Our good friend Jess Henderson (pseud.) just published her first book Offline Matters, the less digital guide to creative work, and we’re beyond proud. Not because we designed it, but because this document feels like the so much needed wake-up-call, both confronting and insightful, inspiring and resonating. [ Continue reading ]

As my focus is shifting towards running (while training for my first ultra marathon), my colleague Thomas showed me the Distance shops in Paris and Lyon and got totally hooked by what they do, the brands they cary and the projects they initiate. One of these projects is The Distance Book Series by photographer and artistic director Thibaut Grevet with the aim to produce a singular vision of some of the world’s most emblematic places related to running and its culture. The first volume of this collection is devoted to the mythical village of Iten in Kenya. [ Continue reading ]

Lisbon-based publisher Pierre von Kleist is one of the creative platforms that we have had a love affair with from the moment when we first discovered their incredible publications. They say love fades over time, but Pierre von Kleist has consistently published top notch projects during the few years that we've been following them, making it safe to say that we feel no different than years ago. Their latest publication, that has been released last week, is named 'Concrete Octopus' and takes off where renown Japanese photographer Osamu Kanemura´s 2002 acclaimed 'Spider's Strategy' left. For the first time, Pierre von Kleist teamed up with Tokyo-based publisher Osiris to create the beautiful new publication with new moody black and white work done between 2011 and 2013. As Kanemura's familiar dark film noir alike signature runs through every page of the book, it fits perfectly that  film critic Chris Fujiwara was given the chance to write the accompanying text included in the book.

It would be strange and misleading, though obviously not wholly inaccurate, to call these photographs “images of the Japan of the present time.” Though they might perhaps have much to say to the social historian, their documentary function is circumscribed by the interest in exploring a visual universe too disunited and incomplete to be recognizable as a cultural or historical form. In these images, the world presents itself with great purity and without provocation or seduction, as though poised in the interval before the repetition of an already forgotten catastrophe. We can't stop gazing at these new mysterious set of images, which underlines both the immaculate eye of Kanemura and the fact that next to being a publisher, Pierre von Kleist has transformed into a label of utmost quality, with everything they put out being deeply inspiring.  [ Continue reading ]

The original source for a minimalistic lifestyle, Kinfolk, recently announced their latest family member in their inspirational series of books; 'The Kinfolk Entrepreneur, Making Business Personal'. Kinfolk visited over 40 entrepreneurs who offer tips, advice and inspiration for anyone hoping to forge their own professional path, all bound together in a beautiful hardcover 368 pages heavy book. Featured are names like Akira Minagawa, Armando Cabral, Ben Gorham, Britt Moran & Emiliano Salci, Damir Doma, Francesca Bonato, Joseph Dirand, Kevin Ma, Maayan Zilberman, Mette & Rolf Hay, Nina Yashar, Pum Lefebure, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Woo Youngmi & Katie Chung and many more. [ Continue reading ]

Last Saturday, Kennedy Magazine hosted the release of a self-published Travel Diary by Arturo Bamboo. Arthur and Bamboo, living in Berlin and originally from the Netherlands, traveled the Mediterranean capturing intimate snapshots, portraits, legendary places and landscapes shot around various places. [ Continue reading ]

My friend and inspirator on ultra distance cycling; Yorit Kluitman, is about to finish a long time project, his 'Bicycle Landscape: cycling across all 388 Dutch municipalities'. Started back in 2011 and at this moment filling the last gaps, Yorit cycled through all 388 Dutch municipalities, photographing the landscape between cities and villages, exclusive of people and buildings: a cross section of the organized Netherlands.

“I gave myself six years to cycle across all municipalities. Within this time-frame I will be visiting as many different areas as possible. Equipped with a camera, I research the functionality, the rhythm, the composition, the lines, the form and the order of the Dutch landscape.” [ Continue reading ]

It's a special year for, what we feel is, one of the most inspiring people working in fashion today; Jean Touitou, and his ever-relevant brainchild A.P.C. (designed with a collective spirit — hence: “Atelier de Production et de Création”). Started as a reaction to the loudness of the Eighties, Touitou created his minimalist fashion brand exactly 30 years ago. To eventually grew into an unprecedented platform, which beyond its own brand has backed smaller counterparts like Louis W., Vanessa Seward and Outdoor Voices. To this day, A.P.C. continues to be an important voice, despite the fact that the fashion ecosystem has changed completely throughout the last two decades shaped by globalization. Where other minimalist icons have silently lost relevance or left (into the art world, for instance) somewhere during the last decade — Touitou and his team continue to cater to a worldwide cult following through clean designed lines and a consistent price point. To celebrate the extraordinary milestone, a new sub-collection named 'Hiver ’87' was created, which is just about to drop at the different stores worldwide, but beyond fashion Touitou also took on the ambitious task to truly reflect (during the course of the last 1,5 years) on 30 years of A.P.C. in a deeply compelling book named 'A.P.C. Transmission', holding 544 pages (published by Phaidon) that will be released on the 7th of September. [ Continue reading ]

At a moment when the world is facing the world’s largest refugee and migration crisis since the Second World War, the latest deeply inspirational publication by Irish photographic artist Richard Mosse named 'Incoming', deals with this contemporary major humanitarian and political plight, the displacement of millions due to war, persecution and climate change. With illuminating texts by Mosse and the philosopher Giorgio Agamben, the 576-page book, published by the ever-inspirational MACK Books, combines film stills from the artist’s latest video work made in collaboration with electronic composer Ben Frost and cinematographer Trevor Tweeten – a haunting and searing multi-channel film installation, accompanied by a visceral soundtrack. Journeys made by refugees and migrants across the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe are captured with a new weapons-grade surveillance technology that can detect the human body from 30.3km. Blind to skin color, this camera technology registers only the contours of relative heat difference within a given scene, foregrounding the fragile human body’s struggle for survival in hostile environments, resulting in imagery that leaves an everlasting impression on us.

Richard Mosse's 'Incoming' marks a highly inspirational new chapter in the body of work of the photographic artist in which he tackles another extremely relevant thematic in a haunting artistic form that is among the most interesting being produced in this day and age. [ Continue reading ]

We've been big fans of Australian photographer Akila Berjaoui's sensual photography from the moment whe we discovered her beautiful series 'Lake Como', some years ago. Since then, she has been steadily continuing her worldwide travels with her analogue cameras, showing her beautiful signature in every new series that she produces. Last month, Berjaoui celebrated a new important milestone in her blooming career, when together with Prestel Publishing she officially presented her very first book to the world named 'The last days of Summer'.

The new book proves to be the most elegant platform on printed paper for Berjaoui's work till date, adding a significant new chapter to her ongoing artistic love affair with sandy beaches, sun, water and beautiful woman. In 'The last days of Summer', the spectator is taken to her hometown of Sydney and subsequently to bathing hotspots in Italy, France, and Brazil, amongst other places. Taken over the summers of 2015 to 2016, Berjaoui’s sun-streamed photographs of bathing beauty is brought to life in her familiar lush color palette that reminds of late 70s and early 80s photography. Her photographs have the power to veritably evoke the feeling of an earlier time; every detail is rich in the romance of 20th century travel, right down to the beach umbrellas, miniature but elegant swimwear and hidden Italian coves that are still cherished by the few who are able to keep a secret; in her work Berjaoui paints a sunny dreamworld on film. Beyond the surroundings, through her eye for beautiful framing, the eye-pleasing subjects in front of her camera always seem at total ease, with a hint of sexual tension lingering in the air. Curves are always soft and sandy tan lines both playful and honest — overal the visual narrative (and title) of 'The last days of Summer' transcends an undertone of nostalgia referring to a more heartfelt and colorful (pre-selfie!) era.

With summer all over The Netherlands at the moment, there's no better time than now to order 'The last days of Summer', which finally captures some of our favorite photography in between two book covers to truly reveal its extraordinary beauty in the best possible form. [ Continue reading ]

We continue to be far from as active here as we would love to be, mostly because of our schedules at ...,staat and New Amsterdam Film Company demanding most of our time, but after some time completely off the grid in (Upstate) New York and California for the both of us in May; we are really picking up the pace again. Starting it up with an incredibly stunning new book by Swedish photographer Mårten Lange published by MACK, that was presented to the world some hours ago at the gallery space of Webber in London. Named 'The Mechanism', the extraordinary publication presents a remarkably melancholic series of monochromatic photographs that form a futuristic narrative about contemporary life. Bringing together anonymous images made in multiple cities, the work deals with themes of technology, economic systems, surveillance and (dystopian?) urban society. Lange attempts to trace the effects of technological developments on human experiences, using architectural tropes to build a narrative loaded with the threats and promises of the future. Cutting back and forth between close-up views and cityscapes, the beautifully designed book offers a filmic sequence of photographs that is at once affective and estranging. We have been familiar with the impeccable work of Lange before, after just discovering 'The Mechanism' we have a new instant favorite. Make sure to order it before this book sells out! [ Continue reading ]

We have been great admirers of the Lisbon-based publisher Pierre von Kleist editions for years and the latest release from the hands of its founder, photographer André Príncipe, named 'You´re Living for Nothing Now (I hope you´re keeping some kind of record)' is another instant favorite ours, following his extraordinary 'Tokyo Diaries' from 2014. The new title is Príncipe´s take on the I-novel, it is a personal account about how it felt to be alive between 2009 and 2013, translated to his photography. With its Leonard Cohen line´s title, the book forms Príncipe´s most ambitious work to date, organized in three books designed to be autonomous but together forming the complete narrative. The classical music score format of his earlier books is revisited and this time the images center on his struggle with marriage, living in Lisboa, spending time in China, Turkey, Japan, Paris, London and other places. Influenced by sufi and buddhist ideas. 'You´re living for nothing now' is a compendium of gestures, a modern mandala, an elegy of the ephemeral in the tradition of Ed van der Elsken, Henry Miller, and Jonas Mekas — making the publication another extraordinary addition to the catalogue of the inspirational folks at Pierre von Kleist. [ Continue reading ]

At the end of last year, the highly remarkable series named 'Bomba', shot by the very talented American photographer Thomas Prior, has been presented as a beautiful book by Dashwood Books, which turned out into one of the more interesting releases we have seen recently. 'Bomba' takes the viewer to the Mexican town of San Juan de la Vega, where every February its people gather together to commemorate a four-century-old battle that occurred between the town’s namesake and the area’s landowners. The story goes that Juan de la Vega, a wealthy miner and rancher, was aided by the saint in recovering gold stolen by bandits. Residents took up exploding sledgehammers to commemorate the victory over the thieves. And so, on so-called 'Fat Tuesday', in the middle of a football pitch in the town, packets of fertilizer and sulfur explode into clouds of dust and shrapnel. Today the tools are reinforced with rebar, and the celebration features blasts but now more flying hammer heads. Hundreds of local men strap homemade potassium chlorate fertilizer-based explosives to the heads of sledgehammers and slam them against the lengths of steel rail.

The isolation Thomas has achieved in the imagery, emphasizes the danger and violence of the peculiar tradition. With the clouds of phosphorus smog surrounding each of the men, the subjects are erupting out the cloud, with the rest of the background misted out erasing all kind of context. This could be a scene out of a war if one wouldn't know better. The result is an ambiguous surreality within the series -and the festival as a whole- as it’s still not totally clear where this salute to Juan de la Vega originally derived from, which makes it a series we can't take our eyes from. [ Continue reading ]

We are back in the new year and start it off with a name we have been closely following for years: Australian photographer Paul Barbera. At the end of last year, the talented imagemaker presented a new volume in his acclaimed Where They Create series — this time by exploring the theme of his series through geographical locales. Reinvigorated by his first visit to Japan in five years, Barbera made this country the focus point of the all new volume.  Published by Frame Publishers, Barbera, accompanied by Japanese writer Kanae Hasegawa, explores the workspaces of 32 leading creatives in Japan. With this considered curation of subjects and Paul's extraordinary eye for iconic details, the new book unveils the sometimes surreptitious nature of contemporary Japanese design culture.

The country is well known for its incredible food, beautiful landscapes, innovative technology and its attitude around perfectionism, that has been been setting a new worldwide bar of excellence from the moment it became known. Most importantly for Barbera in his personal journey is the sense of discovery, of both the creatives and their process, which he has been portraying for years know and is exemplified in his imagery, being able to portray more with composition than words could ever offer (especially considering the reserved Japanese culture) — resulting in quite possibly his most inspirational installment of his by now often copied, but still very relevant Where They Create project. [ Continue reading ]

Next to other Japanese frontrunners in interior design who have inspired us deeply over the last few years; names like Yusuke Seki, Jo Nagasaka of Schemata Architects, SIDES CORE and the ever-inspirational Nendo, Masamichi Katayama's legendary Wonderwall design firm is a name that was still clearly missing in our online reflections of what moves us in the creations of others. Fortunately, with last August's presentation of 'Wonderwall Case Studies', we can finally show our appreciation for their incredible vision, which this Summer was honored by Gestalten with the very first comprehensive exploration of the work, process, and mind-set of what is one of the most influential interior design firms in the world. The release of the compendium not only celebrates Katayama’s 15-year old prolific and profound body of work, but also honors the designer’s 50th birthday. Wonderwall’s East meets West approach to retail design has produced integral successes like the development of a inspirational brand space for Lexus; to the global flagship design of Uniqlo, that has become something of a benchmark in its field — the book presents rich documentation on eleven milestone projects out of a portfolio brimming with international projects, exciting collaborations, and an impressive list of clientele. Visual essays showcase the Wonderwall working culture. An in-depth profile, written by the M+ design curator Aric Chen, provides insight into Katayama’s early years, education, key influences, and major professional achievements. And a final catalog section presents a visual overview of twenty-three additional agency projects, highlighting Wonderwall’s reach and renown.

Step into this unprecedented insight of Masamichi Katayama's mind, that goes far beyond just the finished projects, giving a unique perspective on his and Wonderwall's extraordinary level of excellence.  [ Continue reading ]

Last month, American photographer Jonathan Levitt, together with Los Angeles-based publisher Snail Press, released a new beautiful printed gem named 'Mawooshen: Life and Landscape of the Maritime Archaic', featuring over 100 carefully selected film photographs taken over the last 10 years. The name of the book refers all the way back to 1605, when British Captain George Waymouth explored what we now know as Midcoast Maine, in an expedition that included a certain gentleman named James Rosier, who wrote a detailed account that was published in England. During this exploration Waymouth and his men kidnapped five Natives and took them to England. The captives reportedly called their homeland Mawooshen. With his book, inspired by Paleolithic animism, western natural history, and shadow archaeology, Levitt creates and alter-world, named after the original native moniker of the lands, through deeply fascinating photographs of geography, plant and animal life, people, and built objects. All of the images are unstaged, analog, and accompanied by fragments of description. The photographs are arranged according to the seasons in which they were taken and span three cycles. The effect is cumulative and modal like a chant. By telling the story of 'Mawooshen' cyclically and ending with the ellipsis of a third spring, Levitt’s cosmology pushes against the linear, eschatological myth of western culture. [ Continue reading ]

We have been following the highly talented Antwerp-based photographer Frederik Vercruysse from the moment we discovered his collaborations with fellow photographer Filip Dujardin some years ago. In recent years Vercruysse worked on a broad scale of projects, ranging from commissions for brands and magazines, next to free projects of which his 'Tempo Polveroso', shot in the marble quarries outside of Villa Lena, still is a big favorite of ours.

Last week marked another important milestone in the career of the Belgian: for the very first time ever, presenting a collection of some of his best photography in a printed publication, produced together with publisher Luster. Named 'Index 2006-2016' the elegantly designed book includes architecture and interior design photos, as well as his signature captivating clean cut still lifes, compositions and landscape photography — all fresh, graphic images bathed in a soft light, showing his extraordinary eye for details. The two main fascinations behind the world he produces; graphics and composition, are omnipresent in his portfolio. The curation of the works presented in the new book pre-eminently show how controlled Vercruysse works: always taking the time to carefully arrange and rearrange, until he has found the most balanced composition — resulting in immaculately defined images of the highest aesthetic standard. [ Continue reading ]

In a collaboration between Jordi Carles at ...,staat, Pol Pérez' and Josep Román's Barcelona-based design studio Affaire and Baumeister Jung: the beautiful book 'Material Turn' came to life. In it, the photographer Paul Jung and fashion designer Melitta Baumeister —who work on shared multidisciplinary creative projects as Baumeister Jung— hybridize their creative visions to become one, solidifying a moment in time — as beautiful volume-garments are casted out of an otherwise fixed material ànd by capturing the act of wearing it. Through exploration of these areas, the book portrays the relationships that exist between the two bodies, and the way touch and sight may alter the reader’s perception of an object’s qualities.

For 'Material Turn' a number of garments were specifically designed by Baumeister, who generally works with industrial techniques and materials, this time made solely out of three materials: deep black velvet bonded to foam; padded black vinyl; and finally padded white tyvek. In the words of Pérez; the use of these materials helps instill certain preconceptions in the reader’s mind: "black, especially light-absorbing materials, look naturally heavier. At first, the acting that is asked of the model helps reinforce these assumptions: in the first pages, we see her more relaxed and upright when wearing tyvek, whereas velvet dresses are shown as she sits, slouched on a chair, seemingly defeated by its weight."

This behavior slowly fades as the book progresses, dispelling the initial preconceptions — resulting in a captivating proces to be observed throughout the pages of the elegantly designed book, bringing together the talents of Baumeister, Jung, Carles and Pérez & Román into this highly appealing new publication. [ Continue reading ]

When in New York City tonight, make sure to drop by Printed Matter at 18:00 as the very talented Paris-born and New York-based photographer Clément Pascal will present his self-published book 'Strange Things Happen for a Reason' (made in collaboration with artist Edouard Nardon) to the world. Pascal is known for his exquisite intuition to catch the most interesting intimate moments between a photographer and his subject, resulting in a documentary-style photography, which he has been producing in a diverse field of assignments and series, ranging from portraits, fashion-photography and free work — of which the new book is a beautiful example. With a clear signature running through all of his work, the images the photographer creates in natural light are always delicate and intimate, whether it's a (gangster) rapper or, for instance, an artist on the other side of the lens: he seems to always succeed in creating the perfect playing field for his vision to blossom with all of them. Key in this, as stated by himself; is the fact that preparation and staging the imagery could lead to the absence or loss of ‘the opportune moment’ that defines his work. Anticipation leads his intuitive eye and lends suspense or a lack thereof for his images to arrive in the moment.

'Strange Things Happen for a Reason' defines that constant experimentation with photography. Much of the images included in this book point a finger to the context of the happenstance, a common arc in his work. The book serves as a modern-day instruction to forever entertain the appreciation of the unknown. The first quote in the book says it all:
Lose yourself once in a lifetime for God’s sake. Stop seeing your friends, you need a break. You need something new. Take a risk for God’s sake. [ Continue reading ]

In April of this year cultural anthropologist and graphic design historian Jim Heimann, together with his regular collaborator; editor and archivist Ryan Mungia, presented one of our favorite printed projects which were released in 2016. The incredible 'Shore Leave' is the first photobook to capture Honolulu during the Second World War through a remarkably curated collection of vintage photographs, a lot of them found in personal scrapbooks of veterans, which were collected by Heimann over years and now made public through Mungia's Boyo Press.

It portrays the thousands of US sailors bound for the Pacific during the early 1940's, in a period when the Hawaiian Islands were the staging ground for an unknown fate. Their perception of Honolulu as a tropical paradise quickly deflated upon their arrival. The anticipation of a moonlit Diamond Head, available hula girls and free-flowing and affordable rum quickly materialized into crowded streets, beaches cordoned off with barbed wire and endless lines to nowhere. Still, as with many ports of call, diversions were plentiful, and set against the warm trade winds, sailors took advantage of them on their last stop to hell. A totally unique place and time, which shows throughout the images selected by Mungia and Heimann.

Binding all these insightful photographs together in the book creates a truly unique insight, elegantly designed moreover, 'Shore Leave' is one of the most captivating books we have discovered this year.
It is a one-of-a-kind visual document of a port that, for many sailors who passed through, was their initiation into manhood. [ Continue reading ]

Another year, another inspirational Done to Death Projects publication by cultural tastemaker Chris Black, who for the first time collaborated with none less than the very talented Eric Chakeen. After assisting the three legendary New York photographers Terry Richardson, Dan Martensen and Ryan McGinley, Eric Chakeen was ready to produce his own work, which he has been doing in the last decade with great vigour — working on a long list of commissions with big names in fashion and pop culture, but also creating free projects of which the new publication is an excellent example. For the series named 'And Away They Go', Chakeen roamed around the racetrack of his hometown in the suburbs of San Diego; Del Mar. It resulted in a beautiful collection of striking photographs, documenting a subtly disquieting space, with everyone in this world apparently lost in a paradise of nostalgia. Both having a cinematic quality as much as the images being raw in your face observations, the series continues to captivate us profoundly, forming another incredible addition to Chris' Done to Death Projects catalogue. [ Continue reading ]

Last month, American author Dale Hope presented the reissue of his well sought-after publication, first released in 2000: 'The Aloha Shirt: Spirit of the Islands'. The inspirational book is a highly comprehensive printed gem on the most enduring souvenir ever invented: the Hawaiian shirt. Seriously enhancing the first edition: over 150 pages were added to the original; the layout was updated completely; some new stories about other important artists, who originally hand-painted the shirts, were written; as well as the whole Pataloha story (Patagonia's collection of Hawaiian-inspired shirts and dresses) with Rell Sunn is told — making the new book more a true second edition than just a mere revision of the original. As beautifully, yet different, illustrated as the original, the new edition features hundreds of images, recounting the colorful stories behind the colorful shirts: as cultural icons, evocative of the mystery and the allure of the islands, capturing the vibe of the watermen culture and lifestyle. Valued by professional collectors and by millions of vacationers and servicemen, in recent years the Hawaii shirts are enjoying a fashion revival, having been reinterpreted on different catwalks by multiple fashion houses in the last decade.

Drawing from hundreds of interviews, newspaper and magazine archives, and personal memorabilia, the author evokes the world of the designers, seamstresses, manufacturers, and retailers of the Golden Age of the Aloha shirt (from the 30s through the 50s), who created the industry and nurtured it from its single-sewing-machine-shop beginnings to an enterprise of international scope and importance. Here, too, are the fun-loving 60s, interviews with collectors who preserve these shirts as fine works of art; and insights into the roles of coconut buttons, matched pockets, woven labels, and exotic fabrics in the evolution of the Aloha shirt. [ Continue reading ]

Following the release of his remarkable 'Courts 01' in 2012, today New York-based photographer Ward Roberts presents his second printed chapter, named conveniently 'Courts 02', of the ongoing photographic study documenting sporting courts at the Arcana in Culver City, California, after it already has been open for purchase online for the last couple of days. Initially aiming to document Hong Kong's car parks when he started with the series back in 2007, Roberts found a deeper connection with the city's basketball courts and switched his focus to these colorful spaces instead. He noticed that many of the most multicolored courts were located beside low-income apartment buildings, and used these as landmarks to track down the hidden spaces. After publishing 'Courts 01', Roberts continued his search while on travels to Bermuda, Hawaii, New York and Melbourne.  In these locations, he also found the sports grounds that never cease to fascinate him, enhancing his captivating collection of images with interesting new chapters. The result in 'Courts 02' is yet another series of immaculately captured public spaces, in Roberts' signature toned down color palette, finding highly aesthetically fragmentations of these ordinary areas of play, which we can't take our eyes from.
As all iconic images inevitably do, Ward Roberts’s courts have now become a force of their own, circulating the world with terrific velocity via the rushing slipstream of the internet, gathering momentum and making their mark upon the global eye. [...] His art is so powerful: he gives life to the spaces of photography, and photography to the spaces of life. [ Continue reading ]

Launched on the 30th of June, but presented to the public today at the Rapha Cycle Club in London, writer Max Leonard and photographer Camille McMillan present an incredible new publication by the name of 'Bunker Research'. Leonard, who is an avid cyclist, found inspiration for the new project while riding around the Alpes-Maritimes region of France, where he noticed the strange structures hidden in the landscape — discrete buildings that seemed to appear out of nowhere in remote locations far away from civilization. The question what and why these military bunkers were doing there, drove the writer —who joined forces with Camille McMillan to document them properly— to find and research these hidden concrete shelters for eight months, which eventually resulted in this elegant printed study.

Strategically placed throughout the French Alps by the French, these bunkers were built in some of the most remote places in Europe. Constructed from reinforced concrete, the constructions blend into their rugged, pristine environment. Although they are slowly succumbing to the elements as they aren't used anymore, the bunkers are enduring features in the landscape and relics from a different time in world politics. The structures with fortifications’ concrete walls were built to withstand bomb blasts, so it will take many more decades for them to totally have disappeared. Until that moment they just lay there, constructed from a form follows function ideology, resulting in a brutalist organic aesthetic, being a unique subgenre in architecture, of which a super interesting chapter is now beautifully captured and presented by Leonard and McMillan. [ Continue reading ]

We first mentioned Dublin-based ROADS at the beginning of the year, when they just had released their incredible Africa inspired new fragrances. At that moment we also shared that next to being an inspirational perfume house, the brand also houses a documentary film production section and a printed publishing section, with all areas producing inspirational high quality creations. Out of the publisher another gem will be released on the 31st of June, which we were just introduced to and really appreciate. The new book named 'The Fashion Set' highlights the importance of the creative process behind the modern fashion show, which has kept aiming continuously for a more impactful, grander scale over the course of the last 10 years in which the internet has created a complete new environment around the existing ecosystem of high fashion.

One of the results of these new preconditions is the need to combine the creative and practical in a fashion show, creating an artistic performance in which the different leading fashion houses try to effectively exhibit their new collections to the world, having to compete with (or when successful temporarily become part of) the visual tornado that is around us at all time. Fashion houses need to stay on top of their game in their complete presentations at all times, finding the right visual language expressing what it stands for twice a year (not even counting the recent 'Cruise' and 'Resort' trend of showing new collections). The insightful new book by ROADS features some of the most impressive set designs from this transitional period in which the spectacle became more and more important, among which are the shows of names like Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Dries Van Noten, Givenchy, Prada, Maison Margiela and Anya Hindmarch, portraying the producers, set designers, and hundreds of craftspeople who together create 12 minutes of runway magic. [ Continue reading ]