08/05/2012

General Ideas of Utilitarity by Bumsuk Choi

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General Ideas of Utilitarity by Bumsuk Choi

While critics may claim that the only solid idea in menswear is updated classics, South Korean designer Bumsuk Choi has proved that the tailored or casual sportswear-universe isn’t just one-dimensional.

During the past seasons, South Korea has climbed the fashion ladder and proved its capability. In addition to designer German/Korean Siki Im, Bumsuk Choi is making a name for himself in the business with his brand General Idea, as he was the first person of Korean descent to present his collection during New York Fashion Week, and the youngest person ever to participate in Soul Fashion Week. Since the inception of General Idea in 2004, he has collaborated with a small team of experts to translate his visions and ideas into seasonal collections.

If sporty elements have become somewhat synonymous with South Korean aesthetics, the coming fall/winter isn’t an exception. Choi has dug deep into archived images of hockey players specifically during the 1968 Winter Olympic games, whose slick mid-century silhouette has been infused with General Idea’s modern take on utilitarian and athletic menswear. The result is a transformation of sportswear uniforms into everyday prêt-a-porter.

The main concept throughout the whole collection is the outdoor sportsman, and how he with carefully chosen garments can find protection from the elements of nature. Trousers with knee pad details, varsity jackets with toggle buttons and parkas with quilted fabric accents were all parts of the “After-Games”-themed collection which transcended a wide colour scale, from neutral olive green tones, to burgundy, beige, orange and dark blue nuances.

Other than creating wearable athletic gear with nifty detailing, Choi has also gone beyond clothing, to design a Formula 1 Race Car for Mild Seven’s Renault F1 Team in 2006, packaging and uniforms for Heineken, and an Absolut Vodka bottle. For Fall ‘09, he additionally made a capsule collection for Puma Black Station custom made to the Asian market

To resume his approach to General Idea, Choi claims, “There are a lot of different people in the world, depending on religion, culture, nation, ideas, etc. Therefore, a missing button on one person’s shirt can be my general idea since it is my own point of view. That’s why I named my own label ‘General Idea’ to show my unique style.”

Petsy von Köhler – Photo courtesy of General Idea

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07/05/2012

Fischli & Weiss – the book-works

Fischli & Weiss – the book-works

Speaking from a strictly designer point of view, contemporary art can be quite intimidating. Having a background in applied arts, thus strictly related to objects of daily use, confront with the fine art world can make you feel quite unprepared or inferior. With some contemporary artists though, the perspective changes radically. This is the case with the work done by Swiss duo Peter Fischli and David Weiss.


The two artist have dedicated their career to developing projects that relate to the everyday, simple things and happenings, putting them in an artistic context, making it less intimidating. 
During their thirty year long career, which started with a casual encounter in the famous Kontiki Bar in Zurich, the duo has worked with a many different media such as photography, film, sculptures, media installations and art books. 
Starting with the reproduction of their first work named Wurstserie, a series of photos depicting daily situations made with ham, salami and pickles, printed as a HOW TO magazine, the duo has continued working with print media producing some of the most beautiful artists’ books ever.


For example the book “Airports” published with Edition Patrick Frey, depicts an extensive number of airports thus confronting us with the emptiness of travelling, “when foreign places remain a mere promise, and wanderlust turns to indifference as distance’s reality is just a flashy exotic name, just another destination.” Also published with Edition Patrick Frey are the books “Bilder, Ansichten” exploring conventionally beautiful places and “Photographs”, a concise overview of their photographic work. 
These three books are exceptionally beautiful not only for the grandeur of their content but also for the masterly executed printing, thus making them real treasures. As it would be unfair not to name the other books produced by the prolific couple, here are a few others: Gärten published in 1998, Sichtbare Welt published by Walter König in 2000 and Findet Mich das Glück also published by Walter König in 2003. 
Hopefully these wonderful books will be loved and preserved in the future, as their author David Weiss passed away on the 27th of April 2012. He will be missed.

Rujana Rebernjak – Images courtesy of Edition Patrick Frey

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07/05/2012

Yiqing Yin – A Young Couturier

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Yiqing Yin – A Young Couturier

“Couture is about service, the salon, the vendeuse, the box, the way the clothes are wrapped and presented to the client.” These are Karl Lagerfelds words about the package of haute couture; made-to-measure garments in the most exquisite fabrics with the finest embroideries, details and workmanship. It’s the fine art of fashion and Paris is the guardian of it. On its own dates and aside from the hysteria during the ready-to-wear fashion weeks, the couture week presents the few designers and fashion houses that execute the criteria’s of The Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. One of the selected designers is Chinese born, French based Yiqing Yin, who debuted her eponymous brand at the Hyères 2010 and was invited to present her first collection during the FW11/12 Haute Couture shows. SS12 followed and the designer presented her second collection of fluid materials, sweeping dresses and a treasured handwork that makes her measure up to be one of the brands helping to preserve Paris’ position as the World Capital of Fashion.


Yiqing Yin’s collection consists of simple colours, aerial garments and mixes what at a first glance may look like effortless dresses with pieces that make you want to go closer to study the meticulous cuts, embroideries and fine points that make the collection a whole. Haute couture often gets attention as the medium where fashion designers can realise themselves as artists. Even though it’s lovely to talk about haute couture as a form for the highest art of fashion, the two words that make the name are legally protected and a strictly controlled label only to be used by the fashion houses who have been granted ‘access’ by the French Ministry of Industry. Just like fine art, couture is a pricey story, and for the designer, a time consuming one. The designers of fashion houses often justify the costs by the promotional attention it brings to the brand. One would like to think that it’s all about the art, but at the end of the day, ‘the business of a business is business’; one of the reasons why the ready-to-wear industry today is the leading one. Though, young designers like Yiqing Yin, who still is all about the experiments and fully focused on the couture, reminds you that it’s the artistic minds and hours of skilled craftsmanship that are the foundation of haute couture. Because of its exploratory nature, it’s directional for fashion and the ‘heavy’ symbolic value of the art is often conveyed through the garments themselves as well as through the lavish shows.

Yiqing Yin is still young in the haute couture industry, but awarded with the Grand Prize of Creation by the City of Paris, and she’s one of the 8 young designers selected by French Vogue to receive the ANDAM “Premières Collections” prize in 2011, she already has the habit of exhibiting her art, and it’s yet to be seen if she will become one of the young couturiers to make a long-term name on the Chambre Syndicale’s desirable list of designers.

Lisa Olsson Hjerpe – Image courtesy of Shoji Fujii & Yiqing Yin

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06/05/2012

Sunday Breakfast by Love For Breakfast

Sunday Breakfast by Love For Breakfast

A classic flavor takes you back in time. Decorated pottery meets a choice of genuine crisp bread and jam enlivened by the freshness of a fruit. The blueberry color dyes the new day’s a different tone.

Alessia Bossi from Love For Breakfast

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04/05/2012

Sean Frank – McQueen prêt-à-porter AW12

Sean Frank – McQueen prêt-à-porter AW12

2DM Blogazine is honored to present the new behind the scenes catwalk film by Sean Frank for Alexander McQueen A/W 2012 collection. For the third time the great Londoner filmmaker has been asked to show the intricacy, vibes and magic of the catwalk preparation of one of the most interesting brands worldwide.

More than 5 hours of shooting is perfectly edited in a 3-and-half minutes of video, which brings us directly into the Sarah Burton’s gorgeous creations. 34 looks that display the idea of a complex and ethereal woman, wearing weird silver visors and près-du-corps dresses, characterized by narrow waists and slim silhouettes. Volume and textures enhanced through the use of fretworked organza, white and fuchsia plum and goat fur that adorns the fabulous garments from shoulders to hems, up to the boots as a glamorous and unique trait d’union.


John Gosling’s crescendo music accompanies the narration giving us the right feeling of the hectic and, at the same time, charming atmosphere, letting us live an incredible experience.

See here the previous masterpieces from Sean Frank for Alexander McQueen: the Autumn Winter 2011 and Autumn Winter 12 haute couture videos.

Once again compliments to Sean Frank. Another beautiful piece!

From the Bureau – Images and video Alexander McQueen with special thanks to Sean Frank 

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04/05/2012

An Evening With David Sedaris

An Evening With David Sedaris

Those who have read his work know that David Sedaris was many things before he became a best-selling author: a college dropout, a lousy teacher, a struggling house cleaner, a crack addict, conceptual artist, personal assistant, closet homosexual and, most famously, an elf at Macy’s. Readers know this because, like many writers―Bukowski, Vonnegut, and Brautigan jump to mind―his personal failures and professional shortcomings are the subject and scrutiny of nearly all of his writing. His shortcomings, it turns out, are key to his success.

Mr. Sedaris got his start as a writer in Chicago, where Ira Glass spotted him reading from his diary at a nightclub and invited him to do something on his then radio show, The Wild Room. He came to life in the pubic eye as a frequent contributor to This American Life and NPR. He is among the small rank of authors who have managed to transcend the sturdy boundaries of those shows. His 1992 story “The SantaLand Diaries” made him a minor celebrity and painted a picture of himself that’s become emblematic of his work: That of the outsider, the dumb-ass, the frustrated loser. The idiot who has no talent and looks to the other side of the pendulum with a mix of frustration, jealousy, and bitter reserve.

His real talent is that he does this with humor, humbleness, and with a strong sense of humility. Which is a surprise once you realize that all of his books since 1994’s Barrel Fever have hit #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. (His sister Amy once said that he seriously believes that each book he releases will be his last.) But it’s not surprising to anyone who’s read his work: He’s a fantastic, morally-driven storyteller who’s spent the better part of his career mining embarrassing situations for comedic gold. Family reunions, neighbor’s bathrooms, nudist colonies, his mother with cancer―no scenario is too taboo or off-topic, a characteristic that has sometimes landed him in hot water even within his own family. He’s also self-aware. He once said, after being asked what type of animal he’d likely be, that he’d “probably be a vulture because I pick the flesh off of other people’s experiences. It’s not very flattering, but I have to be honest with myself. I think probably any writer would be a vulture. I don’t think I’m unique in that regard. I think all writers exploit everyone and everything. That’s why you don’t want writers as friends.”

He’s often been asked if his success poses a threat to his work. Everyone wants to hear about a failed drug addict’s problems, but what about a wealthy writer’s? In other words; what does the loser write about if he’s no longer the loser? That doesn’t appear to be a problem for Sedaris, whose most recent book, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, deals with animals committing all kinds of social faux pas. And the majority of his non-fiction continues to examine his life in a similar context: living in France with his boyfriend Hugh, giving up smoking, and pissing off his family by exploiting them for his career. So, sure, he’s found success, but he’s still as wildly insecure and hopeless as the rest of us. Best of all, he’s still not happy. Problems come in all shapes and sizes, but it’s often how we deal with them that matters most. Not all of us have the sense to find humor in the drudgery of reality. For that we have David Sedaris, and we are thankful.

An Evening With David Sedaris at at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), May 7th, May 8th.

Lane Koivu – image courtesy of CAMERA PRESS/Karen Robinson

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03/05/2012

MIA -The Ambiguous Nature of Images

MIA -The Ambiguous Nature of Images

Today photography, with its specific and autonomous language and thanks to its constant technical and stylistic developments, is widely recognized as a legitimate art form. Photography dialogues with its artistic way of expressions, and with the wonders about its own nature and future. Collectors, art lovers and professionals are more and more interested in this medium, which seems to have broken the boundaries of fine art, gaining its own status. The international events devoted to the richness of historical and contemporary photographic creations are increasing day by day.

With 268 exhibitors among galleries, independent photographers, publishers and photo printers coming from 16 countries, MIA, Milan Image Art Fair – the most important fair dedicated to photography in Italy – comes back to Milan for its second edition, which promises to be even more successful than the first one.



With an unusual and unique educational approach, the fair presents a full programme of exhibitions, workshops and talks, which aim at furthering the knowledge of the different trends that have characterized the language of photography in the last decades. From the researches on topics connected with sociological and philosophical aspects – mainly focused on investigating the individual and collective identity -, to the visionary approaches that highlight the ambiguous nature of reproduced images, MIA covers the wide spectrum of interpretations from the world that photographers have been creating during the years. A special pavilion, dedicated to fashion photography, displays the works by Albert Watson, Michel Comte, Herb Ritts, Malick Sidibè, Uli Weber, Rodney Smith along with the fashion/cultural phenomenon The Sartorialist (just to mention a few).

The icing on the cake, a myriad of collateral events and special projects as “Elliott Erwitt, Fifty kids” or “Hubertus Hamm and BMW” – a collection of images depicting children shot by Elliott Erwitt, and a solo show by the German photographer Hubertus Hamm, director of the main campaigns of the famous car brand -, accompany the fair, which opens today at Superstudio Più (in Tortona district). MIA is taking stock of the current situation of photography in contemporary art market providing an international overview and trying to transform Milan in a centre of photography. We just hope that the fair will be able to maintain the promises and pay the high expectations back, since the city, after the euphoria of the Salone, seems to be fallen back into a deep cultural sleep and constantly need waves of new and strong incentives.

Milan Image Art Fair, MIA, will run until May 6, 2012

Monica Lombardi

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03/05/2012

Hyères 2012: Finnish Fashion Spotlight

Hyères 2012: Finnish Fashion Spotlight

Once per year the population in the city Hyères, situated at the Côte d’Azur on the French Riviera, becomes more creative, fashionable and artistic than ever. During four days, in an ambience very different from the normal cliché of glamorous fashion gatherings, the city’s regular number of circa 55 000 habitants adds up with industry people; renowned designers, artists, photographers, gallery owners, buyers, agents and to not forget, the leading lights of the Festival International de Mode et de Photographie; the yet undiscovered designers competing to receive the prestigious Hyères Award.

2012’s festival, which finished a couple of days ago, was the 27th edition and like every year a diverse mix of ten designer profiles with as diverse nationalities were presented to the audience at Villa Noaille. Creative cuts, colours, mindfulness and craftsmanship to be judged by a jury this time headed by no one less than Yohji Yamamoto. As true privies of fashion you most likely got that this is a rare opportunity for the lucky few chosen talents to get exposed to and meet industry people who all have a finger in the game of their future (industry darlings like Viktor & Rolf, Gaspard Yurkievich, Matthew Cunnington, Yiqin Yin and Alexandra Verschueren all started off at Hyères), and if you followed the fashion media over the last few days, were one of the lucky to spend a few days in Hyères or if you were part of the audience at Palais de Tokyo in Paris, you also know who the fortunate awardees are.

Having mentioned Scandinavian fashion and several of its promising talents over the past months, it was with excitement but with no choc the Blogazine received the news that the Finnish menswear trio Siiri Raasakka, Tiia Siren and Elina Laitinen were the winners of Hyères 2012 “Grand Prix du Jury L’Oréal Professionnel”. The collection presented by these three young designers, who yet haven’t even graduated from their BA’s at Aalto University in Helsinki, was out of the ordinary and described by the words “urban nomads living in a utopian future society”. With incredible craftsmanship in the work of the fabrics and psychedelic prints, neon colours, fringes, glow sticks and the key accessory; Swarovski crystals, the collection takes an unsullied angle to the often rather gloomy, strict and minimalistic Scandinavian menswear scene. Truth told, even though Scandinavian fashion received an increasing amount of attention, Finland as a fashion country never really been in the loop of that attention. On the artistic side the talk would always go towards architecture and design, as Helsinki for example were named World Design Capital 2012, and the country just never fully accomplished to please the selective industry crowd. With a Hyères Award in the backpack and a prominent design trio with the opportunity to showcase their collection during SS13 Paris Fashion Week, we await to see if Finland can widen the fashion landscape and become a solid addition to the Scandinavian fashion family.

Besides the Finnish trio, Belgium women’s wear designer Lucas Sponchiado won the prize voted by the audience of the two venues Palais de Tokyo and Villa Noailles while Ragne Kikas, Estonian knit wear designer, grabbed the official Prix du Public de la Ville D’Hyères (Fashion Public Award of the City of Hyères) as well as the Première Vision Award. Hyères 2012 also presented a new award, Prix Chloé, granted by the fashion house and was received by Central Saint Martin graduate Steven Taï.

Lisa Olsson Hjerpe – Images from www.filepmotwary.com

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02/05/2012

The First Note On The Horn – Voice Of Misty Urban Rain

The First Note On The Horn – The Misty Urban Rain

Welcome to the second part of The First Note On The Horn series from the sizzling music scene of Tokyo. Ai Mitsuda takes us to the backstage with Kuni, the talented trumpetist of Sly Mongoose. Read the first part of the story Tokyo Burning here.

Throwing a glance out the window, a misty rain was falling. We met Kuni again this time in Daikanyama, center of Tokyo, where he has spent most of his life since his childhood. At close range, he played a bit of blues for us. Now, after a long thunderstorm with no end in sight, we feel like to surrender to a misty rain, seeping into the cell, flowing into peripheral vessels through out the body. Our body trembles to the compound time of the misty urban rain that cocoons us in floaty bliss.

Even if you have a beautiful lady horn in front of you, you cannot make a decent sound over night. Being a trumpet player is like being an athlete; the sound cannot be produced correctly until the embouchure (the use of facial muscles and the shaping of the lips to the mouthpiece of the woodwind and brass instruments) is well established. Take a big breath, make your lips buzz, grow images of tone in your brain… be on the road until you discover your own voice.

In 1982, when Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers came to Tokyo, the 12 years-old boy was literally overwhelmed by the play of Terence Blanchard, which gave him enough courage to meet the celebrated trumpeter at the backstage. “Terence was just amazing… Warm, soulful, with fire yet soft, full of intelligence.”

In the following years, he frequented the backstage when the group came to Tokyo. Once he brought his father’s horn, Mt. Vernon Bach, Terence played that very horn on the stage that night. The excitement made the little boy even bring around his master to his favorite jazz café swing in Shibuya, where they had a large archive of old jazz albums and videos. “I was eager to show Terence the ’61 live of Art Blakey with Lee Morgan, ” Kuni explained. Naturally, the voice of Terence Blanchard seeped into the brain tissue of Kuni. By coincidence or not, later it led to a beautiful surprise to be part of his team. (…to be continued.)

Ai Mitsuda

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02/05/2012

The Editorial: Work Well!

The Editorial: Work Well!

This week, much of the western world is observing some version of a worker’s day. While not a usually a cause for festivity, it usually means a much-needed day off to sleep late and give thanks to the world’s workers. And, what a sorry state those poor workers are in today. Wages are in the gutter and not getting any better. In the name of cost cutting, employers and governments are cutting jobs and slashing the pay and benefits of those who get to stick around. All while executives take home salaries thousands of times greater than their struggling dependents. From FIAT’s plans to gut its workforce and shuffle its factory infrastructure as it consolidates itself with its recently bankrupt lovechild, Chrysler, to evil, evil, evil Wal-Mart’s active quashing of unions (and any trace of worker rights along with them).

Anyone with half a mind for business understands the arguments profit-seeking corporations must make to justify their actions. They are legally accountable to their shareholders, afterall. (A hell of a vicious cycle!) But it takes neither a bleeding heart Keynesian activists nor Hans Rosling infographics to make it clear that workers the world over are being progressively made worse off by a system in which the health of institutions is prioritized over the health of the individuals they ostensibly exist to serve. And it’s a point driven home by the American Supreme Court’s terrifying decision to allow corporations to contribute unlimited amounts of money to political campaigns, as well as Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s infamous remark about corporations being people. They’re really not, Mitt. But regular Joes – from young college graduates to life-long factory workers – are getting smacked repeatedly in the face by the short end of a very hard stick.

But, I’ll throw a ray of hope out today in lieu of a real tirade: The slash and burn impetus that has sent countless jobs from union-backed, well-monitored factories in the west to contracted, hellish, anything-goes sweatshops in the east and south seems finally to be reaching a limit. A decade after backlashes against the labor practices of big brands like Nike and The Gap brought a new form of consciousness to consumers, Apple – the sterling darling of our generation – is having to answer some similarly serious questions about its own.

And we’re reacting: small-scale factories for all sorts of goods are springing up in LA, Brooklyn, Milan, Berlin… And while the jobs they create may not bring six-figure salaries, they certainly are going a long way towards creating the impression that we’ve at last had enough. Organizations like SFMade, which is seeing San Francisco become a major hub of small-scale production are setting the tone for all sorts of others that continue to crop up in major cities. The pendulum is swinging back in the right direction. Let’s keep pushing.

Tag Christof

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