WE'RE SUPPORTING

Tokyo-based photographer Hiroshi Manaka has shot for Tokion, Dazed & Confused, and GQ magazines, among many others. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

New York-based Japanese artist Shusaku Arakawa designed this small apartment block in 2005 in the Tokyo suburb of Mitaka in conjunction with his poet partner, Madeline Gins. According to the SushiLog: ‘Painted in eye-catching blue, pink, red, yellow and other bright colors, the building resembles the indoor playgrounds that attract toddlers at fast-food restaurants. Inside, each apartment features a dining room with a grainy, surfaced floor that slopes erratically, a sunken kitchen and a study with a concave floor. Electric switches are located in unexpected places on the walls so you have to feel around for the right one. A glass door to the veranda is so small you have to bend to crawl out’. Read more

WE'RE WEARING

I am one of those typical New Yorkers who only wears black in winter. But this winter is different. With the economic crisis, and all the rest of the bad news, I have to fight the darkness in the world by wearing colors, and lots of them. Spanish designer Sybilla is known for her original designs and unique color schemes, but she is virtually unknown outside of her mother country and Japan, where she is super popular. Her younger brand Jocomomola is perfect for this gloomy winter. Read more

WE'RE THINKING

I’m so excited to have stumbled across the work of Berkeley, California artist Weston Teruya. On first glance, his work feels purely abstract, like black and white grids with dots of colour here and there, undulating across clean backgrounds. On closer inspection, however, perfectly rendered chairs, life savers, netting, plants and various ephemera come to light. I’m always excited when I come across an artist who can so successfully merge the realistic and abstract, and Teruya does it with aplomb. Read more

WE'RE READING

Fashion blogger Tavi is biting, witty, articulate, and stylish for any age. The fact that she’s only twelve makes her kind of over-the-top amazing. Already an accomplished photographer and astute critic of all things wearable, the sarcastic pre-teen is probably sick of being described as precocious, but she’s the very definition of the word.

Animator Mathieu Labaye created this short film in tribute to his late father, who had been in a wheelchair for the last 15 years of his life. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

We name-checked them as having one of the top five albums of 2007, and with good reason. I speak of Nashville band, The Silver Seas. Read more