Shapeshifting

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The fashion coverage around here has been pretty abysmal since Emily went back to gotdamn school, and neither of us have been paying much attention to the shows in the past few weeks, other than what the Times covers every morning. However, among a few other collections, Balenciaga was one that really caught my eye. Click to enlarge:

These clothes are subtly strange – imaging seeing someone wearing them on the street. I think I'm probably fairly predictable with the stuff I like but again I think Nicolas Ghesquiere is doing interesting things with shape, structure, color, and texture.

He told Cathy Horyn his aim was “to ennoble everyday domestic objects.” Looking at the clothes with that in mind, I think he succeeded. (Video of the show is here.)

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Related gossip: Carine Roitfeld and staff did not receive invitations to the show – apparently because they had the nerve to mix and match Balenciaga with another designer in the pages of French Vogue. It's almost always lame when designers get mad at good magazines, and especially so in this case, considering that (as New York puts it) mixing brands is the entire point of styling. Oh well.

Image of the Day

A Fragonard painting from Jeff Koons' collection, from a recent New York Times article about Jeff Koons, art collector.

Your Weekly Mr. Littlejeans

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He don't play by rules

References

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While we're admiring Rodarte (again) here's a great video interview with Laura Mulleavy, one-half of the duo behind the LA-based label. In conversation with Vogue's Sally Singer, she discusses the process of putting together the Quicktake: Rodarte exhibition, which is on view at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum through March 14th – as well as Rodarte's core inspirations and processes in general.

[+] Rodarte FW2010; two looks from FW2009; FW2008; SS2010

I think the reason I'm a big fan – even when I don't love every last thing they do – is that I like the way Laura and Kate Mulleavy incorporate their inspiration, much of which has to do with growing up in the spectacular natural environments of the West Coast. [Note: the interview is long and most of the time they just sit there talking, so after the intro you can just listen to the rest, you don't have to actually watch.]

See also: rodarte.net and Rodarte collections on style.com

Image of the Day

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...this crazy tree by our house.

The tree is crazy.

Crazy!

Promise of a New Day

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New music:
The Sight Below featuring Tiny Vipers
New Dawn Fades mp3
[via Pitchfork]

A Joy Division cover from the Seattle-based producer's forthcoming album It Falls Apart – more info at Ghostly International (same label as Loscil and School of Seven Bells, among others).

Dillamentary

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An interesting look back on Jaydee's career, particularly as it pertains to his association with Stones Throw and LA. Here's hoping this is just a preview for what at some point should be a larger movie about his influence on hip-hop and beyond. I wrote a little about how important Jaydee was to me personally when Emily and I spent some time in Detroit on our way out here, so I won't go into it again, but you can click here if you want to read that and see some roadtrip photos.

Another one:
Robert Glasper J Dillalude mp3 [Blue Note]

[video via LineOut]

Image of the Day

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John Dollar Emeka, Enugu, Nigeria, 2008, by South African photographer Pieter Hugo, currently on view at Yossi Milo Gallery in New York. Hugo's haunting photographs mimic film stills taken from the over-1000 low-budget, straight-to-video movies shot in Nigeria each year (making "Nollywood," as it's known, bigger than Hollywood, though not quite as big as Bollywood). From the press release:

[Nollywood] films lean toward the macabre and melodramatic, with narratives rooted in local symbolic imagery and traditional storytelling. Themes and subjects often include the supernatural, with plots centered on romance, extortion, prostitution, witchcraft, or religion. Produced for a primarily African audience, the films are a rare example of African self-representation in mass media.

See more in a [NSFW] slideshow at New York Magazine and visit Yosi Millo for info – the show is up through April 10th with a closing reception April 8th.

Image of the Day

Robert McCall, the artist who painted all the space scenes on the 2001: A Space Odyssey soundtrack LP that I was obsessed with as a kid, has died. His depictions of the future of space travel seem kind of dated now, I guess, but they encapsulate a certain era of commercial illustration, still interesting to me, when all the possibility was there but the post-war optimism had begun to fade. Or not. I don't know, I just made that up. "Dated" doesn't even mean anything in space anyway so whatever.

[ via Unbeige ]

Super Fun

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Now it's official: the New York Times is reporting this morning that our beloved Gowanus has been designated a Superfund site. The near-term effect on the neighborhood would seem to be a development slow-down, and the long-term effect will be, at least in theory, a cleaner Gowanus. All of which is fine by me. Read the story here.

Royalty

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Image of the Day

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Taken By Trees at the Triple Door last Friday.

I'm pretty sure those were projections on the stage, not cold medicine-fueled hallucinations. Either way, it was a great show.

Space Is The Place

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The consistently solid LVMH-backed blog Nowness is currently screening a new space-race-inspired video short from Rodarte, starting Guinevere van Seenus and shot by photographer Todd Cole, with music by No Age.

Click here to read about it and watch.
[Might be NSFW, depending on where you W.]

Back At You With The Realness

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LPSD's "Back Atcha" – I first heard Kutfather play this at the Art Bar when we used to DJ there in the late '90s, and then it was sampled notably for "Thoughts I Generate," the b-side of his 12" we released on Conception Records. It's pretty much impossible to find an original of the LPSD record – the only recording I have of it is on an old Jake One mix tape, so in my mind this song always flows directly into Cru's "Pronto." Never knew there was a video for it, but there it is.