Double Feature III

A 'False Encyclopaedia' double feature with James Dobson, discussing:
Comme des Garçons Spring/Summer 2015

I'm going to be honest, I couldn't help but feel ever so slightly ripped-off at Rei's latest outing... there's a little part of me that cringes when I see constructions like this on the catwalk as I can instantly imagine it flashing on peoples TV screens during the late night news, in that little 'light relief segment' at the end as an illustration of how 'wacky' fashion is, and Brian and Shirley sitting at home dunking their chocolate wheatens into their milky tea having a little chuckle and saying something like "You'd look good in that Shirley". 

For a label that is capable of moving people to tears, this collection, dare I say it, felt a little predictable. Sure, red, the most provacative of colours (yawn), the colour of harlots, cardinals and baboon's arses has a lot of power but after a few seasons of these hefty assemblages staggering down the catwalk wouldn't the next unexpected step be something positively wearable? 

Wouldn't that be more provocative?

/JAMES

All I thought was organs, organs, organs. Sarah Lucas, Louise Bourgeois, Hannah Wilke. So, feminism is in fashion. But then, the clothes were anti-fem. Why doesn't Rei just throw pillows on women?
/HORST





1. Comme des Garçons Spring/Summer 2015
2. Comme des Garçons Fall/Winter 2014
3. Comme des Garçons Spring/Summer 2014
4. Cardinals Vatican City, 2013
5. Hannah Wilke Untitled, 1980
6. Louise Bourgeois Cell XIV, 2000
7. Sarah Lucas Nice Tits, 2011
8. Comme des Garçons Spring/Summer 2015

Tokyo Diaries VIII

A mental travel preparation.

Kenji Sawada Water Skin (Parco View 6), 1980

Parco, the department store, liberated a country. With pubic hair and nudity dominating the campaigns and visual identity created by the likes of Eiko Ishioka and Harumi Yamaguchi. One should come prepared.
/HORST

A Short History Of The Plastic Raincoat In Popular Culture VI

1. Miu Miu Fall/Winter 2014
2. Thomas Bayrle Produzione Bayrle Coats, 1967-68
3. Prada Fall/Winter 2002
4. Miu Miu Fall/Winter 2014

Never too late, never gone. The coloured plastic raincoat takes us back to 1949, 1967 and 2002. It is true that the future will always look old-fashioned. And the present will always feel like the past.
/HORST

Fashion Charts V

1. Simone Rocha Fall/Winter 2014

2. Sportmax Fall/Winter 2014

3. Gucci Fall/Winter 2014

Longing for super snakeskin. Colourized and streamlined. Total perfection (Simone), total adaption (Sportmax), total redemption (Gucci). Milan and London is dressing for the transgender woman at heart.
/HORST

Historiographed, Again

1. Tom Ford Fall/Winter 2014
2. Gucci Fall/Winter 1999
3. Tom Ford Fall/Winter 2014
4. Gucci Fall/Winter 1997
5. Tom Ford Fall/Winter 2014
6. Gucci Fall/Winter 1997
7. Tom Ford Fall/Winter 2014
8. Gucci Spring/Summer 1998

Tom Ford just re-did Gucci by Tom Ford (1994-2004). Red crocodile, leopard, lacing, plush fur and shiny leather. Fashion is cyclic - as it should be. And this cycle has proven itself to be around 13 to 14 years.
/HORST

A Short History Of The Comic Strip In Popular Culture XIII

1. Raymond Pettibon No Title, 1987
2. noeditions Spring/Summer 2014
1. Raymond Pettibon No Title (Entering Marlboro County), 2005
2. noeditions Spring/Summer 2014
1. Raymond Pettibon To Wit, 2013
2. noeditions Spring/Summer 2014

The quick stroke. Who does not love the gentleness, the warmth and promptness of a gestural moment. The strong and intense handcraft of Raymond Pettibon. Expressing everything within the rapid act of expressive self-unloading. The collection artwork of no editions. Big, raw brushstrokes, applied within a few seconds.
/HORST

A Short History Of Typography In Popular Culture VII

1. Barbara Kruger Untitled (Your Gaze Hits The Side Of My Face), 1981
2. Raf Simons Spring/Summer 2002
3. Jay-Z Magna Carta Holy Grail, 2013
4. Barbara Kruger Untitled (I Shop Therefore I Am), 1987
5. Helmut Lang Fall/Winter 1997
6. Bruce Weber Helmut Lang, Fall/Winter 1997
7. Acne Spring/Summer 2013
8. Barbara Kruger Untitled (Are We Having Fun Yet?), 1987
9. Acne Spring/Summer 2013
10. Barbara Kruger Untitled (You Are Not Yourself), 1982
11. Raf Simons Spring/Summer 1998

Barbara Krüger collaborates with Kanye West. Louise Bourgeois poses for Helmut Lang. Raf Simons quotes the Sex Pistols. What they share is a 'cut and paste' approach and sense for the censored message. Black bars and red markers constitute their visual language. An advertisement for feminism, hedonism and consumerism. Are we having fun yet?
/HORST

Art Interiors (Prelude)

Alexander Tinei Red Painting , 2013

The painting as painting, the installation as interior, the interior as painting. I would like to invite you into the 'living' psyche of contemporary artists and trespass the threshold of their imaginative rooms. Mind your step.
/HORST

"Prada Banality", Post-Painterly Art X

or 'Fashion For Intellectuals' (FFI)



1. Neo Rauch Diktat, 2004
2. Prada Fall/Winter 2013

Love is a bourgeois concept and in the end, we like what we see. But we do not fully understand. We are caught in a painting by Neo Rauch. A setting that has no beginning nor ending but an intensely complicated story - with actors pursuing individual objectives mysteriously yet convincingly. We are, in the end, caught in the world of fashion, that we do love... so much.
/HORST