Were I to come into an unexpectedly vast sum on money, Yohji Yamamoto’s meatpacking district shop is one of the first stops I’d make. Very sad to hear that that store and others are closing, as part of his bankruptcy filing. Recommended: Wim Wenders’s documentary about him, Notebooks On Cities and Clothes, in which he visits the Toyko studio and gradually comes to appreciate the vision and craftmanship, fashion as an art form.
“Architecture and footwear are similar in that the construction houses people and carries people. If you think about a high-heeled United Nude shoe, it carries a human being (the wearer) and houses part of her person (the foot). Because of the smaller scale, a shoe is more mobile, while most architecture remains stationary.” – Rem D. Koolhaas, shoe designer and architect and nephew of the creator of the greatest building this decade. His “porn toe” shoes are my obsession, much more comfortable then they look. He adds, “women’s footwear you can make a lot of women happy with your products, whereas in traditional architecture you are working with one client for several years. I guess making many women happy is part of the reason I’ve become a shoe designer—and it’s part of the fun that sets shoe design apart from architecture.” Perhaps that also explains Zaha Hadid’s collaboration with the Brazilian plastic shoe house Melissa. Silver in size 41, please.
Vito Acconci, best known for his 1971 performance underneath a ramp at the Sonnabend Gallery, masturbating while vocalizing his fantasies about the visitors walking above him, models in the new J Crew catalog, along with Ryan McGinness, Stephen Shore, Billy Sullivan and some others. The J Crew photo spread also ranks among the most blatent exclusions of female artists in history (Tracy Emin, for one, totally would have modeled if asked.)
A.P.C, Gucci, Michael Kors, Band of Outsiders, and Dolce & Gabbana all have a common inspiration this season and it isn’t Don Draper. WSJ explains why men’s fashion is obsessed with Steve McQueen He didn’t just seduce women with chess, he wore cardigans, turtlenecks, even silk paisley print pajamas in Bullitt without looking effete or like he was trying at all. Pictures of McQueen even “adorn the ‘mood’ bulletin boards used in-house to inform J. Crew’s collections, says Frank Muytjens, head of men’s design.” Bizarrely, motorcycle maker Johnson Motors has created a line of “McQueen-inspired” outfits which are kind of Ed Hardy-goes-to-Army/Navy-Surplus (You can have his surname stamped to the back of your blazer like a sororiety girl’s Juicy sweatpants.)
There’s an entire museum devoted to counterfeit objects — Musee de la Contrefacon (The Museum of Counterfeiting) founded in 1951.
“It’s about the speed of our lives and how it can only result in a crash.” — Hussein Chalayan, on his swimsuit printed with paintings of car accidents.
Isobella Jade, best known as the homeless model who wrote her 250 page memoir entirely “while standing in heels infront of an Imac 17inch computer at the Apple Store in soho…Because just as she is living out of a suit case, she also doesn’t have a computer or internet connection,” has a comic coming out from Soft Skull.
New Vivienne Westwood for Melissa shoes. I wasn’t too found of her earlier designs for the Brazilian vegan shoe company (and Zaha Hadid’s designs just confused me,) but if someone can say for certain the “10″ fits a 41, the black patent three strap sandals will be mine.
The future of fashion right here: the shoe that grows with kids’ feet
Spine Tee: Want!
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