> New Christmas Wrapping : Rooly Booly

Just a cute project I just finished for Rooly Booly, the new design of the wrapping papers:

Thank you Joe for the beautiful photos!

Paradis retrouvé(e): the muse of Biolay

Don't get me wrong, I was one of many to be disappointed by Depp & Paradis' break up two years ago... However at that same period I had a kind of premonition when I first saw this beautiful clip by Benjamin Biolay "Aime mon amour"; Somehow I found in the sensual Karole Rocher (actor and director of this clip) a very "troublante"resemblance with Vanessa Paradis:

Biolay, who looks a lot like Benicio Del Toro but with an amazing sexy voice,  has aways been on my "cream of the crop"... (here with Julie Gayet (currently at l'Elysée, which is funny since the rumor says he also was with Bruni after Chiara Mastroianni) )



He also has an incredible and immense talent as a singer and writer and he did work previously with Paradis. But when she launched the "Love songs" album and tour, their collaboration was sky rocketing and it was obvious there was a lot more going on... that they did confirm recently.

Which bring us to what I wanted to say, Vanessa is now a 40 something woman, but in my eyes she is now hotter than ever, hotter that than she was with Depp, hotter than when she was with Lenny Kravitz , and somehow "la boucle est bouclée" since at the very beginning of her career Gainsbourg wrote for her, and now she is the muse of Biolay, the "digne" successor of Gainsbourg...

Just have a look and judge by yourselves:

I finish off with eye & ear candy; their sensuous latest single "Pas besoin de permis", enjoyyyy....

> From one season to the other: RJ minimag

This post means that I took too much weeks off from blogging, and I'm here to fix that!
I've got a lot to show you and will try to do that at least once very week.
Let's start with the new RJ catalogue for which I worked on the concept and art direction:

Warm colors, lots of blue, black and navy denim, as well as a lovely sweater collection...

Shot at Imad El Khoury Studio, Bouyouti & the Shouf Cedar Reserve.

Full Catalogue here:

> Fashionably late, RJ mini mag

Yep, was late to share this but have to have it here!
This SS 2014 season was very light and sporty, hence the tennis & pool backgrounds...

 

Creative direction: Maya Metni | Styling: Julien Abboud | Photography: Imad Khoury

 You can check the whole mag here:

> Art directing for ESA business school

I was lately asked to direct a 2 day photoshoot for the famous business school ESA and it was quite challenging since we were working with the real students during the real classes. What we did was integrating a few faces in the front rows, whom we casted amidst the students and school personnel.

Photos were shot by Imad El Khoury, brochures were created by the talented Nay Elian, and Art Direction by myself.

> Having fun with Bleu Objet

Being the visual communication consultant of Bleu, allows me to do lots of fun stuff, from Beirut to Bollywood, but that's another story that I will tell once finished. What I want to talk about today is their capsule collection of unique deco items, to which I create an emailer each tuesday and that we call "Les Mardis Bleus".
Here are my favorite ones, hand-picked.

#FashionFriday: Caroline Issa, an Iconic Style Muse "with a Lebanese Twist"

Don't you just love the expression "Lebanese Twist", used, re-used and re-reused to sell you sweets, mezze, crafts, businessmen & politicians?.. Well today I simply want to express my fandom!
Take a look at this beauty:

Caroline Issa, founder of Because London & editor of Tank magazine, grew up in Montreal with a Chinese mother and Lebanese-Persian father. I know, far fetched, but hey... I'm proud!! And I love this cosmopolitan mix that many Lebanese have, Beirut-London-Paris-Montreal-NYC... French-English-Arabic-Italian... It's the mixture that enriches. 

There are many influencers of Lebanese descent in fashion, but what Caroline represents is this fresh self confidence to pull up any color-texture-shape combination and still look dazzling, because she is so at ease with who she is, or at least that's what she conveys.

She has been a Londoner for more than 10 years, and that doesn't surprise me: London is such a versatile city, combining both history (like Paris) and dynamism (Like New York) which makes it the perfect capital for Tank & Because London.

Caroline is a daily source of inspiration for fashionistas around the globe, simply check google, tumblr & pinterest; but also for women entrepreneurs & pioneers of the fashion industry, as you can read here , here & here...

In conclusion? *sings* Tu es l'As de Trefle qui Pique mon fashion sense, Caro-line...

photos via the sartorialist & candice lake

> The evolution of men's clothing in the past 5 years

I must say, working in a field that revolves around fashion is quite fun and very inspiring. I've learnt a lot since my childhood years when I used to devour my mom's ELLE, through my college years, and up till this very day... In fact, i cannot remember a season or a day when I found my job boring, or that fashion is repeating itself... True every season we have an "époque revival", inspired by movies, series or life in general (Gatsby this year, Downton Abbey two years ago etc...), but it is never a mere direct application. There is always a plus.

However, all these trends are much more visible in women's fashion, since women have a playful way to adapt catwalk style to their daily lives. But in the last five years I witnessed a MAJOR change in men's fashion, and more importantly, in men's attitudes towards fashion! They are not afraid to try new things, they are playful, creative, and we definitely feel that they are having fun putting together their daily outfit, just like we women do. HURRAY!!! Finally ;-)
Style is not solely reserved to the gentlemen in touch with their feminine side, it is your right messieurs! Claim it. It is sheer pleasure for us to see you dress (and undress) and the fact that it's now giving you pleasure as well makes you even sexier to our eyes.

 So what has changed exactly? Once again, social media! Thank God for Tommy Ton or the Sartorialist (among others) who have shown the world how the smart men in Pitti (the world famous fashion trade show) dress. And it has started a "boule de neige" that exploded all over the collections, even on the high street brands.

In conclusion? Messieurs, faites vos jeux!

Photos via Tommy Ton & Eton.