Kitten Magazine / K34 / Form by Kitten Magazine

KITTEN* FRESH FACES IN FASHION K34 WINTER FORM FRESH 4 CONTENTS 5 MASTHEAD FACES 8 10 12 14

MARY PING BITTER:SWEET AVSH ALOM GUR CORPICRUDI

FASHION 16 24 34 40

FUTURE FORM CLASSIC FORM MINIMAL FORM MODERN FORM

RUNWAYS 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62

KARA SAUN KEVAN HALL ANTHONY FRANCO YA YA ANAIT BIAN TEMPERLY NAEEM KHAN WILLOW

Main Cover Image: Photographer * Mike Vensel Model * Natelie Reid Fashion * Charles Chang Lima Location * NYC USA Back Cover Image: Photographer * Mike Vensel Model * Natasha Wright / Storm Fashion * Avsh Alom Gur Location * London England

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Fresh Faces in Fashion Publisher & Editor in Chief Mike Vensel Faces Fashion Runways Photo Copy

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Photos * Jhane Hoang

MARY PING * FASHION Interview by Mike Vensel

MP: My name is Mary Ping and I design clothes.

MV: Can you tell us about your education in fashion?

MV: How long have you been designing? MP: My first official show was December 9th 2001.

MP: I don’t have a formal education in fashion design. I went to Vassar as an art major and I would say that more than anything else informs the bulk of what I do.

MV: Why did you decide to become a fashion designer?

MV: What type of art did you study primarily? MP: Sculpture

MP: I’ve actually wanted to do this since I was six years old.

MV: Would you say that your fashion design is more sculpturally oriented in its approach?

MV: How would you describe you designs? MP: Classic silhouettes, but updated for a sense of modernity.

MP: I think the approach is slightly more sculptural, but not too much, I constantly think in the round, I try to incorporate everything as one whole three dimensional object.

MV: What inspires you?

MV: Do you still sculpt?

MP: It could be anything, I try to look at alot of things and I filter alot of things out, so I am constantly editing in my head, so if there is something that I think I have seen before I tend not to approach it, if its something that generates a new sensation then I tend to investigate it more. MV: Can you tell us about your fall / winter 2006 Collection? MP: Fall / Winter 06 was titled use your illusion, and I think that has alot to say about the collection in terms of juxtaposing different graphic lines and its probably the flattest collection that I’ve ever done. I tried to move away from that by adding lots of texture and surface treatments and combining those things into one piece so its sort of like tweaking the silhouette and then there is a sudden injection of say an underarm piece being a different fabric and that sort of ads the surprise.

MP: No I wish I did. MV: What have you learned the most about since you started designing? MP: Its alot of work and its not glamorous at all and I think you have to really love it to stay with it. I’ve definitely started to learn more about the very practical ends of it and trying to reconcile the design and the business aspects ,for a while I didn’t want to, I was really stubborn and then I started to realize there are certain things you have to take into consideration when creating clothes because its completely different than completing an art piece. For more please visit: www.maryping.com

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Photos * Mike Vensel

BITTER:SWEET * MUSIC Interview by Mike Vensel

SH: I am Shana Halligan and I sing and help write the songs with Kiran.

KS: Beautiful women, life.

KS: I am Kiran Shahani and I help program all of the music and put it all together. MV: How long have you been together? KS: A little over a year.

MV: Would you say fashion has an influence on your music? KS: I cant say I haven’t done a beat and thought ..hmm that would be hot On the catwalk. SH: Fashion is a huge part of our music too because every time you get on stage you get to think about; What are we going to wear? Are we going to make an impact? Its important because we are going to be out there in front of people.

MV: How did you come up with the name Bitter: Sweet? SH: We both actually thought of it independently and we sort of blurted it out at the same time. KS: We were under alot of pressure to come up with a name, the record was done but we still didn’t even have a name.

MV: You were recently featured on the soundtrack for the movie The Devil wears Prada, why do you think you were chosen and how does your music relate to fashion and what can it bring to the movie?

SH: But it just seemed really simple and it made sense.

SH: It’s hot sexy music, it makes you want to strut, it makes you feel good and strong.

KS: It caught both sides of the music.

KS: It was shocking to see us with U2 and Madonna, it was nice to see ourselves at that level.

MV: How would you describe your music? KS: Bitter sweet! SH: Its really eclectic, it pulls from alot of different genres, we don’t really have one set thing that we do, its very sex very playful, not to be taken too seriously. MV: What inspires you?

MV: What are your plans for the future? SH: We are working on our next record right now, we want to tour like crazy, we are really going to get out there. For more please visit: www.bittersweetmusic.com

SH: Everything, life experience, friends, people we know, stories we share.

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Photos * Mike Vensel

AVSH ALOM GUR * FASHION Interview by Mike Vensel

AG: I am Avsh Alom Gur and I create garments for women that treat their wardrobe as a curator of a gallery and expressing their own personality.

MV: How is designing your own brand different from working as a consultant for other brands?

AG: Everything everywhere all the time.

AG: Designing for my own company has many elements, which are very similar when comparing it to working for the other fashion companies, I was working for. But I must say that working for my own label is very liberating experience it gives my much more rounded involvement with in the brand creation and many more challenges beyond the pure design work which is still my favorite.

MV: What are your signature designs?

MV: How has your design evolved over the years?

AG: Big wraparound dress with tattered hem that can be worn in many different ways as can be seen on my web site in the video section, and my elegant silk jerseys butterfly dresses.

AG: I think if in the past I was tempted at times to go for the “shock tactics” I am now looking and investigating the shapes proportions and fit. I am highly interested in developing my own fabrics and prints and draping it on the body while giving attention to the finishing elements.

MV: How long have you been designing? AG: Always and forever. MV: What inspires you?

MV: Can you tell us about your fall/ winter 06 collections? AG: “Highly creative and inspirational take on womenswear with his signature tattered evening dresses ponchos and twisted baby doll dresses”. The A/W 06/07 collection challenges both rational glamour and our definition of beauty, different shades of black are off set by odd yellows and ripe corals. Leather, cotton silk and cashmere working in harmony together with Prints, which have a graphic geometric and abstract feel.

MV: What can we expect to see from you in the future? AG: Fantastic stuff. Beautifully made with love care and attention . For more please visit: www.avshalomgur.com

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CORPICRUDI * ART

Interview by Mike Vensel

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SS: We are Corpicrudi, a combination of two Italian words sounding like “rawbodies”. We are an artistic duo, Samantha Stella and Sergio Frazzingaro, based in Genoa, Italy, 150km south from Milan. We work on a transversal language between contemporary art, electronic music and style. MV: How long have you been together? SS: We started in late 2003. I (Samantha Stella) came from contemporary dance/theater background, Sergio from architecture and the electronic DJ scene.

Videos & photos inspired by the reality shows’ format, shot in a beautiful design hotel in Milan, in a fashion store in our city, and at the Contemporary Art Museum L. Pecci in Prato, Italy. Split in 4 episodes (bathroom, bedroom, sitting room and dining room), it was presented in many different situations, contemporary art galleries & shows, fashion stores, video and short film festivals, all over Italy. One video episode entered the Right of Light Foundation thru Saatchi & Saatchi New York. We have just completed the editing of a unique video sequence, called AMC FILM (AMC = Arena M-eats Corpicrudi, the project’s title coming from a combination of our two artistic names!), featuring simultaneous screenings of the three video sections relative to each episode. It is now under presentation in some international video art/ performance festivals in Europe.

MV: What inspires you? SS: Our contemporary imagery is coming from a mix up of fashion, cinema, videoclips, advertising and electronic music. MV: What is Corpicrudi? SS: Art, passion, aesthetic harmony research focused on a minimal, cold and frozen action. MV: Where did the idea for Corpicrudi come from? SS: The name comes from the body’s use, an instinctive essential element of our artwork due to my contemporary dance background. The project started when we were invited by some friends to present live performances for fashion stores party openings and clubs events in our town. Sergio played as DJ and I was in involved with contemporary / theater dance classes for many years...Then we were invited to perform in some festivals, mostly in theaters. Since our beginnings we were oriented to the use of videos with our live performance. We realized soon that the video language was our first love and we started to speak about “video performance”. We also love photography, so we are working on a combination of video and picture presentation. MV: What has been the response of the project so far? SS: We have mostly worked for two years on a cool project called “arena m-eats Corpicrudi. Samantha Stella’s house” co-directed and co-performed by Corpicrudi and Francesco Arena.

In these two years we also worked on our own corpicrudi projects and our works joined a private Italian contemporary art collection together with famous artists like Vanessa Beecroft, Terry Richardson, Nobuyoshi Araki...Our last efforts were spent on the serial project “Study for Stella last ciak” started with some pictures we were invited to shoot for Drome magazine, and a video and relative photo shoot at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Trento, Italy. The concept is about a study on the last action [“last ciak”] shot in an atmosphere like a movie set. Being clear that the action is untrue, it cannot actually be the last one and can still be repeated... MV: What can we expect to see from Corpicrudi in the future? SS: Well, a big amazing international project called BEAUTIFUL UNTRUE PEOPLE born and developed through Myspace online community, inspired by the sentence “lying, the telling of beautiful untrue things, is the proper aim of art”. Beautiful untrue people is a concept based on an interaction between contemporary art, music and a new aesthetic culture. We selected a series of international artists for their common vision, sound and style and invited them to submit their interpretation of the “last ciak” theme, or “last untrue action”, through pictures, videos, clothes or music “featuring corpicrudi”. For more please visit: www.myspace.com/corpicrudi

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FU TU RE FO RM

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FASHION * AVSH ALOM GUR MODEL * NATASHA / STORM PHOTOGRAPHER * MIKE VENSEL STYLING * HOLLY ALBRIGHT HAIR / MAKEUP * SALINA THIND US MANAGEMENT / MAC MAKEUP LOCATION * LONDON

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CLASSIC FORM

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FASHION * CHARLES CHANG LIMA MODEL * NATALIE REID PHOTOGRAPHER * MIKE VENSEL

STYLING * ERNA LEON JEWELRY * SUSANNA BARSEGIAN HAIR / MAKEUP * AGATA

LOCATION * NYC

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FORM

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MINIMAL FORM

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37 Kitten*

FASHION * MARY PING MODEL * JENNIFER / ID MODELS PHOTOGRAPHER * JHANE HOANG STYLING * MARK SIFUENTES HAIR / MAKEUP * AGATA LOCATION * NYC

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MODERN FORM 40

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42 42

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FASHION * JEFFER SON KULIG MODEL * JEANE / FO RD BRAZIL PHOTOGRAPHER * STYLING * MIKE VE MIKE VENSEL NSEL HAIR / MAKEUP * MI LOCATION * SAO PA KE VENSEL ULO BRAZIL

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FASHION * ADRIANA DEGREAS MODEL * MANOELA ZACHOW / FORD BRAZIL PHOTOGRAPHER * MIKE VENSEL STYLING * MIKE VENSEL LOCATION * SAO PAULO BRAZIL

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Los Angeles Fashion Week / Fall Winter 2006 Photos by Mike Vensel

KARA SAUN * RUNWAYS

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Los Angeles Fashion Week / Fall Winter 2006 Photos by Mike Vensel

KEVAN HALL * RUNWAYS

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Los Angeles Fashion Week / Fall Winter 2006 Photos by Mike Vensel

ANTHONY FRANCO * RUNWAYS

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Los Angeles Fashion Week / Fall Winter 2006 Photos by Mike Vensel

YA YA * RUNWAYS

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New York Fashion Week / Fall Winter 2006 Photos by Edward Jahn

ANAIT BIAN * RUNWAYS

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New York Fashion Week / Fall Winter 2006 Photos by Edward Jahn

TEMPERLY * RUNWAYS

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New York Fashion Week / Fall Winter 2006 Photos by Mike Vensel

NAEEM KHAN * RUNWAYS

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New York Fashion Week / Fall Winter 2006 Photos by Mike Vensel

WILLOW * RUNWAYS

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