Japanese fashion magazine STREET has been publishing on its pages the best global street style since 1985 and forged ties between the various subcultures and design tribes that ruled the trendiest corners of London, Paris, Tokyo and beyond. Three decades later, the way we capture street style (and smartphones have replaced cigarettes) has changed a lot, but STREET's founder and Chief Editor, Shoichi Aoki, also the creative mind behind FRUiTS magazine, is still as dedicated to recording these trends as back in the days. "Back then, I had found that there were not enough photographers in the world capturing street style," Shoichi says of the roots of the publication. "At that time, I didn't know about Mr. Bill Cunningham but I knew there was strong street fashion in Paris and London." 

"In the mid-80s, when the magazine started to be alive, it was the "most spectacular era for style," Shoichi says. "It's always changed, but it's been a remarkable period. Right now we're in a transitional phase from a dull age." Whether you agree with this sentiment – many do – you'll be delighted to hear that Shoichi has spent months digitizing STREET's first 100 issues, which have never been digitalized ever before. 

The result is a window into an era heavily referenced in contemporary fashion. "There's a demand for street fashion in the 80s and 90s right now, but STREET magazine was never made digitally in that period, so I had to scan 3600 pages directly from printed magazines to do that," Shoichi says. "It was a massive amount of work." From graduate fashion shows in Antwerp to London's Kings Road, Paris Metro stations during the fashion week to Berlin's bars and clubs, the style of these moments is of a timeless nature, even if the clothes themselves change. 

Unfortunately, the streets are not open to business as usual right now and for the most part, many of the best fits are unknown at the moment. Yet these 100 issues provide a design history lesson that few might boast and an endless source of inspiration. Below is Shoichi's selection of his favorite shoots to share.

Can you try to identify any of the early Yohji Yamamoto or Comme des Garcons outfits in these scans? Surely, there must be some of those.

Scanned from the original print editions, issues 1 - 100 are now available to purchase from tokyofruits.com.

You'll be delighted to hear that Shoichi has spent months digitizing STREET's first 100 issues, which have never been digitalized ever before.

DIGITAL ARCHIVE OF THE ICONIC JAPANESE STREET MAGAZINE

Of the many simple pleasures that we look forward to once the lockdowns are fully lifted, wandering through galleries and museums is definitely high on the list. Until then, thanks to institutions like MoMA and the Met, which have been offering virtual tours since March, many of us have been getting our cultural fix digitally. 

Certainly, some shows were delayed until things are back in order, but in truth Glen Luchford is doing the opposite. The celebrated photographer, known mainly for Alessandro Michele's immersive Gucci advertisements, chose to have his new show digitally on view, so that everyone can try it from their homes. 

Opening today, 1990-2020 Selected Works captures 30 years of photographs of Luchford, from his early years shooting Amber Valleta for Prada (when the world first came to notice) to his most famous campaigns with Kate Moss, Stella Tennant and Kristen McMenamy. Users will be able to explore the interactive show at their own speed or take a guided tour, as they would in the real world. 

"For some time I have been meaning exhibiting elements of my work," explains Luchford. "Covid-19 made me think in different ways of showing work that can be viewed from isolation and during this period of ongoing social distance. Certainly, nothing can replace the sensory impact of wandering through a gallery or museum, but this virtual gallery gives me the opportunity to see the work in a space and look for as long or as little time as I want, and I'm very happy to be able to do it. 

We were wondering how would virtual galleries of Andre Courreges or Thierry Mugler would look like back in the 70s if there was an ongoing lockdown and if the modern technologies of today would have been available back then?

The exhibition is open now on ArtPartner.com until June 30, 2020.

1990-2020 Selected Works captures 30 years of photographs of Luchford, from his early years shooting Amber Valleta for Prada to his most famous campaigns with Kate Moss, Stella Tennant and Kristen McMenamy.

GLEN LUCHFORD'S VIRTUAL GALLERY IS OPEN UNTIL JUNE 30TH

This line saw Valentino’s often smoking and always excited artistic director applying a collaboration to a collaboration. Pierpaolo Piccioli approached his friend Liya Kebede to input his couture interpretation of Moncler into the patterns and aesthetics of her sustainable and socially responsible Ethiopian label Lemlem. PPP was filming his mise-en-scène on his iPhone, surrounded by the regular phalanx of foreign PR reps. The looks had the same voluptuous volume as his first presentation for Genius but here they were interrupted by Lemlem's contribution's graphic vibrancy. So how did Moncler + PPP + Lemlem transform into his most recent expression of Genius? 

He said: "I don't think you can do anything very new today. However, you can create new harmonies — new perspectives and points of view. Actually, while I was doing couture I did this little collection, amongst other activities. And for sure what I wanted to do was to interpret the Moncler worlds through my own identity. I felt like I wanted to add the feeling of a different perspective — the Liya perspective in particular. I don't think inclusiveness is a simple word; I just believe in working together in a way that gives you new perspectives. And I thought couture wasn't meant to be for black women when it was born. It was for white women only. Magazines like Jet wouldn't even borrow shoes! So this collection is to prove that everyone should be able to dream about couture, and that's why Liya's idea worked so well. 

Kebede's virtuous circle of a label, Lemlem, is made in her native Ethiopia by artisan seamstresses, who apply traditional patterns to contemporary pitched European-style clothing. Pierpaolo Piccioli said: "I love the idea of celebrating art and encouraging these women to work (giving them the opportunity). I decided to re-create Lemlem nylon fabrics. I think it's very good if you're talking about something like this – a new perspective."

We currently live in the world of collaborations. Think of how many Rick Owens only was involved in during these last few years.

Pierpaolo Piccioli x Moncler infamous collaboration.

PIERPAOLO PICCIOLI TRANSFORMING MONCLER JACKET INTO A COUTURE ITEM

George Floyd, an African-American man, died on May 25th, 2020, after Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, knelt for about seven minutes on Floyd's neck while the latter was handcuffed and lying down his chest on the road. Floyd seemed to stop moving after about five minutes. Police officers Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng also helped restrain Floyd, while nearby officer Tou Thao stood to block onlookers and cameras view. The incident happened during Floyd's arrest in Powderhorn, a neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was captured by many bystanders on their mobile phones. The video recordings, showing Floyd constantly saying "I can't breathe," have been widely shared and broadcasted by the media on SM platforms. The next day, the four officers who have been involved got sacked. 

At the request of the Minneapolis Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting a federal civil rights investigation into the incident, while the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating whether there have been possible violations of Minnesota statutes. 

The demonstrations and protests that started after Floyd's death were initially peaceful, but shortly turned violent as windows were broken at a police station, two stores were set on fire, and other shops in the surrounding areas were robbed and destroyed. Law enforcement responded by shooting tear gas into the crowds and firing rubber bullets. Floyd's death was linked to the death of Eric Garner in 2014, an unarmed black man who repeated "I can't breathe" eleven times after being held in a police officer's chokehold during an arrest. 

Derek Chauvin, age 44, was named as the officer who held Floyd to the ground by kneeling on his back. He had been an officer with the Minneapolis Department of Police since around 2001. Chauvin had 18 complaints on his official record, two of which resulted in sanctions from the department including formal letters of reprimand. He was involved in three police shootings, one of which was fatal. 

President Donald Trump sent his condolences on Twitter urging the FBI to investigate thoroughly, adding: "My heart goes out to George's family and friends. Justice will be served!" Trump also characterized Floyd's death as "Sad and Tragic." Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic 2020 presidential candidate, said on Twitter: "George Floyd deserved better and his family deserved justice. His life mattered. The FBI should conduct a thorough investigation."

Below, we are sharing a vital quote to remember from @athianakec.⁣ ⁠

He is one of the most significant fashion designers of the modern era: Thierry Mugler deployed his avant-garde vision of fashion for 30 years, collection after collection. A new woman emerged on the runway under his encouragement and she was smoulderingly potent. Restored by a formal silhouette at the end of the 1970s that was easily recognizable, she had a tiny corset waist, broad shoulders, and an accented chest and hips. Mugler thought he should become a ballet dancer, but through designing clothes the young Thierry Mugler finally transcribed his love of the body. In 1973, this perfectionist created his first collection Café de Paris with creativity and perseverance, and two years later, despite limited financial means, arranged his very first runway show. 

Extravagant, sexy and sometimes irreverent, "his fashion lives in conjugation with the superlative," writes Nathalie Bondil, managing director and chief curator at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. "Oversized caps, neon wigs, aerodynamic chest, tight-fitting skirts, gleaming corsets, cleavage," - these epithets characterize the style of Mugler. With Mugler, femininity is assumed one hundred percent: from his first look of 1979th, his pieces guided women towards emancipation by affirming an armored body that was undeniably resistant to any social affronts. His virtuosity is also illustrated beyond the silhouettes by his use of unconventional materials: by adapting rubber, chrome, resin and plexiglass to a body's curves, the designer marked a very distinct turning point in the fashion of the 1980s-90s, which gradually became more romantic than wearable. His keen eye fused with pure futurism, a liberated sensitivity to the world of science fiction. Mugler fashion turned into art. 

And yet the designer bowed out after two decades of prolific success in 2001, after unveiling his last ready-to-wear collection. The fashion industry's ever-increasingly frenetic pace, he turned his attention to creating shows and stage costumes. His rich heritage, however, has never stopped being revisited by openly claiming influence from designers, as well as numerous pop stars including Lady Gaga, Beyoncé and Cardi B, who still wear his outfits today. His vast oeuvre is presently being celebrated followed by a first book published by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in partnership with Phaidon – via a judicious collection of pieces. To better understand this fashion utopian's influence, we are looking back on nine of his most emblematic collections.

The virtuoso, avant-gardist fashion designer Thierry Mugler: discover nine of the collections that marked the fascinating history of his fashion house.

Pepsi released a now-infamous commercial during the 2017 Black Lives Matter rally featuring Kendall Jenner, passing a can of soft drink to a police officer. The commercial came out of oblivion to express peace and solidarity, and the Internet overwhelmingly shunned the effort to comment on the soda business. 

Jack in the Box launched an ad for introducing new teriyaki bowls to its menus in 2018. In the 60-second video, in an attempt to make light of the #MeToo movement, Jack makes fun out of the word "bowls" as a euphemism to male genitalia. The Internet wasn't having it yet again. Many found the post poorly timed and insensitive. AdWeek's David Griner also called the commercial "one of the #MeToo era's most tone-deaf ads." 

COVID-19 was no different at all. The pandemic among marketers has spurred yet another round of agita. Emotional advertising meant pulling on millennials' heartstrings has fallen largely flat. However, entrepreneurs have found effective ways of maintaining interest in their market without unnecessarily falling off. This is no small feat in an increasingly noisy area of play. 

Every day, customers are bombarded with different types of advertisement. The modern consumer is expected to be spending 121.30 minutes per day watching digital video content this year, according to eMarketer. 

The more video content is watched, the fewer patience audiences have with messages which are meaningless. The effect of a bad ad isn't just a click of the "Skip Ads" button anymore. Consumers continue to be distrustful of brands they view as fake. 

The latest publicity gaffe from McDonald's is a prime example of this. In response to the tragic deaths caused by COVID-19 of more than 258k worldwide, the company decided to show their solidarity by putting space in between its famous double arches. This was meant to be a grand gesture of empathy as a symbol of social distancing — but McDonald's faced intense backlash. 

Bernie Sanders even tweeted at the company telling them to give away sick leave paid to their employees. 

Sales plummeted dramatically during the month of April. The business posted a 3.4 percent decrease in revenue from the same store while earnings per share dropped below the estimates of analysts to $1.47. Of course, much of the financial crisis can be traced to global lockdowns — but the tactic did tarnish the attitudes of consumers. McDonald's NPS score (a common brand loyalty benchmark) dropped to -8, indicating customers did not return to the drive-thrus. 

Insubstantial expressions don't just wince customers. They get processed as pockets of resentment in customer's brains. 

Though McDonald's is taking steps to correct the error, the damage is done. And they are not alone in this. 

Many big brands' responses to the pandemic are fumbling. Adidas reversed their "stay open" order within 24 hours, in the midst of intense backlash. KFC shut down an ad showing consumers who launched unwashed hands in slow motion earlier this year (a reference to the popular "Finger Licken' Good" tag line). 

At the other end of the continuum companies are taking steps to tackle the situation. 

What can Big Brands learn from Startups? 

Inherently, companies are better suited to being real. Of course, that's made straightforward by the definition of being smaller and less operationally complex. Major companies shouldn't just pay attention to the main rivals, however. They need to watch how newer firms are responding to the pandemic. 

SoleMates, a startup focusing on heel protectors and extension products, has launched a "buy-one, give-one initiative." The company will donate an anti-friction balm to a frontline worker for every unit purchased which helps combat mask irritation. 

Headspace, a meditation-focused wellness app, developed a web site full of tools to help with anxiety about COVID. They also started offering their frontline healthcare staff free access to their premium services: "Helping those who care about us, paying about themselves" 

Emilie Heathe, a beauty boutique brand, donates 20 percent of GLAM4GOOD's sales. The 501(c)3 gathers and provides blankets, care packages and PPE to frontline staff who are unable to sleep in their homes (for fear of spreading the virus to loved ones). 

Air Co., a vodka startup that developed a process for using captured carbon dioxide to make liquor, shifted its production to make hand sanitizer for communities in New York City. 

SantM, a functional luxury/comfort chic/handmade footwear brand in Italy and the Nemours Children's Hospital network, has teamed up to raise funds for the hospital and produce thousands of face masks. 

All a/m businesses have something in common: they centered their attention instead of trying to build marketing fluff, and pivoted their operations to meet real needs. That is what consumers expect nowadays. 43 percent of millennials agree that brands need to help during the pandemic, according to a new survey. Startups see that and are proving they understand that potential buyers will not tolerate inaction. 

Marketers should ask themselves what matters and reflect.

"Hey. We're a Brand," a parody ad launched by copywriter Samantha Geloso last month, perfectly encapsulates the current moment in branded content. 

In it, a fictitious company takes audiences on an emotional trip through vacant stores and hospitals with masked forlorn patients. Ultimately, viewers realize that melancholy music and woeful footage were used by the company to guilt audiences into buying a product. 

Some of the advertisements that we've been hit within April and May have manipulated today's real fear experienced by customers. Geloso's movie makes it all too obvious. 

Words are to be matched with action in today's economy. 

Often taking a break and avoiding the urge to respond may be the toughest decision marketers make. Instead of causing fires accidentally, marketers should take this moment to be reflective and ask themselves what matters to their managers, leadership and consumers. If now isn't a good time to ask yourself what you think — the when is that?

Fashion houses get involved. Victoria Beckham has announced that they donate 20 percent of their net sales from victoriabeckham.com and victoriabeckhambeauty.com to Feeding America in the US and Trussell Trust in the UK for a limited period of time.

Throughout the years, we have seen the Japanese artist Haruhiko Kawaguchi — who goes by his pseudonym Photographer Hal — vacuum-seals pairs in different intimate spaces. Unconventional portraits see pairs of people closely bundled in a thin layer of plastic and captured in an intense, ephemeral and controlled moment. Photographer Hal is now scaling up his ambitious work for his new show, 'Flesh Love Everything' where families and couples are vacuum-sealed together with their homes. 'I began a vacuum project with a couple and all-around with a landscape,' says the artist. 'Not just couples where they love each other, but even everything around them is vacuum-packed and eventually the entire landscape is vacuum-packed, creating n picture where everything in the universe is one life.' 

Photographer Hal's carefully controlled portraits allow him a strict 10-second shooting time, before the situation could become harmful. The couples volunteer to the project themselves and their homes, seeking to convey the message behind the vision of the artist and the photographic philosophy — love. 'The location of the shooting is their most important place,' the artist continues. 'The things that you love and the world. I think this is an ideal type of love. We should spread out the meaning of love and spread the relation of love more and more through different cultures.' 

We see houses, bathtubs, couples, love with other key elements including individuality, style, communication and intimacy throughout Haruhiko Kawaguchi's work. 

Haruhiko Kawaguchi brings complete strangers to his confined, crimson-like spaces only to convey his ongoing theme of 'couple love.' Photographer Hal is using tiny rooms to capture the willing couples, bringing the focus even closer to the objects placed together in a bathtub. 'Today, I am seeking new dimensions in portrait photography by challenging the majestic theme of humanity, defined through love.' Photographer Hal's latest project is called 'Fresh Love', which captures the varied couples in vacuum-sealed packages.

Interesting fact: In their previous seasons back in the 2000s, Maison Margiela, Comme des Garcons, Rick Owens used to vacuum-seal their selected products before shipping them out to clients.

The Japanese artist Haruhiko Kawaguchi, aka Photographer Hal, known for vacuum-sealing couples in plastic bags in different uncomfortable positions, discusses the concept of intimacy in relationships.

HARUHIKO KAWAGUCHI VACUUM-SEALS FAMILIES TOGETHER WITH THEIR HOMES

In times of need, the leading portraitist of beauty, Mark Seliger, has partnered up with his longtime ally Arianne Phillips and her RAD (Red Carpet Advocacy) to create an auction at Christie's to support several Covid-19 relief organizations. The auction, which starts on May 28th, includes 25 of Seliger's most famous portraits; 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the organizations of choice of the subject in support of victim relief, front-line staff and those affected by the Covid -19 pandemic. 

Fortunately, the close partnerships between Seliger and RAD's Arianne Phillip and co-founder Carineh Martin put together a whos-who of international talent quickly with the goal of raising as much money as possible for charity during these extraordinary times. Jennifer Aniston, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Johnny Cash, Kurt Cobain, Laura Dern, Leonardo DiCaprio, Dr. Dre, Billie Eilish, Tom Hanks, John Lee Hooker, Lenny Kravitz, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jerry Garcia, Courtney Love, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Willie Nelson, Brad Pitt, President Barack Obama, Nicole Kidman, Jerry Seinfeld, Snoop Dogg, Bruce Springsteen, Amy Schumer, U2, Oprah Hilton, Keith Richards, Nicole Kidman were involved and the portraits contain a signed note from the sitter as a personal thank-you to the successful bidder, where possible. 

The initiative launches a new collaborative fundraising and advocacy effort, RADArt4Aid, a dedicated global auction to benefit several relief organizations from COVID-19. Award-winning American photographer Mark Seliger, known for iconic portraits of politicians, artists, actors and celebrities featuring on the Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair covers, is kindly donating limited-edition prints from his own collection to a special philanthropic auction at Christie's, with the goal of raising as much money as possible for charity during these extraordinary times. RAD produces the campaign and promotes advocacy for the benefitting charities.

A hundred percent of the proceeds going to Covid relief organizations was important to me and we found that creating RAD with Arianne and Carineh allowed us to do this, as they focused on celebrities with the right causes. From our topics, we had a pretty amazing response and before we knew it, we had 25 great talents ready to sign on this initiative. 

From Italian Vogue modeling shoots to Rolling Stone covers, Mark and I worked together for over 20 years. When he came to RAD in April explaining that he really wanted to do something to give back, Carineh and I proposed curating a selection of portraits of his work and hiring the subjects to join us by not only endorsing the auction but choosing their own charity that they care about under the Covid umbrella. The result is a beautiful story of more than 25 talents who support front line workers, essential workers, food and safety workers, veterans, mental health workers, women's shelters, and more for Covid's help. 

– Arianne Phillips, RAD (Red Carpet Advocacy) co-founder

The auction opens to bidding on May 28th and continues until June 12th, for both web browsing and bidding. Furthermore, Christie's and Mark Seliger Studio (in collaboration with Beekman Social and Lund & Partners) have collaborated with the creation of accompanying videos and content that will show the never-before-told stories behind the photoshoots that created these remarkable portraits.

Also, English designer Victoria Beckham has announced recentrly she will donate 20% of all sales from her fashion label and beauty brand to struggling food bank charities amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Virtual auction of the most unforgettable celebrity portraits by photographer Mark Seliger opens for bidding on May 28th with 100% of the proceeds to be directed to Covid-19 charities.

MARK SELIGER, CHRISTIE’S & RAD VS COVID-19

The global pandemic has been a chastising experience for a fashion media that is already facing its own crisis. And as we move into the uncharted realms of the 'new normal,' we will need some sort of road map to help us navigate our way – hardly a simple matter if you don't even know the land's lie. 

However, fashion brands are already broadly in agreement about what the first steps should be. With a form of social distancing still in place for the foreseeable future, fashion weeks will inevitably have to change, with more emphasis on digital and a diluting of the seasonal schedules' endless march. There is also a need to tackle the crazy cycle of discounting and underpricing head-on, with the emphasis moving toward longevity and quality, locally produced goods over cheap imports. All of these are interrelated and it is clear that agreement must be reached on a united, consensus approach. 

There are some strong questions which need to be addressed for marketers: 

– Where are we going to spend the media dollars (or what media dollars are left) as we come out of the lockdown? 

– What are the best solutions for brands to have their voices known and have their presence known? (Many will work with severely reduced budgets, particularly given that). 

– Where are the solutions to replace the previously earmarked spending on billboards and events? (While the incremental return to work will begin to justify some advertising spending again, the amount of eyeballs on each platform will remain significantly lower; meanwhile, ongoing social distancing laws will contribute to the need to reimagine experiential events.) 

'If marketers don't already do that, we'll see dollars moving to a rise in audience-leading channel purchases (programmatic, display, social, mobile, CTV, video),' says Ashley Bowles (Director, Digital Media – Planning and Collaborations at 360i). 'Brands are going to have to decide who they are focusing on is and how their lifestyle is going to be changed, map it out and figure out how best to target them. What is its emotional background?

The fact is that more digital solutions need to be considered, no matter in which industry. Mobile will be huge – if we haven't started seeing that shift already. Social use is getting bigger and bigger since that's where a lot of consumers spend most of their time. There will be also more proliferation of viewing platforms like live events. It'll be key to bringing an experience to a consumer at home. 

Digital helps brands make their advertising messages and dollars more flexible, we explore how in-store experiences can be translated into online; stay ahead of innovations and seek to lead where possible. 

Digital has become incredibly important during the lockdown, and it will be helpful to be able to go super-local – and segment into various customer niches with a snap, personalized strategy for each.

By all means, big brands such as Yohji Yamamoto, located in the thick of things in Paris, although applying modern Japanese technologies on their business operations, already have a direct plan how to proceed in the new world of fashion.

What the right fashion media strategy looks like post-COVID-19.

Sometime last Spring — maybe May, Instagram Explore page started to crop up with rolling green meadows, blossoming with wildflowers and buzzing with herds and herds of baby farm animals: loll-tongued kids, shaggy calves and curly-eared ewes. Just over a month later, during the men's fashion week, Parisian designer Jacquemus fled the French capital — followed by crowds of editors and influencers — to a Valensole lavender farm where he would hold his SS20 runway show. 

The esthetic is cottagecore, a trend that shows the transition to a simpler, more sustainable way of living in the romance of pastoral life. Since 2018 its respective digital culture has flourished on social media sites such as Twitter, and more recently on TikTok. But what began as a small, niche movement has evolved, like wildflowers, mainly among suburban teenagers, queer youth, to permeate the collective consciousness — and the fashion industry at large. It wasn't long before some of the most-followed fashion mood boards in Instagram went full country, switching from images of farmers' markets to, well, the farms. Vogue asked us earlier this year: "Is agriculture the most fascinating work in America?" The lush look is everywhere this Spring from storied houses like Louis Vuitton and Dior to Collina Strada. 

Only Simon Porte Jacquemus could persuade the fashion elite to abandon the glitz and glitter of Paris for Middle-of-Nowhere, Provence, in the midst of the men's shows. And on July 24, thousands of the biggest fans of Jacquemus, including Emily Ratajkowski, Chloe Wise and Pernille Teisbaek, all gathered in a vast lavender field in Valensole, an hour drive north of Marseille, to celebrate the 10th Anniversary collection of the designer. And the clothes were as bucolic as the environment itself: straw hats signature of the company, peplum dresses (perfect for putting your shears and growers), matching picnic-linen ginghams and baskets and a number of garden-vegetable designs. The whimsical, rural landscape — and the clothes too — is no surprise to anyone who has heard of the French home. They are not part of a seasonal trend, nor do they send a great eco-conscious fashion message. We are personalized to Jacquemus. After all, the designer had been born on a Provencal estate. "I wanted to present the show in a place I love, a place that reflects me," Jacquemus told Vogue Paris, on the venue, the show day, "I grew up close by. I wanted to mark a milestone here and present my show."

Days earlier, Virgil Abloh with his third Louis Vuitton menswear show, brought Provence to Paris. Models strolled along Place Dauphine's cobblestone streets wearing sun hats and handbags, both overgrown with wildflowers. From the hems of trench coats, anoraks, floral embroideries sprouted and climbed, as if up a trellis. The usual springtime patterns — pansies, anemones, daisies — were followed by the equipment needed to keep them fresh: gardening gloves, watering cans and rubber boots. Yet another homage to the bucolic, the invitation to the show included a DIY kite-making kit, an invitation to skip the town, go out to the woods, enjoy the fresh air. 

Maria Grazia Chiuri has put the outdoors in at Dior. The designer collaborated with Parisian environmental design group Coloco on turning the Dior runway into a veritable forest for the spring/summer 2020 show. The ubiquitous straw hat of the season, adorned with milkmaid braids, work boots, country plaids and, of course, a haystack shirt, wandered beneath the man-made canopy. 

However, given the current state of the fashion industry, it seems rather disingenuous to co-opt the homespun trend for those big houses. Cottagecore — and all of its fantasies of returning to the farm, of working with one's hands, of fleeing — derives from a deep disenfranchisement with the world as it is today. More precisely, the state of industrial capitalism, hyper-consumerism and the destruction of the world. 

Nevertheless, the presence of these brands in the esthetics does represent an optimistic potential for improvement. In the show notes for the SS20 collection of Louis Vuitton, Abloh noted that as a sign of diversity he had chosen wildflowers — which grow heterogeneously in nature. It is a cause close to the heart of Abloh and one that has characterized his tenure at the French house, from his varied casting to his appointment as creative director. Remember the emotional bow (and subsequent Kanye West hug) that Abloh took after his LV debut? This was not only a landmark for the designer himself, but also a groundbreaking moment for black creatives throughout the industry. The 164 trees used to set the scene of the SS20 display at Dior will be planted in and around Paris to protect and enhance the biodiversity of the area. Days later, LVMH held its annual "Future Life" conference, where the group revealed its upcoming environmental initiatives: how to allocate the € 10 million pledged to protect the Amazon rainforest, how the group will use 30% of renewable energy by the end of this year, and how it plans to reduce its CO2 emissions by 25 % compared to 2013.

Rick Owens's last year's London "Glade" exhibition also represents a close connection to the natural world, featuring sculptural head parts from his Spring / Summer 2020 collection, shown at the Paris Fashion Week in 2019. "All of this is connected by a sense of living isolation I likened to gladdening in a forest," he says. "A clearing that was only womb-like and grand at once."

How Cottagecore became this season’s most idyllic trend.

COUNTRYCORE: THE MOST IDYLLIC 2020'S TREND

Called the “Fellini of photography,” David LaChapelle has not stolen his reputation as the artistic director who knows how to give a dramatic kick to his shots. His works are known for their vivid colors, his half-naked models with arousing sculpted bodies and their dense and precise composition reminiscent of Christian iconography, depicting apocalyptic, at times miraculous, or comic scenes in which kitsch is equal to drama. Below is a throwback to the American photographer's boundless imagination through ten of his most beautiful images. 

David LaChapelle is a famous American video artist and photographer. He is best known for his celebrities' and models' portraits such as Amanda Lepore and Angelina Jolie on commercial fashion. The signature combination of vivid, futuristic imagery by LaChapelle carries both the influence of Surrealism and Pop Art. His use of total or partial nudity in numerous advertisements and editorial shoots, often humorous or provocative, prompted Helmut Newton to remark, "Much nudity is just free. But David LaChapelle is one who makes me laugh. I think he's very clever and funny." A desirous consumer of pop culture, LaChapelle is also inspired by the breadth of art history, often evoking the Renaissance paintings' compositions or poses. LaChapelle was born in Fairfield, CT on March 11, 1963, his early work has been noticed by Andy Warhol, who later offered him a job at Interview Magazine in the 1980s. His photos are included amongst others in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, London's National Portrait Gallery, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. He now lives in New York, NY, and works there.

David LaChapelle is also a fine-art filmmaker, producer of music videos and films. LaChapelle photography frequently refers to art history and sometimes transmits social messages. His photographic style was described as "hyper-real and slyly subversive" and "surreal kitsch pop." Once called the “Fellini of photography,” LaChapelle has worked for international publications and had his art displayed around the world in commercial galleries and institutions.

Based entirely on rumor and gossip, we are hoping to see Rick Owens x David LaChapelle fashion collaboration in 2021. This is always exciting when commercial pop-art meets avantgarde! Stay tuned!

David LaChapelle is best known for his photography, which often references art history and sometimes conveys social messages.

DAVID LACHAPELLE: THE FELLINI OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Think about Jónsi and what it is that comes to mind? Maybe the Icelandic mountains, the Ryan McGinley-shot Sigur Rós album cover from 2008, or falling asleep to the sounds of his 2009 collaboration with Alex Somers, Riceboy Sleeps. You might also think about nature and the beauty of the well-captured field recordings that have long existed in his work, providing our fragmented world with the perfect score. 

Jónsi launched his first solo single in a whole decade last month, perhaps knowing we needed it. "Exhale" is a flippant piano composition co-produced by A.G Cook of London's PC Music, somewhat spontaneously — the organic creations of one artist meeting the more experimental outlook of another. The accompanying music video has been directed in collaboration with actor Giovanni Ribisi, and follows a dancer moving in monochrome. 

Jónsi, still locked up at home in Los Angeles, alone except for his dog Atlas, has turned to cooking: creating his own incense and posting video guides to create his own special recipe for chili oil. "Aside from being slightly ill with COVID-19, I loved being at home and working on different artistic feats," he says. He's well past the worst of it by the looks of things and back to appreciating the little events in his life: chewing frankincense resin, admiring the jacaranda blossom in his neighborhood, and watching monarch butterflies circle the flowers in his backyard.

Jónsi is quick to remind you, given his many creative outlets, that there is zero pressure to keep at it. "When you're not feeling creative you don't have to be creative," he says. "You don't have to feel bad for doing something. You don't have to clean your room, you can slow down and be introspective. 

Since Jónsi's music has long been a go-to get us through stressful times, we thought we should seek advice from the master and ask him to make us a playlist of self-isolation. Opening with thirty minutes of "Wood-masted Sailboat" (close your eyes and you're rocking slowly on the ocean), the four-hour collection takes us through a thunderstorm, past a humpback whale choir and via Times Square, for a crowd-based nostalgia spot and a reminder of what it used to be. A bath of sound to match all others. "Close your eyes and listen to the outside indoors," Jónsi says of his treatment.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1doqhOJ7rZy9NxlRGywDhX

Several times, designer Rick Owens would be giving inspirational playlists ahead of his shows. Bryan Black of Black Asteroid released an album featuring Zola Jesus, Cold Cave, and Rick Owens's wife Michele Lamy.

Jónsi made us the ultimate calming self-isolation playlist.

The Estonian artist, who is an excessive provocateur and exuberant rapper, hates trap music that he describes as too mainstream. A 27-year-old Estonian rapper, Tommy Cash enjoys the distillation of trashy, obscene and unusual images. The artist is bored with the twerking era.

Cash was born in Tallinn as Tomas Tammemets and is of mixed Estonian, Russian, Ukrainian and Kazakh ethnic heritage. He first and foremost identified himself as an Estonian, then an Eastern European in his mind, and a Scandinavian on his CV.

Cash had been a graffiti artist in his youth. He said his use of drugs led him to be "cast out" from schooling. Despite sitting for examinations he never graduated from secondary school and later took up painting and dancing instead of academics.

Cash is a well-known freestyle dancer with a very distinct style in the Baltic dance scene, using elements of popping, krumping, and break-dancing. 

In 2018, Cash launched a line of clothing that subversively imitates western styles with in-jokes and eastern elements. 

Two of Cash's singles were released by PC Music, the London record label. 

Cash has released his 2nd album ¥€$ to positive reviews from Clash and Paper in November 2018. The album includes vocal performances by MC Bin Laden, Charli XCX, Rick Owens and Caroline Polachek as well as production by Danny L Harle, A. G. Cook, Amnesia Scanner, Alex Dulfu and Boys Noize. 

In 2019, Cash has been exhibiting at Tallinn's Kumu Art Museum. He had displayed his own sperm in conjunction with Rick Owens, among other artifacts. 

Cash also went on a tour of America for the first time in 2019. He was the opener alongside NVDES on Oliver Tree's "Goodbye, Farewell Tour." 

In 2020, Cash has been performing through the US for the second time, including Los Angeles, Atlanta, Columbus and more. The tour has begun in San Francisco with his first show.

“What makes others uncomfortable makes me comfortable, actually. I don’t see anything gross in the things that I do.”

AXD proudly presents Virtual Flashforward, one of the first virtual fashion campaigns for this exclusive project to bring together a multidisciplinary team of a Fashion Stylist, a 3D Character Designer and a 3D Set Designer & Interior Architect. 

@nazkisnisci, Creative & Art Director, created this multifaceted project by bringing together three creatives: 3D Character Designer @yucelgunal, 3D Set Designer & Interior Architect @utkang and herself as a stylist to combine the creative forces to render the unseen real in a digital way, exclusively for @artsxdesign. AXD introduces an entirely new perspective in this project, where the usual fashion quota is altered. The virtual turns into reality, the real becomes virtual. 

"Is this new normal that we're going through? Or is it just a time visit that we can't see it's going to be our inspiration? Is the fashion industry getting disrupted or fusing into the digitization of the future? It's obvious that we're partly detached from our pseudo-digital past from now on." 

"We couldn't help but wonder, does this lock-down make us feel trapped in the difficulties of things, or get us to a cosmic awakening?" 

Creator of the Muse @robinabree: @yucelgunal

3D Set Designer & Interior Architect: @utkang

How soon are we going to see the 100% virtual campaigns of Rick Owens, Alexander Wang, Courreges, Mugler, Boris Bidjan Saberi with no actual Paris shows? Do you think Pandemic is going to increase this process?

AXD presented the brand-new 100% virtual campaign created in 3D.

AXD: THE FIRST VIRTUAL FLASHFORWARD FASHION CAMPAIGN

Rick Telander writes in a 1990 article from Sports Illustrated, "Something is very wrong with a society that has created an underclass that is slipping into economic and moral oblivion, an underclass in which pieces of rubber and plastic held together by shoelaces are sometimes worth more than a human life."

Rick Telander is one of several talkheads featured in One Man and His Shoes, a documentary about how the Jordan brand has become a global obsession since the first signature shoe of the legendary basketball player debuted in 1985. The sneakers and the Jordan brand have eclipsed the player's reputation, and for sneakerheads, wearing many of today's most famous Jordans signature sneakers on a basketball court will be a cause for gasps, cringes, and likely tears. Following the recent conclusion of The Last Dance — the ten-part ESPN documentary on Michael Jordan, which some found more hagiographical than documentary — One Man and His Shoes is a darker follow-up, based on his brand of footwear and its impact on society. 

The documentary features heavy hitters in sports, journalism, and streetwear including commentary by ESPN ex-author Jemele Hill, music icon and sneaker-admire DJ Clark Kent, and journalist and sneaker-lover Russ Bengtson. The film is based on a ton of ground, some of which is familiar from The Last Dance, like Jordan's Nike campaign marking a shift in the marketing of basketball sneakers and a departure from the Converse Weapon's team-oriented message, Larry Bird's sneaker, Magic Johnson, and many others. As Hill says, Jordan was far from radical in his politics, but from a marketing viewpoint he was innovative, a spokesperson who showed blue-chip firms that a Black face on their products might be a financially viable undertaking. Hill does a brilliant job of couching that argument in an ad campaign with Nike's recent example of "siding" with Colin Kaepernick not because it was the ethical choice, but because it was strategically wise and financially viable. (Neither Nike nor the Jordan Brand agreed to take part in the film.) 

The tone is focus on the unfortunate byproduct of the Jordan craze in the third act of One Man and His Shoes, as it has become one of the most successful marketing campaigns of all time: people commit acts of violence to get their hands on the sneakers. The shoes with its logo became must-have items as the Jumpman became a status symbol. While executives may have dreamed of creating a product that consumers would kill each other to have, they seemed to shy away from that reality once that was no longer hyperbole. 

The interweaving of common, costly, hard-to-find products and violence is a recurring trend in consumer-oriented capitalist society, with a past that goes far beyond Jordans and predates. There are many other notable examples, some of which require a look back decades — for example, the cult-level rise of New York City's Lo Lifes, a street crew that took pride in shoplifting Ralph Lauren merchandise, a New York Times phenomenon called "capitalist sedition."

A more contemporary analogue can be found in YMBape, on a smaller scale. The infamously devoted Bape fan, dressed head-to-toe in Bape's apparel, would taunt guys waiting in line for a Supreme drop and Supreme stores employees; he would knock off the hats of men, name himself "The Ape," and scream "Fuck Supreme" inside the SoHo flagship location of the company in an effort to bring Supreme fans and employees into a fight. To see a Black man loudly professing his loyalty to Bape in New York — a brand founded in Tokyo in 1993 and popularized by Pharrell, The Clipse, and Lil Wayne — shows that brand's power, for better or worse. 

Supreme itself is perhaps the most strong modern example of limited-edition items intended to be sold, irrespective of cost, with confusion frequently erupting on drop-days. One can see long lines of Supreme-clad dudes queuing up outside stores on a release day. Fights outside the various Supreme stores were documented everywhere from Shibuya in Tokyo to Fairfax Avenue in LA. 

These examples serve as reminders that violence is not a feature of a bygone era in the name of fashion, nor is it restricted to one state, country or continent. Watching One Man and His Feet, we keep coming back to the opening of an article by Telander. It's almost like a litmus test: Are you focused on the notion of a sneaker that is valued more than a human existence, or that society first developed this subclass? 

We predict that one day, in ten years or so, a famous director is going to create a movie telling the story of Rick Owens's Geobaskets. Remember our forecast when it will have been released.

What ‘The Last Dance’ taught us? Why did we find ‘The Last Dance’ so interesting?

THE LAST DANCE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF MICHAEL JORDAN

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