Mt Fuji, as seen from Mt Takao – maybe a challenge for next year?
Super-sharp graphic pink boxing club.
Cicadas are flippin’ loud this time of year. Thankfully Samuel’s silver one doesn’t cause a racket.
Declarations of love in Kamakura.
In the words of the iconic Granny Weatherwax, “I aten’t dead”!
Samuel and I have been working really hard on a number of big projects recently, and unfortunately for me, writing for the main site had to fall by wayside for a little while (there’s only two of us!), but I’m really hoping to start again next month – I’ve got lots to say…
In the spirit of getting back into the swing of things… One of my favourite fashion blogs is Advanced Style: Ari Seth Cohen “roams the streets of New York looking for the most stylish and creative older folks” – the results are great shots of some of the best dressed people I’ve even seen.
(I’ve been getting into retro 1950s and 60s styles lately, so I just love this wonderful woman. Those glasses – yes please!)
I’d really love to try something similar here in Tokyo – this city has an incredible wealth of super-stylish older people that get totally overlooked by the teenage “kawaii” crowd – even just here in Koenji we regularly see a woman with fantastic rainbow hair who must be in her 60s.
As my wrinkles are increasing and grey hairs are popping up (you can tell I’m overworked, right?), looking at these ladies and gents has really inspired me to further develop my own style and one day developed the seemingly unattainable - gravitas.
As of tomorrow (the 18th), friend of the site and artist extraordinaire Bunny Bissoux will be holding her very first exhibition in Tokyo. It runs until the 31st but if you are around tomorrow evening and fancy coming to the opening party and live performance you should definitely make your way over to KATA gallery in Ebisu. The concept is an outsider’s perspective of life in Tokyo, which is something sure to resonate not only with those of us who don’t work in suits, but also frankly any foreigner who has spent any time in Tokyo.
We will be giving it a full report for those who can’t make it, but if you are in Tokyo, take it from me – you don’t want to miss out.
Full details here.
This weekend was all about the opening of the Blaze mixed underground exhibition in Asagaya that happened to coincide with the Asagaya Matsuri (very downtown, and very down to earth). You can expect a full report on the main site very soon, and trust me there was some amazing underground art, silver jewelry and carving going on.
Anyway, here I am hanging out with two people who I think represent the next wave of Japanese silver design – LegioMade (Hiroki Oguma) on the right and the smiling face of Dual Flow (Takahiro) in the centre. For the record the picture was taken by the designer of Glam Scale (Seiya Hiyama) – so it was a damn talented room all round as far as I am concerned.
Full report coming soon…
I just noticed this picture of me turn up on Change Fashion from Tokyo Fashion Week way back in March. This was taken right before Yuima Nakazato’s catwalk show at the Mercedes-Benz Connection and we had just dashed from another appointment on the other side of town – hence why I am looking a little disheveled. Still, I like it, and I think it is a fairly good representation of where my style was at back then. Right now I am having a bit more fun with whites and light grays and trying to experiment with some traditional Japanese touches such as simple kanzashi and the netsuke and sagemono set-up that has now replaced my modern wallet.
The skirt is current season Rick Owens and hopefully keeps the older items from my wardrobe (which I have no interest in replacing) feeling a bit fresh.
The centerpiece of Rick Owens’s S/S 2013 (which I reviewed here) was this poem by Lanston Hughes read by Rick Owens’ wife Michele Lamy to the sound of men in clogs clopped through the hall which she herself is known for wearing. This kind of brutal honesty has always been at the heart of the Rick Owens experience, but he seems to be increasingly fond of these very public displays of affection of late.
Having known robins on the window sill
And loves over which to grieve,
What can you dream of now
In which you still believe?
-
Having known snow in winter
And the burst of blooms in spring,
What can you seek now
To make your heart still sing?
-
If there should be nothing new,
Might not the self-same wonders do?
And if there should be nothing old,
Might not new wonders still unfold?
-
Should nothing new or old appeal,
Still friends will ask,
“How do you feel?”
We have hundreds (actually, more like thousands) of photos that have never made it on the main site for one reason or another, usually because they don’t fit in or we just haven’t had the chance to talk about that particular show/subject/designer yet. With that in mind, I’ll try to make more of an effort in the future to blow the dust off these old shots…
(the most amazing collection of vintage sunglasses)
(Prada display at Fashion’s Night Out in Tokyo – our rather controversial opinions will stay private)
(Comme des Garcons, Aoyama)
I spotted Ribbonesia (by the amazingly talented ‘Baku’ Maeda) at a display of new jewellery design in Isetan and immediately fell in love with this charming land of animals and flowers created just from ribbon. Somehow managing to be both sturdy and fragile, I’d love to get lost in Ribbonesia!
I knew I should have bought the fox when I saw it!
(Kimura Kaela and Ribbonesia)
I’m already a huge fan of Ambush’s Screw It collar and cuffs collection, so I was really taken with the new collaboration with Claire Barrow, available at Candy. Pink and black for me, please!
