I'm always on the lookout for new fashion blogs to inspire my design work as well as my own personal style. My latest favorite is BackyardBill, a blog which in some ways reminds me of TheSelby in the quality of the photos as well as the way the people are photographed in their own clothes in what seems like their own homes or what is their everyday environment. I like that each person gets their almost mini-editorial, and you can really get a sense of that person's style. I often think when looking at other "streetstyle" (or whatever you'd like to call it) blogs, that you can't really get a good look at what that person really dresses like, or perhaps where they draw inspiration from when shopping for clothes or getting ready in the morning... you're just seeing one picture of one outfit, which may be a great outfit, but I think it's more interesting to get a look into the life and style of an individual, which is what Backyard Bill seems to be doing quite perfectly. Unfortunately, since I first discovered the website, I haven't seen any new posts, so I'm not quite sure if the project is still in the works. I also would be interested in knowing if he knows some of these people personally, or if they are strangers who agree to be photographed or what... either way, I really like the site and it should provide some interesting/inspiring material for at least a little while. Anyways here are some of my favorite shots...
(and one of my favorites... model/beautiful person Ingrid Schram!)
I know some of you may be surprised to hear that until a few days ago, I couldn't seem to make up my mind about suddenly famous folk family Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. I knew that I loved (l-o-v-e-d) the song "Home" (honestly, how could you not?) but wasn't sure how I felt about the rest of the music, particularly Edward's voice. Not to say that it was too strange for me or anything like that, many of my favorite singer's being those with a sort of unconventional style or voice (i.e. Jens Lekman, Ramona Cordova, El Perro del Mar), there was just something about it that was keeping me from listening to more.
HOWEVER, I then experienced the (incredible) first twoinstallments (the second of which stars some impressive, yet very random famous faces) of the 12-part video series "SALVO!" created by the band using the songs from their album "Up From Below" as the score to the film. And needless to say to those of you who have seen it, my mind was blown. These guys are good. Real good. And I think it's cool to see a band which are (from what I hear) amazing and charismatic live performers, talented musicians, and most importantly artists in the sense that they are creating a distinct image and (through these videos) an entire little world for their music to exist in.
I'll leave you with this awesome live number they did for La Blogotheque (one of my favorite websites) which I stumbled upon the other night while looking for something to sing me to sleep. You'll love it. I promise.
A "how-to" chart on how to get featured on The Sartorialist and The Selby. I'm working on it. (via stylesightings.com and refinery29.com several months ago)
Not only does Karen Walker make some of the coolest sunglasses around, but she also did this brilliant photo/advertising campaign for her SS'10 line. Now if only we knew where to get those gold headpieces...
I have been waiting patiently for the release of the Italian film I Am Love and it is finally here! Well, next week at least. It's a story of a wealthy Milanese family which Russian immigrant Emma (Tilda Swinton) has been married into. She has completely adopted the culture of Milan and seems to fit perfectly into the family acting as a loving and attentive wife and mother. But suddenly Emma finds herself amidst a passionate and highly secretive love affair with her husbands brother's friend, a young restauranteur. The selling point for me? Tilda Swinton dressed entirely by Fendi and Jil Sander. Not really, but that's still great.
I wish I could say that I knew more about self-proclaimed "awesome, sexy" scraggly-bearded Frenchman Breakbot, but all I can tell you for sure is that his powerpop, breakbeat, electronic serenades will NOT disappoint. Back in February, a friend had posted a download of the song "Baby I'm Yours (feat. IRFANE)" on his facebook as a little celebration of Valentines Day, and I've been listening to it probably almost every day since. I later found the article from DAZEDdigital.com for which Breakbot did the honor of creating an awesome 30-minute long romantic mixtape (it's clear that the fella has great taste). His EP is available on iTunes under Ed Banger Records which represents other creators of dance-worthy tunes such as Uffie, JUSTICE, and Sebastian Tellier.
SO... FINALLY. Here it is, the music video for my (still) favorite song by Breakbot, "Baby I'm Yours". It was directed, and essentially, created by Irina Dakeva at Wizz productions. Made up of approximately 2000 watercolor images, I think the super-bightly-colored images dancing against the black background go absolutely perfectly with the song (even though it would be hard to ruin the video for this song, because the song itself is so damn good). The video premiered yesterday at (insert French accent here) super-cool Parisian boutique Colette and their website had some pretty sweet pictures of the original watercolors which were exhibited as part of the event.
Being a fashion designer, you may think that I am obsessed with models. Not true. Although, I guess you could say that for someone with a love/interest of fashion, models and designers are sort of my version of "celebrities". To be honest, I'd rather know what Phoebe Philo or Cole Mohr are up to than Lindsay or Rhianna. What I'm getting at is that I only have one or two models who after looking at tons of their work, have decided that I do in fact LOVE and basically think that they can do no wrong (as far as modeling goes). One of those models is Lara Stone. I won't go on listing the reasons why the curvy, slightly-gap-toothed beauty is simply amazing. Instead I encourage you to take a look at the following photos from some of my favorite Lara editorials. Also check out this article/interview with her from Interview Magazine. Enjoy. (I kind of got carried away so there are a lot of pictures... but I just couldn't help myself!)
The following post may seem like a simple shout out for friends, but I assure you that the following artists are three extremely talented young men whom I've had the great pleasure of knowing personally (some, very personally), and I have seen their (already) amazing artwork develop over the past couple years. Now, they've all graduated (two from Parsons, one from SVA) and I am so excited to see what they do next, and share with you some of the awesome work they've already done.
Matt Reuter Matt is an illustrator/designer/"maker-of-things" with an eerie capability to make even the cutest of forest creatures into something melancholy or slightly disturbing. What interests me most about the Parsons grad's work is his focus on nature and the oddities he creates in it. This strange filter which he puts his subjects through combined with somewhat childishly bright colors creates awesome ink drawings and watercolors which seem fit for a a more-than-slightly-trippy children's book. (I tend to enjoy the ink drawings in the "sketchbook" section of his website more than the colored works... but that's just me) Lucas Sharp Also a New School grad, Luc is a graphic designer/art director whose (pretty sweet) website offers an awesome portfolio of his typography design as well as a really neat video involving time lapse footage of budding plants and an ink tank (I remember hearing about it/seeing some of it while it was in the works). Being someone who is obsessed with fonts, (and I mean obsessed, I was just talking the other day about how important font styles are in our everyday lives...for magazines, storefronts, websites, bookcovers, everything really...maybe I'll write a post about fonts...we'll see!) I love the fact that his site is pretty much all fonts, and the different examples of use he has for each one (wood cuttings, posters, etc.). Also, make sure to check out the blog he has co-created with fellow Parson's grads Zeke Shore and Andrew Mahon (take a look at the post about the speech Zeke and Andrew gave at the Parsons commencement ceremony, it's pretty great!). Sean Hudson Having known the illustrator and SVA grad since 2007, I feel like I've definitely seen his work get better and seen him come into and perfect his current style. Sean's work often feels like a dream put onto paper, and his drawings (again, my favorite are the black and white ink pieces) depict slighty circus-worthy characters who look like they may have started off human, but took a wrong turn somewhere along the way. Although I'm partial to the black and white works, he has a great sense of color and the palettes he chooses for certain pieces, in my opinion make them unique. Also, he may not like me for saying so, but I have the pleasure of having in my possession some of Sean's more early/random artwork... including portraits of Woody Allen and Diane Keaton in a scene from Annie Hall, a picture of Cameron from Ferris Beuller done entirely in Christmas colors, and a black and white picture of a woman in a room with banana wallpaper from a homework assignment (which he insists is "terrible") which to this day is still hanging on the wall of my apartment and receives quite a fair share of compliments (so there). "FRESH" designed by Matt Reuter.
I'm always on the lookout for new fashion blogs to inspire my design work as well as my own personal style. My latest favorite is BackyardBill, a blog which in some ways reminds me of TheSelby in the quality of the photos as well as the way the people are photographed in their own clothes in what seems like their own homes or what is their everyday environment. I like that each person gets their almost mini-editorial, and you can really get a sense of that person's style. I often think when looking at other "streetstyle" (or whatever you'd like to call it) blogs, that you can't really get a good look at what that person really dresses like, or perhaps where they draw inspiration from when shopping for clothes or getting ready in the morning... you're just seeing one picture of one outfit, which may be a great outfit, but I think it's more interesting to get a look into the life and style of an individual, which is what Backyard Bill seems to be doing quite perfectly. Unfortunately, since I first discovered the website, I haven't seen any new posts, so I'm not quite sure if the project is still in the works. I also would be interested in knowing if he knows some of these people personally, or if they are strangers who agree to be photographed or what... either way, I really like the site and it should provide some interesting/inspiring material for at least a little while. Anyways here are some of my favorite shots...
(and one of my favorites... model/beautiful person Ingrid Schram!)
