Films

Music is the answer: Simone Bellotti’s ‘lyrical restraint’ at Jil Sander



Simone Bellotti Jil Sander film
Fashion and music are intertwined for me. I’ve always thought that the best fashion shows also have the best music. This first look at Simone Bellotti’s new vision of Jil Sander leans heavily on music, so that’s already a potential win. And I’m loving the idea of ‘lyrical restraint’, as Vogue Business describes his approach.

Ahead of his first Jil Sander show in September, Bellotti has released Wanderlust, an ethereal teaser film of atmospheric town-to-country vignettes located in Hamburg and set to Bochum Welt’s melodic electronic soundtrack. It’s romantic, austere and elegant all at once. (more…)



Random Recs: Sotheby’s, Jonathan Anderson, The Bitter End



UK AIDS Memorial Quilt

A few snippets of digital ephemera and IRL recommendations I’ve enjoyed lately…

1/ UK AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT. Next Thursday (12th June) sees the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt go on display in the Tate Modern Turbine Hall, a combination of 42 quilts and 23 individual panels dedicated to approximately 384 individuals affected by HIV and AIDS in the UK. Alongside, there’s an hourly free screening of “There is a Light That Never Goes Out”, a recently rediscovered 50-minute documentary about the 1994 display of the quilt in Hyde Park. The quilt is on display at the Tate from 12-16 June; the film will be screened from 12-15 June. No booking required. Read more here. (more…)



Random Recs: HommeGirls store, COS fragrance



HommeGirls New York Chinatown store

A few snippets of digital ephemera and recommendations I’ve enjoyed lately…

1/ THAKOON PANICHGUL opens the first HommeGirls store in New York’s Chinatown next week (above). Those dry cleaning racks and infinity mirrors are sure to see plenty of footfall. (And yes, you can buy magazines there.) Read more in Vogue.

2/ COS has launched its first ever fragrance line. Consisting of four ‘unisex’ eau de parfums (£75 for 100ml, £35 for 15ml, or £19 for a discovery set*) ranging from woody, to spicy, to floral, and four candles (£45), the woody Mythe fragrance (green cardamom, ginger and vetiver notes) sounds most appealing. Buy it here*. (more…)



The culture of fashion: Alaïa for foodies and bibliophiles



Alaia Violet Cakes Bond Street London

Just after New Year I treated myself to a banana bread and coffee date at the new Violet Cakes cafe in the New Bond Street Alaïa store. Food and fashion have been forging an alliance for some time and I was reminded that Azzedine Alaïa was a natural instigator of this idea as far back as the 1980s.

Unlike other luxury fashion houses with their ultra brand-coded cakes and confectioneries (hello Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami cakes) this is a somewhat more wholesome approach. The food is consumed round an aluminium communal table nodding to the original spirit of Azzedine Alaïa himself, famous for inviting models, seamstresses, editors and even passing VIP clients to join the home-made feast at the studio table. (more…)