Eugene Rabkin is the founder of stylezeitgeist.com. He has contributed articles on fashion and culture to The Business of Fashion, Vogue Russia, Buro247, the Haaretz Daily Newspaper, and other publications. He has taught critical writing and fashion writing courses at Parsons the New School for Design.

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Take My Picture!

FashionLeave a comment

One early evening this January I was walking to a Thom Browne show in New York’s West Chelsea neighborhood, chatting with the Italian fashion journalist Angelo Flaccavento, when a commotion broke out right in front of us. We were forced to slow down as Michelle Harper, a street style bait known for nothing in particular except wearing outré outfits at fashion shows, sprung seemingly out of nowhere, decked out in the latest Browne couture-like outfit, street style photographers pouncing on her like wildcats on prey. Harper’s outfit, with carefully constructed white cotton spikes, did not allow for a jacket and even though I was freezing in my down parka she braved the cold so she could be photographed. As she teetered on her high heels on a narrow and icy sidewalk the photographers fought for space. One slipped and almost fell. Another risked getting hit by a car

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The Case for Uniforms

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Last winter I found myself wearing the same thing over and over again, literally. Every time I had to run out of the house in the blistering New York cold and a mixture of slush and snow, I reached for my Rick Owens down parka and side-zip boots with a creeper sole, into which I tucked the pant legs of a pair of black jeans. When the New York fashion week came in February, I could not care less for being seen in the same clothes day after day. It was an outfit I felt at ease with, knowing that it looked good and felt comfortable. I saw no reason to change it up.

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Alexandre Plokhov x Cold Cave

Culture, FashionLeave a comment

This season the Russian-born designer Alexandre Plokhov is releasing a limited edition t-shirt with the band Cold Cave as part of his Fall/Winter 2014 collection. We like the idea of a band t-shirt without it being a band t-shirt, something abstract and elegant. Both creators, Wesley Eisold of Cold Cave and Alexandre Plokhov, admired each other’s work before they met, and this collaboration almost seems like it was meant to be.

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Our New Website

EventsLeave a comment

We have redesigned www.sz-mag.com in order to give our web journalism a more prominent space. The front page now consists of three sections. In the top one we offer the latest news from our blog feed. From September on we will do our best to offer more frequent blog updates. If you are interested in contributing articles on fashion, design, and culture that fits our editorial direction please inquire at write@sz-mag.com.

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Bruce Davidson: England/Scotland 1960

CultureLeave a comment

After spending the year 1959 taking pictures of a Brooklyn youth gang has taken an emotional toll, the American photographer Bruce Davidson was looking for a change of scenery. He got this, literally, when Magnum, his photo agency, sent him to Great Britain to photograph the country’s everyday life. The photographer spent several months roaming the streets of London and the English and Scottish countryside. The photos were originally published in Queen magazine. They first appeared in book form, titled England/Scotland 1960, in 2005. Now, Steidl Verlag printed its second edition, in an expanded, larger format.

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Undercover Men’s S/S 2015 – Details

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During this past menswear week the Japanese label Undercover held an intimate presentation of its menswear collection. This was a welcome move, as usually Jun Takahashi shows the men’s collection alongside his womenswear. The central theme of the collection was the band Television. Since you have probably seen the look book elsewhere, I wanted to share with you some detail shots that I took during the presentation.

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Fashion Week Ramblings – S/S 2015

FashionLeave a comment

As I am being airborne back to New York, I wanted to share a few thoughts on the menswear season that just ended. My adventures started at Pitti Uomo in Florence, where I go every season to report for Diane Pernet and other media. I’ve been coming here for six years and when I began doing so I would have to look far and wide to see another person dressed in black at a place where suit is king. This has been slowly changing, and I begin to see “people in black” among the sea of color of Pitti Uomo’s attendees. There is also a steady trickle of exhibitors mining the goth aesthetic. Several of them suggested that they should be in the same pavilion in order to make a statement, which is not a bad idea.

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Vincent Van Duysen: Brutalism With a Soul

Design, Features/Op-EdLeave a comment
Vincent’s work is human;
it possesses many qualities
that we value in people
It is calm yet determined.
It is reliable yet surprising
It is sensual, but discreetly so.
It is sober yet spirited
In other words, it is like a good friend,
like Vincent himself.
 
— Ann Demeulemeester and Patrick Robyn
 

I first discovered the work of the Belgian architect Vincent Van Duysen in the Copyright bookshop in Antwerp last year. His monograph caught my eye; its cover showed the texture of gray stone, alluring in its deceptive simplicity. While flipping through the book I realized that I am standing inside a space designed by Van Duysen.

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Dieter Rams. Less but Better

Culture, DesignLeave a comment

Before Apple, Bose, and Bang & Olufsen, there was the German manufacturer Braun and its head designer Dieter Rams, an icon of consumer goods design. His minimalist style, characterized by the maxim “Less but better,” has had unparalleled influence on design of consumer electronics, appliances, furniture, and even fashion (Jun Takahashi of Undercover once designed an entire collection based on Rams’s work). His famous Ten Principles of Design are the Ten Commandments of the design world.

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COLD CAVE

CultureLeave a comment

Last year I was asking around for music recommendation when the name Wesley Eisold, the musician who records as Cold Cave, came up. I gave it a listen and then slowly started sinking into Eisold’s world. The songs seemed simultaneously familiar and new, the electronic sound that could be both melodic and harsh, and the dissatisfaction with the world in the lyrics that was set to just the right pitch.

Several months later news came out that Cold Cave will be opening for Nine Inch Nails on their European tour. This made total sense as both Eisold and Reznor have an auteur’s approach to their work, recording pretty much all of their music on their own, and obsessing over every detail not only in their music but in creating a complete aesthetic universe. For Eisold this also includes personal style and it was no surprise to find out that he sees kindred spirit in the likes of Ann Demeulemeester and Rick Owens.