Nothing but natural

There is always something sensual about fur.





The way it warms and clothes the body like second skin.





How such luxurious personal comfort elicits both protest and jealousy.





Just like the baring of skin.















These editorials are interesting because they simultaneously depict nakedness and the warmest of clothing.



Fur in all its unabashed, primal glory.



Images from AnOther Man, 2008-2009 Fall/Winter and Vogue Hommes International Paris 2007-2008 Fall/Winter

Fetiche

At the time when this blog was not fully devoted to menswear, I posted something entitled The armor of Daphne Guinness. And I quote: She has had made metal pieces for her fingers, hands, and an entire arm based on the armory of the Middle Ages. She has been seen several times wearing thick leather or metal belts that hug her trim figure like old girdles.

Maybe she felt safe with her accouterment, maybe it was her self-expression or defence.

Gilet de smoking en coton granulé et satin, Tom Ford; pantalon de smoking en drap de laine, De Fursac; masque en métal et bracelet de force en cuir et métal, Phylea

'Fetiche', Vogues Hommes International Paris, Printemps-été 2008

Of course, these implements can also serve to mask or change one's identity, to morph it into something else.

Masque museliére en cuir et métal, Rex; veste de smoking et chemise en popeline de coton, Lanvin

To reverse our internal defences and wear them as our armor.

Harnais cage en cuir et métal, Rex; chemise de smoking en popeline de coton, Yves Saint Laurent; veste en laine, Ralph Lauren; pantalon de smoking en drap de laine, De Fursca; bras articulé en métal, Phylea

To totally become somebody else: this has been an obsession since the very first Metamorphosis.

Tour de cou en métal, Phylea

The urge to remove what is human - to make it artficial or render it for an android - this fascination has been explored in many science fiction novels and films.

Veste col châle et pantalon de smoking en drap de laine, Hermès; chemise de smoking en popeline de coton, plastron plissé, Brooks Brothers; ceinture de smoking en soie plissée, Balenciaga par Nicolas Ghesquière; masque bondage en cuir et métal, Rex; fleur en satin, La Droguerie

But many times, like in Frankenstein, the inorganic gives free reign to the bestial.

Gilet de smoking en soie, Maison Martin Margiela; manchette en toile à beurre, Ann Demeulemeester; haut-de-forme en feutre, Lanvin; masque heaume en métal, Phylea

The best we can settle for is a temporary heightening of sensations and emotions in the short event that we pretend to be inhuman.

Veste et pantalon de smoking en satin, Dolce & Gabbana; chemise en popeline de coton, Roberto Cavalli; masque et tour de cou en métal, Phylea

Par Hedi Slimane, Réalisation: Carine Roitfeld

This post is part of a set in reply to a query by Nihaal Faizal from India on the topic of his sketches and on science fiction

Men's magazines on my mind

While trying to finally finish my articles for the second issue of Garage magazine (a new local men's rag), I've been now and then skimming through current and recent issues. These five below, though they may intersect on certain subjects, vary significantly on approach.



Though this is not a men's magazine, I bought it to see the section on Rei Kawakubo, but was more intrigued by Louise Bourgois' take on Helmut Lang's art.



The French take on Hollywood? Isabelle Huppert is one of my favorite actresses. The interview seems off, and so does the language of the articles I've leafed through. Does a French international magazine have to be half-and-half to satisfy a wider audience? Somehow even the editorials have that feel.



Now this is what I'm saying. I know we can't have all the articles translated, but...I guess this is what you get when a magazine goes all out.



Another Tyler Brûlé creation, also not only for men. It's really a concise journal of many things, big and small, happening from all over. A little notebook of information that's formatted like a website, or maybe a bento box, all ready for consumption.



This, I must say, is by far the best. For me at least because it is the most personal. It is a commercial magazine like the rest but the way the articles are written, the paper, the limited color plates, and the small talk on small menswear items and sundry things, all include you in the magazine. There are no editorials that alienate; nothing put up there as big and glaring as billboards. And there are more product shots. Meaning the magazine is a conversation, and even if you don't react, it is about you.

************

Before I return to work, here are two articles I wrote for Garage's premier issue:

Knock yourself over: a book review of Dave Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

For Green agreements, an excerpt: "Environmental awareness has become the new zeitgeist, the newest conversation piece, fad, and measure for coolness. It has outzenned zen, yoga, vegetarianism, and pilates, even beaten the trend of Hollywood celebrities adopting third world children. AIDS has been made passé. Eco-chic is now the next social requirement."

So what comprises the ideal men's magazine in my mind? Little by little I'll make it up...