Friday, Saturday:  The atmosphere is getting whiter and whiter!

Walking in the street we meet so many people wearing white masks…

the most advanced have a little white mask with an incorporated

3M “oxygen” filter, sold on Alibaba’s web site in packages.
In Nanjing, thanks to an extremely high level of air pollution,

models are doing an open air jewelry fashion show wearing medical masks!

A dream for the future – building new cities:

Here, the first Palestinian planned city where green and vegetation

are the first consideration and not simply an afterthought.

 At 25 km from Jerusalem, the new city of Rawabi will integrate

  all sustainable environmental rules and will have 25,000 residents to start.

The Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser conceived

a fantastical piece of architecture in harmony with nature.
Here, the Waldspirale, built as a spiral forest village

in Germany and a green space of the future.

Completed in 2000, the same year as Hundertwasser’s death,

the buildings are built as an organic forest of shapes,

each house with different colors, windows, and doors.

  The environmental “green” roofs are truly an avant garde eco friendly project.

Aude de Thuin – an amazing entrepreneur who always follows her own convictions,

author of many books, and a garden enthusiastic  has created

this year at the Grand Palais in Paris for five days the world’s biggest greenhouse.

13.000 square meters of terraces, gardens, and installations,

like a promenade in which many landscape architects

and  horticulturists have participated. It is a delightful homage to “Green”.

Next year in March she will continue the project

at the Palais de Tokyo where 70% of the site will go “Green”.

Now if she could continue the project in Shanghai…