We are happy to share our exciting collaboration with WESS Motors Lexus. We have been greatly inspired by the new LEXUS RX, its modern and elegant shape has artistically influenced our couture capsule collection. We are very excited to share with you our 3 couture looks!
*at the time of writing this article its author knew pretty all there is about the harm that mass produced yeast, raising agents and baked soda can cause, but was yet to be educated enough about the health problems that gluten can cause. therefore, author is sure that the recipes and text it self is still relevant if reader substitutes the words “wheat flour” to “buckwheat flour”, “corn flour” or any other gluten-free flour.
i must admit that this post is written on the same day that the last one was published. and the main inspiration for it is not just the enthusiastic response that the author received (special and tremendous thanks on this one, though to be honest i still think those who read me just feel sorry for my lack of other, certain talents). oddly enough, artemy lebedev was the one to cash some truth out by suddenly posting about gluten. it is also important to note that, this ode to gluten will most likely interest the chick population more.
first allow me to tell you how it all began. i am based in cyprus now. not to offend anyone, but majority of people here do not care about healthy diet. bio-, raw- and vegan shops are still in the birth phase around here and it is quite habitual to see a cypriot warmly greeting you while he is setting up a barbecue to roast some baby lamb next to his stairwell.
i have spent hours reading nutritional information of each and every product provided at local bakeries. i was horrified by realizing what exactly my family members were putting into their bodies. the decision was obvious to me: go and grasp the nettle.
pastry… it actually provokes pathogens inside the gut itself, but you really don’t want to know how nice it is in comparison to the “presents” given to your body by industrial bread (specifically gluten flour, yeast and soda mixed all together). there are still individuals like my dad, who can swallow an inch2 leather boot and not fall down choking, but the fact is that a normal person’s body is not able to digest it. Moreover, it makes the insides of our bodies cozy birth place for a huge amount of undesirable bacterias. and yes, people professing raw and strict vegans might punch me, but still there is a place for substitutes. same way as love dolls and dildos are better than nothing.
i can make pretty much any type of an event that you dream of come to life – a wedding, corporate event, birthday, fashion show, conference, etc. are all up my alley. and that is what I am successfully busy with on my non-culinary days. but when it comes to planning and running my stuff in the kitchen, most of the time it becomes a disaster. that is why you should not expect any precise numbers and ounce measurements, just cook with all of your heart and get ready to see the unexpectedly delightful reactions from the ones you cook for.
and look, there is one more bright side: the recipes you will find below are easy and fast to grasp, and for those of you who won’t follow my mood of self-sacrificing formalist which can’t start with baking before making the space look nice and tidy after whipping up the eggs, each recipe will take just about an hour.
okay, go!
its easier than it seems aka yeast-free breads
main ingredients:
3 cups of flour (I put wholewheat flour, which makes me feel a bit more guilt-free)
1 cup of a natural yoghurt
1/2 a cup of any vegetable oil (you can put a whole one if you are not afraid to get a little bit more booty afterwards)
1 cup of soaked oatmeal (better if you put quinoa or amaranth, it is after all gluten-free – a little less intoxication never hurt nobody)
2-3 cups of carrot juice pulp (or same amount of grated carrots)
ballpark estimation:
fresh dill
fresh parsley
salt and pepper
seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, hemp, poppy, flax, sesame. hemp seeds are especially important if this bread’s target market are kids – they will chuckle and say it’s eyes)
O/R:
red onion and garlic
the act itself:
since these breads are without soda, yeast and raising agents, be prepared that it is going to be a hard time for its content to be ready the same time as the crust, so just let them take their time.
the breads are most likely going to be ready in forty minutes, still if they’re not just turn off the oven and leave them alone for another hour or two. anyways, dough is toxic to eat while still steaming hot.
bye-bye miss american pie
i guess it is the right time to make a confession – yes, i do have a new juicer, and passion for a fresh carrot juice has made me produce vegetable pulp in industrial quantities. needless to say, there is just no place i could put it into anymore. that was until the moment that carrot cake came into my life.
main ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup of sugar(I take 1/2 cup of brown)
1/2 cup of vegetable oil (most delicious if you put coconut oil instead)
2 cups of flour
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp nutmeg
1 cup of carrot juice pulp
a pinch of salt
ballpark estimation:
nuts!
the act itself:
break a couple of eggs into the blender and start adding sugar very slowly, frequently mixing it into eggs – it takes a minute to do with a blender and five if you mix it by hand. If you do decide to do it by hand you can easily skip your next gym class. add spices and salt. generously pour the potion with oil, while slowly adding flour as you have already mixed the sugar in.
the readiness of the dough is easy to check – as soon as the spoon is standing straight in it- you’ve got it! then mix pulp into the dough. now it’s time for final touches.
not sure if there is a definite need for it, but I give a round little bun about half an hour to breathe a little cool air and put it into the fridge.
all that comes next is a sweet housewife dream come true – warmed up pan, airy parchment paper, oil drop smudged on it, rolled round little bun placed under a foil cover, 200 degrees, 40 minutes, and you are as happy as gluten can make you. For a total la vie en rose moment feel free to put some whipped cream on top…
not a one trick pony
the pulp cake is prepared with any imaginable juice pulp. Does not matter if it is carrot, lemon and orange as it normally is for me, or celery and beetroot can too be great substitutes.
however, you still have to be really careful when it comes to citrus fruit – lemon peel is a good thing that one can have too much of. therefore I advice you to separate your lemons from their zest beforehand.
in the mean time the benefits of brown sugar (and i don’t mean drugs here) is an illusion of better life created by talented marketing teams hired by food industry, so if you are not totally addicted to it, feel free to forget to add it). noney would not work as an alternative here either – hope you all have already heard that it becomes cancerogenic when warmed up.
well, that’s it for today. one last thing – i wish you bon appetit!) eat consciously, and may all the buns in your life be plump and golden)
Stefanija Moroz for M-Couture Latvia
Text original: http://www.zrivnutro.com/2015/01/ода-клейковине/
We are extremely happy and proud that one of our favorite Russian pop singers Polina Gagarina chose M-Couture for a annual Song of the year concert. Thank you Polina!
ICONS THAT INSPIRE M-COUTURE
Though placed in the shadows of her impeccably dressed, late sister Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis, Lee Radziwill has managed to forge a spot for herself on the A list of fashion icons. From her classic, tailored separates to show-stopping fur coats to little black dresses, it’s no wonder she continues to lure the photographers’ cameras even if she is a little over 80.
And here is a nice interview by Sofia Koppola with Lee Radziwill. It is quite obvious why we like her…the style, the manners… maybe even a bit more than her lovely sister.
No day at our studio passes without discussion about latest exhibitions and art. Art fest at Miami is over, but we really enjoyed works by photographer Ramona Rosales presented by De Soto Gallery. Balloooons might save the day!
Recently, while traveling to Helsinki we met fashion editor of magazine PASTAIGA – Anita Sedlina. She is not only a very talented journalist, but a style icon almost always dressed in black and very keen for wearing statement pieces by different local and international designers. We thought she is the right person, the first one to talk to in our series about color that inspires – M-Couture Blue.
The game is easy, we ask different people about what MUSIC, MOVIE, BOOK, ART, PLACE, FOOD comes in their mind when they are hypnotized by M-Couture Blue.
Here is what Anita said:
MUSIC/SONG : Francoise Gardy: Tous les garcons et les filles. I’m blown away by the carelessness and elation of the song, and of course the singer herself – femme fatale beauty and very “frenchie” attitude. Also…the classicaly feminine silhouette of a 60s woman is still a hot topic nowadays, and this all together makes the perfect mix seen in the collections of M-Couture.
MOVIE: The aesthetics and simple translation of complex situations in a very easy going manner with a drop of lovely irony seen in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom.
BOOK: Nothing really comes to mind.
ART: landscapes of Claude Monet, especially “A Spot on the Banks of the Seine”.
PLACE: Summer, terrace, can’t really identify a specific location, but the feeling is the most imprtant – freedom and peace.
FOOD: Slow breakfast, no hurry: croissant, strawberries and a big cup of coffee.
Photo: Anita’s personal archives
M-COUTURE BLUE code: Pantone 644C
Every fashion girl knows, that perfect nail polish makes the look complete. M-Couture in cooperation with Ambassade de la Beaute hit the SS15 show during Riga Fashion Week with girls in bold color coats, super sexy leather pencil skirts and manicure/pedicure by Kure Bazaar. If you are not yet familiar with the brand, that does fashion weeks around the globe more polished, then you have missed a THING.
Look what Sally Singer, Vogue Creative Digital Director has to say about Kure Bazaar: “I am completely smitten with Kure Bazaar’s creamy demi-gloss polishes: a Nordic palette, flawless finish, and eco to boot! When in Paris, I head to a picnic table installed in the lingerie department of Le Bon Marché where, in under 30 minutes, my nails are expertly refinished by the Kure team while I reflect on the Wolford tights, Falke socks, and Princess Tam Tam gingham underpinnings I’ll soon be walking out with. The best beauty pit stop ever!”
Now you don’t take a trip to Paris to get a standing manicure appointment, instead you go to Ambassade de la Beaute – they are first to bring high fashion naildos to Riga.
Address: Blaumana 12a, Riga, Latvia
Web: www.ambassade.lv/en
Backstage photos: Vika Anisko
Catwalk photos: Aiga Redmane
ICONS THAT INSPIRE M-COUTURE
Actress Brigitte Bardot is known for her deshabille hair and au naturel appearance the epitome of amoral French sexuality. British Vogue called her “the sensuous idol, a potent mixture of the sexy and the babyish”. She was known simply as BB (the French pronounced it bebe), and the phrase “sex kitten” was invented to describe her. Her everyday style – narrow trousers and tight black sweater reflect the nancholant beat style. She also popularized flat ballet pumps and set a trend for not wearing socks in her film And…God Created Woman (1956). Brigitte also liked wearing ruffles, ringlets, petticoats. Jeanne Moreau wrote that Bardot, “was the real modern revolutionary character for women”. Can’t deny that we have imagined Brigitte wearing M-Couture SS15… she would just be perfect in the leather skirt…
Intensive. Feminine. Colorful. JOIE DE VIVRE. As Wikipedia says: “It is French phrase often used in English to express a cheerful enjoyment of life; an exultation of spirit.” Artistic director Julia Sardykova leads M-Couture through this fantastic adventure. This is backstage of M-Couture SS15 shot by Vika Anisko. Enjoy!
After Rain is a collection full of joie de vivre, and maybe a french Après la pluie would suit even better to describe the vibe. The mood built around brand’s second SS15 could be announced as a dynamic relationship between minimalism and maximalism where fluid lines become expressive, where perfectly fitted leather jackets are paired with fly away skirt, at the end proposing a striking silhouette. It resembles so much what can be experienced, when drops of rain are burned by the boiling rays of sun – hard becomes soft, girlish becomes boyish, timeless becomes urban and vice versa. M-Couture is known as a brand expressing femininity and pastels, but head of the brand Julia Sardykova is taking the next big step by adding a vivid color palette, experimenting with broken lines, opposing curves, overlaping and draped on body fabrics.
Following the brand’s philosophy that “fashion is art”, the brand is building a strong relationship around this important aspect, by adding original prints designed by Julia herself – impressionism style oil painting has been reproduced on different fabrics and seen on fitted jackets, skirts and dresses.
So for the next summer be prepared for a quiet luxury, that might become a real sense of cool.
Photo: Vika Anisko
Style: Julia Sardykova, Santa Bindemane
Make-Up: Katerina Hlopova
Model: Nikola Osipova
