Oh, no, Yoko!
MANILA, Philippines - At 79 years old, Yoko Ono still has a thing or two to teach pop stars about shock tactics. Case in point: Her upcoming menswear collaboration with Opening Ceremony, called “Fashions For Men,” is based on fashion sketches she gave her late husband, John Lennon, as a wedding gift in 1969. What’s so shocking about that, you ask? Well, we all know that Yoko and John couldn’t keep their hands off each other and her collection will reflect just that. The line will include a pair of pants with a hand cutout sewn over the crotch, a pullover with eyelets cut out over the nipple area and a “lightbulb bra” to be worn under said pullover. “I think she just fell in love with John’s body and wanted to show off all of the parts of his body that she loves. There’s something so beautiful about that sentiment. And we’ve realized these designs in pretty actual terms of how she drew them,” explains Opening Ceremony co-founder Humberto Leon. Um, Yoko, you is loco. I guess that’s why John loved you so.
Yves Carcelle is stepping down from his position as CEO of French luxury house Louis Vuitton after 22 years and will become the vice chairman of the Foundation Louis Vuitton, an art museum designed by Frank Gehry, which will open in Paris next year. He is to be replaced by Jordi Constans, who has been familiarizing himself with LV for the past year. Constans was the vice president of French food-products multinational Groupe Danone, as in the company that manufactures Dannon yogurt. We sure hope he knows what he’s doing because Interbrand named LV World’s Best Global Fashion Brand this year in its annual report. We just hope that the fashion industry is Contans’ cup of yogurt.
Stuff, and more stuff
As if H&M needed to give us another reason to fork over our hard-earned cash. There were reports since September that they’ve been planning on launching a more luxurious, higher-priced womenswear-only line called “& Other Stories.” And what? Weird name aside, the Swedish retail brand just launched its first teaser, which features a bunch of Polaroids of a model walking barefoot until she receives a parcel of & Other Stories shoes. The treatment was trés hipster, if you ask us, which is probably what they were going for. Collections will be done by creative ateliers in Paris and Stockholm, Vogue.co.uk reports. According to a press release, “Today, a woman with a love for fashion creates her own style. She wears things that feel right to her and reflect her personality. & Other Stories is about bringing everything she can wear into one place, focusing on the whole look. We believe shoes, bags, jewelry, lingerie and beauty are key for styling and just as important as clothing.” All we can say is, we don’t even have our own H&M store here and you’re opening up a new one?? Hold a private sale for the Maison Martin Margiela collab for us and we’ll call it even.
Photographer Sara Black’s latest book, entitled We, Love is a collection of photos exploring relationships between two people and the stories between them. Instead of the usual fairytales, Black presents the most unusual and fascinating set of couples from all walks of life. On one end of this collection are seemingly ordinary individuals with remarkable life stories, like the story of lola Aurelia Matias and street photographer Red Silva who found love in the midst of loss. On the other end of the spectrum are larger-than-life personalities whose stories introduce a more human dimension to their public personas. Singer Gary Valenciano and his father speak of a kind of love that nurtures. Unusual friendships best exemplify mutual respect as depicted in the story of actress Heart Evangelista and Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago. Black shares, “There’s a thread connecting the stories together. They are strangers but their lives flow into each other and have resonance. Some are more apparent than others.”
We, Love will be available at Fully Booked stores. For more information, contact sarablackphoto@gmail.com.
Pill-popper
Contemporary artist Jonathan Paul a.k.a. Desire Obtain Cherish has taken the term “designer drugs” a little too literally. For his upcoming exhibit in Miami for Art Basel, he created a series of resin-casted, acrylic sculptures which depict “designer drugs” made from high-end fashion labels like Hermés, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Yves Saint Laurent (guess those were made before Hedi Slimane changed it to Saint Laurent Paris). To a certain extent, it’s true that for some (if not, most) of us are always looking to get a fashion fix, whether it’s from cheap thrills in the racks of high fashion or the coveted “it” bags that we are willing to beg, borrow or steal for... until we finally do and find something else to covet. But is it so wrong to want pretty things? Is it something we’d need to go to rehab for? Don’t answer that.