The message behind this hoodie needs no explanation but I am a man of contradictions: I grew up in an environment where academia is the highest achievement in life. The longer you spend in school and the bigger the school, the more intelligent you must be and, therefore, the more respect you’re owed. Naming the university and related profession of somebody alone instantly establishes a solemn respect. The lower ranks of that society include people who went to lesser schools and people who did not even get to that stage, but who at least had the decency to immediately become a working cog of the capitalist engine. If you went to art school, you do not fit a human category altogether; you’re a parasite who will, at best, inspire humour and various degrees of politeness & condescension of the same message: grow up. I did better than that: I finished fashion school and did not even end up working in fashion. I didn’t follow the rules and ended up working with like minded dunces doing useless things such as putting together the most inspiring art show London has seen in a long time. What a failure. May I get asked to do a lecture in my high school to warn kids against the dangers of not pursuing traditional academia.
Studio Iron @ Saatchi Yates, until June 7th.
(I just realized the white shirt I burnt is Eton. It doesn’t get better than that)
Today is Earth Day so these are a few pictures from the past few weeks in London where we’ve been graced with two hanamis and I’m just wondering… why wouldn’t we want to protect this at all costs?
My wonderful friends got me the most beautiful Japanese tea set for my birthday. I’ve loved tea for a long time but experiencing the depth of tea culture in Japan last November made me want to be more serious about the ritual of it. I’ve been reading books over the winter and trying a lot of new varieties and brewing techniques. I wanted to be super intentional with those purchases and find things that fit both my needs and my taste so I spent daysss researching, pondering and mocking up everything in Photoshop before I bought anything. And now all the stones I collect from my trips have the perfect place to exist on my tea tray. I also learned fun things like how to seal new ceramics by simmering them in starch rich water (hence the rice) to prevent stains & cracks. I’m still new to all of this but using this set daily has brought me so much joy and peace over the past few weeks so I wanted my partner in crime さやさん to create nails inspired by it. Now when I brew tea they’re part of the ritual too 🤎
Love you @melisblm@geraldine_v@loudmilla@juliaduboisrosca@rubywho
On the 6th of Apr 2021 I did a trial day with @isamayaffrench after replying to her job ad story. Basically it’s been 5 years of going home in full glam and stained clothes 🎨 To show my gratitude I took my gal out for a canal fried fish dinner. Happy wood anniversary, je t’aime mon monde 🐟
Tears… I’ve officially run out of stock from my Japan trip haul so here are some of the little tings* that made me so happy every day 🍢 (thank heavens for @satsukisuki & @martajohansson restocks 🙉)
We’ve just stepped into the Year of the Horse, and I want to set a clear image to illustrate this next cycle of my life.
I’ve known about Eiko Ishioka for a few years, but I spent the past few weeks reading books about her and watching every movie she’s worked on. I am absolutely astonished by her life. She worked on advertisements, poster design, book, magazine and album covers, beauty campaigns, exhibition curation, fashion shows, set design for theatre and film, music video direction, product & packaging design, film production design and created the most modern, timeless and mind blowing costumes in history for theatre, opera, olympics, circus & film (in her 60s with no formal training or previous experience!!)
I’ve never really had a creative role model. Someone whose work and career I could look at and say: “THAT’s what I want to do”. I’ve also always struggled with this idea that you need to pick a lane and stay in it. For a long time, I’ve felt paralysed creatively, not knowing where I stand nor who to look up to to get out of this rut. Researching Eiko, I’ve never felt so seen and inspired by someone’s life. She navigated hers with a total absence of limits, way beyond surface aesthetics, in search of newness, truth, and sheer, gut-wrenching beauty.
She has become my beacon for everything I aspire to.
Francis Coppola on Eiko:
“She once told me a story about her childhood in Japan. In her first years at school, the other kids teased her because she was such an introverted and unusual character. One day her mom came to pick her up from the playground and found Eiko sitting in the dirt, ruffled and with a torn dress. It was evident that she had been pushed around by the other kids. But she wasn’t crying; she was staring in deep concentration at a tiny flower in her hands, singing to herself. From the beginning, she has been her own person, separate from the rest, and devoted to seeking out and creating more beauty in the world around her.”
#EikoIshioka
