"We, the people, decide what is style. This is the most empowering aspect of fashion." These words, along with the exquisite black and white patterned dress on the front and back book jacket, invited me to read further. I like the idea that I can play a part in the fashion scene, albeit a small one. I also fantasize about being able to find design like this, described as: "Liquid Architecture, Organic Geometry, and Origami" as well as a multitude of others. Toledo's strong familial influences are evident in her dedication: "To my father for his wisdom of style. To my mother for the love of fashion. To my sisters for providing me with their closets to raid. To my second father, Pops Toledo, for exposing me to the professional landscape of fashion and to my mother-in-law, Oneida, for making Ruben." Toledo is all about learning from and keeping connected to everyone and everything around her. "The world has no seams". She is reverent about others she admires: Karl Lagerfeld, who was first to call her a couturier, and Bill Cunningham, who has a " third eye for fashion"and uses it in an "ongoing documentary of Fashion Life on Planet Earth". She met her husband, Ruben Toledo, artist and illustrator, in high school and the two of them continue to share their talents and passion for design with the world, today. He illustrated this book, and each drawing could be framed and would tell a whole story in itself. The first picture is of her antique sewing machine, strong, enduring and red. The thread from the needle flows into her signature, as full of action as she is. Classic black and white and always with a touch of red - the clothes, the people, every illustration is an in depth-multi-layered statement of style and stylish people. Of her many accomplishments, she says that her coat and dress being worn by Michelle Obama on Inauguration Day, was "a humbling gift from the universe". This book is a treasure both for Isabel's story as an outstanding designer, and for her life in gorgeous detail, by her husband, Ruben Toledo.
Ruben Toledo Illustration
No comments:
Post a Comment