THE INVISIBLE SHOE

By Andreia Chaves

Much anticipated and finally made commercially available, the Brazillian designer's Invisible Shoe explores the concept of invisibility through camouflage by reflection. With the help of expert Dutch 3-D printing company Freedom of Creation the shoe comes alive in a few different versions. Only being sold at I.T Hong Kong (as far as the internet can tell me!) I would do terrible things for these. Her conflation of new technology in production and inventive use of materials points to an artist in touch with the transformative relationship between material application and conceptual methodology. Her other shoe designs are just as amazing and worthy of aching covetousness.

ITALIANS DO IT BETTER

The story of Olivetti and the Typewriter

Olivetti Showroom, Switzerland, 1957

Olivetti began as a small Italian company founded in 1908 by Camillo Olivetti and was made a staple in design history by his son, Adriano Olivetti. A manufacturer of manual typewriters, as well as Italy's first computer, the Elea 9003, Adriano Olivetti employed designers who dreamt of the same collusion of experience, technology and product. Industrialization was at its height at the turn of the century and both father and son sought to produce a product that reflected the changes to the modern workplace and apply design that was sensitive the the social aspects of labour. They integrated technology and innovation with an attention to detail and a fervor for aesthetic that is so quintessentially Italian in its quest for perfection. Their products and even their advertisements are testimony to their progressive approach to design; they belie an inherent understanding that the objects that surround you affect you in subtle and profound ways.

M1 standard typewriter, designed by Camillo Olivetti is the first model (hence the name "M1") of Italian typewriter, made by Olivetti. It was presented at the Universal Exhibition in Turin in 1911.

TOUJOURS

TO LIVE & DIE IN L.A.

The Slimane way.

The pale and enigmatic virtuoso of, well, everything, has taken on the task of documenting Los Angeles for the Spring/Summer 2011 issue of Man About Town. At first thought, LA seems like such an unlikely home for the Parisienne visionaire, but then again, there's so much more to that sprawling metropolis than the limelight of Hollywood. LA is the home of some of the most renown American savoirs, musicians and artists but it is also home to some of America's most notorious tales of violence, neglect and urban desolation. The stage of Noir, LA's underbelly is as dirty and dark as pulp made it out to be, and there's something about it that parallels the myth making of New York City in the 70s and the 80s. The gritty, grimy prebiotic soup of culture that exploded in both cities is due in large part to the combination of violence and decay, economic stagnation and generations of disaffected youth. These are the unlikely ingredients that come together to provide the foreground for the best artistic expression - expression that captures the anxieties and the absurdities of a society in transition. 

True to his famed reticence, Slimane's portraiture of California remains dark - wondrously unaffected by its perpetual sunshine. In an interview with The New Yorker he claimed to believe in the morphology of decades, which is such a beautiful and insightful framework for which to view Slimane's body of work. Morphology is the study of form and structure, and in language, for example, morphology concerns itself with how individual components come together to make words, and inevitably meaning. It draws conclusions about the evolution of meaning by analyzing the composition of its structure. Slimane offers us one of the most original visual compositions of LA and its varied cultural landscape. He captures LA in a quiet that is deafening. Is this an LA that defines or defies the American Dream? This is LA through the lens of Hedi Slimane.

ON THE ONE HAND

AWAITING

                    Photo by Heather Merenda

LONDONTOWN

ONLY LIVING ONCE

       Had a good friend remind me tonight

May 2011 issue of Dazed & Confused magazine

NOMAD'S BALLET

My last post featured a video by Jason Last starring Hanne Gabe and was so beautifully filmed and so great and expression of the clothing and so romantic a portrayal of the wilderness that I had to share my favourite moments with you. 

WHY I FELL IN LOVE WITH JASON LAST

The Aleph is a fashion film collaboration between art director Jaime Rubiano & filmmaker Jason Last. Starring Hanne Gaby Odiele, the film showcases Esteban Cortazar's second collection for Éxito.

Barrel of a Gun is a fashion film by Jason Last commissioned by Idoménée Magazine - Fashion Issue 02, out summer 2011. The film, to be released with the issue, features models Micky Ayoub, Christoph Ribbe, & Mikey Wydra in Comme des Garcons SS2011 collection. Music by Nicolas Leau. Narration by Alexander Roscoe.

Mimetic Desire is a fashion film collaboration between creative director Jaime Rubiano & filmmaker Jason Last. The film features Nicolas Ripoll in Dior Homme, styled by Jenke-Ahmed Tailly.