Giving You Face

Accessories designer Solomon Chase and American artist David Toro have teamed up diversify the fahttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifces of all you know with their aptly titled project named “FACE.” The project seeks to explore temporary facial adornment as “practical accessories and self-expression,” say David and Solomon. The two seek to transform what they consider “the most important part of our outer selves” in ways not possible with “makeup or even cosmetic surgery,” say D&S.
Bindis with random patterns, images, smiley faces and even hair along with glow-in-the-dark eyebrows are unlike any collection of any sort. The appropriation of the bindi as a fashion accessory takes me back to the keffiyeh sometime last year, which was found politically controversial by some... (...mostly the same pundits who criticized Rachel Rayfor for wearing one in a Dunkin Donuts commercial.)
But if you want to take it there, what’s your take on the appropriation of cultural artifacts? I figure it's something like someone wearing a Television t-shirt and having never heard the band to some people, right?

To learn more about FACE, read an interview with Solomon Chase and David Toro at dazeddigital.com. Visit faceprojects to see more work from Chase and Toro.

Comme Collaborating

Moving from one collaboration to another — today Louis Vuitton will unveil a collection of leather accessories designed by Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons in the three-month LV/CDG combo store located in Tokyo’s Aoyama high-fashion shopping district. The occasion celebrates 30 years of LV in Japan, according to WWD.

The partnership came to light after conversation between Jacobs and Adrian Joffe, Kawakubo’s husband, and president of Comme des Garçons International according to reports. Marc Jacobs, artistic director of Louis Vuitton, admires the Japanese label and is wholehearted on the joint venture with CDG, chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton Yves Carcelle told The Moment.

Kawakubo described her designs as ‘party’ bags to the NYT: a monogram bags — one with multiple slender handles, a Papillon bags with animal-shaped charms dangling on, two small evening purses with long leather handles, and two tweaked iconic LV designs from the ‘70s — the Petit Marceau and the Sac 2 Poches — nostalgic references to the bags on display when Vuitton first opened up in Japan.

In a prepared statement released to the NYT, Jacobs said, “I find it wonderful to think that 30 years ago, this immense talent, someone who has inspired so many others, was inspired by Louis Vuitton.”

This, of course, isn’t the only European collaboration CDG has aligned with this coming season — the worldwide Swedish fashion line H&M will debut the fruit of an affair to remember this 13th of November.
The men and women’s collection is “pure Comme des Garçons,” Kawakubo told W Magazine.

Comme des Garçons — meaning “like boy” — offers a “mostly black and with Japanese tomboy airs,” that includes “a range of tailored jackets, many deconstructed, along with cropped pants, baggy shorts and a variety of skirts in stretch wool,” reports W. Polkadot and color-blocked shirts for men and a “showpiece” dress with “dense Victorian ruffles,” altogether with a unisex scent completes a cohesive collection that’ll be sure to have people lining up outside the stores… to auction it on eBay for those of us with no H&M in close proximity. All good!
Nonetheless, Comme Des Garçons broadens horizons amongst fashion fan demographics this fall and share promise for more surprises in the label’s 40th anniversary in 2009.

(I've come to find many of H&M's images have been requested blogs to remove collection photos. Check out their website to scope 'em out. Or look the collection up at Selectivism.)

VidFlip: Acne SS/08 Lookbook

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For further information on Acne, read about how the label is bringing Stockholm to to the states with their first American studio at Refinery29. The article includes an interview with creative director Jonny Johannsson and photos of the new studio store.