Adam Tan:
He was initially thought to be around 35, but I think as I wrote him, he became a bit older in my mind. I had in mind the owner of a fashion retail and distributing
company, but really, the image is of a 'suit' figure. I think in my mind's eye, he really is made up of all the suits I have known, the money men, the bankers and etc.
It is assumed that Adam Tan got to know Dana Lee through fashion events and parties through the years, definitely on a professional level a few years back before the story started.
Eventually I got a sense that Adam probably was in love with Dana from the very beginning of their relationship. In fact, the first drafts of the story had Adam as Dana's college friend, so the relationship certainly isn't new and seemed likely to work.
Later Adam, became a bit more of a prosperous banker type, a lady's man, confident with a practiced charm. There's always something slightly negative about his wealth, something a bit vulgar. I think I got that from the global financial crisis and the feeling that it is caused by the money men of the world with their rapacious greed and amorality. That he eventually, and quickly switched from Dana to Bella shows just what he is made of.
I think Dana Lee does get rather seduced by the ease and luxury of his world, coming as she does from fashion and all its materialistic concerns; But I think Dana rather romanticises this aspect of Adam, and doesn't truly know very much about him.
Eli Kee:
Eli is the younger man, I never thought how much younger, but perhaps Eli is about 30?
He's very talented, a musician, and of course he's very beautiful, which is what sparked Dana's interest in him. She first comes across him at a photoshoot and he's lit like a vision. I always thought of Eli more as a cellist; the piano playing thing came from Jay Chou!
Dana doesn't know, doesn't even think that Eli is from a wealthy family, so her passion and emotion for him is 'true'; she yearns of course for the real (talent, beauty, etc) because her world is of the surface, the superficial. Her longing for nature comes from the same place.
I couldn't let Dana end up with a pauper, so I gave him a lovely old rich family and a vast garden where hopefully they will be married.
After thinking about the Spring 2013 season for a bit, I must say that a few collections really surprised me with their strong showing. These are labels that I don't habitually like (ie, not my sacred cows!) but this season, there seems to be new energy, cohesiveness and creativity in their designs - which leads me to think that maybe they hired new assistants?
Riccardo Tisci has always been too 'trendy' for me, with a too-cool-it-hurts hype that doesn't seem to have any connection to his actual designs. Besides I never liked the gothic aesthetic (usually marketed as "Italian Catholicism" - whatever). But this season seems refreshingly different, and I liked it on first sight, the clarity, lightness and reduction. Also Mr Tisci's take on this season's key trends looked the most relevant, attractive and light, including the smoking, ruffles and minimalism in tunics and shifts. The baby blue is so pretty!
Really? Mink coats for spring? Mink coats with floral motifs? The Richard Avedon Vogue July 1967 cover of Twiggy immediately spring-ed into my head (see right). This season, Miuccia Prada showed shapes that are classic Prada: The modest shift dresses, the pencil skirts, the robe-coats worn open over bra tops and granny pants. All these were made in duchesse satin, that stiff, smooth almost ceremonial silk, recalling the label's heritage (this fabric was the star of the label's first few seasons).
This season the styles were made fresh by Mrs Prada's take on the Japanese aesthetic. I can only hope magazines aren't going to be literal next year and shoot Memoirs of a Geisha spreads - it would be too tiresome for words. Some of the dresses featured rigid folds that echo the folds of traditional Japanese dress, with the stiffness of obis, and the geometry of orgami - all of which you can read elsewhere as critics go into overdrive, but none will say, as I do here, that the folds recall more the elaborate gift-wrapping that comes from any purchase made in a Japanese shop. The outfits look like precious parcels. The floral motifs are fairly obvious takes (the LV monogramme canvas has these ancient flower icons) and could have come straight from those half-curtains you need to flick as you enter a sushi joint, as are those tabi socks worn with sandals, embellished with bows that are pure Hello Kitty.
Altuzarra did this patchwork aunty (amongst other horrors) - this, alas, passed for sophistication. Cannot understand.
Derek Lam used the most unflattering colours he could find and made them into the unlikeliest shapes. Why bother?
