Welcome to Fashionation, an alternative fashion universe where
fashionistas, photographers and creatives can get their weekly fix of
the best fashion editorial from around world. Never before has the
world's best fashion editorials/photography converged in one great
central hub. Each day we scan the globe's top fashion magazines - from
every international edition of influential glossy bibles Vogue and
Harpers Bazaar, right through to obscure and cutting edge fashion and
pop culture tomes such as Pop, Marmalade, ID and Dutch to unearth the
most creative and inspiring work happening in the world right now. From
Moscow to the Netherlands, Bejing to Melbourne, New York to London and
Milan, Fashionation is searching the globe to deliver inspiration
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In addition to bringing you the hottest fashion editorial,
Fashionation will also cover the coolest offerings from fashion week
events around the world. We've also brought the best of the web's
street style blogs together into one place, providing a truly global
view of street style, city by city.
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The fluro/rainbow colour trend is still moving off the RTW catwalks and into accessories with a bang (or should we say a splash?). We're loving this Italian range watches, amusingly dubbed the "Toy Watch" which comes in blindingly bright selection of primary and fluro colours. So enamored are we that we're predicting that the Toy Watch could be the new Rayban Wayferer.
If its presence on the streets on London is anything to go by (it's on the wrist of every second hipster in West London), world domination can only be imminent. By Lisa Evans
Unlimited credits are in the offing for whoever brought the majestic Al Green together with producers ?uestlove and James Poyser. Green’s new album, ‘Lay It Down’, is the best cut of soul you’re likely to hear all year. With guest spots featuring Anthony Hamilton and John Legend this is one very modern album and an absolutely essential addition to your Al Green collection.
The other essential Al Green albums?! The Cool Hunter has you covered. Let’s Stay Together – 1972
No introduction needed, with a title track that stayed at number one in the US for nine consecutive weeks. The rest of the album may not have been chart-worthy, but it’s nevertheless just as strong.
The Belle Album – 1977
Expected at the time to be his last secular LP, Green produces himself and lets loose a cracking series of meditations from a man caught between the religious and the secular.
I’m Still In Love With You - 1972
Released at Christmas of 1972 this, the most slickly romantic of Green’s albums, begs to be busted out next to a roaring fireplace with only the most special of wine and women in accompaniment.
Gets Next To You – 1971
The template-setter for the early 70s Green albums, this sounds like tightly reigned wanton madness. Absolutely brilliant.
Call Me – 1973
Built on Willie Mitchell’s fastidious production, this is Green’s artistic zenith. A masterpiece that totally beguiles the listener. By Matt Shea.
If you’ve ever wondered what a kinetic ambient reflection membrane is and what it does, we’re about to show you. And if you already know, then you’re way ahead of the game. Check out this video and you’ll see the Flare façade acts as a building’s skin, and computer generation controls movement of a number of metal flake components.
The system is modular and each flake can be programmed to tilt toward
or away from the sun – reflecting light off it’s surface and creating
movement in infinite patterns across the surface of a building thereby
allowing the façade to interact with its surroundings. We wonder if
this could be the beginning of a new direction for photovoltaic panels?
By Andrew J Wiener
It is risky to try to express luxury for an 18-28-year-old, wealthy male audience — and not turn them totally off. Rafael de Cardenas of New York’s Architecture at Large took on this challenge with the rebuilding of Ubiq Philadelphia, the destination of choice for sneakerheads from far and wide.
As sneakers and streetwear do not lend themselves all that well to wine-colored velvet or chandeliers, de Cardenas approached the redesign of the large store with a cold and bold, simplified black-and-white palette. Hard, black-lacquered surfaces, op-inspired patterns, harsh lighting and simplified displays mix with beautiful detailing and white ceilings and floors.
Thrown into the mix is a posh back room, where streetwear is displayed in a traditional gentlemen’s tailor room complete with dark-wood panels, antique furnishings, restored Victorian plasterwork and a magnificent, restored mahogany fireplace. It is all a nice fusion of mansion and showroom, inviting and cold, pared-down and rich. With his approach, de Cardenas has managed to teeter in the wobbly middle-space between the reassuring ‘you can tell this is expensive, can’t you?’ and the nonchalant ‘I don’t really care.’
The entire store is up about a meter from street level, so you can be assured that you are seen, day or night, on display, shopping for your latest pair of Clae, Stussy Deluxe, Vans Vault, Original Fake, UMBRO by Kim Jones and many others. Apparently, rap artist Kanye West has shopped there, so it should be good to go for the rest. By Tuija Seipell
We’re constantly in awe of the incredible ideas coming out of the world of retail and hospitality interior design. Over the last few years we’ve seen an influx of creative new minds enter the field who are redefining the concept and making their own rules. The latest inspiring example of innovative interior commercial design is the new Maedaya Grill & Sake bar in Melbourne, created by local design firm, Architects Eat. The sushi restaurant’s interior, mostly “bound” by ropes, demonstrates the possibility of using ordinary recyclable material for hospitality projects without compromising sophistication.
The rope idea originated from the classic design of sake bottles, which are traditionally secured with ropes. The principal materials for this project are Manila ropes, timber and concrete, all reflecting natural elements such as vegetation and earth.
EAT took a different path with the first-floor function room, which is in stark contrast with the ground-floor “rope” room. Here they have created a modern, minimalist space with white-washed walls, Japanese black-stained timber flooring, simple timber benches and raw stainless steel canopies. By Lisa Evans.
Mark our words: skinny legs are on their way out. Hard to believe, we know, given that every hipster from Hobart to Helsinki is sporting licorice legs right now but the tide is slowly turning, thanks to the world's top designers who have decided that they've had enough of the look. Enter Prada, who are still setting global trends and leading the way in true fashion innovation, despite being a global mega brand (which usually spells one thing: boring). The brilliant fashion house is on a mission to bring back seriously voluminous "flares," but with a fabulous signature quirky Prada twist in the form of lavish fabrication and intricate prints. Not for the faint-fashion hearted.
Still with Prada, parts of their beautiful new shoe collection look as if they have slipped straight out of a Salvador Dali painting or some other strange alternative universe where there are no design rules. We love the decorative heels, which look more like pieces of grand, hand-carved furniture than a pair of pumps. They're almost too good to wear. By Lisa Evans
Not so long ago, you didn’t even know the sex of your baby until
the day of birth. Today, we’ll know just about everything there is to
know -- especially now that expectant mommies and daddies can gaze upon
their progeny with the help of Echographic images 4-D. Apparently,
these are the best medical images available. Echographic imagery is not
new, but it has not been widely used for this purpose. For the
old-fashioned among us, who feel that emailing even ultrasound images
of your baby to everyone is intrusive and somewhat disturbing, this is
bad idea. And one might wonder if we shouldn’t be concerned about
interfering with the baby’s scarce months of peace and quiet before
he/she must face our noisy, over-lit world. Add to this our impulsive
need to share every single moment of our rather uninteresting lives
with the rest of the universe, this could become rather tiresome.
However, once the Genie is out of the lamp, there’s no stuffing him
back. So, expect to see images and video of unborn babies all over your
desktop soon. By Tuija Seipell.
Collaborations are the way forward now in a rapidly changing fashion
landscape. Everyone from high-street retailers right through to smaller,
niche labels are collaborating with interesting creatives from all
disciplines in an effort to bring a bit of true individuality,
exclusivity and authenticity back into fashion.
French label Surface 2 Air Paris has taken a unique approach to the concept by collaborating with cult French dance music outfit Justice
to produce a mini collection. Epitomizing the personal style of Justice
members, the collection includes 2 worn-in biker-style leather jackets,
which are fitted to the body, in keeping with the “super-skinny”
silhouette still favoured by most hipsters around the world. Jeans are
also part of the collection, which, you guessed it….are super skinny.
The result is a hot look but one that requires the long-term abstinence
from traditional French staples - cheese and croissants. Ah…what we
do for fashion. By Lisa Evans
From Berlin Germany, Metrofarm Studio has produced a number of stunning, custom built DJ Desks. Having released a concrete DJ table a couple of years back, the new desks, in folded stainless steel and wood painted black and neon orange demand attention. But they're not just for finely tuned vinyl slingers looking for the perfect ergonomic ratios to heighten their musical flow. They're for anybody with a musical mind and an eye for detail, looking to add spark to a lounge room, club or gallery. It's art for the DJ's sake. By Nick Christie
Brooklyn quartet Yeasayer’s music is a concoction of indie rock and worldbeat that should probably come off as stilted and manufactured but the band instead, like a pack of hip-shooting alchemists, mesh these genres together in experiments that pay off brilliantly.
Guitars, sitars, mandolins, bongos, cowbells, and fretless bass are all run through with driving synthesisers, while ceaselessly harmonising vocals tend to stay deep in the mixes, adding to the ethereal quality of their music.
Obvious touchstones David Byrne and Peter Gabriel would be proud to turn out music as brilliant and thoroughly engaging as this.
Mergers, acquisitions, transfer of power and takeovers are happening all around us nearly on a daily basis. The approach many companies take in a time of transition when figuring out how to seamlessly integrate a new vision into an old work environment, can present a challenge.
The Virgin Media Group brought in Household Designs to re-brand over 50 buildings from Head Office to call centres throughout the UK – 150 of which had active employees. Because the average age of the Virgin Call Centre employee was 23, the design team named the new work environment ‘Our Neighbourhood’ in attempt to shift workers’ thinking from ‘them’ to ‘us.’
Primary consideration was directed at the staff’s behaviour in the space. No longer can it be acceptable to just pick a colour or a theme and apply it haphazardly into a space, which is why the Virgin Call Centres are not overly branded with oversized Vs and bright red walls. That’s not to say the spaces are boring – on the contrary, Household strived to integrate humour into the design – and they focused on underused areas of the former office – communal spaces including reception, canteen, break rooms, meeting rooms and spaces in between such as lifts, corridors and stairs. All these spaces were designed with the intention of maximising the staff’s life at work and to encourage workers to feel comfortable interacting with one another through the use of animal silhouette wallpaper, chalkboards, ‘dating car park spaces’ and more.
And across the pond at the Virgin Mobile USA (pictured above) the design team at Gensler brought similar whimsical elements to the work environments. Environmental graphics, bold textures and patterns combine to create a youthful and vibrant work environment characteristic of the Virgin brand. By Andrew J Wiener
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