>René Gruau, the best fashion illustrator of all time!

Rene Gruau (1909-2004) has always been my favorite fashion illustrator of all time! 

Ever since I was eighteen and studying art in Paris, all through my career, and up till now, I cannot stop being amazed at how, with 2 or 3 little brush strokes, the most astonishing lady appears: Sensual, glamourous and ultra sophisticated.

He collaborated with major magazines like Elle, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar,  L'Officiel, and Madame Figaro, and major designers like Pierre Balmain, Christian Dior, Jacques Fath, Balenciaga, Elsa Schiaparelli, Rochas, Lanvin, Elizabeth Arden, and Hubert de Givenchy and the great Yves St Laurent. Gruau gave life to their haute couture clothing with his captivating illustrations.

I'll let you browse through my favorites right here, and enjoy the lines 

as well as the composition of each page. Total respect!

>New Job: Food Stylist!

Last month, I had the chance to work on a photoshoot that did not involve fashion as usual, but another passion of mine: Food! There was a budget constraint, so I worked on the art direction as well as the food styling and it was a first for me, so i did a lot of research... and here's the result!

I hope it makes you hungry ;-)

>See you in PITTI !

I am leaving in a few hours for Florence to cover Pitti Uomo for Rectangle Jaune!

I will probably post some picts from there and get ready for a full report on RJ's blog when we come back...

UPDATE: all the info right here!

>my greetings cards

>warm wishes!

> Scandinavian Tree

Well my home tree this year is not as funky as my other trees here, here and here but it still is very beautiful: just plain white and wood ornaments... Guess I've been reading too much Scandinavian blogs lately ;-)

>Christmas sparkles with Julien Abboud and Haifa!

A funny story has been shaking the web lately: Julien Abboud the talented designer for whom I do all the visual communication has created for fun a Haifa Barbie to be able to dress her the way he dreams of, and it looks like this:

Now the dress is absolutely fabulous but the buzz it created on the web and the rumours are hallucinating!! The polemics whether we should buy this doll for our kids, the fact that Mattel created for Haifa, etc etc... Read all about it on Julien's FB page here.

And we don't even know if Haifa herself has actually seen the doll's picts (actually it was posted on her wall by her SM team...) or if Mattel even know about it!

Funny virtual world we live in...

Meantime enjoy this Christmas Red picture from our last photoshoot with Julien!

>New Tree Design !

And talking about trees, here's a tree I designed this year with recycled phone cables (Thx to the design team for execution!), for RJ shop windows in synergy with the Hitchcock campaign below...

>Tony Ward News

One of the latest jobs I've been working on involves various designs for Tony Ward the FAB Lebanese Couture Designer, Stars and Tapis Rouge favorite as you can see right here...

Above is a web newsletter layout that will be sent to fans and clients worldwide, and I will post soon the Greetings package... But hush for now ;-)

TW FB page here for more info. 

>pages from RJmag 7

You can also click here for the bloggers pages.

Nantes: Les Machines de l'ile & Royal Deluxe: XXl amazement!

I visited Nantes again for 24 hrs last week, and it still is one of my favorite spots in Brittany.
But this time I discovered Les Machines de l'Ile and was in complete awe!
Take a look at this:

François Delarozière and Pierre Orefice are actively involved in the renewal of street theatre and urban performances in Europe. They have been exploring machinery and objects in movement for fifteen years.
They chose Nantes to be the home of their XXL creations: in Nantes you could wake up one day and not be able to reach work because a Giant lady tall as building has just landed in the middle of the street and is taking a stroll around the city...
The elephant that you see above showered me in water if you want to know!... needless to say my kids rejoiced ;-)
Nantes being first on the list of "les villes ou il fait bon vivre" was a great spot for the Machines to land, but they are now traveling the globe also: Japan,  Mexico ... Click here to know more. It feels good to have people like François Delarozière and Pierre Orefice in the world,  so cheers to them!

>freshly published: the updated Julien Abboud website!

You already know the design I did for Julien Abboud 's Haute Couture website, but you might want to check it again: lots of updates, mainly in the collections page, where you can find the new photoshoots that I "art-directed"...

>Home Made Halloween

One of my favorite holidays is arriving soon and all the more reasons to get creative!
Here are a few inspirational pics from last year's Halloween...

#ThankYouSteve for everything I do everyday

Live tweets here

and also http://www.apple.com/stevejobs/

> karim haïdar, contemporary lebanese cuisine

For a few months now, I've been working with the passionate Lebanese Chef Karim Haïdar, to create the image of his company and various restaurants. And now the website developed by NoBrand following our graphic guidelines is finally out right here!
You can have a look at Karim's Bio along with pictures of his creations, and many more...
Soon you will be also able to get a taste of his talent in Beirut at Zabad restaurant!
There's been lots of talk about Zabad, but I do assure you it's worth the wait.
The menu will feature Karim's latest delicacies, interiors have been developed by my friends at Bleu , and branding by myself as already revealed .  (Though it seems some people liked it so much they put on their portfolio... ;-) )

>Fashion shoot sneak preview: Feline Amazone

I am currently working on the new ad campaign of Julien Abboud a talented young lebanese designer... The collection is not yet online but I couldn't resist posting a few photos!
I did the art direction on shoot and Imad El Khoury did the photos...