The Chloe Hood

WE'RE SUPPORTING

Frank Stockton finally has some great prints for sale through Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra. These are reproductions of some pretty racy images he did for Penthouse awhile back. Who says the guys are just reading those mags for the photos?

WE'RE LISTENING TO

I live the upbeat, feel good tempo of the new single — A Hundred Hearts — from Philly group, The Swimmers. Off their latest album, People Are Soft, this song is a strangely fitting anthem for the blustery day outside.

WE'RE THINKING

Ok, so this is actually an artwork by Will Cotton, but it fits every criteria for my dream house, aged 6. Smartie wall coatings? Check. Biscuit entryway? Check. A smiling lollipop garden, sitting over luscious dollops of magnificent cream? You betcha. Ah, please, take me there. Now. And give me a decent sized spoon for my troubles.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

In a world filled with conceptual environmental architect, Lost in Paris, designed by R&Sie Architects for a so-called ‘urban witch’, is the definition of innovation and resourcefulness. The 1400 square foot home is engulfed by 1200 ferns and 300 glass-blown pods. A potion of rainwater and plant nutrients are fed to the pods, which in turn feed the ferns, drop by drop, during the year. And because the home is entirely covered with the plants, it is protected from outside weather and the interior temperature is regulated without use of traditional methods.

Back in the day, when I was a skinny teenager on the great pedestal of life, I had a real obsession for the understated, low-fi, deliciously melodic and somewhat blurry sounds of the New Zealand Flying Nun bands. I would pool my meagre savings and canvas the local record shops, scouring the racks for the latest cassettes from The Bats, The Chills, The Clean, and, later, The Straitjacket Fits. Read more

WE'RE WEARING

With the recent financial qualms, a moment of reflection takes over as we begin to wonder how we all became so out of touch with reality. Somehow Luxury lost its way and mistook itself for decadence, joining the Bling-Bling parade and gravitating towards the streets of self-indulgence. Yet, the true essence of Luxury, as the divine Coco Chanel states ‘is not in the richness and ornateness, but in the absence of vulgarity’. Bravo, I say! Read more

WE'RE READING

We have a bunch of new playlists up on our sister site, My Secret Playlist, a music discovery website and weekly email publication in which we invite our favourite bands and musicians to give us the rundown on their eight favourite songs right now. Over the past few weeks, acts such as The B52s, Team Genius, Pivot, Jukebox the Ghost, Moby, Katy Perry, and the Dandy Warhols, among many others, have written about the music that inspires them. To sign-up to receive the weekly My Secret Playlist publication, just enter your email address into the website’s subscription box.