"I'm five years too old to lie to myself and call it honor" -Nick Carraway

A rediscovery of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

Edit and scheduling, two words I've developed viscerally upsetting reactions to.
The end of the thesis journey is so close I can taste it.

Remember Now

Just a frivolous post.

The short film by Karl Lagerfeld for this 2011 Cruise Collection Remember Now, launched today.

Reinforcing stereotypes of models, designers, and St. Tropez? Check, check, and check. But what makes this worth your time is witnessing the genesis of glamour using heavy references of French history, foreign accents, music of eras past, lush textiles, Mediterranean architecture, and the always unsettling mix of young ingenues hanging off of seasoned tastemakers. Not to offend Fellini lovers, but even a tad of a French La Dolce Vita.

hammered out a rough, rough first draft. did i mention it's rough?

Jay Gatsby

I just read F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby over the holidays, and it is completely apparent now the Gatsby that lies in all the protagonists of the three chosen films: Holly Golightly, John Robie, and Marcello Mastroianni. It is always an outsider, with a past that he/she has struggled with and tries to forget, and the contrast of wanting into a world of opulence and luxury. The tragedy is not as apparent in some than in others. But it is also interesting to see the many other iterations of this novel's covers. Often they are over romanticized, pastel-dominated renditions of the Jazz Age, but this photograph, reminiscent of a film still, of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan looking out over Long Island Sound from West Egg is calm and tense all at once.

garbage man

Packaging really is everything. Enshrouding ugly/almost worthless content with attractive aesthetics is a staple in the department of selling today's "luxury brands".

Artist Justin Gignac began selling New York City garbage in 2001, to prove a co-worker wrong.
Looking around the dirty streets of Times Square for his content, he also has special edition cubes like The Republican National Convention and Opening Day at Yankee Stadium. Acting a bit like a contemporary Cornell box, the act of assemblage and irrational juxtaposition creates a collection of other's rejected paraphernalia.

the contents of my sketchbook

Question

In this capitalist, mass-elitist, logo-flashing, image-exhausting culture, are the only two truly luxurious things that remain time and philanthropy?

architects do it on drafting tables

JWP Epicenter collection of souvenir tshirts by Prada (released October 9, 2009)

Prada stores in plans, sections, and elevations superimposed on top of each other like an amateur architecture portfolio layout for the orthographic nerd in all of us...(£135 each)

stores include:
Aoyama in Tokyo, Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, Broadway in New York, Old Bond Street in London, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Rome, and Via Montenapoleone in Milan.

Torre Agbar, is that you?

L'Homme Yves Saint Laurent, Design by Jean Nouvel, Eau de Toilette, 90ml, £57.50, from Harrods

"Once an architect achieves the sort of global acclaim that Jean Nouvel has, it's not just requests for iconic urban landmarks that land on the desk - the starchitect's touch is also called on to change the topography of our dressing tables.

Jean Nouvel has made his first contribution to the cosmetics world this month with a limited edition bottle design for Yves Saint Laurent's most recently launched men's fragrance, L'Homme.

'I wanted to give it a clear-cut shape, so it would easily fit a man's hand while still stimulating different aspects of his imagination,' says Nouvel of the erect tube that sits into a bolt-shaped stand, that doubles as the lid. 'I wanted it to express the scent's inherent contrasts of virility and fragility. Through its design, the bottle symbolises a fully assumed virility, while the fine glass creates a contrast implying a kind of fragility and softness.'

Indeed. Nouvel has also introduced a playful new design detail - the float which carries the YSL logo and swims around in the fragrance, 'placing the brand at the heart of the fragrance'.

Introducing architects and product designers to cosmetics and fragrance packaging design is proving to be a sure way to shake up firmly entrenched convention in the area, and this is no exception. With his limited edition L'Homme Yves Saint Laurent, Nouvel is turning perfume bottle design on its head." [wallpaper.com]

In this amalgamation of luxury and industrial design, the architect imposes his ideas about the significance of form on a much smaller scale. While the symbolism is undeniable, the effect is mixed.

and the countdown begins....

So I've given myself an ultimatum: April or bust. And so illustrated above is how time looks when your days seem to be filled with nothing but you're trying to work towards something. With all the formalities and procedures around defending, I actually need to finish the draft thesis by the end of February... This gives me 21 weeks. 147 days. GO.

It's in the bag

Prada is one of the most highly counterfeited designer brands to date. Their reputation is built as an intellectual and opulent status symbol. Authenticity is a big issue. Here is a (not so fool-proof, developed-by-own-experience) way to figure out whether the bag you just bought is real or fake:

if you blog it, they will come

Not long ago, I posted about an inherent dichotomy of the fashion world where the source of its inspiration can either trickle up or filter down. Here the two worlds meet as the windows of Holt Renfrew synthesize that very junction.

The official press release:


TORONTO, June 23 /CNW/ - This Friday evening, Holt Renfrew, Canada's
leading specialty retailer, will pay tribute to the newest international style
influencers - fashion bloggers - with a national window installation
celebrating their diversity and spirit.
Six bloggers were invited by Holt Renfrew Creative Director John Gerhardt
to be part of the celebration. The bloggers are a diverse mix of fashion
leaders from around the globe and include
Scott Schuman(thesartorialist.blogspot.com);
Jane Aldridge (seaofshoes.typepad.com);
Anita Clarke (iwantigot.geekigirl.com);
Tommy Ton (jakandjil.com);
Bryan Boy(bryanboy.com) and
Garance Dore (garancedore.fr/en).

"Bloggers have become the fashion world's new celebrities," says
Gerhardt. "They're knowledgeable and influential contributors to the modern
media landscape. Their opinions and visuals are relevant, creative and
thought-provoking, providing a constant source of inspiration. We are honoured
to pay homage to their style."

Designer Family Tree

Click on thumbnail to see the full res version.

I just made this Designer Family Tree to illustrate the three major players in the business of luxury goods: PPR, LVMH, and Richemont and their subsidiaries. From clothing, accessories, wines and spirits, to cosmetics, jewellery and watches, there is also an interesting incestual quality to the way the designers themselves switch from one label to another over the years...also fashion is still very much based in apprenticeships so there are many names under previous designers that you may recognize have their own labels today. The financial stats are also compared point-blank.

Part of a complete breakfast

The original trailer to 1961's "Breakfast at Tiffany's," starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard, in Technicolor!

It makes me wonder how different a ripple it would have made in our pond of contemporary pop culture if Marilyn Monroe had been cast instead, as Truman Capote had requested.

WWWWD

A parody of WWD and fashion's answer to The Onion:

WWWWD is "a lie that makes us realize truth."

What I'm really tring to say is...

[from jezebel.com]

Slightly tangential, but the cover of the new issue of Elle redone if it told the truth sans euphemisms.