Martin Margiela: The Artist is Absent

Culture, Fashion

One of the premieres at the current TriBeCa Film Festival is a mini-documentary on Martin Margiela, “The Artist is Absent,” directed by Alison Chernik. How do you make a documentary about a designer notoriously recluse? You interview other important people.

Among them, Jean-Paul Gaultier, the designer who gave Margiela his first job, the fashion critic Suzy Menkes, Raf Simons, who credits seeing a Margiela show for the first time with his desire to become a fashion designer, and our dear friend, the Belgian makeup artist Inge Grognard, who did the makeup for those iconic early Margiela’s shows.

Nostalgia: Undercover at Pitti Uomo

Culture, Fashion

Undercover was the special guest at Pitti Uomo the first time I attended the Florentine fashion fair. I took a video of Jun Takahashi and his team making a Grace doll, which, in the typical, lightly sinister Undercover signature, is made by gutting teddy bears. It was one of the most unforgettable fashion moments and I wanted to share it with you. The phenomenal music was a live performance by Kan Takagi and Atsuhiro Ito. File under nostalgia…

s1

THE SALT OF THE EARTH: WIM WENDERS & SEBASTIAO SALGADO

Culture

One day, back in the 80s, the German filmmaker Wim Wenders saw pictures of the Brazilian-born photographer Sebastiao Salgado at a gallery in Los Angeles. He was so impressed that he bought two prints on the spot. Since, Salgado has quickly become his favorite photographer. Wenders continued to follow his work, and one day, being who he is, Wenders decided to simply knock on Salgado’s door.

1990s

Op-Ed: Why The 90s Matter

Culture, Features/Op-Ed

Everyone who goes through his formative years in a certain decade considers it the golden age. Obviously, the 90s were the best decade ever.

But let’s go beyond facetiousness. In terms of cultural production it is obvious that every decade has the good and the bad. What is more interesting is how much of the good and how much of the bad the zeitgeist of every decade produces, and what gets to hit the mainstream. Why 90s matter is that it was the decade when culture, and fashion as part of culture, took the last stand before succumbing to pure, unapologetic commerce.

DVNInspirations0004-PhotoKoendeWaal

Dries Van Noten at MoMu

Culture, Fashion

Two weeks ago I got to see the Dries Van Noten: Inspirations exhibit at MoMu, Antwerp’s fashion museum. As the title suggests, the exhibit provides a glimpse into Van Noten’s world, and the influences that feed the wellspring of his creativity.

I have already seen the initial version of the exhibit at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. It was received with typical fanfare that the fashion press is all too ready to dispense. But while I liked it overall, I was so exhausted by the two floors of continuous explosion of color and ornament that I was happy to get some fresh Parisian air when I finally got out.

b2

Bjork at MoMa

Culture

This Sunday a new exhibit devoted to the work of the Icelandic singer Bjork will open at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Since Bjork’s first solo album Debut (1993) she has occupied that portion of cultural space that is hard to define except as an oxymoron – pop avant-garde.

The exhibit comes on the heels of the one devoted to another pop avant-gardist, David Bowie. This crowd-pleaser was first shown at the V&A museum in London, went on to Chicago, and opened in Paris this Tuesday.