on the road

vogue paris: april 2008
photographers: inez van lamsweerde and vinoodh matadin
creative director: emmanuelle alt
model: kate moss
although this editorial doesn't have a big complex idea behind it which are the ones i tend to gravitate towards, i am absolutely in love with this. but then again it is kate moss. and its also photographed by inez and her hot ass husband. and it is french vogue which is my favorite of all the vogues (yes i like it even more than the italian one). and it was also styled by one of my favorite dressed people in the planet, emmanuelle alt. so there is really nothing wrong with it. except for the fact that by the time it finally arrives in the canada, the price would've doubled and it arrives over a month late.

nouvelle vague

if the eighties belonged to obvious opulence under the likes of christian lacroix and thierry mugler, and the nineties to the minimalist aesthetic of miucca prada and calvin klein, it is quite surprising that in the first decade of the new millennium, the crown was passed down not to a women's wear designer, but to that of a young man who inherited the mantle by designing for initially the men's wear branch of yves saint laurent, and secondly, and more importantly, at dior homme. when hedi slimane debuted his collection for yves saint laurent in 1997, the world was to witness the beginning of a new idea that proposed a new romantic idea on masculine dressing. an idea that eventually percolated into the world of women's wear. the power dressing of the eighties with its pronounced and exaggerated silhouette of shoulder pads, tappered waist, perfectly groomed hair, athletic body, and obvious machismo was suddenly usurped with a leaner line, rakish form on skinny models, and an unapologetic homage to youth that slimane unleashed to an unsuspecting public. with the traditional values instilled into the world of the male sartorial elegance, slimane bridged the gap that came in between the spontaneity of the young, and the knowledge that came with maturity. he infused his influences of music, underground culture, fashion, and the rebelliousness of youth with the precision of bespoke tailoring and impeccable technique to create a world, an idea that re-ignited the imagination of of his peers. even though designers like marc jacobs or vivienne westwood divined inspiration from street culture before hand, slimane was able to capture and crystalize the general mood of the moment. at a time when fashion was so dependent on the ideas that sprung from street wear, hedi with his sensitivity and general appreciation never manged to rob or steal it's integrity purposely but made it accepted as a legitimate form of inspiration. in his hands it never became a didactic exercise of what to wear. something that didn't dictate what men should be wearing right now, but what he could draw inspiration from. designers like karl lagerfeld or influential buyers like the late hal rubberstein of bloomingdales championed slimane's designs by not only praising it, but also making it a vital part of their own wardrobe. with lagerfeld famously losing weight to be able to fit into hedi's designs. as the two thousands progressed, the scope of slimane's influence continued to widen and eventually the lean, toothpick thin silhouette that became his trademark began to manifest itself on the runways of his contemporaries. both in the arena of men's wear and women's wear. particularly to his french peers who were also experiencing with a new form of relevance by resurrecting staid french houses like balenciaga or givenchy. with designers nicolas ghesquiere and ricardo tisci injecting a new sense of youthful dynamic that has been absent with the mentioned esteemed houses. the scope of hedi's influence also gave attention to like minded designers like raf simons. both of which never hid the spell youth culture had on them. the vision of slimane has since been championed by new designers. his ideas can be seen on up and coming designers like his old assistant nicholas andreas taralis, and todd lynn in lodon. designers who manages to infuse a street level sensibility with a luxury mentality take on construction and production that elevated them to not just another high end sportswear label. ever since the sixties, when saint laurent took inspiration from street wear and youth culture, fashion has always been a slave to the public, not a servant to benefit its purpose. with slimane, it found the perfect negotiator. one that would present and offer its ideas. ideas that were so contemporary and relevant that it made sense to the modern way of life. in a time when everyone is always searching for the proverbial fountain of youth, slimane has found the pond. all that everyone has to do is drink from it. and years from now when scholars meditate on the influence of this decade, they will realize that everyone did. and boy did he ever quench their thirst.


dior homme: fall/winter 04/05, spring/summer 05, spring/summer 06, fall/winter 06/07, fall/winter 07/08

me, my couch, marc, and yves

after quite a messy weekend, again, all i looked forward to was renting some flicks, putting on my sweats, and spending hours upon hours vegging out on my sofa. i was gonna go to the video store by my friend's house on my way home, but then i remembered i owe them some late fees so i vetoed that and headed on over to the college street branch. all i really wanted was to rent the b.b.c. production of pride and prejudice and not have to worry about changing channels for eight hours. oh i also wanted to rent "le dernier jour" because i have a crush on gaspard ulliel but of course it wasn't there. however as i was scrolling through the selection of french films lo and behold, the last one was a documentary on yves saint laurent right before he retired. obviously i was hella excited and grabbed it thinking that that was all i needed. but as i walked towards the counter i happened to notice that the documentary on marc jacobs was also available so i was even happier and basically ran home.

first up was "marc jacobs and louis vuitton". it was the first time a film crew has been allowed inner access to marc jacobs' own studio and at louis vuitton. this actually came as a surprise to me because i've always looked at marc as not just a fashion designer but an integral contributor to pop culture so i was certain his creative process was captured on film before. the influence of marc jacobs has never been a question. he's basically like an andy warhol. say what you want about marc, his blue hair, the drug habit, and the rent boy boyfriend. when it all comes down to it, after seeing this video specially, is that he is completely devoted to his art and all the influence that comes along with it. although he does fall into the "mainstream", it doesn't mean that just because he has commercial success that his work is not rooted in a sincere place. all the great minds of modern times has managed to combine commerciality with outsider influence and interpretation. marc has been able to achieve that. you can't sell out on a hideous bag for over $50,000 if people didn't think your work was important. and you know what, his work is. and it has been for almost twenty years. say what you want about his eccentricities, but he is in good company. not that i'm championing substance abuse or anything, but fitzgerald, hemmingway, van gogh, and now marc, they might have something up on us.

ok the second one i can't even talk enough about it. i guess when you look at someone like saint laurent you basically see someone who is superman. someone who is not susceptible to mortal shortcomings. and then you watch the first part of the video and he talks about the hardship of dealing with his homosexuality while growing up in an all boys school in morocco. or how he was suddenly fired after his third couture collection for dior, or his difficult break up with pierre berge. i guess when you look at someone who has acquired a halo, you can't help but look at them as someone who is divine and with no fault. for most of us, saint laurent is a messiah. the person responsible for democratizing fashion to make it more accessible for mere mortals. in this age of celebrity designers when the media plays such importance and accessories matter more than the execution of design, saint laurent reminds me that the attention to the craft, the dedication to perfect something that makes it transcendent and goes beyond clothes into the realm of sublime is what made people like him channel, and balenciaga so important. in an age when quick fix beauty is as routine as a botox injection, saint laurent, along with his beautiful entourage, reminds me that beauty takes a lot of discipline and work. and with all that time put into completing the whole idea of beauty, it ultimately comes down to the woman. if she can't convict to her own idea, no matter how beautiful the clothes are, it will always fall flat. fortunately, saint laurent is the verbatim that connects the fabric with the posture.

getting high on la linda

after watching the best of bowie dvd this afternoon, is it just me or was every form of media in the eighties based on some fucked up, over the top concepts? seriously, have you ever seen bowie's "let's dance" video? it left me with the "what the fuck" face for a good half hour. and so does this ad. remember that movie "boomerang" with grace jones playing the character strange and it had that really weird commerical? well this ad was almost just as weird. but linda still looked obviously amazing. i guess that's what made her able to utter phrases like "i don't even get out of bed for less than ten thousand a day". unfortunately for the rest of us, we're not as good looking and since i just paid my credit card earlier today and almost flat broke, i would get up for twenty dollars, cash.

liberate kate

liberation next: march 2008
photographer: hedi slimane
model: kate moss
in the magical world of france their newspaper comes with a supplement guest edited by his royal majesty hedi slimane. inside he also took photographs of kate moss the boss and her famous nipples while my saturday newspaper was filled with about two dozen flyers for wal-mart, sears, a couple of pharmacies and grocery stores. first lou doillon for french playboy, and now this. the french press is lightyears ahead of our illiterate society.

p.s. i had all the pictures up but photobucket is uncivilized and believes that a nipple can have a devastating effect on humanity so it kept on deleting the images i uploaded. so i have now switched to imageshack. again, north america is fucking backwards.

aaliyah is that somebody

i'm sure y'all already know the beth ditto version of this jam. and i remember hearing that version and being sure that i liked that one better because i love aaliyah and all, but beth is clearly a better singer. but then i watched this video and i realized that while beth has the pipes, aaliyah's got the dance moves on point. i am also not ashamed to admit that when this song first came out, i memorized the dance moves because dancing makes me feel just as good as putting on a brand spanking pair of kicks for the first time. so before i go out tonight, i am going to youtube nineties r&b and drink some vodka to get me set of a good night on the dancefloor. i love long weekends.

ute ploier - fall/winter 2008

of course she would be amazing. after all she was schooled by non other than raf simons so she is obviously awesome. there is a bit of raf simons-isms in her work. the dialogue between street wear, and sartorial tailoring that has become one of the strongest trend amongst emerging menswear designers. but while raf's work is more into the rebellious side of youth, ute's work reflects the naive beauty that can only be experienced by the young. and her collections have a more high level street wear feel than luxury brand. because really, hedi slimane's dior homme or raf simons might warrant the accolades and praises of young fans, but the majority of them can't afford its high price tags (ie: me!). nor do their lives require them to wear tailored pieces daily. i guess you can say that ute is the practice they require to develop into a more mature wardrobe. now if only i can find that morrisey t-shirt from her spring collection i will be hella happy sice i will actually be able to afford it. unlike everything else i write about.

sundays and kensington market

saturday night, just like many people's saturday night usually ends up being a debaucherous affair. well unfortunately, or fortunately depending on who you are talking to, ours was quite messy. i mean, i realized that when the jenga gets busted out, nothing good can come of it. so as you can imagine, sunday morning was not pretty. i mean we all basically woke up looking like flavor flav with the most gigantic appetite ever. luckily chinatown was within walking distance and the temperature actually hovered above freezing so we set out for some tasty dim sum. and not only was dim sum delicious, the restaurant was actually filled with an alarming amount of hotness. after stuffing ourselves silly with those tasty dumplings and deep fried octopus fingers, we fought the itis and headed out for a stroll in kensington market. our homeboy kept on talking about this little gallery called function13 on augusta and boy i felt like how i felt the first time i opened my he-man and battlecat action figure set. i could not stop playing with the displays that was in the back gallery called pixel. its basically all these interactive instillations that is so beyond dope u kinda feel like a big loser cause you wish you were that creative. i mean for example, take a look at this thing that kept us entertained for so long:

yeah how fucking amazing was that. i was never really that interested in digital forms of expression because i guess i was never really exposed to it. i am thirty one and i don't even think photoshop was invented yet when i graduated from highschool. i'm pretty sure i've walked past by many places like function 13 so i guess there are still some things about this city that inspires me, so i shouldn't hate on toronto that much.

ooh la la la lou

playboy (france): march 2008
photographer: takis bibelas
model: lou doillon
holy jamolee is this not the most sexiest, dopest, tastiest, bestest cover in the history of the universe. so while american playboy puts plastic sluts like pamela anderson on the cover, the french in all their superiority and class chooses someone like lou doillon. and she's not only just the cover girl, she is actually buck nekkid inside but still in a non salacious way. plus they have articles on designers viktor and rolf, and gaspard yurkievich. i mean, is this a fashion magazine for heterosexual men with a thing for porn and good fashion? i guess those guys do exist in the wonderful world of europe. when i visit my parents again i am going to give them the biggest hell for choosing this continent to immigrate to.

p.s. yes i know i haven't been posting as often but after basically a month of non-stop blogging i'm kinda experiencing blogger's block. i don't have anything interesting to talk about. although it is fashion week here in toronto, so ergo, nothing interesting to talk about.

nuit noir

paris vogue: march 2008
photographer: mert and marcus
stylist: carine roitfeld
model: lara stone
lara stone is so fucking hot she might actually unbend me. why hasn't this girl landed a lingerie campaign yet? i mean i love love love behati prinsloo and all, but how did she land a victoria's secret contract and this blonde sex bomb hasn't? well at least carine roitfeld at paris vogue has taken a massive interest on her. plus lara has been on the cover twice and she is basically a monthly fixture on the magazine. and on this one she not only got the cover but she also got not one, but two editorials. i posted this one because it reminded me a lot of helmut newton and there's something really dirty and perverse about his spread that the other editorial didn't have. which doesn't mean i'm a pervert. i just think that any good fashion has a bit of subverted naughtiness. in a perfect world she would be known as the world's sexiest model and not giselle. because i think lara's boobs are so much better looking.

veruschka

of all the famous models who emerged from the sixties, veruschka was undoubtedly the most sexually charged of all. born into german nobility as vera von lehndorff, the young model experienced a very difficult past which included the assassination of her father by the nazi party, and the lose of her family's fortune by the end of the war. by the time she was a teenager she was already six foot tall and was teased and called a "stork" by her classmates for her tall, lanky physique. after high school she studied art at hamburg and florence. at twenty years of age she was discovered by photographer ugo mulas and her modelling career began. a slow start didn't deter the young model, so she created her own history telling people she was russian and adopting the name of veruschka. her little trick worked and by the mid sixties the ever influential diana vreeland of american vogue was singing her praises. resulting in her appearing on the cover of the prestigious magazine eleven times and earning as much as up to $10,000 a day. like all the models in those days, veruschka had control of her own image and was in a position to offer her own ideas to photographers. it was then that she started to incorporate body paint to her shoots, something that becomes her trademark and something that she will continue to pursue throughout her life. her popularity exploded in 1966 when she was cast in michelangelo antonioni's film "blow up" in which she played herself. although she was only in the movie for a mere five minutes, it became one of the sexiest scenes in movie history. by 1975 she retired from fashion and started to concentrate on her own body art even putting on a show in new york in the mid eighties. every so often she will return to the fashion world for a select runway appearance, most notably for karl lagerfeld in the nineties. she might not be as well known today as she was in the sixties, but even now when sexual constrictions are loosened, the veruschka of the sixties can put all victoria's secret models combined to shame.


a body painted veruschka.

blow up

i've been wanting to rent this movie six thousand years ago but every time i go to rent movies i get distracted by movies such as "feel the noise" starring omarion because i get excited and think i can learn to bust some new moves on the dance floor like i did the first time i watched "you got served". but alas, its always a disappointment and i curse myself for forgetting to rent this movie. but this lovely afternoon after work when the snow was finally beginning to thaw i made a mental note to finally rent this movie and have a nice little stroll home. and boy this movie was filled with eye candy after eye candy that i thought i was going to get retinal cavity by the end credits. starting with the opening scene, which i think is perhaps the sexiest five minutes in film history ever with the sexiest mother fucker of the sixties, veruschka making hot, steamy love with the camera. and david hemmings playing the photographer wasn't so bad to look at either. based on swinging london in the sixties, the movie also starred other hotties such as vanessa redgrave, jane birkin, sarah miles, and sixties supermodels peggy moffit and jill kennington. i'm no film buff and i can't really intelligently talk about this movie in film lingo so i won't say much about it at the risk of sounding like a complete moron. and also because to be honest i was more pre-occupied with the visual aspect of the movie. however i do have this movie for a whole week and i will have plenty of time to watch it properly and not get distracted by mods running around in really good outfits.


versuschka giving fierce face. i don't really use the world fierce because its uber gay but i think that word was invented for this reason.

doc martens and snow storms

okay i know i said before how lame it felt to post pictures of myself on here, BUT...i just bought doc martens so i'm hella excited about it and . and dude, lemme tell you that docs are the best shoes for snow storms. which toronto is being attacked by yet again for the second time this week. after avoiding about a dozen wipe outs today, homegirl and i decided it's best to stay in this saturday evening because last night was a drunken mess at wrong bar to see holy ghost. i would tell you more things about it but frankly, i was way too drunk to remember half of it. anyways, we watched the documentary "helvetica" with her drinking jack daniels and me vodka. i think every single person on the planet should watch it because its pure eye and mind sex. the cinematography was bananas, the old school typographers are bananas, their vocabulary is bananas, the music was bananas. everything about it was bananas. even when i was in school for graphic design, the helvetica font has always been my favorite and the one i used the most. but i never realized just how prolific that typeface was. it's fucking everywhere. and since i'm a big fan of modernism and the belief that the most efficient way to communicate is by simplicity, i was fully engrossed wathching by this film. its like a rothko painting or vintage calvin klein. unfortunately its getting quite late and i already polished a mickey of vodka and i have to work early tomorrow so i'm off to make out with the sandman.

new girls on the block

5. sara blomqvist
a prada exclusive in milan last season turned sara blomqvist into one of fall/winter smashing sleeper hits. absent during the new york shows, sara exploded in europe opening the christopher kane show in london and appearing on the all important runways of prada, balenciaga, louis vuitton and yves saint laurent just to name a few. with a philosphy di alberta ferreti spring ad campaign currently on high circulation under her belt, i see this girl as one of those girls who will quietly inch her way to the top and have that ever elusive longevity.









4. amanda laine
the pre-requisite canadian girl to break out during the shows is also a winner of a legitimate model search competition (no tyra, not you), the v magazine/supreme model search. after a rather slow start in new york, europe welcomed amanda with arms wide open. walking prada and marni in milan. in paris she took her turn at balenciaga, nina ricci, givenchy and as girl number one at alexander mcqueen. considering the roster at supreme includes all the top editorial girls like suvi, behati, and fellow canucks alana and megan, amanda is in very good company. and did i mention she's canadian. oh i did? well that's what she is. canadian.







3. jourdan dunn
discovered at the age of sixteen while shopping with a friend, jourdan dunn debuted on the catwalks of new york last year for the likes of marc jacobs and ralp lauren. but it was this year that her career exploded. marc jacobs came calling again, but this time, so did proenza schouler, bottega venneta, and a landmark appearance at prada. the first a black model has appeared on the prada catwalk since naomi campbell ten years ago. with a walk that is reminiscent to the greats of the nineties. jourdan dunn was the reminder this season that homogenous blonde hair, blue eyed easter europeans are getting sooooooooooo tired. i mean, how great would it be if next season prada sends all black girls down the runways. it would make me want to grow an afro for real.





2. aline weber
as girl number one at balenciaga, aline's star status was instantly cemented. although she walked for calvin klein and narciso rodriguez in new york, it wasn't until the balenciaga show that the world took notice on this young brazillian with the full lips and sharp cheekbones. she kinda looks like a gecko, albeit an extremely hot one. not that she looks like a lizard, but i guess its those insane cheekbones. i can almost see that inevitable italian vogue cover dropping any time soon.










1. abbey lee
okay at first i didn't really like her because she for some reason reminded me of kory kennedy without the lazy eye and the always present little spit bubble on her mouth, but the more i looked at her, the more i really liked her. i guess i like her mouth area a lot. she kinda has lara stone's teeth with coco rocha's mouth. and also that she kinda looks like fairuza balk in dangerous liasons. after appearing at basically every show in new york, then a gucci exclusive in milan and then back to being everywhere again in paris, this aussie has my vote as the new girl number one for fall/winter 2008. now i'm just eagerly waiting to see the editorial landslide that is coming.

hartmann norden

vienna based label hartmann nordenholz is one of those nice little surprises you get every so often after spending countless hours infront of your computer. to be honest it's only been recently that i started to really do research on european fashion outside of paris, milan, and london and after a pretty boring fall/winter collections i am so glad i did. i like how designers filip fiska and agnes schorer layer panels of chiffon on top of each other to produce interesting 3-dimensional shapes. i guess you can say this is one of their trademarks since after looking at their old collections, they play around the same idea. oh and they also do a lot of pleating. and i am a huge, i mean huge like oprah circa 1993 fan of pleating. unfortunately they don't make any boys clothes, and these clothes are just way too girly for me to pretend they could be androgynous.