big in japan

vogue hommes japan: volume one - autumn/winter 2008-2009
photographer: hedi sliman
creative director: nicola formichetti
model: ash stymest
is there really nothing bad that ever comes out of japan? sushi is the best food ever invented, sapporo is one of the best beers in the world, rei kawakubo's dopeness needs no explanation, anime makes my eyes smile, and now alongside he magazine and men's nono is another magazine that is about to take another big bite out of my monthly magazine allowance. but it is soooo worth it. okay fine i'll admit that because nicola is the creative director there are some similarities with dazed and confused which he is also a creative director, but i'm a sucker for pretty pictures and nicola's work so the more visual candy the better. although i would really really appreciate it if they got some of tokyo's top stylists in the mix just go give a little bit of tokyo flavour instead of the usual suspects of western publications. and....i fucking love the model that they used. ever since i saw ash in the pages of i.d. magazine's august issue i was an instant fan. okay he might look a bit emo because of his stretched ears which i am always constantly laughing at for their lameness but i don't mind it at all on ash. but anyways i shouldn't really be getting too excited for this magazine because it probably won't even get here in lame canada. hopefully they have it at sanko on queen street since thats the only place i get japanese mags around here. although i had a bad experience there last time. lemme tell you the story: so me and my homegirl jo was strolling down the strip going shopping and checked out the big outdoor art fair in nathan phillip's square (which was totally lame and waste of time considering it was six billion degrees outside). to pass the time we just basically laughed at how horrible it is to wear flip flops. on our way back home we passed by sanko so i can pick up some jap mags. i was pretty low on cash that day so i was only able to afford one twenty dollar magazine. normally i would choose he magazine over smart anytime of the week but this particular issue of smart came packaged with a mysterious box that was labeled BAPE. not that i would be ever caught dead wearing BAPE since i'm not a f.o.b. it did rattle my curiosity. after much deliberation inside my head, my curiosity got the best of me so i bought the smart magazine and once outside i immediately ripped the plastic wrapper with such gusto it was like christmas morning. only to finally open the box and find a brand spanking new pair of plaid flip flops. needless the say i felt like a tool.