”I just want to create something that perhaps enhances your daily life and surroundings.” This is what you said about Bodega, do you feel like Cast of Vices is another way of doing this?

I’d like to think that Cast of Vices is sharing a vernacular with Warhol’s Soupcan or Koon’s Inflatibles. We are giving our own point of view on objects that have permeated our society and had a huge impact on it with out us even acknowledging it. Bodega is about enhancing your surroundings; I think Cast of Vices is more about calling attention to what we may be sweeping under the rug.

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You may have noticed that here at slamxhype we are heavily influenced by the Beat movement which included writers like Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs, so we were incredibly excited to hear about “Howl”, the new biopic of leading Beat poet Allen Ginsberg.

The movie, which will kick off this year’s Sundance Film Festival, is named after the writer’s best known work, an epic and freeform poem in four parts, Howl, and focuses on the obscenity trial which followed its publication in the mid 50s for it’s fiercely provocative examination of race, drugs, mental illness, religion and sexuality.

Directed by documentary makers Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein, the movie is based on indepth research and interviews with Ginsberg’s friends and acquaintances.  Originally intended to be a straight documentary the directors eventually decided to create a dramatised account of the the first ever reading of the poem (to an audience which included Jack Kerouac) at the Six Gallery, San Francisco in 1955 and the subsequent trial in 1957, with stars James Franco (as Ginsberg) Jeff Daniels and Jon Hamm (of Ad Men), and intercut it with an actual recording of Ginsberg’s 1955 performance over trippy animated sequences created by illustrator, and Former Ginsberg collaborator, Eric Drooker.

There have been several attempts to document the Beat movement in movie and documentary form, but none have been truly succesful, it remains to be seen if this is the film to do it, but Ginsberg’s turbulent personal life and the furor that his poem created means this will be be a fascinating film regardless.

It premiers at the Sundance film festival on the 21st January, and will hopefully be released globally shortly afterwards.

Here Allen Ginsberg read “Howl” in the video below.

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German based Sennheiser is known for their high end microphones, earphones, and other similar accessories. For the 980-range Sennheiser has commissioned Sonny Lim of BMW Designworks to design this sleek looking series. Hopefully they sound as great as they look! These are now available at Sennheiser stockists around the world.

Source: Superfuture

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Margaret Howell Plus continues to see the label incorporate some of the most interesting names in fashion. To begin 2010 Kenneth Grange has provided an interesting outlet as the designer has a very fascinating background. The outcome is a clean, crisp shirt which reflects each entities approach to the project and one that will be availble from March at Margaret Howell flagship stores and online at margarethowell.co.uk.

Margaret Howell Statement

Good design, like good film music often goes unnoticed. It can seem so natural, so right, that we take it for granted – until we take the trouble to look, touch or listen.
What happens when a designer who excels in one area is asked to work in another?
We decided to find out by inviting industrial designer Kenneth Grange to collaborate with us to produce a shirt. We are known for our shirts so we thought this would be interesting and hopefully fun.
You may not have heard of Kenneth Grange, but he helped to shape the world we live in. If you’ve travelled by Intercity train or black cab, used a Kenwood mixer or read by the light of an Anglepoise lamp, this British designer has touched your life.
Margaret Howell – the person and the company – began by making shirts in 1972 with twelve machinists. Each machinist was responsible for every stage of the process. Today this care and attention is still given to shirt production in our Edmonton workshop.
“For me this project has been challenging because, instead of being in total control of my own design, I’ve had to work out someone else’s requirements and ideas, while satisfying my own aesthetic – not easy. Yet this is something Kenneth Grange routinely does in the field of industrial design throughout his long, versatile and successful career.”
- Margaret Howell
“At 80 new commissions come through the door more rarely. So when Margaret calls to suggest the collaboration my heart lifts. And even more is the treat when, ignoring the suit I made myself at art school, this would be first sally into her world.
Only to find that our worlds are surprisingly alike. It is in the details, as Mies van der Rohe said, that God lives.”
- Kenneth Grange

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Name: Glenn Kitson

Location: Currently at the 6876 studio, Russell Square, London.

What’s 2010 going to be about for you? I want to build on the work I did in 2009, develop the Rig Out into a fully fledged magazine. Continue more of the creative side of my work, styling, art direction etc. Hopefully, earn a living and enjoy myself of course!

What are the worst trends in menswear today? Jeggings, UGG Boots on men (or women), sloppy beanie hats. I could go on, believe it or not the UK is a breeding ground for some of the most shocking fashion trends known to mankind. I see a lot of ‘fast fashion’, its as unhealthy as fast food. Style not fashion, please.

Whats the best thing to come out of 2009 menswear trends? Having said that in my previous answer, 2009 continued the trend of more men taking an interest in what they are wearing. Someone else used the term ‘renaissance in classic menswear’ which pretty much sums things up. Its a good thing.

What’s the must have item for any man in 2010? I think we will see a shift to a more technical look towards the end of the year. A gradual move away from the classic almost heritage styling of the past couple of years to a more subdued colour palette, hidden subtle details and performance fabrics. But then again, I could be completely wrong!

What’s your favourite thing about where you live? I live in Bournemouth, a seaside town on the south coast of England. Its 10 minutes walk to the beach and a short drive out to the Forest. Wonderful. Sea air and pine. Its a great place to raise my daughter.

What are you reading? Currently, I am reading Homicide by David Simon (creator of The Wire),

What’s the next film you’ll watch? I’ve still not seen Inglorious Basterds…..

Your favourite store in your city? Although I live down south, my heart is still back home so I would have to say Oi Polloi in Manchester. They move into their new premises next month and I am quite excited to see how they do. Over the years they have matured with their customer but not to the extent where they alienate them. Those guys go about things the right way, hence a lot of other shops in the UK copying them. I wish them all the best.

Whats the best thing to come out of Blog Culture? The best thing I can think of is the way it has created a global online culture, people from all over the world into similar things, getting together and talking about it. Its also given the consumer a greater level of sophistication and helped develop more of a dialogue between them and the brands. God, I sound like a PR drone…..

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Follow SLAMXHYPE on Twitter and Retweet this story to be in with a chance to win your size in Flat Head’s Mini Herringbone Western Light Black Long Sleeve Shirt from Self Edge.

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One of the most important deigners in both contemporary streetwear and British coture is Dame Vivienne Westwood.  In the late 70s along with then husband Malcom McLaren and artist Jamie Reid they created the main aesthetic for the , Punk movement which has endured to this day  and heavily influenced the urban streetwear fashion scene as we know it.

Her influence doesn’t end there however she was also instrumental in creating the flamboyant New Romantic style (the next UK great street style to emerge after Punk), helped launch the career of some of the biggest names in British fashion, been a significant influencer in bringing art and fashion together and even played an important part in the story of “Sex and the Ciy”.  One of the most succesful fashion designers to emerge from the UK she has been honored with both a retrospective of her work at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and being declared both an OBE and Dame of the British Empire.

Her influence continues to this day with her couture pieces which are amongst the most sought after designs in fashion, and her hugely successful Anglomania diffusion line.  Although she recently admitted that she has little to do with her diffusion lines her influence runs strong throughout them,   Anglomania takes the spirit of her punk and romantic designs and makes them more palatable for a contemporary consumer, its flagship store is even based in the former Sex/Seditionaires shop on the King’s Road in London which spawned the Sex Pistols and Punk.

Her latest advance into mainstream fashion is a collaboration between Anglomania and heritage jeans brand Lee.  Set to launch for Fall/Winter 2010 it will include bondage and skinny jeans for men with washes that will run from indigo denim to metallic gold, and copper-colored denim.  Certainly sounds intersting, although the jury will be out until we get a closer look at the collection.  We will hopefully be able to share some images of the garments with you soon.

Source: Selectism

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Dr. Martens  have just announced these limited edition versions of their iconic 8-hole Boot and 3-hole Shoe with red contrast stitching and laces.

This is a pretty bizarre move for the British brand as in skinhead culture red laces are commonly recognised as a signifier of far-right association and neo-nazi membership.  Dr Martens are an intrinsic part of the culture, and its strong part of the brand’s own heriatge and icon status, so they will be fully aware of this symbolism.

Skinhead as a youth movement started in the UK in the 60s as a rougher, more masculine take on the mods, with a heavy influence from Jamaican rude boys.  Primarily focused around clothes, reggae music, drinking and violence it quickly grew to become the sub-culture of choice for young working class men in Britain. Originally Skinhead had no political overtones at all, these young white guys idolised their black rude boy idols and it saw many black and white kids in the UK bond for the first time, but at some point in the 70s this changed with the culture fragmenting into many different sub-cultures with different belief systems (original skins, far-right, gay, communists, punk…).

Fastidious about clothes and how they were worn – Levi’s 501s and Sta-Prests, Ben Sherman shirts, Fred Perry polos, Crombie overcoats, Baracuta Harringtons, Alpha MA1s, Dr Martens, Church’s brogues – the look and brands came to define the culture.  With all different types of skins effectively wearing the same uniform the easiest way to define your allegiance was through the colour of your laces.  Its its a culture that has slipped from the mainstream, but one that has endured and gone global, and whilst its one with many positive traits (e.g. it created the foundations for street culture as we know it today), it also sadly has many negative connotations too.

Perhaps this is Dr Martens trying to reclaim their brand from the negative aspects of skinhead, or perhaps its just an oversight.  We have seem some ill conceived attempts by brands recently to flirt with Nazi imagery and I would most certainly hope its not an attempt at that.

Available soon through select Dr. Martens stockists. Retail for the boots is set at ¥22,890 (Approx. $249 USD), while the shoes retail for ¥19,740 (Approx. $215 USD).

Source: warpweb

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What were you doing prior to Wood Wood? Have you always worked in the field of design, or around fashion in general?
When I was still in design school, my girlfriend Lotte got a job in Paris at Martine Sitbon, wich was at the time a really cool house. I never really bothered with fashion but as we moved to Paris I really got interested in the scene. We have really learned so many things about the fashion side from Lotte, and she’s currently working on our line for women, as well as being the design coordinator.

Tell us a bit about the concept and philosophy of Wood Wood?
To be active, efficient, moving, living, daring, dreaming and loving.

Is it intimidating to delve into the fashion market as an independent label? I mean, it’s a huge investment and a labour of love, so does it cause worry when so much effort is put into a project?
This is our life, we’ve worked on it non-stop for 5 years; its who we are. In the beginning I didn’t worry about anything, but as we’ve grown I can see that the shit we’ve built creates obligations, not only to our supporters, but also to our beloved crew who is the force in all this. Last time i counted, we were 30 people at the company “ hyttetur” weekend. When you listen to your staff and they’re talking about “us” when they describe the company and they’re placing themselves as a part of the Wood Wood identity, you realise it’s not your solo show anymore. Brian and I are extremely aware of this, and its very inspiring and motivating to move faster and think bigger when the group is tied together like that. We’re convinced this is still a good idea, and that’s what keeps us doing it. The result will follow.

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Despite the established popularity of social media, many big brands have struggled to integrate themselves into the online culture in a relevant and genuine way.  Surprisingly one of the first mainstream fashion brands to do this with any real success has been the traditional British brand Burberry with their “Art of the Trench” campaign.

Designed to re-invigorate the interest of a younger and hipper audience in Burberry and in particular their iconic trench coat they invited online users to submit images and opinions on the brand’s range of trench coats through the site Artofthetrench.com – which features images of people wearing different designs of the coat. Users can navigate through them by altering the criteria, which includes gender, weather and popularity. Additional features of the site include a history of the Burberry trench coat, which dates back to 1910, with images and press cuttings from the time.

Sounds pretty boring so far… however Burberry had the foresight to work with Scott Schuman AKA The Satorialist  to take the first 100 pictures on the site, a smart move that truly engaged the online fashion and blogging community.  Its not a one off either as Burberry have already said they plan to work with more well known photographers and bloggers on this project in the future.

Scott created a video for the site where he discusses the project and his approach to it.

So far it seems to be working for Burberry, the “Art of the Trench” site got over 200,000 users in its first week with over 3 million page views, good news and hopefully one that will see other brands become more adventurous and creative with how they use the internet.

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We have been aware for some time that Dr Romanelli has been working on a project based on Jim Henson’s legendary kid’s TV show “Fraggle Rock”, but other than knowing that it will involve some kind of collaboration with Carri Munden of Cassette Playa we didn’t really understand that much about it.  However, today Collete have shared the first fruit of this project, a toy figure based on the show’s popular Doozer characters that featured heavily in the online preview.  I loved this show as a child so with clothing, stuffed animals by Manhattan Toys and handmade collector’s items promised let’s hope that there is lots more to come.

Source: Colette

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I could see James and he showed me how to deal with it. So I can blog more and have more idea and stuffs.

Until this point, I was blogging photo I took on days. I hope you all are enjoying.

I will keep doing it and maybe try to post some interesting stories eventury.

My English is not quite right or proper like this. Excuse me about it. I am trying tho.

Thank you, James!!!

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The last time we talked to you about The Thousands was in August, back before it even had a name! Now, with less than a week to go, RJ from Vandalog is hard at work putting the final touches on the show, which will feature mostly privately owned work from Os Gemeos, Banksy, Barry McGee, Know Hope, KAWS, Swoon, Chris Stain, Herakut, Shepard Fairey, Faile and more.

The Thousands, which opens on November 18th at Village Underground in London, has also been documented in a fantastic book entitled The Thousands: Painting Outside, Breaking In. Order your copy from Drago.

RJ gave us an exclusive look at this awesome Barry McGee for the show – Untitled 2, 2008, Installation of 11 Elements, Acrylic on Wood Panels, 123×96cm, Courtesy of Barry McGee via CircleCulture Gallery. Check out some more sneak peeks below, then make sure to see it all in person if you can next week!

Know Hope

Chris Stain

Faile

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Aakash Nihalani and Know Hope brighten up the streets of Vienna during the Blk River Festival.

If you look really closely, you can make out Know Hope’s little paper raindrops falling from the hole in Aakash’s top square.

Clever remix of a classic Banksy image.

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