Working his vain-covered catsuits and sinister Alice in Wonderland dresses to become head-designer for Rochas and Nina Ricci, Olivier Theyskens, l'enfant terrible-ment dream-noir-chique has now returned to the design table...as head-designer at THEORY, the American brand founded by Andrew Rosen.
We see in his first spring/summer collection the sharp lines, the nonchalant but comfortable fitted jackets and trousers in a simple but ever working color-palet going from grey, black, white to some accents of dusty red and some shiny midnite blue...stylish with a gentle rock-n-roll attitude. All made out of Italian and Japanese fabrics but with a Belgian and definitely Theyskens touch...see the triangular cut in the jackets and elongated silhouettes...and the inspiration he took from his own paintings and drawings!
It's great to have Mr. Theyskens back!
The collection has also some great accessories and even a limited edition T-shirt, available exclusively at
See a little selection I made out of the 35 silhouettes...with my own preference to the dark/grey ones!
This modular and "growing" new lighting system was presented at imm Cologne a few days ago. Designed by the Dutch Ontwerpstudio, this light-design, made out of coated aluminum, copper and PU, creates unlimited extension possibilities, so in the end it will look like an organism growing wildly like a forest or tropical jungle plant.
And although the material is more industrial, the dim-coloring makes it less hard to look at!
But not only this Forest Light project caught my eye while exploring the work of Ontwerpstudio.
This duo of designers, Nathan and Tineke like to describe themselfs as "A dreamer and a mathematician", completing and inspiring each other.
Their creative hive is located in "The Yard", a location where about 10 artists work together in an industrial building. As they say themselves : Talent, knowledge and interests are melting together here.
Here is a selection of some of their work...with a highlight on an amazing shade of green!
Seeing this video, it reminds me of the setting of a Bat for Lashes concert a few years ago...an after midnight prom-night...but with a nicer and dancy-er Carrie character.
I'm very fond of Miss Oh Land's remixes, cause sometimes the original songs sound a bit unexciting. As Bat for Lashes, at the time, her music must grow on me. I'll get there, don't worry Nanna! But for now, White Nights and the remix, I like them both equally!
The swiftness in her moves reveals her icy past as a dancer for the Royal Danish Ballet...to be certainly continued!
and the great TwinShadow remix
(reminds me a bit of a guitar-spiced-up Studio remix)
Inspired by Robyn's crafty artwork for her latest albums and with a Keisha-infused song, but in a good-innocent-way Zowie made me smile when I came across her new video.
From New-Zealand, also home to Ladyhawke (where is she nowadays?) she brings us the spring-is-almost-there pop in the way of Marina, Little Boots...but what the hell. It's catchy!!!!
Brenda Namigadde, a Ugandan lesbian in the UK, faces deportation THIS WEEK back to the life-threatening persecution she fled eight years ago.
With David Bahati, the Ugandan politician and author of the notorious "Kill the Gays" legislation, taking an interest in her case, Brenda faces clear and present danger if she’s forced to return.
Will you sign this urgent letter pressuring U.K. Home Secretary Theresa May to stop Brenda’s deportation?
That the situation for gay people in Africa is very threatening has been shown again by the murder of David Kato earlier this week (see previous post).
re-post from Facebook by Mario Kleinmoedig, ILGA Press Officer
SHOW YOUR RESPECT FOR DAVID KATO AND ALL OTHER GAY RIGHTS ACTIVISTS STILL LIVING IN DANGER.
ILGA (the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) is appalled and shocked by the murder of gay rights activist David Kato in Uganda on Wednesday 26th January. Contrary to earlier reports that Kato’s body was found by neighbors in his house in Kampala on Wednesday hacked on the head with a hammer, a later polic...e report suggests there was at least one witness to the attack and that Kato died on the way to the hospital. From Mexico-city ILGA’s co-secretary-general, Gloria Careaga issued a forceful demand to Uganda´s authorities, to stop the persecution and violence against LGBTI people and to thoroughly and promptly investigate “this hideous crime”. “We demand justice and respect. Our international work is based on the phrase ‘Nobody is safe until everybody is safe’, Careaga stated.
Kato’s murder comes only weeks after the Uganda Supreme Court told the local magazine ‘Rolling Stone’ to stop publishing names of prominent Ugandan alleged homosexuals and calling for them to be hanged. It now seems someone apparently took up the magazine’s call and David Kato, who was out already as gay man and LGBTI activist has become the first lethal victim of the magazine’s hate call. Careaga: “First we need to mourn David and celebrate his life and legacy, while giving comfort and support to his family, friends and fellow-activists in Uganda and all over the world. But then we will have to ensure that his death proves that the wave of hate towards LGBTI people in Africa and particularly in Uganda must be stopped and turned around". She quoted a statement of Kato in an interview by the New Internationalist Magazine last year: ‘I can’t run away and leave the people I am protecting. People might die, but me, I will be the last one to run out of here’. “David Kato did not run, and he died. We cannot leave his work undone” Gloria Careaga stressed.
David Kato visited the ILGA’s headquarter in Brussels as recently as march last year on a tour of European institutions and governments to boost support against the Ugandan law proposal aiming to make homosexuality punishable by death. Kato has been arrested three times for his activism and faced innumerable other forms of harassment and assault. A long-time activist, Kato had earned the title of ‘grandfather of the kuchus’ – as gay men in Kampala call themselves – for his work on behalf of people in the LGBT community. In the past he has sheltered many people in his home, visited them in prison and worked for their release. He worked as the advocacy and litigation officer for SMUG, Sexual Minorities Uganda, Uganda’s main LGBTI Rights group. David Kato’s murder ironically comes on the same day that United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon made the strongest call ever by the UN for an end to human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Director Jeremy Konner
DP Logan Schneider
Editor Jeremy Konner
Producer Billy Parks
Executive Producer Jeff Pantaleo
From the Album "Volume 2", available at Merge Records - mergerecords.com/s/30243/
