r.i.p. amy winehouse

...Ms. Sid Winehouse...

Punk Is Dead Again. She did say she did not want to go to rehab, no, no, no...

Amy Winehouse Style.
Punk Is Not Dead.

karlheinz weinberger does rockabilly

Karlheinz Weinberger, Zurich am Limmatquai, 1962. Courtesy the Estate of Karlheinz Weinberger.

I ring in NY Fashion Week Rockabilly style with this promising exhibit of photographer Karlheinz Weinberger "Intimate Stranger" at the Swiss Institute!

Karlheinz Weinberger, Lone Star Camp, Gossau ZH 1967. Courtesy the Estate of Karlheinz Weinberger.

paris in new york, february 2010

Malcolm McLaren says good art is banal. He named his new movie "Paris City Of The XXI Century", not because it is the city of the 21st century, but so that people have a reason to go to see it now. The feature length film is basically a repeatedly (sometimes annoying and also amusing) repetitive edit of old - I am talking about 1920's, 1950's and 60's up to I believe he said 1985 - French commercials, underlined with music mostly from his album Paris from 1994.

Photo stills by Carl Posey of "Paris, City Of The XXI Century", by Malcolm McLaren, the US Premier at The Swiss Insitute in NYC.

I thought the mix of visuals and sounds were extraordinary and it felt like the video that could have easily accompanied his 1994 compilation.

Photo stills by Carl Posey of "Paris, City Of The XXI Century", by Malcolm McLaren.

But I am not here to critique the movie, as I had way too many of these addictive St. Germain cocktails to recall more than a few striking visuals.



I am suspecting that it was meant to be like that. Malcolm wanted everybody, except himself (sipping from a bottle of Poland Spring all night) to be toasted and watch his stylish retro movie.



The crowd, not surprisingly a pretty stylish crowd (it's Fashion Week in New York), mixed in with now older 80's punks or Generation Xer's.

I think I remember Malcolm mentioning banality in context with the Sex Pistols as well. He loves the color grey in fashion. Grey pants, grey sweater even grey socks. And he loves to talk and listen to someone talking about him, but who doesn't like that? It's like butter on ones soul.




I sported a Malcolm & Me badge (a laminated photo of me and Malcom hanging out at the after party of Pipilotti Rist's "Pour Your body Out" opening at MoMA). Once I entered the Swiss Insitute's locale on Broadway I went to say 'Hi" to Malcolm and gave him a copy of the badge.

Me holding up my Malcolm & me badge.

The idea of the badge displays my conceptual and commercial interpretation of art in connection with my Fashion Rocks clothing collection.



I adore Malcolm's image as the cruel manager of the ultimate punk gods and former business partner of Vivienne Westwood.

And I guess I appreciate that he can nowadays - in the post punk era - make sure punk ware is not sold as original if it isn't indeed the real thing. Read "Damien Hirst Got Punk'd" the embarrassing story of Mr. Hirst who bought - for an incredible high number of a quarter of a million dollars or something - what he believed were original punk items on Ebay which Malcolm later declared all fakes.

I also love to see him here in NYC and he can make more music if it were up to me!

My Malcolm & Me give away/promo cards.

Merci, au revoir et à bientôt!

the (real) day of the lords: joy division

I am a big fan of Joy Division as you know and incredibly thrilled to post these newly published images by the man who consistently photographed the band: Kevin Cummins. His private press book "Juvenes" (published by To Hell With Publishing in a limited edition of 200 - naturally completely sold out within 2 days for 200 British Pounds a pop) pushes Anton Corbijn's (Control) vision back into the arch shadows.

There are many versions of events, but then there are indisputable facts. Kevin Cummins took pictures of Joy Division from their inception as Warsaw right through until their sudden tragic demise. He lived in Manchester around the band and knew them all intimately as friends. This is not the case with the photographer Anton Corbijn, director of last year’s high-profile movie “Control”, who only actually photographed the band a couple of times. And while Corbijn’s great Joy Division imagery will always stand the test of time (that awful “Atmosphere” video apart), the photos of Kevin Cummins reveal many more sides to Ian Curtis, Bernard Albrecht, Steven Morris and Peter Hook.


Among the pictures included were these of Joy Division at the fabled Art And Furniture store on Manchester’s Chapel Walks. Here we get the chance to imagine Curtis, the JG Ballard obsessive, and band mates as if time warped to a Nineties private members club. “That place was so ahead of its time,” concurs Kevin Cummins. “The guy who owned the shop was Jonathan Silver, a contemporary of David Hockney. He had some great art in that place. I bought a framed Allen Jones screen print off him that day actually. Ian Curtis had bought his wedding suit from Jonathan’s clothes shop. His were the only places in Manc to get decent stuff and it made a great, very unrock-‘n’roll, location."

Such alternative angles on the hackneyed Joy Division myth are further revealed with the timely release of the film Joy Division, scripted by Jon Savage and directed by Grant Gee. At a talk following the first screening, Joy Division’s sleeve designer Peter Saville tactfully avoided panning 2007's Control. Offstage he’s less circumspect. “Yes, that film was not very good. It’s great there’s another better film that’s been made already.”

I just can't get enough of Joy Division!!

how to dress like a rock star?

"So tell me what's the ultimate rock star look?" people ask me expecting that I should have the answer, being the designer of that clothing line called "Fashion Rocks". On Google, the search term "How to dress like a rock star?" is very high on my list.

I am not a rock star myself. I put my rock idols on clothing because I think they deserve better than an old frumpy T-shirt and frankly, who said that a print of a rock star should be on t-shirts only? Why not an evening gown or a pair of pants and while we're at it on a skirt too? But anyway, I feel like I should have an answer to that question of what makes a star rock after all.

We are not rock stars and really don't now what it takes to be on tour all the time and rock out on stage at night, so it's a bit of a challenge to keep up that genuine look of rock star, I understand. So I've come up with a short list that should make it easy to meet that sort of challenge and if you just have at least 2-3 of these items handy, you're sure to have a rock vibe going:

• 1. THE SKINNY JEANS. Unless you are going for the hippie rock star look, the jeans must be the skinny type. Leggings will do. Also: nothing is worse than a fat rock star. Go on a diet, for crying out loud!

• 2. THE STUDDED BRACELET or anything studded. An easy way to say: rock 'n' roll.

• 3. DOC MARTENS BOOTS. It's the boot to have. Nothing rocks & kicks butt more. The Converse sneaker can be used during Summer instead.

• 4. EMBROIDERED ROCK PATCHES, frankly if your wardrobe is too clean it does not come across well here, so you need to spice things up a bit. The best way to do that is to add some patches to your jacket or pants, you gain instant rock cred.

• 5. MOTORCYCLE LEATHER JACKET. Yeap, it's true - without this rock essential your look just won't come together. If you must trade the leather, opt for denim. The Ramones proof this every day.

• 6. TOP HAT. No clue why this item rocks but it does. Put it on and see yourself transforming from a gray mouse existence to the glamorous VIP appearance. If you can't get your hands on one, go with a Fedora, that'll do.

• 7. PRINTED ROCK ICON T-SHIRT OR SKIRT. Try to hang on to a true rock star, that is a sure way to gain recognition for your look, don't be shy!
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• 8. THE HAIR. Although not a clothing piece, an essential. Must be long & full or short & spiky. It must be messy or else you won't qualify - no way! And don't forget to put on some shades...

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• 9. RUFFLED SHIRT OR BOW TIE SHIRT. This type of shirt reminds everybody of Jimi Hendrix or Prince and is sure to add rock star flavor, especially on a man.

• 10. SOMETHING GLITTERY. That can be make-up (together with a nice dark eye) or a sparkling fabric. Always remember: sparkle is glam.

Alright then, you are ready to go out and be a star! A rock star that is.