Sunday, June 27, 2010

Friday, June 25, 2010

#G20 Police Fail

Queen Street was eerily quiet this afternoon,
almost too quiet. And covered in so much horse shit,
it was disgusting.
Then we spotted this lovely little Riot Van,
disgust, now replaced with the bitter taste of shame.

TORONTO POLICE WHO EXACTLY ARE YOU TRYING TO INTIMIDATE HERE?!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Jil Sander Menswear S/S 2011

RAF! LOVE!
Men go forth and purchase!
And then let’s kiss,
hold hands
and light cherry bombs.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Baptiste Viry S/S 2010

For all my darling garçonnes, take note of Babtiste Viry‘s  menswear inspired accessories. With this spring/summer collection titled ‘social signs’ this Parisian designer combines leather, metal and an Hermes education to create pieces for the modern day belle.





Monday, June 21, 2010

an i-D online re-up






I am really digging i-D magazine‘s new online platform. The site features a peek in to current issues, top ten lists and coverage of emerging talent in fashion, art and music. I am especially looking forward to i-Daydream, a blog curated by EIC and founder Terry Jones.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Yang Du A/W 2010

With permanently gray days like these
Yang Du’s super surrelaist fashion is an absolute delight!
I’m so pleased she’s been awarded the NEWGEN sponsorship and will exhibit among some serious design heavy weights including Asish, Erdem and fellow prize winner Mark Fast.



Thursday, June 10, 2010

seeing spots



by the talented photographer
and friend  Iko Maramo

Meet Angie Johnson: the Norwegian Wood wunderkind


all images S/S 2010 lookbook

My first introduction to the multi-talented Angie Johnson of Norwegian Wood was in the early Spring of 2008 as I meticulously clicked through StyleBubble, the dot-com home to the blogosphere’s most fashionable femme Susanna Lau.  I was immediately  taken in by Angie’s unbound creativity and D.I.Y aesthetic. Her fringe, leather and lace confections along with the now famous cage skirts, whipped up quite the internet fashion frenzy. Fast forward a few years later and Angie’s Norwegian Wood is easily the hottest Etsy shop and when she’s not creating eclectic covetable pieces she manages her own boutique, Headquarters, with her partner Tyson Bodnarchuk, is dreaming up her Fall 2010 collection and planning her pending nuptials.  And yet despite her insane schedule I was fortunate enough to catch up with the lovely Angie and whip a few questions her way.

1. For those not in the know, who are you?

My name’s Angie Johnson, I’m the designer of the clothing and accessory line called Norwegian Wood. I live in Montreal with my fiancĂ©, illustrator Tyson Bodnarchuk.

 

2. How did you get started?

I started sewing, crocheting and embroidering at a very young age, around 5/6 I think. I distinctly remember accidentally stitching an embroidery piece I was making to the front of my dress then cutting my dress in order to not ruin my work… and getting in SERIOUS SHIT for that. I was around five at that time, that’s my first real sewing memory. From there it kind of just kept developing, I learned more about sewing from my mom and then through classes in high school and university. I started my first small clothing line which was sold in a few local stores when I was 16, and continued with that on and off throughout the rest of my teens and early 20s. In my 2nd year of university I also started working for a denim company in Winnipeg (close to where I’m from) and continued there full time after graduating. In 2003 I moved to Montreal and continued to work in the mainstream fashion industry at a few local companies, first as an assistant designer, then as a head designer, and eventually decided to go for it on my own in 2008. And here I am.



3. What inspires you at the moment?

Not the best answer, but honestly I’m inspired by things I see all around me every day. History (both my own and the world at large), colours, fabrics, food, travel, books. Sometimes the problem is being OVER inspired, and the challenge becomes finding a way to reign it all in to create some sort of cohesiveness.

4. What is your current spring 2010 collection about?

The collection was inspired by a group of local ladies from an old neighborhood I used to live in. The area was a little rough, especially the main high street where my apartment happened to be. It was very grey, rundown, lots of concrete, few trees. But there were these ladies who would get all done up in traditional dress in Sundays to go to church. I was always mesmerized by the bright graphic patterns of the West African wax cloth fabrics used to make their outfits, contrasted against the ugly grey background of our area. They were so happy and excited to see all their friends and although I’m not a religious person, I could see that their religion and church was very important to them. It immediately would put me in a good mood, and I never forgot that.

5. What kind of fabrics have you been working with this time around?

For my spring collection I worked with a lot of printed cottons, specifically West African waxcloth, mixing it with new or vintage jersey, as well as sheer mesh. I like strong contrasts within my collections, mixing natural and synthetic, etc.



7. Do you have design challenges? And if so, what are they?

Time, there never seems to be enough time to get everything done. I guess that’s more of a business challenge than a design one though….The designs are the easy part, it’s all the other aspects of running your own business that are hard!

8. How has the blogging community helped in your career?

Without the blogging community I wouldn’t have been able to achieve the success I’ve had so far with Norwegian Wood, simple as that. You can be the most talented person in the world, but if you can’t get your stuff out there for people to see, it doesn’t mean much. I’ve been lucky to have some of what I consider to be the best bloggers out there get my back. Now it’s my job to keep pushing myself and my designs so I don’t disappoint!

9. What advice would you give to up and coming designers?

Don’t be afraid to work in the mainstream industry for awhile before starting your own line. You’ll learn so much (about how to put together a collection, fabrics, production, scheduling, selling in other countries, shipping, suppliers, invoicing, working with press and sales agencies, etc) It’s a HUGE advantage to have a little background experience in these things before starting your own line.

10. What is your greatest vice?

Candy, I eat way, way, way too many refined sugars!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

GAGAKLEIN



Steven Klein
Haus of GAGA

that is all.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Lara Stone for Calvin Klein

Looks like the lovely Lara has scored a quite the fashion hat-trick
by nailing the Calvin Klein A/W 10 campaign triumvirate.
Below are images from the collection and CK Jeans campaign shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.
The ck by Calvin Klein campaign was shot by Fabien Baron , leaving the menswear collection campaign to super photog Steven Klein.







Thursday, June 3, 2010

Scribble and Bliss





I must thank my bestie – the musical historian- Metzti for my sudden maniacal fall in to rave-land.  It was she that informed me of the great Underworld‘s return to the of making massive music. I mean they are back! Bigger and better than ever! And I am so overwhelmingly overjoyed.

Creating bestial beats for over 30 years, these lads from the UK have been churning chunes for as along as I can remember. Classics that resonate so deep, they trigger memories and moments that suddenly come flashing forward.  For their latest single, Scribble, the duo have joined forces with Drum’n'Bass beasts High Contrast and to put it quite simply.

THIS TRACK IS OFF THE FUCKING CHAIN!

Pure euphoria
bottled precisely
just for me.

If the upcoming album (out later this year) is anything like this track,
then I think I might just die young
and fucked on pure bliss

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Alexander Wang Resort 2011



When it comes to the young Alexander Wang, I’ve always been flippant.
I mean yes, his cool and hip city girl chic is oft covetable by the pretty young things, but not really my cup of tea. But once I do chop through the irrelevant bits of fashion I do find some covetable pieces.

With the 2011 resort collection Wang attempts to step out of the “urban” niche and move on to – well – any thing else. “Suburban” is the word being tossed about amongst the fash-eds and PR peeps. Dark vegetable dyed hues in ox-blood and olive green are mixed with dazzling whites and what looks like slate grey patent pleather.  The soft-leather short is the obvious hit of the collection, the chunky knits are a welcome alternative to the sweatshirt and the sharply tailored blouses leaves one with a conservative yet sexy clothing option.

But HOLY BANANAS. What I would do, say or give for the black bathrobe trench! A gothic house coat for the out doors, with zipper detailing and crazy shoulder applets that hit the wrist. I MEAN COME ON!

Ps: WTF is going on with the footwear ( see arrow below). Is that a black patent Birkenstock?? If so why is it pair with wool socks?? Let’s just stop with the whole sandle and sock thing while we are ahead okay. More cutesy and less geriatric.

Sonja Ahlers: Collage Queen, purveyor of dreams.



Ask any of my nearest and dearest and they will inform you that my sorry attempts at creating art will usually lead to a pile of shredded magazines, splattered ink stains and photographs strewn together upon various cork surfaces, before being nailed to a  bedroom wall. These collaged squares reflect cavernous moments of my life: boy-band crushes, water-colored fairy tales, angry alt phases, mini memorials of boyfriends past, Biro scratched notes to man-friends present, amongst the photographs of smiling friendly faces of best-friends, siblings and the obligatory shot of the parents.



In no way do I call my trials at photo-montage art, these collections of clippings are merely a reflection of my questionable taste in wall decor. Can you really call a collage a piece of genuine art? Judging my own work I think not. But flip through artist/writer Sonja Ahlers’ new book titled The Selves and you can’t help but become a believer.  One part diary, two part scrapbook  and a dash of  wit, The Sleves is an anthology of a woman’s multifaceted psyche; all chopped-up, glued back together and brought to life in dreamy technicolor illustration and sharp prose.

These pages are so beautiful and teeming with nostalgia  that I have already placed my order at Ahlers’ web-shop. Plus, any fiery femme who references The Verve, will have my full support.
“I’m a million different people from one day to the next I can’t change my mold … no no no no no”
Bitter Sweet Symphony

PREACH!



Manhattan


Chapter One:

He adored New York City. He idolized it all out of proportion. Uh, no. Make that, he romanticized it all out of proportion. To him, no matter what season it was, this was still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated with the great tunes of George Gershwin.

The itch is back.
My skin throbs as if I’ve been bit by thousands of mosquitoes,
piercing with rapture,
leaving me bone dry.

The big move to London town has been pushed back.  For good and valid reasons of course. But despite the rationale of responsibility, I still find my self waking with a dull ache at the center of my rib-cage.
Patience. Development and great career growth.
These are my tests.
Until then, I day dream of  New York City.
And a Fall weekend spent with fantastic friends exploring the beats, streets and eats. Over 96 hours of completely unhinged excitement,
Let’s make this time round all the more epic, ladies!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

adored complexities

I am trying to sort through my old word documents. Mutterings that have collected digital dust, jumbled about in my old computer. I nearly forgot about this little Q&A with Montreal based designer Clayton Evans of complexgeometries from a few years back. Below I have posted the interview and the accompanying images and film. I am hoping my skills have improved since!



Clayton Evans: Adored Complexities

Late this past spring, I had the honor of interviewing wunderkind of the basic white t-shirt, Clayton Evans. Mastermind behind complexgeometries and easily my favourite up and coming designer to date. I had originally stumbled upon complexgeometries in the winter of 2008, when I had fallen in lust with a bat wing black sweater which could be manipulated in to a variety of shapes.  Since then I have worn my little number ragged and own a few of Evan’s fun high-fashion, yet functional pieces.

This young label has already been receiving incredible amounts of international attention and is currently stocked in cities as far away as Tokyo.  Evan’s recent A/W collection boasts bigger collars, multi-layered draping, and the softest of silk jersey.  All twisted, cut, shredded and reshaped to create a mathematical equation for those who covet style over trends and want item that is truly their own.

  • Could you tell me how you started and why you got in to design?


I started designing when I was at art school.  I began making clothes more and more often to complete my assignments, and in the process, I realized I preferred the challenges of design to the freedom of art.

  • Describe your Complex Geometries man and woman?


I can’t really.  One of our main objectives is to design clothes that fit as many different personalities as they do body shapes.

  • Can you describe what “Between Good and Evil” is about and the inspiration behind the collection?


“Between Good and Evil” is an examination of the vague and disputed area between good and bad.  The ways we interpreted it were sometimes quite literal (using a lot of grey) while other ideas were explored a bit more cerebrally (the ideas of good and bad taste)

  • What’s your favorite part about conceptualizing a design?


The moment it goes from “that’s ridiculous” to “that’s really cool”…and back again.

  • What was the thought process in having the collection translated in to film?


The idea to use film and video to present the collection originated as a practical choice.  We were trying to find ways to present the clothing to buyers that would show the garments more thoroughly than the usual photos or linesheets, since there was often confusion.  After the first collaboration (aw08 directed by Olivier Groulx), it was clear that it still wasn’t going to make things any more clear for buyers but it was an exciting and enjoyable way to present the line.

  • What are your greatest design challenges?


Everything is a challenge in fashion design.  From finding the right fabric and figuring out how to construct it to putting a price on it and trying to sell it.  Ideas come easily, but everything from there out is a hurdle.

  • With this collection you continue to push the boundaries of unisex wear. Where would you like to go next?


A few journalists have pointed out that what is unusual about complexgeometries’ unisex styles is that they aren’t necessarily androgynous.  This wasn’t the initial intention, nor was creating unisex style, but I am interested in the idea of creating genderless clothes that don’t make the wearer androgynous and would really like to push that.

  • Are there any designers you would love to collaborate with?


I’m usually pretty excited to collaborate with anyone.  There is always some tension in collaboration, generally positive, and the most creative ideas spring from negotiating that tension.

  • Why did you choose to start your career in Montreal?


Montreal is cheap and that affordability attracts a lot of creative people who can sustain themselves on very little while they try to build their careers.  It makes for an interesting community of creative people.

  • What was the first article of clothing you ever designed?


Oh God, probably a dress for my sister’s Barbie; a tube with fringe on it.  Not much has changed, I guess.