A personal favourite, Stolen Girlfriends Club continues to give a welcome fix of delinquency to the New Zealand fashion scene. Their initial following cherished their oversized t-shirts with cheeky slogans, but while they are in no danger of maturing (thankfully), their range of garments develop each season to cover denims, knits and such covertable items as silver hot pants. Their latest release, unashamedly entitled Elegantly Wasted, will allow you to look completely fabulous while behaving badly. Combining black and white with electric metallics and an alcoholic lime, it’s the kind of clothing you were meant to blow all your cash on before committing to your rent.
Also by HI HO SILVER
I haven’t bought a CD in a while but I was strolling down Wellington’s Cuba Street looking for a bit of inspiration the other day when Liam Finn’s music tapped me politely on the shoulder and dragged me into the music store. Liam is New Zealand music royalty, of Neil Finn descent, although — with his wild hair and beard — he’s looking a bit more like a young Jesus these days. The record is made with the help of an analogue loop machine, and you’ll find the kind of stunning instrumental crescendos that I haven’t heard since The Beatles Hey Jude. He engages emotionally and spontaneously, with both skill and showmanship.
New for the world of Retroism is Hackman, a New Zealand based design collective that brings a hearty serving of vintage simplicity to the cluttered table of the modern world. Operating since 2002, their debut product is the Guinea Pig – a speaker for your iPod or MP3 player, Discman, Walkman, portable record player – any product that you can plug headphones into. The Pig requires no power source of it’s own, aiding you on your journey to ‘carbon neutrality’. It also allows you amplification capabilities without the restrictions of a pesky wall plug or battery. As well as being functional and sustainable, The Guinea Pigs are made from some very handsome hardboard and then laser cut with there own pattern. Hand assembled, individually named and numbered where they will be found the Pig Orphanage section of their website. Among those up for adoption include Brenda, Baby, and Scarface.
Paris House is a leatherwear brand emerging out of Wellington with a range of wallets, bags and temporary tattoos. With Sharon Paris at the helm, her latest collection, Belief creates a Victorian medical visual and is being stocked at World, Hailwood and The Good Room. My problem is the inclusion on the C word. Elevation to the status of ‘conceptual’ seems a bit fair fetched to me, because I could have sworn I was looking at a bunch of wallets. ‘Idiosyncratic’ statements merely hide behind a veil of ambiguity. If anyone can figure out the meaning of ‘It would appear that people believe in medicine, but they don’t believe in art without questioning either’, I will personally offer you a prize for doing so. So buy the pseudo-conceptual wallets if you dig the comments but if you are trying to decipher the higher meaning, I would be tempted to say you are looking into it too much. And admittedly, I have bought much sillier things because I was seduced by a strong aesthetic.
YOU'RE SAYING (3)
Hi Ho Silver said | 16 July, 2007
SGC have been doing their parady on the Katharine Hamnett original Tees for about 2 years. And as a satire, they are looking to invert or update on another’s work anyhow.
Also, I totally believe in the communal consciousness, that out environment is getting so much smaller all the time anyhow – so that we are being influenced by the same stuff more and more. But as for House of Holland in particular, I think you will find that these clever Kiwi boys have quiet an independant train of thought.
Laura said | 22 January, 2009
Re: Paris Wallets
This is a misquote from an interview with the artist Damien Hirst – the full quote actually reads: ‘Art is like medicine – it can heal. Yet I’ve always been amazed at how many people believe in medicine but don’t believe in art, without questioning either.’
HAVE YOUR SAY
Matt Ranzetta has created a ‘minimalist crossover poster series, remixing classic movies with Star Wars iconography’. We love it. Read more
Our friend, Lost At E Minor contributor, Ron English has a bunch of awesome new figures out for this year’s Comic Con, including Figment (Dead Artist), Telegrinnie, T-Rex Grin, and POPaganda Minis. Read more
Not much more needs to be said about this. Ricky Gervais, the funniest man in
Alice in Wonderland-obsessives take note: the fantastical and whimsically surreal artist, Mark Ryden, will be signing copies of his latest book, The Tree Show, at the MOCA store in Los Angeles on Jan 31st. Read more
This website hosts a nice collection of quirky, sometimes mind-boggling, sculptures from around the world. There’s a certain Dali-esque feel to a lot of them – those surreal, dreamy hallucinations turned into a warped reality. I’ve always been a sucker for art that really catches you out for a few seconds, and these certainly do that.
I love this track by London based rock group, Scanners, which is off their latest album, Submarine. Having toured with acts such as The Horrors, The Wedding Present, The Charlatans, Electric Six, and Juliette & The Licks, Scanners could well blow up in 2010. Figuratively speaking, not literally. No, that wouldn’t be fun.
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Knit you and your sweetie a smitten this Valentine’s Day and marvel at the droves of strangers that will vomit at your feet.
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Mathematics? Leave me out. Fashematics? Now you’re talking! This gem of a site is a runway equation that adds up to a whole lot of wonderful.
Cookie Boy’s creative cookie designs
I don’t eat cookies, so good thing Cookie Boy’s cookies are little pieces of art too pretty and cute to eat. Read more
Benjamin Edminston’s psychedelic heads seem to have some fearful wisdom behind their blissed-out eyes. Read more
It’s refreshing to see artists like Joe Kievitt who are contented to explore the beauty in simple forms and asymmetrical patterns. Read more
Pencils made from recycled newspaper
The problem with awesome things like these pencils made out of recycled newspaper is that you almost don’t want to use them.
New York-based artist Suzuki Mariko has made this handmade felt doll set of a mom and happy baby bear sitting on a sofa. At just three inches wide and two inches high, it’s perfect for your side table. It can even watch TV with you. Aw! We have it for sale in the Lost At E Minor store. Read more
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Not Saying said | 14 July, 2007
This looks a lot like they took the idea of House of Holland.