Apart from shaping a new era for menswear, Thom Browne is also a skilled storyteller. It’s considered a true privilege to be invited to his shows because they exceed all expectations. There is no element of risk, as his world is very precise and draws circles around terms like elegance and classic while always managing to raise questions. Such was the case for his recent show where everything was about a gathering, or, more specifically, a funeral. Continue reading “Thom Browne talks to Filep Motwary”→
The work of Charles Jeffrey came to our attention at his graduate show for Central Saint Martins, where the young designer showed cream Aran knits interrupted with bursts of violent, primary colours, painters’ jeans stiff with layers of spilled and blended pigments and an innovatively sliding sense of proportion provided by a creative use of loose belting. The London-based, Glaswegian-born night owl is also the driving force behind LOVERBOY. He told us more about this event and his designs when Dapper Dan had the pleasure of interviewing him. Continue reading “Charles Jeffrey talks to Matthew Hicks”→
Cyprus-born, New York-based artist and choreographer Maria Hassabi creates performance pieces exhibited in a wide range of settings around the world—from the streets of Manhattan, to a sports hall at the Venice Biennale, to the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. As bodies navigate these diverse spaces in what sometimes appears to be slow motion—often holding poses with unwavering poise—the spectator finds themself in a contemplative atmosphere, questioning the meaning of the precise movements Hassabi creates, and the paradox of stillness in movement. Here she tells Dapper Dan more about her process and her work. Continue reading “Maria Hassabi talks to Kim Laidlaw”→
“SPHINX”. Rick Owens AW 15/16. Photography by Filep Motwary
Hair can be defined and shaped by the use of hands. Hair can be immortalized through photography, complimented by clothes, makeup, through a story, in a context where instant reality becomes a global fantasy or a fact for the years to come. A champion in his own right, today Luigi Murenu creates fashion via hair styling and photography, and observing him at work is like attending a masterclass. His recent hairstyles for Rick Owens Homme and his photographic stories alongside Iango Henzi make fashion seem to be a game with rules to be broken. Continue reading “Luigi Murenu talks to Filep Motwary”→
Andreas Kronthaler—Vivienne Westwood’s Creative Director, design partner and husband—is undoubtedly charming, talented and bold. The first time I crossed paths with him in Paris was a few seasons back, on the right bank of the Seine, just outside a tent where Westwood was about to present her new collection only a few minutes later. He was wearing a kilt, knee-high socks and although a sword was missing, he looked as if he had come straight out of an epic movie—one of those films you never forget. Then I saw him again sitting front row at the MMM Artisanal show, two to three seasons ago and his charm was still there, in jeans and shiny curls, big smile and sparkling eyes. Just before the hectic menswear week for fall/winter 2015/16, Andreas shared his thoughts on heroism, unisex clothing and Pope Francis with us. Continue reading “Andreas Kronthaler talks to Filep Motwary”→
Psychogeography is a critical tool encouraging the study of the effects of a particular urban environment on the emotions, cognitive responses and behaviour of individuals. The term, first defined by French political theorist Guy Debord in his essay Introduction to a Critique of Urban Geography, encompassed the “study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organised or not, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals.” At the core of this method of urban data gathering was the dérive, a form of walking or drifting. For Debord, a dérive was “the practice of a passional journey out of the ordinary through a rapid changing of ambiances.” Initially, the dérive was a tool to increase individual awareness of urban surroundings and its alienating effects. Unlike the flâneur of Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin, Debord was less interested in interpreting the space and more in the personal experience while observing a drift. At stake was the exact investigation of the effect of the geographic, architectural space on individuals’ emotions and consciousness. Continue reading “Psychogeography: A New Paradigm?”→
Dapper Dan is back with its 11th issue, in which Andreas Kronthaler talks about being Vivienne Westwood’s right hand man, Katerina Kana delves into the mysterious world of writer and curator Valentinas Klimašauskas, and shoe fetishist photographer Jacopo Benassi lets us in on his passion for slippers. There’s also an essay by Nuno Coelho exploring psychogeography and the urban environments of the future and a look at the work of controversial architect Dimitris Pikionis. Added to this are an article by Lisa Rovner on the trickery and fakery of the art world and an interview with Vasilis Toufexis, the pioneer behind Greece’s boundary-pushing comic magazine, Kolumbra.
To celebrate the launch of its 10th issue, Dapper Dan welcomed guests to Paris’ Palais Royal, in a space that was once one of Jean Cocteau’s apartments. Continue reading “Dapper Dan 10 Launch”→
Maison Martin Margiela has existed since 1988, intelligently creating fashion that goes beyond any system required by the industry. The house has proved to be an important antidote to high fashion’s dullness—established or ephemeral— by being true to its own principles: anonymity, conceptualism, artisanship and the power of process, to name a few. The statements are not verbal but designed, and true to Maison Martin Margiela’s visual concerts are its customers and devoted followers, always eager to watch without prejudice. Continue reading “Maison Martin Margiela talks to Filep Motwary”→
There is such a thing as magnificent obsession, in which passion and endless work, free from the restrictions of time, can create incredible expressions that are unlike anything known.
The Museo Ettore Guatelli is a perfect expression of magnificent obsession. Just a few kilometres from Parma, in the heart of the Italian food valley, surrounded by a bucolic landscape, is the museum house of Ettore Guatelli, a rural teacher who built his encyclopedia on the walls of his farmhouse, spending years collecting all kinds of objects whose common value is the stories they tell of the lives of the people who used them. Guatelli collected tangible objects of social life in order to save a fast disappearing civilization from oblivion, at a point in the 20th century that saw interest in material culture spreading in Italy, to create an archive that is completely unlike any other folklore, rural or ethnographic museum. Continue reading “Ettore Guatelli Museum – Create Wonder from the Obvious”→
