Death and grooming

Wallpaper magazine shot at the Brion-Vega cemetery for its September 2008 issue's Death in Veneto cover editorial.



What I noticed even before the morbidly sleek monochrome outfits was the Wolverine hair.



In time for Halloween?



I bet this hairdo would be good even with colored and casual clothes.



Though you would have to have it black and not blonde, and it helps if you have a high forehead, or even a widow's peak.





The slickback becomes a slick-up?



Whatever its creators decided to call it, the hairstyle brings a different kind of austerity.



Sleek and intimidating even without the adamantium.



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Parisienne blogger Garance Doré snaps some eccentrics with hair that also defies gravity.



Romain Brau is a designer.



Keegan Singh a stylist.



And Matthew Stone an artist.

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.

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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...

Back issue magazine Monday

Dropped by Booksale and grabbed six items from the used books and magazines shop. First is 10 men's Summer Autumn 2010 issue, which opens with more pictures from Lanvin men's campaign with/by Vinoodh Matadin and contains an interesting article on "Ten London boys you should meet".




Next is the Summer Autumn 2010 issue of 10 magazine, also its 10th-year anniversary issue. I got the one with Azzedine Alaïa on the cover, who is joined by nine other designers interviewed to mark the event: Alber Elbaz, Dolce & Gabbana (11 and not 10?), Donatella Versace, Helmut Lang, John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld, Ralph Lauren, Tom Ford, and Vivienne Westwood.




Third on the list is Dazed & Confused's Volume II/85 issue with Tilda Swinton on the cover, who starred in the much-anticipated I Am Love and was also recently featured in ads by Pringle of Scotland. At first sight I thought Swinton posed nude for the magazine. Turns out the main piece was about artists' and photographers' expression of what "naked" meant to them.




Then fourth is Wallpaper's September 2010 issue with booty on the cover. (No, I did not place glare on purpose.) "Butts, boobs, and blonde ambition" means more nudity inside.




Maybe I should have adjusted the glare on this one, the fifth thing I bought: a February 2010 issue of Art Review, which came with a supplement on Paul McCarthy's collaboration with Havaianas: mainly sculptures of naked men, including a depiction of George W. Bush, with pigs. Don't ask what they were doing. "Warm" reading for a rainy November afternoon?




Lastly, I bought a real book. By Proust: volume III of his masterpiece. Been meaning to read In Search of Lost Time. This first purchase, at less than P200, is a good start.