MILAN FASHION WEEK AW10 // JIL SANDER (MENS)

just perfect.  amazing trousers, great fabrics on the jackets and lovely sweaters.  as always such a perfect silhouette.

MIRAGE MAG no2 :: SNEAK PEEK

AN AFTERNOON ON THE STRANGLES

FIRST ISSUE :: UNFAIR

i bought this magazine a couple of weeks ago and only just had the chance to properly look through it.  it's the latest high fashion glossy to come out of the middle east, abu dhabi precisely.  

my first impression was that it was very UAE, but i'll come back to that.  second, that for a magazine's first issue it absolutely dripped with money - dior, calvin klein, lancome, longchamp, estee lauder, valentino - all absolutely dominated the first opening pages in advertising space.  third, that there was quite an interesting discrepancy in the construction of the advertising images produced outside the UAE for their consumption and those produced within it.  

going back to the first point, because of the omnipresence of islam in the UAE, explicit sexuality cannot be used to sell fashion in the way we're so used to in Europe; the  visibility and market presence of western brands and their advertising is largely controlled by the monolithic boutiques who in turn create their own advertising images featuring those brands.  the result is a very surreal world of hyper-luxury where, in a way, the fashion becomes much more the focus as everything is more or less sterilized of sexuality.

i found it quite interesting as well because i was looking through it with an old schoolfriend from dubai and we were just amazed at how differently we saw these images now that we don't live there anymore - they were the kind of images we were so used to seeing and a way of looking at fashion that was just so normal to us.   now being exposed to all that again just reminds me that there are still other ways of seeing that haven't been so strongly affected by the armada of western media.

BALMAIN HOMME SS10

the brand's debut menswear line // clement chabernaud shot by karim sadli

alex.
designs :: norman de vera

alex wells @ premier // styling :: raphael hirsch // hair&makeup :: sian duke

THEODORE DE BRY :: PEREGRINATION IN AMERICAM

an idea of america presented to the european colonial powers in 1597 :: crucial in shaping european views of the new world - it's primitivism, barbarism, savagery, and most importantly it's inferiority, to justify their subjugation and 'civilizing' of the natives.

no actual practices of cannibalism exist(ed) amongst the native peoples of america

DUANE NASIS...

WILL BE BACK ONLINE SOON.

WATCH THIS SPACE.

CHANEL PARIS SHANGHAI

beautiful collection, amazingly made - you only need to watch the other 10 videos to see how much hard work went into each garment, but there's something more interesting going on here

chinoiserie is being sold back to China.

HEDI SLIMANE // OSCAR NILSSON