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subscribe to style file blog via RSSTo Do This Weekend: PLOT/09
June 26, 2009 1:34 pm
This World & Nearer Ones , the first edition of a new public art quadrennial, PLOT/09, opens on Governors Island tomorrow. It’s not quite a real island getaway, but it’s a free summer adventure right in the city, with 19 site-specific works by international artists both emerging and well known (Klaus Weber, Lawrence Weiner, Mark Wallinger, Patti Smith and daughter Jesse Smith) scattered among the landscape in a large-scale art takeover. Tomorrow’s opening includes a day-long performance by Mexico City-based artist/forensic technician Teresa Margolles and a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. There’s only a 30 percent chance of thunderstorms, which isn’t all that bad, relatively speaking. See you on the ferry.
tags: Jesse Smith, Klaus Weber, Lawrence Weiner, Mark Wallinger, Patti Smith
Getting In Shape, The Dutch Way
June 26, 2009 1:21 pm
I truly get excited about summer Fridays, but I’d be over the moon if I could go to Holland to see the other Biënnale. Arnhem Mode is organized by my friend Piet Paris. This year’s theme is Shape and features works by labels like Lanvin, Comme des Garçons, and Sandra Backlund. There are dozens of related programs (including a screening of Coco Avant Chanel), and the exhibitions aren’t in whitewashed gallery spaces, either, but spread out across town, the idea being to alter the cityscape/shape. It’s up through July 6, which means I’ve got exactly ten days to hatch my escape plan. If I don’t make it, at least there’s a pretty catalog to console myself with.
tags: Arnhem Mode, Chanel
Farrah Fawcett, Style Icon
June 26, 2009 9:59 am
The feathered blond hair, that smile, those tawny limbs. You know the Farrah Fawcett poster we’re talking about. Your older brother and 12 million other teenage boys across the globe had it hanging above their beds during the Charlie’s Angels star’s 1970’s heyday. Fawcett’s influence on style and fashion far outlasted the relatively brief time she spent on that iconic TV show. “Farrah hair” was a phenomenon trumped only by the Rachel ‘do of the 1990’s. And designer Phoebe Philo co-opted the actress and international sex symbol’s high-waisted light denim flares and braless look as recently as Spring 2004 at Chloé. Here, a brief tour through some of Fawcett’s most memorable looks.
tags: Farrah Fawcett
Michael Jackson, Pop Superstar
June 26, 2009 9:38 am
One of the ironies of Michael Jackson’s death at 50 is that he had been back on the radar for so many people lately, fashion watchers included. Just yesterday there was the news that the King of Pop would be outfitting himself in hundreds of thousands of Swarovski crystals at his upcoming sold-out London concerts. There were the paparazzi pictures of him in Riccardo Tisci’s Givenchy creations. And, of course, there were Christophe Decarnin’s much-photographed spangled band-leader jackets for Balmain, inevitably reminiscent of the one Jackson wore on his Grammys victory lap for Thriller. In fact, the star’s long career was almost as full of influential fashion moments—the white socks and black loafers, the red leather motorcycle jacket, the infamous single sparkly glove—as it was chart-topping hits. Here, some of Jackson’s most memorable looks.
tags: Balmain, Christophe Decarnin, Givenchy, Michael Jackson, Swarovski
Exclusive: Getting Bullish With Meredith Danluck, The Artist Behind Adam Kimmel’s Spring 2010 Video
June 25, 2009 3:01 pm
From Mickey Mouse to the Marlboro Man, the good old U.S. of A. treasures its icons. Artist and filmmaker Meredith Danluck has built her work around plumbing the depths of these American dreams, though not to puncture and deflate. “I think [my work] is coming to a place that’s in between myth and reality,” says Danluck. “To me, breaking down the entire thing and just showing reality is not as interesting. I think we want to keep some of that magic in our lives.” Her last solo show was a 12-minute short called Michael Jackson, Jesus Christ…Coca-Cola for which she met the King of Pop himself (more on that below). But her most recent subject is the American West, explored in her first full-length film, a documentary called The Ride, and a photo series called “Drinkability,” both the result of spending a year with bona fide, modern cowboys. While Danluck is working on getting The Ride into theaters, you can see “Drinkability” at the Renwick Gallery in Tribeca until July 31. And screening today at Adam Kimmel’s menswear presentation in Paris—and exclusively on Style.com—is a video she created in collaboration with Kimmel and curator Neville Wakefield called The Cowboy in the Continental Suit, featuring champion bull rider Rocky McDonald. It’s the second in a trilogy of videos produced by the duo that shows men donning some very nice threads to engage in risky activities. (The first, by Ari Marcopoulos, follows two skaters in powder blue Kimmel suits going down a hill at about 60 mph). Here, Danluck talks to Style.com about the power of a suit, the beauty of Americana, and the trauma of 30 seconds with Jacko.
A guy riding a bull in a tuxedo isn’t something you see every day. Where did the idea come from?
Neville Wakefield is a good friend and has been involved in this film that I just completed. He’s been seeing pictures from that and listening to me talk about it for years. He talked about the other projects like Ari’s and we talked about contextualizing fear in this way. When a man is in a suit, it’s some form of power. So you’re putting these men in these scary situations, but the suit throws off the element of fear a little bit. It was just the natural choice. If someone’s going to bomb a hill in a suit, then Rocky’s going to get on a bull in a tux.
tags: Adam Kimmel, Ari Marcopoulos, Meredith Danluck, Neville Wakefield
Topshop Endorses Cycle Chic
June 17, 2009 2:25 pm
The Copenhagen-ization of New York City continues apace: First Times Square gets turned over to pedestrians and deck chairs; now, Topshop is giving its fans a chance to try out all those fancy new bike lanes that have shown up around town. (We love you, transportation commissioner!) Starting on Saturday, the Topshop store in Soho will be “renting” out bikes—the cost, as far as we can tell, is free—and kitting out would-be pedal pushers with helmets and New York City cycling maps. The program only runs through the 27th and rentals start at noon daily; our advice is to get in line now.
tags: Topshop
Tim Hamilton: Caped Crusader
June 15, 2009 12:25 pm
The CFDA Awards are mere hours away. We hear that some big-name European designers in town for Resort presentations might be making surprise appearances during cocktail hour, but it’s really about the Americans tonight. While we aren’t in the business of playing favorites, we would like to call your attention to the portrait Craig McDean shot and Karl Templer styled of Swarovski Award for Menswear nominee Tim Hamilton for the CFDA Journal—love the shearling jacket as cape. Sneak a peek at our brother site’s Material Interest blog.
tags: Tim Hamilton
What We’re Reading Now: Fashion Tale
June 3, 2009 1:52 pm
The latest Swedish import in our house didn’t come from Ikea, can’t be downloaded from iTunes, and isn’t made of denim: It’s the new issue of Fashion Tale, a magazine dreamed up by one-time adman Carl-Axel Wahlström, which will be available stateside next week. “Our mission is constant reinvention of the fashion magazine,” says Wahlström. “Because we have the possibility of going our own way, we will always be like a Kinder Surprise to our readers.” Kinder Surprises, for all of you non-Europeans, are the little toys that come inside chocolate candy. The surprise of the latest issue is its size. The debut magazine was hardbound; this one is purposely smaller and was made using printer’s overstock paper, which was both a cost-reducing and environmentally friendly measure. If that doesn’t do it for you, maybe this will: On the magazine’s blog, each photographer featured in the issue contributed a playlist to accompany their editorial. More information at fashiontalemagazine.blogspot.com.
tags: Ikea
Terence Koh Goes Pop Tomorrow In Chinatown
May 29, 2009 10:04 am
In a Richard Prince-for-Louis Vuitton world, “selling out” doesn’t have the same sting. But Terence Koh’s pop-up shop “Everything Must Out Going” blurs art and commerce lines on a more personal level. “It’s not selling out when you’re doing it with your friends,” says curator Elizabeth Lovero. Koh’s Canal Street space (called Asia Song Society, a.k.a. A.S.S.—haha!) is made for crossing that border—not quite a commercial gallery, but not a nonprofit, either. It’s just a place where people (here ranging from Rita Ackermann and Dash Snow to Kai Kühne and Chrissie Miller) can be creative in any medium and maybe sell stuff sans the pesky labels. What can you buy at EMOG? There are Comme des Garçons T-shirts created with Tauba Auerbach for $100 or aNYthing tees made with Dan Colen and Aurel Schmidt for $40. On the more conceptual side is a blank book of tracing paper that comes with an afternoon tour of Manhattan with artist Tyler Coburn, who does rubbings at various city landmarks. Price: $99.95. The op-arty space, designed by Rafael de Cárdenas, an architect with fine art roots, is a work unto itself, mixing gallery mainstays like pedestals with found furniture and elements of retail.
“Everything Must Out Going,” Asia Song Society, 45 Canal Street, May 30 to June 6.
Cédric Rivrain: Wrap Star
May 26, 2009 5:22 pm
When Cédric Rivrain’s first solo exhibition opens at Brachfeld Gallery in Paris tonight, it’ll give new meaning to the term bandage dressing. His subjects include fashion It girls Olympia Le-Tan, Gabrielle Greiss, and Charlotte Chesnais, but they’re more likely to be depicted in Band-Aids than Balenciaga. “My mother was always taking me shopping and my father is a doctor. I guess that’s why I combine beautiful things with anatomical studies,” said the illustrator, who has sketched for everyone from John Galliano to Martine Sitbon. “Bandages are kind of jewelry and can be as ornamental as a garment.” Don’t expect mummies at the wrap party; jewelry designer Yaz Kurhan of Yazbukey is hosting at Club Montana.
tags: Cedric Rivrain, Charlotte Chesnais, Gabrielle Greiss, Olympia Le Tan, Yaz Kurhan
