Tag / Fashion

by lettersbysoo

Fall 2020 Trends

Some Fall 2020 Hits

What one with a penchant for subtlety could wear: beiges, wraps, and mixing hard with soft

Asset 38The Office

 

A Loungish Fairytale w/ global color pattern +/- flora influences

 

Asset 39Loungewear

“Let’s say I want to show off a bit of individuality”

Asset 37Style Out

The color pattern and play for Christian Dior’s Look 63 is masterful. Can see this diluted down to so many digestible mass styles

 

Asset 28LBS_Fall 2020

Evening:

My body may be landlocked, but my dreams are flying out to a faraway place, namely a lush garden with whorls of silk, gems, decadence, and books. With stars ablaze against a light, yellow-blue sky.

 

by lettersbysoo

Wish List

Hermes The Three Graces Scarf 90 in Bleu Vif/Marron/Verf:

the-three-graces-scarf-90--003441S 17-worn-5-0-0-720-720_b

The Three Graces Scarf 90 in Bleu Vif/Marron/Vert

 

Gubi Pacha Lounge Chair in color Kvadrat Vidar:

 

 

Gubi Black Upholstered 3D Lounge Chair with sledge base (they don’t have this color option upholstered, but they do offer an unupholstered semi-matte version here:

main-4

Gubi_LoungeChair_Sledgebase_Grashoppa_FloorLamp_JetBlack_1024x1024

 

by lettersbysoo

Fall 2019: Fashion Brands/Looks I’m Really Liking at the Moment

Shoes and socks and very anti-Comme des Garcons let’s vomit unicorns and rainbows cute flower coin wallets: Golf le Fleur

 

Screen Shot 2019-09-22 at 6.06.36 PM

Screen Shot 2019-09-22 at 6.05.18 PM

 

Socks and crazy beautiful visual narrative with brand site, I’ve been obsessed for months: Dueple

Screen Shot 2019-09-22 at 6.09.55 PMScreen Shot 2019-09-22 at 6.09.02 PMScreen Shot 2019-09-22 at 6.08.13 PM

Glorious silhouette and fit for a women’s coat, except I wish there wasn’t that double button back closure decorative thing– kills the rare win in the “simple magnificence”: Ulla Johnson

 

 

by lettersbysoo

Why I’m Changing How I Dress

August 5, 2019_Monday

On an average work day or Saturday, I am carrying around 15 pounds worth of papers and books– add in a couple extra pounds considering I carry my gym clothes and sneakers around with me too.

I haven’t worn a high heel in over a year.

For the longest time I slung Goyards, Longchamps, clutches-purses-decorative backpacks that did not hold [anything] everything, and whatnots for the sake of preference and style.

At 26, those things no longer serve me.

Rather, the pain & inconvenience to pleasure ratio makes it so that I’ve begun to serve them.

So bye I said to wearing my 3 – 4 inch heels a whiles ago.

While I am not exiling my bags yet, what I did do Sunday was stop by Patagonia [for the first time in my life] and buy a backpack (The Refugio 28L) with awesome shoulder and back padding.

For me now and in reference to extremes, I’d rather have a comfortable body than a beautifully ornamented one– this coming from someone who deeply loves fashion.

I’d personally rather wear and apply things that preserve my posture, my youth, and support my activities in a way I see fit.

by lettersbysoo

The Wynwood Guide: Miami

Everyone has probably visited Miami once in their life, if not for Spring Break, or for the lovely beaches. If you’re tired of hanging out in the loud or sheltered parts of Miami, and want to venture out of South Beach and Collins Ave., here are some recommendations for you to explore the blossoming neighborhood culture of Wynwood.

Art:

Being the art lover that I am, I made it a mission to visit every mappable gallery in the design district; these are my recommendations for galleries that impressed me with their representation of artists and newness of objects that I would not see if I was in New York:

Art by God : A wonderful store and gallery that I can spend hours in. There was an amazing $4000 Queen of Congo piece I wanted to leave with on my last trip, but I contented myself with buying a small bust of an African boy made of serpentine stone and crafted by an artist from the Shona Tribe (for those interested, the Shona are a people from Zimbabwe, whose ancestors built great stone cities in Southern Africa in days long past!).

Tresart Gallery

To note: It’s a pleasure to hit up art galleries in Miami because they have such a fair representation of Latin American artists, something I haven’t seen much of in concentration in Chelsea or the UES.

Design:

Ranivilu Gallery – functions as part gallery, part design store.

 

There was also Glottman, which was very popular amongst the people there, but it didn’t do much for me. The products it carries look like that of every other design store, but perhaps you might enjoy it.

 

Ice cream:

Dasher & Crank: For ice cream tourists, this is a must.

 

Coffee (or avo-toast for the women):

20180322_183056.jpg

Dr. Smood: Great interior and awesome cafe concept. Healthy, but with a twist. They offer cashew milk as an option for their drinks, and it’s a great addition to the coffees I’ve drank in New York. I think in New York the extent to our coffee explorations are Nitro brews, grass-fed butter bullets, propolis/bee additive brews, and Australian concept brews.

If anyone knows of a coffee shop in NYC that offers cashew-milk based coffee, I would love to know.

 

Food:

KYU: A modern asian style eatery. Good for drinks.

Coyo Taco: A very popular taco joint. If you are into tacos. Me– not so much.

 

Stores:

20180322_131848.jpg

Plant the Future Wynwood: Recommended by my lovely friend, Thier, and I loved it. I’m not sure if the staff knows what they were doing and I certainly did not think they had a service mindset, but the interior concept of this plant store is cute and fun to walk through. The store has everything from modern potted plants to plants potted in animation characters.

ANTIDOTE: A sustainability focused womenswear concept shop. Owned by a stylish woman who owned a boutique in France and decided to open another concept in Miami.

 

Screen Shot 2018-03-27 at 5.41.15 PM.png

 

 

 

 

 

by lettersbysoo

Best Works of Helmut Newton, “King of Kink”

Helmut Newton is a photographer best known for his erotica fueled snapshots and a taste for capturing fun… stripped bare. He was regarded by many as the “King of Kink” and you can go back to so many issues of Vogue easily with his indelible footprint.

 

U.S. Vogue May 1993, “White Mischief”

 

Here are a couple of my favorite works from this talented German Australian:

 

 

Screen Shot 2018-01-24 at 1.41.45 PM

Woman Examining Man, 1975 for U.S. Vogue

Screen Shot 2018-01-24 at 1.53.35 PM

Nice, 1976

Screen Shot 2018-01-24 at 1.53.43 PM

Unfaithful

Screen Shot 2018-01-24 at 1.53.59 PM

Cruising From Behind

 

Screen Shot 2018-01-25 at 1.51.17 PM

While I don’t appreciate all his works, I do truly think he was the best of his kind for what he did.

There is so much life and mischief captured through a single portrait– he did it so well.

 

33 black-and-white photographs—framed, signed, and numbered—on sale this month at Guy Regal’s showroom in the New York Design Center. Open to the public today.

by lettersbysoo

Pulse of the Fashion Industry, 2017

An informative report on the state of retail by Copenhagen Fashion Summit’s Global Fashion Agenda in collaboration with BCG and the Sustainable Apparel Coalition this year, with interesting tidbits like this:

Screen Shot 2017-08-17 at 11.24.36 AM.png

 

Click to access Pulse-of-the-Fashion-Industry_2017.pdf

by lettersbysoo

Resort 2018 Crush

I reviewed every Resort 2018 collection that came out so far on Vogue.com and selected the ones worth seeing so you wouldn’t have to. That’s 657 looks. Lucky me, lucky you:

Gucci

gucci_look_56_2018_cruisegucci_look_79_2018_cruiseScreen Shot 2017-05-30 at 3.01.27 PMScreen Shot 2017-05-30 at 3.01.49 PM

Dior

Screen Shot 2017-05-30 at 3.08.06 PMScreen Shot 2017-05-30 at 3.07.45 PMScreen Shot 2017-05-30 at 3.06.47 PMScreen Shot 2017-05-30 at 3.06.01 PM

Protagonist

Screen Shot 2017-05-30 at 3.18.34 PMScreen Shot 2017-05-30 at 3.18.21 PMScreen Shot 2017-05-30 at 3.19.33 PMScreen Shot 2017-05-30 at 3.19.52 PM

Valentino

Screen Shot 2017-05-30 at 3.22.21 PMScreen Shot 2017-05-30 at 3.22.47 PMScreen Shot 2017-05-30 at 3.23.09 PMScreen Shot 2017-05-30 at 3.23.27 PM

Dion Lee

Screen Shot 2017-05-31 at 5.30.34 PMScreen Shot 2017-05-31 at 5.30.42 PMScreen Shot 2017-05-31 at 5.31.18 PMScreen Shot 2017-05-31 at 5.32.04 PM

by lettersbysoo

Perspectives Global: A Young Streetwear Brand with a 2,000 Year Old Message.

US label Perspectives Global, a streetwear brand founded in 2012 by brother duo Cody and Devon de Jardin takes the phrase “the medium is the message” seriously.

Screen Shot 2017-04-13 at 5.49.44 PM

Check out their brand here and let me know if you’re seeing what I see.

In their most recent campaign the talented duo took direct inspiration from one of the oldest books in the world, the Bible, to send a message of strength, resilience, and endurance:

“Therefore we will not fear, though the Earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart o the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.” – Psalms 46: 2-3

We are in a world full of turmoil, whether we choose to acknowledge it wholly or not– it is present through the never ending flow of class and racial strife, international tension, hurting children, and civil conflicts in institutions.

More and more, young, talented designers are harnessing the power (and influence) of their strong visual narratives and their brands in a deliberate attempt to forge renewed meaning and send out messages to a sentient generation.  Likewise, the Jardin brothers speak to their observances of a reality full of brokenness and of distractions– in which it’s become easy to stay “blind to the darkness, pain, and injustice all around the world,” in their SS17 campaign.

Screen Shot 2017-04-13 at 6.01.07 PM

Life doesn’t always have to be about religion, about what you believe, or what you stand for, but it makes it a little more worthwhile living, if you do make it about that, don’t you think? Nevertheless, it feels great to see fashion brands standing for something beyond escapism and creative inspiration.

Asides from supporting their great vision, I’m also a big fan of the brothers’ activewear merchandise, namely the Katakana and Future Lite jackets.

Their lifestyle oriented outerwear is a an eye-catching alternative for you if you’ve exhausted your options with Patagonia, The North Face, Columbia, Marmot, Adidas and Arc’Teryx.

Check out the styles here:

 

Screen Shot 2017-04-13 at 5.48.02 PM

Enter a caption

Screen Shot 2017-04-13 at 5.48.46 PM

Future Lite Track Jacket

 

Yours,

Soo

by lettersbysoo

Fashion Across the World

We live in a world with brands from all across the world offering international shipping, employing international influencers, and commissioning out the wildest of digital marketing tactics, desperate to reach that perfect customer. So really, what’s stopping you anymore from getting that perfect wardrobe that emblemizes you, not just a piece of the corner you, but wholly you?

Rock fashion from across the world, and support some talented designers along the way.

Here’s a couple of brands I love and support:

South Africa, Pichulik:

screen-shot-2017-03-02-at-2-28-46-pm

In 2010, 6 out of 10 of the fastest growing world economies were recorded to be from Africa. A gold mine of natural resources, Africa has been instrumental to these economies’ growths. Did you also know that it is housing a thriving presence of eco-focused designers? There’s a lot of natural talent to be found, but unfortunately these fashion talents are experiencing slow to no growth on that end due to a plenitude of market barrier reasons. So here’s a super cool designer brand to watch out for and support. Let’s get this future fashion and eco-friendly capital up-to-speed, shall we?

 

 

screen-shot-2017-03-02-at-2-27-33-pm

Sacred Knot Beige Bracelet

 

 

screen-shot-2017-03-02-at-2-27-40-pm

Sacred Knot Choker

 

Colombia, Mercedes Salazar:

Screen Shot 2017-03-09 at 4.03.34 PM.pngScreen Shot 2017-03-09 at 4.03.55 PM.png

Buy it in the US here.

 

Denmark, Norse Projects:

Screen Shot 2017-03-02 at 2.33.39 PM.pngScreen Shot 2017-03-02 at 2.33.25 PM.pngscreen-shot-2017-03-02-at-2-33-09-pm

screen-shot-2017-03-02-at-2-31-55-pm

 

Looking for good thermal? You can buy Stutterheim… or you can buy this: Rain

Screen Shot 2017-03-07 at 11.35.43 AM.png

Screen Shot 2017-03-07 at 11.36.47 AM.png

Trail Pants – Inspired by track pants, the style has a tapered fit, low rise, elastic bands and outside front pockets.

Screen Shot 2017-03-07 at 11.35.56 AM

 

There are a lot of talented brands out there and the ones with merit often share the same manufacturers. The ones less known among this pool sometimes have more room for innovation/testing and end up churning out some fantastic designs, and sometimes– they’re just a whole lot better, with more advanced specs and competitive prices to boot– except for the lack of exposure, branding, and marketing power.

Take this brand for example:

Thailand, Kalis Activewear:

Screen Shot 2017-03-30 at 5.10.04 PM

Screen Shot 2017-03-30 at 5.10.18 PM

Screen Shot 2017-03-30 at 5.10.39 PM.png

 

Canada, Bronze Age:Screen Shot 2017-03-09 at 4.13.38 PM.png

Screen Shot 2017-03-09 at 3.46.25 PM.png

Moroccan inspired shoes, The Babouche!

Morrocan inspired shoes, The Babouche!

 

Just look at all the boss-ness reverberating from these brands’ souls.

In a world of purported connectivity, why have a brand come to you? Grab discovery by the balls and find those gems yourself. Happy shopping!

IMG_2123.JPG

The world is yours.

Bises,

Soo

 

 

**All brands listed offer international shipping

by lettersbysoo

Good Menswear: You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know Until You’ve Seen It.

“Clothes and manners do not make the man; but when he is made, they greatly improve his appearance.”
—Arthur Ashe, Professional Tennis Player

In support of the art of dress, I give you a version of men’s style, reflecting my current style preferences:

Thom Sweeney – Beautiful bespoke, you spoke?

Herno Light Tech Thermo Jackets:

Screen Shot 2017-03-06 at 3.22.39 PM.png

Screen Shot 2017-03-06 at 3.22.59 PM.png

The Gillet, available in multiple colors… muted too, yes.

Screen Shot 2017-03-06 at 3.24.40 PM.pngScreen Shot 2017-03-06 at 3.24.58 PM.png

Bow – Tie, HENRY Loafer:

Necessary Anywhere Socks:

Screen Shot 2017-03-06 at 3.27.27 PM                              MoMA on a sockScreen Shot 2017-03-06 at 3.27.09 PM

There is no “better” or “right” style– I believe though that there’s something in the deliberation given to treating oneself and one’s body as a temple, outside and in– that is “style”.

All power to men who see and live that too, whether that be realized in the mode of Jaden Smith or Mr. Birddogs guys here:

I hope this scroll gives you enough pause to think how you might dress for the next morning 💫, and if not, then ponder this:

“Clothes don’t make a man, but clothes have got many a man a good job.”
—Herbert Harold Vreeland, Academic

by lettersbysoo

A Prelude to Spring: Things I’m Loving

Our climate is in flux, the Great Barrier Reef is at risk (“in danger!” says Karlie), and New York is experiencing a true Four Seasons.

While concerns over climate change is becoming a veritable thing this season, spring to me sometimes just feels like… spring, and I’m left feeling giddy.

For those that are with me! Here’s some beauty to herald in our months of bloom with:

Pierre Yovanovitch, French interior designer:

See this extraordinary armchair complete with varnished oak feet: the Baby Bear Chair:

Screen Shot 2017-03-01 at 12.31.15 PM.png

screen-shot-2017-03-01-at-12-31-36-pm

Papa Bear and Momma Bear available upon request.

Solid & Striped, the Anne Marie:

Screen Shot 2017-03-01 at 1.55.25 PM.png

The Elle Top:

Julian Schnabel, Rose Painting:

Screen Shot 2017-03-01 at 5.40.57 PM.png

Oil, plates, and bondo on wood.

Showing at the Pace Gallery until March 25! 510 W. 25th St., NY, NY, 10001

Franz Kline, American painter and Abstract Expressionist:

Screen Shot 2017-03-01 at 12.40.38 PM.png

Franz Kline with one of his paintings.

Screen Shot 2017-03-01 at 12.41.29 PM.png

Laureline, 1956. Gagosian Gallery

by lettersbysoo

Expanding Boundaries of the Mind: The Future of Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality with Elon Musk and the Sundance Film Festival

Hi all!
As you know, I’ve been fairly interested in the Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality space.
 My personal surf usage usually spans and alternates between news and studies on that
and reading up on brilliant art or fashion shows such as Elie Saab’s Haute Couture.
Chris Milk is continuing to produce some great media for VR and MR, so you should look him and his production company, Within (formerly Vrse) up (Jocelyn: the videos I showed you and Tony last summer were produced by him). He recently showed a new one at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and I heard it was MIND BLOWING! It’s called Life of Us, an expositional journey of our life as humans – music by Pharell Williams )
Sundance also hosted some very cool MR and VR installations like this:img_1635 I saw a demo of one which included not just the headset, but full audio and body set (vibrating suits??)– so complete immersion. It was so scary and pretty funny to see the physical realization of someone within this, and it also invoked some very powerful reactions from me even as a secondary viewer.
It’s almost as if there should be more invested discussions in the making of MR substituting for traditional medical solutions. From what I’ve seen, it has the potential to induce hallucinations and effectively distort mental cognition processes, and I really see it being a strong tool in the future for neurological malaises (or for people who just want to get high).
Lastly, neural lace!:
neural-lace
^ this will give you a short summary on what the possibilities for neural lacing look like for advancing human intelligence, but many more and better articles will go into depth on the potentials for this if you look up anything from Elon Musk, M. Banks, to neuroprosthetics + neural lace.
Basically, the development of neural lace or prosthetically made brain functions could in theory augment parts of our brain or simulate entire functions of our brain and we could all just opt-in in becoming Gandalf the Grey, Sauron, and Tony Stark… in one!
Crazy stuff happening our world, outside of the antics of the new Trump administration– news of those are sadly invading prime front page  space by the hour.
I’m heading over to an opening reception for one of my favorite galleries here, Paul Kasmin. Their upper location on 27th st. is dedicating an exhibition tonight to American Artist William N. Copley’s retrospective of women, how exciting! Especially after that march last week.
Wish you all could be here with me.
Bises,
Soo
by lettersbysoo

Peter Thiel On the Valuation of Companies

I’ve put down The Guermantes Way for a moment to crunch through Zero to One, a book by Peter Thiel on notes on startups, monopolies, and how to build the future. So far, it’s proven to be an interesting read (it’s also my first time “reading” a book through Audible– I don’t know how to feel about that yet- but more on that for another time).

In Zero to One, Thiel advises on critically measuring a company’s long -term profitability and urges us to contemplate the following questions:

1. Growth measurability vs. durability

  • Opt to see one’s market potential over its current  or “near-term” growth measurability, so.. an example would be having the prescience to value a company for its projected future market cash flow rather than solely looking at x company’s present market cap.

2. What does a company with large cash flows far into the future have in regards to qualitative characteristics?

  • proprietary technology
  • network effects
  • economies of scale
  • branding

It would be interesting to see how this applies to my present company and other businesses of interest:

barneys

supreme

a-cold-wall

alpha

For instance, what are the network effects of cult brands such as Supreme and emerging brands like Alpha Industries and A-COLD-WALL?

What kind of proprietary “innovations”do creative houses boast and have helped them become the monopolies they are today within their respective markets?

How do creative businesses navigate the land of commerce and manage to thrive when one quality exists in the midst of a dearth in others?

Bises,

Soo

by lettersbysoo

Chad Wys on the Value of Retrospection

Last week, I had the chance to go to the opening reception for a show representing a favorite contemporary artist of mine, Chad Wys.

Chad Wys is a young artist and graduate of Illinois State University, whose passion for art and art history is affirmed by his burgeoning client list, which ranges from Vice Magazine to Harvard Business Review and Penguin Press.

Wys deals with mixed media, dabbling with ready made art and re-appropriating thrift finds and historical artworks, and marries realism and impressionsim with abstraction in revealing his unique ethos.

He gives commentary where it’s due: Take this clever piece of his of a burka masked over a realist oil painting copy of a young lady:

chadwys3

Beautiful and poignant, isn’t it?

Je joins aux présentes, à titre de rappel, un aide-mémoire présentant les engagements de Wys:

chadwys6

“Untitled”, my favorite. It’s tiny! The size of a letter page– an example of art best viewed digitally, at least for one lady.

chadwys2

chadwys5

Thrift Store Landscape w/ Large Bars, 2013. If you’d like to purchase a fashion product parallel to this, visit: Ghurka.

chadwys1

Trending Recent works

If you have the chance, hit up his ongoing exhibition (showing until October 1, 2016) “Not the Sum of Its Parts, Just the Parts” at Joseph Gross Gallery in Chelsea.

Instagram is also a fantastic way to get caught up on the work of this young talent: https://www.instagram.com/chadwys/

Happy perusal!

Bises,

Soo

by lettersbysoo

Let There Be Statements: Hood by Air S/S 2017

We are in the throes of New York Fashion Week.

Although I have not taken up on most of the opportunities given to us fashion people to gallivant during this special calendar season, I did have the chance to enjoy it pour un instant.

Hood by Air produced an amazing show this past Sunday afternoon with a stellar 2-toned music soundtrack and some great, provocative (in both the literally revealing and subliminal sense) statements.

Make out the strong motifs present at the show from the limited photos below: a very casual nonchalance for les affaires, a nod to the digital era and reverse voyeurism (a model sauntered down playing with a phone and proceeded to take pictures of the passing audience *UPDATE* said model was in fact, Jacuzzi, the assistant creative director of HBA. He was Snapchatting for Pornhub, and was promptly whisked out of front row and onto the runway!), acid colored sunglasses, and slicked back hair and makeup. There were also two middle-aged models, one being renowned German artist Wolfgang Tillman, who made their presence on the runway as well –their looks alluding to some performance art vibes à la Maria Abramovic.

Here are some clips as promised:

img_57851

img_57861

img_58001

img_57961

I was also pleased to see some favorite industry figures of mine: namely, Whoopi Goldberg (I loved her in Sister Acts!), Jaden Smith and his girlfriend, Hamish Bowles and Diane Solway (art evangelist extraordinaires), and Naomi Campbell.

Altogether, this was a wonderful show– very directional, but also something I would be intrigued by and [if the opportunity was there] with looks I’d want to walk the streets in, church garb and all.

Bises,

Soo