THE SPRING ISSUE
Features
CUSTOM COUTURE
Experts pertaining to varying confines of the fashion industry have gone back to school to study under clothing guru Simmin Sethna The day Simmin Sethna left her family’s home in Calcutta for Paris, with dreams of mastering the ‘art of couture’, it seems unlikely that she foresaw the way in which she would inspire generations […]
CONTEMPORARY SIMPLICITY
Creative director Kenya Hara and product designer Naoto Fukusawa come together to design well thought out contemporary homeware. Quality meets simplicity in this brand new concept Since setting up shop in SoHo back in 2007, MUJI is a brand that many will be familiar with—modern furniture, simple lifestyle goods and everyday essentials. But with a […]
MINESWEEPER: THE NEXT LEVEL
Afghani designer Massoud Hassani takes the idea of a childhood toy and transforms it into a device that will save lives. Design adopts a heroic identity in this clean, simple, and efficient project If you ever played with a suction cup ball as a child, most likely it was an utterly unremarkable experience. Rubbery, fluorescent, […]
SACHA LAKIC
Movement, speed, fluidity, industry. These are a few terms that zip through the mind at breakneck speeds when confronted with one of Sacha Lakic’s projects. It may be any number of things: a bike, a piece of furniture, an object, a space or — most impressively, enough to take your breath away — a car. […]
STORYTELLING IN THE FLESH
Often recognized for tattooing an impressive roster of celebrity clients, the New York-based artist, Scott Campbell, has now branched out with a well-received gamut of fashion and fine art endeavors Whether in collaboration with Louis Vuitton’s menswear collections or in dynamic sculpture, watercolors and mixed media art, Campbell’s work is attracting international and cross-genre appeal. […]
XVALA WAS HERE
XVALA reshapes social commentary like he reshapes Mark Zuckerberg’s coat hanger: creatively, boldly and a little bit inappropriately Guerilla tactics crossed the boundaries of warfare a long time ago, and their presence in the art scene is certainly no new phenomenon. What is new, however, is XVALA’s approach and use of contemporary art to comment […]
Elisa Stephens In The Fast Lane
Academy of Art University President Elisa Stephens is famed for accomplishing many things, but she described only two things as in her blood during an interview last month Text by Shilpika Lahri Photography by Bob Toy This well known entrepreneur’s various areas of interest boil down to two main passions: cars and leading the San […]
Graydon Carter: A Double Life
If he hadn’t been raised in middle-class Ottawa, Graydon Carter’s rise to the apex of New York high society wouldn’t be out of place in the pages of a Horatio Alger novel. As writer and editor for such esteemed publications as Time, Life, and the both revered and irreverent Spy Magazine, his acerbic wit and […]
Alyona Minkovski: She’s Got It!
“You don’t want someone who looks like your dad preaching to you all the time,” Alyona Minkovski says at a Washington bar. The Alyona Show on RT might not be the best-known primetime news and commentary program, but it’s one of the most refreshing, and not just because its 25 year old host is instantly […]
Fashion or Fake?
Depending on the viewer’s perspective, Luis Gispert’s “decepción” series chronicles either couture creations or black market counterfeits. After embarking on a project to photograph unique vehicle interiors, Gispert stumbled across a niche culture of car clubs and enthusiasts who upholster cars with luxury branded fabrics. Seeking out these rarities over several years, Gispert was able […]
Annabel Luton
Photography: OLIVIA BEASLEY Stylist: Sabrina Henry Hair: Elliot Bssila at DWM Make-Up: Marco Antonio at DWM Model: Leila Jay at Select Shot at: Masonic Temple, Hyatt Andaz, London Annabel Luton is a Fashion and Print Design graduate from Central Saint Martins in London. Her final collection’s silhouettes, mysterious birds, and scenic prints are inspired by […]
James Blake
Every artist dreams of making music that destroys boundaries and forces listeners to accept them on their own terms. On his self-titled debut album, James Blake has that and more with a panoramic suite of tunes that demolishes the structures of pop music to build a glittering new edifice on the rubble. Blake made the […]
Tom Vek
Six years ago, Tom Vek released his first album, We Have Sound. Vek wrote, produced and played all the instruments on the record, a forceful blast of grunge with an electronic edge, recorded partially on an eight-track recorder in his parents’ garage. Vek played a few live dates and did a quick tour of the […]
Connan Mockasin
Despite the ever-mounting buzz for his album Forever Dolphin Love, New Zealander Connan Hosford, aka Connan Mockasin, exudes a humble yet arresting charm atypical to that of a rising star. The musician and artist’s modest demeanor can be accredited to his even-keeled concepts about creating work, which is evident in the purity of his signature […]
Raw Edges
A Marriage of Work & Life Littered haphazardly with wood cuttings and blue prints—all the necessary tools needed for conceptualizing creative ideas—the small North London studio is the backdrop to Shay Alkalay and Yael Mer’s designs that run the gamut from cork lamps to plaid benches for their label, Raw Edges. In a partnership that […]
Stronger Space
With the rise of the figure of the freelance curator, curating has ventured out of the museum into galleries and beyond—to the extent that those who take themselves to be on the very edge of hip go so far as to claim that they “curate” menus and music playlists. Architecture writer and curator Carson Chan […]
Three to Watch
The only constant about the artistic landscape in Berlin is that nothing stays the same. Sure, there are common practices in the city: a rich culture of artist-run project spaces, hybrid/mixed-used venues and an unusually high concentration of artists who regularly DJ. However, mostly due to the financial precarity of earning a living here, it’s […]
Into the Abyss
48 Hours in Berlin It’s 6p.m. on Saturday and my boss, a 50 yr-old Canadian art dealer, has turned on the techno music, filling the gallery with deafening electro-beats. This announces his plan for the evening: it’s his ritual warm-up before heading to Berghain, Berlin’s most hedonistic nightclub. I’ll probably wind up there too, but […]
Melting Point
Levi’s denim trucker jackets and rolled shorts Pins and Needles floral blouse G-Star denim shorts Rodebjer floral silk blouse Diesel matic jeans Minnetonka Moccasins shoes Le Mont St Michel sweater Levi’s studded jeans Minnetonka Moccasins shoes Levi’s x Opening Ceremony denim “Onesie Skirt” Levi’s cut-off vest and bootcut jeans G-Star denim shirt Reformed lace shorts All […]
Mary Katrantzou
Snapshots by iconic fashion photographers Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin are typically synonymous with the glossy pages of high fashion magazines like Vogue, or they hang idly on the barren white walls of an expansive gallery. Trendsetting London-based fashion designer, Mary Katrantzou, has taken these stylized photographs to another level, splashing them on her latest […]
Siki Im
Among the most buzzed about fashion designers in NYC, Siki Im designs for an intelligent and articulate audience. In his own words, “He or she is well traveled and educated; has values but also loves to be challenged and takes risks; someone who gets bored easily and has humor, too; someone who is not so […]
Kimiko Yoshida
Misfit Monochromes Kimiko Yoshida’s face practically disappears into a black background—her eyes and lips being the only clearly discernible features. Painted a dusky gold, her lips perfectly match the intricate headdress she wears in 01 Painting (Goddess of War Athena), a large-scale photograph that references Gustav Klimt’s renowned “Pallas Athene.” Like a monk repeating a […]
Polly Morgan
A blurred line between morbid & magnificent Dead finches lay strewn about an East London studio in a macabre amalgamation of feathers and skins and bottles of solutions. In Polly Morgan’s seemingly sordid world, death can be beautiful and taxidermy is an art form. Morgan is a master of this embalming method as art pieces […]
Portraits of London Creatives
London is known for its experimental and inventive designers—the city’s roots in fashion history and its creative energy have made it a top and unique fashion center of the world. SOMA had the chance to photograph a few of the city’s out- standing artists who have the creative talent and eye that will make a lasting impact in the fashion world.
