The Society Of The Spectacle

I Just recently came back from second trip to New York in the last three months. Each trip has been memorable for many things, but this one really was truly magical. Apart from being privelidged to go and see LCD Soundsystem at Madison Square Garden, I also got to see some fabulous films, art and culture, that, certianly in regards to the latter, was as qunitessential to the New York experience as you could imagine.

Of the films I saw, one stood out above all others. A documentary recommended to me on the life, career, and unique New York character that is Bill Cunningham.

In Bill Cunningham; New York We discover the world of the man who, for more than 30 odd years, has worked for the New York Times as the photographer of ‘On The Street’. His weekly round-up of what the ordinary and extraordinary New Yorkers are wearing. The page these days is considered the template for the huge growth of street photography embodied by The Sartorialist, Jak & Jil, Facehunter and many more. His style, quick snatched imagery (while roaming the streets on his 28th bike – the other 27 stolen over the course of that career) has captured a city in constant style evolution. His eye for detail, honed through a career in fashion dating back to the 1950′s, is egalitarian, but treasured by the ultimate power brokers of fashion. So much so that in fact, that he is awarded the highest cultural honor in France (the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) in the final third of the film.

He was responsible for almost all the photography in the upstart DETAILS Magazine, which chronicled the off kilter styles of the 1980′s Downtown scene in glorious detail. Yet, he is also the photographer of choice for the uptown party scene, (His ‘Evening Hours’ page in the New York Times) and the mail deluge of invites to fundraisers from the moneyed doyens of Park Avenue and Republican high fliers never ceases.

This chameleon like nature, only deepened once the film exposed Bill’s lifestyle beyond the camera. If you could call it that, as such was the dedication to capturing fashion in all it’s myriad forms that it had consumed him, and as the viewer, you are left with this confusing sense of whether this is how he wanted it to be, or how it was forced upon him by outside influences that he felt beyond his control (the religious aspect of his character seems to point to this way for me)

The climatic scenes of the documentary are amazingly raw and touching. I won’t spoil it, because if there is one documentary that you should try and see this year, then this would be it.

As far as I know, it doesn’t have a UK release date (it does feel like a film made by New Yorkers for New Yorkers to be fair) but keep checking, as it’s worth the effort.

Trailer below.

Beautifully low key film from Intel profiling The Sartorialist (Aka Scott Schuman) on the streets of New York. The film (wonderfully shot by director Tyler Manson) is both a fascinating behind the scenes of Scott at work, as well as study in observation and dedication, and a mood that captures both the city and the idea perfectly. It’s also quite understated from Intel’s point of view. Will be following this one with interest if the rest of the films are of similar quality.

A superb idea from Footlocker. (If of course, you ignore Crooked Tongues, Sneaker Freak et al) A community of sneaker heads are being invited to become the Beta team for a new initiative in cataloging and archiving the dense world of Sneakerdom. Sneakerpedia. The video gives you all the deets, what’s really interesting is the search capabilities, getting right into the details that make sneaker fandom a true subculture, while making the platform easier for the masses to engage with the community. It will also be interesting to see if the backing of Footlocker will attract the hardcore sneaker cognoscenti that will power this platform, or repel them. It sure is an interesting experiment. Follow this.

via Made By Many &  Never Get Out Of The Boat

Check this lovely film out from Cool Hunting, on the collaboration between GQ’s ‘American Designer of the Year’  Billy Reid, and Levi’s. Levi’s has really got it’s groove back the last few years, with some great collaborations from such luminaries as Opening Ceremony, and the brilliantly executed ‘Go Forth’ Campaign from W+K NY. (More on this in the next few days) , but this is really special, it illustrates perfectly the value of history to a brand. Most brands don’t have a tenth of the heritage that Levi’s has, which is why it baffled me that for so many years Levis seemingly ran away from their heritage in a race to the middle ground. Levi’s journey back to relevancy has been helped by a return to more authentic brands and style (certainly within Menswear), but, however long the journey has been, it’s one that I’m overjoyed that Levi’s have made. This collaboration, (which is reasonably priced as well), is a brilliant enscapsulation of that journey. It’s so good, I just bought the denim shirt that takes pride of place in the video. Check it out at Bloomingdales.com

Missoni have released their new F/W ’10 collection video, it’s of particular interest more for the director at the helm. One Kenneth Anger. Anger has a unique and some would say disturbing visual style, which has it’s routes back in his disturbing psychedelic masterpieces Scorpio & Lucifer Rising. For an 83 year old man, it’s a pretty awesome feet, and thet really bring a unique mood to the clothes. Check it out.

I was delving back into the archives of the Sartorialist yesterday, and found Scott’s and Garance’s breakdown of the launch of Reed Krakoff’s debut collection at New York Fashion week, way back in February. Now I know some people who work for the brand (an offshoot of the mighty Coach brand), and was interested to how this collection was received. The consensus seems to be very well indeed! A little bit more digging led me to this video on Style.com, which is a collaboration between the filmmaker Steven Sebring and Mr Krakoff himself. It reminded me alot of The Selby collaboration with Louis Vuitton that I blogged about last month, well made, insightful, and a great way of establishing interest and insight into the brand. Take a look.

With the ongoing success of Marvel and DC’s characters in the movie theaters, it’s no surprise that the comic book genre is very rapdily moving into some unexpected, and quite fun creative areas. One of these is a recent collaboration between those curators of all thing cool Colette and DC Comics. Overall it’s a great collaboration, with something for everyone, from simple t-shirts reprinting classic DC Covers from Batman to the Green Lantern (and a snazzy, but crazily expensive Balmain T-shirt) to a few more bizarre, but super cool products. Check out a couple of faves after the jump. The entire collection is available on Colette.fr (Via Worlds Best Ever)
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