Pantomania!

Here it comes! Another Pantone-ized object! Seen on The TrendyGirl, this Pantone Nail Polish line really makes sense as it describes perfectly the content. Contrary to the others which use Pantone more to bring a friendly design reference. They're all starting to have a 'déjà-vu' taste but still I love them all ^^ (colors, colors, give me more colooors!)

Pantone Nail Polish, by the design Student Renata Veiga, Sao Paulo

Pantime is a student project by James Beattie of Bedford College, UK

Rubitone, a design project as a wink more than for commercialization, by designer Ignacio Pilotto

The now famous Pentone mugs, produced exclusively in Europe by the company W2 Products

5 "Panettone", traditional Italian cakes, sent last year as christmas gifts to promote Greenford Printing, designed by the agency Purpose

Gap's new Pantone T-shirts at the New York Gap pop-up shop

Holidayyys pretty soon! Don't know when I'll be back!

Gary Hustwit's documentaries

Seen with our class, 2 really interesting documentaries from Gary Hustwit which you have to watch if you're interested in design and graphic design! -Trailers just below-

Objectified, from director Gary Hustwit (Spring 2009), is about industrial design, and the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets. It's about the people who re-examine, re-evaluate and re-invent our manufactured environment on a daily basis. It's about our relationship to mass-produced objects and, by extension, the people who design them.

Helvetica, released first (March 2007), is a feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface, which celebrated its 50th birthday in 2007, as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. ( Too bad I don't have it as a choice in my font list here..)

http://www.helveticafilm.com/
http://www.objectifiedfilm.com/

798 Art District

If you ever go to Beijing (true, it doesnt happen everyday, but in case..), don't miss the 798 Art District. It's discretly mentionned in guidebooks ( the Forbidden City, the Great Wall are some serious competitors) but it's worth seing, and the place is huge!

As "modestly" described on the website: "It became a "Soho-esque" area of international character, replete with "loft living," attracting attention from all around. Bringing together contemporary art, architecture, and culture with a historically interesting location and an urban lifestyle, "798" has evolved into a cultural concept."

In a communist China, I was sceptical before going there about how "open-minded" it would be, but it seemed pretty free to me. naive?..

Here's some shots, sadly, I rarely have the name of the artist..yes, that's pretty lame..

Song Yang "Oh yeah"

Cooool, huh?

A bored bride taking pictures at her own weeding photo shooting...

http://www.798space.com/subpage_en.asp?classid=17

Solar music

Alright, one more post before bed:

Some music to chill and make sweet dreams: Fenech Soler - The Cult of Romance (Alan Braxe remix)

'Lies' is also a really good one, but it's more a morning song because then you have to shake your head, and it wakes you up.. And clearly, at 3:30am, it's oviously too late, or to early to wake up..

http://www.myspace.com/fenechsoler

Btw, thanks to Alex for letting me know that band, pretty indirectly because it was with a facebook comment, not at all concerning me (what would I be without fbk...). If you need good music, just ask Alex.K.

Watch me!

I love watches.

I often joke about it saying it's because of my Asian origins (dont know if i have any but i feel like it ^^) The total budget of advertisement for watches in HK must be pretty close to the French GDP.. So there must be something about watches. Is it because it symbolizes Time, that precious commodity giving rythm and meaning to our life?

The thing is that I have recently experienced something with my watch that has given me some serious keys for a theory about it...

I have a watch from my favorite fashion designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac (give me colors, give me craziness and I'm happy). There it is: my Pop Hours!

And each time I am wearing it, people notice it and make a comment about it, mostly "I like your watch!". And that's how I realized: watches are always noticed. They are part of the few things that clearly define us to the rest of the world. It is like a super facebook profile picture we wear all the time on us: this is who i am, and on a higher level: this is how i want you to see me.

Imagine someone naked, wearing his/her watch. (I am not putting any picture to illustrate that, I am sure you all have it coming to mind).

Every other accessory or piece of clothes would never be enough on its own to let you guess the style of the person, his social status, his tastes. It depends on how they are associated to create a style.

And now, think of the watch. It's all there. The brand tells you how much money was put into that watch. If it's expensive, the style let you know if its for showing-off or real bourgeoisy. The classic ones are for serious people, who like sober style, and you can easily guess if it's linked to good-taste or i-dont'care-about-style-taste . The crazy watches are for provocative people. "I am big, I am colorful, you will for sure notice me" is what the watch is telling to the whole world. Of course, it means you control your style and you're proud of it enough to have the watch matching it. I could go on forever to cover all the posibilities.

This is my theory: your watch is YOU. That's why it is so important. You have a synthesis of your identity just there, at your wristle, and everyone sees it, they know you in the blink of an eye.

I am strongly interested if you also have theories about watches.
Enough with the boring, let's talk about JC de Castelbajac! With images.

The Lego Collection

Pirates! Parrots! And Paradise! Paris Fashion week (photo:AFP)

You love pop, you just have to love JCDC!

http://www.jc-de-castelbajac.com/

Hmm, in fact I can't resist to tell where I've got that watch... This my best moment of inglorious glory...

The few lucky (or should i say unlucky) who have seen this picture without the 'outch', could tell you...before I decide to kill them because they know too much.

How great is that: a fashion show is The place to look glamorous, sexy, perfect, and I just look like an ass.. haha, this is so ironic..

It was at the launching party in Paris last September of the first JC/DC collection 'Punkahontas and the the ducks". JC/DC being his new ready-to-wear brand, at a more accessible price for a younger generation.

Yep baby!

ps: sorry for my horrible French English, i'm trying my best... some day i'll be fluent..(plzzz, someone hire me for an internship in London/NY, plzz!)

ps2: why is my heading picture so blurrryyyyy?!!

Christmas frost

I was checking Garance Doré's blog (Thanks Mathilde :p) and I've then followed a link to Cedric Bihr's webpage to discover his photographs. Internet is magic.

I've chosen a few of them to show you. Don't know if it's because christmas is coming - Nantes has lit its christmas decorations this week-end *6-yrs-old-style yeeaah*- but the following ones have echoed in the sweet melancholy winter gives me...

Christmas frost

http://www.garancedore.fr/2009/11/05/where-the-heart-is/

http://www.cedricbihr.com/

Best wishes from HK

So I've spent 5months in HK and I thought I could share with you some shoots I like.

I was kinda disappointed to realize that I have so little photographs about beautiful HK whilst so many about my (also beautiful) friends.

Hmm..let's say that it gives me one more good reason to go back there some day :)

10.000 Bouddhas Temple

Man Mo Temple

...

Andrea Crews

"Fashion, Art, Activism"

Andrea Crews is a collective led by Maroussia Rebecq, resourceful plastic artist, who performs between art and fashion by federating stylists, illustrators, musicians, video directors and performers.

The fashion concept? Andrea Crews creates clothes and accessories, reinterpreting second-hand clothes, or classics of other brands, by getting back stocks and by cutting in the falls. For a second-hand stores lover like me, I can only approve. Andrea Crews also prints basics in association with associated artists, and can create for famous brands such as the reinterpretation of the Lacoste's crocodile.

You can find Andrea Crews' creations in a trendy studio/shop 10, rue Frochot, Paris-9ème or at Colette (where else?). Take me to Paris! Well, you can also find creations in shops from Miami to Hong Kong (and I only know it now...)

Of course, music loves Andrea Crews, ask Yelle, The Do, Santigold or Metronomy. When pop meets ultra-pop!

The jogging collection 2010

Fresco Palais de Tokyo, 2002

http://www.andreacrews.com/

Fibre[s] Design

For everyone in Nantes (therefore in French..):

Si vous aimez le design, l'expo Fibre[s] Design proposée par la région (programme Design In) et le VIA (Valorisation de l’Innovation dans l’Ameublement) présente des créations en fibres 100% naturelles, du 27 novembre au 3 janvier à l’École d’architecture de Nantes.

"Fibre[s] Design a pour ambition de montrer que les techniques traditionnelles, tout comme les process de fabrication les plus innovants, permettent, grâce à l’ingéniosité des designers, d’utiliser des matériaux 100% naturels pour donner naissance à des objets de notre quotidien, à la fois très contemporains et respectueux de l’environnement. Car le propos, ici sous-tendu, est qu’il est possible, et aujourd’hui nécessaire, de produire à l’échelle industrielle tout en préservant la planète."

http://www.via.fr/fr/evenements-fibres-design.asp#top

I'm too sexy for this blog

Because Music can also be so kitsch!

This is too good to be true:

Never-ending halloween with Tim

Ohh Tim.. You sure know how to turn into images the delightful poetry of our nightmares...
I will talk about his movies some day because i wanna post an article about the best movies i've seen in my childhood and also because he is my favorite director.

But for now, let's see what's the link between fashion and T.Burton. Seen on the Harper's Bazaar's website: "Tim Burton's Magical Fashion". Tim Burton reimagines the season's dark delights. Photographs by Tim Walker

http://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/fashion-articles/tim-burton-halloween-fashion-1009

For all the lucky bastards passing by NY, Tim Burton is exhibited at the MoMA: November 22, 2009–April 26, 2010. The exhibition explores the full range of his creative work, tracing the current of his visual imagination from early childhood drawings through his mature work in film. Here you can see T.Burton's spot (as always, music by Danny Elfman):

And, as im sure you all already know, let's get prepared for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderwall... Coming out 7th April 2010 in France.

Hope you had your fill of Tim Burton for the day! :)

Pimp my cuckoo!

I've always wanted to have a colorful cuckoo clock because I love kitsch, and I love colors. Cuckoo clocks are just seating next to the King in the Kitsch Kingdom (on the other side, you'll find the garden gnome)

Well, I guess someone heard my prayers because I've found an homeless broken one in the street some blessed day this summer in Paris. We've instantly fallen in love and I've brought it home to take good care of it and give it the colors it needed. It used to be dull and predictable wood brown.

Here you can see my happy flatmate:

Happy flatmate posing in the forest.

To anyone out there with a good network, I am now looking for a fellow garden gnome and porcelain dog to join the family...