Archive for January, 2009

We were so enamored of Mr. Hart’s vintage Woolrich hunting cap that we almost forgot about the brands more recent exploits. This outfit was pulled from their recent Autumn/Winter 2009 line and it’s as good as anything you’ll run across from their history.

They’ve found their way into Earnest Sewn and Odin in New York and Confederacy and Ron Herman in L.A., so they’re hardly the underdog these days, but it’s nice to know workwear has a few heavy-hitters on its side. They’re even a presence at the Rogues Gallery outlet in Maine…which we guess means they haven’t forgotten their roots.

—R.B.

Perfume ads have been teetering on the brink of self-parody since the famous black-and-white spots of the mid-80s, but things may have reached a new level. This still is from an ad for a new perfume called Greed, which does not exist. Or, more specifically, it’s from an ad for an ad for Greed, directed by Roman Polanski and starring Natalie Portman and Michelle Williams, which will be hitting the internet next week.

It’s part of a project from Italian Artist Francesco Vezzoli, who specializes in absurdist advertising, including a trailer for a fake movie and election ads for a nonexistent candidate. Now he’s moving to the big leagues: an imaginary luxury perfume campaign. Of course, he needed a little help, so he enlisted Polanski to give him a bit of continental cred. You can see the 30-second pre-trailer here, and the full trailer will post to the same spot next Tuesday.

In the meantime, we’ll just have to wait in ecstatic anticipation.

—R.B.

Style has moved fast enough for long enough that no designer would have trouble making an outfit to perfectly signify 1983, 1974, or 1962. In fact, more than a few designers have contented themselves to do just that. The technology of photography has been moving just as fast, but while fashion has been dealing in nostalgia for upwards of 30 years, the photographers are just starting to catch on.

The popular Camerabag app for the iPhone just introduced a “retro” package that lets you choose between three of their most era-specific filters—’83, ’74, and the black-and-white ’62. The digital filters do a pretty good job of matching the foibles of each camera style—and even the washed-out feel of the polaroid can be replicated—but whether these filters become more than gimmicks is up to the public. A picture of Obama’s inauguration would take on a whole new resonance run through the ’62 filter, and Terry Richardson has been making a living on tricks like this for years.

Maybe this will inspire him to get rid of his polaroids…but we doubt it.

—R.B.