The MoMu Fashion Museum Antwerp is among our favorite museums period  (for more than one reason) yet their latest extraordinary exhibition named ‘Game Changers – Reinventing the 20th century silhouette’ might very well be their greatest creation until date. The exhibition looks at the groundbreaking work of fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga and forms a special passion project of the museum's curator Karen van Godtsenhoven, in a collaboration with Balenciaga expert Miren Arzalluz. The innovations of the Spanish designer in the middle of the 20th century created a radically new silhouette, in which the body got freedom of movement and architectural volumes created a space around the body. Along with the pioneers of haute couture in the 1920s and 1930s and later on also the (Japanese) designers of the 1980s and 1990s, Balenciaga provided an alternative for the prevailing constrictive hourglass silhouette, being an elementary frontrunner in pushing the aesthetic enveloppe and inspiring the world to rethink certain prevailing paradigms. Balenciaga and those who stepped into his footsteps, all Game Changers within their personal context looked at fashion of the 20th century from a new perspective shaking up the status quo. Very different than for instance the way more eclectic 'Dries van Noten Inspirations' exhibition, the scenography created for the new remarkable curation of fashion history is minimal, letting the different themes speak for itself — making the exhibition an extraordinary captivating overview of some of the most iconic avant-garde moments in modern female fashion. When in Antwerp before the 18th of August this exhibition is a must visit! [ Continue reading ]

Maybe it is because Spring is finally showing its face with the first sunny days behind us in The Netherlands, or it is just because of some excellent milestones celebrating the sport we discovered recently; what ever the reason, recently we have become slightly obsessed with surfing (again). It remains without a doubt the most aesthetic sport, both as a discipline and source of inspiration, with a persisting unique lifestyle, continuing to be deeply engrained in global culture — one of the few real subcultures left. After Taschen released the highly remarkable 'Surfing. 1778 — 2015.' last month, now we discovered another remarkable book celebrating the sport in all its richness named 'Fly Black Bird — More Than A Surfboard Edition 1'. Released last year by Portugese surf enthusiast Pedro Falcão, who started Fly Black Bird as a surfboard brand in 2013 and decided to mark his love for the still young sport in Portugal with the brand's first book. With its 228-color pages, the soft cover book was designed perfectly, showing a great balance between imagery and text, which are both in English and Portuguese. It features contributions by a lot of - for us - new names for Portugal, but also familiar creatives as Moderate Distractions, the great John Witzig and illustrator João 'Capitão' Neto.  As it's unlikely we'll ever skillfully step on a surfboard ourselves, 'Fly Black Bird — More Than A Surfboard Edition 1' helps us continue dreaming about this unparalleled sport. [ Continue reading ]

Last month, Chiara Padovan and Thomas Sing introduced their beautiful Models in the Raw project to us, which proved a great discovery. The beautiful on-going photographic series by the Berlin-based duo was born out of their desire for realness, simplicity and authenticity. It chases a glimpse beneath the surface of glossy imagery by portraying those who bring a whole industry to life by lending it their faces: the models. The girls who usually are the passive player in the industry are handed back the choice of their own presentation including the clothes and the place they would like to be photographed in, been only asked to - speaking in Kurt Cobain's word - come as they are. The portraits are shot on film for an increased raw reality effect and accompanied by a personal, tailored interview based on the conversation during the session. We love the approach of Padovan and Sing, but most of all value the body of work they have created so far, showing their great eye to capture these interesting faces in a most sincere way. [ Continue reading ]

There was a time in which we had our eye on Kickstarter way more often then now a days, regularly finding interesting and exciting new projects funded (or sometimes failing to do so; we still can't believe 'Under Black Carpets' didn't succeed at that time) through their own community. Recently we have trouble finding the real gems (maybe there are few these days) and our last writing on such campaign or project was the successfully funded, inspirational conclusive book-project by hero Rob Lutter. Recently we finally discovered a new project which came to life through the crowd-funding platform which we really like. Promising London born and bred fashion brand Bethnals was founded by creative product developer and former Topshop denim buyer Melissa Clement in 2013 and raised its proper funding a year later to create a label focussing on basic, fuss-free denim for men and women at a very sharp price-point, that speaks volumes without the need to be loud. Finding inspiration in the cutting edge music, art and fashion scene of England's capital, there's a clear Scandinavian influence to be observed in their output as well, with the recently released Spring/Summer 2016 collection showing a maturity seldom seen at brands as young as Bethnals. Keep an eye on this promising name from London. [ Continue reading ]

Last month this remarkable book was released by German publisher Taschen. Initiated, researched and written by Jim Heiman, executive editor of TASCHEN America, the hefty book is the most comprehensive visual history of surfing to date, marking a major cultural event as much as a publication. Following three and a half years of meticulous research, it brings together more than 900 images to chart the evolution of surfing as a sport, a lifestyle, and a philosophy. The book is arranged into five chronological chapters, tracing surfing culture from the first recorded European contact in 1778 by Captain James Cook to the global and multi-platform phenomenon of today. Utilizing institutions, collections, and photographic archives from around the world, and with accompanying essays by the world’s top surf journalists, it celebrates the sport on and off the water, as a community of 20 million practitioners and countless more devotees, and as a leading influence on fashion, film, art, and music. Such an incredible, well designed insightful gem! [ Continue reading ]

Last month, the New York City-based Robert Miller Gallery closed the first major solo exhibition of the inspirational American painter Ran Ortner, forming the perfect showcase of his incredible talent, which we encountered online recently by chance. Using oil paint, the painter plays mastefully on the lights, the focal length and the details of the huge waves he represents on canvas, making the result very realistic. The artist's process focuses on his unique relationship with the ocean which is reflected in large-scale paintings of bodies of water. His new work examines the tender and terrifying interplay that occurs as waves crash against one another. An autodidact, Ortner has spent the past two decades creating a singular language with the ocean. It is in moments in the rhythm of moving water where Ortner finds inspiring potential. The intoxication he experiences through the elegant rage of the endless sea is what sparks each intricately layered painting, being some of the most impressive hyperrealistic work we have laid eyes on in a long time. [ Continue reading ]

For the launch of the all new Brevet collection by Rapha they found another great angle (and race for that matter) to portray the new gear in the preconditions they were made for. Three riders travelled to South Africa to explore part of the Tour of Ara – a 700km race across some of the country’s most notorious and challenging terrain. The rather demanding tour, named for the Southern Hemisphere constellation of Ara, is an unsupported six-day amateur stage race, and is a true test of self-sufficiency and endurance – definitely not for the faint hearted. It passes through incredibly isolated and arid terrain, including a 400.000 square kilometer expanse of land known as the Karoo, in the southeastern region of the country and is entirely at ones own risk. As of now the Tour of Ara is still completely independent, and paid for by the entrants; there are no sponsors or patrons, and no prize money. In our eyes it formed the perfect presentation of the beautiful new collection. Hopefully we can see the Karoo by bike ourselves one day.. [ Continue reading ]