Bowie Exhibit LA Times

Floria Sigismondi - David Bowie - The Stars (Are Out Tonight)

David Bowie - The Stars (Are Out Tonight)

http://youtu.be/gH7dMBcg-gE

Keanan Duffty at Worlds End

http://worldsendshop.co.uk/

Agyness Deyn talks Fashion Week

                               

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v00iN3ORPCM


Alexa Chung & Agyness Deyn-Spinning 'Everybody Wang Chung Tonight'.

Rhianna for River Island

Dave M Benett/Getty Images

 Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters

Rihanna at River Island: 

Celebrity cash-in or birth of a new designer?

The R&B star's controversial deal with River Island makes her the latest celebrity to cross over into fashion design

Written by Karen Kay and Helen Seamons The Observer, Sunday 17 February 2013

Celebrity collaborations in the world of fashion are nothing new. But what is remarkable about River Island's new collection at London fashion week, created by the pop star Rihanna, is that the affordable high street store managed to secure the design consultancy of music's currentenfant terrible.

As if to underline the risk involved, Rihanna gave her new partners a major headache last week by tweeting pics on Valentine's Day of what appeared to be a flower-shaped cannabis bud and wrote: "Roses are green! Somebody knows how to make me happy." Her £800,000 contract with the clothes chain was in jeopardy more quickly than you could say Instagram.

It was not the publicity River Island wanted before the launch and words were exchanged. Should her new bosses stick with her, though, it could be the watershed moment for a chain that has been trailing behind – at least in the fashionable stakes – Topshop, Asos, Primark and Zara as a destination for cost-conscious consumers. As one of Britain's largest privately owned retailers, River Island's sales have held steady around the £800m mark, but they have not enjoyed the kudos of their competitors.

Philip Green turned Topshop around by bringing in up-and-coming London fashion week designers to create diffusion lines, then launched a collection by Kate Moss. He delivered another cash cow to his Dorothy Perkins business last year when he signed Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian to lend their signature leopardprint-and-leather look to a new "Kollection". As tens of thousands of fans clamoured to get their hands on the reality TV stars' style, every other high-street fashion chief was charged with securing a famous face to front a collection.

River Island came up trumps when it signed the Barbadian singer. It might not have been an obvious choice, but only Beyoncé is bigger and Rihanna's wild design style – it veers between eccentric quirkiness, avant-garde fashionista, steely dominatrix and classical elegance (check out that Scarlett O'Hara number she wore to the Grammys last weekend) – appeals to a generation beleaguered by their very own identity crisis.

Importantly, Rihanna wants to design. In 2010, she created a capsule collection for Giorgio Armani and was praised by the Italian designer for her efforts. "Rihanna is a great artist," he said in May last year, after creating her second range of T-shirts, denim pieces, leather jackets, underwear and bags. "She has personality, charisma and energy, and has been a pleasure to work with. She captures the young and contemporary essence of Armani Jeans perfectly."

But is she going to cut it as a bona fide designer? The industry is notoriously sceptical about the idea of untrained designers putting their clothes on the catwalk – especially those who appear just to be cashing in on their name. When Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the American twins raised as child TV stars, announced they were planning to launch a label, the style cognoscenti laughed into their Celine handbags. Since launching The Row in 2006, the pair have earned their catwalk colours and last year the Council of Fashion Designers of America named the sisters Womenswear Designers of the Year. Similarly, it has taken Victoria Beckham nine years to transform herself from Posh Spice to Designer Spice, starting by co-designing a range for denim label Rock and Republic, then launching her critically acclaimed collection of body-con dresses in 2008. In 2011, she won Designer Brand of the Year at the British Fashion Awards and today fashion editors fawn over the former Wag and her £1,000 frocks.

Can Rihanna do the same? Her London fashion week show saw models posed on a set that consisted of six nightclub podiums. They wore a series of outfits in the style of the singer: slashed to the thigh jersey dresses, midriff-revealing tops, big hoop earrings and baseball caps that are sure to be a hit with River Island customers.

Model of the moment Cara Delevingne in cutoff denim hot pants and over-the-knee leather boots sat front row with model friend Jourdan Dunn, both whooping with delight throughout. Rihanna took her bow in a black jersey minidress with her stylist, Mel Ottenberg. Earlier, the singer said her designs would have broad appeal: "The theme throughout this collection was easy, laid-back chic. Flirty, not very conservative, but I think everyone can wear this line. It's not costume-y, not too sexy, it's just very simple."

But for keen fashion enthusiasts who look to London for innovative ideas this 120-piece collection undoubtedly fell short. There is little doubt the collaboration, which is supported by a marketing campaign featuring Dunn, will be a winner when it hits the shops next month. Whether it is the start of a new career for Ri-Ri remains to be seen. Her Twitter feed will perhaps have a few River Island executives now following her to see if it's a duet that can last.

Keanan Duffty Mash-Ups

http://soundcloud.com/kdmashups

10 groovy mash-ups from the mid 2000's mixing my tunes with those of Talking Heads, Human League, Dead or Alive, William Burroughs and Gwen Stefani. Mixed by my friend Steve B in NYC.

The Manual

http://www.themanual.com

The Manual is simple – Showing men how to live a life that is more engaged. Whether it be fashion, food, drink, travel, grooming or culture, we are here to provide insight into it all. We also offer a forum for you to have an open dialogue and pose questions to our writers and to each other. We don’t boss you around, we are simply here to bring some authenticity and understanding to all that enriches our lives on a daily basis.

WRITERS
	CATOR SPARKS Cator Sparks is Editor in Chief of TheManual.com. Previously Cator was covering menswear, grooming, lifestyle and design for The New York Times, Details, Vanity Fair.com, Style.com and The Huffington Post to name a few. Mr. Sparks splits his time between his apartment in Harlem and his home in downtown Charleston where he escapes with his Scottish Terrier for Southern sojourns and excellent cuisine. Recently Cator was commissioned a Colonel of Kentucky by Governor Steven L. Beshear and has requested all friends and family to call him ‘Colonel Cator’ from now on.
	AMANDA GABRIELE Amanda Gabriele is a contributor for TheManual.com. She is the former Managing Editor of FashionIndie.com where she spent four years covering fashion, beauty and dogmatic red carpet commentary. She can’t live without the three Bs – bourbon, barbecue and beards – and loves to cook in platforms. Amanda resides in Fort Greene, Brooklyn with her collection of vintage furs, but you can find her 24/7 @CrystlMeatballs.
	BRAD BALL Brad Ball grew up in the restaurant industry, so needless to say the culinary industry is in his blood. He spent his formative years working in various capacities for his family’s prominent Charleston, SC restaurant, Poogan’s Porch. A graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York City, Ball has worked his way through internships at some of the hottest kitchens in Manhattan, including Jean-Georges and Momofuku. But it was as a sommelier at Aquavit, under the supervision of the renowned Olivier Zardoni, where he began his love affair with wine. Upon his return to Charleston, Ball opened Social Restaurant + Wine Bar in February 2007 and has drawn local and national attention for its impressive wine cellar (which tops 4,000 bottles) and creative wine-inspired menu. In 2012, along with his partners, Ball launched Wine Awesomeness, a curated wine e-commerce site on a mission to change how millennials engage and interact with wine. Ball also became the youngest Advanced Sommelier in the state of South Carolina and one of less than 400 worldwide.
	JODIE KHARAS London-based style and culture writer Jodie Kharas contributes regular fashion features to the online platforms of POP and Dossier Journal, and has worked on print titles including Because, Glass and Velour. Her creative expertise stretches to trend forecasting and global research, creating tailored product updates, city guides and exhibition reviews in her role as Assistant Editor of Arts & Travel for market-leading fashion information service WGSN.
	LINDSAY MCCORMACK Lindsay McCormack is a contributing writer to TheManual.com. Previously, Lindsay studied book and magazine publishing at the Columbia University Publishing Course. She has worked as an Editorial Assistant at Teen Voices Magazine, and was a contributing writer for Notes From the Edge, a student-run magazine at Harvard University. Lindsay currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts, where she can be found writing, gallivanting, and trying to master a handstand.
	MARLA MILLING Marla Hardee Milling is a full-time freelance writer living in a place often called the Paris of the South, Sante Fe of the East and Beer City U.S.A., but she just calls Asheville, N.C. home. She is a former news producer at WLOS-TV in Asheville and former Director of Communications at Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, N.C. More than 600 of her articles and essays have appeared in such publications as Luxury Living, American Style, NICHE, Charleston, Denver, WNC, Blue Ridge Country, Health, Redbook, Parenting, Pregnancy and many others. Follow her on Twitter @marlamilling
	MATT BELL Matt Bell is a writer and would refer to his beat as “lifestyle”—men’s grooming, travel and style. He’s been on it since 2004 when he got his start editing at Genre Magazine, spent four years on the style PR side at MAO PR and one writing the popular Where Eagles Have Been travel blog about going his version of neo-primitive in Peru (hilarity, spirituality and bad skin ensued). Most recently he’s writing for Esquire.com and Essential Homme Magazine where he keeps an eye the latest guy appropriate face/body beauty and health treatments, going to far off places to find adventure or going through all clothing to do it all in. When he’s not at that, he’s usually reading fiction, National Geographic or thinking about the next plate of ceviche. @mrmattbell
	MATT DOMINO Matt Domino is a writer living in Brooklyn. His fiction has appeared in Slice and The Montreal Review, while his non-fiction has been featured on SLAM Online, The Nervous Breakdown, Cool Hunting, Bleacher Report and The Montreal Review. Matt also runs his own general interest blog called Puddles of Myself. He is a basketball aficionado and will never turn down a beer or a conversation about Gram Parsons or James Joyce.
	NOELIA DE LA CRUZ Noelia de la Cruz is a contributing writer for The Manual. She was born and raised in Queens before she left to study journalism at Syracuse University. Noelia has written about a little bit of everything: upon her return to the city she worked at Money, New York magazine, and Business Insider. Now, in addition to writing about men\’s lifestyle, she also works as a web editorial assistant for Parents.com. She still lives in Queens and in her free time loves reading, writing, movies, shows, food, and exploring all the city has to offer. Find her on Twitter @noeliasophia.
	STEFAN DOYNO Stefan Doyno is a native New Yorker who grew up on the Upper East Side before moving to Westchester. He is a graduate of the University at Buffalo and is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He was a news producer and producer at his undergrad television station and has interned at ABC Eyewitness News in New York City, WKBW, and MTV where he wrote for the Newsroom Blog and Movies Blog. Stefan had a business column with AOL Patch and enjoys fine restaurants, 90\’s music and dry-humor. You can follow him on Twitter @thewritestefan
	TOM HANDLEY Tom Handley’s industry credits read like an issue of GQ or Vogue with key positions at companies ranging from Polo/Ralph Lauren, Badgley Mischka, Heidi Weisel and Adrienne Landau, where he was Executive Vice President, and currently sits on the advisory boards for a few key menswear brands. In his current capacity as Professor of Marketing and Public Relations at Parsons The New School for Design, Tom is thrice nominated for the Distinguished Faculty of the Year. Tom pairs his academic tenure, his 20+ years in the fashion industry with his focus for developing and mentoring the next generation of the fashion marketers and publicists. He consults with three New York based Public Relations firms, having developed their critical Summer Intern Programs. An early adopter to social media, Tom consults for artists, interior designers, digital media companies and women’s and menswear designers. Nothing makes @PRProfessor more elated, than to empower.

Academy Of Art Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

Academy Of Art Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week Runway Show

Friday, February 8^th

5:00pm PST / 8:00pm EST

Webcast Live! Graduate Fashion Show in New York

Watch the graduate Fall/Winter 2013 fashion show webcast live from Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York at Lincoln Center! 5:00pm Pacific Standard Time. 

http://www.academyart.edu/fashionshow