Kulte

This ad campaign for French brand Kulte may be one of the best fashion campaigns I’ve seen in a while.

The series has a photo-diaristic style at first glance, but there’s an added layer of voyeurism conveyed by the sense that the subject is unaware he’s being followed, and it is highly intriguing. My brain: “Why is this handsome man being followed around? Who is having him followed and why? A jealous wife? Is he a double agent?” So I might’ve taken that a step beyond what they intended. Or maybe not! Maybe they meant to send your imagination running wild trying to fill in the gaps!

Anyway… beyond that, the photos themselves are well-styled, classic, and really just gorgeous.

The photo above didn’t even make it into the campaign, I found it on the Kulte flickr account… too cinematic and staged-looking, not voyeuristic enough? I think that’s probably why, don’t you? But I thought it was wonderful enough that I had to share.

Check out the gallery for the whole “story,”…whatever it may be. (Fingers crossed for double agent.)

Shot by Jose Lamali.

The Most Typical Person

Is: 29 years old, a man, Han Chinese, earns less than $12k/yr, has a cell phone, and doesn’t have a bank account.

Above is a composite image of thousands of 29 year old Han Chinese men, resulting in an image of the world’s most typical human. There are 9 million 29yo Han Chinese men. Crazy, right?! 9 million!

Fascinating, right? In a special series, called 7 billion, National Geographic is going to spend a year exploring the demographics and trends in demographics of the human population and what the implications are.

With a rapidly growing population, that seems like pretty important stuff. And maybe a little scary. To me it seems like one of those things I feel like I should think about, but I might rather just remain blissfully ignorant. Like if I dig too deep I’m going to find out that we’re doomed to run out of food by 2030 or something.

But before you go into Malthusian-inspired hyperventilation, did you know that if all 7 billion of us stood shoulder-to-shoulder, we would all fit in Los Angeles? So it’s at least comforting to know that space is not an issue.

That’s according to the video above. Check it out for more intro information on this series and to find out how freaked out you really should (or shouldn’t) be.

Caleb Owen Everitt

Loving the masculine feel of these designs for masculine clients (a butcher shop, a men’s clothing store, a “gentleman’s race,” I wasn’t kidding!) by Caleb Owen Everitt.

Emerson’s Home… Again

Yes I know, I already featured the New Hampshire home of Emerson of EmersonMade and her adorable husband a while back, but there are new photos out, as featured in Boston Magazine Home, and I could. not. resist.

That kitchen! The beadboard ceiling and the wide-plank floors are what get me most.

I fell hard for this house the first time, and I might’ve just fallen even harder the second time. I’m so in love.

New to-do list: (1) start fabulous company doing something I love a la EmersonMade, (2) find husband who loves what I do and likes to be involved, a la Emerson’s husband, who takes the photos of her and models in photos for their ads/catalog, (2b) option to reverse (1) and (2) and find husband and then a start company together, (3) obtain wonderful country house for weekend getaways and restore it to perfection, obviously using lots of warm woods and white, (4) enjoy said job, marriage, house, and life. Et voila!

This pantry actually inspired my very own collection of pantry goods in glass jars on display when it was published the first time! Our cute 1920s kitchen has a built-in china cabinet, and I went to town on glass canisters. Only, I read that hers contain all kinds of healthy grains and whatnot, and mine are filled with baking supplies… haaa.

See the older post I did on them/their house/their life I covet here, with even more photos and information.

Via Elements of Style

All the Ladies Like Whiskers (and Abe’s ‘Before’ Picture)

Everyone needs a signature look, right? Especially if you’re famous. Cleopatra had the eyeliner, Twiggy had the ‘do, Iris Apfel had those huge glasses, etc.

Know who else nailed this concept? Abraham Lincoln. When you think Abe, you think beard. Probably height too, maybe hat, but definitely beard.

As it turns out, he owes his famous beard to the advice of a little girl that he received via letter (and responded to). Check out that before pic above! What if he had looked like that all along?

And I’ve gotta say, that little girl was right, the ladies do like whiskers. I love some good scruff, myself.

From Letters of Note.

”When Norman Bedell returned home from a political fair late-1860, poster of clean-shaven Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln in hand, his 11-year-old daughter quickly took it upon herself to assist the future U.S. President with his campaign. Her plan – simply for Lincoln to grow a beard – was quickly set in motion by way of the following letter, in which Grace urged him to “let your whiskers grow”; before long, Lincoln replied. They met in the coming months, as the newly-hirsute President-elect travelled victoriously to Washington, D.C. by train.

“He climbed down and sat down with me on the edge of the station platform,” she recalled. “‘Gracie,’ he said, ‘look at my whiskers. I have been growing them for you.’ Then he kissed me. I never saw him again.”

Here are the transcripts of their letters (actual copy shown above, hers on the left, his on the right):

Aren’t you going to think about that every time you see an image of him now?

And how awesome was that little girl? So opinionated, articulate, and sassy! If the actual letter didn’t still exist I wouldn’t even believe it because she’s such a skillful letter writer! I love her!

And I love that he not only wrote back, but also took her advice!

Right now I’m loving…

I’ve mentioned before that I’m pretty sure everything looks better when it’s in a collage, but I’ve looked at these pretty closely and I don’t think it’s simply the collage format that is causing me fall in love with these ensembles by Fleurette, a Norwegian style blogger.

Fleurette’s five outfits she created around a Balenciaga jacket (one above, more in the gallery), and really her whole style in general, are so fitting my fashion leanings right now.

Outfits where the basics are basic — simple, staple tops (tees, button-ups, sweaters) in either a solid or stripe, with a nice fit or drape (oxford cotton, silk, sheer jersey, etc) with jeans, trousers, or a skirt– and the emphasis is on a great jacket, shoes that set the tone, and accessories.

Very Emmanuelle Alt, no?? In fact, I happened to just come across this quote from her!

“Forget trendy designer labels. Jeans, a sweater or a t-shirt worn under a jacket that seems welded to you. When it’s just right, when you don’t see the effort, it’s irresistible.”

Emmanuelle has certainly embodied her own adivce, as that is exactly how I would describe her style!

Check out Dead Fleurette for more, she is very articulate and particular about what she does and doesn’t like if you want to hear more about her style!

Recently On Editor’s Chair

Two cases of cool.

On the left, Anita Pallenberg, Keith Richards, and Gram and Gretchen Parsons in Paris.

On the right, an old photo found by Lisa Ann Wilson via Miss Moss.

More on Editor’s Chair.

Up-Inspired Floating House

How is this for wonder?! On Saturday, National Geographic launched a 16×16′ house into flight, inspired by the Pixar movie Up, in what was the largest balloon cluster flight in history.

Launched from a private airfield outside LA at dawn, the creation was over 10 stories tall from top to bottom, reached an altitude of over 10,000 feet, and was in flight for over an hour.

A film of the event will air as part of a National Geographic series called “How Hard Can It Be” in fall 2011.

Is National Geographic getting their act together or what?! I have another post lined up for this week about another project of theirs! Who did they bring in? Suddenly they are doing tons of cool news-worthy stuff that is making them relevant again! Must do some investigating…

Tiny Street Art

I LOVE these street art installations of tiny people in tiny vignettes by Slinkachu!

Slinkachu, a 28 year old British guy, takes people and parts sold by model train companies, paints and customizes them, and then creates these miniature scenes around various European cities.

Unlike most street art, which calls attention to itself via size (remember JR’s mammoth photography installations) or vibrant colors splashed up on public property (like David Walker’s amazing graffiti portraits), Slinkachu’s work sits quietly, only to be discovered and enjoyed by the most observant of passersby.

And what a delight they would be if you did come across one! Can you imagine one of these tiny things catching your eye, and you get closer to see what it is, only to discover a complete, carefully constructed little tableau that mirrors a plausible real-world scene? It would absolutely make my day!

The video below shows the water park installation with the speakers Slinkachu planted beneath the grate to play sounds of water splashing and kids playing! So if you saw this one, in addition to finding the little scene, it would actually sound like there’s a secret water park going on in the sewer system!  It reminds me of some of the fun Amelie gets up to, making people question reality, even if just for a fraction of a second.

A fantastic example of injecting experiences of wonder into the world…

The Photography of Ditte Isager

I’ve spent the last few days slowly taking in the portfolio of Danish photographer Ditte Isager bit by bit whenever I needed a quick, visually-fulfilling break from work. You know when you need those? You just need to soak up something wonderful looking? Well, Isager’s portfolio did the trick.

In addition to interiors like the ones above, she also shoots portraits, still life-esque assemblages, really anything… for Anthropologie, Vogue, Banana Republic… but what her various projects tend to have in common is this surreal moody light and atmosphere to them.

Similar to the amazing food photography by Katie Davies, her images often seem to have a Rembrandt-esque effect where the subjects seem to be just barely emerging from the shadows, and yet where they are lit, they are perfectly lit.