Last Thursday was the night of the tragic news. It was also (in a weird way), a really honorable night to be booked as a DJ anywhere in the world. I was committed to spin at the new Jane Hotel that night (great spot by the way!). As I toiled at work that day, I thought, ugh I have to work tonight. Then my world changed at 6pm.

As soon as the news dropped, my heart sunk. I left work and packed my record bags quietly like I’ve never done before. Where was my “Rockin Robin” Jackson Five song? Where was my Jackson 5 picture disc record I hadn’t pulled out in years? Where was my Destiny album… hmm, “I havent played ‘Blame it on the Boogie’ in a long time”, I thought.

Aside from that, everyone knows its standard DJ 101 practice to carry Off The Wall and Thriller in your crates every night. If you don’t carry those (as well as Stevie Wonder’s Songs In The Key Of Life), frankly, I question your music education. Anyway, the plan was to set off a full-on Michael Medley. There’s enough to keep a floor dancing all night… and you can’t say that about too many artists. My entire Facebook was spazzing out as everyone’s “one-liner” payed homage while others added links, videos, and paid respects. My blackberry texts were overflowing and I just had to put it down. In short, people were buggin’ out.

Enter the gig at Jane Hotel. Normally, MJ classics make people silly happy on any given night. It’s almost a cheat move to drop “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” cuz well, who can’t shake their ass to that? But last Thursday? Dropping these songs was magical. Alchemy. People were huddled together, pensive, drunk, joyous, mournful, and singing specific lyrics like they have never done before. Delivering the tracks to an emotional room was something I will treasure the rest of my years. The energy stayed strong all weekend as I DJ’ed Von Bar last night (Sunday) with the same reactions.

Gone were the freak jokes. Gone were the pervy factoids. For just 1 night, Michael Jackson was freed from his tabloid energy which so weighed him down at the end. He was liberated from his earthly shackles. In one fell swoop, all the haters and apathetic listeners (and enthusiasts) were moved by an entire lifetime of songs (more than Frank Sinatra, more than Elvis maybe)… Michael’s body of work was massive… evidenced by his domination of iTunes Top 10 downloads this weekend — both albums and singles lists.

The same reverberation was heard around the world. I’d say this last weekend was probably one of the first times in my life that I experienced such a musical high. All because of 1 man. 1 global reaction. 1 vibration traveling through it all. Powerful.

RIP Michael.
J

p.s. Props goes to Rich Medina for his Michael Medley Saturday night at Santo’s.

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Daphne Guinness just popped into the office to discuss a cool project I’m producing with her. She dropped her purse on my desk, which is when I noticed the SICK headphones in her purse. In short, these are the Monster Beats Headphones by Dr. Dre. I don’t think she even knows who makes these, but gosh this lady has taste for the finer things in life.

I won’t get into all the tech talk on why they are so superior (see link below), but if you slide them over your ears, the proof is in the pudding. Just buy them, go home, and play something like Dark Side of the Moon (on a turntable preferably), sink in your couch, and hear — for the first time — ALLLLL the levels and hidden noises you were meant to hear when these recordings were created. It’ll make a badly burned MP3 sound like a joke after you experience lush quality and sonic landscapes.

To purchase the headphones, go to Apple Store.
J

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The French fashion designer Azzedine Alaia who, although he is not known by most of the general public, has become by reputation and critical acclaim one the giants of fashion world during his on-going 30 year career as a couturier. Alaia’s workshop showroom, retail store, along with a boutique hotel called 3 Rooms and a small part of his factory are housed under one roof in a 5,500 square meter building in the heart of the coveted Marais section of Paris.

Mssr. Alaia’s work gets it unique flavor from the fact that there in only one chef in the kitchen when he’s cooking up fashion. From soup to nuts, sketches, patterns, prototypes, fabric selection as well as him personally sewing together the final product that goes to market it’s all generated from his imagination and whipped into shape by his hand alone. This truly vertically integrated manufacturing is a rarity in our world of licensees and lust for instant consumer gratification from fast and faster fashion. Underneath the busy workshop and bustling boutique are three sub cellars that cover the surface of half of a city block. The treasures housed and cataloged there are a marvel of a lifetime Mssr. Alaia’ collecting vintage couture as well as the preservation of his iconic personal collections.

Each piece in the cellars, culled from his close contemporaries like Commes des Garcons, as well as legends of the craft like Vionnet and Charles James, is stored to museum standards and will one day form the basis of permanent works for the Alaia Foundation. This museum in the making will exhibit and educate the public on the art of fashion and design. In the grand hall with a glass roof that plays host to the showroom at the house of Alaia there are often previews of rare designer collections before the lots make their way to auction. The last show of this kind was on the work of the seminal French designer Paul Poiret who made famous the hobble skirt and the high collared wrap coat of the roaring twenties.

On preview from Friday June 26th, to Sunday June 28th from 11 am to 6pm at 18 Rue de la Verrerie Paris 4 eme, if you have the good fortune to be in Paris, important designs of the ground breaking designer Elsa Schiaparelli, who coined the term “shocking pink”, will go on view to the general public. The pieces on view are dated between 1935 and 1950, which despite the hardship of war and recession are a glorious and fertile reflection of the time. The garments in the show are very relevant to our fashion trends this season. Schiaparelli designs have a relaxed construction that has kept them looking modern for last 74 years. Simple raincoats and bathrobes in ultra-lux fabrics, she crisply tailored with roomy proportions that add up to the coveted boyfriend silhouette that we’re all chasing after this season.

Lot 150: a black wool shrug with monkey fur trim shown with backless low cut evening dress from 1935, far outdating the scandalous Mc Queen “bumster” jeans, is an clear example of fashion at it’s best – when it pushes our notions of what’s permissible because, breaking the rules should always be a beautiful thing. Schiaparelli had an eye for artists and she drew the greatest of her generation into her creative process. Do not miss the rarely exhibited jewel of a co-creation between herself and the painter Jean Cocteau from 1937. The evening jacket cut from natural linen, depicts a drawing made by Cocteau embroidered with a masterful restraint by Lessage in Paris. The figure of a reclining woman’s profile with golden beaded hair, who’s long slender arm circles the waist of the jacket tapering into an extended hand clutching a Safire blue fan between fingers glittering with red nail polish is at once sensual and naïve. To see it is so evocative of the time and place that you travel within your minds eye to the Paris that once was…

Also on view, and just as spectacular, in the surrealist vein are the jewelry collaborations she cast with Salvador Dali. Visitors will be treated to suits, evening coats and simple day dresses with strikingly modern details like hot pink industrial zippers running down the back of the frock as the main design feature. Schiaparelli are ideas, as expressed in through the clothes and accessories contained in this exhibition, are so clear and her execution is always with the perfect balance of naughty wit and strict construction it’s a quick master class in the recognition of the real essence of a great artist which is to be simple, shocking and modern all at the same time.

Don’t miss it. Feed your fashion fetish.

The Auction takes place July 3rd at 2:15 pm at Millon Cornette de St Cyr Rue Drouot Paris 9eme. Telephone +33 1 48 00 20 01. Email: C. Chassine at chambert-sternbach@luxepert.com

–Veronica

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(Audrey Tautou as Coco Chanel and Alessandro Nivola as Boy Capel)

Blessed by the Maison CHANEL, Coco Before Chanel tells the story of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel.  Chanel embodied the modern woman of her time, a timeless symbol of success, freedom and style.

I’d recommend the movie for the beautiful settings and costumes, but if you really want to learn about the brand and its heritage, you’re better off in a library as this film focuses mainly on the 2 men involved in her early life. For someone whose life’s work amounted to a worldwide empire, you’d be surprised the film about her life just feels so small.

Audrey Tatou plays the title role. Gone is all the charm exhibited in Amelie, replaced by a colder mask of sheer determination to rise above her humble beginnings as a cabaret dancer to become arguably the most important woman in fashion in her time and beyond.

(Audrey Tautou as Coco Chanel and Alessandro Nivola as Boy Capel)

Watch for the film to be released this September 2009.

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We just received these images, and are impressed with the beautiful color palettes and photography for the once unnoticeable brand name of Intermix. The store itself stocks “creme de la creme” designers so it’s only fitting that their image as a fashion hub gets it’s proper facelift.

CREDITS:
Creative: Orphan (nyc)
Artist: Matt Sohl

These images will soon appear at a billboard near you!
J

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