Cruise 2009 is here.  This week is going to be madness.  Buyers from all over, appointments left and right, Parisians flooding the offices, re-merchandising from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m, tons of coffee......From what I have seen so far is that the product is strong, the inspiration is clear, and the message shows once again that Stefano is developing this brand based on its French roots.

Before my YSL days, I had no idea what a "Cruise Collection" was.   When compared to runway collections (which are always a lot more creative and sometimes less wearable than Cruise) it seems like night and day.  Since fashion is at the end of the day a business like any other, the cruise collection is meant to be more commercial because it meant to sell like crazy.  And it certainly does.

Cruise is always at least 30% of our Ready To Wear and at its peak it is about 50% of our RTW in the boutiques.  It is just as important as the shows you all see on Style.com and it is just as important to our House when sometimes the Runway collection doesn't speak to every consumer.

More photos to come, this is just the start....

 

"Sloane Crosley is another mordant and mercurial wit from the realm of Sedaris and Vowell.  What makes her so funny is that she seems to be telling the truth, helplessly."

I usually try not to write about artists unless I have original content like photographs I have taken of their work, or an image of the artist, but Kenyon B needs to be noticed.

Some call his work a political satire, offensive, intuitive, uncomfortable, truthful, or even rude.   He illustrates social issues like race and sexuality in a way that you can either find very funny, or very, well, not funny.

It is artists like Kenyon B that push the line being drawn by the media and institutions about how our environment "should be" or what our environment "should say".  Isn't there a saying that the truth lies between the lines?.............

Kenyon B

The Hundreds today spoke about how amazing Marc Ecko is.  They even talk about him having his own personal designer and how he'll commssion special projects just cause. I smirked when I saw that because I know exactly who they are talking about. I know "that guy".  It is my boy Nick Corey. I met Nick when I first moved to NY. He is a guys guy and girls love him because he is sweet, hilarious, and freaking charming. Nick and his roomie James live in Williamsburg and both dropped out of college in Connecticut to go to NY to pursue their graphic careers. Lets just say having Marc as a mentor, having a basketball court, library, and chef in your office/ bachelor pad is something to write back to the dorms about. Lipsticks, lets have Nick Corey be our honorary boy :-)



Below: a piece done for Mark, by request as part of a Star Wars Mash Up series.

Leave it to Master Marc Jacobs to take the art and fashion collaboration to the windows.  While I spend most of my mornings hypnotized by the glowsticks next door- my boss Collins tells me its a play off the artist Dan Flavin (and to stop staring). Known for minimalist florecent light installations, Dan Flavin took something as simple as a neon light and created an experience for everyone whom his pieces encountered. Glowing rooms, glowing pools, glowing linear structures.....he had a style. I know nothing about advertising but LV re-creates a visual experience for people walking by everyday. People literally stop on the corner and stare at these windows. The experience LV created for people- that is free advertising, and that is brilliant.

 

Below: one of Flavin's pieces

Inspired by the video installations seen in contemporary galleries around the world, our new window is a perfect example of how art influences the influential in fashion. Next I think we should have live models in the window. That'd be wild.

 I went back to Philly this past weekend to unwind from the craziness that has been going down in NY. Sometimes a girl has gotta get away. I always say i see myself moving back to Philly. It is a manageable NY. You can literally walk everywhere, its not insanely expensive and some of the best parties I have been too in my lifetime throw down in Philly. NY is good and it is fun, but Philly, Philly just feels good.

 Philadelphia Weekly is like "The Villge Voice" of Philly.  I applied for a job there after I graduated from school this past may. Never heard back from them.  Whatever.  Print is dead.  (kidding) 

I stopped into UBIQ to visit my girl Gabby.  She's interning so while she was running around on a busy Saturday catering to sneaker freakers I shopped and checked out the Stussy space upsatirs. Nice job boys.

Peace to the clothing boutique Vagabond in old city. Vintage YSL cassandra logo pumps. A classic.

The summer kickoff wouldn't be complete without the Mojito Party on the Moshulu.  Yes, you dance on a slant, and yes it takes 5 hours to get a drink. But it is on a boat, in the summer, and that's fly.

The New Museum's exhibition called, "Double Album: Daniel Guzman and Steven Shearer" is something you don't need to prepare for.  Actually, i went to the New Museum totally blind not knowing what I was going to see (my friend Brian told me, only, as usual, I forgot).  So when I saw Guzman's and Shearer's works it was easy to see their references of 1870's and 1980's pop icons.  Both men approach their work differently and yet simultaneously portray youth, rock-n-roll, and the people that inhibit them.  The exhibition flows like a collage, using different mediums to the express how Guzman and Shearer perceive the world. The instillation piece like the pile of mix tapes, the short films using disco funk songs, and the huge collages of tons of people sleeping that Shearer found on the internet, ultimately  paint self portraits of these men who's identity today was shaped by the subcultures they chose to present. Pretty deep for being hungover on a Sunday.

kind of looks like a _________.  The bottle is a limited edition designed by hyper modern French "starchitect" John Nouvel. Even if he is one of the best architects in the world, the bottle still looks like a _________.

Like the annoying saying, "The grass is always greener on someone else's lawn"  I live by, "the brand is always better in someone else's industry." For example- if I were into fishing I might read hunting magazines.  Why? Just to see what they were all about. Why? Because its fun to look at the other side. Especially because most of the time your counterpart is doing exactly what you are not doing.  There is no pressure.  No competition. You can be a fan.

Even as a fan - sooner or later you will see something you like and want to make it your own.  Like if i were a fisherman and I loved these trousers the hunters were wearing- I'd go out and get ones just like them- or make some just like them only just for fishermen. Lately there has been hints of similarities between the graphic tee sneaker world and the high end luxury fashion world. You can call it "copying" but in such a public world someone is bound to be inspired and eventually make moves.

I salute these similarities because it represents an openness that the creatives in each brand has towards other styles. Designers, creative directors, art directors, even merchandisers, redefine and tweak certain characteristics of one brand and make it their own for their brand.   The examples are everywhere if you are open to them.  Whether it be the Head of Communications Worldwide for Yves Saint Laurent rocking a flannel buttoned up high (hipster buffalo plaid influence number 1zillion), our new boutique in Paris with shelves similar to sneaker boutique merchandising (shirts folded minimally on shelves), or The Hundreds incorporating Redbull tabs into their summer tees (like YSL's tab inspired accessories from F/W WRTW) the relations are present.  Whoever did it first doesn't matter. People are getting inspired by things outside of their world, and at the end of the day a great brand is a great brand.

 "distinctive trapezoidal frame spoke a non-verbal language that hinted at unstable dangerousness, but one nicely tempered by the sturdy arms which, according to the advertising, gave the frames a 'masculine look.'"-Wikipedia

When I saw my friend Marina's picture of a boy in Xhosa, South Africa wearing Wayfarers it kind of made me stop and think about how far these glasses have come. We see them on the street today worn by kids and adults and we automatically identify them by their shape and then know their name. Like when we see the McDonald's Arch, Hello Kitty, or I <3 NY signage the wayfarer frame represents and the name Ray-Ban follows. Call it brand identity, call it a cultural icon but the wayfarer got to where it stands today because of its flawless cut, comfort, cross-gender appeal and the big push our media gave it when it was about to die.

The Wayfarer's beginning was strong. They were cutting edge when they first came out in 1952 as the first pair of shades to break away from the traditional metal and tin frames and use new plastic technology. (Plastic was new- crazy). Soon pilots trusted them an they became in high demand on airbases because of their comfort and stability.  Hollywood grew to love them because Marilyn and Audrey just looked so good in them.  The magic behind the Wayfarer is in the cut.  The old ones, like the ones Audrey Hepburn wears in Breakfast at Tiffany's, with the larger frames were made for men.  When women started to wear them, the large frames did something a bit different and bit more edgy than the classic cat-eyed frames of the 60's. They looked masculine.  Like how a woman looks sexy wearing a man's shirt the masculine cut and the clean lines of the wayfarer worked on women. And it sold.

Cut to the 70's and the Wayfarer was being out-shunned by Pucci wearing hippies. Even in the 80's the hit film Blues Brothers could not resurrect the numbers Ray-Ban was pulling.  Only  18,000 units were sold in 1981 (retail suicide) and they were on the brink of being discontinued. Then Ray-Ban signed a deal in 1982 with Unique Product Placement to push the sunglasses into movies and TV shows. Then came the title-wave of now cultural references like Tom Cruise in Risky Business, that creeper in Miami Vice, Debbie Harry, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Morrisey and even my favorite Anna Wintour wearing the chic black rims. 

Today you see Ashley Olsen, Brad Pitt, and EVERY HIPSTER IN BROOKLYN wearing the sunglasses that started as a innovation, developed into a necessity, fell into being a trend, fell out of being a trend, and back into being cool again. By following the life of the Wayfarer you can't help but love the American consumerism of it all and how a pair  of sunglasses became one of the most recognizable icons in the world.

The SANTOGOLD experience is one that everyone should give a listen to. Its raw with her whiney voice, refreshing with primitive beats, and yes you can actually hear a drum set and a guitar in some of her songs. She is a smash up of the hipsters we love, the 80's music we listen to, a bit of Brooklyn, a bit of Dub, and a bit of new wave. Plus, she's just fun to look at. Lipsticks we all should be watching....

A lot of people say a lot of horrible things about Anna Wintour. Maybe some of them are true. I do know that she runs FOUR magazines (American Vogue, Men's Vogue, Teen Vogue, and Vogue Living), oversees a huge staff, has two children, works out at 5 a.m. every morning, and was rumored of dating a hot tennis player. Unless you saw her on the Barbara Walters interview, "Top Influential People of 2007" you have never seen her without her sunglasses. Until now.
Original Gangster Anna Wintour