Nancy Sinatra convinced us that boots were made for walkin’, but French bootmaker Palladium takes things to a whole new level with their innovative video walking tours.
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Archive for the ‘Fashion’ Category
Walk the Walk
Friday, May 28th, 2010
Full of Wonder
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
Wonderwood by Comme Des Garcons
Directed by the Brothers Quay
This enchanting film for Comme des Garcons’ newest scent, Wonderwood, comes to us courtesy of legendary stop-motion animators the Brothers Quay.
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Hanging With the Wild Bunch
Friday, May 21st, 2010
Buffalo Stance by Buraka Som Sistema
Directed by Anthony Burrill
In Issue 21 of The Block, we told you all about how as part of Dr. Martens’ 50-year anniversary celebrations, the footwear brand commissioned a bevy of musicians to produce videos of classic tracks. Here’s one of those vids: Buraka Som Sistema’s cover of Neneh Cherry’s “Buffalo Stance,” directed by Anthony Burrill. We think it’s smokin’ (not cokin’).
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Interview: Serena Cole
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
Fashion loves art, no question. But the functional canvases of YSL, Marc Jacobs, or Alexander McQueen aren’t frequently seen as a painter’s muse. However, we like to think the line between art and fashion is a little blurry, so discovering California artist Serena Cole’s fashion-fantasy paintings was a bit of a revelation. A life-long worshipper of fashion, Cole questions our veneration of pop culture by melding images from fashion ads with traditionally saintly symbols (think halos and haunted eyes). Her goal is to create iconic faces that explore “the strange double-edged sword of being wanted.”
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Knit to Thrill
Friday, May 14th, 2010
With a collection self-described as “dark urban hippie,” Lars Andersson hasn’t completely forgotten his Swedish roots: “It’s a minimal environment, really old, dark and mysterious,” says Andersson. “It’s raw and unfinished, but still beautiful.” And we can’t help but be mesmerized by Evaan Kheraj’s film of Andersson’s F/W 2010 collection. Inspired by Norwegian figurative painter Odd Nerdrum, there’s a sense of ethereal romance evoked throughout the knitwear collection. If only fall came sooner.
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High on Halston
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
Hot on the heels of successful high-fashion docs like Valentino: The Last Emperor and Lagerfeld Confidential, director Whitney Sudler-Smith debuts his disco decade homage to famed designer Halston at this Friday’s Tribeca Film Festival. Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston shows how Roy Halston Frowick, known simply as Halston, owned the 70s fashion scene.
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Interview: Will Broome
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
What do pandas, superheroes, and The Smurfs have in common? Not much, except a little attention from artist Will Broome. Eyeless cartoon pandas and Speedo-clad superheroes are just some of the illustrations you’ll find in the Londoner’s portfolio. Notably, Broome is most recognized for creating Miss Marc, the playful and hip little girl plastered across the Miss Marc by Marc Jacobs collection. And The Block was fortunate enough to catch up with the busy illustrator and talk about his love for 80s cartoons, days at St. Martins, current and past projects, and an encounter with Naomi Campbell.
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Fairy Heels
Monday, April 19th, 2010
The new ads for Christian Louboutin F/W 2010 have photographer Khuong Nguyen (known for his works with Citroên and Porsche) taking inspiration from the Brothers Grimm and Lewis Carroll. From Cinderella and Alice to Snow White, we can’t help but pretend we’re a fairy princess in these stilettos.
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Far Away Eyes
Thursday, April 8th, 2010
Images Michael Schwartz Fashion Editor James Worthington DeMolet
Photograpy Assistant Jamie Onderdonk
Hair Raymond McLaren
Make Up Carolina Dali-Tesch for Armani Cosmetics
Fashion Assistants Nicole Cama and Lauren Deleo
Casting James Worthington DeMolet
Model Simon Nessman at Major
Special thanks to Andrew Castro at Major
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Band of Outsiders
Thursday, April 8th, 2010
New York City, September 12, 2009
Images ioulex Words Susan Locht
Last September, the world got its first glimpse of Band of Outsiders’ Spring 2010 collection. The New York air carried a hint of autumn, wind pushing the odd, dry leaf up the street. But inside Chelsea’s Milk Studios, it was warm and sunny. Bright murals of sky and ocean lined the walls, heaps of sand covered the floors, grass poked between boulders, and small toy boats floated in pools of water. Skipping Fashion Week’s catwalks for the sort of daring presentation the label is known for, BOA dropped their 43 male and female models into quirky California beach vignettes.
“I try to stay away from runway for a few reasons,” explains Scott Sternberg, the designer behind Band of Outsiders and the women’s offshoot, Boy by Band of Outsiders, both of which playfully reimagine preppy vintage. “First, runway feels a little antiquated, so why not explore other ways of showing the clothes and engaging the press?” Besides quality craftsmanship and detail in tailoring and fabrics, it’s the creative concepts behind the collections that make BOA stand out.
“For Spring 10, the concept was very simple – turn Milk Gallery into a beach. We carted in tons, literally, of sand, and photographed a panoramic of a beach in Massachusetts that felt Malibu-esque.” The result? A very odd beach party – one at which ogling editors and adoring fans rubbed shoulders with Hollywood actors and the New York fashion media elite. Jason Schwartzman and Grace Coddington, Kirsten Dunst and Tavi, Rachel McAdams and Sally Singer. The juxtaposition was hilarious: guests in their New York best, most dressed head-to-toe in black, face-to-face with fresh young models in rolled-up chinos and Sperry topsiders, hair beach-blown and sun-kissed. One model sips a milkshake, another searches for coins in the sand with a metal detector.
These offbeat scenarios highlight what makes Sternberg’s brand different. The clothes are inspired by vintage boys’ school attire, but the way in which he shows them off brings a fresh take to what otherwise might appear to be a high-end version of Gap. His unconventional approach extends to all of BOA’s endeavors. For example, instead of using models to shoot his lookbooks, the LA-based designer opts for actors, most often comedians: for Fall 2009, Sternberg himself shot Jason Schwartzman hamming it up in sharply tailored suits, shirts, and trousers (complete with a polaroid of Schwartzman splayed out on some stairs as though he had tripped and fallen). “I use actors because they tend to have more depth, and levity, than models.”
While he acknowledges there is something attractive about the slick advertisements the big European houses produce, Sternberg feels they’re bleak and boring, even old and out of touch. “One thing I’m always interested in exploring with Band of Outsiders is how to overcome what have become very tired visual clichés associated with fashion,” Sternberg explains. “The way I feel about clothing, about fashion, is much more playful, joyful, soulful, nostalgic, narrative, and even a little funny – not a pouty model in full makeup awkwardly holding a purse or something like that.”
In seasons past, Sternberg has used actors such as Marisa Tomei, Michelle Williams, and Sarah Silverman for his campaigns. For Spring 2010, Sternberg photographed actors/comedians Donald Glover, Dave Franco, and Leslie Mann at a yacht club in Marina del Rey. California is a favourite backdrop for Sternberg’s photo projects. “LA is a funny place – a relatively young city, and from an architectural perspective quite cacophonous – and these settings are especially interesting when contrasted with the east coast, Ivy League aesthetic in the clothes.”
Perhaps it’s unsurprising that a label named after a Jean-Luc Godard film would spend so much time considering context, image, and the emotional range of its models. Band of Outsiders seems to have gotten the mix right, because we can’t wait to see what they’ll do next.
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