Last week, I was walking on the street and a little girl came to me, asking me if I was a girl or a boy... It wasn't the first time and it won't be the last time either that I will have to answer to this question. I like fashion pieces that blur the line between male and female, I like to erase the bender when it comes to my fashion. That's why I decided to give you a few ideas of how to look androgynous this Spring/Summer with some great and minimal pieces... and that's for male and female.
So Spring is here but the sun seems not to be ready to shine here in Paris: the sky is grey, it's still a little bit cold... this kind of weather makes me want to stay quite simple in the way I dress myself. Sometimes it feels good not trying to be flamboyant... That is why I have chosen an ideal selection for this sullen Spring time. Enjoy!
While its former designer grounds in the shade, a group of designers are now at the head of the famous Maison Martin Margiela, their identities are carefully kept secret. Now that the brand belongs to the Renzo Rosso group, the mysterious designers had to head into a more commercial, less conceptual direction. And that’s what they did perfectly with their Fall/Winter Ready-To-Wear 2012/2013 collection. The designer added day-wear consciousness to Margiela’s imaginary attitude. Styled by Eric Waroll, edited by Daniel Haim and photographed by Hervé Coutin, this new fashion editorial contains some of the codes of Maison Martin Margiela: the mystery, the “factory” touch, the disguised simplicity–these are the elements that make this editorial special, just like the aura exuding from each collection of Maison Martin Margiela.
The past few days, everyone has decided to blog/tweet/tumblr/facebook their own definition of what's punk, thanks to the renewed interest in the movement with the recent Met Gala and the Punk: Chaos to Couture exhibition. What is fun in reading an average person's own perception of the punk movement on the Internet is that the same references are all and always the same: Sex Pistols, Malcom McLaren, Vivienne Westwood, the safety pins... It seems like its definition stops right there. If you have watched the livestream of the MET Gala the other day, you'd probably remember the same bullshit was repeated over and over again by people full of ignorance on the subject. And no, Goo Goo Dolls is not punk. At all.
Of course, the punk movement was dependent on music and popular culture, social violence and rejected what characterized the past. Back in the early seventies, if someone told you you're a punk, it meant literally that you're a thug, a rogue. Yeah... a thug. A thug who had the genius idea a few years later to use safety pins, razor blades, torn t-shirts and make it non only a fashion statement but a social one too. Although this mythical accessorizing quickly falls into a disgusting caricature nowadays, the punk style was at that time integral of two things: its music and its social ideas. In addition to the Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Subway Sect or even Eddie and the Hot Rods, all these bands had something in common, apart from a decadent style of dress: a rejection of shared values, a rejection of a society they had nothing more to expect from. The style flowing from this movement was beautifully captured at the Sex shop, then managed by Malcom McLaren and Vivienne Westwood, deep in King's Road. Basically, punk music and its fashion were a subversive weapon, a visual and sonorous way to tell people "this is who I am and I don't give a fuck of your opinion, and I'm going to do what I want".
Do it yourself. These three words best characterize what punk is/was: a willingness to do everything by yourself, whether to start your own record label, make your own clothes and accessories, or just make your place in a world governed by a blind adherence to traditional values without being insulted of... thug. But now that we live in a society where everything and every style has already been done before, punk is just a package of rotten ideas, ridiculous stereotypes and terribly wrong truths (pink is not really the color of punk... I mean, really...). Punk actually lived fast and died young. Now it only survives through its style and the world is finally ready to celebrate it. Are you?
Yesterday evening, everyone had their eyes on the Met Gala. This yearwas particularlyinteresting becausethe themeof the New York eventwasPunk. Indeed, from May, 9th through August, 14th, the Metropolitan Museum of Art will examine punk's impact on high fashion. The exhibition, called "Punk: Chaos to Couture", will include pieces of designers such as Hussein Chalayan, Ann Demeulemeester, Alexander McQueen, Yohji Yamamoto and naturally punk survivor Vivienne Westwood.
A special red-carpet livestream was broadcasted yesterday, the two hosts were both so annoying and although Vivienne Westwood gave to the exhibition many of her legendary pieces from her early years, they didn't give a shit of what she had to say even if she insisted by saying she would like to add something... What a bunch of tossers.
I could go on and on about Westwood, I am not into labels but if I had to choose one brand to fill my closet with, it would be Vivienne Westwood. I just like very much what she does... Wearing a total Vivienne Westwood look is never a faux-pas. So many of us will probably never go to the Met Gala, but it won't stop us from going to a party with a punk theme someday. And if I had to go to a punk party, I would definitely wear Westwood and here's my choice...
For those who know me well, they all know that I love the ex-leader of the British band Dead Or Alive: Pete Burns. Maybe his name is totally unknown for you, but you just have to listen to his most famous hit single, You Spin Me Round (Like A Record), to remember him. If you do not know him for his music, maybe you know him for his participation in Celebrity Big Brother when he shocked the UK with his hilarious comments about Jodie Marsh... Anyway, I really appreciate his work as a singer and I really like his style.
So the other day, I received a package from London: it contained a beautiful and never-seen-before photograph of Pete Burns, and a hand-written poem by himself. Do you know what does it mean? That Pete fucking Burns knows I exist, that I breath, that I am a human being! That was my hysterical minute of the day... So, I naturally had to show you my new pieces that I can add to my collection of vintage stuffs. I know that there are some Pete Burns fans out there, so I just wanted to share a scan of the poem so everyone can read it...
The third and new issue of TWELV magazine is now available to purchase in a luxuous printed format and in digital.
In this "Cinema" issue, you will find my exclusive interview with Polish artist Filip Pagowski, the man behind the heart logo of Comme Des Garçons' Play collection. Check out an excerpt of the interview below! And if you don't own your copy yet, get one now!
“I went to Beaubourg to see the Salvador Dali show. It was great, but I’m so exhausted, there were so many things to look at,”
he says while taking off his light coat and getting ready to order a
coffee. To say that he has art in the blood would be an understatement,
as he explains his background and early days in Poland. “My
parents were artists. I always liked history, but wasn’t really the
academic type who’d go study it. Since I was a little boy, I was drawing
all the time. It wasn’t a problem for me to figure out what I wanted to
do. My mother was a painter, my father was a graphic designer, so it
was logical to pursue this career.
