Did You Try It? The Veggie Percy Pig

June 8, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: A Day In The Life Of A Ukrainian It-Girl

≪ Previous: Straight Trippin': Soña In Japan

A new blog series, in which OC staff procures the wackiest, most buzzed about junk-slash-fad food on the global market, then conducts highly professional taste tests.

RECOMMENDED

Marks & Spencer Gelatine-Free Veggie Percy Pigs
Price: £2.50 at British Food Store or Marks & Spencer
Quantity: 170 gram bag
Origin: United Kingdom
Color: Pink, with green ears
Smell: Sweet, like strawberries

Well-loved by children and fashion editors alike, the OG Percy Pig is rolling in its mud with the "hippie-ready" vegetarian variety, where pork gelatin is eschewed for pea protein. "Candy swine" sounds bizarre, but tasters said this green version was "surprisingly tart," like a "strawberry marshmallow," or maybe, "fizzless ~~grape~~ Ribena soda." One mused that the hard-to-pin flavor had something to do with "a pig being vegan," as in, "the most confused porker there ever was."

Described as "thick and dense," commentators were divided about the texture: "A weird mix between gummy candy and a marshmallow mint," "kind of like Laffy Taffy," or—"If meringue and chewing gum had a baby," this would be it. But, however nonsensical the candy, it was irresistably "nom nom nom" and "something I'd secretly eat in the dark, in bed." And judging from the offshoot of Percy-branded merchandise—snow globes, stuffed animals, and made-to-order birthday cakes—M&S is laughing all the way to the (piggy) bank.

Photo by Jessica Chou

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A Day In The Life Of A Ukrainian It-Girl

June 8, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Kenny Scharf Doesn't Want The Fantasy To End

≪ Previous: Did You Try It? The Veggie Percy Pig

Despite the political upheaval in Ukraine, Kiev’s fashion scene has been thriving. In March, Kiev held Fashion Week in the midst of beautiful Byzantine churches and wartime debris. And Vogue Ukraine, which made its debut in March of last year, designated Kiev as a world fashion capital. The city’s street fashion has also been featured everywhere from W to T Magazine, and next year, we'll be stocking designers from Ukraine including Bevza, Litkovskaya, and Masha Reva.

At the heart of it all is Olimpia Whitemustache––DJ, model, stylist, and all around it-girl. Name a Ukrainian designer, photographer, or model and, most likely, she knows them (okay, so maybe you can’t name one, but soon you may be able to). With striking snow-queen locks and a name that attracts immediate attention, Olimpia has turned living itself into a fashion statement. She gave us the rundown on what life is like these days for a Ukrainian it-girl and how the fashion community has responded to the country’s tense political situation.

AUSTEN ROSENFELD: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
OLIMPIA WHITEMUSTACHE: My name is Olimpia. I live in a city that no longer needs to be explained because of the political situation in the country: Kiev. As for work, I would call myself a stylist. But this is not my only occupation. I often DJ, and also model.

Is Whitemustache your real last name?
Whitemustache is the translation of my last name Belous, [which] is quite classic in Ukraine. One day my English teacher translated my surname from Ukrainian, and I thought that this is cool.

Who have you modeled and styled for? Where do you DJ?
I worked as a model with many Ukrainian designers, as well as some foreign designers such as Annette Görtz, Charlie Le Mindy, etc. Once I was literally "picked up on the street," as I passed the model casting for the Costume National fashion show at MBFW Kiev. As for DJing, I mostly play at fashion events.

How has the political turmoil in Kiev affected the fashion industry? Has anything changed?
Of course! The patriotic spirit awoke in humans' hearts. Undoubtedly, this was reflected in fashion shows in March, in the use of symbols [such] as the Ukrainian yellow-blue flag, embroidered shirts, and an interpretation of the Ukrainian national anthem as the music for the show. Designers were showing their support for Ukrainian independence in different ways. I know that some of them were sewing armored gilets for the warring people in Maidan.

How has it changed your work and daily life?
Winter has all been in vain in Kiev. Work was scarce, and the mood was tense since the military conflict began in the capital of Ukraine. It should be noted that Russian and foreign customers have almost ceased to cooperate. I can understand them, because there is no guarantee that the work will be done in a country where there is war.

What was it like growing up in Kiev?
Kiev is a stunning city. I didn't have a super idea to relocate to another country. I was born at the turn of the collapse of the Soviet Union; it was a difficult time. And, I grew up in a bad district of Kiev. So, [it was] not so easy to live; you were always fighting with something. For example, with incomprehension. But this [environment] raised me

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Kenny Scharf Doesn't Want The Fantasy To End

June 8, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Cool Dads: Ava Hama's G.I. Joe Pop

≪ Previous: A Day In The Life Of A Ukrainian It-Girl

"You guys look familiar," Kenny Scharf said after he ushered me and photographer James Parker into his studio on a recent afternoon. "Yes, you remember!” I said. “You painted our faces two weeks ago at the last Cosmic Cavern!"

The Cosmic Cavern a Go-Go is a fluorescent party held in the basement of the Bushwick warehouse where Scharf lives and works. There’s a little bit of every Gen Y’s childhood lined in those Day-Glo-painted walls, which are packed from floor to ceiling in a cluster of plastic toys and junk that the artist has been collecting since the early '80s. Inside the cavern, Fisher Price cars and Barbie dolls hang from strips of shiny garland next to neon sculptures and installation pieces that have been exhibited in various galleries.

Kenny Scharf, along with the likes of Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, is one of New York City's most beloved graffiti artists. His murals and tags are like vital organs to the city’s street-art history and his vibrant faces that grimace and laugh are familiar faces around the city. Seeing Scharf’s work is an event many New Yorkers gloat about; just a couple of weeks ago the artist drew a crowd down the street from our offices in Soho while he was putting up his piece Happymadnoselock. Kenny Scharf also has a lot of stories to tell, so we listened in intently about everything from his days as Keith Haring’s roommate, to dancing on stage at CBGB, to collaborating with Jeremy Scott, to being arrested.

SHANNAN ELINOR SMITH: Can you tell me a little bit about the birth of the Cosmic Cavern?

KENNY SCHARF: It started 1981 and it’s called the Cosmic Cavern, well, because it’s a big cosmic cavern! But the initial one was called the Cosmic Closet because it took place in a closet. There was a very funky, old house that I lived in with Keith Haring back in '81, and I found a closet in the house that was stuffed with garbage. And I was like, "Oh my god, real estate!" At the time, I had been collecting garbage and making art out of it. I happened to come upon a black light and some black-light posters. So, after I cleaned out the room I put the black-light posters with the black light and I got some of these pieces of garbage and I painted them fluorescent. Everyone started hanging out in there. It became this place to flip out.

When did you move it to this basement we are sitting above?

I’ve been here about eight years. I got here and I had this great big space, and giant basement. It floods when it rains a lot, so I can’t really live in there; I can’t store art in there. And I said, "Oh, this will be perfect, because it really is just garbage." But it’s traveled all over. It was in PS1, it got bigger there, and then it was in the Whitney Biennial in ’85. I’ve got another one in LA that traveled, and another one in Germany, in this box that comes apart—you walk inside. Some of the original pieces of crap are actually in the basement. They get moved around and re-assembled in different spaces.

I’ve heard you do most of your work and your murals by yourself. Did you assemble the Cosmic Cavern by yourself?

No, actually, [but] I’d say 90 percent [of this stuff] is mine. Some of it is costumes people leave after the party is over and I just put it up. There have been some donations of art by people I don’t

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Cool Dads: Ava Hama's G.I. Joe Pop

June 8, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Bear-y Cute! Moschino Tech Kitsch For iPhones

≪ Previous: Kenny Scharf Doesn't Want The Fantasy To End

Dads truly are the original hipsters (and not just because of this tumblr). To celebrate June 15, we called on some of Opening Ceremony's favorite designers to interview their own fashionable fathers. First up: Ava Hama of Bellavance.

"We’re pretty much wearing the same jeans," Ava Hama says, as she sits across her father Larry in her former bedroom-turned-studio. "Old black Levis, and I think mine are actually men’s." It's true: Hers are cuffed, his aren't, but the same minimalist streak runs through both their outfits (save for Ava's bright pink lipstick).

Ava, one half of the design duo at Bellavance, is known for her casually high-fashion designs with minimalist tones. And her father? Well, as an artist and writer at Marvel, Larry is credited for creating the G.I. Joe comic series.

Here, Ava interviews her dad about his style as a 20-something in New York, what he thinks about Bellavance, and the most stylish comic book character.

AVA HAMA: So, what were you wearing when you were my age (24)?
LARRY HAMA: Everyday gear was slim jeans, black T-shirt, white tennis shoes—they used to call them deck shoes. If I was going out, black skinny jeans, black leather jacket, thin lapels, white shirt, and a black leather tie, very skinny. Those shirts you can’t get anymore, the tab collars with snaps on the front. Oh yeah, and hair down to my waist.

Is there one item of clothing that you regret getting rid of?
I had a pea-green Cardin mandarin jacket with narrow toggles. I really loved that thing. It had wide sleeves with no cuffs, a high collar, narrow toggles, and a bamboo motif.

This jacket sounds weird.
I got it at Cardin’s store on Madison back in the ‘70s.

Fancy. What happened to it?
Well, mom made me give it away. It was in perfect condition. And my mom made me a knockoff Cardin, like a ‘60s Cardin jacket, with a zipper on the bias, and a sort of military mandarin collar. Very slim cut. Black velour with grey silk lining.

That sounds absurd.
That went to Housing Works, too.

I remember when I was growing up you always wore black Levis, a white or black T-shirt, and the traditional tan or black Timberlands. That’s all you wore.
Yeah, I just get caught into these uniforms. When I was in high school I wore white Levis, a white Levi jacket, [and] desert boots they called dingos. They were like, pre-Uggs, without the lining. I wore that for years. I went to an interview with Help! magazine, which was art directed by Terry Gilliam, and I walked in wearing white Levis, a white pinstripe shirt, a white Levi jacket, and desert boots. And in this tiny little office this guy is sitting behind the desk wearing white Levis, a white pinstripe shirt, and desert boots. [Laughs]

That’s so awkward.
Up to that point I thought I was being really individualistic.

Did you acknowledge the fact that you were wearing the same outfit?
No. We just sort of brazened our way through it.

Do you have any advice for the future dads of the world?
Don’t stifle creativity. Especially personal style. You went through some stages where you wanted to wear certain things….

That you didn’t like? I remember I got a hard time from mom when I was six about those white cowboy boots covered in silve

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Bear-y Cute! Moschino Tech Kitsch For iPhones

June 9, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Happy Iced Tea Day, Need A Thirst Quencher?

≪ Previous: Cool Dads: Ava Hama's G.I. Joe Pop

Earlier this year, designer Jeremy Scott made a splash with his debut collection for Moschino, integrating a campy mix of familiar pop-culture references and founder Franco Moschino’s legacy of pushing the ballot with quirky design. Now, Scott pulls it all together, delivering classic food iconography and cartoon-cute images for the modern (albeit kid-like) techie.

Need a reason to smile whilst taking that business call? Moschino delivers a fun, tongue-in-cheek line of accessories for the iPhone and iPad. Each soft-silicone case features a huggable, animated creature, like panda bears and fluffy bunnies. So, not only will you grab all the attention, you'll keep your gadgets protected from those rough—IRL—elements.

Shop all Moschino here

Panda iPhone 5 Cover in black/white

Bunny iPhone 5 Cover in grey

Frog iPhone 5 Cover in green

Duck iPhone 5 Cover in black

Bear iPad 2 Cover in black

PANDA IPHONE 5 COVER in black/white

Call Me iPhone 5 Cover in black/white

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Happy Iced Tea Day, Need A Thirst Quencher?

June 9, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Excess À La Française! Kenzo Women's Resort 2015

≪ Previous: Bear-y Cute! Moschino Tech Kitsch For iPhones

Turns out, June 10 is National Iced Tea Day, and since there's no better way to celebrate summer with a cool drink, we asked Southern chef Sean Brock to share his special recipe.

Sean, the Charleston chef behind Husk and McCrady's, is known for bringing back the old roots of Southern cooking—not the deep-fried, butter-laden specialties that you might know, but the almost-lost heirloom varieties of corn, peas, farro, and more. Grits get elevated, fried bologna sandwiches reinvented, and yes, even iced tea is taken to the next level.

Here, Sean shares his recipe for a Southern classic: sweet tea. He prefers using a special Husk blend of Assam, Ceylon, Darjeeling, and one secret ingredient. We suggest using your favorite black tea of choice.

Sean Brock's Southern Sweet Tea

Ingredients:
3 quarts of water
1.7 ounces loose-leaf tea blend
12 ounces of simple syrup (or to taste)

Instructions:
1. Bring 1 quart of water up to between 202 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit (slightly below boiling).
2. Steep 1.7 ounces of loose-leaf blend for 6 minutes.
3. Add 2 quarts of room temperature water to tea (make sure the water is not too cold).
4. Make simple syrup with a 1 to 1 ratio (equal parts water and sugar).
5. Pour 8 ounces of tea into a glass, mix with 1 ounce of simple syrup, and top with ice. Makes 12 glasses.

Photo by Jessica Chou

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Excess À La Française! Kenzo Women's Resort 2015

June 9, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Behind The Seams: Opening Ceremony & Magritte Sheherazade Sleeveless Flare Dress

≪ Previous: Happy Iced Tea Day, Need A Thirst Quencher?

Midnight in Paris, the Eiffel Tower light show, le "cwa-son"—there's something about contemporary French culture that begets ease, romance, and indulgence. For women's Resort 2015, Kenzo creative directors Carol Lim and Humberto Leon captured a healthy dose of that Parisian élan, unveiling 29 looks at yesterday's collection presentation at 4 World Trade Center in New York.

In the '60s, when Kenzo Takada left Japan and arrived in Paris, he sought to embrace a newfound lifestyle. In a similar vein, Carol and Humberto's current collection reinterprets Parisian staples from a unique, American vantage point. "It's our interpretation of the French landscape and how women dress: the culmination of everything from true Parisians to tourists," Humberto said. "We wanted to celebrate the excess."

Thusly, the duo took apart classic French pieces, like the peacoat or a girl's chemise, and played with volumes and silhouettes to lend a quirky-modern, wholly Kenzo treatment. Models were sent down a revolving platform that resembled a 3D cityscape in wide-leg sailor pants and exaggerated polka-dots, voluminous jacquard empire dresses, Gallic-inspired jackets, and even peasant blouses reworked as nylon anorak-type tops.

Of course, what's "très chic" without some shine and attention to detail? "If you look at the buttons and medallions and accessories, they represent things from Kenzo or the Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty, very much celebrating the collection of souvenirs and trinkets," Humberto said. If this is excess, we'll gladly take it all (in the label's new "bike" bag, bien sur).

Below, a word association game with Humberto, using themes from the collection:

Navy Breton stripe: "classic"
Girl's chemise: "exaggerated"
Parisian daywear: "Parisian nightwear"
Hardware: "excessive"
Trinkets: "love!'
Sailor pants: "push it"
Gold chainmail necklaces: "the more, the merrier"
Bike bag: "convenient"
Metal cuffs: "a must"

Photos by Matthew Kelly

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Behind The Seams: Opening Ceremony & Magritte Sheherazade Sleeveless Flare Dress

June 9, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Going, Going: Opening Ceremony Kami Bustier Dress

≪ Previous: Excess À La Française! Kenzo Women's Resort 2015

It’s a blurry line between the real and the surreal. OC designers used half-dome pearl beading on this Sheherazade Sleeveless Flare dress to make the beach scene more realistic and three-dimensional. They wanted to accentuate the exquisite detail and dimensionality found the original work, René Magritte’s 1950 Sheherazade.

Shop Opening Ceremony & Magritte MEN'S and WOMEN'S

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Going, Going: Opening Ceremony Kami Bustier Dress

June 9, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Papa & Daddy's Gift Guide

≪ Previous: Behind The Seams: Opening Ceremony & Magritte Sheherazade Sleeveless Flare Dress

Supply and demand is a tricky thing. Our latest series, GOING, GOING, is your siren call to OC's most covetable items that are flying off our shelves at lighting speed!

Is it underwear or outerwear? When it looks this good, does it matter? For Spring/Summer 2014, Opening Ceremony takes the layered look to a new level with the Kami Cotton T-Shirt Bustier Dress. Crafted from micro-dot printed cotton and a sweetheart-bust bandeau top, this piece is both sophisticated and casual. The oversized T-shirt shape vibes on this season's athletic craze, but not without the waist-cinching bustier's feminine touch.

Shop all Opening Ceremony here

Kami Cotton T-Shirt Bustier Dress in white

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Papa & Daddy's Gift Guide

June 9, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Belgian Slang Dictionary - Drache

≪ Previous: Going, Going: Opening Ceremony Kami Bustier Dress

"Papa and Daddy," aka Peter Davenport and Vlado Nedkov, are two of the most stylish guys in New York City. They also happen to be doing the admirable balancing act of career dads: Peter is an actor and Vlado is the director of operations at Black Frame, and together, they are raising one very adorable six-year-old Sebastian (or "Sebbie").

As Peter puts it, "I’m constantly on the go, but I refuse to sacrifice being fashionable. The last thing I ever want to be accused of is looking comfortable!" So, in celebration of Father's Day, we tapped the dapper three for what to give and get this year.

Peter, Vlado, and their son Sebastian

"I’m the 'stay-at-home' dad taking our son to school and picking him up after. An easy T-shirt like this Walter Van Beirendonck WOOLF T-SHIRTwith a modern graphic print is perfect for city life in the summer and for a dad on the go. Bonus: the graphic will also entertain our son." -Peter

"A bright trouser that’s not a jean like Raf Simons' CLASSIC FLAT NARROW PANTS can take me from dad-by-day to dad-at-night after the lad is asleep. An essential item to my wardrobe."

"I don’t go anywhere without a durable carry-all bag like Outdoor Products DOUBLE HANDED LARGE TOTE. It holds what I need when I leave in the morning, and also accommodates all the after-school things accumulated during our son’s day (plus have room for a snack and a water bottle, a compact umbrella, Purell, and toys!)."

"I’ve been looking for a good pair of headphones for the longest time––while on the run I am constantly listening to music or on a conference call, but there are very few products out there that don’t sacrifice appearance for sound quality and vice versa. These B&O PLAY FORM 2I HEADPHONES are a classic." -Vlado

"In a world of $800 sneakers, it’s hard to find something that is casual, comfortable, and sleek enough, that doesn’t break the bank. The Acne Studios ADRIAN LEATHER SNEAKERS work well in the office and I could practically live in them on weekends. No ankle injuries likely with these."

"I’d love to get a piece from t

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Belgian Slang Dictionary - Drache

June 9, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Dana Lee Makes The Case: Simple Is The New Black

≪ Previous: Papa & Daddy's Gift Guide

Sure, you can order a pommes-frites with curry ketchup and pronounce Dries Van Noten's name without a hitch. But can you really get by in Belgium? Our Slang Dictionary will make sure of it.

Belgium’s a wonderful place, but you probably shouldn’t move there for the weather. With 200 rainy days a year, you’ll be caught in a drache just a little more often than you might like. And while our Belgian National Day is celebrated in the midst of summer (July 21), we’ve gotten so used to seeing the royal family struggle with umbrellas and fight its way through puddles every year, that we came up with an expression for it: drache nationale (something like “national downpour.”)

Example sentence: What a downpour, grab an umbrella! / Quelle drache, prends un parapluie!

We'll be rolling out more Belgian slang throughout the month of June! Submit your own words to webstore@openingceremony.us with the subject line "Belgian Slang".

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Dana Lee Makes The Case: Simple Is The New Black

June 10, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Ratking: Hip-Hop With A Punk Edge

≪ Previous: Belgian Slang Dictionary - Drache

We've got to hand it to Canadian-bred designer Dana Lee, who knows that simplicity can speak (irresistable) volumes. Now based in New York, Lee's been making clean, fuss-free menswear under her eponymous label since 2009, establishing herself as a sort of fabric-and-texture whisperer.

This season, the designer attributed her color and texture choices to the Modernism, ceramic dinnerware produced by the 20th-century industrial artist Russel Wright. (Another exemplary illustration of art merging with fashion? Absolutely.) Hence the sober muted tones, like in the work coat or the Residential button-down shirt, which, similar to Wright's housewares, can easily incorporate into everyday living.

Shop all Dana Lee here

Work Coat in steubenville with Dry Chinos in natural

Cotton-Cashmere Sweatshirt in ice with Walking Shorts in oyster

Double Needle Tank in coral and Smart Chinos in olive

Residential Button-Down Shirt in oyster

Melamine Short-Sleeve Button-Down in theme print

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Ratking: Hip-Hop With A Punk Edge

June 10, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: 10 Non-Boring Ways To Wear A Button-Down

≪ Previous: Dana Lee Makes The Case: Simple Is The New Black

In 1981, artist/curator Diego Cortez organized an influential exhibit called New York/New Wave, from which the term No Wave was born. The exhibit aided in legitimizing a community of visual artist, filmmakers, and musicians of a punk subculture.

Fast forward three-and-a-half decades. Now, two months since the release of its new album, So It Goes, Ratking, the uptown trio, is managing to reintroduce No Wave to the downtown world of NYC, but this time through the lens of hip-hop. The group is making waves in the music industry, appearing on a recent cover of Fader, working with sound engineers like Young Guru (Jay-Z’s engineer), and nailing a record deal from Hot Charity/XL Recording—also home to M.I.A., Jack White, Adele, and FKA twigs. The inventive trio seems to be striking a new chord in the rap scene on and off the Internet with an emphasis on embracing more left-field sounds of hip-hop. We met up with two of the group's members, Wiki and Sporting Life, to discuss the historical relevance of No Wave and how working in the hip-hop capital affects a rapper’s creative process.

KYLE WUKASCH: Where are you guys from in the city?
WIKI: Upper West Side
SPORTING LIFE: Washington Heights

Where did you get your monikers?
Wiki: Someone gave me the name when I was younger, so it naturally became a nickname. And kids just called me that.

No reference to Wikipedia or anything?
Wiki: It kind of is but it also takes on its own thing.
SL: He’s kind of like a dictionary because he's as smart as Wikipedia, and he loves history. [Laughs]

And Sporting Life?
SL: I'm really into sports: anything that has to do with the crossover between "sports" and "life," especially in music.

Your album, So It Goes, has a fairly stoic title. What inspired it?
Wiki: The idea came from Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, but it’s kind of like the music and hip-hop of New York City in general. This isn’t just now, but people have been like: "Hip-hop is dead," or "It’s not what it used to be.” So, all right, it’s dead, but this is what it is now. It still lives on what it was, but it’s nothing new.

You liken your music to No Wave. Is Ratking No Wave?
Wiki: No Wave is like a subculture, not a genre. There isn't one type of band that is a No Wave band. When it’s No Wave, you just know it reminds you of that time in NY.

Can you explain the connection between No Wave and hip-hop?
Wiki: No Wave was going on at the same time as hip-hop was and it was influenced by hip-hop. Hip-hop was another scene that would sometimes cross over into No Wave and influence the music. Even when we’re talking about Ratking, it was inspiring to think about how there was this No Wave thing going on downtown, while uptown hip-hop was going on. There was this parallel between the two which [made] putting them together something organic.
SL: Dudes who were great musicians were trying to put these things together. "I've got this weird, out-of-tune tape machine," or "I've got this weird-shaped, out-of-tune guitar." Busted drums, just [making] shit. That alone is inspiring.

So, they were making highly textured music that was simultaneously very experimental?
Wiki: Exactly. Taking turntables, creating effects, and then sampling obscur

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10 Non-Boring Ways To Wear A Button-Down

June 10, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Wear With All: OC-Exclusive Kenzo!

≪ Previous: Ratking: Hip-Hop With A Punk Edge

A man is only as noteworthy as he is well-dressed. And if a scrutinizing once-over starts from the top down, than your shirt is the most important piece of your ensemble. Contrary to popular belief, button-downs don't have to come in busy prints and bright colors to impress. From silky and sheer to subtly striped, we’ve rounded-up our favorite shirts that are simple but never boring. And yes, you can wear them all on their own: this is a blazer-free zone.

Shop all button-downs here

Paired with the brand's rebuilt Dickies shorts, SASQUATCHfabrix.’s COLLARLESS SHORT-SLEEVE SHIRT is your school uniform––only a million times better.

Raf Simons takes asymmetric color-blocking to a new level with this VERTICAL COLORBLOCK SHORT-SLEEVE SHIRT.

Strike a chord of fun and nostalgia when you mingle in the Mickey Mouse / Opening Ceremony Happy Steamboat Willie Shirt.

You know that middle ground between casual and dressy that's so hard to reach? Undecorated MAN has found the answer. Part denim, part tailored dress shirt, the Square Dungar Short-Sleeve Button-Down is perfect all day long.

Though simple at first glance, Kenzo's COTTON POPLIN SHIRT has a thrilling, contrasting band around the waist which modernizes the look.

Acne Studios' Isherwood Degrade Button-Down in green fuses two different washes of classic denim.

Incorporate an unexpected element of shimmer into your look with Sidian, Ersatz & Vanes' Silk Twill Classic Fit Long-Sleeve Shirt.

White noise was never so chic on screen as it is on Opening Ceremony's WHITE NOISE OVERSIZED POCKET SHIRT.

Band of Outsiders' CHUNKY STRIPED LONG-SLEEVE BUTTON-DOWN m

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Wear With All: OC-Exclusive Kenzo!

June 10, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Cool Dads: The Original William Okpo

≪ Previous: 10 Non-Boring Ways To Wear A Button-Down

Get all wound up in Kenzo this summer with its graphic collection of OC-exclusive crewnecks, T-shirts, and bi-fold wallets. From front to back, K-E-N-Z-O wraps around the torsos of these pieces (or in the case of the wallets, the folds) in vibrant, multi-striped letting. In addition to the bold iconography, each item in the series pays homage to the brand's hometown of Paris, which is suspended within the "O."

Shop OC-exclusive Kenzo HERE

OC-Web exclusive Kenzo Crewneck Sweatshirt in pink

OC-exclusive Kenzo Crewneck Sweatshirt in blue

OC-exclusive Kenzo Crewneck Sweatshirt in grey

OC-exclusive Kenzo T-Shirt in white

OC-exclusive Kenzo T-Shirt in light blue

OC-exclusive Kenzo T-Shirt in grey

OC-Web exclusive Kenzo Wallet in pink

OC-exclusive KENZO WALLET in blue

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Cool Dads: The Original William Okpo

June 10, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: The Art Of Lost & Founds

≪ Previous: Wear With All: OC-Exclusive Kenzo!

Dads truly are the original hipsters (and not just because of this TUMBLR). To celebrate June 15, we called on some of Opening Ceremony's favorite designers to interview their own fashionable fathers. This time around, Darlene and Lizzy Okpo interview their father who inspired their line, William Okpo.

"I always forget that our father’s name is a regular word now. We see hashtags on Instagram, hashtag William Okpo, hashtag William Okpo T-shirt," Lizzy Okpo says, as her sister Darlene, brother Chuck, father, mother, and niece lounge in their Staten Island living room .

Darlene and Lizzy Okpo, the youngest of four siblings and the designers behind OC-favorite William Okpo, named their line after their father, a meticulous dresser in his own right. "Growing up and seeing how much time he took on personal style, naming the line after him felt right," Darlene says. "There’s a stigma put on immigrants, but instead of being influenced on American culture, Americans are influenced by him."

The two sisters, and their brother, had a few questions for their style icon.

LIZZY: So, you grew up during the first half of your twenties in Nigeria. You moved at 26, right?
WILLIAM: Yes, I moved in 1976.

LIZZY: What was the fashion like back then?
WILLIAM: James Brown was the star at that time, with bell-bottom pants, and the shoes were disco, you know, with platforms. Very high. The city I grew up in was very fashionable, Aba. Everything was custom-made. You told the tailor exactly what you wanted.

LIZZY: Where did you find the fabrics?
WILLIAM: Most of them came from my father’s store; his business was trading for textiles. We looked at magazines, from France, Britain, and America, and we adapted that. We looked at pants, if [they were] straight, we put some flare to make [them] look different. It was like we were fashion designers ourselves. We wanted to be unique in what we wore, so people would look at us.

CHUCK: So you came here in '76. How was the fashion here different from Nigeria?
WILLIAM: People tended to run away from bright colors; [they were] too loud. You had to wear a color that was unique but neutral. So, here we tried to stay away from very loud colors.

DARLENE: Any items that you regret throwing away?
WILLIAM: When I came to New York I weighed 127 pounds. I used to go buy food every day, and this guy noticed me, and every time I went by to buy food he said, “Flaco, Flaco come!” I didn’t know what “flaco” was. One day I asked, "What does that mean?" He said, "It means skinny." I said from today onwards, I don’t want to hear that name again. So I got bigger, and my clothes got too small. Most of the clothes I came with, they were custom-made in Nigeria. I wore them for nine months, and I had to throw them away.

LIZZY: I remember you said you were living in Harlem at the time, and you were so broke, but you decided to buy a Lacoste item instead of paying rent.
WILLIAM: Yeah, that was too expensive at that time, but they were really well-known for their quality polos. When I came, I spent all my money on clothing and records, and sometimes I was behind on my rent. If I knew what I know now, there are so many things I wouldn’t have done. But, that is part of growing up. Sometimes you

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The Art Of Lost & Founds

June 10, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Forget School, Band Of Outsiders Is All Grown Up

≪ Previous: Cool Dads: The Original William Okpo

At The Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, a participatory art space, someone is looking for a missing pair of children’s pants. Someone else just lost their petition for divorce. Or maybe they left it on purpose.

Artists throughout history have seen potential in found objects: Kurt Schwitters used them in collages he called “Merz,” while Robert Rauschenberg used tires and taxidermies as materials in his 1960s combines. This year, Laura Quattrocchi opened “Lost Collection,” an exhibit consisting of lost items she gathered off New York City streets over the years––an attempt to find meaning in the flotsam of the modern world.

But what viewers of such work might not know is that they themselves often serve as co-curators for another type of exhibit: Lost and found boxes. Collections of personal items stripped of context, art museum losts and founds are often as paradoxically strange and beautiful, random and meaningful, as the art that surrounds them.

The treasures can be personal and even voyeuristic insights into the loser’s mind. “I had one person leave a notebook," Kim Schnaubert, the director of SCULPTURECENTER in NYC told us when we set out to investigate these collections. "You can sort of develop a little relationship based on your caring for a private piece of their thoughts.”

Other objects appear more random. Sad sunglasses, unloved umbrellas, solitary scarves, and orphaned outerwear are the most common los and found contents at SculptureCenter, depending on the season. But even ordinary objects seem to gain deeper meaning when in the context of a gallery, not unlike Duchamp's urinal.

Anything eye-catching? “There have been some pretty beautiful scarves,” she recounted. We asked what she thought that suggested about the museum clientele. “The people who are visiting SculptureCenter, based on lost scarves, are people who wear nice scarves. It’s an audience of people who select interesting scarves,” Schnaubert said.

Heather Hubbs is the director of the New Art Dealers Alliance, or NADA, a relatively new contemporary art fair that takes place in Miami (at the same time as Art Basel) and New York (in conjunction with Frieze). According to Hubbs, lost garments at NADA are “usually black.” Art fairs attract an artsy crowd.

And yet, the list of items adrift from their owners is sometimes little more than a catalogue of ordinary life: “Sunglasses, credit cards, sometimes a cellphone here and there, every now and then a garment of some sort, a jacket, a sweater.” Hubbs seemed almost disappointed. She sighed, “I wish I had something exciting, like finding a bag of cocaine, but no.”

At the Brooklyn Museum, a squeezy toy giraffe turned up as well as a bar of soap with a flower in it. “I don’t know why someone would take their soap out in a museum,” said Jessica Alpern Brown, who works in visitor services. Coat check clerks Valerie Vazquez and SarahDee Webber reported checking in a vacuum, goldfish, and “an apple with a bite taken out of it.” But the owners of these items all came back to retrieve them.

The Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow sent us the following list of the contents of its lost and found:

1. baby bottle
2. clown wig
3. children

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Forget School, Band Of Outsiders Is All Grown Up

June 11, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: First Look: OC Women's Resort & Men's SS15

≪ Previous: The Art Of Lost & Founds

We know—summer hasn't even begun, but we're already having you think towards fall. Leave it to designer Scott Sternberg to take that forward momentum and rework Band of Outsider's quintessential preppy schoolgirl look and polish it up for the working gal.

First, Sternberg reintroduced deep, alluring plaids; next, he included 9-to-5 sheaths for the office and relaxed casual sweaters to pair alongside, say, the slit ankle pant. And for the evening: a striped dress that harkens Varsity Blues and floral-embossed separates.

More, you say? The label is also dishing an array of button-downs (cropped, leaving room for a high-waist pant) and bisected knits with contrasting colors, like the striped raglan sweater. So, if you still feel the inkling to sneak back to the bleachers for that annual homecoming game, this is the collection for you.

Shop all Band of Outsiders here

Breton Striped Boatneck Dress in cobalt/white

Daisy Embroidered Short-Sleeve Blouse in black and Daisy Embroidered Skirt in black

Patchwork Short-Sleeve Dress in ivory/black

Silk Cashmere Shirttail Crewneck in navy

Cropped Contrast Stitch Boxy Shirt in white

Shirt Meets Tee in cobalt/white and Slit Ankle Pants in navy

Contrast Striped Raglan Sweater in multi color

Large Plaid Cropped Sleeve Shirt in green/mutli

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First Look: OC Women's Resort & Men's SS15

June 11, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Tipsy And Tan: The Handy Liquor Bar

≪ Previous: Forget School, Band Of Outsiders Is All Grown Up

For women's Resort and men's SS15 collections, the Opening Ceremony couple travels beyond the metropolis to an entirely different world: a tropical phantasmagoria dominated by hothouse florals and palm fronds in exaggerated dimensions. In other words, a perfectly arcadian vacation—but perhaps, set in the future.

Intrigued? Here, we talk to founder Humberto Leon about the inspiration behind the collections, which debuted earlier this morning at our flagship NYC store. And be sure to check out the behind-the-scenes photos, to the left!

JEANINE CELESTE PANG: At the core of this collection are these micro- and macro- oceanic elements, like the magnified anemone. What was the draw?
HUMBERTO LEON: It all stems from capturing a moment in motion. The idea of anemones is looking at things from a microscopic level and expanding on it—explosive and big—almost like water droplets on a photograph and how that magnifies. That was really one of the beginning ideas: water droplets on paper.

That probably inspired a lot of the rich texture in fabrics.
Yes, you'll see a lot of development in fabrics, from faux fur and jacquards to "wet" nylon-and-raffia and magnified brush strokes. And in the pleating, too—you'll see a cartridge detailing in the clothing and accessories that is exciting and new. We sought to enhance the feminine side of Opening Ceremony.

Can you talk a little more about the lean towards a feminine silhouette?
We wanted to make something that was really beautiful on the body, but still had the quirk of Opening Ceremony. You see wit and playfulness in the clothing, but we definitely wanted to have an essential women's wardrobe: tailored, flattering, and body-conscious.

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Tipsy And Tan: The Handy Liquor Bar

June 11, 2014, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Simon Says: 'The Youth You Want Is Inside You'

≪ Previous: First Look: OC Women's Resort & Men's SS15

In our #ThirstyThursday series, TIPSY AND TAN, we ask mixologists from New York City’s white-hot restaurants and bars to create OC-exclusive drinks for our readers. Drinking on the job? Don't mind if we do...

Decorated with photographs by Bob Gruen and adorned with an old-school grand piano perfect for live performances during its signature “Prohibition Hour,” The Handy Liquor Bar is the underground summer haunt to escape the busy streets of SoHo. So, in honor of the bar’s intimate and cozy interior, The Handy’s cocktail aficionado Elijah Servance III whipped up an "Orange Maple Old-Fashioned" with a bacon twist, straight from its upstairs neighbor Chalk Point Kitchen. And don't worry—there was plenty of pork-fat goodness left over for us to snack on after the shoot.

From behind the bar...

Name: Elijah Servance III

If this drink had a soundtrack, what would it be? "Use Me" by Bill Withers

Best place to get day drunk: 169 Bar on the Lower East Side. A bunch of firemen and cops go––it's a crazy mix of characters.

Hangover cure: The really big Vita Coco and a bacon, egg & cheese on a roll.

Your summer getaway: To get away from the noise, I love to going to Long Island even if it's just for a couple of hours.

Favorite summer tradition: I like a beach party with plastic cups, glass bottles in the bag...you know.

What are some red-light signs that someone’s been overserved? Aggression is the key thing. It doesn’t even have to be in a violent sense, but once they get matter-of-fact about everything they say and don’t let anybody else get a word in edgewise, that’s usually the first giveaway.

Are there any personality traits that are essential to a being a bartender? You've got to be open-minded. Everybody needs downtime, so you’re going to come across every single personality type. Obviously, some are going to be the kind of people you would never hang out with, but at the same time, you want a nice percentage of the money in their pocket… [Laughs]

Exclusive Recipe: Orange Maple Old-Fashioned

OC Alcohol Scale*: 8
"There's a lot of bourbon in there!"

.25 oz. maple syrup
.5 oz. orange juice (for extra flavor, use blood oranges)
3 oz. Woodford Reserve Bourbon
3 dashes of orange bitters
1 orange wedge
1 slice think-cut bacon

1. In a rocks glass, muddle maple syrup, orange bitters, and orange slice.
2. Add bourbon and ice.
3. Stir and garnish with an orange peel and bacon.

*OC's Alcohol Scale ranges from 1 ("like sippin' from a juice box") to 10 ("take me home—right now").

Photos by Jessica Chou

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