Da Who is Creative Recreation?

(All photos from Creative Recreation's website)

I ran across this brand trying to look for those damned purple mocs that were featured in The Sartorialist.



Based on the name, it looked like a Chinese knock-off version of Modern Amusement. I'm not particularly happy with the logo. I think the wings were better appropriated by American Eagle Outfitters and Southwest Airlines. And the Avant Garde type looks a little euro-tired (as in "I'm all euro-ed out!").

The website describes the brand as created by "Two long time friends who were already enjoying a prosperous career in the footwear industry..."

And by "long time friends" do they mean that they spend a long time doing acrobatics in bed while licking every available orifice?

Anyway, they DO have some cute ones. I like the blue ones below. The color blocking reminds me of my old Enrico Coveri's which I only wore once or twice because at that age, my brain exploded if it had to deal with more than two or three colors at a time.



These leather sneakers look very elegant:


The male model on their website looks like one of the contestants in "America's Most Smartest Model". The styling on the other pictures also look very smart.


These look like 80's diadora:

(OK, that metal logo piece is beginning to look like those guardian angel pins the old ladies at church are wearing)

Speaking of the eighties, here's something to wear to your high school reunion:


And if you're old enough to remember the eighties, you'll probably want to dress your babies just like dad used to:

An Evening With Jay McCarroll

At the Ford Amphitheatre.



This was a completely spontaneous thing. I didn't even know where the Ford Amphitheatre was.

I heard there were free tickets for a screening of Eleven Minutes*, a film by Rob Tate and Mike Selditch about Jay McCarroll's debut collection for Spring 07 (which meant the film was shot around 2006). Well, they ran out of free tickets, but, I still got discounted tickets at Goldstar and I dragged my friend Amy to come see it with me.

Turns out that the Ford Amphitheatre is like a mini Hollywood Bowl. Parking is stacked, which means your car is parked like sardines and you could potentially get trapped, especially if the owners of the cars around you decide to lollygag their way to their cars.

I brought some sushi and snacks which we enjoyed at the courtyard:


The seats in this theatre are uncomfortable, but at least it keeps you awake during screenings:


The Big Screen. Cinema under the stars. There was a full moon that night as well:


There was the customary sponsor plugs, after which they introduced the filmmakers, Mike and Rob:



But wait!

We totally did not expect to see Jay there (although we spotted Uncle Nick Verreos earlier) but there he was in living color. Love the necklace by his friend Lola (she looked scary in the film - keep that blowtorch away from me, Lola!)


Then Jay brings out the "gang", Raymundo, Uncle Nick, and Kara Saun:


Where's Heidi and Tim? Jay jokes that they couldn't come up with the $90,000 "fee"

They leave us with their impression of Christian Siriano-fierce!:


We decide to lollygag our way back to the car (don't you just hate it when people do that? Really! Some People! Haha!).

Well who do we run into but Jay himself and the "gang" joined by Andre waiting for their ride to the after party.

Amy and I introduce ourselves and have pictures taken.
The reason why I don't have a picture with Jay is because some bitch (not even pretty!) SHOVED ME ASIDE! (I wanted to shake the color out of her hair - seeriously!)

But, fortunately, Uncle Nick was there to pick up the slack:
Uncle Nick liked my shirt. It's actually $8.98 from Steve and Barry's - but we do not speak of such things!

Here's Amy, Uncle Nick, David (Uncle Nick's partner) and Amanda (Project Runway Model - luv her!):

Here's a poignant little photo of Jay and André.


A good time was had by all.






_________________________________________
*Rob and Mike also did the short docu "Project Jay" for Bravo.

Dress For Guess

This is the "tire track" print I created for Guess last year. Here, it is seen on the Sandra dress. Buy na!


(Photo from guess.com)

I've been asked to do a follow up print but I had to go back to Manila for family events. Check out guess.com! There are more prints that I worked on in there.

Crabby at Anthropologie

Surprise! The Crabby Print made it to Anthropologie!

I still can't get over the fact that I was paid in luggage for this print. Now I need someplace to travel so I can use it. Hmm....







I still like this original colorway that I proposed:

Neil's Djellaba

This was made for a Mardi Gras party we recently attended. Originally, I was going for hooded Venetian cloaks with a brocade lining and bird masks. Then, before I knew it, I had 3 days and I calculated I was going to need 12 yards of very expensive fabric to come up with the cloaks so this is what I ended up doing - djellabas!

I just knew I had to do something with a hood since it's been chilly here lately. It took $18 worth of fabric and three hours to make. After the party, I read up some more on djellabas and learned that it is Moroccan and is usually worn with a red hat called a fez and slippers called baboosh (hello Bryan Boy!).

Wood By Design

I saw this kinetic sculpture by David C. Roy (www.woodthatworks.com) at a private residence last night and it was absolutely fascinating. This particular piece is called "Illusion" The mechanism on the left controls the movement and the central piece is actually two pieces with scythe-shape patterns that are mounted slightly off-set from each other. It's completely mechanical and it costs about $3200 - and it's absolutely gorgeous!

At the beginning of the cycle, the two disks move together, after a while, one of the disks rotates in reverse and this creates a hypnotic experience. Perfect if you have trouble sleeping! There is an animation of the piece on his website - check it out!

Protect Your Largest Organ

I got this from the San Francisco Marc by Marc Jacobs store last year for Christmas presents but decided to keep them for myself (Sorry, Tony - teehee). They still have them last weekend at $35 a pop. Some tees and totes were on sale at $5. Bili na kayo, sir!



Notice who's got the bigger "T"

Viva, Monique!

Let me indulge in a little Philippine Pride and congratulate Monique Lhuillier on her new line of dinnerware for Royal Doulton. (Vera Wang has Wedgwood). Can you imagine if she landed Corelle or Lenox? Quelle horreur!

Notice the spread that Monique had laid out for her lovely guests. I think the caviar and blini are a bit pretentious. Why not some bagoong, pandesal, lumpia or pisi-pisi? And instead of strawberries, how about some mangoes or durian? And what party is complete without some adobo and the perennial party favorite "banana ketchup spaghetti"? And, Monique, sweetie, if you really wanna have fun with the girls, you should all run around in some of your couture wedding gowns and get really drunk and loud till the cops show up. Maybe break a couple of dishes (Vera Wang's).

Print This!

(Above: Embossed Logo Print Wallet)

I haven't seen these prints in production but it's now out in the etnies website (www.etnies.com) for Spring 08!

I created these prints with Etnies Designers, Eunjoo Kim and James Duhamel (Josh Duhamel's cousin). This is the first thing I've done for them (that I've seen produced). It looks simple but there was a lot of geometry, math and tweaking involved.


(Above: Logo Print made into a Tee)


(Above: Logo Print Hoody)


(Above: Thunderbolt Print Wallet)


(Above: Thunderbolt Print Hoody)

All photos from etnies.com
www.etnies.com

Merry Christmas From Mark to Marc

The Mark Hopkins is a short bus ride on the No. 1 to my favorite shopping street - Fillmore.

The corner of Sacramento and Fillmore has always been a furniture store but was converted last year to a Marc by Marc Jacobs store. The display is exactly the same as the L.A. store with the swan-sleigh photo booth so I had my (free) photo taken and they gave me two prints to take home.


While waiting for my prints, I got the new Marc Jacobs makulit* bag ($19). Which came in handy when I went to the market to get some Serrano Ham and Manchego Cheese to bring to dinner with friends at SOMA that evening.

Merry Christmas Everyone!


___________________________
*Cecile Van Straten christened this graphic "makulit" which is a Tagalog (Filipino) word loosely translated to mean as "pushy" or "incessant".

Stuff I Designed

The buckles and print I designed for Rock and Republic are now available at eLuxury and the R&R website.





All those years watching HSN & QVC finallly paid off. How else would I have learned about goldtone and guilloche, eh?




If you look closely at this print, some of the spots spell out the word "rock". GENIUS!!!


You could prolly still order these in time for New Year's Rockin' Eve!!!

Tresor - What?

Love Kate Winslet....Love Peter Lindbergh (director).... but WTF!!!

This is the most cliched and sappy commercial I've seen in years! ( I think the last sappy one I saw was a Johnson's baby oil commercial).

C'mon! Really! Runnning on a bridge in the middle of Paris! Doesn't she have an appointment at Chanel or Galliano? What's with the "my heart is so full and brimming with love" look on her face? Save that look for the glass cases at Cartier, KATIE! Jeez!

Kate running on a bridge with an UZI and gunning down the male intruder - much more interesting. I may sound cynical but this commercial is a waste of romance and time. It looks like a downgraded version of the Chanel/Nicole Kidman spots.

Next!

Hey, Hookers!

Finally, a t-shirt that's all about ME!!!!

What? John Lee Hooker? Oh......

These cool tees are from Your Friend or Foe. A t-shirt line inspired by jazz, blues and soul music and uses vintage album covers from the greats such as Hooker, Davis, Roach etc. re-interpreted into t-shirt graphics.

Rock and Roll is OUT! JAZZ is IN!

It would help to have a nice physique to go with these. I'm thinking SPANX.

Heath Ledger loves his Hooker Tee to death (it's already torn at the collar):
Photo: Fashion Wire Daily


Here are some more that I liked:




The tees are available online, Barneys and American Rag among others.

LET THE HOLIDAY SHOPPING BEGIN!!!!!


www.yourfriendorfoe.com

Murakami

Los Angeles, November 10,2007.

If you haven't yet seen this GORGEOUS exhibit @ the Geffen Contemporary in Little Tokyo- GO NOW!!!!

I first heard about the exhibit at Chuvaness' blog. I was hesitant about going to this show since I'm not really a fan of japanese cartoon-y anime art but I was familiar with Murakami's commercial work and I was completely AMAZED!



The exhibit covered a lot of Murakami's work and included paintings, sculpture, video installations and a display of merchandise where his art was applied.

AND THE LOUIS VUITTON!

They actually installed a mini-Louis Vuitton store within the exhibit which sold LV merchandise made exclusively for the exhibit including special edition NeverFulls (3 sizes), agenda and circular coin purse. I wanted to take home the LV trunk with the mini-croc purses in 30 colors (not for sale). I thought this would sell-out by now but they were still pretty well-stocked. The limited edition prints of his artwork are now all sold out (starting at $895 a pop).

What's amazing is, he actually has paintings which incorporated the LV logo in it.

The later work definitely had the marks of computer aided design (i.e. the vectorized Adobe Illustrator line quality), but his earlier work, which looked entirely computer generated, was even more exciting! They look deceptively simple. One of the techniques he used was to lay down layer upon thick layer of paint and then sanding away parts of it to create an image. The results were awesome! I mean, you just had to be there!

It was great to see the (naughty) fiberglass sculptures. Even better is the parents trying to avert their children's eyes away from them or trying to explain it. Yes, the show attracted a lot of little kids for obvious reasons.
Photo:artnet.com ("My Lonesome Cowboy")

The exhibit is on until Februay 11, 2008. GO!!! NOW!!

Photo: Vinyl Inflatables at the entrance.


www.moca.org

Nicholas Stoodley

When I was growing up in the Philippines, "ready-to-wear" was still a new concept (shows you how OLD I am!). Ready-to-Wear, in my world, consisted of white t-shirts, school uniforms and Puritan Brand tighty-whities (in mesh!).

New clothes meant getting material and making a trip to the "modista" (tailor) and looking through a stack of fashion magazines. The "modista" clipped a swatch of your fabric to the picture of the style that you chose and you came back 3 days later for a fitting. Even my denim was tailor-made.

So what do you do at 12 years old when mom hands you PHP100 (about $80 in '07 US dollars) and tells you to go shop for clothes? On your own? I let the driver drop me off at Goldcrest, which was a newly opened mall (well, it was new THEN!)

It featured lots of "boutiques" including a GAP (not related to the U.S. store, but still a jeans store). I didn't really find anything interesting at GAP (I did try on a pair of red Britannia pants), so I went out and stumbled upon the Nicholas Stoodley boutique. I think my brother had a Nicholas Stoodley shirt in his closet, but I thought that was an import.

The Nicholas Stoodley boutique was clean and sparse and so unlike the typical boutiques at the time. Other stores' idea of visual merchandising was to jam every nook and cranny with merchandise (and everything was wrapped in plastic). So the Stoodley boutique was a breath of fresh air and the merchandise was light and tropical and screamed luxury. They had a small men's collection and I picked out a pair of off-white linen pants which I jammed my prepubescent body into and closed the sale at PHP99! You can get tailor made pants at other places for half that price.

I stumbled upon these photos at nostalgiamanila.blogspot.com. You can read more about Nicholas Stoodley there including how he started out as Valentino's assistant and his memories of 70's Manila under martial rule.

Early premium denim.

Epaulet shirts. Very Prada!



Pleats and FLARED! Luv the shirt on this one.

Photos: NostalgiaManila.blogspot.com