Fader

It's going to take us long time and many foot massages to forgive Kanye for making us wait nearly three hours last night for his performance at G-Shock's 25th anniversary party. By the time he'd parked the helicopter (for real), taken his seat in the pod-chair and surrounded himself with a troop of bare-chested fembots, the whole thing had drifted into one long and extremely weird Dionysian hallucination. Between the boobs, the lazer show and the armchair raps it's even difficult to tell whether the man on stage was actually Kanye West and not some weird anti-ye hologram or maybe a mis-programmed android here to destroy the planet. Thankfully by the second verse of "Flashing Lights" all was forgiven, the universe was saved, we were on planet Kanye drinking kryptonite cocktails and everything was going to be OK. more...

FADER 54 is an Aaliyahxtravaganza, as the world's beloved Baby Girl graced the cover of our fourth annual ICON issue. We made this issue with as much care and tenderness as we ever have and, accordingly, soon we will post an exclusive mix by DJ Caps to celebrate the very special Ms. Haughton. But! As ever, we also delved into the sparkling waters of newness: we explored Britain's burgeoning bassline scene, trampled Swedish snowcaps with soon-to-be-superstar Lykke Li, and linked up with woozy Tropicalian El Guincho on Barcelona time. We also went deep with dervishy princess Sahra Motalebi, clowned everyone with Chip tha Ripper, ate crepes with Jeremy Jay, and lost our minds just the way we like to with The War on Drugs. Get the essence of all these folks—and approximately 42,000 other heater-makers--on our Issue 54 download, which is totally totally freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee (that was a symbol of how free: totally free).

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It was hailing in Olympia when we rang Jeremy Jay at K Records, where he is mixing his new album, a fitting atmosphere for his moody French new wave songs about Chinese dragons and dreaming. An avid Francoise Hardy fan, we chatted with Jeremy about his personal style, dancing and his amazing mirror/prism belt in Texas. Read the interview after the jump. more...

What's happened to supermodels? Like we still watch "Freedom '90" all the time because Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington drink each other's blood in it. And the last time we saw Linda shopping in Soho she had no make-up on and looked fly as hell. Meanwhile, Agyness fell down at Hugs once and nobody put their beer down. We are down for fashion and music co-mingling but it needs to be highfalutin, inspired by coke mania and involve some sort of Eyes Wide Shut vampire shit or it's just some people sitting in a decent apartment.

We don't often make overtures like this, but we have been on Lacoste creative director Christophe Lemaire's website for the last three hours obsessing over his new S/S 2008 collection, reading his bio, Google image searching, pasting ourselves into photos of him, wishing we could live on a website, thinking about him a lot, and we want to put it out there that we are fortunately in search of a new friend. Lemaire, hit us up. And don't worry dudes, if anyone comes up behind you and wonders why you've been looking at a French fashion site half the day, just tell them that you are listening to Lemaire's flawless audio player which includes wisely chosen jams from Ariel Pink, Arthur Russell, Bo Diddley, J Dilla, The Flamingos and more.

The latest chapter in the Swedes-takeover-NY story went down late last week when Dunderon opened their new store on Howard street. We knew the Swedish were coming (Acne Studio just opened in SoHo a few blocks west), but we didn't know that they would be bringing jams (a live performance by Endless Boogie) or a cluster of stylee folk. Among are favorite adornments of the night were feathers (braided into hair or worn in hats), floor-sweeping embroidered dresses and acid wash skirts.

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If you were to make a list of all the Ultimate Jams included in Issue 53 of the FADER (the real Issue 53), you'd have enough great songs to hold you over forever, or until the next issue of The FADER. We talked to Italians Do It Better flagship group Glass Candy in Portland, went to Baton Rouge to hang with Lil Boosie, drank beers in Vancouver with Ladyhawk, and hung in Brooklyn with the new guard of DFA, trancehall genius Ricky Blaze, and the dream poppers known as Telepathe. We also hit up star-in-the-making Estelle and next big thing Demarco to find out what they were up to. If that wasn't enough, we also talked to a billion more dudes and dudettes who are making some of the most exciting music around. Check out all that stuff and a bunch more now for zero dollars (free!) below.

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We could go in depth about all the cool surprises happening at I Heart in NYC tonight but its April Fools and we'd rather keep you in the grey. What we will tell you is at 4pm clothing brand WOWCH is having a "Going Out of Business Sale" and they will be selling T-shirts, hoodies and totes for cheap. Also, something about Tie-Dye and free Mimosas. Did you hear that? TIE DYE AND MIMOSAS! Just making sure you didn't seizure from awesomeness. If you did, don't swallow your tongue. more...

The recent Converse/(RED) collaboration campaign, 1HUND(RED), enlisted 100 artists from around the world to sketch, print, cut and sew Converse shoes in which ever way inspired their effort to highlight the battle against AIDS. We previewed the collection last night at Openhouse Gallery and spotted designs by the likes of streetwear guru Hiroshi Fujiwara and avant garde-ist fashion designer Carlos Diez Diez. In addition to getting our visual think on, we bent our ears for a DJ set by Thurston Moore and Simian Mobile Disco. With so many heavy hitters in the room it seemed just as natural that the style would be of a fine quality (a nice vintage Chandon Dom Perignon as opposed to the usual Sparks mustache we’ve been sporting in our winter coats?) So, we’ll be stepping up our game now that spring is on its way and what better way to get inspired than a chance meeting with the couture grunge queen, Kim Gordon. Other favorite looks include a feathered pillbox hat, a cross colored striped gentlemen, and an overall-clad painter. I’m sorry, did someone just say, “Let’s get weird?” more...

We never really know when it's going to show up, but every time it does we all huddle around and marvel at the latest issue of FADER Japan—the mag that is quickly inching away from ours and into its own territory. This issue, the cover is really thick and there is some weird Ninja Tune 10th anniversary feature. We think it's about downtempo. Do you, FADER Japan! In addition to that there's an entirely original Gen F section and mostly all new features. If you can find it and read it, we recommend it.

We gushed/celebrated capes and their crusaders (Joaquin Phonenix in The Village to be precise) at the very beginning of fall, when capes could still be paired with bare legs. And then out of nowhere this awesome piece of outerwear surfaced on the street last week. Just goes to show that walking talking examples of the fashion dreams that exist in our minds can actually come true. more...

When we caught the 2006 Whitney Biennial we zoned out to dark video installations featuring Japanther, stared into Buckets from Jonestown strapped to giant wooden carts and ogled at partially demolished walls surrounding giant rotating candle holders that were dripping wax. It was awesome (duh), we brought our moms (seriously), and we’ve been counting down the days til this year’s edition, which officially opened yesterday. Featuring 81 artists, the biennial actually extends beyond the museum’s walls and into the Park Avenue Armory, where F44 cover stars Gang Gang Dance will be playing on Sunday evening. New York Magazine says the whole thing has a “neo-hippie outlook”—referring to numerous collaborations and communal atmosphere—which we’re into so you’ll see us there trying to explain to mom (again) why this is important.

For the past year or so, the women of Worship Worthy have been clearing out a corner of the streetwear blogosphere, creating a site that is entirely by-the-ladies-for-the-ladies. Operating under the pseudonyms Saint Agnes, Mary Madaglene and Santa Maria, the trinity is comprised of two fashion designers (Jennifer Wannarachue and Gabriela Lardizabal) and marketing exec Grace Santa Maria. Between them they transmit pearls of sartorial wisdom over the internet—as well as art tidbits and event news—via what’s commonly known as the “Daily Bread.” Undoubtedly the centerpiece of it all is the “Hail Mary” list, a roll call of accomplished New York ladies handpicked by the committee of three. Down at their Williamsburg offices, Saint Agnes and Mary Madaglene gave the good word. Read the interview after the jump. more...

For the 52nd issue of The FADER we flexed our journalistic muscles to find out what was happening with music in Africa right now—from Ghanaian hiplife to the South African Kwaito scene, to our cover features on Malawian singer/Radioclit protégé/current East London resident Esau Mwamwaya, and BLK JKS, a South African dub-metal-ska-everything quartet that we should all probably keep our eyes on in 2008. In addition, we have more of what you'd expect from the FADER, including profiles on underwater drum circle jammers High Places and a glimpse at bassline mega star in the making T2, among like a million other real exciting styles and musics and GOOD LOOKS.

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Like a triangular pod of stylish goodness, the new Yohji Yamamoto store landed on earth (the Meatpacking District) earlier this week. It's been almost 20 years since the flagship store in SoHo opened its doors, so we figured Yohji would have something special up his sleeve—namely a two hit combo—the first ever Y-3 store in New York right across the street. The twin-openings just happened to land smack bang in the middle of fashion week, and what with the inter-store traffic might just have been the largest congregation of effortlessly well-dressed folk we've seen all week. Naturally, the keynote was black, right down to a Chicago Blackhawk Jersey we spotted on one partygoer. Check the full-size images after the jump. more...

In 2001 we were introduced to a mulleted Jeremy Scott sporting an over-sized sports patch coat, the kind that became so notoriously popular on the streets not more than a year later. At the time, if we remember correctly, he was doing designs for Bjork during her Vespertine tour (adhering to that stranger-than-fiction style she exudes), so it came as no surprise that seven years later we find him with another oddball fashionista draped over his shoulder—for those of you who can’t tag that profile, those are MIA’s pouty red lips. Just before slipping out of the club, Jeremy and MIA paused to pose, giving us just enough time to snap a pic of him in his Cross Colours-inspired Africa print puff coat.

The Capsule show went down last week, a treasure chest of menswear goodness where fashion tradeshows are concerned (some of our favorite brands that rep'd this year include Public School, Pegleg, Harmon and Won Hundred) and a good place to spot designers on-duty peddling their wears. Besides the future Fall 08 clothes on the racks, there was plenty of right-now snappy Spring 08 dressers to be spotted, including Raul from Hood By Air in vintage Troop and Harry from PegLeg in his signature stripes. More pics after the jump.
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Last week the kick off for Trovata’s ‘shop in shop’ took place at the crafty denim store Earnest Sewn and we swung by to see what the fuss was all about. Trovata’s quirky Emersonian installation brought to mind the sweetly sour smell of old books and the damp earthy tang of the country, maybe two things that you wouldn’t necessarily associate with fashion, but the Los Angeles line reflects just this bookish, naturalist aesthetic in it’s artsy, nautical clothing. We drank champagne and lounged in wooden lodge chairs like a bunch of elderly professors, periodically pinching a few peeps out of the stylee crowd to snap some smart pics. A few favorites being a handsomely bun-ed gentleman in a wool cozy and a young Joan Baez look a like in pastel stripes. Check them after the jump. more...

Once again, The FADER and its extended family present our version of the Best of the Year list type things, none of which have anything to do with anything that will help Mom and Dad buy you something cool. Sorry! Click more for the real talk. more...