The history of art is full of naked bodies. This causes the false belief that photographing naked bodies is always art, but there is an error of thought: a naked body is always art but the photo of a naked body is not always art.
Precisely for this reason I continue the pleasant mission of finding modern-day photographers who, despite using the most viewed subject in the entire history of art, are able to create something new.
Ren Hang is one of them. He could remember Ryan McGinley without the naturalness that distinguishes him or a Rikki Kasso in color in the most erotic parentheses of him. But perhaps he does not resemble either one or the other. He is as explicit like a porn movie, as delicate as a flower and as naive as a child discovering his own body and that of others for the first time.
Enjoy the selection of photos without shame and, if you want more, there are plenty of them on his site.
In July we celebrated 33 years of one of the most impactful and successful American sitcoms ever broadcast, the “show about nothing”, Seinfeld. Yesterday Kith unveiled its latest Fall 2022 collection and related campaign, starring Jerry Seinfeld and shot by the great American photographer and portrait artist Mark Seliger.
Kith, as well as Aimé Leon Dore, strongly identifies with the city where the brand was born, we are talking about New York City, choosing as testimonials for its campaigns prominent personalities-but also ordinary people-who were born or grew up there in the Big Apple, just like Jerry Seinfeld, who was born in Brooklyn and is a Queens College alumnus (the latter is the protagonist of a capsule of Kith’s Fall 2022).
These are the words of Ronnie Fieg, founder of Kith, about Jerry Seinfeld and the campaign: “There are a handful of people that I’ve dreamed of working with from a young age. On the very top of that list was Jerry. There are very few individuals that have had the kind of impact Jerry had on me. Having candid conversations on set with one of my heroes made me realize how incredible work can be when you infuse your biggest inspirations in what you do. While taking this photo, he tells Mark to hold a sec, he leans in and says:<<Ronnie, when two well known people take a photograph, you could tell which one is less known by how big their smile is>>. My ribs hurt. Thank you Jerry. For being Jerry. Fall 2022 is a movie”.
Kith’s Fall 2022 will be available online and in the brand’s stores starting Friday the 9th.
Louis Vuitton and Assouline celebrate the memory of Virgil Abloh
Virgil Abloh has been a decisive figure for the entire fashion world and the creative world in general, a true game-changer. His insights, references, creations and philosophy continue crucially to influence our contemporary times. One of Abloh’s collaborations that more than any other has changed the perception of creativity and forever the fashion world is surely that with Louis Vuitton. Virgil was artistic director of the French fashion house’s men’s line from 2018 until his untimely death from a rare form of cancer on November 28, 2021.
Louis Vuitton and the publishing house Assouline have joined forces and collaborated to write and publish a limited-edition hardcover book celebrating the memory of the late American designer and his successful collaboration with the LVMH Group fashion house.
“Louis Vuitton: Virgil Abloh”, this is the title of the 359-page coffee book with more than 320 images, is an important and meaty testimony to Virgil’s relevance to Louis Vuitton and the fashion world as a whole.
Written by Anders Christian Madsen, a fashion critic and editor at British Vogue who has stood beside Abloh on past projects such as his Manifesto, this is the first-ever book published on the Rockford, Illinois, native designer since his passing.
The book is divided into eight chapters, one for each collection Virgil created as artistic director of Vuitton’s men’s line, and within it are also some reflections from those who lived and worked alongside the designer such as Nigo, Kendall Jenner, Kid Cudi and Luka Sabbat.
Two different covers were created for “Louis Vuitton: Virgil Abloh”: the first features characters from The adventures of Zoooom with Friends, straight from Vuitton’s Spring/Summer 2021 collection; while the second depicts the iconic red balloon that flew over the runway during the Spring/Summer 2022 show in Miami.
Both of these two editions will be priced at $120, but there is also another one called the “Ultimate Collection” sold inside a special box priced at $1,200.
“Louis Vuitton: Virgil Abloh” edited by Assouline will be available, in the three versions mentioned above, starting Sept. 15 on the French publisher’s webstore.
Louis Vuitton and Assouline celebrate the memory of Virgil Abloh
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Louis Vuitton and Assouline celebrate the memory of Virgil Abloh
Louis Vuitton and Assouline celebrate the memory of Virgil Abloh
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Virgil Abloh’s legacy in new Off-White campaign
Off-White unveiled its new Fall/Winter 2022 campaign shot by Brazilian photographer Rafael Pavarotti, accompanied by videos by Italian videomakerFederico Busatto directed by Dazed editor-in-chief and art and image director of the brand founded by Virgil Abloh in 2012, IB Kamara.
The campaign perfectly blends Virgil’s legacy with Off-White’s forward-looking and ever-evolving gaze, highlighting tensions and necessary conversations between past and present, culture and subculture, skatewear and high fashion.
The backdrop to the countryside is the striking Moroccan city of Chefchaouen, the “Blue Pearl of Morocco,” perhaps the most beautiful and evocative in the entire African country. Located at the foot of the Rif Mountains, its defining feature is the wonderful cascade of blue houses perfectly set within a fabulous natural landscape.
The models seem to almost blend with the almost surreal context of the city, in a story made of contrasts and taking inspiration from the various souls that make up Virgil Abloh’s idea and soul.
“Virgil revolutionised streetwear and luxury that crosses generations and decades. He showed the world that the underrepresented, the underdogs and Black people, in particular, have brilliant minds and can push and compete equally in the establishment. He inspired hope and brought about change. Virgil Abloh was one of the freest-thinking black men of our time”, Kamara stated.
Off-White’s FW22 collection is available online and in the brand’s boutiques around the world.
Perhaps few people in Italy are familiar with Strand Book Store, one of New York City’s most famous and beloved bookstores, located near the quaint Union Square. One of the bookstore’s hallmarks are its tote bags with the highly recognizable and iconic red logo, and it is Strand’s book tote bags that are the subject of Bottega Veneta‘s latest collaboration.
Strand’s canvas tote is a classic, extremely functional and simple, it also represents a status that I would call proletarian, but with all the limitations.
The Italian fashion house has revisited this symbol of the Big Apple and the Strand by making three upscale renditions of the New York bookstore tote, using the finest leather and, of course, putting the bookstore’s logo on full display.
Bottega Veneta’s new creative director Matthieu Blazy, in addition to being a frequent visitor to Strand on his trips to New York City, to push the collaboration even further commissioned The New Yorker to produce five cartoons – the New Yorker‘s cartoons are among America’s most famous – created by illustrator and cartoonist Jeremy Nguyen, celebrating the unexpected partnership.
