>>  Beautiful, beautiful use of a fisheye lens by Eugenio Recuenco. These pictures remind me of someone viewing these people through a telescope, or the circular windows of a ship.

>> I always love the Polaroid-like coloring Juergen Teller uses, but sometimes his actual shots just don't do it for me.  These, however, taken from his "Demoiselles de la nuit" edit for the April 2006 W, are fantastically creepy eerie.  The last one reminds me of a glamorized version of the three witches from Macbeth.   

>> I know this picture has been around for a few days now, but I didn't realize the guy was Marc's boyfriend.  Yep, that's right.  Marc's boyfriend Jason Preston got the designer's company logo tattooed along the length of his forearm.  I guess maybe he likes to be seen as a commodity? -- Preston used to work as a $225-per-hour escort.

>>  Most artists use paper, cloth, even walls as their canvas.  But Jordan Mattos, he uses t-shirts.  A native New Yorker, Jordan (left) started drawing on t-shirts with permanent marker a few years back. "I got the idea after seeing the Fassbinder film series at the Film Forum in 2003," Jordan, a NYU film school graduate, said.  "It was a turning point in my life.  I became obsessed with him and based my first shirt on Fear Eats the Soul." 

Since that first shirt, Jordan has been asked to do shirts on anything from the obscure:  "Somebody asked me to do a t-shirt of Asha Bosle and I didn't know who she was.  So I researched her and found that she's this famous Indian singer," to shirts on films that he knows well: "I did a shirt for my friend Asher.  He requested a 'Sorrow and the Pity' shirt, which is a four hour documentary on France's collaboration with Nazi Germany.  Basically, I did Hitler and the armed forces below him -- lots of swastikas.  Asher's Jewish but loves it anyway, though he can very rarely wear it out of course.  Same thing with Chloe Sevigny -- I did a Fassbinder shirt for her, but the whole Nazi regime thing really makes wearing something out like that risky."  When asked about how people might react to the swastikas and Nazi imagery he puts on his film-inspired shirts, Jordan calmly replies, "Am I worried about the images? There's an old saying...'If you want to send a message, go to Western Union!' The films are more complicated than a single image can supply.  What I'm doing is implying the message -- giving a hint, a symbolic representation.  But it's up to you to take that journey into the depth of the film, if your curiosity has been piqued!"

All of Jordan's shirts are covered with a collage of images -- evidence of how much time and effort he puts into each piece.  "Each of my shirts are hand-drawn -- I don't silkscreen.  Basically, what I'm selling are my illustrations, because I don't construct the shirt, I just use it as a canvas," Jordan explains. "Each is original.  I package them in a clear box so the shirt can be hung on a wall like artwork, or it can be worn."  He takes orders through his website -- his custom order t-shirts run about $150.  If you're concerned about the staying power of permanent marker on t-shirts, Jordan is ready with a solution: "Yes, it's true -- the permanent marker doesn't last very long before it begins to fade, especially if it's washed normally.  These are dry-clean only.  A lot of people really love the faded look as well, so they've been purposely washing them for that effect."  Still not convinced?  Lucky for you, Jordan did a Joan of Arc design (above, right) -- "I'm a big Joan of Arc obsessee" -- that the New York Art Collective silkscreened onto shirts, which sell for $45.   

So what does Jordan have planned next?  "I'm going to continue doing commission pieces, but what I'm working on now is a small collection of about 10-15 pieces.  They're based on my favorite filmmakers, artists, books, philosophers."  In parting, he was gracious enough to give a hint at sources of inspiration for the pieces we have to look forward to:   

Music
Kate Bush
The Incredible String Band
Amon Duul II

Books
Camille Paglia's Sexual Personae
Hakim Bey's T.A.Z. (Temporary Autonomous Zone)

Films
Fassbinder's 'Niklashausen Journey'
Derek Jarman's 'Caravaggio'
Michael Haneke's 'The Seventh Continent'

Just one more thing -- you lucky dogs in New York can check out Jordan's creations in person -- he has shirts available at Opening Ceremony and the New Museum of Contemporary Art Bookstore, so be sure to stop by.

**source: papermag

>> I have been on the lookout for a good peeptoe flat ever since I saw the ones Christian Louboutin did for Derek Lam.  Nine West has graciously provided us with an option ($75) -- or many, I should say, since the Rebekah comes in black patent, red patent, white patent, tan leather, and a couple of colors of satin.  My personal favorite is the lipstick red version, because I can combine two things I've been looking for -- red shoes and peeptoe flats -- into one.

(There's no direct link to the shoe, so just go to ninewest.com and search "Rebekah.")

>>  First Jil Sander, now Helmut Lang -- looks like Prada's plans of taking over the world aren't happening quite as soon as we thought.  Prada announced yesterday that it agreed to sell Helmut Lang to a Japanese company.  Unfortunately, it looks like designer and namesake for the company Helmut Lang won't be returning -- fingers are pointing to Cloak designer Alexandre Plohkov to take up the job as creative director.   

>> For a man who has made a career out of fashion -- snapping ads for Marc Jacobs, shooting editorials -- Juergen Teller sure has an interesting view on the fashion world.  Kate Moss in particular:

I am astonished about the Kate Moss story, and not just the recent drugs affair. I'm astonished about the Kate Moss story, full stop. I don't quite understand it. I have known her personally very well, for about 16 years, since she was 15. She is an extraordinary woman, so much fun and so energetic. But to get to be such an icon, to have exploded like a rocket - I don't really get it. She is beautiful, but so are many others.  I don't think she looks any good in any photos of the past five years. In fact, she looks crap in all of her recent huge advertising campaigns. Chanel, Burberry, Rimmel. She looks awful. It's as if it's enough just for her to look something like Kate Moss. It's a dreadful life for her, to live in this position. And cocaine? What a surprise that was.

I have to agree with him on the wealth of disappointing Kate photos lately -- the Cavalli ads, the Marilyn Monroe editorial for W... all yuck.  In any case, if you happen to be in Paris, there's an exhibit on Mr. Teller's work at the Fondation Cartier from March 4 - May 21.

>> I dug up some old Chanel ads from the early nineties -- they are awesome.  I mean that, in a they're-ridiculous-and-I-laughed-out-loud kind of way.  First off, the famous French commercial for the men's fragrance Egoiste. 

The sequel to the Egoiste commercial:

And finally, Vanessa Paradis, the bird, for Coco Chanel: