this blog is a visual notebook of inspirations for a group of bandit bloggers. we post things we see and like. our lives don’t revolve around singular topics and neither does our blog. sorry! nothing is in-or-out of context here. enjoy xx
tavi and the original once upon a time style rookie turned hollywood chloe sevigny
geez… they just couldn’t let the little girl be, they had to take her over and consume her entire being with some gravy. the covers of brit pop wasn’t enough. the little girl that we loved who once “sat inside all day wearing awkward jackets and pretty hats. Scattered black petals on Rei Kawakubo’s doorsteps and serenaded her in rap. who had no where near 4 million readers. Rather cynical and cute as a drained rat...” seems to be going out a bit now days… we hope shes still happy and smart enough to keep them at an arms length… never forget darling: being distant will always give you a better view of the pray ; ) by dd
not to shoot down hermes or anything… just a pic from our friends at “it’s very hip”. this image stood out for me, a throw back into the days of john zorn and super 8 but reverse engineered, if you know what I mean. p.s. guns generally suck in our opinion, of course unless they’re made by nikon.by dd
leica has announced a very special limited edition of its classic 35mm rangefinder system camera: the leica M7 edition hermès. these are off course very limited edition and for most of us we will have to do with just this picture. but just so you know, it comes in silver chrome with a choice of toe calfskin leather finishes, either orange and étoupe obviously supplied by hermès. go ahead – drool! by kv
LAMOCA presents a “performance” by artist francesco vezzoli featuring lady gaga. as far as i’m concerned, vezzoli is to art what gaga is to music… so once again, i guess we haven’t missed much by not being in LA. by pp’
after the che, frida, johnny cash and so on, it’s now serge gainsbourg’s life to be on screen. it’s been a while since i first heard of this movie, and it eventually hit the screens these days. as you can guess, every serge fan can be skeptical about such a thing, and i recently heard an interview of jane birkin saying she was uncomfortable about it, so i really don’t know what to think of it. i’ll check it for sure with my repetto’s on!by pp
first i have to ask myself this: why even bother with a post on lady gaga? well the answer must be the same as george mallory’s when asked why he climbed mount everest, “because it’s there.” well maybe i’m giving her too much credit, but lady gaga is indeed hard to miss. i suppose that’s an achievement by itself these days, to be famous for no particular reason… at least gaga is doing something. even paris hilton ‘respects’ her (now THAT… means something). but what is this “something”? for me, it’s the holy and unholy mixture in this calculated cocktail that is scary. the mixture of things i love and the things i passionately hate all mangled into one. almost impossible to decipher. a hot dog made out of culture. it sure has fooled a lot of people but here’s why…
calculated bottom-rack pop–candy coated with a shiny facade of top-shop art:
active ingredients: tear off a page from a matthew barney catalog (it’s ok to be weird, just soften barney a bit so it’s digestible) + chop some vito acconci (be sure to wash and disinfect all grit) + a dash of warhol (the bit everyone knows about will do fine) + artificially colored dark lyrics (just dark enough, but not too dark) blend with inactive ingredients: blatant commercialism (feel free to put madonna to shame, get four brands to sponsor the same video, why just one) + perfect USDA supermarket approved pop vocals (so middle management and cab drivers alike can get into the groove) + emulate michael jackson’s moves, again (as best as you can. no need to try hard, no one will know) + grate five crates of marketing spin-masters + top with colorless, tasteless, water soluble shiny gelatin. enjoy.by dd
was never a ‘huge’ fan of sante’s work, but that said, this book looks rather promising. hand written notes and outtakes fill the 300 pages of this new release. a second volume of photo-diary-scrapbook, covering 1997 to 2008 with an author credit by ed ruscha, including subjects such as: kate moss, naomi campbell, claudia schiffer, diane kruger, tricia helfer, stephanie seymour, liz hurley, jay-z, mickey rourke, angelina jolie, christina aguilera, pam anderson, keith richards, axl rose, damien hirst, julian schnabel and many more. a bargain at $39.99 available at taschen.by kl
waris at the pierre hotel in new york for his new book “to india with love”
natalie portman, waris whluwalia
james ivory page from the book to india with love
photographer karen collins, kimberley norcott
aslaug magnusdottir, president of house of waris with ucef hanjani
my favorite room at the pierre where salvador dali spend days chasing the mocked up clouds
author tina bhojwani, president and CEO of louis vuitton daniel lalonde, designer/author waris ahluwalia and author mortimer signer
since the crash of the economy it seems like we are all attending more parties rather than pulling late nighters. that, i assume, is the silver lining in all of this. the good news is that not all parties are just to wine-and-dine new yorks newest most-needy-class. this was waris’ week. this shindig, at the newly re-opened pierre hotel (owned previously by the 4 seasons group) had something substantial behind it, an effort to remind us of not only the beauty of india, but to support the victims of mumbai’s 2008 terrorist attack.
the book is filled with memories and photographs of contributors like silvia fendi, elizabeth hurley, natalie portman, owen wilson and the like from their past visits to india. owen wilsons photo taken by his mom was one that stood out for me. unfortunately the book, published by respected publisher assouline, was rather disappointing for its lack of attention to detail and their hack-saw compositions. the love put in by waris and the gang somehow did not translate into the assouline’s team. that said, i personally bought 2 books and highly recommend a copy as the proceeds will go directly to the victims of the attack. hard cover $49.95
contributors include: Adrien Brody, Kenneth Cole, Silvia Fendi, Diane von Furstenberg, Elizabeth Hurley, Evelyn Lauder, Natalie Portman, Rachel Roy, Owen Wilson, and Matthew Williamson, among others. to learn more mumbai: we got your back.by dd
i don’t know why but im really into easy-breezy cover-girl mode (sorry j, i’m stealing your line here) and loving these nike tennis-classic Vs in white and grey. the lack of color, and the simple shape accented by the velcro is the easy look i need with comfy jeans and a thick sweater. i know they look like the ones i already have and posted earlier this year, but against everyone’s wishes, i still like them new and white. available at mita sneakers ¥ 7,870 (approx $90 USD).by dd
standard banana plugs (fine- but the pink cables are questionable. surely you can plug some kimber PBG’s and hotwire it on your own)
tripath amplifier made of stainless steel sheet metal, with a cast iron base and paulownia volume slider, toggle switch. beautiful!!
no word on the quality of sound since this has not hit the market as of yet, but just from its construction and material it will surely sound better than any consumer end product and it obviously looks great. once we audit this we will post another. in the meantime here’s a few specs from the designer/manufacturer joey roth:
“the ceramic speakers are made from porcelain, cork, and baltic birch. each material is minimally finished, left to add its natural beauty to the design. the included amplifier is made from stainless steel sheet metal, with a cast iron base and paulownia volume slider. aside from the electronic components, plastic is completely avoided in the system’s construction. typical speakers are designed to play even the most compressed or poorly recorded track. they gloss over the details that give high-resolution music its depth. the ceramic speakers’ custom-made drivers, porcelain and cork enclosures, and tripath amplifier reveal every nuance. they will show the difference between lossless and mp3 files, and will unlock vinyl’s richness.” available december 2009 priced under $500by pp + dd
a visual collective outlet of inspiration
