it’s nice to have friends in paris: alexandre mattiussi

comme les autres, yet unlike others… any house that uses a track by winston tong to open a show deserves attention, especially one lead by a man who paid his dues at dior hommes and givenchy… and alexandre mattiussi’s mens line “ami” surely deserves some attention. the line will be launching this fall in paris through pop-up shops and will not be an easy find, but that just makes it that much more attractive. on your next trip to paris, here’s a gift you can get there that isn’t here yet. that said we’ll be looking forward to seeing it across the atlantic. by xy

maragret kilgallen

i remember reading somewhere that margaret kilgallen used to work in a public library so that she could tear off the firsts pages of some old and forgotten books to paint meticulous folk figures on them later. i also remember her being this shy lady on this video, drawing with chalk on train to set up conversations with hobo’s across the country. mind you, i would say that she was one of the first to be in this retro americana thing that seams to be the standard today. by pp.

jesus saves. i spend.

above, a very angry and underpaid model from: surface to air – fall 2011


saw this girl with this t today and thought it was funny. in hindsight i don’t like it as much as i hate the notion of spending and then saying so. i guess this old one will have to remain on the top of the charts: “jesus saves. but moses invests.”  by xy

the review of the film: shoe by Andre Saraiva

the film shoe by swedish-born, french adopted, graffiti artist monsieur a, turned club owner and man-about-town is finally here. the first installment, or perhaps trailer, with a very long title sequence launched this weekend on nowness. nowness, for the record, is owned by LVMH and was previously known as e-luxury, which was shut down and re-grounded into its current format, an editorial site to squeeze goods in, between goods. the part one clip (posted here) does have a nice title sequence by andre reminiscent of saul bass and other 60’s giants. it was also nicely colorized and filmed in paris, where we follow the “metatarsus varus” french actor walkabout town and kiss a girl. the plot really steams up when he hands out two cigarettes to two seated girls. when asked, olivier zahn, the co-writer of this so far silent film, said “the film is about a character very close to any young french guy who likes to flirt with girls in paris.” very interesting and unusual indeed! the depth here reminds me of the early days of purple. when it was in a book format and co-published by elein fleiss. now of course we don’t want to speak prematurely without seeing the entire film, but if the intention here was to intrigue, we are still awaiting the intrigue. by dd

gay marriage: one small step for darth

the capital of the world, and the united states’ most intellectual and progressive state has finally approved what two individuals can call a marriage. this past friday, new york state joined the state of iowa and the liberal coquille indian tribe of oregon, to become the sixth US state to approve gay marriage. wow! we are inching forward after all, aren’t we? mind you, this advanced country still considers it illegal in 44 of its 50 states, while our fellow citizens in argentina, canada, iceland, netherlands, norway, portugal, spain, sweden, and even south africa have come to terms with it for some time now. this event will surely upset the moral majority and the religious bigots of the world who somehow still think they can tell the world how to dress, live and not to think. i myself, frankly could care less about marriage. it’s a piece of paper, often unrelated to love or a promise as evident in billions of cases, and simply a silly ceremony created by man and sworn to some god that apparently no one believes in, as death seldom do’s them apart… it’s as absurd as religion itself, or the colorful human sacrifices of the past, however in the fallible society we live in, this piece of paper controls everything from child rights to insurance to taxes and death. so i ask, why should a good citizen of any state be neglected of the rights and advantages it brings? what harm could this possibly impose on others? and last, who the hell are we to meddle in the beliefs and sexual affairs of others? after all fascism clearly wasn’t the way, was it now? may the force be with all you deviant folks. dog bless. by dd

celine tote leather bags


i was at barney’s a few months ago where i picked up my 2nd goyard tote and finally saw these celine bags that we wrote about in 2010. i seriously considered them, for almost a $1,000, a few hundred less than the goyard canvas and gum totes, these ubber soft leather bags are a clear choice, however i ended up with the goyard as i just could not see these celines handling the weight of my laptop on a daily basis. that said this is perhaps the last frontier that has yet to be knocked off by the exclusive ateliers on canal street. so at least you’ll be in style for a few more months. by dd

nagra 300-i: 20 watt integrated tube power amplifier


another beautiful audio object from swiss manufacturer nagra. price per value this unit is not as attractive as its pure aesthetic. for approximately $25,200 (17,750 euros), the approx cost of the 300i, much better sounding units can be excavated, and frankly i personally think anything over $10,000 is a bit of an ostentatious endeavor, but if money was not an issue this is indeed a beautiful piece, not only to listen to, but also stare at. type: integrated amplifier, power: 2x 20w, 15hz to 55khz -3db, total harmonic distortion: 0.8 %, valves: 300b push -pull. by xy