Cara Delevingne’s LA House, 2021

Cara Delevingne has moved into a new house, and she outfitted it with some amazing features...wild, extravagant, humorous, impractical features with some wonderful art installations (an indoor ball pit, a secret vagina passage to a guest room that exits through a washing machine, a stripper room)! Do take a look at the video since she walks the Architectural Digest crew through some areas that are not in the photos below!

 

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/step-inside-supermodel-cara-delevingnes-delightfully-dizzying-los-angeles-pad

https://www.instagram.com/caradelevingne/

"You Are" by Pat Metheny

A little bit amazing...the hypnotizing, swelling, arresting "You Are" by Pat Metheny.

https://www.patmetheny.com/

Happy Pride Anniversary 2021!

HAPPY PRIDE ANNIVERSARY!

Fifty-two years ago today, a bunch of fed-up drag queens, hustlers, and assorted gay misfits at the Stonewall Inn in New York turned the tables on yet another unnecessary, unfair, harassing police raid. That resistance gave rise to a series of riots and ultimately to the birth of the modern gay activist movement. It seems like a long time ago, and while a few laws and minds have changed, we still have a way to go, and a lot more irrational fear, hatred, bigotry, and misconceptions to fight.

We celebrate Pride Month and recognize Pride Day because it is a positive stance against the daily shame, social stigma, discrimination, and violence that the LGBT community still faces: gay children are routinely kicked out of their homes and disowned by their families, gay kids and teens and young adults are routinely bullied or attacked or beaten and many end up committing suicide because they are told they are sick or going to hell, and many gay and trans men and women are attacked and beaten and murdered--sometimes in their own homes. That’s why Congress must pass the Equality Act to outlaw discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Our Constitution states “equality under the law” and this legislation strengthens that core value of our democracy.

Because the LGBT Pride celebration is about the right of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals to exist without being prosecuted, persecuted, attacked, or murdered, not about "not being straight."

So today, we thank the brave men and women at the Stonewall uprising and the ensuing riots for saying, "ENOUGH. I AM A HUMAN BEING AND I DEMAND TO BE TREATED AS ONE!"

While The Stonewall Inn was already part of the city-designated Greenwich Village Historic District, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, it became an official New York City landmark on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 in order to preserve the site and honor its historic importance. Most importantly, on June 24, 2016, the Stonewall Inn was named the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to the gay rights movement.

There is a very nice, informative, and moving Wiki entry about the riots and the history leading up to them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots

BEAUTY: Clothing--Rick Owens

Rick Owens, Paris Fashion Week, Spring Summer '22, shown in Venice. I love the fact that the collection is largely colorless and organic yet retains the strong silhouette he is known for. I am, as usual, wild for it.

I will let The Master explain:

THIS WILL BE OUR FOURTH AND LAST COVID ERA SHOW SET ON THE VENEZIA LIDO BEACH WHERE I LIVE HALF THE YEAR AND WHERE MY TEAM CAN JOIN ME FROM OUR FACTORY A SHORT DRIVE AWAY. DOING LIVE SHOWS HERE FELT LIKE THE RIGHT THING TO DO DURING THIS STRAINED MOMENT — IT FELT REDUCED, INTIMATE, HONEST AND RAW — DOING LIVE STREAM SHOWS ON THE BEACH IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE FELT LIKE A RETREAT BUT NOT A DEFEAT.

WITH A POST-COVID IN VIEW THERE MIGHT BE A SENSE OF FRUSTRATED APPETITES DEMANDING TO BE DOUBLY SATISFIED THIS SUMMER THAT MIGHT MAKE FOR A VORACIOUSNESS FORGETTING THE HUMBLING EXPERIENCE WE ALL JUST WENT THROUGH TOGETHER. THIS COLLECTION EMBRACES HEDONISM BUT IN A SOFT, GRATEFUL WAY REFLECTING THIS NEW PERIOD OF CONTRADICTIVELY TRYING TO MIX GLAM WITH RESPONSIBILITY AND THOUGHTFULNESS.

WHITE-MAGIC-HOUSES-OF-THE-HOLY-STAIRWAY-TO-HEAVEN HIPPIES WEAR BAGGY, DRAGGING FLARES OVER PLATFORMS, WITH ECO COTTON DISCO BODYSUIT/BATHERS (ECODISCO!) UNDER TRANSPARENT SHIRTS OR TRANSPARENTLY TAILORED MONSTER-SHOULDERED BLAZERS AND COATS.

MY COMFORT LEVEL WITH OUR TAILORING CREW HAS LET ME REALLY SAVOR DEVELOPING THE INTERIOR STRUCTURAL PROCESS... AND EXPOSING IT... AND CELEBRATING ITS CONFECTION. WE SLICED INTO OUR COATS AND JKTS, RIPPING OFF SLEEVES, DEEPENING ARMHOLES, CUTTING AWAY FRONTS AND BACKS AND RENDERING EVERYTHING IN UNDYED COTTON ORGANDIES AND UNDYED SILK CHIFFONS THAT EXPOSE THE COMPLEXITY OF THE STRUCTURAL INTERLININGS BENEATH.

THE DRAGGING DENIMS ARE IN 16OZ BLACK, NATURAL, OR ORANGE SELVEDGE DENIM CUSTOM WOVEN FOR US BY YAMAASHI ORIMONO (EST. 1945) ON VINTAGE SAKAMOTO SHUTTLE LOOMS. THIS IS FROM AN ONGOING DRKSHW CAPSULE MADE IN KURASHIKI, OKAYAMA PREFECTURE, JAPAN.

DENIMS NOT COMING FROM OUR JAPAN CAPSULE ARE GOTS (GLOBAL ORGANIC TEXTILE STANDARD) CERTIFIED ORGANIC COTTON FROM A LOCAL ITALIAN MILL FOUNDED IN 1597.
SNAP FRONT SHIRTS (THIS GENERATION’S BLAZER!), COME IN CHIFFON, CRISP COTTON, AND A TRANSPARENT FOG NYLON ALSO USED TO MAKE DIAPHANOUS FOG HOODIES.
A HAND-KNOTTED BLANCHED COQ FEATHER JKT IS PRODUCED BY MAISON FÉVRIER (EST 1929), THE LAST OPERATING PLUMASSIER IN PARIS, WHO ONCE DID PIECES FOR JOSEPHINE BAKER.
BRUTALIST CHOKERS ARE FROM AN ONGOING JEWELRY COLLECTION PRODUCED BY GOOSSENS, THE MAISON THAT ONCE PRODUCED JEWELRY FOR COCO CHANEL, CRISTOBAL BALENCIAGA, AND MADAME GRÈS IN THE 1950S.
PERSONAL NON-TOXIC FOG MACHINES COME IN 3 SIZES — SMALL TO INSERT IN THE SIDE POCKETS ADDED TO OUR PLATFORM BOOTS... A CARRY-ON SIZE... AND A COFFEE TABLE SIZE.
WE CONTINUE INCLUDING JKTS AND BAGS IN PIRARUCU DRAGON SCALE LEATHER, A FOOD BYPRODUCT PRODUCED BY INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES IN BRAZIL.

DURING THESE LIDO SHOWS, WE MADE FRIENDS WITH SWAMPGOD, A YOUNG CREATOR WHO LIVES DOWN THE BEACH FROM ME, AND I INVITED HIM TO COME VISIT THE FACTORY AND RIP OLD STOCK APART TO RECONFIGURE THEM INTO NEW PIECES THAT END UP BEING DECONSTRUCTIONS OF MY DECONSTRUCTIONS, SOME INCLUDED IN THIS COLLECTION. HE ALSO AGREED TO MODEL FOR THIS SHOW.
ALL OUR COTTON JERSEYS ARE WOVEN FROM GOTS CERTIFIED ORGANIC COTTON. LANGUID SHIRTS AND PANTS ARE IN BIODEGRADABLE COTTON WASTE CUPRO OR FSC CERTIFIED VISCOSE. OBVIOUSLY, WE/I STILL HAVE A WAYS TO GO TOWARDS OUR SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS BUT WE ALL CAN AIM HIGHER AND START SOMEWHERE.
THE SOUNDTRACK IS A CUSTOM DERANGED MIX BY MOCHIPET — A DISTORTED HALLUCINOGENIC SOUNDSCAPE THAT CAPTURES THE WARPED PERIOD OF HEDONISM COMING UP. IT’S GONNA BE A GLUTTONOUS SUMMER, STAY SAFE.

https://www.rickowens.eu/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Yohji Yamamoto

I can't resist a Yohji Yamamoto collection. For SS '22 at Paris Fashion Week, Yamamoto referenced his previous Spring Summer 1986 men's collection...yes, he is legendary and has been designing for quite a while now. The highly regarded and highly decorated designer is one of those elevated, iconic artists who are singular. While I love when a designer takes inspiration, or inspirationS from some wild, fascinating, interesting source, Yamamoto exists in a realm of his own mythology, much like Rick Owens. Yamamoto has his own vernacular and his own internal logic that, when it comes down to it, simply does not need or want inspiration or a theme. His creations--East and West elements combined into a future/retro (sometimes ecclesiastical) sensibility, layered and slouchy Bohemian chic garments, flowing asymmetrical cuts, all awash with an insouciant, rippling sense of Romanticism worthy of any French Symbolist poet--are timeless, since they are not necessarily tethered to anything outside of their orbit.

Here he uses newsprint--a sort of Dadist cut-up ready made art material--along with images of hands and eyes, Surrealist staples that symbolize creation, i.e. the making of art, and a representation of the movement’s focus on exploring and visualizing the psyche. Perhaps the intention here was to escape the present reality and into the past, away from the uncertainty of the direction of the planet and humankind. Or perhaps he simply likes that period, with its punk hair and Goth make-up...

https://www.yohjiyamamoto.co.jp/en/

BEAUTY: Clotihng--Boramy Viguier

I was about to move on from this SS ' 22 from Boramy Viguier but the still lookbook photos do not do it justice. Once I saw the pieces in motion, I ended up really liking the mix of tailored jackets and coats with sportswear pants but what throws this into interesting territory is the addition of beautiful, maximalist Asian jacquards in jewel tones embellished with dragons...not to mention all the ties (he sourced about 150 of them for the collection, giving them a second life, underscoring his ongoing commitment to using deadstock fabrics--50% with this collection!), chokers, and colorful hair pieces dangling from belts.

http://www.boramyviguier.com/

For Pride 2021: "I Feel Love"

Happy Pride!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Feel_Love
http://donnasummer.com/
https://www.jimmysomerville.co.uk/
https://www.madonna.com/
https://samsmithworld.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Burberry

It's been a while since I last posted a full Burberry collection--2014 to be exact, here. But Burberry creative director Christopher Bailey moved on from the house in 2017 and in 2018, Riccardo Tisci (formerly at Givenchy...see past collections here) became CCO of the brand. While I did post a video for his FW '20-'21 collection here, this current Spring Summer '22 collection at Paris Fashion Week feels like his first true collection for Burberry, as himself.

But having said that, it seems like each creative director must pay homage to the classic Burberry trench coat at some point in some form. They must kiss the ring as it were, and for this collection, Tisci opens with a ripped up, deconstructed trench and moves into new-for-Burberry territory from there. We enter a harsh desert world of workwear and protectivewear featuring biomorphic prints and cut-outs. These outfits seem like they are combat-ready. In fact, they have a bit of a Road Warrior feel to them but without the recycled, patchwork punk aesthetic--these minimalistic uniforms are slick, merciless, cold-blooded in their singular purpose. I also flash on another film reference, this one "Dune," whether the Lynch version or the upcoming Villeneuve version...some pieces of this collection seem like they are clothing the Fremen would wear, to protect themselves from the harsh Arakis climate. Taken as a whole, the collection itself feels harsh. And of course I can't help but leave the sci-fi film references behind and think about our reality right now...and how this might be the necessary clothing of the future for a planet swiftly sliding toward environmental catastrophe.

https://www.burberry.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Taakk

Japanese designer Takuya Morikawa started his brand Taakk in 2012 after working with legendary house Issey Miyake for seven years. And the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode has admitted him to show during Paris Fashion Week (his debut collection was last year for Fall Winter '21)!

This Spring Summer '22 collection is textile-centric and speaks to a sense of flowing luxury and soft sophistication. Morikawa uses blurred tie-dye floral prints, jacquard lilies, and embroidered cherry blossoms to evoke a sense of the natural world while the garments shimmer and drape. The satin shine and jersey draping all feel languid and soft yet somehow the cut of the garments themselves feel dressy and special!

Take a look at this official video for this collection in which Morikawa beautifully explains his inspiration and speaks about chance in nature...it's moving and lovely. And it's a great opportunity to see these special garments up close and listen to Morikawa's explanation of how he created hybrid fabrics and pieces.

https://taakk.jp/en