June 2014 Magazine Covers

June/July issues are notoriously among the weakest selling magazine issues of the year. As a result, a lot of magazines give off the impression that they don't even try. However, this year I find myself going crazy over a bunch of June covers. Especially the smaller European glossies have produced some stunning images for their summer issues. 

Have a look at some of my favorites:

 left to right, top to bottom:

Vogue Ukraine June 2014 (Arizona Muse by Cuneyt Akeroglu), Zoo #43 Summer 2014 (Constance Jablonski by Phillip Gay, L'Officiel France June/July 2014 (Angela Lindvall)

i-D Summer 2014 (Julia Nobis by Willy Vanderperre), 032c Summer 2014 (Lara Stone by Sean + Seng), Jalouse June 2014 (Gia Coppola)

Harper's Bazaar España June 2014 (Barbara Palvin by Xevi Muntané), Numéro China #40 June 2014 8Lexi Boling), 032c Summer 2014 (Limited Edition, by Mario Sorrenti)

We need to talk about We Need To Talk About Kevin

As much as I love reading, it does not occur very often that I feel compelled to write a review about a book. I can think of maybe four or five books that thrilled me so much that I wanted to discuss them again and again. Now I can add "We Need To Talk About Kevin" to that list. 

The author, Lionel Shriver, says she likes creating characters that are "hard to love". And this is true for every person named in "We Need To Talk About Kevin. The main plot: teenager Kevin murdered seven students at his high school. In letters to her husband Franklin, Kevin's mom Eva reflects on Kevin's childhood and her role as a mother. 

source: amazon.com

The book brings up so many questions about parental and social failure, mental illnesses, who to blame for what, who is deserving of what punishment, and it describes the helplessness of everyone. It's a sad and pessimistic view of life, but never have I seen it being portrayed in a more fascinating way.

You don't want to sympathize with Eva, because she is - as she admits herself - not a good mother and maybe also not a very good wife. And yet it's hard to not recognize yourself in some of the things she says or does or thinks. Her honesty is shocking but admirable.

You cannot help but be repulsed by many of the things Kevin does as a young child and of course the horrible actions he takes as a teenager.

And Franklin? He is a bit of  a douchebag. You can give him credit for trying to be a good dad, but it's hard to ignore that in the end he's just a vacuous, shallow, stereotypical suburb American (a Republican, even!) who is in denial about everything that is wrong in his family.

Shriver's language is so precise and the whole story is so well-conceived, it makes this novel all the more terrifying, disturbing and mind-blowing. 

I have nothing but love for this book. I would never have picked it up myself if it had not been recommended to me. I hope this post inspires a few people to read this ingenious book because it's more than worth it.

Cinamatic...

FYI, I am still obsessed with Hipstamatic. But now there is also Cinamatic, basically the video version of Hipstamatic. And guess what? It is just as addictive.

(my video; used Film: Charlie)

Yep, Cinamatic is the perfect outlet for your untameable creativity (i.e. your urge to document your cats' beauty and life and cuuuuteness in motion). The short films can be between three and 15 seconds long, a fancy vintage filter can be added after you have recorded your clip. Which is great, because you can preview the clip with the various filters and decide which one fits your film best. It also gives you the feeling that you are actually doing some neat post-production. But it is, of course, disgustingly simple. A very fun app that makes amateur filming with your phone look good. And addictive, of course. 

Elina Kechicheva: a foolishly underrated fashion photographer

With the vast amount of fashion magazines readily available as digital editions these days we are literally being flooded with fashion images on a daily basis. The frustrating thing about this is that there only seems to be a handful of photographers (or photographer duos) whose work makes up for the majority of the published images. That surely is one of the reasons many fashion editorials nowadays come across as repetitive, unimaginative and forgettable. I enjoy the work of a lot of the big guns in fashion photography, but I still cannot help but wonder why some talented photographers rarely ever get booked for blue chip magazines? 

One of the photographers whose work has stood out to me a lot lately is Elina Kechicheva's. You won't find her work in any of the Vogues or Elles of this world. The publications she seems to somewhat regularly shoot for are the various editions of Marie Claire. Not really the number one source you would check for striking, unique, different fashion photography (although they also use Jacques Olivar a lot, another favorite fashion photographer of mine). 

source: elinakechicheva.com

The way Elina harmoniously fuses her vision with the fashion and the chosen locations and models in her stories is sublime. She works with light, reflections, water and colorful make-up in a unique way. Her editorials often seem very cinematic and I can only assume that she is very directional and fastidious when it comes to the posing and positioning of the models and the usage of props. I wish more was known about her and her way of working, but it's hard to find any information about her on the web (The biography on her website simply states, "Elina Kechicheva was born and raised in Bulgaria and has been working as a photographer for the last 14 years."). I think she's awesome and I consider myself a big fan. Check her website and also her thread on TheFashionSpot to see more of her impressive work. 

Numéro Tokyo #77 (June 2014): "Fashion Survivor"

June issues of fashion magazines are only just coming out, but I am already declaring this story from Numéro Tokyo my favorite editorial of the month. Dutch model Querelle Jansen delivers in this story, photographed by Laurie Bartley and styled by Felipe Mendes. Her nonchalance and coolness paired with the unusual photography - gotta love those angles and the intriguing setting - make this an inspiring, memorable editorial that I just had to share here.

source: tfs forums

WANT WANT WANT

When it comes to buying clothes, I try to be rational in spite of my serious love for fashion and designers. But sometimes being rational is hard, really hard. Not to mention how hard it is to not be able to afford most things you want. But, usually I can deal with all that pretty damn well. This season, however, I'm struggling. The reason being this incredible Junya Watanabe MAN reversible jacket:

source: farfetch.com

Argh, isn't it beautiful? I tried it on earlier this year, not expecting that I would actually fall in love with it. I didn't want to take it off. But at around $1,500 it was not something I could spontaneously splurge on. So I decided I should wait for it to go on sale. The jacket, a collaboration with traditional German Outdoors manufacturer Seil Marschall (You may want to go to their website to convince yourself of their total charming German-ness), is the standout piece in the glorious Spring 2014 collection. Not too surprisingly, it's already sold out almost everywhere. Last weekend, I went back to the store where I first saw it (MAC in Hayes Valley) and they seem to have sold out of my size, as well. I am probably out of luck and will never own this jacket, but this is one genius and gorgeous fashion item that I will dream about for a while.  It is fashion. Swooooon.

Model Natalie Westling nails it once again

For a new model to constantly deliver flawless work, that is quite something. Normally I am left unimpressed with the editorials that model agencies make their models do while being in development. That's not the case with Natalie Westling.

Natalie came pretty much out of nowhere and showed up on the scene in August 2013. Her bookings for fashion week in her first season were solid (Marc Jacobs in New York, Giles in London, SLP and Louis Vuitton in Paris) but her abysmal walk had me question her skills as a model. And then what happened? Girl wowed me with her first proper print work, a stunning editorial in Vogue Russia's November 2013 issue. What followed was nothing but inspiring, fun, interesting appearances in publications such as LOVE, Interview, i-D and Vogue Paris. Her uniqueness partly stems from her seeming so confident about being awkward and weird, and it resulting in unusual visuals that you will be sure to remember (and pin! pin! pin! on Pinterest). But see for yourself:

(Vogue Russia, November 2013, ph: Benjamin Alexander Huseby)

source: thesocietymanagement.com

(LOVE Magazine online, S/S 2014, ph: Drew Jarrett)

source: models.com

Her latest coups? Three shots in the Jeff Bark editorial from AnOther Magazine's S/S 2014 issue, which make the other models' pictures pale in comparison. 

source: models.com

AND some seriously striking and captivating shots in Vogue Italia's April cover story, "Horror Movie" (by Steven Meisel):

source: vogue.it

VFiles: much awesomeness

So, I had heard about VFiles before. I had even studied their NYFW shows in detail on style.com. But what I did not realize until recently is just how freaking awesome this self-proclaimed "online cultural network" is. 

A few weeks ago, Nordstrom in SF had an in-store pop-up store that displayed quite a few items from the VFiles main collection and some of the brands promoted through them. It was fun but didn't pique my interest enough to do more research on what else VFiles has to offer. Today, however, I suddenly thought of some of their cult items, the "Team Tisci 74", "Team Margiela 57" etc. jerseys, designed by LPD New York. 

Much to my surprise, the VFiles webshop has so much more to offer than the trendy designer urban streetwear kind of stuff I had associated with this brand. The online shop is a goldmine for all quirky, fun, original and exciting brand-new and established designerwear.

My favorite pieces? 

This Wil Fry 'Expensive' sweater:

And the Jeremy Scott 'Earth Sucks' cropped mesh tank:

all images: shop.vfiles.com/

The vintage section on the website is absolutely worth checking out, too. This network really has the finger on the pulse and I can easily see myself becoming hooked. I can't wait to see which bright new talents they will add to their roster every season, because one thing is for sure: these people know what is cool. 

YSL La Laque Couture "Spicy Collection"

Normally I am extremely faithful to Chanel when it comes to nail polishes. But since it looks like they are not releasing anything all that interesting in the near future (unless you are into the boring red/pink/coral kind of color palette) I didn't feel guilty checking out what other designers are releasing this Spring. Dior has a few pretty products in their 'Trianon' and 'Transatlantique' collections, but none of them were must-haves for me. 

Now, the real standout this season is YSL's La Laque Couture "Spicy Collection", a range of nail polishes inspired by, yeah, spices. The collection includes seven different nail polishes, but not all of them seem to be available everywhere. 

I was lucky to get my hands on "Safran Sultan" (#42) and "Ambre Gingembre" (#44). I passed on "Feuille D'Or" (#47) for multiple reasons (gives me carnival vibes, looks like it could get messy, would clash with my silver jewelry, etc.). 

source: yslbeautyus.com

"Safran Sultan" is exactly what it promises to be, a lush saffron color. It's unique and interesting and I love how it matches the eye color of my BSH cat (important detail, yup). "Ambre Gingembre" is a nice amber shade that resembles the "ginger" used as descriptive term for red hair. It's the first non-trashy orange-y nail polish shade ever, seriously. It's warm and deep but not garish. Super beautiful.

What's awesome about both nail polishes is that they are super easy to apply (love the wide brush!), one coat is enough and will look fantastic for over a week. 

Favorite beauty release of the year so far!

Why do we hate certain celebrities?

I don't know the answer. But I dislike the pictured ones -- Blake Lively, Rachel Zoe, Sarah Jessica Parker, Cara Delevingne -- A LOT. 

I certainly have zero desire to imitate Cara's annoying behavior or copy Blake Lively's bland style, so duh!, this is not a shot of my bookshelf. I took this photo at Kinokuniya Book Stores in Japantown SF, one of the most awesome places in the world for anyone who loves art/design/fashion books and magazines. I was amused to find my least favorite celebrities all sitting on the same shelf about style. It occurred to me that them being so overrated for their style is actually one of the main reasons I don't like them. 

Do well-dressed celebrities tend to be more likable? I definitely never find myself saying, "She has great style, but I can't stand her." Weird, huh. #FashionPerson

"Bouquet to Arts 2014" at the de Young Fine Arts Museum

I am usually only mildly interested in going to museums when there is no big photography or modern fashion exhibition to see. I tend to not get much from seeing paintings or pots up-close and can easily feel overwhelmed by the mass of art pieces in just one room at some museums. But when I found out about the "Bouquets to Art" show at the de Young Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, I was intrigued by the concept and was eager to see the show. Apparently it's a springtime tradition for the museum to have "gifted floral designers bring their imaginative interpretations to works in the de Young’s permanent collection", but this year was the first time I was here to see it and I am thrilled I got to experience this unique exhibition. 

The numerous floral arrangements were placed with their corresponding art pieces all over the museum and it was absolutely stunning to see how they so harmoniously became part of the individual shows. 

The most impressive work was definitely to be seen in the room dedicated to the "The Bay Bridge: A Work in Progress, 1933–1936" show. The photographs and sketches are interesting enough themselves, but the floral designers' interpretations of the artworks certainly added a very mesmerizing element to it. The geometry and architecture seen in the images did not get lost in the bouquets and in my opinion this was where the floral designers were most creative with their creations, taking into account the shapes and lines of the original image but coming up with incredibly unique arrangements that were enjoyable even when not viewed in context of the room's theme.

Another highlight was the "Shaping Abstraction" exhibition room, which seemed to have very literal floral adaptions of the artwork on display. What I liked about this room is that it could easily have been the painting having been inspired by the bouquet rather than the other way around. The paintings and the flowers were in sync and the whole room was simply gorgeous.

The whole exhibition was so enormous and the museum was so crowded, it was impossibly to study all areas of the museums closely. Nonetheless this was more than worth the visit and I am glad I got to see this beautiful show (which ended yesterday, btw).

The b/w bouquet pictured below, which matched the marvelous Jay DeFeo painting seen in the background, was probably my favorite piece in the entire show. 

all pictures taken by me

Slumberhouse's Zahd. Or: what you don't want people around you to smell like.

The photo above may be misleading, but this post is not about dessert. If it was about dessert I would have much nicer things to say than what is about to follow. Because I love dessert. I especially love chocolate. I also love all kinds of berries. Yum. But as any sensible person probably knows, eating way too much of it can make you feel pretty damn miserable. Therefore my discovery from last weekend shouldn't actually surprise me all that much: desserts should not be worn as perfume. Because, do you really want someone close to you to smell of cranberries and cherries and chocolate all day? 

Slumberhouse is a small niche perfume house with an awesome website and some very interesting fragrances on sale (and also not on sale -- because limited/exclusive/indiehypedandsoldout/etc.). I enjoy Vikt, Sova and Jeke and consider those three of the most unique, fun and intriguing fragrances my man wears. I was therefore excited when he received a sample of Zahd, the latest Slumberhouse scent, which is already sold out everywhere. But my excitement didn't last long, and could probably have been prevented entirely by a prior check of what notes are in it: Cranberry, Champaca flower, Benzoin, Plum, Pink lotus, Fir, Cocoa, Tolu, Gromwell, Wine ether, Mysore sandalwood, Cherry, Incense, Oak. Gross? You bet. If the woody, floral, Benzoin stuff was a little more prominent, maybe this wouldn't be all that disgusting. But the cranberries, the cherry and the cocoa are so overpowering, I couldn't help but be reminded of those horrible Punica drinks that are popular in Germany, and cherry wine, and cheap cranberry chocolate bars. As the perfume develops, the incense becomes a little more noticeable. But instead of evening out some of the fragrance's unpleasant sweetness, it just makes it smell like a chocolate bar that was lying around in an esoteric shop for a little too long. 

As much as I generally respect passionate independent artists who create daring, different products that will not appeal to everyone but thrill an enthusiastic small cult following, I have little admiration for this particular fragrance. It is not for me. And hopefully people around me share my sentiments about this. Smelling this on my man all morning and evening was somewhat traumatic. So it is comforting to know that it is not widely available and I probably do not have to worry about anyone else around me giving this a try. I advise you not to do it.

Jamie Wei Huang: a new favorite

Discovering new designers is a weird thing. Sometimes you really have to make an effort to find them. Sometimes you have to look at several of their collections to find elements in them that you like and make you appreciate the person behind it. And sometimes you randomly come across them, look at 3 or 4 pictures and just know you will love everything they do. And this actually happened to me today when I saw an article about Jamie Wei Huang's Fall 2014 collection on The Kinsky, a website which came to my attention after being mentioned repeatedly on tFS in the last couple of days.

What this designer does is so right up my alley, I wanted to squeal with excitement when I clicked through the images on her website. The London-based designer (originally from Taiwan) showed her collection at London Fashion Week this season and you can find HQ pictures of the show here. But I personally prefer the lookbook images:

source: jamieweihuang.com

The most interesting aspect about this collection is certainly how the accessories become part of the designs. Belts and bags are appliquéd to the garments in a way that makes it seem natural that they are there. They are not idiotic design tricks, they look cool and make sense. The clothes are beautifully cut and the geometric aspect is something that never goes unnoticed with me anyway. I am glad this ultra-talented Central Saint Martins graduate is on my radar now and I definitely look forward to seeing more from her. 

Some new Models to watch

I am by no means an expert on models, and a majority of the models who catch my eyes usually don't make it. But so what, I am going to share a few girls that stood out to me when browsing the TheFashionSpot forums anyway: 

Daria Y @ Marilyn Paris

source: Rachel Rebibo

Florence Haines @ One Management NYC

source: One Management

 Jayden Robinson @ Trump

source: visionmodels.co.za

Karol Santos @ NEXT

source: nextmanagement.com

Robin van Halteren @ A Models Amsterdam

source: amodelsamsterdam

Paris Fashion Week Fall 2014 Round-up Pt. II

Irish designer Sharon Wauchob is by no means new on the scene. She graduated from Central Saint Martins in 1993 and worked for Louis Vuitton under Marc Jacobs in the late 90s. She launched her eponymous line in 1998 and has been delivering stunningly gorgeous collections ever since. Her style has often been compared to that of Belgian and Japanese designers. In her earlier collections, this seems more apparent. 

Two of my favorite earlier Wauchob collections, Spring 2006 and Fall 2006, bear rather strong resemblance to Ann Demeulemeester's work: 

(Spring 2006)

(Fall 2006)

source: firstview.com

Contrary to what the androgynous goth and warrior-like Ann Demeulemeester woman projects, Wauchob's woman is never afraid of being sexy, sultry and vulnerable. While in the early 2000s Tom Ford's immensely popular and often copied Gucci woman oozed similar qualities, Wauchob is now one of very few designers who holds onto that desirable image of a woman who wants to be elegant, alluring and sensual and not hide her femininity in any way. Maybe it is because she so stubbornly sets herself apart from the latest trends on runways that it feels like Wauchob is currently reaching new heights in her career. Since stepping down as creative director of ethical fashion label Edun in 2013, her collections seem to have become stronger than ever.

Her Fall 2014 collection, which she showed in Paris two weeks ago, was one of my absolute highlights of this Fashion Week month. 

source: style.com

Incredibly sexy and feminine in a nonchalant way which makes it hard for me to imagine anyone could possibly resist the Sharon Wauchob woman. A truly stunning collection.