TRADITION/REVOLUTION, FAKE/REAL

Maarten Baas is something of a bad boy amongst designers, notorious for ripping up the rules to make a point. If he's not taking a blowtorch to classic design pieces for his 'Smoke' series he's likely crafting furniture from clay for 'Sculpt'. And his latest project 'The Shanghai Riddle' is no less imaginative.
Click here to see more of 'The Shanghai Riddle'.

The series is in participation with Pearl Lam's Contrasts Gallery in Shanghai and the result of a scheme set up to introduce European designers to local Chinese practices. Baas took inspiration from time spent observing daily life and culture in Shanghai.

'It's a city full of contradictions', the designer says, 'old/new, high-tec/low-tech, tradition/revolution, fake/real, cheap/expensive, original/copy. Together all these contradictions seem to form an interesting paradox. The exhibition 'The Shanghai Riddle' is also full of paradoxes and experiments. It's inspired by a city in which everything seems possible.'

Baas' interpretation comes in the form of hand-carved elm replicas of plastic mass-produced furniture, highlighting the contrast between treasured Chinese handcraft and contemporary, mass-produced and mass consumed. As with all Baas' work the unlikely aesthetic is humorous but thought-provoking rather than gratuitous.

In addition to these pieces Baas has also added to his 'Sculpt'series with a grand piano and a Chinese instrument called the 'pipal'. And proving the breadth and depth of his talent the designer hopped onto the stool and played a quick jig on the piano at the exhibition's opening."

SOURCE

Lagerfeld, about having stuff

I found this very interesting article where Mr Lagerfeld (le major freak) talks about how the German Werkbund style fits more with his New York space rather than Paris. In my humble opinion Industrial fits very well with romantisim; it is an interesting contrast...but well, he sells his dogmas like nobody else!

"How do you live with your art?

I had beautiful Old Master paintings; I sold them all. But now I have a collection—it’s not on the wall—that I really love, of German posters from 1905 to 1915. They are the beginning of modern advertising, like huge Pop-art paintings, with unbelievable colors and modernity. They show the strangest products: AEG electrical equipment, coal, chocolate, sometimes fairs, or exhibitions. But they are divine, and they are impossible to find.

Where do you find them?

I get all the catalogues, and I have people who buy for me. The other day, one of them said, “You cannot pay $50,000 for a poster.” I bought it for nearly $80,000, and a week after, at a sale in New York, a poster by the same artist—not as good—went for $120,000.

But you don’t hang them on the wall.

I want to put them in my place in New York. They don’t work in France; it’s not a French style at all. I will do the New York apartment in the style of the [Deutscher] Werkbund, the architectural movement that had designers like Bruno Paul, Hermann Muthesius and Peter Behrens, who taught Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier. They did modern things differently, in 1910, before the Bauhaus. I have a collection of furniture bought 20 years ago that is stunning, very colorful, in bright red, yellow, green and gold. Suddenly people are discovering Werkbund. Everyone knows Vienna Secession, but there is not much left. Werkbund is Germany for me, a Germany that I can identify with."

source

Nuit noire

Oscar, a conservator at the Natural Sciences Museum, passes the days exercising his passion for studying insects; if only there still were days. As long as people can remember, the sun only releases a few pathetic rays for fifteen seconds before noon. The rest of the time, the world is plunged into a night without end, a permanent eclipse. Coming home after work, Oscar finds an African woman in his bed. Suffering from a mysterious and incurable disease, she seems to have come to his place to die. Trapped between desire and repulsion, Oscar gradually abandons his life to terrifying phantoms.

BEST SEX SCENS BY WOODY ALLEN

Nets of light

One of my favorite flickr collections: Light Experimentations.

David Lynch on Iphones

I cause you can impact

STOP BUYING BOTTLED WATER NOW!

ladies and gentlemen: Lykke Li

Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson March 18, 1986), better known by her stage name, is a Swedish indie singer.

Li was born in Ystad, Skåne, in Sweden, in 1986 and was raised by artistic parents; her mother was a photographer, her father is a musician. The family moved to Stockholm when Li was a toddler and later moved to Portugal when Li was six, where they lived for five years; the family also spent time in Lisbon and Morocco and spent winters in Nepal and India. She moved to New York for three months when she was 19, where she recorded her album, before returning to Sweden. At one point, she worked as a dancer on Swedish TV shows.
SOURCE

Teen Angst French Music Power

frida hyvonen

church and football

Lections of Darkness, 1992, by Werner Herzog

McQueen's little bones

Necklace by Alexander McQueen.

In my Ipod

Piece of Americana says the NewYorkTimes

Cria Cuervos

"Synopsis
Carlos Saura's exquisite Cría cuervos… heralded a turning point in Spain: shot while General Franco was on his deathbed, the film melds the personal and the political in a portrait of the legacy of fascism and its effects on a middle-class family (the title derives from the Spanish proverb: "Raise ravens and they’ll peck out your eyes"). Ana Torrent (the dark-eyed beauty from The Spirit of the Beehive) portrays the disturbed eight-year-old Ana, living in Madrid with her two sisters and mourning the death of her mother, whom she conjures as a ghost (an ethereal Geraldine Chaplin). Seamlessly shifting between fantasy and reality, the film subtly evokes both the complex feelings of childhood and the struggles of a nation emerging from the shadows. " Source

"You might want to excuse me for not reading it as a childhood drama or the political allegory it is often described to be. I did not connect with those allusions here. Childhood is about harmed potential, the gradual restriction of ambitions, and this film here is quite the opposite. It is no ‘Zerkalo’ either. It is another exercise in the Spanish narrative tradition." Source

Can we save it?

Zeitgeist: Greenwashing

Architecture: Peter Zumthor

M is for metal

Great "kids" book:

z is for zeppelin,
we followed, they led,
stairway goes to heaven,
then off to bed.

HoloCube

Corporate Cannibal -Grace Jones

directed by Nick Hooker

Of Awesome editorial reviews

Visiting the Oak boutique website I came across what I consider one of the supreme pieces of editorial writing I can remember. Perhaps it is because I also feel "old and confused" when visiting the store, perhaps because it makes fun of all that is cool. Excellent writing nonetheless.
here are extracts from the NewYorkTimes editorial titled:
Critical Shopper | Oak

Put Arm (A) Into Sleeve (B)

"If Heather Locklear had a parasitic twin emerging from her sternum who happened to be a nun, this would be something they would agree they could wear to Starbucks."

"The tomblike dressing rooms have elegant, tall backlighted mirrors. The light illuminates only the sides of the mirrors, for a solar-eclipse effect that makes the mirror seem to hover in retrograde Satanic ecstasy, watching as you struggle blindly with openly hostile mutant-octopus cardigans that suddenly have 117 sleeves, no neck holes and no capacity for mercy.

I felt lucky to get out of that cardigan alive.

As I stumbled out of the dressing room, clammy, gasping and disoriented, the salesman appeared.

“We unfortunately sold out of the dress with the instruction manual,” he said, shrugging. “You had to wrap it around yourself three times.”

I pushed past him and fled into the street."

"Near the subway, I saw a Hare Krishna struggling to get off his bicycle; his big gauze diaper-dress had become tangled in the chain. I wanted to clutch his beads, weeping. Brother, I failed. I didn’t have the training. But you … there’s hope for a fashion warrior like you."

The whole thing here

very low heights

Very cute shoes made for walking -you would think. But I do preffer to feel taller than what I'm. I would really preffer a 2.5" heel....why is this height soooooooo difficult to find, WHYYYY! this would be prrrrrrfect if the where that height. All shoes are either 4" or 1"....the 2.5 is so rare unless they are boots.

Foil Dress

I'm an openly devoted fan of ZERO by Maria Cornejo. This is dress is one of the signature silhouettes in every collection. This is the Fall 08 foil dress.

She's opening a new store soon in Nolita. I visited the new space which has a very generous area and atmosphere.

fall transitions

Interesting pair of ACNE Sandal, boots on sale, I like the idea...

pepper and pistol

"SILVIA HILLMANN AND KATRIN WIENS MAY BOTH HAIL FROM GERMANY BUT THE SIMILARITIES STOP THERE.

SILVIA HAS SPENT YEARS IN THE FASHION WORLD WORKING WITH BOUDICCA IN LONDON, AND SEVERAL UP AND COMING BRANDS IN NEW YORK.

KATRIN ON THE OTHER HAND HAS A LENGTHY BACKGROUND IN THE GRAPHIC DESIGN WORLD CREATING TEXTILES FOR THE LIKE OF JUST CAVALLI, HEATHERETTE AND CALVIN KLEIN.
TOGETHER THEY HAVE FORMED 'PEPPER AND PISTOL', A WOMEN'S WEAR LINE FOCUSING ON CUSTOM PRINTS AND FEMININE CUTS CREATED WITH SHINY SOFT SILKS, AIRY VOILES AND JERSEYS - ALL WITH A DEFINITE LOVE FOR DETAIL AND FINISH.

THE NAME PEPPER AND PISTOL DERIVES FROM A GERMAN TALE THAT IS BOTH SCARY AND AMUSING AND REFLECTS THE FACT OF COMBINING TWO DIFFERENT ELEMENTS:
FASHION + GRAPHIC TO TRIGGER SOMETHING NEW AND WICKEDLY WONDERFUL."

The Dupre affair

Ashlee Dupree, infamous call girl, made a splashing public display of her assets last week, when being photographed as she was hotel hopping, boutique shopping with a married men. Her public persona has grown to the point of creating interest in the very few things that make all this "pretty" or even "safe". She is even being offered a 2 million dollar contract for a reality show.






















I do not judge her career choices, but I do find extremely interesting that she would totally pass as any other trophy wife when it comes to fashion. -perhaps, making her an equal in materialistic terms-

In fact she has a very typical NewYorker sensibility for "sexy"...
-In my opinion equally trampy-
In these images there is a comparison of the wife of the married men (TJ EARLE) and Dupre. Who will win the war of skin showing heeled angst, mares in full display of attributes.
This affair seems to be in its early stages and I'm enjoying the fashion statements/war with the "respectable" women in here social scope of action. If it wasn't for the flashy humorous fashion, all this would be just ugly.

SOURCE

Devendra & Portman In Technicolor

Carmensita

Puyo Yo

Last October at the Tokyo Motor Show, Honda unveiled Puyo. This little bubble car is another futuristic concept that threatens to blow gas guzzlers out of the water - or at least off our streets

Source

Dude, dude is back

Iphone's new applications

Two very useful applications for the everyday splurge.

Comme des Garçons/LV lovechild

Here is is the lovechild of this two creative minds collaboration.
She kept the LV wholesome identity, to the point of redundancy.... Like the idea, still don't like the very boring monogram bag.

"Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton Artistic Director, who has long been an admirer of Comme des Garçons, comments: "It is impossible to overstate Rei Kawakubo's influence on modern fashion. I find it wonderful to think that, thirty years ago, this immense talent, someone who has inspired so many others, was inspired by Louis Vuitton, and now that inspiration has now been realized."

Yves Carcelle, Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton, says: "This project not only brings a new meaning to luxury, but also speaks volumes about how the know-how and heritage of Louis Vuitton have always been perceived in Japan, including by its foremost designers. We are very proud to have been able to help Rei Kawakubo relive her memories in such an original and creative way."

Rei Kawakubo, President of Comme des Garçons, says: "These are party bags to celebrate the 30 years of Louis Vuitton in Japan. In designing them, I have kept Louis Vuitton's traditional concept as it is, but sometimes two handles become one, sometimes two handles become eight... It has been a remarkably exciting opportunity for me to have been able to participate in Louis Vuitton's traditional design and heritage.""

source

New Legend

Amazing MUSIC by Dax Riggs!
Riggs has a bast array of haunting blues like melodies though... This video is an example of his hardcore edge, displaying the energy of this man...but he has a deep soulful sound; definitely a new classic.


" Deadboy & the Elephantmen was a Houma, Louisiana based indie rock band fronted by Dax Riggs, the primary songwriter, vocalist, and instrumentalist. Their music is difficult to classify, though influences from alternative rock, goth rock, blues-rock, grunge, and post-punk are audible. In its most popular incarnation, the band was made up of Riggs and Tessie Brunet, and signed a three-record deal with Fat Possum Records in 2005. For the latter part of 2005 and most of 2006 they were on the road touring, but near the end of 2006 Brunet left the band for undisclosed reasons. The band announced its official end on April 16, 2007.

Riggs played guitar and handled lead vocals. Brunet played drums and sang backup. Deadboy marked her first time playing in a band."

Gucci: a modern chavalier's tale

Interesting set of videos for Gucci, my favorite element is the music. The woman having a provocative rendezvous with an inanimate armor (maybe a new giagantic purse) is really funny. Nice transitions, and nice promotional piece.

Good Looking Smell

"Byredo is a Stockholm-based newcomer onto the perfume scene as a brand founded by Ben Gorham, a graduate of the Stockholm Art School and an ex-student of interior design. Acting as creative director for the new line, he has assembled the talents of perfumers Olivia Giacobetti, Jérôme Epinette, and Michel Almairac to compose a collection of five fine fragrances, six home fragrances - and drawing on his love for interior decoration - one for boutique hotels.

The five Eaux de Parfum are titled Green, Rose Noir, Gypsy Water, Pulp, and Chembur. Says Gorham,

"I have always been fascinated by the world of fragrance and its effects on my memories and impressions. Through BYREDO I want to communicate my own personal experiences - to contribute to an almost collective memory of time and place. I also believe in a modern approach without loosing olfactory techniques - of simply bringing together the best of old and new." ....."

SOURCE

Craig Ward: illustration

Get what you deserve

Favorite types for good

FIFTY DESIGNERS' CURRENT FAVOURITE TYPEFACES (UNICEF)



100% of the cover price goes to UNICEF's Myanmar (Burma) Cyclone Children's Appeal in the wake of Cyclone Nargis that hit Myanmar on 2nd May 2008.

one of the good americans: George Carlin, RIP

Rick Owens moves next me

To be exact moves next to my daily hive or bureau of creation, or place of work. My lunch breaks are gonna gave goth flavor!!

Of a laced summer

This summer I ended up buying comfortable but playful shoes: all of them laced, MMM...
A Laced summer I like.

ryohei hase

Fantastic illustration work by ryohei hase.

TopShop Excitement!!

a bee announcement

industrial design gone fashionably sensual

"Porsche Design launches its first men's fragrance range consisting of eight products. The range will go on sale from fall 2008 in Porsche Design Stores and via Clarins Group distribution channels. The new men's fragrance range allows Porsche Design to expand its range of classic gentlemen’s accessories which already includes items such as watches, sunglasses, luggage, sports and fashion collections, as well as electronic goods. The core product is an eau de toilette which will be available in three different versions. An aftershave lotion, aftershave balm, a hair and body shampoo and two deodorants in stick and spray form complete the range."