HSG

We will soon offer a more thorough write-up of this publication, but for now, we wish to alert everyone who has enjoyed IGIGI's captivating floral-themed spring images, as well as the company's fascinating From Concept to Creation video, to a newly published IGIGI look book, A Breath of Fresh Air.

- Click here to view look book

The label offers valuable insight into the concept behind the new collection via a revealing new press release, which reads as follows:

By way of a preview, we offer a look at the cover of the publication--the beguiling photograph of Kailee in which she appears to be clothed in the petals of a tropical flower, though there was surely never any blossom as lovely as the enchanting Miss O'Sullivan. Be sure to click the image to view it at a larger size.

Further commentary will follow presently, but for now, everyone is invited to enjoy IGIGI's beautiful new look book--hopefully the first of many to come.

- Click here to view look book

Pamela

The look book is enchanting. In addition to the gorgeous dress on the cover, which also appears on page 12, I love the summery floral dress on page 11, especially with the citrus sash tied in a bow. Adorable.

This is the prettiest, most feminine collection I can ever remember from IGIGI, and Kailee was just the right model to show it off, with her girlish youthfulness.

I also adore the floral backdrops that have been added to these images in the various banners and landing pages on the IGIGI site. They play up the idea of a world, and of female bodies, in full bloom.

HSG

The most captivating pictures of the look book are, of course, the photographs of Kailee veritable transforming into a hibiscus blossom, much as the Daphne of Greek myth changes into a laurel. In visuals worthy of Ovid, the swirling fabric of the dress morphs into flower petals so seamlessly that one hardly knows where the material ends and the flora begins. This is a marvellous blend of reality and fantasy, such as invariably characterizes the best fashion imagery.

Kailee contributes to the sensation of beautiful metamorphosis by the tossing of her arms and the flow of her tresses, which enhance the sense of movement imparted by these still images. She herself seems like a blossom that is opening to welcome the light of the sun--or, in this context, the viewer's gaze.

The IGIGI press release, posted above, notes the "vintage-inspired" nature of the collection, and nowhere is this aspect more evident than in the following adorably feminine item, which seems like an enchanting dress from the late 1950s. That storied decade provided a brief interlude of traditionalism in the otherwise bleakly modernist culture of the 20th century. It was the last era in which American society was more or less healthy and whole, before the troubles of the late '60s unravelled the fabric of the nation. One could almost imagine curvy Kim Novak wearing this dress in Picnic. As Pamela notes, the supremely enchanting touch is the sash tied into a pretty bow at the waist, which makes Miss O'Sullivan seem like a present just waiting to be unwrapped, or like an adorable, ladylike doll. Observe the winsome manner in which Kailee gives this item movement and shows off the appeal of the flared skirt.

The pearl necklace accentuates the '50s qualities of the dress. This is a picture of the true spirit of that innocent decade, a time that was utterly unlike the negative portrayals which Hollywood now fabricates of this halcyon period in American life. It was an era of freshness and optimism, of beauty and promise. Kailee embodies the relaxed, playful homemaker of the time, a loving wife (and soon-to-be caring mother) who enjoys her role in suburban bliss. Observe the coy playfulness of her glance, and the softness of her physique. Like many young postwar brides, her persona in this image is part girl, part woman, a young, flirtatious, yet virtuous damsel who will find happiness with a strong, noble husband; and together, the pair will have many happy years together, start a family, and make a fine life for themselves. For a brief, shining moment, before the resentment-fuelled ideologies of the 1960s rabble-rousers poisoned the culture for ever afterwards, the American Dream became a reality.

The print of the following enchanting skirt also has a vintage quality, part '50s, part rustic, and all beautiful. The wrap design of the top, however, is more distinctively contemporary, and has become an IGIGI signature style. On Kailee, with her buxom curves, the wrap construction is always appealing, particularly in this off-white hue, which so clearly defines her voluptuousness. Her raspberry-blonde tresses harmonize with the citrus colour of the outfit. Her sinuous motions evoke qualities of dance.

This image puts the "fresh" in A Breath of Fresh Air, as tangy as a glass of orange juice in the morning, as life-affirming as the sunlight streaming in through the window onto the breakfast table. Kailee is veritably bursting with joy and vitality, her tresses flowing freely, her eyes glittering with delight. Observe how the switch to an exotic necklace has given the outfit a more contemporary, bohemian character, whereas in the previous image it was more ladylike.

In a completely different vein, turning from colourful coyness to sober sensuality, the following outfit has garnered tremendous enthusiasm for the way in which it accentuates Kailee's buxom curves. IGIGI can be considered specialists in the adorning of female voluptuousness, and on Kailee's ample contours, the seductive appeal of the close-wrapping fabric is abundantly evident.

This image richly repays a closer view, to more prominently showcase how bountiful Kailee's figure appears, but more importantly, to highlight a subtle yet highly sensual feature: the dimpled flesh of her bare arm. Miss O'Sullivan may be on the smaller end of the plus-size periphery, but natural physical details such as this confirm her identity as a full-figured goddess with a soft physique.

Regardless of her dress size, Kailee's ideally round facial features and her highly emotional modelling technique are always eye-catching. The next image in the look book is electrifying, with Kailee enacting the tactile contact that the viewer would long to perform, passionately clutching her hair while a stray tress alluring falls over her face. The dramatic turn of her body accentuates the seductive context of the image, which intimates ecstasy and abandon, even as Kailee, consummate model that she is, carefully manages the effect.

Another image finds the model even more alluring tousled, with her facial features half obscured by her wildly waving tresses, and her figure arched. Her eyes arrest the viewer with their look of raw hunger and insatiable yearning.

For the final image that we will discuss, we return to a rather more stately mood, with Kailee modelling the opulent gown from the Concept to Creation video. The tulle surrounding the dress creates a fascinating effect, seeming less like fabric and more like moisture-laden atmosphere, particularly around the model's legs, where it seems to congeal like white mist, before flowing up around the model's arms and shoulders, as if it were a living entity wrapping her in its ethereal embrace. Kailee's expression is fittingly aristocratic, while her eyes have an uncommonly feline quality, making her seem quite bewitching, in the manner of the lamia-like Geraldine from the Coleridge poem "Christabel" (1816):

Far from an innocent bride, there is something mysterious and otherworldly about this goddess in her opulent gown.

This essay highlights only a few of the stunning images in the new IGIGI look book. Be sure to click on the link provided in the first post in this thread to view the rest of the publication's captivating pages. Should you find any of the fashions appealing, visit the URL posted below to peruse the various product pages.

Bravo to IGIGI and Kailee for yet another beguiling presentation of timeless, feminine beauty.

- Click to view the Breath of Fresh Air collection

M. Lopez

I adore the look book. The idea of Kailee as the stamen of a flower, with the dress being the petals around her, is brilliant and visually enticing.

It immediately reminded me of a thread on this forum from several years back, about an episode of the series Samurai Jack, in which the eponymous samurai confronts a mysterious, beautiful figure known (significantly) as the "Goddess of Spring":

http://www.judgmentofparis.com/boar...read.php?t=1741

In this episode, if you will recall, the figure figure appears to Jack when the petals of a five-foot-tall flower open up, revealing her within.



The images of the goddess enveloped in flower petals recall the pictures in the look book, showing Kailee organically enmeshed in her floral dress.



Flowers are quintessentially feminine, and Kailee is especially so, therefore the association that the look book makes is very compelling.