After O Editorial released its first set of collaborations a year ago, when they celebrated their two years of existence, this summer the platform of our friend Álvaro Tavares Ramos presented a new project: a special edition bicycle in an exclusive collaboration with Portuguese bicycle builders and shop Velo Culture. In addition to being the dominant mode of daily transport in their hometown of Porto, O Editorial selected a bicycle as its next project, it being an elegant object of impeccable design, pairing shape and movement exemplary, with which we can only concur. As with everything, there are bicycles more appealing than others and for this special edition O Editorial collaborated with a like-minded company championing both craftsmanship and aesthetics. Founded by three friends: Miguel Barbot, Sérgio Moura and Hugo Cardoso, the Porto-based Velo Culture was a pioneer in Portugal when it comes to presenting the most elegant classic and urban bicycle brands, making them the perfect partner in creating this beautiful bicycle. [ Continue reading ]

Celebrating two years of existence, O Editorial presents a beautiful new website and a collection of special edition products, in collaboration with some exciting portuguese brands. Pairing timeless design and traditional production techniques, O Editorial products stand out for the quality of materials, attention to detail and functionality. The products in celebration of the two years of existence are a notebook in collaboration with Grafolita, a bag with Ideal & Co and a beautiful stool by Boa Safra. [ Continue reading ]

While planning my trip to Lisbon in a few weeks, I was asked by Álvaro Tavares Ramos from the beautiful blog ‘O Editorial’ for a little interview (in Portuguese). O Editorial is a Portuguese blog featuring design, be it a Charles & Ray… [ Continue reading ]

More than ten years ago we were proud sharing and selling the first issue of INVENTORY magazine; ‘a curation of Ideas in Product, Craft & Culture’ by Ryan Willms. The magazine was published for years, gained a big international following and with that knowledge of culture Ryan created a solid practice of brand building and design, collaborating with the likes of Stüssy a.o.
After a few years of refuelling and redefining the self and well-being Ryan is back with Into the Well, ‘a platform for connection and learning to live in harmony’. With an online publication, newsletter and a podcast together with Sean Hotchkiss it’s becoming an interesting landing point to guide you through contemporary mindfulness, movement and well-being.
We asked Ryan for a little intro, his favourite run and the latest books to read. Enjoy > [ Continue reading ]

My friend and inspirator on ultra distance cycling; Yorit Kluitman, is about to finish a long time project, his 'Bicycle Landscape: cycling across all 388 Dutch municipalities'. Started back in 2011 and at this moment filling the last gaps, Yorit cycled through all 388 Dutch municipalities, photographing the landscape between cities and villages, exclusive of people and buildings: a cross section of the organized Netherlands.

“I gave myself six years to cycle across all municipalities. Within this time-frame I will be visiting as many different areas as possible. Equipped with a camera, I research the functionality, the rhythm, the composition, the lines, the form and the order of the Dutch landscape.” [ Continue reading ]

New York City-based technical fashion brand Outlier has been one of the spearheading companies that have set a complete new standard in direct-to-client business from the moment of their foundation in 2008, partly due to their open and direct dialogue with its customers through Reddit, for which we hold them in the highest esteem. Over the years we have kept an eye on their expanding brand and slowly but surely growing collection, in which they have explored both technical innovations and new aesthetic directions beyond 'classical' techwear, but last month they took it to the next level with the release of their extraordinary collaboration with 2017 Hyéres winning photographer (and former dancer) Luis Alberto Rodriguez for their Summer 2017 campaign.

The incredible series named 'Meditations on the Materials' features the contemporary dancer Oskar Landström and artist Moley Talhaoui and is among the strongest lookbooks we have seen in a while. Shot in Kivik, Sweden, the very talented Rodriguez and the just as gifted stylist Paul Maximilian Schlosser, bring a professional dancers eye to imagery, fashion and fabric. New shapes and forms emerge from the movements of the models and raw materials hide within themselves, under the open sky. The result is an utmost intriguing series opening a complete new chapter of narrativity in the world of Outlier's perfectly crafted pieces; reminding us of both the American settlers' aesthetic and Yohji Yamamoto's oversized draping. We can only hope that this is the beginning of a new phase in which Outlier adds new exciting facets to its brand grounded on indisputable leading technical expertise. Continuing to explore new cultural roots in their communication through similar collaborations with extraordinary talents like Rodriguez to create a new richness in the narrative and affect around its beautiful future-proof clothing for them to reach an even larger audience in the years to come. [ Continue reading ]

The official opening is tonight, but the very first solo-exhibition of the talented British photographer Harley Weir at Foam in Amsterdam has been open for the public since the 2nd of December and we had a chance to see it for ourselves this week. It marks an important step in the rise of the 28-year-old, who has been receiving international acclaim and a growing attention in the last years, after kick starting her career at age 17, when she shot her first fashion editorial for Vice UK. Although presentation-wise the exhibition at Foam isn't the best thing we have ever seen, the curation of the imagery shows the incredible talent of Weir, far transcending the specific subject-matter, showing an intriguing coherent body — undisputedly making her one of the most interesting voices in contemporary photography.

The title of the exhibition, 'Boundaries' refers to what is ultimately dissolved in the work of the photographer. But even as she crosses the lines of what usually holds people apart, on personal as well as political levels she is not out to make any statements. The exhibition therefore reads, as Weir specifically intended it, as a visual poem, open to interpretation. The exhibition shows a mix of Weir’s ethereal portraiture with still life images and reportage work in Israel, India, Jordan and the series that struck us deeply when we encountered it on Dazed some weeks ago: the haunting depictions of the temporary homes at the refugee camps of Calais. Whatever it is in front of her lens, Weir always seems to get to its essence by framing that what seems to speak to her most, creating captivating visual narratives that stick. [ Continue reading ]

Three weeks ago it was that time of the year again for a beautiful new issue by our friends of The Travel Almanac from Berlin, who presented already their 11th issue, for the first time featuring an all-female cast. The new issue’s cover stars are Isabelle Huppert, shot at the legendary Les Bains in Paris by Heji Shin, and Kacy Hill, shot in Los Angeles by Jenny Hueston. The actrice extraordinaire recounts French radicalism in the 60s and explains Continental approaches to acting. While the American songwriter and model describes the travel mindset of Middle Americans. In their own words: "in a time when interconnectedness is being disavowed and borders feel more pressing, travel is emerging as an ever more crucial and powerful subject matter. In the last five years The Travel Almanac has explored perspectives, places, and objects that evoke telling atmospheres and feelings" — with its latest issue it continues to do exactly this, forming an elegant and important voice in todays world, which we feel (and hope) will continue to be relevant long after the just presented new issue. [ Continue reading ]

We recently discovered the beautiful photographic work of Tokyo-based Ko-Ta Shouji, that within its analogue 'snapshot' genre shows an inspirational marriage of the explorations of technical experiment with a captivating, emotional contemporary feel. Practically all of his images are taken on film, mostly characterized by that mentioned snapshot aesthetic: working with unorthodox, free floating frames, often full of joyful young energy, having a colorful metropolitan feel. Beyond catching his subject in, what feels to us as, the right moments, Shouji subsequently masterfully adds second and third layers to his imagery through light leaks, double exposures and blurred spots, infusing an ambiguous element of mystery that runs as a red threat through his whole portfolio — whether he shoots models in an editorial for a leading fashion magazine, his beautiful portrait series named 'gosees'; catching young models as free as they are right after what the title suggests, but also in his 'Untitled' series, being his most abstract body of work, portraying the world around us as a beautifully blurred place that haunts its spectator, built up layer after layer out of washed out colors and floating movement.

Having had a history as a stylist before turning to photography, Shouji clearly knows his way around catching and portraying a zeitgeist, without a doubt having been inspired by the photographic aesthetic that came to life in the communication of European fashion houses around the turn of the century, for instance through the creative endeavors of Martin Margiela joining forces with Mark Borthwick and Helmut Lang opening up new chapters in the work of Jurgen Teller. [ Continue reading ]

Paris-based illustrator and artist Yann Kebbi has been among our favorites from the moment we discovered his immaculately executed raw style in The New Yorker some years ago. His color pencil drawings are one of a kind: combining hard, sketched lines that mark his figures, buildings, streets and anything else that make up his captivating (city) scenes, overlaying them with clouds of primary colors to give the depictions warmth, but most importantly Kebbi excels as a master of the act of omitting to complete his works. His drawings seem joyful at first glance, but always show another mysterious layer of wry- and sometimes even sadness, to be observed within his perfect bursting chaos of lines and colors, which infinitely seem to fascinate us.

In recent years he continued on the particular stylistic road that gathered him international acclaim very quickly, but Kebbi also seriously challenged himself by exploring new areas. One of these explorations was the introduction of watercolors to create similar scenes as he had been doing with pencils, but this time implementing rich areas of color and even using similar techniques as, another one of our favorites, Dutch artist Rop van Mierlo does — for instance in the project 'Howdy – drawings of America', created together with his friend Idir Davaine, in which they portray their travels through the USA. His most recent 'Monotypes' series (brought to our attention two weeks ago by It's Nice That) shows a more radical development going beyond lines as the markers of his depictions, using monotype printmaking. A medium used before Kebbi by iconic French artists like Degas, Matisse and Picasso, being a technique of printing layer by layer, to create a single unique print — proving to be another discipline in which Kebbi succeeds marvelously to bring his unique artistic vision to life. [ Continue reading ]

A little over a month ago NikeLab presented the debut collection of their collaboration with a new high profile name from the fashion world (are we going to see a focus on this, as competitor Adidas has been doing for the last decade?): British sportswear connoisseur Kim Jones. The colorful collection means the highly anticipated return to athletic sportswear for Jones, after he successfully collaborated with Umbro (owned by Nike) for several seasons some years ago, before he became menswear director at Louis Vuitton in 2011, where he has been marrying athletic influences with luxury. In order to celebrate the union between technology and tradition, our inspirational friends of The Travel Almanac decided to set up an exclusive fashion editorial collaboration with NikeLab and Jones in Rome’s E.U.R. [Esposizione Universale Roma] district which they gave the name 'Saluti da E.U.R.'

Esposizione Universale Roma is a neighborhood in the Italian capital that was planned to host the world’s fair and to exhibit Italy’s latest answers to modern urbanism, architecture, design, and sports. Finally completed for the Summer Olympics 1960 held in the city, the area is famous for its orthogonal city plan inspired by Roman Imperial urban planning and for its monumental white architecture characteristic of Italian Rationalism. The buildings’ traditional materials and revolutionary minimal lines were a simplification and modernization of neo-classical architecture and have influenced the most talented architects, from David Chipperfield to Peter Zumthor passing through Oscar Niemeyer. Today E.U.R. has become Rome’s center for sports, finance, and with its newly opened Museum of Fashion in the iconic Palazzo della Civilta’ Italiana, also known as the Squared Colosseum, also for fashion.

A context proving to be a remarkable fit for the collection's colorful pieces, both caught by The Travel Almanac's founder Paul Kominek and Danish photographer Sara Katrine Thiesen, presenting a perfect hybrid of the classicist Italian exterior and some of the most cutting edge athletic pieces available today created by Jones and NikeLab, forming one of our favorite editorials we have seen in the last few months. [ Continue reading ]

In October of last year a new ambitious independent arts and culture magazine named ALL—IN saw light, which we unfortunately missed at that time. No doubt because the arrival of new magazines hasn't really slowed down in a period which has "print is dead" written all over its digital face. And despite, one has to say, the fact that the magazine introduced itself to the world with an unusual high profile cover interview with powerhouse actor Willem Dafoe. Founders Benjamin Barron and Allison Littrell, who have met while studying at the prestigious Bard College, take their project very serious. Next to the interview with Dafou, who was shot by Alex Da Corte, contributors to the first issue are names like Benjamin's mother; Jeannette Montgomery Barron, but also John Waters, Bernadette Corporation, Cory Arcangel, and pop superstar Dev Hynes. By now the first issue's 1000 prints and practically sold out and last month Barron and Littrel presented their upcoming 176 pages second issue (which will drop in August) for online pre-order with a party in the Boom Boom Room in New York.

Following Willem Dafoe's playful cover, this time around the magazine has two covers: featuring no less than enfant terrible Harmony Korine and actress and activist Amandla Stenberg — two perfect subjects to represent these times of turmoil in the United States (and far beyond). The noble motive behind this second issue is no less than bringing people together. A message which is never placed in the foreground, but is clearly distillable from the choice of subjects and the stories that are told about them. In his interview Harmony Korine talks with Marfa Journal about selling out, always being the best Harmony, and how to balance success and sensitivity. Actress and activist Amandla Stenberg opens up to her friend Emmanuel Olunkwa about authenticity, celebrity, and owning your identity; Amandla also discusses what it means to be an activist in her exclusive essay, 'Authenticity Activism'. [ Continue reading ]

One of the highlights of last month's Salone del Mobile came from renown Munich-based creatives Konstantin Grcic and Mirko Borsche, who presented their one-off shared project named EPOCSODIELAK — a light machine that can turn any room into a raving club. The light and sound installation is the result of a chance creative collaboration between the two renowned German designers, internationally recognized in the product and graphic design fields respectively. Given the ambiguous moniker EPOCSODIELAK, the impressive machine is a 3x2x1 meter, free-standing Disco Totem. Made in black powder coated steel and chainlink fencing, it is equipped with a tight cluster of strobe lights, lasers, a fog machine and mix desks. Powered by a 1200 Watt dynamic sound system, the project proposes a self-sufficient sound/light unit, which has enough whack to turn any space into a state- of-the-art disco. With its design kept to a minimum, through the choices of non-complex industrial materials, next to on the other hand its surprising audio-visual power the machine marries both of Grcic and  Borsche's individual talents to delightfully communicate in an iconic language within their fields of specialism. Both designers create through deliberate minimal touches with maximum effect in their own field and put that together resulted in this mobile disco experience boiled down to its bare essentials, still having maximum impact. We love it!

The installation was first presented by KALEIDOSCOPE and ZEITmagazin on the occasion of Salone, where 400 guests followed the invitation to KALEIDOSCOPE’s project space and celebrated the superlamp with a party that was quoted to be among the favorites of this year's edition in Milan.  [ Continue reading ]

Last month, Chiara Padovan and Thomas Sing introduced their beautiful Models in the Raw project to us, which proved a great discovery. The beautiful on-going photographic series by the Berlin-based duo was born out of their desire for realness, simplicity and authenticity. It chases a glimpse beneath the surface of glossy imagery by portraying those who bring a whole industry to life by lending it their faces: the models. The girls who usually are the passive player in the industry are handed back the choice of their own presentation including the clothes and the place they would like to be photographed in, been only asked to - speaking in Kurt Cobain's word - come as they are. The portraits are shot on film for an increased raw reality effect and accompanied by a personal, tailored interview based on the conversation during the session. We love the approach of Padovan and Sing, but most of all value the body of work they have created so far, showing their great eye to capture these interesting faces in a most sincere way. [ Continue reading ]

After we wrote about the inspirational 'Ceasefire' show by Pryce Lee at The Garage last Summer, the new upcoming show by the ambitious gallery is another reason to visit the beautiful 17th century carriage house in the canals of Amsterdam. With the show named 'The Fashion Pages' The Garage will present the international premiere of the latest body of work by the renown New York City-based artist Michael De Feo. The new series were created atop fashion editorials and advertisements and stems from De Feo’s recent takeover of the ad spaces of New York City bus stop shelters, with many of the photographers, models and brands involved applauding his unlawful 'collaborations'. Through his floral interventions De Feo transforms these images and the models within, blurring the line between unsanctioned and authorized works, which are both as aesthetic as subversive, forming a beautiful constructive statement in the overload of content one encounters these days. When in Amsterdam, make sure to not miss this when it opens on the 8th of April! [ Continue reading ]

We recently discovered the promising work of Dutch London College of Fashion graduate Sebastiaan Pieter. The designer, who set up his eponymous label after completing a BA in Bespoke Tailoring, has been creating collections for the last four seasons, being hailed as one of the exciting new names in menswear based in London. Combining sportswear elements with traditional high quality suiting, Pieter was picked up by the NEWGEN initiative, which granted him a sponsorship for his Spring/Summer 2016 collection and resulted in his biggest collection til date. Inspired by an Ellen von Unwerth editorial for The Face featuring several girls getting inked and pierced -from the time when Pieter first discovered the power of fashion(imagery) as a teenager- he subtly wove ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and contemporary tattoo and piercing culture into his (at times) gender-defying designs for the elegant fashion-forward man. We love this. [ Continue reading ]

This year, British footwear brand Kickers celebrate the 40th anniversary of their legendary Kick Hi boot. Since 1975, its iconic silhouette has graced the feet of many of the world’s leading musicians and style sub-cultures. From the days of the Manchester Hacienda and the London rave scene to collaborations with some of the UK’s leading design talent, the Kick Hi has left a cultural footprint across the last four decades – and continues to do so until this day. To celebrate the jubilee of its classic, Kickers has teamed up with David Hellqvist and Document Studios to produce ‘Forty’, a retrospective publication that traces the historical and aesthetic legacy of the Kick Hi boot, which was launched in London two weeks ago. [ Continue reading ]

Last week marked the proud release of  Tenue de Nîmes' 12th printed Journal de Nîmes, with the new issue centered around the theme ’New Vintage’. In the 92 pages we share the brands or products which we feel our kids will be collecting as the ’New Vintage' one day. Starting with fashion visionary Ralph Lauren who founded his beloved ‘Double RL’ brand 1993, after being the first rebel to sell vintage next to his ‘new’ clothing in New York City making him something of an icon for this particular issue. We take you to Mr. Lauren’s most personal archive, which he continues to use to spread his deep love for the rugged spirit of the American West in his full diversity. Furthermore Journal Nº 12 highlights some of the most inspiring brands that successfully used their inspiration of the past into a contemporary collection, which inspire us in everything we do ourselves. [ Continue reading ]

Motivated by our visit to Unseen last weekend, we are ready to share a new truly extraordinary photography book (not seen at Unseen) which will be released officially at the end of next October. Inspired by the late-great cartoonist William Steig and his classic children's book; 'The Lonely Ones' - consisting of ligne claire drawings with smart captions by the author - photographer Gus Powell created his own 'The Lonely Ones' published by J&L Books: a series of remarkably beautiful color photographs of interiors and landscapes, inhabited by people, animals and inanimate characters. Every photograph is paired with a suggestive text by Powell - each of the 40 color photographs in the book hidden by a gate fold, on which is printed the single phrase. Every photograph is revealed individually behind its gate fold, resulting in one of the most elegant and living photography books which will be released in this year. [ Continue reading ]

Although we feel that slowly our saturation point has been reached when it comes to new independent magazines, every once in a while an interesting new name still arrives. The London-based No Substance - an indie magazine with a focus on fashion, photography, and culture - which was founded this year by the young London College of Fashion graduate Becca Deakins is one of those names. The 180-page debut edition recycles the same idea over and over, imploring readers to delve deep into the lives lived outside the ordinary. It features the likes of Rankin, Toilet Paper Magazine, Eva Stenram, Donald Gjoka, Marco Pietracupa, Maurizio Bo, Rita Lino, Scandebergs, Masha Mel and Becca herself. With a strong focus on fashion, photography and culture No Substance is directed at an audience which is able to find style within substance, despite its moniker. We really like this first issue which stands out in the ever-growing field of new magazines and look forward where Deakins will take her promising project. [ Continue reading ]

Last month, we were introduced to the London-based collective of bartenders named Drink Factory, which aims to expand their shared creativity and knowledge of cocktails. Founded some 10 years ago by cocktail master Tony Conigliaro, Drink Factory released its first printed publication with their unique vision on the fascinating craft of creating cocktails in 2014 under the theme 'Gothic', resulting in a dark and brooding issue. A month ago the second issue saw light and this time a lot more color is added to the palette, with everything resolving around 'Silent Neon Flowers'. The underlaying concept is 'silent flavor', which resulted in botanical editorials by photographers Addie Chin, Ollie Harrop and Ruth Vatcher, translating the idea into their images, forming a stand out visual language for the magazine which places the subject in a truly unique light. For us, having found the extraordinary Drink Factory, all kinds of doors into the enormous world of cocktails are being opened, in which the new magazine forms an inspirational and insightful starting point for more exploration. [ Continue reading ]

After we wrote about the inspirational presentation of the summer version of his A Suit To Travel In, Paul Smith once more shows his remarkable vision in the campaign of his Autumn/Winter 2015 collection. Capturing the confident use of color in the designs, the campaign for the inspirational designer's collection is the first Paul Smith collection to be shot by the photographic artist Viviane Sassen, who we have been admiring ourselves for years. And what a wonderful hybrid of worlds the campaign has become - both creatives having an eye for exquisite stand out colors and the beauty of aesthetic contrast. As part of the campaign one can spot that the signature ‘Paul Smith’ logo is re-imagined with a playful sense of scale and positioning. A sense of modernity and wit is present throughout the campaign, echoing the essential qualities of Paul Smith, making the campaign a clear season favorite of ours. [ Continue reading ]

After releasing the imagery for the Ø L Å F cap and in full anticipation of our friend Olaf Hussein's upcoming Autumn/Winter 2015 collection he teamed up with photographer Ester Grass Vergara to shoot an incredible editorial highlighting several of the key pieces of the collection, located in The Netherlands at RAAAF's extraordinary Bunker 599. With the upcoming collection the brand is entering the new season with an open mind and sense of adventure. This season the brand stretches beyond its Amsterdam heritage and embraces influences from the north, as well as the outdoors. Combining forward-facing materials with athletic details, Olaf Hussein aims to create a unique aesthetic that feels premium and punctual. The brand has always pursued to walk the oxymoronic line between nuance and boldness, and with this collection that line is getting even thinner. With the whole new sportswear approach added to the Hussein aesthetic we feel the brand has found new angles to continue to be on point and persists in being the most promising name in menswear coming from the Netherlands. We look where Olaf will take his brand in the near future! [ Continue reading ]

P Magazine is a Monterrey, Mexico-based, highly aesthetic annual object-book, with each issue published as a limited collector’s edition. The project was first announced in 2012, after which the debut was printed in the Summer of 2013. The impressive project - forming another great addition to the growing field of elegant printed erotisicm - was founded and created by the so-called supermodernist design studio Face, with its founder/head designer Rik Brancho also functioning as the Editor-in-Chief of P Magazine. Next to Brancho stand the other co-founders; photographers Mariana García, who's also Rik's wife and Cecy Young. Additional editorial design for the proejct was done by Cristina Vila Nadal. Following the successful sold out first edition - limited to 300 copies - the beautiful second edition was released in 500 copies at the beginning of this year - make sure to get one until it's too late. [ Continue reading ]