Wear + Here

September 8, 2014

Material world

Olivier Grossetête’s Les Bâtisses Soeurs (Sister Buildings) project, part of this week’s 2014 Agora Biennale in Bordeaux, France paired with Brothers Vellies Denimbox Sandals.

A pair of surprises: a celebrated spire made out of cardboard not stone, and a casual slide sheathed in springbox hide. Both surprising in their use of material.

The architectural part of this pair appears as part of the 2014 Agora Biennale in Bordeaux, France, an event that explores the built potential of the port city. This year’s theme, public space, investigates political, cultural and social possibilities; public space as not only site of political protest, but also the Greek Agora, a gathering space for open discussion and sharing. “Public space is a precious place where we can transform the everyday,” said 2014 Agora curator Youssef Tohmé, an architect and city planner. “Because it is a space where anything is possible, it has the power to bring us out of ourselves. Its value depends on its potential for experience and adventure.”

As part of this week’s Agora adventure, Marseille-based artist Olivier Grossetête presents Les Bâtisses Soeurs (Sister Buildings), monumental yet ephemeral constructions in cardboard, at once autonomous and referential to the architecture surrounding his installations. Working with a community crew, Grossetête transformed 4,500 cartons, or 5 tons of packaging, into three life-size replicas of important Bordeaux buildings. As the Agora finale, the cardboard trio will be demonstratively demolished a week from today.

On the sartorial side of surprise, a sandal handcrafted in South Africa by Brother Vellies, a line founded by fashion insider Aurora James with the goal of introducing the world to traditional African footwear while also supporting artisanal jobs in the region. Every element of the sandal is sustainable: the springbox is sourced from small farmers as a byproduct of the edible food industry, and scraps from adult designs are used in Brother Vellies’ kiddo line; the cotton denim is hand-dyed with plant-based indigo; and the leather sole is kudu, a species of antelope prone to overpopulation and thus managed by government mandate. Like Grossetête’s sister structures, Brother Vellies’ shoes signal a fresh approach to traditional construction. Twins in surprisingly sustainable cool.

September 3, 2014

comment 0

Coloring outside

The Line Hotel in Koreatown, Los Angeles paired with Jujumade Splatter Bangle.

This is my view, arguably my favorite foil yet for typing: sfumato on the Hollywood Hills, woolens for seats, plaster patches in exposed concrete, moody photography by Kevin Hanley. LA food truck phenom turned entrepreneurial polyglot Roy Choi – “the Jay Z of the food world” – has dreamed up a winner in The Line Hotel, sited in/inspired by Koreatown. This place is a riot of cool: from the hot pots and halogen at Pot to the greenhouse magic of the Commissary, from the helium balloons bobbing above the lobby bar to the quirky wares at the Poketo outpost (including this LA-made stoneware bangle). I could stay forever, but sadly, I must check out today, which I’ll do as soon as I slurp up spicy instant ramen delivered in a Stanley thermos. Swoon.

September 1, 2014

comment 0

Dotting eyes

Städel Museum extension in Frankfurt am Main, Germany paired with Etre Cecile Cheetah Foil Dots Tank.

A polka dotted park? Yes, but beneath the land-art fun is an ingenious roof. Charged with extending the Städel Museum in Frankfurt am Main, Schneider + Schumacher decided to sink the new building below the museum’s garden, a gently-domed space illuminated by 195 roof lights. Dubbed “eyes for art,” the lights vary in diameter, from 1.5 meters at the outer edge to 2.5 at the center peak. Like eyelids, built-in shades mitigate daylight, winking at the 20th century contemporary art shown in this subterranean world.

August 30, 2014

comment 0

On the waterfront

The Gorbals at Space Ninety 8 by Urban Outfitters in Williamsburg, BK paired with ARC of LA Large Triangles Hand-Painted Leather Pouch.

Labor Day is for sun soaking and bacon eating – boxes I could check at the Gorbals, a new restaurant and bar perched atop Space Ninety 8, a Urban Outfitters concept complex, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Eight years ago, Ilan Gold won the second season of Top Chef, a triumph he parlayed into opening his first restaurant in Los Angeles in 2010. The Gorbals LA made waves with a menu inspired by Isreali and Scottish fare (Which is what? you ask. Answer: bacon wrapped matzo balls). Its BK sibling promises the same style of gumption, dangling a “seasonal and mildly obscure mix.”

“I like to make food that’s a little cheeky,” Gold said, “That doesn’t take itself too seriously, but at the end of the day is delicious.”

Gold’s creative arc – from LA to BK – reminds me of the coastal hop-scotch of Abigail Rose Chapin, the artisanal hands behind the ARC of LA line of block printed leather pouches and bags. A NYC native, Chapin moved to LA to explore her music with her sister (they are The Chapin Sisters), an inspired stint that seeded not only their songs but also her leather goods. In homage to the parallel tracks taken by Gold and Chapin, I present her triangles pouch in tandem with the tented nooks of Gorbals.

Faced with the final official days of summer, I would plop down at one of these plywood picnic tables, sip on a spiked slushie and order plates from the pastoral pickings, categorized as Field, Barn, Stream, Coop, Sweets. Indeed a laborious ode to summer.

August 28, 2014

comment 0

Water feature

“Riverbed” by Olafur Eliasson at the Louisana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark paired with Monies of Denmark Necklace.

A river runs through it: Instead of the tile floor normally underfoot at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen, Denmark, slick rocks and a babbling stream carpet the south wing of the acclaimed art institution. The installation, imagined by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, forces visitors to forge their own route through the galleries. Ever site-specific in his inspiration, Eliasson references the history of the museum, universally lauded for its synthesis of art, architecture and landscape, and specifically, the history of the southern wing itself – a slope once home to a sculpture garden but since subsumed by structural expansion. Not simply transplanting nature indoors, Riverbed makes the museum a landscape, transforming the visitor’s experience into more than an encounter, more like an adventure.

“What I’m interested in with my work at the Louisiana isn’t really that you experience an object or an artwork. I am interested in how you connect this landscape to the rest of the world and ultimately, how you experience yourself within it,” Eliasson said. “When we’re in our familiar surroundings, in our circle of family and friends, our senses are very finely tuned, but the further away we get from the local context, the cruder the sensing becomes. I wonder if our focus on the atmospheric can give us a relationship with something that is very abstract and far away.”

Similarly site-specific, jewelry artists Gerda and Nikolai Monies make statement pieces from rare natural materials, including stones they find on Danish beaches. Like the Louisiana itself, the Monies workshop overlooks the Copenhagen harbor. I am haunted by waters.

August 25, 2014

comment 0

Amazing grace

Balthazar Restaurant in SoHo, NYC paired with Lanvin Stretch-Scuba Peplum Jacket.

In honor of the amazing grace (not to mention style) of my mom, on her birthday. While celebrating at Balthazar would be wonderful, our Wyoming backup is pretty festive too (as is this arrest-me-red, reminds-me-of-you Lanvin jacket). Cheers to you, today and everyday.

August 23, 2014

comment 0

Summer, stay

The Loft at the Salt House Inn in Provincetown, RI paired with Rachel Comey Compass Dress.

I’m not ready to relinquish summer. In defiance, I’m imagining a myriad of moments to wear more white, a roster topped by the cheery new Salt House Inn in Provincetown, RI and this bleached denim dress by Rachel Comey.

Reborn by an experienced team of hoteliers and designers, Salt House was built, as its name suggests, as a cluster of cottages to house salt miners in the 1850s and later became the quirky Dexter’s Inn. Suffused with classic Cape Cod style – weathered cedar shake siding, rambling stone walkways, white wainscoting everywhere – the 15-room inn now redefines the B&B concept as fun and sophisticated, a strategy anchored in a morning meal that spills from the chic communal dining room to the wisteria-laced pergola. After this sunny start, I would spend the day at the beach, periodically retreating to the Loft, an eloquently outfitted oasis with the just the right amount of amenities to busy but not distract me: a desk for postcard writing, a slate armchair to nest in, a claw foot tub for steeping, a wall of curiosities as muse (what short story might the antique pie plate inspire?) Surely this sun-washed palette would assuage my blanc begrudgement.

August 22, 2014

comment 0

Sitting duck

A Rubber Duck by A Rubber Duck, by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, is docked in the Port of Los Angeles through Sunday, paired with L.L.Bean Special-Edition Bean Boots in Colonial Red.

Two days ago, a six-story rubber duck sailed into the Port of Los Angeles, cruising by battleships, container cranes, and cheering spectators. Ever punctual, the duck arrived in time for the triennial Tall Ships Festival LA.

Designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, the duck stands 61 feet tall, 110 feet long and 85 feet wide, a mighty duck indeed, in fact the largest rubber one in world. Debuted in 2007, the duck and its doppelgängers have bobbed around the globe. Each harbor builds its own bird; sadly Taiwan’s burst. According to the artist, the ducks come in peace. “The Rubber Duck knows no frontiers,” Hofman writes on his website. “It doesn’t discriminate people and doesn’t have a political connotation. The friendly, floating Rubber Duck has healing properties: it can relieve mondial [worldly] tensions as well as define them.”

As the first of its kind on the West Coast, the Rubber Duck is docked in L.A. until Sunday. Shucks. I came this close to spending the weekend in the City of Angels. If I hadn’t balked, I would have donned these cardinal-colored duck boots and taken a gander at the big bird.

August 20, 2014

comment 1

Trophy life

The renovated banquet hall of Moritzburg Castle in Moritzburg, Germany paired with K/LLR Collection Brass Feather Bib.

When Augustus the Strong moved into this 16th century Saxon castle, he transformed its hunting lodge vibe into an opulent palace for parties, replete with gilded leather on the walls (save for the room where one million feathers from peacocks, pheasants, guinea hens and ducks plume as tapestries). In the banquet hall (freshly renovated), Augustus showed off his collection of hunting trophies, all red deer mounts he bought or was gifted. Among the 71 specimens is the heaviest red deer antler in the world, weighing in at 44 lbs and spanning nearly 7 feet.

Schloss Moritzburg sits on a man-made island and welcomes thousands of visitors every year. With Dresden close by, I would be sure to pack this hand-cast brass necklace (reminiscent of antlers) for my jaunt through Germany.

August 17, 2014

comment 0

Infinite possibility

Air Garden by Ryo Yamada for the Sapporo International Art Festival 2014 paired with Carven Embroidered Sweatshirt.

For my newborn niece Cora: An art installation symbolizing the boundless possibility before you. On a park slope in Japan, Ryo Yamada has created Air Garden for the Sapporo International Art Festival 2014, currently underway. Yamada envisioned the piece as a passage, not in the standard definition of “a path connecting one point to another,” but rather the metaphorical sense of traveling to new, intangible realms. “My vision of the piece was to … connect the people with the passage of the garden from the infinite openness of the air,” the artist said. “Only air is equally available to people anywhere in the world, and I believe it is a symbol of equality without boundaries.”

Working as part of the Sprouting Garden exhibition, Yamada transcends the historical roots of the word “garden” – an enclosed or protected land built to protect property and keep out intruders – by creating an experience of infinite possibility, a procession into open sky. I love this image of two children atop the platform (both capable of doodles like those on this whimsical sweatshirt), one confidently striding forward, the other gazing out over the treetops, the land far below them, no fear, no fetters.