Four weeks, thirty-one days, and countless hours were spent happily reviewing cultural happenings this July. Considering I clocked in two trips to Antwerp, two trips to Paris, a trip to Barcelona and a bit of Eastern influence in Berlin and Prague – I am well obliged to share my moments with you my dear friends at StyleCaster.
It is without question that my highlights were running through the National Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp (where Lady Gaga shot her American Vogue cover) in my socks, sipping Champagne as we filmed ‘Then Was My Neophyte’ for Vogue Italia – the historic museum was closed for renovation and we were able to shoot alongside the Rueben’s paintings as they were being archived. In Paris, I sat next to the ever-fabulous Catherine Baba at Nadja Swarovski‘s private dinner for Hussein Chalayan in the Louvre staring down the Tuileries. Just as I thought it could not get any better, I found myself running down the lawns of the Grand Trianon into the fireworks for the close of Haute Couture. Barcelona proved to be equally exhilarating, even in the off moments. For example, I was caught mid-storm swimming in my hotel’s rooftop pool with the designers of Mal-Aimee. Then I was watching Fisherspooner’s stage shatter with excitement in Berlin for Raf Simons curated Transmission 1 series of cultural events.
Thankfully, I had the handsome company of New York girl-about-town Michelle Harper, who accompanied me in Paris, Barcelona and Berlin for various events and happenings, adding a bit of glamour to the various airport terminals throughout Europe. The slideshow is an overview of my highlights from the five cities that dominated my birthday month.
Kristopher Arden-Houser, born in California, now lives and works between New York City and Antwerp. Collaborating with international brands, creative directors and editors alike, he recently sat on the master juries of both LaCambre and the Royal Academy of Art in Belgium. Arden-Houser has contributed to T Magazine – NY Times (US), Vogue Italia (IT), British Vogue (UK), A Magazine Curated by (BE), Ponystep (UK), Fantastic Man (NL), Style.com (US) and LURVE Magazine (FR), among a myriad of other consulting and special projects. For more information, visit www.from1000.tumblr.com
