After winning the i-D Styling and Maria Luisa awards at 2007’s International Talent Support (a.k.a. ITS) – an annual event in Trieste supporting young fashion designers and photographers – a shell-shocked Justin Smith threw himself into celebrations. Smith, born in 1978, is the millinery world’s new rising star. His MA show at London’s Royal College of Art was extremely well received. ‘The concept for my show was based all around the performative hat’, he says. ‘I started with the models, found out what they performed with and worked back from there. For example, the burlesque fan dancer wore the fans on her head as part of the hat, and took them off and performed on the catwalk with them. So the main themes were the performative hat inspired by circus, performance and an East End Victorian funeral’. His graduate collection is bound to take your breath away. So how did this ambitious and hardworking milliner go from training as a chef to hairdressing to millinery? ‘It has been an organic process on following my creativity’, he explains. ‘The story is too long for a better explanation!’ While Justin labours in his studio on private commissions and collaborates with designers for fashion week, he continues to be a hairdresser three days a week. But with such obvioustalent, he’ll be far too busy making hats to hold down the part-time job for long.
Also by KAREN LEONG
‘I overdosed on art, psycho-analytic theory and philosophy, and that clogged up my creativity’, says London-based Gordon Cheung of his artistic state in 2001 after graduating from the Royal College of Art. A six-week residency in Pakistan in 2003 changed all that. ‘The combination of being away, seeing some amazingly kitsch decorated trucks, and meeting some very interesting artists, had a huge impact on me’, he says. Read more
Elizabeth McGrath’s art is like something out of An American Werewolf in London or a Tim Burton production. Part-gothic, part-whimsical, Elizabeth draws inspiration from roadside attractions, decaying cities, nature, fashion, architecture, interior design, churches of all kinds, movies, good magazines, folklore, music, literature and poetry. Read more
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Our friends over at Environmental Graffiti have compiled a wonderful collection of the 25 Most Colorful Sea Slugs on Earth, which highlight the dramatic hues and tones of these oft-ignored but rarely missed creatures. Read more
There’s been an interesting trend recently in print and advertising work in particular away from the perfect symmetry and airbrushed cleanliness of vector art and back towards a looser form of hand-drawn illustration. I see it everywhere, from the middle pages of highbrow pop culture publications to the style sections of local broadsheets. And yet, it’s unexpected, especially so soon after the wave of vector art which swamped the print world just a few years back. Read more
B-Reel is real smooth. And when I say real, I mean really. They created the latest ad for kicks brand Onitsuka Tiger. Read more
For a lark, I spent last night cruising Worth Street in West Palm Springs, Florida, the longest, cleanest, most deserted street I’ve ever seen, which is jammed with a string of high-class stores, flogging everything from travel jewellery (for the terrified billionaire), to sweaters and blazers in every colour imaginable. That’s right, who said The Rich had poor taste?
My Kid Is Gifted is a site where people share hilarious and gifted kid stories and sayings. It’s aditcive and nearly impossible to not crack a smile at the adorableness of it all.
Wow! This song — More Childish Than In A Long Time — from Swedish teenage twins Taxi Taxi! just burst into my headphones like the first welcome glare of a mid-morning sunshine, stinging my ears wickedly with its coarse, repetitive beauty. The forlorn, introspective lyrics and melody tease and shimmer, sending a fleeting and not-so-subtle tap on the shoulder to hit repeat, repeat, and soak it all up again.
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Love your Converse All Stars? Well, designer Daryl Van Wouw has taken his obsession to the next level, creating an entire pant and shoe configuration. Yes, it’s a very interesting design. But practical? That depends entirely on the whims of the individual.
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It’s refreshing to see artists like Joe Kievitt who are contented to explore the beauty in simple forms and asymmetrical patterns. Read more
A little infectious lollipop rock anyone? Feel free to embarrass yourself singing along at the stoplight. If the other drivers give you that look, roll down the windows and spread the love.
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Pitched as ‘Ulterior Motives in Contemporary Art’, Disorder Disorder is running until November 14 at Penrith Regional Gallery. It’ll be well worth the trip out west of Sydney: the Australian, Japanese, American and European cast reads like a warriors of street art roundup and includes Mike Giant, Ed Templeton, Anthony Lister [artwork above], Ozzie Wright, and Jonathan Zawada. Read more
Nerd-attack! Man, this TARDIS zipper robe is so much cooler than any Star Wars crap people are hawking this days. This is for the true gangsta nerd.
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.
Danot has created a stunning line of new illustrated tanks and tees, featuring our latest obsession, the Forlorn tanktop. Is it a bird? Or a face? Or all of the above? Dive into this graphic and decide for yourself. While you’re there, check out the other great new Danot pieces in the Lost At E Minor store
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