the great happiness space

released in 2006, this documentary sheds lights on the host industry in japan: pretty nubile boys paid by lonely women to entertain them and love them by the hour. the film focuses on the seedy host clubs in osaka, in the minami district where the customers aren't middle aged rich housewives but young, attractive enough japanese girls who drop about $2000 a night on champagne service and the company of boys. as the story unravels at the cafe Rakkyo, you learn from the owner and top host, a slight but decently attractive man named Issei, how his business is 'selling dreams" and "emotionally healing" the women who come through.

In actuality it is a type of emotional prostitution. the hosts yield all sense of who they are in order to please their customers by complinmenting them and embodying the image that the women want to see. in return the women patrons fall in love with these customized personas and depend on them for self validation.

the film shifts gears often in terms of directing the viewers sympathies. is it the hosts who are robbing the women with their smiles and lies, or the women who are consciously aware that hosts are like material possessions>

without revealing some interesting plot twists, i would definitely recommend a viewing of this doc if only to learn more about the host industry. although this film exposed an overview of the host culture in japan, i wish that it took the time to delved deeper into the hosts themselves. i want to know how and why the hosts become what they are, the beginning and prcoess not just the result.

since japan is already so well known for its infinitely kinky sex industry and almost obsessvie materialistic culture, it's really no surprise that hosts clubs are packaged and sold as a dream.

as hosts can make anywhere between 10,000- 50,000 a month its no wonder Issei can afford Dior Homme (pictured above).

i like it

cassie
alice dellal
jethro cave

KAMO-kaze

anyone that can singlehandedly overshadow karl largerfield at his own chanel couture spring 09 show with a few dozen pieces of paper and a handful of assistants is instantly my hero!
katsuya kamo, japanese hairstylist and make up artist did just that with his intricate paper flower headdresses that were sent down the chanel runway a few weeks ago in paris. keeping with the mostly stark white palette of the collection, the organically sculptural creations cut from plain white paper served as the perfect visual anchor for the rigid yet tactile collection.

although the chanel couture frocks were indeed breathtakingly impressive with its labour intensive beading and precious namesake, the cleverly crafted masterpieces manipulated from some tree fibers were the true shining stars of the show.



all photos from style.com

but that's not all. chanel couture is just the tip of the iceberg for kamo. he's also done hauntingly elegant, exquisite avant garde headpieces for the likes of margiela, junya watanabe and undercover for runway and editorials. his body of work defies the conventional boundaries of hair art and elevates his work from mere accessory to the main attraction. from the few photos of his work i have seen, it is undeniable he has the midas touch to transform everyday commodities like paper, plastic or feathers into visually compelling works of art.






photos from here

photos from here

like father like daughter

francis ford coppola- sofia coppola
steve tyler-liv tyler
jon voigt - saint angelina
ozzy ozbourne-kelly ozbourne.....ok im really pushing it

whether it is the movie or music industry there isn't a shortage of successful father-daughter duos in the limelight. with an already well established surname on their side, half the battle is already won for the said offspring. a fashion example to be added to the list is limi yamamoto, daughter of japanese avant-garde pioneer yohji yamamoto. yamamoto senior is well established as the grandfather of monochromatic, architectural, menswear influenced dressing and credited as the one of the first to bring this severe austere japanese aesthetic to Paris in the eighties along with comme des garcon's rei kawakubo. he is highly recognized by the fashion elite as not only a genius of a designer but as revolutionary Intellect as well. in other words, his daughter had extra large combat boots to fill. limi feu herself joined her dad's comapany in 1998 after two years at Japan's most prestigious fashion school Bunka ( which trust me, i researched it the tuition alone is harvard-esque!) She broke out with her own line in 2000 and only recently started showing in Paris.

although probably not as high profile as the father daughter powerhouses of the entertainment industries, limi yamamoto's line, aptly named limi feu has been gaining much press on the paris fashion circuit. During Fall 08 she even had a mini video featurette on style.com prior to her showing. in the interview she seems like one cool chick. she mentions how she designs for real women, women on the street, women that inspire her and unlike the sternness of her and her dad's clothes she is full of smiles.

so now to the main attraction. her clothes. the first time i actually saw her clothes was on thefahionspot.com for japan fashion week and at the time wasn't aware of her lineage. i just remember her collection to be a blur of black fitted garments with sexy woolly garters and chunky black jewelry. a bit rock, a bit feminine, i liked.

fast forward to spring 08 just a few months back and she's now receives regular coverage on style.com. her present collection is the one that interests me most. upon my first scan, it just looked SO JAPANESE. even without her name attached to it, i would have either assumed it to be a japanese designer or someone who reinterprets the japanese sensibilities impeccably.

WE HAVE DECIDED NOT TO DIE

...so we are never leaving the house ever again.

not exactly but close.

i stumbled across an intriguing article in an oooold issue of DesignDiffusionNews about the Reversible Destiny Lofts in Mitaka, Japan, which upon first glance seemed to be either an elaborate kids playhouse structure or a film set for a manga live action movie:





in actuality, it is a precisely constructed housing complex that is designed to reconfigure the living patterns of its residents through the use of accumulated scientific data based on neuroscience, quantum physics, biology and phenomenology. this research is translated into tangible architectural solutions that purposely force the human mind and body to behave and interact with its surroundings in a specific manner in order to manipulate the human aging cycle.

in short it is an ongoing scientific experiment made by and for creative minds to see if bright colour stimulation, large sums of light exposure, forced exercise due to deliberate spatial constraints, and mandatory interaction between neighbours because of purposely intrusive hallway corridors will lend itself to a more meaningful, longer lasting life.

also known as procedural architecture, the architect-poets Madeline Gins and Shusaku Arakawa, hope to shun a monotonous lifestyle for the dwellers by providing them with a specifically engineered alternative lifestyle that heightens their sense of awareness for themselves, their environment and those they interact with. it forces them literally to see the world in a bold vibrant way aided by multicoloured walls and furniture, to routinely interact with their neighbours and be challenged with daily 'inconveniences' like light switches low to the ground that forces them to crawl in order to reach, doorless spherical rooms, no storage spaces and rocky textured ground surface ( which is medically proven to help your feet).

thus the term "making dying illegal" is the idea of self preservation through interactivity of an "architectural body", which can be defined as an ever changing and tactile yet moldable tentative space that affects one's frame of mind. its about rebelling against the serene, bland, unchallenged spaces of norm that breed isolation that most people live in who don't even notice what colour their walls are or who lives a across the hall. it is about melding your environment into apart of your conscious psyche and treating your home like a breathing living entity.

and this is just the tip of the iceberg! after finding the official website of these two, wise, interracial partners in crime ( who are definitely beyond the baby boomer train aka golden oldies by now), the Reversible Destiny Lofts is just one project of out many that they have carried out to prove their hypothesis: WE HAVE DECIDED NOT TO DIE. a reversible destiny hotel is on the horizon, which will join other 'long-life extending' structures, published books and art installations. their manifesto reaches far beyond what i have mentioned, so instead of attempting to regurgitate their ideas, go to http://www.reversibledestiny.org/home.php to not die too.

--------------------
SO this complex is apparently quite well known as the architects have been pumping out their manifesto since the early sixties and have had installations in the Guggenheim...i just think their ideas are quite an admiral blend of art and science and utilizing architectural design as a catalyst to extract scientific data that pertain to the human condition. it would be like living in the luxury two floor cage for a lucky guinea pig. though upon reflection, perhaps living in a cramped, oddly shaped, crayon coloured, apartment with a nubbly floor might not be everyone's cup of tea. which brings me to the question of aesthetics. would you live in this cartoonish apartment if you knew it might benefit your life expectancy? would i live in it? as a personal lover of a monochromatic palette and open spaces, i find the lofts intriguing and would make for a great visit...but living there long term? with no storage space for all my shoes except a suspended rope basket?

hmmm the reversible destiny lofts would indeed completely alter your life, from forcefully making you eliminate material possessions ( a cleaner, minimal living style) to having to get use to constant labour for trivial reasons like basically doing a pushup to turn off your light at night, or climb 5 flights of spiraling stairs everyday because YOU decided to buy this loft ( which ain't cheap either, costing double the price of a regular apartment in the area).

but it also begs the question, if this experiment truly proves to hold enough accountability to affect other architects around the world, will we suddenly see a whole transformation of stylistic tendencies in architecture to shift from a balance of form and function to focusing more on providing the best environment for our senses and well being? will office buildings also have studded floors? will gucci boutiques trade in their slick black interiors for banana yellow plastic?

speaking of DECIDING NOT TO DIE, I think i want a banana, simply for survival of course.
ill also try to find out if their other buildings are also situated in Japan or elsewhere...i can't help but wondering if lofts like these would succeed in other parts of the world..

celebrate

i just turned 22 on the 22nd this month. to celebrate here are 22 reasons why i love everything about nippon:

1) boys. they dress better than my girlfriends, have nicer legs than i do and have eyebrows like liz taylor
2) muji
3) packaging design for oh, EVERYTHING
4) rei kawakubo
5) jun takahashi
6) tadao ando
7) my husband ( revert to post 2-4)
8) how apparently sale associates treat you like god even if you show up in ripped jeans and slippers
9) tokyo bopper and all their glorious shoes
10) absolute boyfriend: it is a manga about a sex robot that develops human emotions then dies.
11) NONON magazine
12) Ai Tominaga
13) crazy ass nail art with dangling diamond encrusted babies
14) uniqlo!
15) kyoto detached palace
16) brassy blonde hair with defiant black eyebrows
17) MIDDLE PARTS on boy and girls- just works without succumbing to a 70's vibe
18) harajuku filled with hoards of identical japanese 'greasers'
19) nagi noda!!!!!!
20) Yohji Yamamoto
21) His daughter <3
22) pleats please issey!

this list is a good indication of futur posts...

street meat: Jtown versus JT

the boot is a staple in any young japanese hipster's wardrobe, much like the white t shirt is to the average north american;


whether they are docs, fryes, vintage knee highs, slouchy ann demeulemeesters, or a slick cropped pointy bootie, every fashion conscious japanese stylite owns a pair that is associated with their specific style tribe
especially as the weather in general is rather agreeable in tokyo and other large metropolitan cities, boots are worn almost year round, in the dead of winter or in midsummer...

the combat boot in particular is quite popular for both sexes: tucked under scrunched up denim, loosely laced over holey tights or hidden under loooow ridin' crouch pants, the combat boot has almost become a cliche look in the last 5 years or so, circulating on various japanese street style blogs on the likes of punks, neo-goths, scenesters, boho artisans, rock/grunge types, japanese 'metros' etc etc...
(to the point where i would see beat up docs on an asian person on the streets of toronto and instantly know he was japanese..)

yeah yeah, one can argue british punks did it first, then grudge etc...but no one rocks the combat boot quite like the japanese.
there's a level of confidence and understanding of the aesthetic that is vital: to basically bypass comfy kicks for badass leather, and to either play up the bulk for an exaggerated shape or balance out the proportions to create a symmetrical top bottom effect...its definitely not for everyone


case in point.
a few months back, im hungrily prowling my trashy disposable pop culture sites when i come across this striking composition:



...
are you for real? are those timbalands in disguise...just with buckles? did he shrink his metallic sheen seanjohn jeans in the wash? a givenchy ad under the belt does not warrant this.

boots worn by men for the sake of fashion versus function ( aka construction boots) is still relatively uncommon for MOST of north america. as i mentioned prior, it takes a certain understanding of silhouette to create an overall visual effect that emulates one part rebellion and one part effortless cool. shrunken blazer tossed over a lean tee, skinny scarf and stovepipes with a scuffed grey boot, or a languid waistcoat billowing over a button down long sleeve with rolled up denim and some unlaced docs...

which brings us back to mr. timbaland, er lake.
although quite brave, pairing a cropped leather jacket over slightly flared jeans awkwardly shoved in brand spankin' pseudo motorcycle boots ain't exactly jiving so hot together.

thus in the battle of jtowners versus the JT, the outcome requires no justification