Screened at this year’s Venice International Film Festival, ‘Somebody’ was created as part of Miu Miu’s ‘Women’s Tales’ series, a showcasing platform for talented female directors and a means to ‘explore the feminine love affair with Miu Miu’. A killer wardrobe and an app that facilitates some serious victories for the women using it means that it does this, and more.

Blanca and Yolanda, two best friends arguing over who has the right to wear the fabulously normcore Miu Miu padded shell jacket they’re both sporting (nothing more annoying than a bessie copying your instagrammed fashion finds!) Throw into the mix some savage boy-probs and the possibility of kissing and making up becomes ever more distant. Or does it?

Enter: Somebody.

This is the new messaging service that allows you to say ‘face to face’ those things that might be difficult or even impossible to say otherwise. In Blanca and Yolanda’s case, that somebody is a pink-knit Miu Miu clad granny. “I don’t wana be in no fight with you Blanca, you my home girl! This is stupid” says granny on Yolanda’s behalf. Although the girls are actually standing right next to each other, part of the beauty of the app is that you can dump an unwanted boyfriend from a distance (with a tad more warmth than an unfeeling text and crappy *sadface emoticon). The ‘Somebody’ website explains that when you send your friend a message through Somebody, it goes — not to your friend — but to the Somebody user nearest your friend. This person (likely a stranger) delivers the message verbally, acting as your stand-in.’ You can give your stand-in directions for their message delivery, such as ‘nervously’ or ‘longingly’, and give them instructions such as ‘hug’ or ‘fist bump’ (high five to anyone who has the balls to carry out the ‘tell your life story’ command to a complete stranger).

The incredible thing about this app is the way in which it attempts to challenge how we interact with each other. It cleverly questions the way in which we approach and use the sometimes very two-dimensional world of social media. July has said of her creation: “I see Somebody as a world-wide public art project, inciting performance, connection between strangers and conversation about the value of inefficiency and risk.” ‘Somebody’ puts back into messaging a little of the tenderness we may have left behind with the creation of touch screens and unlimited minutes and texts.

In this sense, it presents us with a paradox: whilst our messaging experience becomes more human and intimate (because we’re sharing it with an actual person as opposed to a screen), it becomes something strange and uncanny, as our friend’s message is communicated by a total random. The film itself delves into the realms of surreality, with a weirdly climactic finish (seriously – Anthony the plant wants his prison worker attendee to “test (his) soil. Deeper.”) Herein lies the potential of ‘Somebody’ to turn ordinary situations into extra-ordinary ones (although we can’t promise you that any techno-savvy potted plants who’ve got the horn will start springing up in offices across the country). As Muiccia Prada herself said of the AW ’14 collection that features in the short: “Normality is weird” – in the same way that Mrs Prada re-contextualised quilted nylon to make it the most desirable luxury item imaginable, ‘Somebody’ has the potential to turn the most mundane of daily exchanges into uber-exciting encounters with the unknown.

Words: Florence Trott.

The post Miu Miu Women’s Tales: Somebody appeared first on Wonderland.

Following this weeks Shu Uemura announcement, it’s without a doubt that Karl Lagerfeld’s cat Choupette is the most fashion-forward feline around. Described by her legendary owner as having an ‘attitude like a princess’, the Prima-pussy was borrowed from model Baptiste Giabiconi and never returned. Here we narrow it down to seven reasons why being the most privileged and pampered of pussies must rock.

CHOUPETTE DOES ‘SHUPETTE’

The sassy Siamese has just scored her own beauty contract with Japanese cosmetics company Shu Uemura. The collection, of which she is not only the face, but also the muse, is aptly named ‘Shupette’, and is rumoured to include furry falsies. This begs the question: what on earth would a cat need fur eyelashes for?

FUR REAL

Her unapologetic furriness. Those fantastically fluffy pins. Not for Choupette, the weary battle against body-hair waged by women across the globe.

THE PRIVATE LIFE OF A HIGH-FLYING FASHION CAT

Choupette is one accomplished kitty. Not only is she the first household pet to launch a makeup line, she has also had a line of accessories created in her image, including a knitted hat with ears and whiskers. Perhaps most astonishing of all, her first book is soon to be published, ‘Choupette: The Private Life of a High-Flying Fashion Cat’. We imagine it will read like the glittering biography of an A list model-come-heiress.

CAT COIFFEUR

Should Choupette wish to (cat)nip out at any time, she has a chauffeur at her disposal, as well as two maids (day & night, daaahling) to take care of her every hair and beauty need. With a glossy coat like hers, you can understand the need for a round-the-clock coiffeur.

KITTY WANTS IT, KITTY GETS IT

Oops! The cats out of the bag! Well no, actually, she’s in it. According to Lagerfeld, Choupette’s favourite ‘toy’ is a Colette shopping bag, and this magnificent moggie sure knows how to shop. According to a recent tweet by @ChoupettesDiary, she was no. 1 on the waiting list of 600 for Fendi’s ‘Karlito’ bag charm. Jealous much?

THE CAT THAT’S GOT THE CREAM

Her impeccable and sophisticated taste. She dines every night on pâté and croquettes served in Goyard ‘Chic du Chien’ (we assume /Chat) dishes. You heard us: Goyard. No wonder she looks like the cat that got the cream.

CAT NAP

Despite this career cat’s endless workload, we imagine that, as-per cat nature, she also gets to snooze for most of the day. This cat clearly knows what she wants, and she has a damn fine way of getting it.

All images taken from Choupettes Diary.

Words: Florence Trott

The post 7 Reasons We Want To Be Choupette appeared first on Wonderland.

It’s clearly no longer enough to simply dress the inhabitants of a city as glamorous as Florence; now Emilio Pucci, the granddaddy of capri pants, is dressing the city itself. Painting the town red? We’re painting the town Pucci.Last week saw Florence’s Baptistery dressed to the nines in the Maison’s iconic ‘Battistero’ print; a faithful-to-size rendition of the architectural design adorning the walls of the very building it was inspired by. The kaleidoscopic installation conceals the marble façade of the basilica in a symbolic rendering of the designer’s strong ties to the city – with an aristocratic Florentine lineage stretching back to the Italian Renaissance, the Marquise Pucci drew inspiration for his prints from centuries of Italian history and art; no cheap imitations here – this is serious stuff.

A unique meeting between art, fashion and architecture in Florence, the #MonumentalPucci installation reflects the house’s great heritage on a vast scale; one that is in stark contrast to little Barbie in her Pucci Braniff Airways uniform back in ’65. With the grand marble Baptistery’s transformation into pop-art spectacle, it seems that Pucci loves a contrast – just look at the fashion house’s most recent A/W RTW collection, which saw vintage pink & brown Pucci prints overlaid with rock-chick silver studs and cow hide. Every unique image of Pucci’s inimitable style only serves to demonstrate the Maison’s continuing ability to celebrate popular culture whilst staying true to their Mediterranean roots.

We wanted an invite to the exclusive cocktail party held at the Palazzo Pucci itself after the unveiling. In the spirit of fashion-meets-art, guests were able to discover the creative techniques employed by the ‘Prince of Prints’ himself through a special experience entitled ‘design the dream’. Afterwards, exclusively at the Emilio Pucci boutique in Florence, the archival 1957 print scarf was on sale in several colour variations – now that is dreamy.

Words: Florence Trott

The post Monumental Pucci appeared first on Wonderland.