VidFlip: Zoo Magazine #21

VidFlip: Zoo Magazine, #21 from Raymond Navarro on Vimeo.

This will be a memorable one.
The issue's so thick it jostled all over the place.


Wearing a dress from the Maison Martin Margiela Artisan collection, Alana Zimmerman
gasps at the state of fashion as people grasp on the fact there are certain things people can
and can't afford. Now feel the hangover, people.

Read about the "troubling" signs around the mens and womenswear shows in New York
from [again] The New York Times. Guy Trebay's detais in his diary on what he describes as the
"artifical urgency" and the recession's effects on New York Fashion Week here. 

Meet a Model: Ashley StymestVidflip: Vogue Hommes International

You're likely to know a thing or two about Ash Stymest of MODELS 1. Since in demand by Hedi Slimane himself, Stymest has quickly since then made rounds through big British mags: i-D, Dazed and Confused to Arena Homme Plus, Another Man; become cover star of Electric Youth!, Vogue Hommes Japan's premiere issue and was one of the first and few males to walk Balenciaga menswear down the runway of the SS09 show. Stymest comes in after the established edgy, tattooed, guy-you-might-know aesthetic worn down by the very-exposed Josh Beech and Cole Mohr. None of that takes away from the Brit's look or skill. I'd almost venture out to say Stymest does a thing or two better than Mohr or Beech but ultimately it's hard to compare any two models when the variables of photographers, creative directors and others on set are taken into consideration. I hate to even lump all these individuals in one post out of my respect for their work but it is undeniable that their appeal to the school-gate fetished menswear scene 10 MEN'S Claudia Croft claims has helped "[relegate] all other aesthetics to cheese-ball status" in the BOYS TO MEN article of issue 16.

More is left to be said about these lean, lanky, pale with the promise of youth look on today's runways. Croft claims these "skinny boys" with the "aching romance, unrequited lust and fumbling experience of a teenager" have got their days tallied because they lack "the one thing we all need right now": confidence. The world's muddled politicians, global economic instability in this "post-boom" era call a crave to something "tougher," "more resilient," and "more optimistic," claims Croft. It seems the 10 MEN's office has got a big hankering for the muscle-y men types that I've got nothing against, but what I do have is a problem with Croft's argument.

Call it confidence out of naïveté, but its still confidence. Part of Ash's charm, I believe, is the fact he's got a look that LOOKS like he's just been plucked out of southeast London. He skates, he bikes, he plays drums — tell me if that's doesn't carry the confidence of youth people would love to escape to.
Maybe I could relate to Ash better than Claudia Croft, therefore like him better, because of my own age and interests.. or maybe she’s more vexed by the "Bambi-eyed boys" donning swimwear as oppose to her "honed hunks" than I really know. But I do know that she’s really making it seem as if the 10 MEN mag crew are the ones you fear leering at you in the gym.

For now — check out the interview with model cohort Tyler Riggs at Pony Ryder, check out the Ash and Eliza Show Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 and enjoy this VidFlip of the premiere issue of Vogue Hommes Japan. It includes photography by Hedi Slimane, Sølve Sundsø, Daniel Sannwald, Nan Goldin, styling by Nicola Formichetti, Shun Watanable and work by many other talents that helped make the premiere issue a must-have. I was (so) lucky enough to get it as a birthday gift.

VidFlip: Vogue Hommes Japan, Issue 1 from Raymond Navarro on Vimeo.