The very popular vulgarity

Cathy Horyn has been banned by Armani and D&G to attend their shows. It seems that they were offended by her coments on what is their best value as brands: the flashy, the barroque that screams designer above all other sartorial qualities. The question is: why would they change what is the basis of their bussines: popular (vulgar) taste?! I think both Cathy Horyn and the Offended Italians are fighting over the given value to flashy fashion.; for some a good thing for others the worse that can happen to brand. There is in deed a space for that product:"Italy's top fashion houses are certainly in robust financial health - D&G's worldwide sales recently topped €1bn (£679m) and Salvatore Ferragamo expects to open 15 new American boutiques over the next four years."

In the other hand it is said by even American Vogue editor that is a matter of evolution...That the italian houses are not sponsoring new talent or directions...But why would they? Heritage is one of the basis of aesthetic expresion in that culture and the fundament of the "made in Italy" kind of marketing. I think there are many elements in this case that are totally missed. It is not a matter of good taste vs. bad taste but success vs obscurity. DriesVan Noten does not offer the solutions than D&G so can they be expected to be as "elevated"...Dries follows a "nordic" aproach, not an Italian approach to fashion. In summary I think the critics are demanding a level of artistry and cutting edge that is not the nature of the mass market fashion appeal of D&G, Cavalli or Armani... Skills are not the same for merchants as they are to fine artists; the conceptual in fashion is not the same than the perceptual in fashion.

"Italian fashion became world famous because of its raffinatezza - refinement: the cultured eye of designers produced by centuries of Italian artistic genius, yoked to the highest standards of craftsmanship in Europe.

Then, in the Sixties and Seventies, Italians discovered trash, glitter, bling and gold lamé - the whole cavalcade of explosive vulgarity. They won fans and markets all over the world and built commercial empires. Today Roberto Cavalli is designer of choice for the footballers' wives, D&G's look gets ever harsher and more exploitative.

Meanwhile the raffinatezza vanished - and somewhere along the line the fizz went out of the work, too. That's what the sharpest critical minds are detecting now: the same old flashy ideas trotted out season after season, and a dire absence of distinctive new talents coming up behind.

"They have to embrace the future," Anna Wintour, the editor of US Vogue, commented at Armani's show in Milan. "There are wonderful, talented people here, but it's always the same names. Where is the support? Where is the sponsorship? You have to embrace the future of fashion and look for the next generation."

SOURCE

Supremacist experiment

BEIJING (REUTERS) - Chinese tourism authorities are seeking investment to build a novel concept attraction -- the world's first "women's town," where men get punished for disobedience, an official said Thursday.

The 2.3-square-km Longshuihu village in the Shuangqiao district of Chongqing municipality, also known as "women's town," was based on the local traditional concept of "women rule and men obey," a tourism official told Reuters.

"Traditional women dominate and men have to be obedient in the areas of Sichuan province and Chongqing, and now we are using it as an idea to attract tourists and boost tourism," the official, surname Li, said by telephone.

The tourism bureau planned to invest between 200 million yuan ($26 million) and 300 million yuan in infrastructure, roads and buildings, Li said.

"We welcome investors from overseas and nationwide to invest in our project," he added.

The motto of the new town would be "women never make mistakes, and men can never refuse women's requests," Chinese media have reported.

When tour groups enter the town, female tourists would play the dominant role when shopping or choosing a place to stay, and a disobedient man would be punished by "kneeling on an uneven board" or washing dishes in restaurant, media reports said.

The project, begun in the end of 2005, was expected to take three to five years to finish.

the evil side of the FBI fighting art

No banners in Sao Paulo

"Imagine a modern metropolis with no outdoor advertising: no billboards, no flashing neon signs, no electronic panels with messages crawling along the bottom.

Come the new year, this city of 11 million, overwhelmed by what the authorities call visual pollution, plans to press the "delete all" button and offer its residents unimpeded views of their surroundings.

But in proposing to transform the landscape, officials have unleashed debate and brought into conflict sharply differing concepts of what this city, South America's largest and most prosperous, should be.

The statute's most visible impact promises to be at eye level and above. The outsized billboards and screens that dominate the skyline, promoting everything from automobiles, jeans and cellphones to banks and sex shops, will have to come down. All other forms of publicity in public spaces, like distribution of fliers, will also stop.

The law also regulates the dimensions of store signs, and will force many well-known companies to reduce them substantially by a formula based on the size of their facades. Another provision, much criticized by owners of transportation companies, outlaws advertising of any kind on the sides of the city's thousands of buses and taxis.

The law, as passed, also applied to advertising banners trailed by airplanes and ads on blimps. But in the first of what promises to be a long series of legal challenges, a court ruled the clause unconstitutional on the grounds that the federal government, not the city, controls airspace.

"What we are aiming for is a complete change of culture," said Roberto Tripoli, president of the City Council and one of the main sponsors of the legislation. "Yes, some people are going to have to pay a price. But things were out of hand and the population has made it clear it wants this."

The law, approved by a vote of 45 to 1 in September, goes into effect on Jan. 1. Opponents complain that the date does not allow enough time for merchants to comply, that fines of up to $4,500 for violations are extreme and that the result will inevitably be a diminishing of urban life — "like New York without Times Square or Tokyo without the Ginza," Solimeo said.

"I think this city is going to become a sadder, duller place," said Dalton Silvano, who cast the sole dissenting vote and is in the advertising business. "Advertising is both an art form and, when you're in your car or alone on foot, a form of entertainment that helps relieve solitude and boredom.""

Blanco

I have a Spanish friend that lives in Paris with whom I always discuss how sometimes architecture creates a higher sense of style than the actual clothes. For that Italians and French are kown for their clothes... but it is easier to find beautiful clothes in Spain than in in France or Italy...
An example of that is BLANCO: great clothes at an affordable price.

Irina's look

Street Level

Map to Kinkyland

"Pentagram has designed the exhibition graphics for “Kink: Geography of the Erotic Imagination,” the new exhibition opening today at the Museum of Sex. The show has been curated by Katharine Gates, the noted sex academic, whose “erotic roadmap” has been adapted by Michael Bierut and Jennifer Kinon into an interactive “playground” for the exhibition. (A companion book from ex-publisher Judith Regan has been canceled. Daily News, third item.)"

Das Le Sac Gospel

The Guide Horse Foundation

"Because of the popularity of Guide Horses, service horsesemotional support horses, there has been a increasing demand for sneaker and shoes for miniature hoses." SURE!

the cutest junkies

When watching this I can not stop thinking...what a beautiful totally intoxicated woman!. The fascination might come from trying to give any meaning to a life of total hedonism and consumption. I feel that even thought all things seem perfect, It is a life that only you can stand when you are that strong out...no purpose other than self indulging your self while consuming drugs and expensive stuff and sharing your self centered lifestyle...BTW there is a ton of this little videos on YouTube: they know their market and how self indulgent people are when watching this senseless acts on video.

Profiling males

"The Maturiteen

This guy is more savvy, responsible, mature, and pragmatic than previous cohorts. Culture watchers attribute his poise to baby boomer parents who treated their kids as equals. He’s a technology master, so he’s adept at online research and often acts as an inhouse shopping consultant. These boys never knew a time without the Web, and its interactivity has nurtured in them a radical view of brands. They own them. Adidas, Sony, and Unilever are especially skillful at playing along.

What kind of man are you? Take our quiz and find out"

ULTRA BROOKLYN

Rodel promo

New friends from Rodel have one of those branding experiments that actually get to be the coolest by being lowbudget. I LOVE the lowtech drama in this one. RODEL

stefan sagmeister