DazedDigital makeover

New Website!

DazedDigital has gone into the lab and re-emerged with a winning product. They have recently launched the Redesign of their website which I think is more straight-forward, streamlined, and easier to navigate. Founder Jefferson Hack said of the Redesign, “We listened to our users and learnt that they wanted more information more quickly, with authoritative and credible reporting. DazedDigital.com is not a magazine web site, it is an ideas factory, a destination site, a reference tool, a content hub, a radar for what’s vital and relevant in an information soaked culture.” —- WORD, Jeff.

Sections I found interesting:

FASHION WEEKS:

The new site offers organized Fashion features and extensive coverage during Fashion weeks. Included are also Designer Profiles complete with visits to their studios. Previous contributers to DazedDigital include Hedi Slimane, Kim Jones, Gareth Pugh, Mariano Vivanco, and Nicole Formichetti who have all experimented with Internet using DazedDigital as their bulletin board. It’s a “ground-zero” playground for Fashion’s pioneering minds.

ARTS/CULTURE (On The Rise):

There’s an entire TAB section on ARTS/CULTURE, which includes names you should keep an eye on … Meaty reading.

FASHION (On The Rise):

They have also created a similar “Rise” section for Designers who are coming up the pipe now… something Starworks always like to keep tabs on.

DJ PLAYLISTS:

Who doesn’t love an educated playlist of the latest music? DazedDigital can be used as a hip radio station in the office for those with an insatiable appetite for new music. Mixtapes are constantly added to this section on a monthly basis.

VIDEOS:

The clever programming for DazedDigital includes a day with Helena Christensen shooting in Egypt to visiting CSS’s frontwoman, LoveFoxxx, in her home. Tons of videos here. Some of the videos are breadcrumbs that lead you back to their Print Magazine edition.

PHOTOGRAPHY: “Flicker Finds”

(Photographer to Watch: 15 Year old Eleanor Hardwick)

Dazed&Confused Magazine has always been a fun read primarily for their forecasting abilities. The website has this feature where they interview new blood they believe in. This month, they discovered a body of work from a girl posted on Flicker. Most of the photos were posted when she was 14 years old. Today, Eleanor Hardwick is 15 years old and she seems to possess a wonderfully dreamy identity in her photos. It’s a heightened sense of reality at its finest.

DazedDigital interviews little Eleanor with a Q&A about her extensive 2,0444 photo collection and her trajectory as an artist developing her voice online. We bet money this girl will be booking a Luxury campaign by the time she’s 18 years old.

(Photography by Eleanor Hardwick)

Get your daily fix at DazedDigital.com
J

Fashion Week is coming…

INSERT YOUR OWN JOKE HERE

(Bathroom Door, Beatrice Inn)

Mr. Toads Wild Ride is going to begin again early September. Stay tuned for all the Starworks coverage.
J

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Photo by Faran of Fashionista.com and NylonMag.com

Daphne Night in Paris

(Daphne Guinness speaking to press about her first Directoral effort)

I’m back in New York! Been gone for a hot minute so i’ve been truant on the blog. The good news is I come back with tales from Paris Couture Week where Starworks celebrated its first foray into New Media — The Phenomenology of Body, a simple (yet not so philosophically simple) 5 minute art piece Directed by Daphne Guinness that will forever air on The New York Times‘ T website. The video, (which was projected in large format) premiered at the Hôtel de Crillon accompanied by 12 Prints displayed in the room. Daphne describes the film in her own words here.

(POB Portraits at Hôtel de Crillon)

(Starworker Ivana with Gianluca Longo, Fashion Director at ES Magazine)

In addition to NYT’s Stefano Tonchi, the cocktail was private, mellow, and sprinkled with several influential and inspiring guests — L’Wren Scott, Andrea Dellal, Christian Louboutin, Suzy Menkes, Wes Anderson, Tatiana Santo Domingo, Margherita Missoni among others. The event was covered everywhere from WWD to FashionWeekDaily.com.

(Shelly Zander — in Marc Jacobs — playing with a dog named, um, Daphne)

I relaxed on the balcony with Phenomenology of Body’s additional producers, Brody Baker and Shelly Zander of Knowmore Productions. Newly minted Starworker Amie Witton-Wallace (who served as Alexander McQueen’s Worldwide PR Director for 12 years) attended the event as well. We’re proud to have her.

(Starworker Amie Witton-Wallace with Isobel Gorst)

(Daphne’s angels: Isobel Gorst and Michaela Cawley. A Starworker on her blackberry prepping for her Lacoste event later that night)

(Daphne — in Alexander McQueen — hosting guests on Hôtel de Crillon balcony)

(Daphne’s Private Dinner post Gallery at Caviar Kaspia)

After showing the work, it was time to sit down and celebrate. Best Caviar in Paris. Strong guest list of Daphne’s close personal friends. Can you say, “complete night”? Actually, there was just one more thing I had to do. I’d heard Santogold was in Paris playing Visionaire’s Boat party to celebrate Lacoste’s 75th Anniversary (and the release of Visionaire 54 Sport). Stage time was Midnight —– Taxi time!

(DJ booth during Santo show, Visionaire/Lacoste event. Pics on VMag.com)

I managed to arrive to the docks for Part 2 of the night. The party was on climax mode. Lacoste Designer Christophe Lemaire was spinning on the turntables before the show. Parisian hipsters sauced up. Banging dancefloor. Semi-nude women in hottubs. Inflatable animals and couture outfits on the roofdeck. The room looked like a French version of a Misshapes party. As I turn my head, Leigh Lezark (speak of the devil) was walking right towards me in the way you do when you see another New Yorker in the room — with a smiling sigh. Always a pleasure to catch up with the downtown muse. In the midst of the sweaty high energy mess, Leigh’s dress and hair perpetually look tight. It kind of amazes me. Geordian (who launched their digital identity online) emerged out of the woodworks too. The lights went down.

Finally, Santo came on stage and won over the crowd. As much as we’ve heard the album on heavy rotation at the Starworks office, I tell ya, each song sounds better and better upon each listen. Her live performance however has 1 extra dimension — two backup dancers. A mash-up of dancers past, but with flavor of its own. Think Public Enemy’s militaristic strong pauses and then synchronized twirling like soldiers to a beat. Think also Robert “Addicted to Love” Palmer women but with an indie-electro feel and the same intriguing blank faced sex appeal (video here). Now add colored Raybans, gyrating hype-man movements, spanking outfits, and some soul. It was good to see New York blood “hold down” the stage tonight.

(Close-up of Barack Obama patch on DJ bag)

Standing next Santo’s DJ, I peeped his backpack under the tables, and noticed a Barack face staring right at me with a graphic that says “Hope”. After a few days of hanging out in Paris and discussing the future of our nation to Europeans, I closed my eyes and made 1 wish to the tune of a deafening dance party. Here’s to November 08!

(View from the Boat)

Last but not least, my friends —- this was the view of the the Eiffel Tower on this spectacular night. What was the occasion? The tower was dressed up in honor of celebrating France’s rotating presidency of the European Union (EU). There were 12 stars mounted on the tower to look like the EU flag. The Blue color will continue to glow through the end of the summer (Click here to see the first moment it turned blue). Glorious.

Also, the first 10 minutes of every hour, special little sparkly lights get turned on for that extra “oomph”.

Au revoir!
J

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All photos by Jauretsi

Self-Service: Pt2

I normally don’t post about events twice (Original SW Post here) but, dammit, I found these cute pictures from the Self-Service party taken by Cobra Snake. Plus you can never get enough of looking at fly people having fun. Here’s more of the mayhem that occurred in Paris last week…and New York was in the house!

(Bird’s-Eye View of the Tiny Cabaret Club, Paris)

(Kanye West documenting. Cohost Sarah from Colette with Purple Magazine’s Olivier Zahm)

(An army of fashionable honeys)

(On the left, London’s Starworker Ivana Giachino with friends)

(Full team of DJ’s for the night were Stefano Pilati, Valentine Fillolcordier, Chloe Sevigny, Michel Gaubert, and DFA’s James Murphy)

Until next season!
J

More pics of the night on Cobrasnake.com

Self Service Mag Party

(Kanye at Self Service party. March 1 at Le Lup in St Germain des Pres, Paris)

We here at Starworks have been fans of Self Service magazine for years now, and consider them friends and family — so we’re all too thrilled to have invited a few friends to the event during Paris Fashion Week. Our trusty Ivana was the Starworker attending out there.

(Released 2X a year)

Cohost was Colette, a super cool store we’ve mentioned before here on the blog. Essentially, New York’s crème de la crème creative community scrunched into a small sweaty dance party and let loose with abandon.

(Previous issue)

Attendees included Kanye West, Mary-Kate, The Misshapes, Ellen Von Unwerth, and just a ton of cool people. Guests DJs were Stefano Pilati, Valentine Fillolcordier, Chloe Sevigny, Michel Gaubert, and DFA’s James Murphy.

To quote Ivana who was actually there, she says that “basically 300 people piled on top of one another in one of the cutest cabaret club in Paris and danced like lunatics until everyone was kicked out at 4AM…very sweaty, very drunk and what a party!!! Definitely the most underground and fun fashion party of Paris Fashion Week. I am sure a lot of people spent the Sunday in bed instead of going to shows, nursing a divine hangover!!!”

Did we mention we love our jobs?
J