Live from Butō fashion

Yesterday my friends from Ergo Sum went live for the first time at the Culture Center of Spain in Tegucigalpa (CCET) so of course I wouldn't miss the chance to shamelessly plug myself in. And you know what? Gimmeabreak. Between freelancing [read: unemployment] and general frustration my choices are either intruding other people's projects or just calling it quits, getting huge tattoos and embarking on the performative life of a self-destructive punk. And yes I know that went well for Rico Genest but I don't think Formichetti is looking for a second zombie boy to inspire Lady Gaga or another Thierry Mugler collection or whatever gimmick he's pulling now. So butting in it is. Which I did wearing this

I cut a pair of green pants because I've been wanting to wear those leather Zara moccasins with shorts for a while. I also cut a white t-shirt into a tank top and put a thrift plaid shirt on top. I've done done lots of cutting lately I think I'm going through this cray cray Britney phase. Anyways live radio is tons of fun but it's also about listening attentively as portrayed in the next graph

So about freelancing. The pros are I get to mock my friends when I'm staying over and it's late and they have to work the next day, I just stretch and yawn and go "well, I'm too pretty to work" and then I tell them their thighs are touching. My friends hate me. The cons are I depend on checks that might be signed when the boss comes back from whatever island she's over-tanning and ordering sugary drinks at. So while I keep on being poor I might as well catch up with mags and stuff. I was just surfing through some eds and found the first butō-based editorial I've ever seen, starring Sui He and Aline Weber for V magazine issue #71 Summer 2011 photographed by Glen Luchford with styling by Beat Bolliger.

It's supposed to be inspired by Kazuo Ohno who along with Tatsumi Hijikata, is the legendary Japanese dance master that initiated the butō movement. It started after World War II as a form of protest against authority and also as a reaction to the contemporary dance scene in Japan which was either westernized or too classical (called "Noh"). Butō is grotesque, playful and whimsical, absurd, hyper-controlled. The dancers wear white make up in their hands and face, messy hair, props, ragged loose clothing. Kazuo died last year at the age of 103, among his many pieces there's this beauty called "The Written Face"

The ed seems to be inspired by his slightly more dark and abstract dances like "The Dead Sea" or "Mother". It features outstanding pieces from Commes des Garçons, pants by Balenciaga and YSL and a signature Haider Ackermann silk belt, among others.

The complete editorial can be seen here. I personally think Sui He is perfect cast for this and also I'm rooting for her now. She's featured in Vogue China's next September multi-girl cover by Inez & Vinoodh, in the main page between Du Juan and Fei Fei.

The September Issues

So! September is coming. Which is to say, fashion christmas is coming. Or fashion hanuka or whatever your religion's holiday is. First, the September issues of every magazine are bigger, better and maybe more expensive. For instance Vogue Italy did a 3-D cover

Starring Miranda Kerr, shot by Steven Meisel. I find 3-D in magazines a bit unnecessary but the 3-D glasses come with the magazine, which makes it more practical. Also, September is Vogue Russia's last issue under the lead of former editor-in-chief Aliona Doletskaya, who resigned after 12 years of working for the magazine. Its cover stars Natalia Vodianova

Shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. And then there's this amazing editorial inside. I don't like the way Natalia looks.. it's like she's pulling the face she did for Medussa in Clash of the Titans. Anyway the one magazine I can actually buy is Vogue US, and to be honest I'm not too excited about it.. Halle Boring Berry is in the cover,

Shot by Mario Testino. Inside you'll find this editorial in which Lara Stone actually looks pretty, and then this other one with Karlie Kloss walking in NY, and this one with a bunch of models being eclectic and multicultural.

 Other than Vogue, W Magazine is making a documentary about its September issue, like Vogue did in 2007 *coughcopycatscough* and then LOVE Magazine #4 has the editorial prize with a shoot by Angelo Pennetta, something Terry-Richardson-esque without being immature and sexist and tacky. To be honest I actually don't like discussing magazines here but being September and all I said what the heck. Well, I would feel ridiculous explaining the second reason why September is THE month in fashion, and besides I have so much expectations it deserves a post on its own.

Workshop

The Cultural Centre of Spain in Tegucigalpa had a Mexican artist giving us a workshop, in which he instructed us to do.. well, whatever we wanted. And I wanted Christopher Kane fall 2010.

I'm very surprised that this collection has barely made it to magazines. I just spent half an hour going through my files and google reader archives looking for that one black and white editorial where model Jacquelyn Jablonski is wearing one dress but I could only find this other appearance in Harper's Bazaar UK August 2010:

 Anyway I'm amazed by how well knitted flowers look on leather (or pvc) dresses. And to me it sort of stands out because almost everything in the fall 2010 collections was below-the-knee length with a certain 50's restraint. And even so it's unmistakeably fall.

EDIT:

Of course I was never going to find that editorial with Jacquelyn Jablonski wearing Christopher Kane fall 2010, because it was Constance for i-D Summer 2010. One of them needs to change her name to suit my lame memory ASAP.

Rest of the editorial here.

Speaking of which...

The students at the commercial photography class have a blog, and they were kind enough to mention me after the chat about fashion photography I gave.

 So more photography. After my previous thoughtful, insightful, deeply emotional post about photographer Paolo Roversi's superpowers, I'll blow out some steam by indulging yet again in ridiculous mockable lame fashion disasters. Photoshop disasters. Beggining with

 Lindsay Lohan by Ellen Von Unwerth for GQ Germany August 2010. Still don't know what the disaster is? Try finding her navel then. It's not in the cover, and it's way too high in the editorial. If you think this is big, in the Louis Vuitton Fall 2010 Campaign shot below

by Steven Meisel there's a mistake a little bit harder to spot, maybe because its awesomeness distracts you from the small details. Small logical details. Natalia Vodianova (middle) looks both fierce and delicate, touching her left breast with her Louis Vuitton gloves. Unlike her reflection, which seems to challenge time-space physics. Anyway I'll just leave these two for now, too much indulgence won't do me any good, look at what happened to BryanBoy. Ahem. I did not say that.

Chat about Fashion Photography

So. Back. With updates of the past as usual. As in, giving a chat about fashion photography to the students of the commercial photography class in the Central American Technologic University. The class is taught by Heleci Ramirez, of whom I'll just say is one of the very few Honduran photographers I respect and admire. Anyway contributor P was kind enough to scan this amazing book about the history of photography in fashion, which I used in the first part of the talk.

examples of Edward Steichen's work for Vogue (1926 and 1925)

I was about to use my whip since P and A hadn't done nothing for this blog yet, until A made these amazing graphics to change the layout. So they both escape the whipping. For now. About the chat, it went well I think. Basically I just filled my flash drive with a few hundred of the archives I have and made up some sort of order in the huge crazy world that fashion photography is. World in which Paolo Roversi has a special place for me.

His style is just the perfect balance between vintage romanticism and simple modern elegance. Plus achieving this sober loveliness in the way he takes the photos (not during the editing) makes it a much more organic process. Evidence B. Natalia Vodianova in the Lanvin editorial for i-D magazine.

I did not say enough about Paolo in the chat. I did, however, indulge in exposing some photoshop disasters, some  fashion gossip, a lot of Terry Richardson hate and a lot more of Hussein Chalayan love. It was nice, to talk about something I feel so passionate about for an hour. So nice. Anyway I have to translate a 12 pages confidential bank report and come up with an idea for a documentary in this script workshop I'm taking sponsored by the US Embassy so.. later!

Themed: Bones

To start, I would like to continue this blog's tradition of "I stalk a certain graphic artist" and introduce Swedish fashion & typography illustrator Hanna Viktorsson, who is the best eye drawer I've seen so far

That's not her btw, and if you click on the link you'll find more models including Freja Beha. I'll post a picture of Hanna as soon as she accepts my friend request in Facebook. Continuing with my creepiness/stalkerish, Lisa Black from New Zealand has found the answer to "Taxidermy + Steampunk", and the result is creepier but way cooler than my Facebook dilemmas

Turtle, Monkey Skull and Fawn via her portfolio

Now with slightly more fashion-related stuff, Hungarian artist Laszlo LL Papp's installation at the Roberto Cavalli boutique in Milan, in which his wooden sculptures interact with Roberto Cavalli's S/S 2010 Collection

Images via Dazed digital

And to end, Abbey Lee Kershaw's editorial in Vogue Korea April 2010, "Lovely Bones"

Complete editorial HERE.