OC's 10 Best Spring Shoes!

March 12, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Fashion Black Belt: adidas Originals x Opening Ceremony Taekwondo

≪ Previous: Silver Linings: Introducing Sen Wye

Each morning since December, I’ve performed a near ceremonial ritual of insulating my feet in entire family packs of tube socks before shoving them into a pair of thrifted money-print Air Force Ones in dual attempts to avoid frostbite and keep my shoe game on point. While we’re not exactly at tropical temperatures just yet (ok, today kinda feels like Fargo), OC’s fresh crop of spring shoes is enough to bring my toes out of hibernation early. From Proenza Schouler’s patterned gladiator sandals to Solange’s technicolor inaugural collaboration with PUMA, I picked my top 10 favorite kicks from OC’s proverbial shoe garden to give my feet something to look forward to.

Shop all shoes HERE

Jennifer Portman and Natalia Barbieri, the duo behind London-based Bionda Castana, fix their focus on matching glamorous shapes with high-quality Italian craftsmanship. These Daphne Bis High Stilettos demonstrate the brand's effortless elegance.

Since 2007, Alexander Wang has been well adored for cultivating a rough-but-refined minimalism. The lord of downtown's Kira Refined Calf Sandals match pared-down hardware with thick, bold straps.

The PUMA x Solange Disc Collection places GERLAN JEANS, WILLIAM OKPO, and HISHAM BHAROOCHA's respective aesthetics in colorful combination with the sights and sounds of Brazil––and we can't keep them on the shelves! Hurry before these Disc Women's Burlap Rainbow Sneakers have got you belting "Losing You" for good.

We love legendary French footwear designer Robert Clergerie's innovative outlook so much that we asked for our very own! The Flash Oxfords feature tripartite metallic color-blocking punctuated by a green glitter platform for a little extra pep in your step––and are only available at OC.

There's more than enough metallic to go around this spring. These Opening Ceremony

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Fashion Black Belt: adidas Originals x Opening Ceremony Taekwondo

March 13, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: What is it about 90s Teen Movies? This Documentary has the Answers

≪ Previous: OC's 10 Best Spring Shoes!

For the second round of its Spring/Summer 2014 lineup, adidas Originals x Opening Ceremony travels to Korea, pulling inspiration from the country's rich martial arts history, specifically the Olympic sport of Taekwondo. If getting dressed in the morning feels like going into combat, the easy, light pieces from this new collection are like self-defense. Customized patches and contrast collars on V-neck shirts reference the traditional uniform, jumpsuits and jackets feature quilted belts, and a dot motif found on traditional Taekwondo socks is printed on dresses and platform sandals. To round out the collection, adidas Originals' signature Gazelle shoe has been redone in a pull-on design that mimics the sport's sparring shoes. If that doesn't make you want to do a high kick of joy, we don't know what will.

Shop all adidas Originals x Opening Ceremony for men and for women.

Photo by Josh Olins

taekwondo bustier in black/powder blue

taekwondo bustier in shell/silver

taekwondo sensor print skirt in black/powder blue

taekwondo sensor print dress in black/powder blue

taekwondo pants in shell/silver

taekwondo belt jumpsuit in shell/silver white

taekwondo dress in silver/black

taekwondo varsity jacket in silver/white

taekwondo belt shorts in silver/white

Taekwondo Belt shorts in silver/black

taekwondo sandals in shell

taekwondo platforms

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What is it about 90s Teen Movies? This Documentary has the Answers

March 13, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Sound Check at SXSW: Jerome LOL

≪ Previous: Fashion Black Belt: adidas Originals x Opening Ceremony Taekwondo

“High school is hypnotic,” opens the narration of Beyond Clueless, the directorial debut from 22-year-old London writer CHARLIE LYNE. Premiering this week at South by Southwest Film Festival, the documentary analyzes the institution of the teen movie from 1995 to 2004, aka the golden era between Clueless and Mean Girls.

But don't break out your feather gel pens or "fetch" references just yet. Beyond Clueless is as interested in forgotten teen movies as the genre's celebrated archetypes. "Around movies like Clueless were hundreds of incredibly diverse teen movies that were really appealing to every imaginable clique or variety of teen," Charlie explained when we met up in Austin this week.

Narrated by the voice of Fairuza Balk (star of 1996’s The Craft) and scored by UK rock band Summer Camp, Beyond Clueless samples footage from 220 films, working both as an image-essay about and a tribute to its subject matter. Mimicking the classics, its narrative is structured around staple scenes: the house party, graduation, prom.

It's impossible not to feel nostalgic watching Beyond Clueless, though the film also has critical bite. Charlie Lyne dissects themes of conformity and dissonance, sexual awakenings, and the universal trek from childhood in 10 Things I Hate About You, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Idle Hands, and She’s All That––subtexts you might not have picked up the first time around. In this way, Charlie accomplishes a storyteller’s most important goal: to say what we all know but could never have put so well ourselves.

William Nixon: What drew you to teen movies?
Charlie Lyne: A couple of years ago, I started re-watching all the films that I hadn’t seen since I was a teenager, digging out these old DVDs and VHSs and kind of delving back into it. And immediately realizing how much I still love them, but also how much stuff had gone completely past me when I was a teenager. Because they’re films designed to hit people at the most impressionable age imaginable, it seemed really weird that no one was talking about the kind of power these films have.

I certainly didn’t want to feel like I was condescending to the genre in any way. I wanted the key message to be, “I’m really passionate about these films and I want to deconstruct them a bit.” So it seemed really natural to do it as a film, and from there we just got to the point where I was watching five teen movies a day taking endless notes and slowly building up a picture of how the film might work.

Would you say that Beyond Clueless is a love letter to teen cinema or a criticism of it?
I hope it’s a love letter… Some people have said, "Oh, aren’t you worried that so-and-so will hear what you’ve said about his or her film and be offended?" And that seems weird to me because the things that I critique about these films are for the most part the things that I love about them. It's incredible how these movies say so much yet were released as these fluffy throwaway comedies or horror movies or whatever else ten years ago.

I got chills from how the

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Sound Check at SXSW: Jerome LOL

March 13, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: OCTV: Opening Ceremony Represent by Goodsy

≪ Previous: What is it about 90s Teen Movies? This Documentary has the Answers

In SOUND CHECK, we check in with some of our favorite musicians.

Los Angeles-based producer Jerome LOL has been making the old new again by reworking classic pop songs (think Miley Cyrus and Justin Timberlake) into synthesized and emotional tracks that make you forget they were ever in the Top 40 to begin with. When not twisting Coldplay into a haunting robo-ballad, Jerome runs the label Body High with OC friend SAMO SOUND BOY, and has a hand in curating the collective's roster of distinctly unique artists. We managed to grab a moment of his time from his hectic SXSW schedule to talk about life, the Internet, and his festival essentials.

Dalya Benor: What's in your SXSW survival kit?
Jerome LOL: Cucumber-Lime Gatorade, breakfast tacos, water, sunscreen, a phone charger, and sanity

Would you say that LA influences your label's sound or are you guys a product of LA?
That's something that came naturally for us. It's part of the sound and the vibes that we're working with. We have our studio downtown, Sam (Samo Sound Boy) lives in K-town, and we'd meet in the middle. It feels very Los Angeles and the imagery we show tries to showcase LA. It definitely influences how you live your life and what you create.

There's a distinct LA sound kind of happening with Wedidit, Body High, Fade to Mind... What do you have to say about the power of a collective? Is there a secret handshake or code that happens in terms of collaborating?
It's nice to be able to run ideas off everyone. Something like SXSW is fun because we all live in LA and we're on the road a lot. It's kind of this weird summer camp thing where we get to see each other again, but no secret handshake. It's nice to be part of a creative community where people are making stuff and helping each other out.

How do you go about finding artists for your label? Are they friends or do you seek them out?
The people on Body High now are people that we've been working with and built relationships with over the years. We are definitely working with new artists all the time but it's fun to build those relationships and keep them alive.

What was your style like as a teenager?
I played basketball so there were a lot of basketball shirts and jerseys.

What was your first album?
Return to Innocence by Enigma

What's your favorite internet slang word?
"Hey"

Do you think downtown LA is going to be moving up in the next few years?
Yeah, definitely. When I moved there I heard construction sounds every morning and now I live next door to the Ace Hotel and there's an Acne Studios [store]. It's pretty crazy, because it happened over a year and there's all these stores selling high-end clothing next to ones selling dresses for quinceñeras. It's been changing very rapidly. It's the next Santa Monica [

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OCTV: Opening Ceremony Represent by Goodsy

March 13, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Sound Check at SXSW: Bishop Nehru

≪ Previous: Sound Check at SXSW: Jerome LOL

On a scale of smitten to totally obsessed, how do you feel about Opening Ceremony? If you can't answer, don't worry, neither can we. Our feelings are beyond the scope of mere words, so instead we demonstrate by combining two of the things we love most: clothes and OC. A whole range of comfortable basics with the OC logo let you wear your heart on your sleeve (or head, or legs...) This quick snippet of the Opening Ceremony Represent collection was put together by OC friend Goodsy (aka Jason Oliver Goodman), who might be one of the few who love OC as much as we do.

Shop all Opening Ceremony Represent for women and for men.

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Sound Check at SXSW: Bishop Nehru

March 13, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Books and Pie! A Pie Shop Opens at the Brooklyn Library

≪ Previous: OCTV: Opening Ceremony Represent by Goodsy

In SOUND CHECK, we check in with some of our favorite musicians.

With a collaboration with MF DOOM, a tour with Wu-Tang Clan, and a single with Disclosure under his belt, 17-year-old rapper Bishop Nehru makes us wonder what we were doing all our teen years. Plus, he's not just a musician: the New York native also produces music and directs and edits his own videos. His first big break came in 2012 when his YouTube video of himself freestyling over Mos Def's "Mathematics" went viral. Ununderstandable, a mixtape, is coming up next. We caught up with the prodigy rapper in Austin at SXSW and talked Call of Duty, skateboarding, and the story behind his name.

Kathleen Tso: Fill in the blank: My name is _______ and my music sounds like _______.
My name is Bishop Nehru and my music sounds like God, heaven.

How did you come up with your stage name?
The Bishop part was from a movie with Tupac, Juice. I’m a huge fan of Tupac so I had to take something [from the movie]. The Nehru part I [came up with] during global history. I was in class and the person [the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru] came up and I researched him. I just liked it, it fit.

How did you start rapping?
I started recording probably a year or two ago. First I started making beats, then I got into recording. I started putting videos out on YouTube and people started taking a liking to them; it happened like that.

I’ve heard you direct and edit your own videos. How did you start doing that?
For a while when I was in seventh and eighth grades I was making Call of Duty videos, like montages. I was always into editing, so I had to transfer that kind of editing [skill] to music. It’s kind of insane, I was noticing it was the same; you just have to stick stuff together.

Where did you come up with the concept for the “Fickle Mind$” video that you directed and edited?
The song is really about not being able to trust people. I don’t want to give away what the video is really about, but it was basically a “trust no one” type of thing. You don’t know whom you can trust, who your worst enemy is.

What influences your personal style?
Skate life; hip-hop stuff. I like a lot of Tommy Hilfiger and Polo, but that’s just New York. When I was younger, I used to skateboard. So I’m into DGK and CCS.com and stuff like that. I’m also into what’s mainstream, Gucci, Louis Vuitton. And I just put on what feels good. If I look at myself in the mirror and it looks nice, that’s what I wear.

Which skateboarders do you look up to?
Rodney Mullen, Stevie Williams, Nyjah Huston

What has been the best piece of advice you have gotten along your career so far?
Keep doing you, n

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Books and Pie! A Pie Shop Opens at the Brooklyn Library

March 13, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: A Trip to Silver Meadows with Todd Hido

≪ Previous: Sound Check at SXSW: Bishop Nehru

Some days, all I want is a sign that everything will be OK. A sign that I should just sit down, relax, and eat something absolutely comforting. Well, now I have it. Specifically, it’s a neon sign in gold letters spelling the magic word out for all who pass: PIE. And it’s hanging in the central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library right now.

The lauded Gowanus pie shop Four & Twenty Blackbirds opened its second location at the Central Library today, a date math nerds don’t need to be told is Pi Day (Pie? Get it?). Four & Twenty Blackbirds has been a runaway hit since opening in 2010. “When we started, there was nothing there [in Gowanus]. Not in the way of coffee shops and pie, at least,” Emily Elsen, one half of the Elsen sisters who run the shop, told me earlier this week.

And the demand for pie has just kept on growing growing. (Let’s be real, when is the demand for pie not growing?) After releasing a cookbook in last October, the South Dakota natives moved right on to the Brooklyn Public Library. The Elsens are also working on a third location, a 3,000-square-foot mega-shop in Gowanus that will have a production kitchen, a café, a garden, and culinary classes.

It’s a far cry from the previous library café where "literally, there were tubs of clam chowder in the freezer,” Emily said. Another duo of culinary siblings, Mike Poiarkoff, the chef of Vinegar Hill House, and John Poiarkoff, chef of The Pines in Gowanus, consulted on the Elsens' savory menu, which includes salads and sandwiches (such as a PB&J with housemade peanut butter!). When possible, ingredients will be sourced from the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket, just steps away from the library on Saturdays. Still, nothing should be too fancy or unapproachable. “We don't want to be the hipster coffee shop in the Brooklyn Public Library.” Jodi, Emily's long-time friend and designer for Four & Twenty Blackbirds, said. "It's a public space; we want to be inclusive.”

As Emily told me what was to come in just a couple of days, I could picture it. Sweet and savory pies, scones, and breads on the countertop. Fresh green salads with fennel and herbs; a roasted carrot salad with yogurt and almonds kept on ice in the counter. The menu, placed in custom-made wooden holders created in collaboration with LA-based concept designer IKO IKO. Paper cups printed with the reassuring text: KEEP READING THERE’S PIE (a riff on the cups at the Gowanus location, which encourage patrons to “KEEP YOUR FORKS THERE’S PIE”). And at that moment, it all looked pretty damn good to me.

Heeseung Kim is a writer based in Brooklyn. If you want to contact her, find her at the library eating pie.

Photos by Patrick Spears

Emily Elsen and Melissa Elsen, the owner of FOUR & TWENTY BLACKBIRDS, whose newest shop opened today in the Brooklyn library.

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A Trip to Silver Meadows with Todd Hido

March 13, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: The Look: Benjamin Sturgill

≪ Previous: Books and Pie! A Pie Shop Opens at the Brooklyn Library

American photographer Todd Hido’s latest exhibition is titled Excerpts From Silver Meadows after the suburban street in Kent, Ohio where the artist spent his childhood. From the works on display—large photographs of withered trees, empty homes, and haunting women seen through lenses sprinkled with rain and snow—it’s clear that Hido’s memories of his own hometown are far from idyllic. Or maybe they're just realistic: “Ohio looks like this in the wintertime," Hido said matter-of-factly at the opening at Bruce Silverstein Gallery.

Since the age of 34, Hido has traveled the country photographing sprawl and its surroundings in an attempt to explore our notions of comfort and stability associated with the idea of the “American home.” Lauded for his eerie, seemingly unstudied images, Hido has slowly turned the notion of “Home Sweet Home” on its head and racked up an impressing number of accolades in the process (you may recognize his work from the cover of the Silversun Pickups album, Neck of the Woods).

In Excerpts From Silver Meadows, Hido explores new territory by printing his photos on a much larger scale. “I’m definitely not a bigger is better type of person,” Hido admitted, but a collector friend of his eventually convinced him to experiment and the artist ended up quite pleased with the results. These new images have an almost black-hole-like quality that engulfs the viewer into Hido’s world of night drives through the heartland. Indeed, Hido's photos have a documentary quality that makes them appear as if it they have been selected from a forgotten film reel—perhaps the footage of a journalist visiting a mid-western town in search of a human-interest story captured from behind a frozen windshield.

Through April 26, 2014

Bruce Silverstein Gallery
535 W 24th St #1,
New York, NY 10011
MAPS

Photos © Todd Hido, courtesy of Bruce Silverstein Gallery, NY

Photos by Clarke Rudick

The artist signs a copy of his latest book, Excerpts From Silver Meadows (Nazraeli, 2013)

Todd Hido

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The Look: Benjamin Sturgill

March 13, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Sound Check at SXSW: Future

≪ Previous: A Trip to Silver Meadows with Todd Hido

In THE LOOK, OC friends drop by to try on our favorite new arrivals and tell us about their wardrobe preferences past and present.

This week longtime OC friend and brilliant stylist Benjamin Sturgill stopped by our office to discuss his new magazine Everything. As far as style goes, Ben is not only a household name in the land of Opening Ceremony but for the fashion world at large. His venture is more of a beautiful book than a magazine, dedicated to a focus on editorial imagery and forgoing the typical fashion publication format of trends and advertising. The issue features a cavalcade of artists such as Mark Gonzales, Chloë Sevigny, Lizzi Bougatsos, Katherine Bernhardt, and Tony Cox as well as some of fashion's best talent like Chad Pitman, Holli Smith, Cris Moor, and OC’s longtime family member Christelle De Castro. As Everything Magazine’s mission statement declares and we concur; “Everything is open. Everything is inclusive. Everything is reaching. Everything is everything we love.”

Name: Benjamin Cole Sturgill
Hometown: BumFuck, West Virginia
What look are you into at the moment? "Moments" don't really apply at this point in my life, but somewhat Euro leisure, but a little sleazy—Dries, Prada, Comme des Garçons, and something really cheap or thrifty has been my steez for awhile. For the kids, I don't go out much these days, but it seems Drag and dressing up to go out are making a big comeback. It makes me happy to see some individuality.
What look were you into in high school? Basic prep, then The Breakfast Club and The Lost Boys had a big impact on me. By senior year I was basically dressed like John Bender: vintage overcoats, torn jeans, jean jacket, white T-shirt, and boots—everyday. I got more experimental in college, sorta Dead Head mixed with alternative. Docs and a wrap skirt were a go-to.
Most regrettable fashion moment? I have no regrets.
Your three wardrobe essentials? There seems to always be something Dries in my closet or suitcase, my Omega Seamaster, and Annick Goutal's "Eau du Fier" fragrance. It's discontinued now. I bought five bottles when I found out!
Most prized piece in your wardrobe? A Vail, Colorado T-shirt I got in the late 80's... It's made it all these years! It's basically sewn onto another T-shirt at this point.
Favorite spots to shop? I rarely go clothes shopping for myself, I mostly pick up things as I work. In NY it's mostly Barney's and OC of course! I look for vintage online, I don't have the patience to rummage these days. For furniture & design I love Matter NYC & Galerie Half in LA. Also obsessed with Johnson Trading Gallery, but it's still a bit out of my league.
Who are your style icons? Dick Cavett, Gloria Vanderbilt, Morrissey, and Siouxsie.
Any style pet peeves? I'm pretty forgiving, but women unable to walk in their heels is a terrible look. If you can't do it gracefully or drunk, then take it down an inch or two. For the guys… I can't stand this half-shaved haircut all the boys are getting and I'm afraid we're going to have to endure it as long we did the Fauxhawk
When and why did you move to NYC? I moved to NY to be an artist, but fell into fashion a few years in. I made the right choice. The fashion world is far more

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Sound Check at SXSW: Future

March 15, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: PRE-ORDER: Opening Ceremony & Magritte Ready-to-Wear

≪ Previous: The Look: Benjamin Sturgill

With a baby on the way with fiancée Ciara, his second studio album Honest dropping next month, and a clothing line in the works, Future’s future is looking more than bright. Born and bred in Atlanta, the rapper has proved one of the most innovative forces in hip-hop's big leagues as of late, churning out a steady stream of beats you can dance all night to and lyrics that yield new meanings with every listen. At SXSW in Austin this weekend, we caught up with Future about recording albums overlooking the Vegas lights, his teen style icons, and who’s on his collaborator wish list.

Kathleen Tso: Fill in the blanks: My name is ___ and my sound is _____.
I am Future and my sound is futuristic.

Your new album Honest is set to come out next month. How has your sound evolved from your last album Pluto?
My sound has evolved knowing the range I can go with making songs. When I say range, I’m saying just going different ways that can be interesting and unique and finding other unique people that will like my music, not just the fans. My mixtapes are trying to tap into another audience, make it more popular.

And you've collaborated with an amazing range of artists for Honest, from André 3000 to Miley Cyrus. What were the highlights of recording the album?
One of the highlights recording this album [was] recording it in Vegas in a hotel room, in my hotel suite, with a studio in the suite. It was looking over the city. Every day waking up and recording, recording at nighttime, just looking at the city lights and with the pool on the balcony, it was amazing. I always wanted to record in Vegas in the Palms, at the top floor, overlooking the city. It was unreal to me.

Do you have anyone you'd love to collaborate with on your next album?
Coldplay, the new girl Lorde, Yukimi [Nagano, of Little Dragon]. There are so many artists out there right now and those are the ones that have been on my brain.

Congratulations on the baby-to-come. Do you have any hopes and dreams for him or her?
Be the best person they can be. That’s what everyone wants for their kids, [for them] to be successful in their own way, whatever it is.

What was your style like as a teenager?
I used to love Platinum FUBU and I used to wear Iceberg.

Any style icons back then?
I used to just love the hipster videos, like the B-Boys who would break dance. I used to love the way they used to dress.

How about your style now?
My style is a representation of how I feel. I might put on anything and it doesn’t even have to match. Or it might match; I don’t care. I just want to be comfortable with whatever I put on.

What was the first album you ever bought?
I used to steal stuff at the store when I was a kid; I didn’t buy albums. The first album I ever stole [was] a tape cassette, Today Was A Good Day by Ice Cube. I had to have it.

What is the craziest thing a fan has ever given you?
Some panties.

Check out more of our MUSIC COVERAGE | Listen to OC'S CHANNEL on Soundcloud

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PRE-ORDER: Opening Ceremony & Magritte Ready-to-Wear

March 16, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Surreal Slogans: Raf Simons Spring/Summer 2014

≪ Previous: Sound Check at SXSW: Future

You've got the Vans on lockdown, now get the full look with the Opening Ceremony & Magritte clothes. As part of our year of Belgium, we've created a collection dedicated to one of the country's greatest artists, René Magritte. Working in conjunction with the Magritte Foundation, we've printed reproductions of the artist's most iconic Surrealist paintings on dresses, button-downs, pants, and more—giving a whole new meaning to the term "wearable art." The best part? You don't need an art history degree to rock these pieces.

Pre-order Opening Ceremony & Magritte for WOMEN and for MEN starting today until Sunday, March 23, 2014.

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Surreal Slogans: Raf Simons Spring/Summer 2014

March 16, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Smith & Smith: Utopia in a Plain White T-Shirt

≪ Previous: PRE-ORDER: Opening Ceremony & Magritte Ready-to-Wear

Iconic Belgian designer Raf Simons has always been something of a youth oracle. From his inaugural 1995 collection’s focus on school uniforms to 2003’s incorporation of Peter Saville’s iconic Joy Division and New Order graphics, Raf has channeled various facets of outsider subculture into emotionally poignant and masterfully tailored collections for nearly 20 years. At the Gagosian Gallery nearly an hour outside Paris last fall, Alexander Calder’s mechanistic-but-playful sculptures and Jean Prouvé’s aesthetically mass-producible structural installations provided the perfect frames to Raf’s Spring/Summer 2014 efforts.

Past seasons have frequently seen pops of color and graphic statements, elements that were at the core of Raf’s explorations of consumer culture and branding this season. Oversized T-shirts and tanks with slogans like ‘Yo-Ga” and “Now! New! Super Nylon” in bold, bright hues reference the language of advertising, all while remaining true to Raf’s signature impeccable construction and play with traditional silhouettes.

Shop all Raf Simons HERE

Photo courtesy of Raf Simons

NEW SILHOUETTE PRINTED T-SHIRT in Black

Vertical Colorblock Short-Sleeve Shirt in Black/Electric Blue

Bottles & Drops A Line Tank in White

New Shape All Over Printed Tank in White

Flower Print Short-Sleeve Shirt in Black

Yoga Printed T-Shirt in Black

Super Nylon Printed T-Shirt in White

New Shape A Line T-Shirt in White

Classic Flat Narrow Pants in Blue

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Smith & Smith: Utopia in a Plain White T-Shirt

March 16, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Marcelo Burlon's Psychedelic Snake Prints

≪ Previous: Surreal Slogans: Raf Simons Spring/Summer 2014

Dayton Rinks and Emilia Buccolo of Smith & Smith are not what you would expect New York fashion school grads to be like. In a market full of peacockish designs, where every season there is demand to make something more extravagant than the last, this duo shines through with easy, pared-down garments that you don't have to think about. Last week we visited their studio in lower Manhattan and it was exactly how you would imagine: simple and clean with a few rare and covetable items, like a basketball signed by Michael Jordan placed atop a white mantle. We chatted with the pair about foam shorts, the 90s, and the future of fashion.

Shop all Smith & Smith HERE.

Shannan Elinor Smith: How did you guys meet?
Dayton Rinks: We met at Parsons freshman year in 2008; we lived in the same dorm building on 13th Street. We shared some classes and became friends. Then Emilia moved to Spain and I stayed here all four years. We just ended up reconnecting when she came back.

What are each of your roles in the company?
Dayton: I’m somewhat more focused on design than she is, but we both input 50/50 in terms of collaboration. We just bounce a lot of ideas off each other and come up with a lot of really wild concepts and watch some really crazy movies.

Can you tell me more about the movies you watch and other influences?
Dayton: I don’t want to make it too much about the influence because we like to go pretty universal with it. But, [we were inspired by] lots of futuristic dystopian movies [that] predicted what the future was going to be like. Now we are in the future, 2015 is coming up, and that was a really big year in terms of people’s imaginations. We are kind of here at the right time and we have our finger on that aesthetic. Growing up in the 1990s and early 2000s, we were raised thinking about the “2000s” and that hasn't fully come to fruition yet.

Do those sci-fi elements trickle into your fabrics and fabrications?
Emilia Buccolo: Yeah, we are geared more towards tech fabrics. Our T-shirts are made of cotton but they have a bit of spandex in them because we are trying to be more progressive with fabrics that have been used for so many years, whether it’s loungewear or not.

Dayton: We experimented a lot during the first season. We actually made woven pieces and ended up throwing it all out because it didn't feel contemporary, it just felt like we were adding to what was already out there. Not that all of our stuff is super-futuristic. The foam shorts, which are made out of a composite foam material (like neoprene but a little softer) are getting on that side of things.

So what do you think about when you start designing a collection?
Emilia: We remind ourselves of the things that we were comfortable with as kids.

Dayton: We think of a slightly alternate reality of the 90s. Everything is psychologically exactly how you would expect it. For example (holds up a Smith & Smith polo shirt with faux collar) there is nothing new about this; every shape, every line is exactly how a polo shirt should be. But the fabrication is illusory to the point [that] it looks 100 percent natural and you're not shocked by it until you actually pick it up and see that it’s not that way at all. It’s almost like a look to blend into society.

So you guys like to play with these trompe-l'œil elements?
Emilia: Yeah, we are really detail-oriented. To the naked eye you might not see all the intricate things like the collar until you

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Marcelo Burlon's Psychedelic Snake Prints

March 17, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: In the Studio with Alex Da Corte

≪ Previous: Smith & Smith: Utopia in a Plain White T-Shirt

Since his debut Spring/Summer 2013 collection, Marcelo Burlon has continually pushed the boundaries of digital prints. Partnering with graphic designer Giorgio di Salvo, his County of Milan collections have transformed folkloric Patagonian symbols, South American bird feathers, and the kaleidoscopic wildlife of his Argentine upbringing into a psychedelic visual lexicon. Recent collaborations with Pusha T have tested the possibilities of Marcelo’s iconography even further, folding the rapper's own graphic elements into the mix. Having primarily used T-shirts as his canvases since the inaugural collection, Marcelo’s Spring/Summer 2014 efforts expand to other garments, treating shorts, tanks, hoodies, ponchos, and iPhone cases to his singular take on print and pattern.

Shop all Marcelo Burlon HERE

Photo courtesy of Marcelo Burlon

AGUA SNAKE PONCHO in Black

ALLOVER SNAKE TEE in Green

ALLOVER SNAKE TEE in Brown

ALLOVER SNAKE BEACHWEAR SHORTS in Black

Pablo Hoodie in Fish

Matte Tee in Parrot Print

Marcus Crewneck Sweatshirt in Zebra

Snake Cruz Basket Tank in Black

Matte Allover iPhone 5 Cover in Parrot Print

Collin iPhone 5 Cover in Black

Allover Snake iPhone 5 Cover in Black

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In the Studio with Alex Da Corte

March 17, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Lonely Lingerie: The Bra You'll Never Want To Take Off

≪ Previous: Marcelo Burlon's Psychedelic Snake Prints

Alex Da Corte's art has the ability to transform our impressions of everyday objects like shampoo, fake vegetables, and basketball nets. So it shouldn't have come as a surprise that my image of Alex was drastically changed after spending the day with him in Philadelphia. Never would I have expected my day trip down from New York to include margaritas, a trip to the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), and a live demonstration of Alex’s superb parallel parking skills.

With a kinship to Arte Povera, a 60s art movement which made use of everyday materials, Alex uses objects we’ve seen hundreds of times but somehow starts with a clean slate. In his "Plastics Paintings" series, he compiled works from his friends and squished them together behind glass panes along with stationary, fabrics, and broken Christmas ornaments, effectively turning the 3D to 2D. Alex's pieces also work the other way around, reifying abstract ideas or images. For "A Season in Hell,” a series based on Rimbaud’s nine part epic poem, Alex created cloth flags printed with modern versions of the people in "The Last Judgment" by Michelangelo (inexplicably, they're dressed as eggs, or rappers).

Alex's studio is set inside an old mint factory recently bought up by two young architects, and remnants of mint making corn syrup drip down out of the pipes and onto the walls and floor. Somehow this seems fitting, as I first discovered his work through his soda paintings on display at PS1 where soda poured onto the floor would dry into semi-transparent organic forms. We talked Rimbaud, his recent participation in Higher Pictures’ The New Beauty of Our Modern Life, and image making in 2014.

Cecilia Salama: The press release for your recent show at Higher Pictures mentioned how it's no longer easy to classify a work as 2D image or 3D object, and how many artists now work as "post-everything practitioners" in a space between sculpture, painting, and digital production. How does this relate to your and other artists' works in the show?
Alex Da Corte: I think that sculpture, now, is undefinable and has been for a really long time. “What is a sculpture?” is the same as asking, “What is an art?” Photography used to have a certain kind of process or technique which meant you are a photographer [because] you to develop film in a certain type of way. Now [with digital technology], it's just image-making. Similarly, a lot of artists in the show use images and photography and don’t really delve into the world of sculpture, but they do think about ways to bend and mutate images to make them grow into something [3D] beyond the frame.

Your work uses a wide range of materials, from Dr. Martens laces to soda to leggings. How do you go about choosing the materials? Where do you find them?
I find these materials everywhere. I am always looking, scavenging, digging––in the supermarkets, the mall, other people’s backyards. I use the materials I don’t understand, [or] the things I don’t like, in hopes that I can change my taste or have no taste. [I'm interested in] a flattening of sentiment, in a sense.

Do you see yourself as reinterpreting existing objects or creating entirely new ones?
I don’t think of time in terms of newness. Time is always happening. I think of it as multi-dimensional. I think about [my w

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Lonely Lingerie: The Bra You'll Never Want To Take Off

March 17, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Delfina Delettrez's Floating Gems

≪ Previous: In the Studio with Alex Da Corte

Ladies, I know you feel me: when it comes to undergarments, there's nothing worse than a bad bra. When it's uncomfortable, you end up tugging at it or suffering through it and it just really puts a damper on your day. Then you find that perfect bra and it's like cherubim hands holding you up. Lonely Lingerie has a complete collection of bras just like that, offering different levels of support with both underwire and elastic, as well as adjustable straps that you can reposition based on your outfit or your needs. Unique cutouts on the bras add a level of sultriness that's great peeking out from under a T-shirt, but there are also bras that have a deep divide for when you're working the plunging neckline look. Beautiful colors? Check. Great styles? Check. Terrific comfort for your boobs? Check and check. After a long day, sometimes you just want to strip down and relax, but with Lonely's lingerie maybe you'll skip that penultimate step. If they look this great on a marbled background, imagine what they'll look like on you!

Shop all Lonely Lingerie here.

Photos by Lina Michal

Lulu bodysuit in black

Lux underwire bra in black

Sabel two strap bra in navy

Cyd underwire bra in pale pink

Lulu Soft Cup in ice blue

Lulu underwire bra in ice

Lux brief in black

sabel tri brief in navy

cyd brief in pale pink

lulu brief in ice

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Delfina Delettrez's Floating Gems

March 18, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Sound Check: Trust

≪ Previous: Lonely Lingerie: The Bra You'll Never Want To Take Off

Gravity is having a pop culture moment if a concept in physics ever did. Just weeks after a certain movie racked up seven Oscars, this Monday, a team of scientists announced they had detected gravitational waves for the first time ever, effectively proving the Big Bang theory. We can't claim that DELFINA DELETTREZ's latest Spring/Summer 2014 collection is quite as big news. But the new rings and earrings from the Italian designer do seem to defy the laws of physics. "Never Too Light," as the collection is called, uses stone setting techniques that focus on the idea of subtraction. Playing with the illusion of phantom levitation, Delettrez’s thin bands seem to disappear when on, as if the big bright stones float gracefully over your ears and fingers on their own.

Shop all Delfina Delettrez here!

NEVER TOO LIGHT 2 DOTS RING in Gold/Blue Sapphires

Never Too Light 8 Dots Ring in Gold/Blue Sapphires

Never Too Light 4 Dots Ring in Gold/Blue Sapphires

Never Too Light Piercing Earring in Gold/ Blue Sapphires

Never Too Light Piercing Earring in Gold/Diamond

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Sound Check: Trust

March 18, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Justin Margitich Has Perfected the Doodle

≪ Previous: Delfina Delettrez's Floating Gems

In SOUND CHECK, we check in with some of our favorite musicians.

Slimy, slithering, crawling—not often do you hear these words describe a person's voice, but they perfectly encapsulate Robert Alfons' signature sound. We've been enchanted with the artist known as TRUST ever since 2012, when he (along with former bandmate Maya Postepski) produced an excellent OC mixtape and relased their full-length debut album. Now a solo act, Trust is no less busy; last week for SXSW he bounced around Austin for a feat of five live shows. Earlier this month, he released a new album, Joyland. Critically acclaimed for grimy and creepy yet wholly catchy melodies, Joyland combines dancy electro beats with soulful vocals. Hoping to learn the source of this fascinating and distinct music style, I was able to catch up with the Toronto-based artist last week in Austin.

William Nixon: Tell me a little bit about the cover art for Joyland.
Trust: It’s a picture I took. I don’t want to give away too many secrets of where it is but yeah, I kind of just wanted to see it on a vinyl and fly through the image.

Do you have any favorite visual artists who inspired that image or the soundscape of the new album?
A friend of mine [who I] am a huge fan of, Kristie Muller. She’s based out of Toronto; I love her photos to death. And another friend, Petra Collins, I think she’s in New York now. Both those girls’ photos are huge inspirations to me.

I feel like Joyland recalls a really distinct world and physical place. Are there any specific spaces that inspired it directly?
Absolutely. I was able to travel a lot in the last few years. A bunch of the songs were written in Argentina; in arcades playing video games; [or] some of [them] on the side of a volcano.

Were there any video games in particular that you were playing?
Lots of arcade stuff, but I’ve always been a fan of the Zelda games. I’m just sort of catching up because I haven’t played many video games in the last ten years. But even the newer ones are still so good. The music is so important for me in video games and Zelda is always dead on with it.

What were some musical influences for your new stuff?
This guy Liar who’s out of Romania. I’ve been a huge fan of his. This girl Sleep ∞ Over who’s actually based in Austin, she’s amazing. And there’s a really hilarious Canadian artist named Sarina Paris from like the late 9

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Justin Margitich Has Perfected the Doodle

March 18, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Malcolm Stuart Makes Mall Airbrush Art, Only Better

≪ Previous: Sound Check: Trust

Remember those kids who would cover the pages of their notebooks with elaborate doodles when in class? Now imagine if one of those kids continued working on those doodles for years, perfecting the varying densities of graphite until they made up abstract, rambling landscapes. That's what the work of JuSTIN MARGITICH looks like, now on display at MOSKOWITZ Gallery in LA. Virtuose was the first word gallerist Adam Moskowitz could think of to describe Margitich last Saturday at the opening. “Justin would have been working on this stuff even if this exhibition wasn’t happening," he said. "That’s just how he is. He has to do these drawings, whether people will see them or not."

A project started in 2008, the six pieces are part of an ongoing body of work. Always beginning in the top-left hand corner of a sheet of paper or panel and working his way down and across, the artist spends about a month and a half working on each surface. The pieces are large, around 60 by 88 inches, and the experience of seeing them in person is completely different from looking at them online. The constant skewing of perspective is hypnotizing, drawing your eyes through a sublime and dystopian landscape.

"I'm interested in landscapes that are based in reality but are made fantastical and mythological; and how they mirror cultural ideas or ideals," Margitich told me. "Many of the compositions are closely inspired and lifted from the work of historical landscape paintings, mostly those of the Hudson River School. The newer work is less obviously landscape. The forms are harder edged and repetitious; they use icons and symbols, and the idea of cropping to reflect a sort of electronic, machine-like landscape.”

Although abstract, the drawings deal with urban sprawl and the thought of humanity as a destructive force. But there is also beauty. Looking at Cached Landscape, a drawing composed of a million fragile pencil and silverpoint marks, I find myself pondering whether it was really worth taking all those notes in class or if we should all have been doodling.

Atmospheres is on view at Moskowitz Gallery through May 28

Moskowitz Gallery
743 N. La Brea
Los Angeles, CA 90038
Map

Justin Margitich and Adam Moskowitz

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Malcolm Stuart Makes Mall Airbrush Art, Only Better

March 18, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Underwear So Cool You Could Wear it Outside

≪ Previous: Justin Margitich Has Perfected the Doodle

The work of artist MALCOLM STUART might seem familiar to you, especially if you’ve ever come across a Mexican ice cream truck in Los Angeles. Picture airbrushed cartoons––maybe slices of pizza or demented Mickey Mouses––with exaggerated expressions, like nineties Nickelodeon characters with Quaalude habits. Drawing on the weirdness of mall-kiosk customization, Malcolm recently joined forces with longtime friend GERLAN JEANS to create the amazing airbrushed graphics featured on her Spring/Summer 2014 collection.

On an recent unusually stormy Friday afternoon in LA, I met Malcolm in his studio. As an airbrushed seal on a hanging canvas gave me his “seal of approval” (with a thumbs up, of course!) we talked about pop art, the influence of Nirvana, and the symbolism of airbrush.

Shop Gerlan Jeans HERE

Nathaniel Santos: So the first time I met you and your wife BEC STUPAK was when I ended up showering at your house after working on a mutual friend's photoshoot, for which I was painted blue. And when I left it looked as if a Smurf had exploded all over your bathroom! Sorry about that. How's your shower looking these days?
Malcolm Stuart: I moved into the apartment next door. There maybe some blue left, but that's a mystery for the new tenants. LOL.

Here's something I’ve always wondered upon first meeting you and your wife, Bec. It seems as though you guys have been living this colorful, fun lifestyle long before it became a major fashion trend. How do you feel about your own personal style going mainstream?
Malcolm Stuart: It’s great, actually. I mean, I can’t pretend that I’m not excited that the mainstream is actually embracing things that I’ve already been interested in. I guess you could say I’m a populist artist. I’m someone for the people. I’m an artist that wants to be understood. It’s exciting to tread the line of being understandable and normal and on the other hand, being totally out there and weird. What’s really exciting is that the culture now is open-minded enough that it is ready to accept ideas and imagery that are nuanced and subtle and meta in a way that I think hasn’t been happening in the past. So there’s an opportunity for an artist or a designer to play with that.

It’s like a Warholian mentality for the present.
Right, and we can thank Andy for setting a baseline for artist and populist combinations and collaborations. The idea that you can make something interesting out of the most mundane or regular stuff. My day-to-day life is filled with these observations of things that are normal. I love advertising, especially when it’s cartoon-based, like cereal boxes. It’s really inspiring to me because, like, wow, this stuff is crazy looking and it’s been normalized, but there’s this psycho bunny on a box and you’re supposed to eat what’s inside of it!

Has your aesthetic always been this way?
No! I went to the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. I got a BFA in art, but my training was in rendering, basically as a draftsman. I struggled a lot with what I was doing and why I was doing it. What I knew the most was that I could make things really pretty and I co

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