Atelier Haute Mode.

Well and it is once again I have no other choice but to come to the conclusion that you can always rely on European fashionistas to bring the delicious diversity to the streets of London, Milan and Paris during the fashion busy month of September. Paris fashion week is almost over and I find myself having a slight difficulty rounding up fabulous hats that walked European catwalks for SS2014 - there are simply too many beautiful hats to post, truly, millinery Heaven. While trying to keep up with new shows for SS 2014 season, things have turned into hurricane here, in my Atelier so much so that I was thinking of stopping Blogging for the next few weeks. Turns out, I am addicted to my blog - posting every Tuesday and Friday since 2008 will do it to you I suppose. So, no matter how busy it gets here, I actually feel like continuing Blogging not only puts things in perspective for me, but also is a sort of millinery meditation experience too. :-) Today I am starting final Session with my students for the year 2013 and looking forward to meeting a new group of creative people travelling from all over the world. Lucky and excited!!! My MBFW experience is now reminding me of the gallery of doors: I opened the main door and all of a sudden all this phenomenal, creative people flooded my life with fantastic offers, invitations, projects. :-) Leaving you today with the beautiful selection of Hat Street Styles from Europe. You would have to figure your favorite hat on your own, I happen to think that all of the below is incredible! Wishing everyone great week ahead. :-)

All images are courtesy of Style.com, Buro 24/7, Vogue.com , WWD, Harper's Bazaar.

With the Fashion Week in Paris is finally over, I have a great difficulty putting together a complete round up of hats presented for SS2014 Season - there were so many great hats ranging from pure statement pieces to what can only be described as the very essence of Fashion - pieces that transform reality into fantasy. Today, I decided to share with you additional images photographed back stage right before my Presentation at Lincoln Center. I was lucky to have a group of phenomenal, professional models who were as excited about the show as I was. Above you see one of my favorite images: models Marina Verbenska and Latrishe Reed photographed backstage before the show wearing "The Survival Of The Moust Wanted, Part 1 " hat and "Miss. Bourjouix".

Models Rozalinda Uhl and Latrishe Reed backstage before the Presentation.

Leonid Gurevich, my friend and my right hand man, backstage fitting our model Rozalinda Uhl to wear "Sino: A Matador's Mistress" hat which became everyone's favorite. :-)

A little prayer, perhaps? Our Beautiful model Latrishe Reed backstage just before the Presentation.

You know that the hats are great success when the models LOVE wearing them. :-) Here you see our beautiful model Olyona taking a picture of herself wearing "Daydreamer" head piece right before the show.

We had an amazing team of professional dressers who made sure every girl looked her best. Here you see our model Marina Verbenska being fitted right before my Presentation at Lincoln Center. Marina is wearing super fun and super sparkling head piece "The Survival Of The Moust Wanted, Part 1"

Our amazing make up team sent to us by Bobbi Brown putting final touches to the model's make up. Here you see our beautiful model Sarina getting ready for Presentation and wearing "Interview With Daphne" hat.

A bit my professional history so do speak: Official Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Batches for presenting designer. It was such a surreal feeling to see my name. Well, yes, yes, yes, I don't mind bragging - I was the presenting designer. :-)

Leonid Gurevich fitting our center model and the face of my last two collections Anastasia Zubkova into the breathtaking gown he created for "Bitten. The Love Bug" hat. It is actually always incredible to see Leonid at work - he has so much love, passion and understanding of everything. :-)

Girls walking out of THE BOX Pavillion at Lincoln Center where my Presentation was held. :-)

One of my staff: young, fabulous, determined assistant Kara who is also a very passionate fashion student at Parsons. :-)

Leonid Gurevich and Marina Gurevich are taking out of the bag "The Lovebug" gown. What a moment that was - spectacular sight to behold.

One of my staff: incredible production manager Sarah has managed to hold the hurricane of things, events, interviews and photo shoots backstage in divine order. Still can not figure out how she did it. :-)

I love little touches and details such as this: our model Anastasia is being fitted in legendary Baroque platforms by Miu Miu, collectors item and an art piece.

Our stars of the moment in a line up before the show. Here you see "Loveless" top hat created as a part of "Confessions" Collection.

We actually had to create two versions of the model and hats floor line up: one was done via computer and one by hand for the immediate reference on sight. Here you see Leonid and Sarah looking through the order of things.

Another one of my favorite images: our model Anastasia backstage wearing gown by Leonid Gurevich.

Fresh out of make up chair, our fabulous model Twyla Simone - what a gorgeous face!

Twyla wore a "Vertigo" hat during the presentation, on of my personal favorites. :-)

Leonid Gurevich is fitting our model Twyla backstage before my Presentation at Lincoln Center.

Another beauty I was lucky to have as my model - Ploy . I think this girl is one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen. What a remarkable beauty!

Finally, another image of true stars of the evening: the hats. Here you see another snap of line up headed by "Red Caviar" hat. Another hat that people, guests of the show and entire backstage team could not get enough of. All images in this post were done by Ed Hafizov, my #1 photographer and my designated "dream catcher". Wishing everyone wonderful day ahead! :-)

It is hard for me to believe that it has been almost a month since my Presentation at Lincoln Center. As I discovered along the way, one of the most anticipated and exciting moments of post production time is waiting for the Press and reviews. It is nerve-racking really. In the months leading to the Presentation everything was wrapped around the Presentation itself and making sure everyone knows what to do and everything goes smoothly. Not that I did not think about the Press at all. Of course, I did but I tried to estrange myself from the thought of upcoming, inevitable critique good or bad. With in weeks leading to presentation the requests from various publications/news channels, stylists offices flooded my e-mail and e-mails of my PR representatives. I simply made a decision not to worry about Press and deal with the press outcome of the show after the actual show. Professional press in the business of Fashion is a serious force that can lift you up or leave you in pieces. It is one thing when you and your team believe in your Collection and it is entirely different thing how fashion reporters and critics view it. And so, a month later I find myself excited and grateful to receive an amazing Press and reviews from all over the world. With several more articles in the making and press requests still coming in, I decided to document what I have on hands right now. Very grateful to Vogue Italia, Vogue Paris, WWD for making my name #1 on the list of highlights from New York Fashion Week Presentations, Cosmo Greece , Lucky Magazine, GQ Italia, Athens Magazine, Daily News, San-Francisco Chronicle, Pittsburg Post, The Manhattan Village Voice, The Manhattan Fashion Magazine, Hamptons Magazine, The Hatalk Magazine, Fashion360Magazine, NewYorkFashionWeekLive.com, Russian Chicago Magazine, CNN.com ( the site ran two separate features on my presentation), MBFW Official page and Instagram and all other publications for seeing the beauty in my hats and giving fantastic write ups to my brand, my new Collection and Presentation. Below you will see screen shots of all latest publications. I will post the second part of our Press material very shortly. :-) Wishing everyone beautiful week ahead. :-)

"Channeling Twiggy" neon plexiglass number by Anya Caliendo Couture Millinery Atelier SS2014.

With the next Collection almost finalized in preliminary drawings,I am starting to share with you the stories of the hats of the "Confessions" Collection for SS2014. I often get asked which hat is my favorite and I always respond by saying - every hat I work on is my favorite hat. :-) I don't create hats I am not absolutely in love with. The hat you see on the image above is the hat I named "Channeling Twiggy". It is always an enormous pleasure to work on any hat, but especially so when you have an idea of pushing an envelope by utilizing untraditional for millinery material - plexiglass. Don't let traditional round shape of the brim fool you because,as I discovered,it presented as many challenges as landing on the Moon would.

You can have gazillions of brilliant ideas but it all comes down to execution of the design. Doesn't get any more mechanical and technical than this. Without going into many details let me just say that the process of creation of this hat involved sanding, polishing, glass dust, drilling and cutting with a high temperature knife. Did not stop me from falling in love with neon pink plexiglass. I love the combo of traditional felt vs. Avant-garde plexiglass, modern, strong and very feminine. I have received a lot of requests for this hat after my Presentation. While many came for the same design in the same color combo, some requested alternative resolution of "Channeling Twiggy". As soon as my October session will be over I will be playing with white/neon green, black/ruby red and yellow/orange combinations! So excited about that! Leaving you with the images of "Channeling Twiggy", photographed by Ed Hafizov for Anya Caliendo official SS2014 lookbook. Wishing everyone fantastic week ahead! :-)

Corset for the photo shoot is courtesy of amazing Jane Woolrich Design.

Well, guess what, with million things in progress and ever demanding schedule it is easy to forget another million things you sort of planned on doing but never actually got to. Let's make it one less on the list with the fabulous Giveaway I planned on running for some time now. :-) I have been in love with delicious Furla Candy bags for several years now. I think they are irreplaceable in the Summer, perfect in the Fall and always make me smile in the Spring. It is hard not to smile when you look at spectacular array of colors! I ended up with having four of this bags in different colors to match every single happy mood and looking at another color to purchase very soon. :-) Since I love sharing things that inspire me and have been doing so since the creation of my Blog , I decided to share with you an ultimate Candy. And, so, the lucky winner will get absolutely new Furla Candy bag in.....well, let's make the color a big surprise! :-) Pop in here or on our Official Facebook Page, say hello and win! The lucky winner will be announced next Tuesday. :-) I also wanted to say huge Thank you to those of you who e-mailed me with congratulations on my MBFW show. You, guys, are phenomenal and your support is always greatly appreciated! I promise to respond to every single e-mail, just need a bit of time since the volume of e-mails is something I did not anticipate nor was prepared to handle. :-) Wishing everyone wonderful week ahead!

"Shocking" hat created by Anya Caliendo, Photographed by Ed Hafizov.
It is the end of October and that means it is almost Halloween time. This year the end of October happens to be very special as we celebrate a year since devastating effects of Sandy changed our lives... I say "celebrate" because the entire year after Sandy was filled with recovery, rebuilding, reconstructing our lives and I think we have made it! Seeing new homes rising all around us, seeing our own home rising out of destruction an despair makes me feel hopeful and grateful. Mainly because the tremendous loss of material possessions brought out to light much more valuable realizations. And so, as the weather promises to be warm and sunny on Halloween here in New York, I am wishing all of you fun and happy Halloween! Hope your really get to go out there, dress up and party. :-) I am also happy to announce the winner of our Furla Candy Bag Giveaway - congratulations to Miss Isabella Betina. Please, e-mail us to info@anyacaliendo.com with your shipping address. :-)

I have been asked once and again to show the back of the "Shocking" hat - the hat I created in tribute to Elsa Schiaparelli . Well, here it is - as beautiful as the front of the hat, the back is actually embellished with Italian lace applique and Swarovski crystals. It was such a fun hat to work on all the way from first sketches to the "Shocking" photo shoot. We had so much fun on the set! Very grateful for my remarkably talented team. Thank you for the fantastic experience! Wishing everyone Happy Halloween and leaving you with few detailed, alternative view images of the "Shocking" hat.

Today I am posting long overdue round up on the hats of London, Milan and Paris Runways for SS2014. Usually, I like to feature all hats presented during the season but this time is a bit different: there were so many hats that when I tried to fit them all in one single post, Blogger repeatedly cancelled upload due to a long running application. I love seeing such a tremendous diversity of hats on runways: from simpler versions to statement pieces - they all tell a story. Since it looks like it would be impossible to fit all hats, I thought I would post the selection of those hats which spoke to me and those I thought presented the art form of millinery at its best. Every hat or head piece in this post is my personal favorite. There were quite a few WOW moments during SS2014 . For example, the return of the sinamay. I don't like to use sinamay in my personal collections, but I do use it in general production on occasion. Sinamay in my opinion, has a tired, overused effect but I absolutely loved seeing it walking the Armani show as well as the show by Ann Demeulemeester . Some hats completely took me by surprise in a good way of course, some made my heart skip a bit or two but than again - high fashion hats do seem to have this effect on me. I hope you enjoy the selection. :-) Check in next Tuesday as I am planning to start posting "Manolete" segment - a story I got literally obsessed with and the story I simply had to tell in hats. Wishing everyone beautiful weekend ahead! :-)

Vivienne Westwood, Paris SS2014

Ashish, London SS2014

Daks, London, SS2014

Fashion East, London SS2014

Giles, London SS2014

John Rocha, London SS2014

Meadham Kirchhoff, London SS2014

Vivienne Westwood Red Label, London SS2014

Antonio Marras, Milan SS2014

Dolce&Gabbana, Milan SS2014

Armani, Milan SS2014

Marni, Milan SS2014

Moschino, MIlan SS2014

Prada, Milan SS2014

Alexander McQueen, Paris SS2014

Ann Demeulemeester, Paris SS2014

Chalayan, Paris SS2014

Comme Des Garcons, Paris SS2014

Gareth Pugh, Paris SS2014

Junya Watanabe, Paris SS2014

Louis Vuitton, Paris SS2014

All images are courtesy of Style.com

A while back while researching material in New York Public Library, I unexpectedly came upon a set of articles which dated back to 1930-s of the past century about one of the most extraordinary bullfighters of Spain, legendary Manolete. And even though I came to the library with entirely different purpose, I ended up spending the day reading up every single publication on The Matador of Spain. I also ended up printing a suitcase load of materials and ever since than remain under the spell of the man who was described as The Artist Of Corrida. I could not help but feel the need to recreate his story in hats and so today, I am introducing to you Part 1 of the "Manolete" segment with traditional bullfighter's hat called "montera". It became a very special hat I worked on for quite some time to make sure it is not only authentic and anatomically correct so do speak when it came to shape, but also to make sure that the details: beading, crystal embroidery and trimmings gave "Manolete" montera as strong of a character as the character of the man who is now long gone.

When I first started to plan editorial for "Manolete", it quickly became very obvious to me that the Matador's suit must be authentic. Through research I found a very special company based in Madrid, Spain which specializes in producing Matador's suits all by hand, embellished with amazing traditional hand embroidery. When, finally, our Matador's suit arrived and was unpacked - everyone in the room and I mean every single person stopped in its tracks. Breathtaking! We came to discover that the Matador's jacket is lined with steel plates and is extraordinarily heavy. I tried to imaging how difficult it must be not only to wear the suit but also fight the bull while wearing it.

Manolete started his bullfighting career at the age of 17 and soon after became a cultural hero. He fought almost 100 times a year and was gored 11 times during his professional career. And although his career as bullfighter was one of the most astonishing in the history of Spanish Corrida, what touched me the most about the story of his passionate love for the beautiful actress Lupe Sino.

With in the following weeks I will introduce you to the entire "Monolete" editorial with more fabulous hats and stories behind creating them. I am wishing everyone wonderful week ahead. :-)

Styled by Anya Caliendo for "Anya Caliendo. Couture Millinery Atelier", photographed by Ed Hafizov, Model - Dzmitry Patuk.

Announcing that the registration for 2014 Advanced Millinery Courses with Anya Caliendo Atelier is now open welcoming new students from all over the globe. Stronger, better, upgraded and edited with new techniques . For more information and details on the Course, for Application requests and tuition fee visit our official website at www.anyacaliendo.com .
Fashion drawing by our official in-house artist Leonid Gurevich for Anya Caliendo.

The "Starfall" originally was created as a part of my "Sanctum" Collection back in 2012 and actually got its shining moment walking the runway at "Triumvirate Of Seduction" fashion show by Leonid Gurevich. Since than I retired it to the archives almost immediately for several reasons and it took some time to bring it back. Once in a while I ran into a problem of creative nature ."Starfall" is a perfect example of it. I loved the original idea of "Starfall", I loved the way it looked on paper, I loved selected fabrics (and I did spend insane number of hours trying to select the sequined fabric that would give life to the hat I had in mind). I designed a very special block for the half-moon part of the hat and sent my measurements and drawings for the block to my brilliant block makers in UK - Guy Morse Brown. But once the hat was finished and than photographed on catwalk I realized that I could have done it so much better!

The source of my confusion appeared to be in the images taken on the catwalk. I am notorious among people I work with for being relentless and demanding when it comes to the quality of the images. I am by far not a prize package on the set and those who know me very closely will tell you that all bets are off when the editorial or look book images are not up to my standard. The hats have to look exactly how they look in real life depicting actual colors and displayed exactly how I envisioned them to be displayed. "Starfall", however, refused to comply with any of the rules. When the images came back I felt nothing by disappointment: the "Starfall" appeared to be "dead". The sequined fabric that looked so glamorous and so appealing in real life went completely dark and it felt as if someone has turned of the stars too. If anything, it became apparent that the sequined fabric is not only challenging to work with in general but it is also does not photograph well UNLESS you are lucky enough to have professional set with a genius of a photographer who knows exactly what to do when it comes to the spoiled little creature like "Starfall" (all phrase goes to my in-house photographer Ed Hafizov for that).To be completely honest, I felt heartbroken...Once we got "Starfall" on the set with Ed and the magic lights went on, only than "Starfall" came to life. Here, in this post you see 'Starfall" in all its glory. I still love this hat, but since creating "Starfall" I went on creating another version involving half-moon and stars.I will post it here in the nearest future. Stars have a hold on my heart since I was 5 when me and my sister used to sit in the garden of my Grandmother and look in the dark skies hoping to see the star falling to make a special wish. I still remember mine: live bunny and a basket of oranges! :-)

Today I am posting a continuation of the "Manolete" editorial the Part 1 of which you saw last week (right here) with a hat I named "Sino. The Matador's Mistress". I think Manolete's love story touched me more than his astonishing career as a bullfighter. In the 1940-s Manolete's earnings has been estimated at 4 million in 8 years - an absolutely insane amount of money for pre-war Spain. His face graced every single national magazine of that time, artists compited in illustrating Manolete's every win, his cult was fostered by songs in his honor, dolls with his face and even liqueur called "Anis Manolete". He became the most desirable man in Spain.

Despite this fact and despite the fact that Manolete could have any woman his heart desired his love life was surprisingly very brief. He fell in love with a young and beautiful actress form La-Mancha (yes, I know, I smiled at the name of the place remembering The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La-Mancha) by the name Lupe Sino, born Antonia Bronchalo Lopesino. She has been well known for her bold and rather shameless behavior as well as her previous romances with other famous Matadors of the time. I tried to imagine her. There are very few images of her available on line but to me she felt more free spirited and careless rather than shameless. She loved strong men and they loved her back including Manolete. Manolete met Sino in the bar and she remained by his side until his death. I think she was one of those women men have difficulty controlling, whose spirit could not be tamed by the rules and expectations of the time. Sino amazed me and I decided to create a hat you see here "Sino. The Matador's Mistress".

I wanted it to be as beautiful and as complex in detail as Sino was. Once I finished it, I realized that I could probably go on creating many color variations of "Sino" and every single version would still be baring the name of the Matador's Mistress, depicting Sino's every mood...

Potographed by Ed Hafizov for "Anya Caliendo. Couture Millinery Atelier", styled by Anya Caliendo, Make up artist Roshar, Model's - Anastasia Zubkova and Dzmitry Patuk, Corset by Jane Woolrich.

It is getting colder with every single morning as November is slowly disappearing into the past. And although I love Winter, my favorite season of all is Fall. It seems magical to me...I get inspired by it endlessly and this time it happens to be even more so. Gold is a very tough color to work with, tough color to photograph and is one of the toughest colors to design with: slide variation of shade and instead of glamorous sophistication you find yourself in the costume isle and not in a good one too. "Daydreamer" like so many of my hats happened by chance. I sort of played with an idea of suspended golden leafs and the memories of Russian forests covered in low morning fog. The idea wasn't as much of a memory as a feeling of being a whiteness to divine beauty I experienced several times and wanted to capture somehow.

I felt complete sense of serenity while working on "Daydreamer", the hat itself sort of led me to its final look. I incorporated tiny pearl Lilly of the valley flowers resting on gold toned leafs and surrounded it by distressed silk illusion. Gold leafs suspended of golden wires came from the birch tree, were freeze dried and than dipped in gold. What seemed like an enormous amount of work felt like a spiritual experience. I often get accused of living in my own head, but could never understand why is this such a bad thing? I feel the happiest when I am alone working on something like "Daydreamer". :-)

"Daydreamer" became one of the most loved and admired hats during my MBFW presentation at Lincoln Center for SS2014. Not only that, but it is now officially the most ordered hat. :-)Leaving you with details shot of "Daydreamer" hat and wishing you fabulous November weekend.

The Fall is usually a season of color revelations for me. The beauty, of course, can be found in any color, but somehow favorites among color combinations prevail while many others stay unnoticed or neglected until ..well, in my case, Fall arrives. This Fall I find myself almost obsessively drawn to emerald green as if I have never seen the color before, I am discovering it in entirely new way - the regal color, the chosen color on the pallet of "classic" colors. I actually kept a separate color file (as I do with all colors I love) for the emerald green for quite some time now wondering if I could work myself up to creating emerald hat. Still not resolved on this one since green has so many undertones. Today I am leaving you with the fabulous selection of emerald green images starting with the head image of Lanvin necklace in emerald green. I hope you enjoy it. :-) Wishing everyone fantastic week ahead. :-)

It is well documented that Manolete was thinking about retiring not long before his final battle. He was exhausted of demanding schedule, long lived rivalry with the Mexican matador ,Carlos Arruza, and his rivalry with brave young bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguin, who often challenged him publically. The relationship with Sino was also a struggle because Manolete's own family refused to accept her. She was not welcomed...

Several days before August 28th it was announced that Manolete will be fighting at Linares Bullring along with Gitanillo de Triana and Luis Miguel Dominguin. The public was beyond excited, afterall, it was announced that Manolete will be fighting against fierce bulls of Miura. On the chosen day, in unbearable hit, 10,500 people fill the ring with great expectation for the corrida to come. After a brilliant "faena" with the previous bulls, the time came for Manolete to fight the fifth Miura bull. His name was Islero, furious, powerful, fierce bull with horrendous horns. It was immediately after the final act of "muleta" when Islero dug his horn deep into the bullfighter’s right thigh. Manolete was carried out of the arena while the public went literally insane appalled by the devastating goring of their idol. But nobody was worrying just yet. Remember, Manolete was gored 11 times in his professional career and 11 times he made full recovery...

I thought how difficult it must have been for him to be able to sustain so much pressure. It wasn't just about being a #1 bullfighter but, I believe, Manolete was also in search of the stability when it came to his beloved Sino. The situation with Sino was more exhausting than performing on the arena against the most powerful bulls of Spain because it involved Manolete's family...Next week I will be publishing the final part of Manolete editorial. Today I am leaving you with the hat I named "Islero" and wishing you wonderful weekend ahead.

Photographed by Ed Hafizov for "Anya Caliendo. Couture Millinery Atelier." Stylist - Anya Caliendo, Models - Anastasia Z and Dzmitry Patuk, Make Up Artist - Roshar, Corset - Jane Woolrich Designs.

Today I am posting a new editorial with several hats created in my Atelier and requested by "Tatler" Hong Kong for December 2013 Issue. Always such a pleasure to work with an amazing stylist Ise White and her creative team (Lauren Temple my hat is off to you!). We have done several editorials to date for different publications and I am looking forward for more exciting editorials. The hat on the top image is actually a part of SS2014 "Confessions" Collection presented at Lincoln Center this September. We currently have over 50 orders just for this style along. :-) The name of the hat is "The Survival Of The Moust Wanted", Part 1 (yes, I did spell "moust" correctly) and this hat is a perfect example of how impractical style beats functional and rational approach to choosing fun head gear.

I say, lets ditch function all together for a little bit or at least for this Holiday Season. Gold sequined structured beret and pearl encrusted hat you see on the second and third images are actually the hats of what I call "intermediate production" - production between collections. We have so many hats created in the Atelier that are not a part of any Collection that at times I even forget to name them. :-)

So excited for this upcoming Christmas!!! Not only we are planning on expending in 2013 moving the production to a bigger Atelier while the existing Atelier will continue to serve as show room and class room for my Millinery School. I am, finally, in the process of hiring a production team, production manager and expending my staff into a team of approximately 10-12 people. Not easy for me - I am on top of every stitch, perfectionist and do not have an easy time trusting with production. In addition, I have resolved to NOT hire any interns on site. This is something I decided to do a long time ago. I know many professional Milliners choose to have interns working on hats. I understand financial benefits of it - minimum or no pay at all, but at the end quality suffers tremendously. I am also not a great fan of non paying jobs, never supported it, never though it is right and not about to change my mind about it now. Believe me, I have met hats done by the interns and decided that thank you, but no, thank you. Quality - is something highly appreciated by every one in the industry. My Presentation at Lincoln Center served me as a great proof of that (not that I was unaware of it before). Nothing more disappointing than coming into close contact with badly made hats. So many stylists I spoke to say that many of the hats they pull for the photo shoots are falling apart. At the end of the day - it is MY name on the label and, believe me, I take it very seriously. We are also starting to receive a lot of requests for apprenticeship - this is something I am open to and will definitely consider in 2014. :-) So all in all, 2014 is the year of expansion for my brand. So unbelievably excited! Wishing you great and super productive week ahead! :-)

There is a great little legend going around in fashion circles about Suzy: apparently Ms. Menkes literally crushed her very first Chanel show back when back by pretending to be a cleaner. She appeared at the venue at 5 a.m. on the day of the show with a broom, a mop and a handkerchief around her head (what a great fashion statement by the way! ), hid for 4 hours waiting for the show to begin... the rest is history. It is this kind of fierce dedication to the ever changing world of Fashion that makes us love Suzy so much! This and fantastic, kick-ass, must read, objective, educated, well written reviews Suzy delivers Season after Season. Congratulations, Suzy, on receiving Special Recognition Award at British Fashion Award Ceremony for the outstanding 25 year service as a fashion reporter. We are cheering for 25 more years to come! :-)

The Holiday Season is here and it is somehow difficult for me, yet again, to wrap my mind around the simple fact that another year is coming to an end. But here it is on my desk - my favorite French Vogue 2013 Calendar pointing to the inevitable fact: there are few short weeks left until Christmas and New Years. 5 years one row now, just about this time in this Blog I celebrate the beauty of the Season recognizing that it is not the end of another, old year I am so happy about, but rather the anticipation of the beginning of the new. And so one of my most favorite things is to look at Christmas Window Displays from all over the globe. New York turns into Fairy land every December and so it is became a great tradition for my friends and I to spend one pre-Christmas Sunday in New York gift shopping, wearing fabulous hats, having lunch at Bergdorf's and dinner in another fabulous place (we choose different one each year). I am looking forward to this Sunday since this is exactly what I will be doing - spending it with my friends. :-) This year global Christmas displays look as gorgeous as ever with my #1 favorite - Lord & Taylor. :-) I am seriously considering to dedicate couple of hours on Sunday looking at every single detail of these windows. :-) I am hoping your Holiday Season as beautiful, kind, generous and bright as mine. Enjoy every minute of it and I hope this post at least will put you in the mood for the magic to come. :-)

Lord & Taylor Christmas Window Displays, 2013

Saks 5th Avenue Christmas Window Displays, 2013

Tiffany Christmas Window Displays, 2013

Galleries Laffayete Christmas Window Displays, 20013

Harrod's Christmas Window Displays, 2013

Harvey Nichols Christmas Window Displays, 2013

Printemps Christmas Window Displays, 2013

TSUM Department Store in Moscow Christmas Window Display, 2013

All images are courtesy if Instagram official accounts of the store featured in combination with images byWWD site in.

"La Novia" is the final part of "The Manolete" editorial I have been introducing you for the past several weeks. If you have missed 3 previous parts of the editorial you can find them here: Part 1 , Part 2 and Part 3. Today, along with "La Novia" head piece ("The Bride" in translation from Spanish), I am posting the entire editorial. "La Novia" was inspired by what happened during the final hours of Manolete's life. As Manolete laid dying, Manolete's doctor Garrido and his team managed to stop bleeding. With in minutes Manolete underwent surgery and was given several blood transfusions. Despite all the effort his condition remained critical. To make sure that Manolete receives the best care possible the official doctor of the Madrid bullring was called to asses the situation. Dr. Giménez arrived at 4 o’clock but unfortunately too late. Manolete was pronounced dead at 5. And while the entire Spain was left to mourn his death in the state of shock, there was one more person left heart broken.

Sino. For well over a decade Manolete was a Spanish cultural hero. He earned unprecedented amount of money estimated at $4 million in the first eight years of his career in the 1940s. This is precisely why he was so financially valuable to the countless those who made money of off his career: agents, promoters, bull breeders and advertisers. Sino, as I mentioned before, was never accepted by Manolete's family. What touched me the most is the fact that while Manolete was dying, Sino was not aloud to be by his side, not even for a moment. The reason - Manolete's family and his agents were afraid that the last minute marriage can occur in which case the vast fortune of Manolete will be inherited by Sino. And so...she never had a chance to say "good by" to the love of her life. In the editorial, I tried to reunite Manolete and Sino in the final hours of Manolete's life.

"La Novia" became one of the most challenging hats I have worked on. Not only because it was styled after traditional Spanish head gear called "peineta" known for the complexity of the cut out design, but also because I decided to create it using the new to me technique - laser cut wood. The design had to be drawn and measured out. I probably destroyed close to 40 panels of the thinnest wood before "La Novia" came out exactly like I envisioned her to be. White pearl glaze solution I mixed using my own proportions was a cherry on top of the cake . And so here you have it - a complete editorial inspired by Manolete whose life story touched me so deeply. I hope you have enjoyed it. I am wishing all of you wonderful week ahead. :-)

Mr. Frederick Fox, on of the Britain's greatest and most distinguished Milliners, the Milliner to Queen Elizabeth and late Princess Diana, the inventor of what we now know as "fascinator" hat has died today in London, at the age of 82. What a glorious career, Mr. Fox. My hat is off to you, Sir.

"Claudette" is actually one of the twin hats mini hat series "Claudette" and "Matilda". You will meet "Matilda" a little bit later, of course. :-) I had nothing but fun creating both of this happy, airy, light and very chic impersonations of twin sisters Claudette and Matilda I met in France in 2010. We became great friends since than and any time I think of them, I smile ear to ear. Both Claudette and Matilda are writers, they live and work in Paris and although they do look very much alike they are actually very different in their preferences. :-) Claudette loves coffee, white chocolate, shopping: she spends insane amount of money on shoes. She believes in oversized chunky knitted sweaters, skinny jeans, long scarfs and sky high stilettos. She doesn't believe in love at first sight, possesses a healthy doze of Parisian cynicism and is a walking book of etiquette rules. Her favorite colors are "mauve pink" and "antique paper". She loves adding cognac to her morning coffee, I can hear her saying:" Well, Anja (she insists on using a letter "j" in my name rather than "y") this is just the way it is. I am in love with both cognac and coffee, so why not to combine both?"

And so "Claudette" was created to reflect real life Claudette's beautiful personality. One of my many blessings - I am surrounded by extraordinary, talented people who inspire me tremendously. :-) When "Claudette" was finished and the editorial photographed, I e-mailed the picture to Claudette to get her approval. For a week there was no answer and I even started to worry that Claudette didn't like "Claudette" after all. Too much of pinks, perhaps? - I thought to myself. Finally, a week later long awaited e-mail arrived. It read: "Dear Anja, I adore the way you see me. I adore "Claudette". I adore you. I adore your beautiful hands. I feel like Hemingway who just discovered dry martini! Would it be too much to ask to send "Claudette" to leave with me? I already bought a perfect pair of shoes to match!" Lol... And so "Claudette" went to Claudette, but not before it got itself into a dazzling spotlight of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week this past September. :-) THE END!

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It's GIVEAWAY !!! Furla Candy Bag. :-)

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The "Manolete" Editorial. Part 1.

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"Starfall" .

"Sino. The Matador's Mistress" , "Manolete" Editorial Part 2.

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"Islero", The "Manolete" Editorial, Part 3.

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Congratulations, Suzy! :-)

The Most Beautiful Christmas Windows of 2013 Holiday Season From All Over The World. :-)

"La Novia", The "Manolete" Editorial, Final Part.

Mr. Frederick Fox 1931- December 13, 2013.

"Claudette" Twin Hat, "Confessions" Collection SS2014 By My Atelier.