THE PEOPLE ISSUE
Style
A Fashionable Hunt
The excitement of fashion is always fueled by the creativity of youth. But for every Ralph or Donna, there are millions of “best dressed” recipients; for every Rudi Gingrich or Walter Van Beirendonck, there are innumerable style heroes at the club. In the end, talent be damned, the one who sells the most garments, wins. [...]
A little Reflection for Summer
top: “Chester” by Orgreen middle:”Low Rider” by Orgreen bottom: “FRANZ 24k” by MYKITA & Bernhard Willhelm If, like me, your eyes are sensitive enough that walking around midsummer without sunglasses is tantamount to headache and disorientation, then you probably know a thing or two about frames. As all we visually impaired people know, frames are [...]
Hiroshi Kawai
An anonymous author once observed that “the world is divided into two kinds of people: those who have tattoos, and those who are afraid of people with tattoos.” It truly is sad when such a shallow remark manifests generations of misconstrued concepts to come, concerning a truly reputable art form, is it not? The truth [...]
Rock Star Hair
Hair is to rock stars as fabric is to a couturier. Their signature hairstyles are not only an extension of their identity and music genre, but serve as an imprint in which pop culture and history are defined. Their locks will inspire hair trends amongst the millions of fans they touch. While some looks are [...]
Shoes that Rock
To take a blank canvas and cover it with paint is how one can achieve greatness. To take a blank pair of Chuck Taylor All Stars and collaborate with some of the most groundbreaking musicians from the 21st century is to make an iconic product even greater. It’s no secret that Converse has graced the [...]
Let’s Get Digital
Bold, bright and slightly surreal—what spring is looking like, with a marasma of amazing prints to cheer up with after the winter gloom. The new season has found its calling, and it’s all about the scientific imagery of fascinating natural phenomena. Designers’ new infatuation with digital printing has resulted in a few incredible collections that [...]
Sourcing Southern Style
Australia may well be renowned internationally for its coastlines and multicultural cuisine, but for style-starters, it’s the ultimate destination for unforgettable and inspirational fashion. SOMA presents an insider’s guide to the very best in Aussie boutiques. One of A Kind > Catering to the Australian male who craves truly unique apparel and handpicked vintage houseware [...]
Blogger Backlash
14-year-old Tavi Gevinson (Style Rookie) is only one of many fashion bloggers who has recently come under fire after the industry’s initial fascination with not only this particularly pint-sized, sartorially adventurous Wunderkind, but with other teen bloggers as well. At the start of their meteoric rise, bloggers’ “hipness quotient” led to invitations to couture shows, [...]
Floragasm
With summer just around the corner, many designers are tapping their perfume departments to deliver the perfect floral concoction. Coffee beans on-hand, SOMA sits down to take a whiff of some of these new aromas. Flora by Gucci Eau de Parfum There are few iconic names in fashion that are instantly recognizable as the epitome of [...]
The Its Class of 2010
Trieste is a small town nested on an eponymous gulf in northeastern Italy. Of Austro-Hungarian splendor, it is today a quiet, cultural pole of students and senior citizens. But once a year, the fashion pack descends on the quiet town in search of new talent. They are here for ITS, a competition that has single-handedly [...]
Erro: Downtown Inspiration
The world has always looked to downtown New York for a sense of street style. The problem is, downtown chic has mostly relocated away from Manhattan, making “downtown” more of a vibe than a geography. That hasn’t stopped an occasional rocker infused collection from slipping through the prevailing, commercial filters. In the best sense of [...]
Childhood Memories À Porter
Butterflies on flimsy dresses, natural objects turned into geometric patterns, a fantasy world on a shirt: this feast for the eyes is Leitmotiv, a small Italian brand which is quickly turning heads with its colorful, exquisitely tailored apparel. The two-year-old label was created by Juan Caro, a Colombian-born visual artist, and Fabio Sasso, an Italian [...]
A Modern Makeup Artist
Francelle’s view of transformative beauty It’s almost too easy to paint Francelle as a next-gen superstar makeup artist. At 33, she’s already climbed to the top of her profession, shooting with talents like Karl Lagerfeld, Terry Richardson, Ellen von Unwerth, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, and Ryan McGinley for the likes of Purple, V, Tar, i-D, Self-Service [...]
Susie Bubble
Polished opinions of fashion “I think people throw around the words ‘icon’ and ‘iconic’ far too much these days,” says fashion blogger Susie Bubble from her London home. Despite being labeled as “one of the most influential voices in fashion” by The Evening Standard, the 25-year-old, whose real name is Susanna Lau, is quick to [...]
A Touch of Class
Stylist & Casting Director John Tan goes progressive with a dose of reality John Tan is a secret bullet of the fashion industry. A believer in paying dues the old school way, with genuine favors and the right kind of back-scratching, Tan is finally getting his due as a team builder, respected stylist, and go-to-guy for [...]
Captured In Time
Behind the scenes at YSL’s first show It’s Paris 1962, Yves Saint Laurent has just started his own business, only five years after taking the reins from Christian Dior at age 21. It’s easy to identify this as the last great period of haute couture, spurring the subsequent rise of prêt-a-porte. It’s a time idolized [...]
Suited For Battle
When a man goes into battle, he dons his battle dress. Well, not exactly a dress—a suit. Such was the case when, poised to begin a book tour, I found that my collection of suits was pretty tired and not what was needed to adequately represent a book about the evolution of men’s retail. In [...]
Sneaker Couture
Long before the proliferation of the Internet, limited edition sneaker collaborations were only available to the inner circles of “flight clubs”—a sort of underground secret street society. For days, these die-hard fans would line up and sleep outside of streetwear stores like Supreme in Manhattan to get their hands on these highly-coveted kicks only to [...]
Made For The Sun
Linda Farrow Luxe sunglasses, See by Chloé blazer, Rosa Cha bikini top, Agent Provocateur underwire bra, Model’s own ring Chloe sunglasses, GAR-DE down shirt, Rosa Cha nude bikini top, Agent Provocateur underwire bra, Shindo gross grain ribbon worn as belt, Agent Provocateur underwear, Metal Pointu’s silver cuffs Moss Lipow sunglasses, Tim Hamilton sweater, Gucci corset [...]
Burning Time
Dior Chiffre Rouge 42mm Automatic Watch Hermès Cherche-Midi Watch Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Montauk Highway Watch Cartier Ballon Bleu Watch Louis Vuitton Tambour Automatic Diving Watch Frédérique Constant Maxime Manufacture Automatic Watch Photography Kenji Toma Stylist Peju Famojure
Patrick Wolf
Patrick Wolf Bares His Teeth… and Feathers The music industry’s fashion atmosphere can be one of stark contrasts, for it is one of insufferably style-less, beardy bores like Fleet Foxes and Band of Horses on the one hand, and gloriously ostentatious types like The Dresden Dolls and The Horrors on the other. In the midst [...]
Head Out on the Runway
Bikers crash the catwalks as couturiers usher in an era of post-apocalyptic punk. While some claim punk rock to be dead, its defiant and unrefined aesthetic is experiencing a raging revival in fashion. In its newest incarnation, the reigning influence of rebellion is not lost on modern fashion where moto-madness is alive and kicking — clad in [...]
Conversations with the Past
Vintage treasure seeker Doris Raymond pays homage to the way we wore. It’s mid-morning on La Brea Blvd in Los Angeles and Doris Raymond, proprietress of The Way We Wore vintage shop, has Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange on the brain. A Vanity Fair stylist is dressing the actresses for a shoot themed on their upcoming [...]
Making Way for Swedish Style
From one of the coldest countries on earth springs some of the hottest fashion. Stockholm endures one of the iciest climates in the world. Yet, despite its frosty exterior, in the last decade, Sweden has become renowned for producing many of the world’s hottest designers. During Fashion Week, ny’s fashion cognoscenti dashed to Bryant Park’s [...]