Feliz Día de los Muertos 2025!

Today is Día de los Muertos, a joyous, upbeat holiday originating in Mexico but now widely celebrated here in the United States. It is a day to celebrate and remember ancestors and departed loved ones. Altars are created in homes that feature pictures of dead loved ones along with favorite objects and food they liked when they were alive (called ofrenda or offerings), decorated sugar skulls, imagery of skeletons and calacas (a figure of a skull or a skeleton), colorful paper cut-outs, candles, and copious amounts of marigolds.

Families go to cemeteries to tend to family plots, gravesides and tombs. There is a carnival-like atmosphere in Mexico as huge crowds descend upon cemeteries to hold all night vigils and cook food not only for themselves but also for the spirits of the departed who can visit this earthly realm one night a year. Old women sit in chairs by the graves while children run and play tag, musicians play and sing, and people sit and talk with family members.

In the United States, the largest Día de los Muertos celebration is held in San Francisco. A street parade with drumming and dancing attracts thousands of people who dress up in traditional skull face paint and costumes. Nearby Garfield Park is home to many altars honoring the lives of friends and family members. Some altars invite people to participate by adding photos of lost loved ones. The video below, by KQED Arts is a wonderful introduction to the festival and its deeper meaning.

For more information or if you would like to attend the festival, visit:
https://dayofthedeadsf.org

Feliz Día de los Muertos 2024!

Today is Día de los Muertos, a joyous, upbeat holiday originating in Mexico but now widely celebrated here in the United States. It is a day to celebrate and remember ancestors and departed loved ones. Altars are created in homes that feature pictures of dead loved ones along with favorite objects and food they liked when they were alive (called ofrenda or offerings), decorated sugar skulls, imagery of skeletons and calacas (a figure of a skull or a skeleton), colorful paper cut-outs, candles, and copious amounts of marigolds.

Families go to cemeteries to tend to family plots, gravesides and tombs. There is a carnival-like atmosphere in Mexico as huge crowds descend upon cemeteries to hold all night vigils and cook food not only for themselves but also for the spirits of the departed who can visit this earthly realm one night a year. Old women sit in chairs by the graves while children run and play tag, musicians play and sing, and people sit and talk with family members.

In the United States, the largest Día de los Muertos celebration is held in San Francisco. A street parade with drumming and dancing attracts thousands of people who dress up in traditional skull face paint and costumes. Nearby Garfield Park is home to many altars honoring the lives of friends and family members. Some altars invite people to participate by adding photos of lost loved ones. The video below, by KQED Arts is a wonderful introduction to the festival and its deeper meaning.

For more information or if you would like to attend the festival, visit:
https://dayofthedeadsf.org

Feliz Día de los Muertos 2023!

Today is Día de los Muertos, a joyous, upbeat holiday originating in Mexico but now widely celebrated here in the United States. It is a day to celebrate and remember ancestors and departed loved ones. Altars are created in homes that feature pictures of dead loved ones along with favorite objects and food they liked when they were alive (called ofrenda or offerings), decorated sugar skulls, imagery of skeletons and calacas (a figure of a skull or a skeleton), colorful paper cut-outs, candles, and copious amounts of marigolds.

Families go to cemeteries to tend to family plots, gravesides and tombs. There is a carnival-like atmosphere in Mexico as huge crowds descend upon cemeteries to hold all night vigils and cook food not only for themselves but also for the spirits of the departed who can visit this earthly realm one night a year. Old women sit in chairs by the graves while children run and play tag, musicians play and sing, and people sit and talk with family members.

In the United States, the largest Día de los Muertos celebration is held in San Francisco. A street parade with drumming and dancing attracts thousands of people who dress up in traditional skull face paint and costumes. Nearby Garfield Park is home to many altars honoring the lives of friends and family members. Some altars invite people to participate by adding photos of lost loved ones. The video below, by KQED Arts is a wonderful introduction to the festival and its deeper meaning.

For more information or if you would like to attend the festival, visit:
https://dayofthedeadsf.org

BEAUTY: Art for Día de los Muertos--Nicolás De Jesús

Feliz Día de los Muertos 2022!

Today is Día de los Muertos, a joyous, upbeat holiday originating in Mexico but now widely celebrated here in the United States. It is a day to celebrate and remember ancestors and departed loved ones. Altars are created in homes that feature pictures of dead loved ones along with favorite objects and food they liked when they were alive (called ofrenda or offerings), decorated sugar skulls, imagery of skeletons and calacas (a figure of a skull or a skeleton), colorful paper cut-outs, candles, and copious amounts of marigolds.

Families go to cemeteries to tend to family plots, gravesides and tombs. There is a carnival-like atmosphere in Mexico as huge crowds descend upon cemeteries to hold all night vigils and cook food not only for themselves but also for the spirits of the departed who can visit this earthly realm one night a year. Old women sit in chairs by the graves while children run and play tag, musicians play and sing, and people sit and talk with family members.

In the United States, the largest Día de los Muertos celebration is held in San Francisco. A street parade with drumming and dancing attracts thousands of people who dress up in traditional skull face paint and costumes. Nearby Garfield Park is home to many altars honoring the lives of friends and family members. Some altars invite people to participate by adding photos of lost loved ones. The video below, by KQED Arts is a wonderful introduction to the festival and its deeper meaning.

For more information or if you would like to attend the festival, visit:
https://dayofthedeadsf.org

BEAUTY: Interiors--wrinkleMX in Mexico City

Designers Astrid and Eddy Sykes of wrinkleMX created an incredible apartment for a client in Mexico City. This fascinating home feels like aliens examined how humans live and created a space to mimic that, but of course seen through their own vernacular. The result is a space that feels at once comfortingly familiar and beautifully strange.

The generally dark spaces utilize color in a very special way, with extremely saturated hues like the penetrating purple in the main entry/library that wraps into a built in bookcase with broken Gothic arches at the top. Instead of books, the unit holds a collection of oddly shaped objects and forms.

The lounge area's mid-century modern shelving units feel familiar but they are hovering in front of a striated wallpaper that has an almost lenticular effect. Channel tufted sofas recall the Terrazza sofa by de Sede.

The most jaw-dropping part of this whole house has to be the kitchen. The island looks like a Neolithic stone altar, composed of jigsaw puzzle pieces of Tikal green marble from Guatemala. The top features an integrated relief map of a mountain range carved right from the marble which separates the cook top from the eating area! Faceted brass panels cover the refrigerator and storage. The same material continues up onto the ceiling in the form of coffered sections. Double sinks and counter all carved from a rough, unfilled travertine span the depth of the kitchen.

The centerpiece of the dining room is the light over the table. Instead of a traditional hanging fixture, the designers created a honeycomb-like configuration of mouth-blown glass in various shades of pink, suspended in hexagonal brass frames. Phenomenal.

A high-patterned blue and gold quartzite and a Chinoiserie wallpaper with peacocks are highlighted by brass fixtures and cabinetry in the primary bathroom. And each bedroom is wrapped in a cocoon of dense wallpaper...I especially love how the antique William Morris paper in the guest room ends up looking otherworldly!

Photos from Architectural Digest:
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/inside-a-mexico-city-apartment-transformed-into-a-marvel-of-avant-garde-design

https://www.wrinklemx.com/

Feliz Día de los Muertos 2021!

Today is Día de los Muertos, a joyous, upbeat holiday originating in Mexico but now widely celebrated here in the United States. It is a day to celebrate and remember ancestors and departed loved ones. Altars are created in homes that feature pictures of dead loved ones along with favorite objects and food they liked when they were alive (called ofrenda or offerings), decorated sugar skulls, imagery of skeletons and calacas (a figure of a skull or a skeleton), colorful paper cut-outs, candles, and copious amounts of marigolds.

Families go to cemeteries to tend to family plots, gravesides and tombs. There is a carnival-like atmosphere in Mexico as huge crowds descend upon cemeteries to hold all night vigils and cook food not only for themselves but also for the spirits of the departed who can visit this earthly realm one night a year. Old women sit in chairs by the graves while children run and play tag, musicians play and sing, and people sit and talk with family members.

In the United States, the largest Día de los Muertos celebration is held in San Francisco. A street parade with drumming and dancing attracts thousands of people who dress up in traditional skull face paint and costumes. Nearby Garfield Park is home to many altars honoring the lives of friends and family members. Some altars invite people to participate by adding photos of lost loved ones. The video below, by KQED Arts is a wonderful introduction to the festival and its deeper meaning.

For more information or if you would like to attend the festival, visit:
https://dayofthedeadsf.org

Feliz Día de los Muertos 2020!

Today is Día de los Muertos, a joyous, upbeat holiday originating in Mexico but now widely celebrated here in the United States. It is a day to celebrate and remember ancestors and departed loved ones. Altars are created in homes that feature pictures of dead loved ones along with favorite objects and food they liked when they were alive (called ofrenda or offerings), decorated sugar skulls, imagery of skeletons and calacas (a figure of a skull or a skeleton), colorful paper cut-outs, candles, and copious amounts of marigolds.

Families go to cemeteries to tend to family plots, gravesides and tombs. There is a carnival-like atmosphere in Mexico as huge crowds descend upon cemeteries to hold all night vigils and cook food not only for themselves but also for the spirits of the departed who can visit this earthly realm one night a year. Old women sit in chairs by the graves while children run and play tag, musicians play and sing, and people sit and talk with family members.

In the United States, the largest Día de los Muertos celebration is held in San Francisco. A street parade with drumming and dancing attracts thousands of people who dress up in traditional skull face paint and costumes. Nearby Garfield Park is home to many altars honoring the lives of friends and family members. Some altars invite people to participate by adding photos of lost loved ones. The video below, by KQED Arts is a wonderful introduction to the festival and its deeper meaning.

For more information or if you would like to attend the festival, visit:
https://dayofthedeadsf.org

Feliz Día de los Muertos 2019!

Today is Día de los Muertos, a joyous, upbeat holiday originating in Mexico but now widely celebrated here in the United States. It is a day to celebrate and remember ancestors and departed loved ones. Altars are created in homes that feature pictures of dead loved ones along with favorite objects and food they liked when they were alive (called ofrenda or offerings), decorated sugar skulls, imagery of skeletons and calacas (a figure of a skull or a skeleton), colorful paper cut-outs, candles, and copious amounts of marigolds.

Families go to cemeteries to tend to family plots, gravesides and tombs. There is a carnival-like atmosphere in Mexico as huge crowds descend upon cemeteries to hold all night vigils and cook food not only for themselves but also for the spirits of the departed who can visit this earthly realm one night a year. Old women sit in chairs by the graves while children run and play tag, musicians play and sing, and people sit and talk with family members.

In the United States, the largest Día de los Muertos celebration is held in San Francisco. A street parade with drumming and dancing attracts thousands of people who dress up in traditional skull face paint and costumes. Nearby Garfield Park is home to many altars honoring the lives of friends and family members. Some altars invite people to participate by adding photos of lost loved ones. The video below, by KQED Arts is a wonderful introduction to the festival and its deeper meaning.

For more information or if you would like to attend the festival, visit:
https://dayofthedeadsf.org

BEAUTY for Día de los Muertos: Tattoos by Raudiel Sañudo

For Day of the Dead, here is the delightful calaca-themed tattoo work of artist Raudiel Sañudo

https://www.instagram.com/raudielsanudo/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Rick Owens

Rick Owens never disappoints. His ideas, his sense of shape and silhouette, his expression, and his own unique personal style are unmistakable. Thoroughly unique. And for this Spring Summer '20 collection at Paris Fashion week, very very personal.

Owens' inspiration for this iteration came from his familial roots in Mexico. His mother is of Mixtec heritage from Puebla, and he recently visited the land of his ancestors for the first time in 30 years (it's easier to get there when you're in Los Angeles as opposed to Paris where Owens has been located for the past few decades). In fact, he named this collection "Tuactl" which is his maternal grandmother’s maiden name. But whatever Owens does, wherever his inspiration comes from, it gets filtered through his extraordinary, personal aesthetic vision. The shapes, the cuts, the color palettes are all Owens.

But why did he come to look back at his heritage at this point in his life? Let's let Owens tell us himself in what must be his most wonderfully extensive show notes yet.

NAMED AFTER MY GRANDMOTHER’S MIXTEC MAIDEN NAME. I’VE BEEN MOTIVATED TO EXPLORE MY PERSONAL MEXICANNESS AS A REACTION TO THE U.S. PRESIDENT’S FIXATION ON A BORDER WALL.

COLLAB WITH UNITED FARM WORKERS ASSOCIATION... I WAS RAISED IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BY AN ANGLO FATHER AND NATIVE MEXICAN MOTHER. MY MOTHER AND I LEARNED ENGLISH TOGETHER WHEN SHE STARTED TAKING ME TO NURSERY SCHOOL.

MY FATHER WORKED IN THE PORTERVILLE PUBLIC COURT SYSTEM AS A TRANSLATOR FOR THE MEXICAN MIGRANT FARM WORKERS THAT WERE A MAJOR PART OF THE SAN JOAQUIN AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY. AWARENESS OF THE AZTEC EAGLE ON THE UNITED FARM WORKERS FLAG AND THE STRUGGLES IT REPRESENTED WAS A PART OF MY GROWING UP.

THE UNITED FARM WORKERS ASSOCIATION HAS KINDLY ALLOWED ME TO USE THEIR LOGO FOR THIS COLLECTION, WITH PROCEEDS FROM OUR COLLABORATION BENEFITING THEIR CONTINUING EFFORTS. FLAG GRAPHICS ARE USED ON T-SHIRTS AND OVERSHIRTS THAT WILL BE SOLD VIA OUR E-COMMERCE SITE.
COLLAB WITH THOMAS HOUSEAGO... WHEN I REALIZED MY RUNWAY SHOW WOULD LITERALLY BE REVOLVING AROUND HIS SCULPTURE INSTALLED IN THE PALAIS DE TOKYO FOUNTAIN, I ASKED HIM IF HE WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND HIS INFLUENCE FURTHER INTO THE COLLECTION. INTERESTINGLY, HE HAD BEEN THINKING OF BORDER WALLS AND AZTEC HIEROGLYPHICS AS WELL AND ALLOWED ME TO USE ONE OF HIS WALL SCULPTURES AS OUR INVITE ART.

I ASKED TO HAVE SOME OF HIS L.A. STUDIO CLAY SHIPPED TO PARIS TO USE ON THE RUNWAY, REFERENCING HIS PERFORMANCE VIDEO IN HIS MUSÉE D’ART MODERNE SHOW... AFTER MY RUNWAY SHOW, THE CLAY WILL GO TO L’ÉCOLE DES BEAUX-ARTS TO BE USED BY STUDENTS IN THE SCULPTING DEPARTMENT.

A SELECTION OF HOUSEAGO LABELED GARMENTS AND RUNNERS ARE MEGALACED WITH A BLACK WAX OR A WHITE WAX FINISH, ECHOING THE TEXTURES OF HIS WORK
COLLAB WITH VEJA — THE MOST ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY SNEAKER BRAND I COULD FIND (TO QUOTE MYSELF, “I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO AUTHORITY TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY, BUT I DO ENDORSE THE IDEA OF THOUGHTFUL LIVING AND PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE WITH KINDNESS IN MIND. WE ALL GOTTA START SOMEWHERE”.) OUR COLLAB CONTINUES WITH A NEW HIKING SNEAKER IN GREYSCALE AND ASYMMETRICAL DETAILS.

COLLAB WITH CHAMPION — I REMEMBER MY COUSINS WEARING CHAMPION TEES AND SHORTS WHEN WE USED TO GO VISIT THE FAMILY IN MEXICO IN THE SEVENTIES... HERE I HAVE TURNED THOSE SPORTS CLOTHES INTO TOGAS, LOINCLOTHS AND BRIEFS.....CHAMPION KINDLY ACCEPTED DOING THEIR LOGO IN BLACK, WHITE, AND GREY AND WE HAVE SPRINKLED IT LIBERALLY OVER A CAPSULE INCLUDING T-SHIRTS, SWEATS, AND WINDBREAKERS.

I CONTINUE WITH A SHARP-SHOULDERED TAILORED SILHOUETTE, AT TIMES COVERED IN BRIGHT SEQUINS LIKE THE FOLKLORIC CHINA POBLANA SKIRTS MY MOM WORE IN SCHOOL PAGEANTS GROWING UP IN PUEBLA, MEXICO. BLAZERS HAVE INTEGRATED STRAPS TO PEEL JACKETS OFF AND WEAR BUCKLED AROUND THE HIPS ON THE DANCE FLOOR. BLAZERS AND LIGHT COATS ARE WORN OVER ZIPPERED JUMPSUITS OR FULL HIGH WAISTED ZIPPERED CARGO SHORTS. FABRICS ARE IRISÉ COATED CANVAS, MEMBRANE RUBBERIZED NYLONS, PAPER-THIN SNAKE, COTTON DUCHESSE, AND NYLON TAFFETA. FOOTWEAR INCLUDES GLAM PLATFORM BOOTS IN CLEAR PLEXI, AFOREMENTIONED MEGALACED SNEAKERS, OR EARTHY SANDALS IN COW FUR.

MUSIC IS AN EXTENDED REMIX OF ‘ACCELERATION’ BY LAVASCAR, MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE MICHELE LAMY’S BAND WITH NICO VASCELLARI AND DAUGHTER SCARLETT ROUGE (LAMY/VASCELLARI/SCARLETT), PRODUCED BY ROCCO RAMPINO. I INVITED MUSICIANS FROM MEXICO TO ACCOMPANY LAVASCAR’S TRACK WITH DANZA AZTECA CEREMONIAL MUSIC THAT THEY HAVE LEARNED FROM THEIR ELDERS. VOCALS ARE IN THE TRADITIONAL NAHUATL AZTEC LANGUAGE
“TECUATL NONAN, AMIXPANZINCO ONCAN NOYOLO.
CUICATL ANYOLQUEH XOCHITL ANCUEPONQUE”
“LORDESS OF WATER, HERE IN FRONT OF YOUR HONORABLE GAZE, IS MY HEART. YOU KNOW THIS LIFE SONG YOU HAVE LAID OUT YOURSELF LIKE FLOWERS...”

Aside from the well-earned middle finger to the current occupant of the White House and a boost to unions via the United Farm Workers Association, the show itself was pretty stunning with an electronic Aztec group performing a song by his wife's band, and clay mounded on the runway in the dry fountain at the Palais de Tokyo (Owens venue of choice for a while now).

I love the cyclops sunglasses. And can we talk about the AMAZING ACRYLIC platform boots? WOW. Oh, and those yummy sneakers wrapped with what looks like a million laces.
Phenomenal.
As always.

https://www.rickowens.eu

SAJIII Cabana and Pool

For a family's vacation home in San Juan de Alima, Michoacán, Mexico, architecture firm CDM|Casas de Mexico created an amazing pool and accompanying cabana. Built to look like a natural tide pool nestled among an original, existing outcropping of rocks, the pool looks out over the Pacific Ocean. The pool house is 1,474 square feet with a single grand room integrating living and dining with a kitchenette. And the roof doubles as a balcony and platform for viewing nighttime skies...

Just stunning.

http://cdm.la/proyecto/sjaiii/