Two of my favorite things combined…food and fashion. The latest Food Network Challenge was Fashion Cakes. The designers created cakes that represent the NY-based fashion line, alice & olivia. I love the concept of their line - a mix of an uptown and downtown girl’s looks and being able to mix and match their styles. The collection that inspired the cakes in this episode is from fall 2009. I’ve pulled a few styles from the line that reflect the cakes that were designed.
left: alice & olivia fall ’09 nymag.com; right: Food Network Challenge cake, sugarcraft.com
Jennifer Matsubara used the feathers from this alice & olivia skirt as inspiration for the top of her cake.
She also incorporated every fabric possible. Edgy buckles at the bottom, leather ruffle in the middle, above that, lace made by sugar viel, one of the coolest decorating cake techniques that achieves a very thin, thread-like, lace texture. To top it off, feathers and my favorite part, the deco-like chandelier of dots. Whimsical and fun.
alice & olivia spring ’08, nymag.com
Michelle Doll went for a more literal interpretation and re-created this sleek, black gothic chair from her visit to the alice & olivia studio and put the cake on the seat. Definitely very unique as I’ve never seen anyone do a cake with another large sculpture such as a chair.
left: alice & olivia fall ’09, nymag.com; right: joshuajohncakes.com
Joshua John Russell took on an ambitious cake with 27 layers, all cut in different diameters to form the contour of a woman’s body. For the face, he created two masks to represent both the uptown and downtown girls. One side of the cake was more elegant and classic, using the buckle design like on the belt above, and the other side was more colorful and fun.
left: alice & olivia fall ’09, nymag.com, right: cakeoperaco.com
Alexandra Pellegrino, is a cake artist from Canada and a newcomer to Food Network Challenge. Its refreshing to see a new artist and hopefully she’ll appear on more episodes. All of her cakes are opera-like, very grandiose and baroque in style, hence the name of her company, Cake Opera Co. She hand-stamped flowers for her cake, like the ones on the jacket.
To get an idea of the style of her cake, it is similar to the one shown on the right. The main structure is very elegant and pure but the black breaks it up and gives it an edgy feel.
I won’t spoil the result but it was a great episode - refreshing, after the many Disney-related episodes (which are not bad, just a bit much).