Bright Lights

All photos by Sofi Svensson

Sofi Svensson is another one of the rising talents that showed at the Swedish School of Textile Graduate Show last month. To say that her work is eyecatching is an understatement--her senior collection was embroidered with hundreds of brightly colored beads and embellished with oversized sparkling sequins, with all the contrasting textures and colors vying for the viewer's attention.  Though the outfits wouldn't look out of place at a rave, or at Kenny Kenny's Sunday night party at Vandam, they were not inspired by clubkids, but somewhat counterintuitively, by mindfulness and meditation.  The collection, which was titled "Inner Light," tells a story of looking for peace, balance and happiness, and finding that shining inner light, which in turn manifests itself in a very extroverted manner.

-Tiffany

Triskaidekaphobia Lookbook Preview

Lovely Lulu chilling on the East River

This past Thursday, we shot our Triskaidekaphobia Fall lookbook with our dear friend and favorite feisty blogger, Lulu Chang. Lulu has coyly been hinting at a move to New York for the past year, which is yet to happen. In the meantime, we have to settle for quick glimpses when she comes over for her business jaunts. This time, we really made Lulu work, putting her through an eight-hour shoot that had her climbing, perching, and tilting dangerously off of anything high up and unsafe that we could get her on top of. We even had the misfortune of all getting caught in a flash thunderstorm which drenched us to the bone, in addition to ruining half of our electronics. Thank you Lulu for being such a good sport, getting soaked, and taking a tumble or two! And an extra special thank you to our photographer Serichai Traipoom, our hair stylist, Dakota Heman, and our makeup artist, Terese Bennett. Please check out their websites!

Dakota getting Lulu ready for her princessy look

Seri shooting Lulu at the basketball court

The whole gang!

-Tiffany

Tales From the Suburbs

Photographs by Niall O'Brien, courtesy of McQ

Plenty of designers are jumping on the Tumblr bandwagon, erecting pages dedicated to inspirational images, lookbook photos, and online campaigns. I myself recently tried to create one, only to find that both the Triskaidekaphobia and the Six Six Sick domains are already taken (WTF). One of the most high-profile labels to join the site of late is McQ, the Alexander McQueen contemporary line, which has built an entire website off of Tumblr, with the intent of having the content shared and re-blogged. Week by week they have gradually released images of pieces from the collection, shot by different photographers.

Their latest series, featuring the Spring collection, was shot by British photographer Niall O'Brien during a road-trip across America, using small towns and classic bits of Americana as the backdrop. Having grown up as a city-kid, spending my entire life in Manhattan, my idea of American suburbia is awash in a semi-dull yet alluringly-comforting glow, which was originally constructed through sixties television sitcoms and teen movies. Now my image of suburbia is equally shaped by the songs of Arcade Fire, and the books of Jonathan Franzen; the mix of romance, decay, and ennui. Only a few images have been released thus far, but I think O'Brien manages to capture both feelings in his work. While you might want to listen to Arcade Fire while perusing the site, I also suggest you take a look at The Ghosts video (below) by Eddie O'Keefe, which has no relation to the McQ site at all, but also runs in the same vein of American suburban nostalgia and complements the site quite well.

The GHOSTS from Eddie O'KEEFE on Vimeo.

-Tiffany

Kouklita Couture

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. What you see is a miniature replica of my favorite look from the Spring 2010 Proenza Schouler collection, complete with perfectly dip-dyed hair. My lovely friend Andrew Yang has been working on his impressive collection of handmade dolls, The Kouklitas, for over a year. While in the past, most of his dolls are conceived with fantastical background stories rooted in Andrew's somewhat sadistic imagination (Siamese twins, overweight nymphomaniacs, cyclops, etcetera), and given an appropriately dramatic wardrobe to match, Andrew has taken his little ladies back to his own fashion-forward roots with this editorial he did for The Block Magazine. Andrew, who used to work as a designer for Dennis Basso, used his tailoring skills to create these perfect recreations of Spring's most outrageous looks for this new batch of "supermodel" dolls. I love the outfits he chose, especially the creepy Katie Eary number, and the pair of Comme des Garcons girls, complete with tufts of cotton-candy hair. All the dolls will eventually be on sale on his website (outfitted, his dolls average around $600), and if you feel like he missed one of your favorite spring looks, Andrew is always available to make custom dolls and outfits.

-Tiffany

Fringe Benefits

Christopher Kane x Topshop Croc dress, DIY Rodarte leggings, Rachel Comey boots, Triskaidekaphobia scribble necklace, restraint bracelet and ring

On Friday night, we went down to Allegra's gallery, LaViola Bank, to celebrate the release of Henrik Vibskov's new book with Andreas Emenius, The Fringe Projects. The book documents and serves as a catalog of the series of art installations, performances, and photographs that the pair have collaborated on over the past couple of years. Andreas is a good friend of Michael, one of the co-owners of the space, and the gallery temporarily put up several of the stunning photographs from the project on display. Allegra seemed a tad bit overwhelmed by the Danish fashion mob that descended, but after the chaos of Fashion Week, it seemed like a perfectly cozy and intimate gathering to me. I also used it as an opportunity to wear the Christopher Kane x Topshop dress that I ran to pick up as soon as it hit the floor.

Henrik Vibskov, on the right, and the crowd in the back yard of LaViola Bank

One of the self-portraits of Vibskov and Emenius from The Fringe Projects that was on display

Dom and Carlo, wearing CDG and Margiela respectively

Jimmy and his drinking companions for the evening

-Tiffany

Scorpio Rising

Photograph by Hanna Liden for Urban Outfitters

Urban Outfitters keeps on surprising us. I'm always impressed by their unending lineup of collaborations with the best young designers out there, including cult favorites like LD Tuttle and Slow and Steady Wins The Race (make sure to check out the mini shop-in-shop at the 14th Street location). Now, I'm pretty blown away that they chose downtown art world darling Hanna Liden to photograph the lookbook for their new Scorpio Rising collection. Known for her Gothic aesthetic, which is often transposed onto sweeping scenes of desolate landscapes, the Swedish-born photographer has done previous design collaborations with The Gap, but as far as I know, hasn't done much work in commercial fashion photography. It's pretty interesting to see her work in this context, and the images are still infused with the distinctly dreamy mood that Liden creates, even if they aren't overtly Gothic. Here are some pictures from the Urban Oufitters lookbook, as well as some of Liden's other photographs.

Photograph by Hanna Liden for Urban Outfitters


Death Upon a Black Horse by Hanna Liden. Image from Rivington Arms.

Death Gate by Hanna Liden. Image from Rivington Arms.

Lake With Fire by Hanna Liden. Image from Rivington Arms.

-Tiffany

Flow it, Show It, Long as God Can Grow It

In the midst of all the craziness going on right now while we wrap up designing our jewelry line, Christina reminded me that we have to start thinking about outfits for Fashion Week, which is right around the corner. We're getting our party lineup into order, and of course will need appropriate clothes to match. Thus unfolds nights of trolling through Style.com for inspiration pictures, which will eventually be transmogrified into our own Six Six Sick-ed DIY numbers, with varying degrees of similarity to the original source of inspiration. Last Fashion Week, we made an elastic cage dress with hair attached at the shoulders for Susie Bubble, and this season I'm still obsessed with the use of hair, even if those of you who found it completely creepy the first time will probably still find it off-putting.

I found this editorial, shot by Sune Czajkowski and styled by Simon Rasmussen for Tush Magazine particularly inspiring. I love the hairy monster-fur coat, which looks like the unkempt cousin of Margiela's Spring 09 wig jacket. The horse-mane styled headpiece would add instant drama to any outfit. Even the black tulle begins to look like an oversized demented fabric updo. I'm hoping that we can translate these looks into something of our own, maybe even calling in our hairstylist friends in for reinforcement...

-Tiffany

An Interview With Photographer Fumi Nagasaka

A shot of Cole Mohr that Fumi did for Dazed Japan.

Fumi Nagaska leads an enviable life. Working as a freelance photographer for magazines like Dazed and Confused, she gets to travel the world to shoot fashion editorials, in addition to working on personal projects about subjects that she loves and cares about---mainly her friends, and people who captivate her. I first met Fumi Nagasaka last year, through mutual friends. She had shot my dear friend Jonas for Dazed Japan, and it seemed like all of her best friends were male models. Even though Fumi subject matter usually revolves around fashion, her shots are more compelling than traditional fashion photography because they all are very personal and intimate, rather than looking like a staged shoot. Her subjects may be pretty, but rather than showing the most glamourous side of them, she focuses on their humanity. Fumi, who is based in Williamsburg, but currently at work for the next few months in Tokyo, was kind enough to answer some of my questions on her work via email.

I always thought that I had a really amazing job, but then I met you and realized that you had an even better one. You get paid to travel the world and take pictures of beautiful men and amazing bands. I would love to switch with you for a day! How did you end up doing what you're doing?
It just happened by accident. I'd never expected my job will be like this at all. But I don't always get paid for travelling, I think only 3~4 times so far. I spend money from my pocket for travelling and taking pictures. I am not rich and don't get any parental support of course, so it is very hard to continue travelling to be honest, but I have to travel to get inspirations for my photography. I don't really go out and eat out and shop in New York, because I know if I save money I will be able to travel again.

A documentary shot from Fumi's series Children of Smaland, all shot in Smaland, Sweden. I love this picture because it features a boy wearing a jersey belonging to my husband's favorite football team, Djurgarden.

I notice that you did a whole series of shots based on the movie Christiane F., one of my favorite films. I'm so impressed by the results, and the fact that you gained access to the original apartment of one of the main characters. How far will you go to get a good shot? What has been the most difficult project you've worked on thus far?
The project of Christiane F was such a great experience in my life. I am obsessed with the movie and did so much research about the real story. I read a book on the true story which the movie was based on and asked my friends who were born and grew up in Berlin to get information. People who helped my shoot were my friends and loved the movie, so it was very easy to make everyone understand what I wanted to do. Everyone watched the movie when they were in school back in the days in Berlin. When I had an exhibition of this project in Berlin, everyone knew it was about Christiane F even though we didn't really mention the movie. It was really great.

I have to say that all my projects are very different, so I don't know which one I can choose as the most difficult shoot, but I can say every project I've done was very difficult. When I shoot documentary projects, I always want to make them very special, so I spend money and time. Nobody can make real documentary images for a week.

A documentary shot from Fumi's Banhoff Zoo series, which was based on the film, Christiane F., and all shot at actual locations from the book and the film.

Most of your models seem incredibly at ease in front of your camera. Is it because many of them are your friends? What do you find is the best way to capture your subjects?
For my documentary projects, I always shoot my friends because I'm always interested in them. I think how much we trust each other is very important. I want them to relax and show me the real side of them. I don't wanna make images look like I just casted. I always need reality.

A shot from Fumi's documentary series Boys Keep Swinging, featuring Christoffer Fagerli at the 66S home away from home, Happy Ending.

I know that you're also really passionate about music, and DJ on the side. In fact, it seems like your career is at a place where art, music, film, and fashion all collide. Do you ever feel like your work as an artist is compromised by your work in fashion? A 0r do you feel like you can merge all the different mediums comfortably?
Yes. I always want to be in between music and fashion. I don't wanna be in just the fashion industry and I am not really a music person either. I don't really buy designer clothes and hate to follow trends. I don't like talking about fashion (so boring!) but at the same time I have to know what's going on in the fashion world for my work. Almost all my friends work for something in fashion as well. I always wear my favourite bands T-shirts and that's my style and I think it's more special and represent who I am.

M.I.A. in Brooklyn

Every time I talk to you, you seem to be traveling between New York, Tokyo, Berlin, London, Stockholm. What city are you finding the most inspiring right now?
Definitely London because I love British music and history, and all my best friends are in London. But I love visiting Berlin, Stockholm and Reykjavik, too. I go to Norway as well.

A shot of my good friend Jonas Sundstrom (he DJ'd my wedding) that Fumi did for Dazed Japan.

In terms of chasing you dreams, you've been very successful so far. Do you have any suggestions for other people out there who also have high aspirations, on how to reach their goals?
I think I am not successful yet. I think I am just getting closer to my goal little by little, but it's gonna be long way to reach my goal, but I still believe in myself and I don't wanna give up until I make it. Of course I am always worried and scared but I just have to wait for now.
So, if I can give some advice to other people, I have to say never give up and believe themselves.

-Tiffany

Pretty Baby

Today at work, I had the pleasure of receiving an email (probably accidentally) from a spectacular fashion photographer by the name of Jonathan Leder. His semi-washed out, dreamy, and often highly erotic shots of primped and pouting Lolitas look straight out of the pages of Lula Magazine or The Virgin Suicides.  Often featuring up and coming models from agencies like Women and Major, the New York based photographer's work has appeared in magazine Nylon, Missbehave, and Sportswear International.  I thought I would share some of his beautiful images below.

Polaroid shots of up and coming Women model Natalia Chabanenko in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

Polaroid shot of Major model Natalia Khutkubia

Dei Auruskeviciute from Independent Models

Photographs from an editorial appearing in A4 Magazine next month.

-Tiffany