I have been totally out of touch with Paris Fashion week. A few of my more dedicated friends have filled me in bits and pieces and I am totally grateful since I am more often than not too lazy to browse the shows myself. 2 shows that Bowen had pointed me to were Rick Owens (of course!) and Kris Van Assche (Surprisingly good!). Bowen and I both love Rick Owens, and this collection is no different, he works the black minimal aesthetic really well, although we both agree... it would be nice to see him introduce some richer dark colours in his new collections.To the naked eye, the collection might just look very black and more black. On a closer inspection though, you will notice all the Rick Owen signature goodness are in the details, I can't really explain to someone who has not seen his stuff in person. It is simply beautiful and easy to wear, the layering possibilities are always exciting too with his jackets and tops. The boots are also very simple but so beautiful in a minimal aesthetic. photos by Marcio Madeira forMen.style.com
Kris Van Asshe was a real surprise, I am normally not a fan of his stuff. This collection however feels a lot stronger in shape and mood that is appealing to me. It is for a start way less feminine and refined, the materials are still very Kris Van Assche but I think the application is just turned a tad more masculine which is cool because it looks more versatile and girls could probably rock some of this collection too. Just like Hedi Slimane's Dior Homme shilouette was appearing to certain females who liked sharp lines and strong shilouettes.Things that I really liked with this collection were the boots, black, big and loose - hell yes! So easy to wear. Also the proportion of the looks are well mixed, the pants are not all overly skinny which is refreshing for his look, I like the relaxed mood of the whole presentation, I could probably wear a bit of everything he has made for this show if I had more than enough cash flying around but since I got to be selective, the looks below is probably what I would buy if I see it in person....so until my trip to HK and NY in Sept... I will need to be sensible with my savings. photos by Marcio Madeira forMen.style.com
I am 24 as of yesterday, which is exciting.To celebrate, I decided to hang out with my bud Bren who coincidentally also shares the same birthday as me and we discover this during high school.
After a long weekend - work is naturally hellish, playing catch up is no fun so I decide not to drink and just chill with a film. I really like Michael Winterbottom, initially because of 24 hour party people then I stumbled upon code 46, which also blew my mind. I have always wanted to see this indie side project he worked on called 9songs, so I finally picked it up from the local vid store and was super excited to see it. I didn't know too much about the film apart from the music and I knew it was sexually inspired, that didn't really faze me until I got into the story.
The movie is quite original but I am not sure how I felt about the sequence of the shots. The movie had a lot of sex scenes, it was certainly graphic but I don't think it was pornographic. In fact, i think the lo fi quality is what might shock most unsuspecting viewers from a dark brixton gig scene to macro shots of the 2 characters going for it like rabbits....after a few gigs and bumps - you kind of get used to it, I felt more like a spy watching the film but I think Winterbottom had a stronger intention than just shock and awe.
In a way, the sex is only trivial and more likely a misguidement aspiration for personal fulfilment or just a natural regression of their personal intimacy over the course of the film. Lisa the adventurous lover eventually gets bored and has to leave the heartbroken academic music lover. In a bigger sense, 9songs tries to criticise the contemporary values our culture holds dearly to regarding sex and hedonism, is much similar to what the consumerism claims to deliver but consitutionally fails to deliver in the end - despite its excess in our culture for so called personal fulfillment.
The story is like a poetic love story, like most others you might have already seen but 9songs offers you an intimate view of what love is like - up close and personal, with shots of lovely music and moments of ecstacy that burns bright like an old polaroid you had just popped out from a fresh shot.
It really is a beautiful story and if you are after an alternative love story, 9songs is for you. It certainly make my birthday night a little more memorable than I had anticipated.
Thanks for another stellar night put together by the CLAMBAKE gang.I got there around 1 and was greeted by the cops but they were really cool and decided to let us party in the wind anyway.
It was totally Cold and windy but dancing in the sand gives you better looking calves so it was ok!
I have never heard of this artist before. I have been a bit out of touch with Fecal face and Wooster so I can't really complain. The video I stumbled upon from my feeds, found via Wooster, which features a New York based Artist "Poster Boy" armed with a razor. It is nothing sort of amazing and this is definitely a fresh and inspiring way to play on the irony on the AD cluttered cityscape in NY or any other major city for that matter.
This is one of the best collection of cominc inspired inks I have ever seen.Found via Wired.I was talking to my artist Seth today about future tattoo ideas while he was doing a Koala for me.... he is getting some more Horror flicks inspired pieces while I mentioned to him about the power and influence of Comic characters as amazing reference images to tattoo.
This Wired post is what inspired me to consider something with comics in the future when my bank account grows again..... I really need to save for my US trip this year and stay away from expensive toys.
Synchronicity is the key to a captivating audience! I went to see Metronomy and Pivot last Thursday at the Beck's festival bar. It was a really good night, Pivot was supporting along with Totally Michael who was super entertaining and full of energy - perfect to jazz up the crowd for an early slot. I thought he did a superb job to put everyone in a jolly party mode which was awesome. Pivot as usual blew my mind, I swear Warp records is just full of amazing talent, Battles whom I saw last year at Beck's bar as well were also mesmerizing. Both bands have this amazing power of producing sounds that has the power to arrest and paralyze an audience.... at least thats how I felt in the crowds, it is not really a band for stage antics or sweat stricken photography, it was just a bit of a magical show with really good music by 3 humble guys. Metronomy, I did not know too much about apart from what I had read on blogs and downloaded a few remixes here and there. My friends over in Japan told me to prepare some awesomeness on stage, they were certainly not wrong, the synchronicity in their dance moves have never been more apt for the songs they played. It was a pure delight to watch and everyone was just filled with joy to their silly moves, it was such a good night.
My lovely amazing friend Byron returns to Sydney after a 6 week travel spree all over the globe. No Answer decided to go Harlequin and some kids got creative with their looks. I wish too I had more energy to think of a costume now In retrospect having a sweet mask on my face could make picture taking a little trickier...
O Hell YES! I cannot wait to see this! I am so excited for this film to come out. I first read about it thru the Pedestrian guys. I love Brett Easton Ellis, there is something intoxicating and engaging about his characters. It feels like a lethal cocktail and a perpetual mess that you will be dragged through but yet you can't help but feel some sort of compassion for his obscure ways of making sense of human fragility or the idea of reality we all share to some form.
Anyway this film looks like a pretty promising adoption of his work. I am a big fan of his writing so I will definitely pay to see this and O man look at the cast, it is going to be pretty sweet even if the screenplay has been screwed around to make it Hollywood friendly.
I hope they will retain the Easton Ellis like all good words should deserve while transformed as a motion picture. x
I have known about the IRAK crew for a while now from hanging out with the graff buddies of mine. From what they tell me, they are bunch of heavy hitting writers who were quite infamous roaming the NYC streets circa 90s. Earsnot was one of the earliest members, the last thing I had read about him was in a Dash snow feature on NYmag a while ago too, so like all things that I have an interest in... over time it somehow finds me again.
I just stumbled upon this video while scanning through my feeds on Googlereader. It was a pleasant surprise and it certainly gave me a better idea of what Earsnot is about, from a teenage runway to graffiti icon to now a graphic designer. IN the video he shares his view on creative and lifestyle philosophy, and what motivates him to do what he creates.
If you like Graffiti culture and interesting characters too.... you need to check out the video! earsnot from THE FEAR on Vimeo.
I first met Kym at Nadia's birthday that was about a year or so ago now I think. I had no idea who she was at the time... we were all too busy waiting for our burritos and nachos. We got chatting, she complimented on my shoes and I asked what did she do, she said something about fashion... I didn't think too much about it by then we were all so full of food.
From the first impression, I knew she was nice but when I learnt that she was the markets editor of Russh then subsequently launched her own label, it was quite a reality check. She is doing amazingly well from what I have seen lately, the latest collection has received a lot of acclaim and now she has been featured on a recent interview @ Dazed Digital!!! It is a really nice interview and she is totally an inspiration for other Australian creatives I am sure =)
If you like ELLERY - you can find out more the label HERE.
I have really been drawn to chunky sneakers at the moment Although these shoes are definitely not made for day to day wear, I still really admire the aesthetics Nike had adopted for the next gen of snowboarding gear. In fact snowboarding threads are so well designed now, if it wasn't for the weather impracticality. I would definitely buy some and wear it quite proudly.
Check out a video clip produced for Nike Snowboarding promoting the new double tongued boot by Arbito aka Danny Kass. It is a pretty funny and original way to promote the idea of a double tongue boot via kitschy art direction. The artwork in the clip is by Arbito, it is so cute but trippy with a very complimentary soundtrack. The moral of the clip - Eating a bad hotdog and you get a sweet ass mind trip. so rad so Nike! O & of course there are subtle glimpses of the Nike shoes through out the clip =)
ummm so last night I got to dance with Sharon Jones?! Crowds bopping to Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.. Sharon was amazing on Stage It was a wet and sweaty Sunday night, everyone was huddled under the Beck's festival bar tent. The opening of the festival bar could have been more atmospheric if it wasn't for the rain, nonetheless the music was amazing. I got there a little late so I watched the mellow sounds produced by the Kid Confucius Frontman's side project calledRay Mann Three I was keen to see Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, I have heard many amazing things about them. It was a really amazing show until somehow I got pulled up on stage, it was the most awkward moment for me to start the year but I suppose the year is still young so there will be many more awkward times to come... I am pretty sure. =] Me bowing after the song ended - thank god = S
Oh some Internet Love for moi! I recently got featured in Lovegeek's latest issue about people who have visited Japan. It is pretty rad, they used some of my photos from the Lions at your door tour and you can read the interview with me HERE
I found Lovegeek through Klustermag.(I did my first photo assisting job for them for the Desert Rose story). I really enjoyed the other featured designers/artists on the Lovegeek Jap issue, it is really nice to hear how the other people work and learn a little something about them. Check out the whole "WE LIVE IN THE FUTURE" issue HERE! Hopefully you will enjoy reading about the issue too.
Oh oh also To coincide with the Japanese edition of lovegeek, they are also selling limited edition postcard prints to raise money and awareness of the homeless issue in Nishinari-Ku and greater Osaka. For a small fee Lovegeek will send you off a pack of 4 cute postcards to send to your friends and family, with ALL the proceeds donated to The Big Issue Japan Foundation.They are really really cute cards and totally for a good cause so open your hearts and wallets to make Japan a even more lovely place for good people to help the not so fortunate. xx
I have always wanted to learn new things. Photo by TFATF
The last few months I have really wanted to make clothes for myself, primarily due to a lack of disposable income for my love of Dior Homme (frequent travels to HK is just not very feasible plus I don't really like Kris Van Assche's vision) and the departure of Hedi Slimane was heartbreaking but inspiring too. Simple things often make me want to do something different, so by making clothes for myself first, I will probably have more things that I would actually like to wear. Then if my friends liked it, I would be happy to do some for them too. Quite a modest idea really.I know it sounds pretty predictable or maybe it was just all the designers/labels that I admired have all started out on a similar tangent.
There is one difference with me though. My idea of clothes is just that, I wouldn't really call it fashion, they are just things that I like inspired by simple things like friends, music and visual ideas. I don't really like Fashion but I do like clothes and people who enjoy them, that sounds strange to some (I KNOW), probably because I didn't study fashion at school but I have always enjoyed clothes ever since I was a little boy not sure why exactly... I just always found it amusing like it was some kind of a puzzle. It wasn't until the last year of my uni degree that I had abandoned my prescribed textbooks to hang out at the library on my downtime to find new materials that interested me.... that was when I stumbled upon 20 years of i-D, after reading that book, I had gone onto reading a few designer biographies and other random books that made me curious about people and clothes.
Over the xmas period, a friend of mine and I decided to just make some stuff together. He had an graphic illustration background while I had a marketing one, he already made a few pieces for himself and mates with his dad's help sometimes when things get tricky (his dad is a tailor by trade).
We are both keen to experiment and learn how to make stuff along the way. It is pretty exciting, it is not a full time thing or anything, just something we both wanted to try and do. Last weekend, we made our FIRST sample piece, it is an Oversized singlet with a little pleat detailing (as worn above). It was pretty simple but really comfortable to wear. We will be making more stuff over the next few weeks so keep an eye out =)
I am back and feeling as Fresh as Daisies! Photo by Bowen Paul Arico.
The first weekend back in Sydney was pretty gnarly Maybe it was the water or the sun out in the coast but everything in Sydney just seems to be way hectic.I have to admit, I did miss my friends and having heard some pretty rad parties over new years, it sure gave me some mixed feelings or at least wanting to get the power of teleportation even more so I can party hop effortless and without the help of cabs!
Anyway the next best thing for me was going to the first No Answer of the year, it was actually pretty sensible but understandable considering most people I know have been partying for 5 days straight and going into No answer would be quite a task. Anyway for those who did turn up, I was very stoked to see them and all hanging out.
It is good to be back, at least to be chilling with some familiar faces x It was also Rebecca's last weekend in Sydney before she ventures out to conquer the Modelling sphere of Japan. She is going to be everywhere, I am pretty sure the designers will dig her look when she gets the wheel in motion.
Radge is just full of love. The girls - Saz, Bel, Emma and Jessie. Always fun to hang out with! I love these kids too. Jo forever so colorful. Bowen the photographer extraordinaire and Kate is just rad. Cam looks like a Margiela model. The always inspiring muse - Cody Bayliss. Max is just magical. Yonah and Lu are as sweet as bubblegum. Sirens DJ and Bec.
