In London Town

Looking at the slides from the London shows as they came online, I wasn’t super excited. But going back over my picks, I’ve completely changed my opinion. I loved the casual, sometimes messy styling in combination with the strong futuristic vibe at a lot of the shows. And as much as I liked the runways in New York, replete with chic, classic pieces done freshly and well, there was a newness and edginess going on across the pond that really resonates with me at the moment. Overall the London collections may have been less polished and more inconsistent, but it seemed like designers were taking more risks – which I guess makes sense for a fashion week that's known for launching the careers of young designers who have gone on to push fashion boundaries as established insiders. Anyway, it’s even more academic this year than usual because I’ve resolved to do much more shopping in my closet for Fall, but I have a feeling that I may be looking at what's there a little differently this year. Here are some highlights from the week (click to enlarge):

Christopher Kane

Giles Deacon

Issa

Jaeger

Josh Goot

Julien Macdonald

Louise Goldin, Danielle Scutt

Mary Katrantzou, Roksanda Ilincic

Meadham Kirchhoff

Paul Smith Women, Marios Schwab

Vivienne Westwood Red Label

Reality and Dream

I have mentioned my admiration for Jil Sander a few times previously, and the FW09 show did not disappoint.

I'm sure there will be more on that later from my better half, but for now, here's a good interview with the designer, Raf Simons, by Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune. Along with people like Alber Elbaz, Raf keeps fashion interesting season after season.



Via The Moment.

See also: jilsander.com

Stuff we forgot we owned, Part 5

Vinyl placemats from Rotterdam, purchased in the gift shop of the Euromast.

The Kids Are Alright

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The graduating M.A. students from Central Saint Martins put on what was easily my favorite show of London Fashion Week. Highlights from the remaining London shows are upcoming, but this one deserves its own post. The future looks bright.

Katie Greenwood, Derek Lawlor, Derek Lawlor, Katie Greenwood,
Derek Lawlor

Birgit Soerensen, Birgit Soerensen, Virva Launo, Virva Launo,
Enza Avollo

Laura Mackness, David Koma, David Koma, Oden Wilson, David Koma

Abigail Briggs, David Koma, Abigail Briggs,
Oden Wilson, David Koma, David Koma

Out Loud

Walking to the new Pacific Standard office on Friday morning, I ran across this dude making his way down Broadway. You can't tell from the photo, but he was wearing a pair of beat-up maroon Saucony running shoes with one set of laces undone, had what appeared to be the handle of a squash racket sticking out of his messenger bag, and was carrying an old boombox that was playing Three Feet High and Rising at full volume. We were going the same way, so I shadowed this mobile party for a few blocks. Not only did De La Soul sound great in the open air, but coming years into the i-Pod revolution, it almost felt like a political statement. Cheers to you for doing your thing, sir, whoever you are.

De La Soul Jenifa Taught Me mp3

At Your Leisure

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Here's a picture of the forthcoming Flexions 12", designed and released by Byron Kalet/Popular Noise, with photography by Kyle Johnson and art direction from yours truly. It will be out May 1st in an edition of 500 copies, but you can pre-order it now (the vinyl purchase includes a free digital download) and get more info at popularnoise.net.

Your Weekly Mr. Littlejeans

Even with a pretty bad case of the cancer, Littlejeans is happy, social and sweet as all get-out. This morning he woke me up by tapping my eyelids repeatedly with his hand (also known as a paw). I got up and fed him, and then he went back to sleep on his chair. I ain't mad at'cha, Jeans. Stay gold.

Oh Sister

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Aaron Rose on Sister Mary Corita Kent:



A new exhibition of her work opens today at the Missoula Art Museum in Montana. MONTANA!

Previous posts on Corita here and here.

Unrelated: Andrew Bird Oh Sister mp3 (from Soldier On... buy it here.)

Nature of the Experiment

Topping the list of places to see next time I'm in New York is the newly-opened Droog store on Greene Street between Spring and Broome. Founded in 1993, Droog is a gigantic, worldwide collective of highly conceptual designers whose self-stated mission with each project is to "tell a story about themes such as memories, nostalgia, re-use, craftsmanship and nature."

With all of that in mind, here are some of my favorite Droog works:

Milk Bottle Lamp by Tejo Remy. Stuff like this is everywhere now but when this came out it was something I hadn't seen before.

Do hit chair by Marijn van der Poll. Emily and I had the (very loud) pleasure of visiting the Droog studio in Amsterdam one time when they were banging away at this thing. The hammer comes with the metal box and you make your own chair design out of it.

Limited fungi shelf by Katharina Mischer. This reminds me a little of a series of hand-carved tables my dad made in the '80s with animals coming out of them:

(Click to enlarge)

Visit droogusa.com for more info.

Unrelated:
Tokyo Police Club Nature of the Experiment mp3
From Lesson in Crime

On to the Next

The whirlwind that is New York Fashion Week ended last weekend, and the party's moved on to London and soon Paris. I thought there were many lovely pieces on the New York runways – and I liked the strong shoulders and all of the hard-edged glamour – but overall the marching orders for Fall didn't surprise. Blazers and slouchy or stovepipe pants continue their reign; dresses tend toward sleek and slim. Choose between ladylike or hard-edged, or better yet, mix the two. Despite the mantra that in these times designers need to give customers a reason to buy that one special piece they can’t live without, that approach seemed to manifest itself in the details, rather than in a lot of fresh lines or new ideas. But it's always fun – and inspiring – to look. A few final highlights below:

Phi

Julian Louie

Calvin Klein

Ports 1961, Tommy Hilfiger, L'Wren Scott, Brian Reyes

style.com

Donuts

Kristen Schaal via SLOG

Painter in Your Pocket

I mentioned our old friend (and Northwest native) Bella Foster awhile ago, and I'm excited to announce that her new portfolio just went online at the venerable Art Department. Check it out here.

Unrelated: Destroyer Painter in Your Pocket mp3 (git it)

Stuff we forgot we owned, Part 4

A little ceramic pot holder thing. I never really got why it's a "cheese and cracker snacker," because you could only fit like four crackers on it with cheese sitting on top – maybe it's meant for one person. Emily found this at a flea market a long time ago, if I remember correctly. I like the color and the type.

Time Won't Give Me Time

I meant to post this last week – we were lucky to be able to see a bunch of our friends in New York the weekend we were there.
Here are some pics:

The legendary Sky Owen Shepard was kind enough to host us at Arrow, where he works Friday nights.

Crombie.

Emily / J.Ralph Phillips / Joe / Christine.

Jeff and Jason.

Sarah / Steven / drunk guy.

Aoife, Jason, Chad.


Janice, Willing, Jason, Ben.

Tim and Sky.

Matt, Sky, Ben, Janice and Janice's cousin, who was visiting from Seoul.

Reunited, and it feels so good.

My brother and his special lady Daniela, in love and oblivious to the fact that Amy Windehouse is waiting for a drink.

Emily at the end of the night.

Before we got on the plane we had a much-needed brunch at Lobo with our buddies Jennifer Szalai and John Williams. On the way back, we walked by this car. It was a windy weekend.

The March Continues

More highlights from fashion week (click to enlarge)...

Phillip Lim channels the swinging 60s.

Michael Kors does Michael Kors better than in recent memory.

Proenza Schouler makes me want to dig out my Georgia boots.

Richard Chai got the tough-chic memo.

Beautiful detailing at Doo.Ri.

Alexandre Herchcovitch adds some sparkle.

style.com