Ashish Gupta is a fashion designer, based in London and designing under the label 'Ashish'. Born in Delhi, Gupta studied Fine Art in his native India before moving to Middlesex to complete a BA in Fashion Design. After completing his MA at Central Saint Martins in 2000, Gupta ventured to Paris with the intention of working in a design studio in the French capital. However, when his entire portfolio of work was stolen, Gupta instead began quietly making clothes for friends until being spotted by Yeda Yun of Browns Focus, who placed his first order in 2001. With his mix of Western and Eastern influences, Gupta's designs blend sportswear, high-octane glamour and craftsmanship. Gupta has designed outfits for a number of high profile personalities, including M.I.A, Madonna, Jerry Hall, Victoria Beckham, Kelly Osborne, Lily Allen and Patrick Wolf. Since his first show at London Fashion Week in 2004, Gupta has won the New Generation Award three times. Gupta recently collaborated with Topshop to produce an 'Ashish for Topshop' capsule range. His mainline collection is stocked in Selfridges and Browns Focus and can also be found in Italy, USA, Russia, Dubai and Kuwait. Signature: Sequins, glamour, sportswear
Criminal Chalklist - London Olympics Rioter Tee - 2012
We've already identified one of the coolest must-have pieces of the London Olympic Games 2012. The shirt marked as the London Olympics Rioter Tee is being sold all over London street markets. Inspired by
the recent London riots and created by street artist Criminal Chalklist, this is sure to be a classic.
Honorable mention: A t-shirt featuring the cover photograph from the album "Abbey
Road" printed on it, shows The Beatles holding Olympic rings as they
walk across the zebra crossing.
See more COOL features on our blog THAT'S COOL. Just click and scroll down.
Continuing our Countdown to the 2012 Olympic Games features, we bring you some of the COOLest uniforms of the games.
The UK team uniforms are designed by Adidas and Stella McCartney and will be worn across 46 sports. Stella recalls her experience, “I’ve been talking to athletes for two years,” she said. “I wanted to ask what matters to them—whether it might psychologically improve their performance to look good, what I needed to do to work around the rules and regulations of each discipline, and all their technical requirements. Some told me, yeah, if I look better it helps. Others said, I don’t care how I look as long as I can shave off a second." Keeping with the 2012 London Games theme of sustainability, the designer used recycled synthetics to create all of the apparel.
Team USA's Olympics kit is designed by Ralph Lauren and Nike. Track and field athletes will wear uniforms that Nike says could shave up to 0.023 seconds off 100-meter sprint times — a difference that could have elevated Walter Dix from bronze to the silver medal at the Beijing Olympics.
The Associated Press reported controversy about the team's opening ceremony uniforms by Ralph Lauren. "Republicans and Democrats railed about the U.S. Olympic Committee's decision to dress the U.S. team in Chinese manufactured berets, blazers and pants while the American textile industry struggles economically with many U.S. workers desperate for jobs" (Source: AP via ESPN online). The Olympics Committee disagreed with the criticism stating, "We're proud of our partnership with Ralph Lauren, an iconic American company, and excited to watch America's finest athletes compete at the upcoming Games in London." Any way you look at it, the designs are COOL.
The Olympics kit for the Italian athletes is designed by Emporio Armani. The brand released several beautiful videos showcasing the designs with striking imagery. Among our favorite details of the uniforms is the inclusion of the words to the Italian national anthem featured on the inside of the jackets.
And finally, always a personal Olympics fashion fave of ours are the Netherlands opening ceremony attire. Expertly styled, the uniforms are probably the most wearable ensembles of the games. The Dutch are generally known for their COOL and modern design aesthetic so it's no surprise that their uniforms reflect that.
See more COOL features on our blog THAT'S COOL. Just click and scroll down.
Last night, we watched a great documentary called "London Games: Building the Park" which covered all of the genius work that has gone into creating the place that will forever be known as Olympic Park in London.
Among the many architects, designers and planning managers that were featured was the legendary Baghdad native, Zaha Hadid. She is the first woman to win The Pritzker
Architecture Prize which honors a living architect whose built work
consistently demonstrates exceptional talent and vision, produced
significant contributions to humanity and the environment through the
art of architecture.
The award-winning architect was chosen to create the Aquatic Centre which will be one of the permanent buildings constructed for the Olympics. When she revealed her design, it was so COOL that the Olympics committee
decided to make it the official gateway to Olympic Park. The
spectacular roof features a curved design inspired by the movement of
water and it has become one of the most challenging engineering projects
ever. It is supported by two concrete supports and a supporting wall.
The 3000 ton piece was lifted in a single movement. The two outer structures that are on both sides of the curved center building are temporary and will be removed after the games.
Throughout her career, Zaha Hadid has won many competitions and she is now one of the most sought-after designers in the world. Needless to say, she has her place in architecture and product design. Last year, she was included in the Forbes list under "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women", justifying all the fame that her name began to be producing for major companies in the world.
