Hint Video: NewGen Winners, 7/7

A few minutes with Henry Holland, who, ever the tease, is coy about meetings in France, future partnerships and his inspiration for spring, which apparently has something to do with supermodel divorces...

Hint Video: NewGen Winners, 6/7

Designer Jo Sykes, who, she says, has recently fallen for someone, champions "voyeuristic peeks of flesh," but shuns traditional sexiness like cleavage...

Hint Video: NewGen Winners, 5/7

Sarah Mower, the British Fashion Council's shiny new Ambassador of Emerging Talent, waves the flag for London's fresh crop of designers and reveals a few predictions...

Hint Video: NewGen Winners, 4/7

Dominic Jones discusses his eccentric, Alice Dellal-backed jewelry line—weird creatures, throbbing hands, defense systems, oh my!

Hint Video: NewGen Winners, 3/7

The impossibly adorable girls of LP.BG describe their "art for the body"...

Berlin Fashion Week: Patrick Mohr & Vladimir Karaleev

As quickly as they began, the spring collections of Mercedes-Benz Fashionweek Berlin wrapped, probably because BFW isn't (yet) a full week. While big houses like Hugo Boss showed their main lines to an eager press, we went on the hunt for German talent of the younger, scrappier kind—and found two names to remember.

After assisting Henrik Vibskov in Copenhagen, Patrick Mohr returned to his hometown of Munich to work on his own line. For his first outing at Berlin Fashion Week, he showed his designs on a mix of professional models and homeless people—sometimes you couldn't tell which was which, and surely that was the point. The collection, with its focus on unusual materials and oversized cuts, recalled Vibskov and that other fashion provocateur, Bernhard Willhelm. Nevertheless, Mohr achieved his own vision of avant-garde—as if the homeless theme wasn't unusual enough.


Courtesy of IMG Fashion/InDigital

Another up-and-comer is Vladimir Karaleev. Not part of the official calendar, he presented his lightweight, abstract collection at COMA gallery. Forms appeared like unfinished sketches, while contrasting materials like vinyl and paper made for pleasantly awkward draping. It'll be interesting to see how the Bulgarian in Berlin develops.


Courtesy of 8MILLIMEDIA

—Thomas Pieper

Randomness

In the first of our new series of arcane, inane or otherwise insane randomness, we bring you a 70's educational filmstrip of a mom who walks in on her son choking the monkey (is what they called it back then?). The set is so spartan that the only thing that stands out, other than the poor kid's erection, is the sticker on the back of the bedroom door, a hippie parent's subliminal message.

—Mina Estevez

Hint Video: NewGen Winners, 2/7

Mark Fast is turned on by underground Egyptian silent movies. Who knew there even was such a thing?...

Hint Video: NewGen Winners, 1/7

London Fashion Week is all aflutter, as it should be, about its upcoming 25th anniversary and the return of greats Brits—Burberry, Jonathan Saunders, Matthew Williamson, etc.—to its calendar, after years of showing abroad in New York, Milan or Paris.

Just as intriguing is the move from the cramped lawns of the Natural History Museum to the palatial Somerset House. Add to that the recently announced recipients of LFW's NewGen sponsorship, backed by Topshop in support of young design stars (previously won by Alexander McQueen, Giles Deacon and Christopher Kane), and you have nothing short of hysteria.

And so we—or rather, fashion observer Marko Matysik and videographer Bjørn Solarin—caught up with a few of them, as well as with Sarah Mower, journalistic legend and just-appointed Ambassador of Emerging Talent for the British Fashion Council. Without further ado, we present the first of seven videos in as many days...

Hint Video: Paris Men's Week

Ten minutes backstage with Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Tim Hamilton, Damir Doma and Romain Kremer...



video production by Crystal Snow Films

Bubble Rap

Slava Mogutin filmed Sissy Nobby and Big Freedia, rising stars of the New Orleans bounce rap scene, Friday night at The Knitting Factory—naturally sponsored by Butt...

Accessory to Murder

The contents of some handbags are quite mysterious, but are they worthy of a movie? If it's a Dior bag, then probably so. The company has been taunting us with this Lady Dior viral trailer, sending us cryptic tweets on a par with Cold War spy communiqués: "Remember this secret number: N°751B43" and "Someone is trying to unscrew the lock on the door." It's a kind of whodunnit nouveau-noir thriller with steamy close-ups of Dior pumps, a gunshot and some somewhat gratuitous bondage, all of which revolve around what may or may not be inside Marion Cotillard's bag. (It's directed by Olivier Dahan, her director in La Vie en Rose.) We wish we could know right now what, exactly, is in that damn bag, but with all the cinematic gestures in fragrance marketing right now, we're thinking it's a perfume. Maybe. Whatever it is, it's sure to be killer when the full six and a half minutes are finally released on May 20.

—Liz Armstrong

Rock the Boat

Grace Jones would kick our hungover asses if we told you why she was so late to take the stage at last night's boat party to launch Matthew Williamson's summer collection for H&M, hitting stores May 14. So we won't. Instead, we'll show you clips from her four-song set with three hat changes (Philip Treacy), a little conversation with DJ Michel Gaubert and the hottie sailors who welcomed us all aboard. Who needs a long black limousine when you have a big pink ship?...

Where the Boys Are

—Cesar Padilla

I know nothing of gay porn. Honest! But last weekend I had the chance to attend the GayVN Awards (no idea why it's called that) at the Castro Theater in San Francisco, hosted by Janice Dickinson and Margaret Cho. Reading the categories beforehand—Best Threeway, Best Oral Sex, Best Pearl Necklace—I knew I was in for a wild ride, or at least some shiggles.

Like all good celebrations, the partying began early—as in, the night before. Masses of sculpted, well-hung porn stars and their twink hangers-on took over the Castro as nominated "actors" were put on display at the bars. The best was an ample young stud bouncing up and down on a trampoline in front of the notorious Twin Peaks. It was all very fascinating, tragic, fun, decadent, Dada.

Prior to the awards, Janice stirred up some shit in an interview when asked about bottoming for her co-host. She responded with "Margaret Cho can wash my fucking car." If only she could recognize that she isn't that funny, although she did look amazing. After weeks of going over scripts, Janice then dropped the bomb that she doesn't do scripts, which wasn't her brightest idea, nor was hitting the open bar before going onstage. Yet she managed to make it through her bits, repeatedly pumping her fist in the air, flashing her big smile and yelling something about gay shame over and over.

Margaret Cho, on the other hand, was flawless, and kept everyone in stitches with her caustic sense of humor. When we weren't cheering her on, we were erupting with laughter every time the nominees were announced, with titles like Paging Dr. Finger and Spread Dat Butta, which were up for Best Group Scene. I forgot who won, but over 100 participants took the stage.

Falcon Studios monopolized the awards, which must have sent waves of penis envy among the competition. Their new film, To The Last Man, was filmed on a ranch for a whole sixteen days. Apparently, they're changing the landscape of gay porn and heralding in a new genre—one with real acting. I guess that means the script has more dialogue than "You like that cock? Yeah! Take it!" (Speaking of cock, in line for a urinal, waiting for what seemed like forever, I overheard one hung horse say to another, and I kid you not, "Hey, nice schlong!")

For all Janice's antics, if there were a Biggest Bitch award, it might have gone to Michael Lucas, gay porn legend and king among schlongs. When on stage, he rehashed an old feud with an unscrupulous starlet who once lied about his age and, according to Michael, besmirched the industry's reputation. Later, at the afterparty, that starlet's porn-star boyfriend offered a few choice words to Mr. Lucas and found himself expelled, handcuffed and hauled off to jail. Way to suck all the fun out of the awards, guys.

Sadly, because video cameras weren't allowed inside the theater, thousands of hilarious moments were lost. The gaggle of drag queens alone, primping and cackling in the ladies room, would have provided hours of entertainment. But here's a clip we found of Margaret Cho singing about award winner (Best Top) Ricky Sinz's dick size...



And a few more snippets shot by Mat Cote...

Hint Video: Rick Owens

Over 10 minutes of Rick! Can you handle it? Here's what you'll learn: he takes a nap every day, thinks L.A. designers should get off their asses, is a terrible collaborator, used to feel like a sell-out, doesn't like press offices, will open a Tokyo store in September and can't deal with young people with cute haircuts...



And if that's not enough, read our now-legendary Hinterview.

Hint Tip: The Fashion Show

Leading up to the May 7th premiere of Bravo's new fashion reality show—called, um, The Fashion Show—Isaac Mizrahi went on camera to ponder his personal style. In short: he's a slob, he wears almost nothing in a regular day, he wants to be buried in croc shoes. (Sorry for the super-loud, super-annoying ad.) ...



By the way, could this be the freakiest fashion cast ever? ...

Hans Brinker of Disaster

You've seen haute hotels, heard about love hotels and probably booked a cheap hotel or two. But have you had the distinct honor (and odor) of staying at the Hans Brinker in Amsterdam, the self-proclaimed worst hotel in the world? Only when you do can you fully appreciate the magic of cynical, gross-out marketing. Over the years they've created hilariously self-deprecating images, videos and other marketing materials, which now, because it seems all we have left these days is laughter, have been reproduced in a book called—wait for it—The Worst Hotel in the World. It's a tribute to what the Ritz will never have: zero stars and even lower standards. Plus, if you'll be in Amsterdam on April 24, you can celebrate squalor in person at what promises to be a totally lackluster book launch party, which we're gonna go ahead and assume is BYOB...

Hint Video: Dries Van Noten

For his fall collection of "strange beauties," Dries Van Noten says he looked to the colors of artist Francis Bacon. And Sasha Pivovarova finally cracks a smile...

Going Under

How do you know if the video for Acne's new men's underwear—inspired by the patterns in Louise Bourgeois' textile work—is any good? Because the Related Videos section says things like: Gay Twinks In Hot Movie, Homo Twinks Playing In Amateur Video, Broke Straight Boys... well, you get the picture...

Hint Video: Bless

Still marching to their own beat...

Hint Video: Gareth Pugh

Gareth Pugh on the Gypsy Mafia, his "pretty boy" muse Natasa Vojnovic and those old Dior Homme rumors...

Viral Load

A lot of labels are finally catching up to the Internet's viral potential and making videos that they hope will spread like, well, a virus. Problem is, a lot of them suck. But not this spine-tingling little movie from Y-3 to accompany its spring ad campaign. Filmed in collaboration with Darren Lew and Doug Lloyd, it shows menacing surveillance cameras and two people—or rather, two good-looking models—trying to escape them. Wearing really nice clothes, of course...

Free Love

Recession or not, Londoners must still be in the mood for love, at least judging from the blow-kisses and heart-hands videographer Zaiba Jabbar got when she hit the fringy shows—House of Holland, Fashion East, MAN, House of Blue Eyes, Ashish, Charlie Le Mindu—at London Fashion Week. Okay, yes, she also encouraged it. Here, a video montage to Crystal Fighters' "I Love London"—because who doesn't?...

Pleasure Principle

"When the unreal is taken for the real then the real is taken for the unreal."

Your First Look: Alexander Wang

Thanks, YSL!

A messenger just dropped off an early Valentine's Day present, Yves Saint Laurent's latest Manifesto, the one with a USB drive (and it's heart-shaped—cute!). All of Inez and Vinoodh's images of Claudia Schiffer vamping under the Hollywood sign are neatly filed on it, but better still, a video...

Hint Tip: Antony & The Johnsons

No doubt timed with the inauguration, Antony and The Johnsons' new CD, The Crying Light, is finally out today. For the video of Epilepsy is Dancing, which also premieres today, Antony collaborated with his friends the Wachowski Brothers to create a dream sequence with just the kind of frolicking fairies, sequined wood nymphs and antlered elves you'd expect from the singing-songwriting transgender activist...

Remix You Can Believe In

Hot off the presses, this inauguration-edition music video of Adam Freeland's remix of Daft Punk's "Aerodynamic" made us chortle into our Irish coffee this morning—er, afternoon. Nothing says fresh start like stop-motion toy art and the letters O-B-A-M-A delivered in a speak 'n' spell robo-voice. Say it. You are correct!...

Hint Tip: Berliner Strasse

If you ever wanted to know more about the young Berlin urban art scene (and of course you do—it's unlike anything you've seen), don't miss Berliner Strasse. Opening October 31, the group show features artists Jaybo aka Monk, XOOOOX, Emess, Nomad, Anton Unai, Marok, Charlie Isoe, Neon, Daniel Tagno, Mymo and Alex Flach, whose recent book of photos, Berlin Calling, says it all...


Projection on Berliner Dom by Jaybo aka Monk, conceived by Skudi Optix & Tristesse Deluxe


Sit Lady by XOOOOX


Daniel Tagno performing with The Gadget

Just Kidding

For all you Karl kultheads, watch the Kaiser kommit what he kalls a "bad taste joke" while kreating the imagery for his new scent, Kapsule...

Buzz Cut

A bee's perspective was the inspiration for new designer Dharma Taylor's spring collection of oversized tees, pants and jumpsuits in primary colors and geometric prints (at ilil in Tokyo and Shop 172 in London), shown as this trippy short film during London Fashion Week. Enjoy ...

Hint Tip: Antony & The Johnsons

What do lace gloves, suicidal thoughts and Butoh dance have in common? They're just a few of the things that make up Antony and The Johnsons' new five-track EP, Another World (available October 7), their first release in three years and a teaser of their forthcoming full-length album, The Crying Light...


Cover art (1984 photo of Butoh co-founder and Japanese dance legend Kazuo Ohno)

The video for the sublime yet depressing title track...

Hurricane Hussein

André do Val rides on the gale-force winds of Hussein Chalayan's spring show...

Stairway to Bless

Puff Piece

Rick Owens walks us through the fog feature of his new New York store before heading over to Mr. Chow for a celebration dinner...

Giggles with Gareth Pugh and Gang

Gareth holding court in a toga, Richard Mortimer perfecting the burqa, Dazed and Confused's Katie Shillingford nearly breaking a leg, Seven's Joseph Quartana seeing porn in statuary and everyone holding poses in the "gothic garden," one of the many nooks of the sprawling estate where we were staying. These were just some of the boozy shenanigans that happened after Cassette Playa's show in Florence for Pitti Uomo...

Root Beirendonck

"Explicit" was the title of Walter Van Beirendonck's spring collection, shown at Pitti Uomo in Florence—and indeed it appeared to be inspired by woods, wood nymphs and woodies. As printed on one leotard: Get Natural, Get Naked...

New York Fashion Week: Rad Hourani

It's all about androgyny for French-Canadian designer Rad Hourani, whose towering models (all women, except for one, possibly) stormed out in vertical black leather sheaths, decoration-less short dresses over leggings, Japanese-like square backpacks, obsessively straight hair, and chunky scarves and other strappy bits that hung to the floor. To us, it was very futuristic shaman, à la Helmut Lang, but Rad (how much do you love the name, by the way?) told us backstage that he was inspired by Adam and Eve, and the combination thereof.

New York Fashion Week: Rodarte

You might assume, as we did, that Rodarte's fall collection was about punked-out ballerinas, with ripped stockings, studded stilettos and hot-pink tutus. But its designing sisters, the Mulleavys, use a more fine-toothed set of references. Sure enough, Kate Mulleavy told us backstage that they were inspired by kabuki theater and Japanese horror movies. We should have guessed from our peek in the goodie bag, which had a DVD of Ugetsu, director Kenji Mizoguchi's definitive Japanese ghost story from 1953.



Our video of Rodarte's spring 08 collection...

Dark, shaky, blurry and boozy video of Colette's New York Fashion Week party—in conjunction with street label Married to the Mob and Jalouse magazine—at Beatrice Inn, with Uffie on hosting duties and a special DJ set by artist Fafi (who's the one in the feather headdress, in case you have bionic eyes)...

New York Fashion Week: Tom Scott

Loved for his nubby knits, Tom Scott introduced woven and coated fabrics for fall, as well as the occasional metallic and fluorescent flash. While shaggy "cassette tape" hats, multiple layers and secretary skirts evoked a child's game of dress-up, Tom's discriminating eye for asymmetry, a dark color palette and an overall sense of dishabille kept the small collection within city limits. This was the latest in the slow, deliberate evolution of a future fashion star.

New York Fashion Week: Patrik Ervell

From the very beginning, when he made red and blue windbreakers from a silicone-coated parachute material developed by the military, Patrik Ervell has always used high-tech fabrics in his men's line—but never in an over-the-top futuristic way. For fall, as he says in this video, the California native and UC Berkeley grad reworked gold thermal emergency blankets to convey a sense of protection, by which he means both actual protection from the elements and psychological armor. Either way, it's a new gold standard.

New York Fashion Week: Band of Outsiders & Boy

For the uninitiated, Band of Outsiders is a relatively new men's line and, despite the name, Boy is its newer sister line. Both are designed by Scott Sternberg, both are based out of Los Angeles and both are about as preppy as anything you'll ever see, never more than their joint fall presentation, where prep oozed from every corner of the tableau vivant set up in a midtown showroom, from flannel-clad hunting prep to slick-haired collegiate prep. Standout pieces: navy vests with leather buttons, pleated corduroy skirts, shrunken oxfords, tartan cuffed pants and wool coat-dresses. Accessories have always been the core of both lines; for fall, they included cashmere knit ties, varsity gloves, trapper hats with raccoon trim and Band of Outsiders shoes for Sperry and Manolo Blahnik.

Stockholm Fashion Week: +46

Preserving the progressive spirit of +46—a semiannual fair of hot new designers from Sweden and beyond—Annika Berger (of Skyward) created an installation for her small art-terrorist collection. Thrillingly spooky and confusing, the show was a cross between a haunted house and a construction site, entered through a dark hallway full of tree branches and blasting with strobe lights and a soundtrack of noise. This dropped you off in an enormous trashed-out room with cardboard boxes, cables that snaked into infinity, floodlights with minds of their own and random industrial ephemera. Black tarps suspended from the ceiling sectioned off small cubicles, inside which models stood motionless (minus one on a treadmill) in top-heavy, graphic-print getups that focused on headgear. White arrows on the floor directed you in circles, making the experience an unnavigable environment that, through reverse psychology, gave Annika's collection a sense of place.

Stockholm Fashion Week: Sandra Backlund

Sandra Backlund's knitwear—or, more accurately, wearable knitscapes—possesses a violent gentility, with its cascading bells, bouncing caulifloral clusters, baseball-sized chenille pompons and knotted drainpipes. Her indefatigable dresses, resembling armor made from soufflé, seemed to burst with joy as they pulled and ached and exalted the body, not unlike the way a chandelier dangles precariously from a ceiling to shower light across a room. Which is exactly what Sandra did, lowering the theater's huge glittering light-beasts to runway level so her models could walk around them, which perfectly hammered home her message of strength through fragility.

São Paulo Fashion Week

The scene, the freaks, the curvy-cool Oscar Neimeyer-designed venue and other random moments from São Paulo Fashion Week, with music by Brazilian sensation Cansei de Ser Sexy.

São Paulo Fashion Week: Amapo, Neon, Fabia Bercsek

Three more fave collections...




Still pics from Amapo, available in São Paulo at Surface to Air...

São Paulo Fashion Week: Isabela Capeto

Isabela Capeto is a Rio-based designer, but made the most of São Paulo Fashion Week by installing her fall collection on twirling mannequins in her São Paulo store. Isabela has a uniquely Brazilian aesthetic—a sweetly naive and kind of nutty one at that—with pulsing bright colors and handmade prints, but never in an over-the-top Carmen Miranda way. For fall, as if she needed to get any bigger in Japan, Isabela says she was inspired by a recent trip to Tokyo, hence the jumble of cityscape prints, kimono-esque shapes, funky jewelry and pink wigs (what is it with the Japanese and colored hair?). In addition to Rio and São Paulo, you can find her irresistibly cute wares in Barneys in Japan, Browns in London and Colette in Paris. Be sure to check out her new perfume in a bottle designed by Surface to Air, a three-dimensional version of her flared-skirt logo.

São Paulo Fashion Week: Alexandre Herchcovitch

What would São Paulo Fashion Week be without its premier provocateur? Here, highlights from Alexandre Herchcovitch's fall collection, which, he told us, is all about math (or "meth," as he pronounces it, cutely), geometry and graphs, as if the body didn't exist...




And this is his men's show later in the week, plus a moment with him backstage. By the way, in both of these clips, can you spot Alexandre making his finale hidden among the models?...

São Paulo Fashion Week: Osklen

If you've been to the Meatpacking recently, you probably noticed a new little store called Osklen (and maybe you realized there's another in Soho). Designed by Oscar Metsavaht—who, by the way, is a former doctor—Osklen began as a ski label, which has to be a first for Rio de Janeiro, where the company is headquartered. But something clicked and now Osklen, now a major label in Brazil, is a kind of cross between Moncler and Marc Jacobs, which is to say quirky, wearable and expensive. And like Marc's infamous collection for Perry Ellis ages ago, Oscar went grunge for fall...

São Paulo Fashion Week

Vivienne Westwood spoke about her collaboration with Melissa, Brazilian makers of colorful plastic shoes who've previously collaborated with Judy Blame and Alexandre Herchcovitch, and took the opportunity to expound on American exploitation ("We're all going to die if it continues"), the virtues of Barack Obama, her manifesto on art and culture, why we must consume less and the real reason Naomi fell...



And here are the shoes, jelly plastic versions of Westwood classics, in a variety of Smucker's colors...

Following Hint's footage of its making, Ben Charles Edwards' "Eat Your Chiffon"—a dinner party hosted by Natt Weller and Zandra Rhodes, with a host of fashion names—finally goes live. Part I is the anticipation, Part II is Zandra multitasking in the kitchen while reminiscing about dressing Princess Di, the genius of Poiret and how “London still has a cutting edge, but the rest of the world doesn’t want to admit it.” Part III, the finale, sees Zandra and co. settling down to dinner and chewing the linguistic fat—Andrew Logan on how Divine was like a brother to him, Piers Atkinson on Zandra's brush-sweeping technique, Marios Schwab and much more. It's a fashion feast.

Part I


Part II


Part III

Dean Mayo Davies ducks into a dinner happening chez Zandra Rhodes. Video footage by Michele Mei...

On Nov. 30, the great and the fabulous braved wintry London weather to gather at designer and color queen Zandra Rhodes' penthouse in Bermondsey. The occasion? A dinner party organized by Natt Weller (host of Dangerous To Know club and son of the legendary Paul Weller, founder of The Jam and The Style Council) and filmed by Ben Charles Edwards (best known for shooting drag diva Jodie Harsh), whose vision for the art film was a twisted mix of John Waters' Eat Your Makeup and the seventh chapter from Alice in Wonderland. Hence the title: "Chapter 7: Eat Your Chiffon."

As Zandra whipped up a storm in the kitchen (pea soup garnished with sesame salt to start), her illustrious guests began filtering in. First to arrive was Andrew Logan, iconic artist and jeweler extraordinaire who took the red dress code to extremes with a crimson suit, red velvet and bejeweled slippers, ruby-glass neckpiece and doorknob-sized ring. Elsewhere in the eclectic mix were new music sensation Bishi; ceramicist Kate Malone; Barbara Grispini, creative consultant to London Fashion Week; prop stylist and accessory whiz Fred Butler; hot women's designer Marios Schwab; and Piers Atkinson of Fashion Week tabloid The Daily Rubbish (which isn’t rubbish at all). When asked by Andrew about his conversation-steering strategy, Natt replied that he was "influenced by The Fern Cotton [teeny-bopper TV host] approach. A lot of listening is involved.” After all, you can’t plan chemistry.

Keep an eye out for the short when the first of three parts launches online in January. It's one of many future projects from Glass Loves, a fashion/art/communications company that previously worked with Zandra's Fashion and Textile Museum.

While you wait for the premiere, enjoy Hint’s cryptic, fly-on-the-wall video footage of the events and remember the off-camera wisdom of our pink-haired hostess: “When dyeing my hair, I put the coloring on my head as usual, but the secret is to wrap it up tightly in a turban and leave it on overnight, sleeping in it. If you don't, your hair will come out as only a pale pink. And who wants pale?!”

Lost footage from Stockholm Fashion Week. In the first video, Helena Hörstedt's impeccable, all-black spring collection and a visit to her studio. In the second, the fairy-tale collection of Nikoline Liv Andersen, winner of the +46 Fashion Award. (Click here for Hint's backstage montage of Stockholm Fashion Week.)

Animated accessories by Yoshiko Creation are the current obsession of Tokyo-based Polish illustrator and Hint contributor Przemek Sobocki...

Brits (and non-Brits who show in London) at Noovo: Gareth Pugh, Patrik Söderstam, Boudicca, Peter Pilotto and new Cacharel designers Eley Kishimoto. Guess which one got borracho off his ass one night, threatened a couple of burly Spanish bouncers and was subsequently pummeled on the street?