1.26.2007
old spice swings back
old spice is fighting back against axe and the impressive market share it has created from an edgy ad campaign. proctor and gamble's spice has some fantastic new ads (see them on you tube here and here) and a fun web site featuring excellent graphic work based on their traditional/retro look.
posted by Hans 7:26 PM
pan's labrynth
i joined some friends for pan's labrynth last night and i'm sharing my favorite character with you (shown above). with a 96% rating on rottentomatoes.com, i was expecting perfection...and honestly it is a very nice movie...it's just...well...annoying as hell.
there's an anxious feeling throughout the film, and watching this little girl in her fantasy land struggle to follow simple instructions made me crazy. you'll see what i'm talking about when u see it...i wouldn't want to ruin it for you.
posted by Hans 1:26 PM
1.25.2007
comments on tom ford
when tom ford originally joined gucci over a decade ago, he transformed an ailing brand into a global powerhouse through his right-on-the-pulse decisions, style, and sex appeal. ever since he left the label a few years ago, i have been watching and waiting to see him launch his own name and subsequent brand.
the first news about his plans were odd at best...he moved to LA to make movies. now don't get me wrong, i think life is short and we should follow all of dreams, but c'mon tom. set up your house, get the brand moving, keep the momentum of your moment in the spotlight...and then make your sexy (i guess i assume they would be sexy) movies on the side.
anyway, without any fanfare, suddenly a line of uninspired (and grossly overpriced) eyeware hit the stores last year. for $400 bucks, the only brand that better be stamped on a pair of sunglasses is louis vuitton. design wise, the glasses seemed to emulate sophia lauren's reading glasses line than anything else...cutting edge they were not.
beyond the design aspect, which i understand is subjective, is the strange choice to launch accessories prior to a full line of menswear. accessories are usually the cash cows for fashion houses...they provide the panache of the label, while being relatively affordable. but in order to make this relationship work, the branded accessories have to have a house to represent.
secondly, his choice to release a perfume, labeled black orchid, again provides the same challenge since perfumes are the other big money maker luxury brands due to all the same reasons above. his bottle, which in person looks a lot like a little statue of Cousin It from the addams family has left me under whelmed.
anyway, he is apparently showing a spring menswear line (which will be produced by zegna) so soon the full TOMFORD label will be a reality, with a mothership store in nyc. it is just unfortunate that the brand didn't appear with a boom, and instead has trickled out. maybe if his entire vision could have been presented at once, not only would these unexceptional pieces be better understood, they could have provided us with a new aesthetic voice that might challenge indeed what is currently considered exceptional.
posted by Hans 5:45 PM
1.24.2007
sugar, champagne, and a lot of fur
disco, along with the other canine glitteratti in dc, attended a benefit for the washingon humane society, sugar and champagne, last night at the palomar. ran into peter from dc magazine...lots of tables full from local restaurants with treats for humans and dogs...the best human treat came from firefly, a mexican hot chocolate with salted almonds...note to self - next year all the dog owners should walk their dogs for an hour before entering the event...it is tough to balance a champagne glass while the dog orgy is in full effect...disco and his new collar matched the carpet exactly...it was a total singles scene - any guy with a yellow lab had at least three chicks with lapdogs in line waiting to chitchat...oh, yeah, and sticky fingers, the vegan pastry shop, continues to impress with a cake that wasn't missing a thing - visit them at their new digs up in my neighborhood (near the tivoli)
posted by Hans 10:50 AM
the australian open is wreaking havoc on my schedule. i can't keep staying up late for these matches...but if sharapova is playing...i'm watching. she's through to the semi's.
also, rob got his hands on a copy of dreamgirls (i didn't ask why...maybe he's a member of the academy or shops in chinatown) and it's a hot mess. jumping between high-mediocre and tired-fantastic, it ends up being kind of too long, and definetly "Ray" part 2. jennifer hudson is great and beyonce does a pretty good job...but it absolutely should not have been even a contender for any sort of best-of anything, so the oscars called it correctly.
posted by Hans 12:31 AM
1.23.2007
congrats to penelope cruz, who was just nomitated for a oscar for her performance in Volver, which by the way is an amazing movie. david and i joined a million people on sunday to go to the movies during the snow and were blown away by her performance. it is always such a joy to reexperience spain through aldomovar's vision, since both david and i have lived there at times in our lives and always appreciate all the intricate spanish details he weaves into his stories.
posted by Hans 8:54 AM
1.22.2007
so i finally gave in and downloaded gwen stefani's the sweet escape. i had been avoiding it because i thought the 'wind it up' opening track was hollaback crap. well...it has been on my playlist every day in the studio since i bought it. it actually sounds more like a no doubt record, and kind of what i would have imagined her solo stuff to sound like, in contrast to her early 80's inspired LAMB debut...which, hey, i loved a good portion of too.
once she is done self-refrencing her silly clothing label, she sort of comes to terms with the fact that she's 36 years old and a mother, singing "i've been out making babies" and reminiscing about making out to purple rain back in the day (didn't you?)...which is much more interesting than her fergie-like lyrics about boys watching her in a club...since you know this chick hasn't been to a club in years.
posted by Hans 9:03 PM
recently finished books:
nature girl/carl hiassen - if you love carl, or florida satire, this is vintage stuff. great, silly fiction.
my undoing/aiden shaw - prostitution, drugs, and the underworld of celebrity life. fascinating read.
the places in between/rory stewart - an irishman walking across afghanistan. he was nuts to do it, but the book is quite intriguing. especially because he adopts a dog along the way...so basically i loved it because of the dog.
posted by Hans 10:07 AM
1.19.2007
beautiful site by the photographer jill greenberg here
posted by Hans 12:57 PM
1.18.2007
mitchell gold is moving into the storehouse space on 14th street. cool upgrade!
posted by Hans 4:29 PM
1.17.2007
great news from starbucks.
posted by Hans 1:51 PM
so far so good...i made a resolution to free myself from the drug of celebrity gossip in 2007 (unless, of course, i am the celebrity, or i made up the gossip), but seriously, after all the britney crotch shots, the celeb blog sites that originally were a fun diversion now felt like a disgusting waste of time.
even the video link someone sent me the other day of a punch-drunk paula abdul doing an interview didn't get me fired up...i stopped it half way through and went about my business. yeah it was kind of funny, but mainly it just felt sad. i don't want that kind of energy in my life this year.
i'll let you know if i fall off the gossip wagon...
posted by Hans 1:21 PM
i recently launched the site for dan scott development, please drop by!
posted by Hans 1:18 PM
1.16.2007
hopefully everyone had a fun 3 day weekend.
including last week and this weekend, it was a packed group of days (dc magazine's ducati party, two birthday parties, and a couple nightclub events). somehow, i ended up having to work half the weekend as well and produced some fantastic work, finally breaking through a creative block that was screwing up my week last week. probably due to the lingering memory of the 3 day fiasco home from bogota.
on the bright side, the black jil sander shirt i was wearing travelled beautifully. i looked like hell, but my shirt survived beautifully. so if you ever get stuck on a plane for days without a change of clothes, you know what label i recommend. oh, and use all the la prarie samples in the duty free store! rob eagerly pumped like $35 bucks worth of skin caviar into his hand each time we walked by the counter. thank god for testers.
posted by Hans 10:57 AM
1.12.2007
i'm just not that great at looking back in general...and putting together a best of list for 2006 is too painful now that we're in 2007. my attention span apparently has an expiration date. maybe i'll be inspired to complete it later on...but right now let's talk about now.
i'm looking for flocked wallpaper (you know, the velvet stuff your mom had in her dining room when you were a kid?), and i found a tacky, but kinda great site that is reviving some classic designs in modern color combinations. i have some of their product and the production values are not great, but it is still fun.
for a better site, go to wallpaper direct in the uk, where the wallpaper resurgence seems to have started. they have excellent designs and great quality, as well as a cool tool (pictured above) that shows you what the wallcovering will look like installed in a room.
posted by Hans 7:31 PM
1.11.2007
best of lists for 2006? design news? gorgeous sites? lots of blogworthy material on the way including some new photography by catherine gaffney to be featured on my site.
posted by Hans 12:58 PM
1.10.2007
wow - tough travel week. 3 days to get back from bogota. trying to get rolling again. i'll start blogging by the end of the week.
posted by Hans 12:40 PM
1.04.2007
happy new year everyone. i'm on vacation until the 8th, so i doubt i'll be posting before that. much love in the new year!
posted by Hans 12:30 AM
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