Rihanna is a restless sleeper, is partial to rotary phones, and packs lightly in a video for Emporio Armani Underwear and Armani Jeans. In the black-and-white video, there’s a rotary phone off the hook and Rihanna is tossing and turning in bed. She hangs up the phone, continues to toss and turn, looks at a Polaroid of a bathroom sink and mirror, turns up the steam and finds a note on the mirror: airport 6:00. Rihanna puts on a pair of jeans, a jacket, but no shirt, and leaves for the airport. Or does she? The video ends and she’s still in bed.
directed by Jordan Scott of RSA and edited by Cut + Run’s Dayn Williams.
There is no secret, GQ loves Drake. GQ managed to grab him for their latest issue… again. Sporting a slim ‘n’ dapper suit and striking a few famous GQ poises, Drizzy ditches his jeans and hoodies for this fashion inspired feature.
Drake also shares the spotlight with actors/directors Dave Franco and John Slattery for the April 2012 issue. The issue is set to hit newsstands on March 20 featuring the ‘Style Bible’ installment. During the interview, Drake talks about the hip hop culture, the effects his music has had on his life and finding ways to deal with fame.
On rap music today… “Rap now is just being young and fly and having your shit together. The mood of rap has changed.”
Dealing with fame and finding inspiration… “When I was in my mom’s house, I had nowhere to go, no real obligations. My girlfriend at the time, if she was mad at me, my day was all fucked-up. I didn’t have anything else. And that made for some of the best music, I think, to date. Records where I felt small. That feeling is hard to capture when you’re sitting out here in a space like this.” [gestures to the pool, the tennis court, the volleyball court, the stables] “It’s really difficult for me to find something that makes me feel small.”
On past promiscuity… “There’s just a time where it was like, just getting p$%^&. Where I was in that sort of ‘I’m young, I’m going to disconnect from my emotions and just do what everyone else tells me I should do and just a be a rapper and have my fun.’ And for me as a person, it just doesn’t work. The seconds after a man reaches climax, that’s the realest moment of your life. If I don’t want you next to me in that fifteen, twenty seconds, then there’s something wrong.”
Halloween is the time to address your biggest fears and play with them. On today the sensational rap phenomenon Likwuid released her brand new video for her song “Likwuidation Reprise” which explores here being tortured and beaten by a cult who is attempting to brain wash her and her talents… The video is taking you through the story in reverse order and allows the audience to see the torture process. My production company Off The Clock Productions was on hand providing the Make-up and Styling for the project. This video is definitely right on time to offer you an entertaining Halloween experience and it is one of the hottest videos you will ever see. LiKWUiD (Stylez) is the stage name of American musician Faybeo’n LaShanna A. Mickens who was born in Columbia, SC and developed into an independent hip hop standout performing artist and freestyler in New York, NY. In 2011, Mickens released the “No Regrets EP” (Sano Business) produced by Italy’s Bassi Maestro, after releasing 3 independent projects Likwuidation: The 5th Element (2003), Southern Belle (2006), and Gummy Bears & Champagne (2010), respectively. The “No Regrets EP” has been described by Rap Reviews as a project that “pulls the listener in from the beginning and never lets go, making for a surprisingly deep release chock full of intelligent, thought-provoking lyrics that deal with everything from putting whack rappers in their place to empowering women in hip-hop and in other facets of life.”
For many writers, 41-year-oldEssenceis a dream publication. Long legacy of compelling features, excellent pay rate, prestige — but how the heck do you actually break in?
“The first thing you think about is what are Black women thinking about. What’s important to Black women? And that is really the crux of what we do atEssence, and therefore if you’re pitching us, that’s what you should be focused on too as a writer,” says editor-in-chiefConstance C.R. White.
And, although it isn’t easy to nail the mag’s voice, it is possible for newbies to score with the right pitch.
“Maya Angelou,Terry McMillan,Alice Walker, a lot of them got their start, had their early careers inEssenceand are now writers that we turn to,” says White. “At the same time, we want the new Alice Walker. Who is the new Maya Angelou? They are in the pages of the magazine as well, and we’re looking for them.”
"Drag Dolls, Dames & Divas" will be a 200 page ,full color, coffee table book of female impersonators. The images range from fashion and beauty to amusing scenarios. This book celebrates and captures the great talents of female illusionists and their ability to transform from men to women. I feel this book will not only be appreciated by the LGBT community but will also be embraced by the masses.
ALIVESHOES is part store, part philosophical community. The company produces Italian-made, environmentally sound shoes, while mastermind Luca Botticelli also seeks to create an online network comprised of people who are interested in interactive art, philanthropy and statement-making footwear. Self-titled “the world’s first shoe-gaming community,” the website is now complemented by a pop up store in Amsterdam, with more locations to follow. JC Report caught up with Botticelli to discuss eco-minded fashion, artistic collaborations and what he means by “fashion 2.0.”
JC Report: What are your main ideas behind being ecologically friendly?
Luca Botticelli: Eco-friendly means that you research new process and materials in order to pollute less, and to make more intelligent products and services. Less is more is a big guide into this.
JCR: The inside tab of the limited edition shoes are designed by contemporary artists. How do you choose who you want to collaborate with?
LB: I gave [New York artist Steven Siegel] 500 pairs of shoes and told him to just create what he wanted. He made Blocks. The inside tabs reflect the installations [artists] make with shoes. It’s their sketches. We collaborate with curators to choose artists. We look for artists that have an open minded approach and are passionate about breaking the rules of art itself (i.e. going away from the museums).
JCR: Where do you see the future of shoes and shoe valley in Italy?
LB: I see the future of the shoe valley in the internet in www.aliveshoes.com. That means that the shoe business must convert to the digital world and must become eco. We are providing IT instruments for that, and research for sustainability to the valley. We are building a big headquarters open to the public in the middle of the valley to stimulate awareness from the core. “Made in Italy” must shift its awareness from total tradition to half tradition/half research and future. We are there for that.
JCR: What is the idea behind fashion 2.0?
LB: Fashion 2.0 goes away from aesthetic, and welcomes games and social interactions. Fashion 2.0 puts an end to the era of designers and stylists, and starts the era of gaming. Fashion 2.0 uses the internet as the medium and doesn’t relate to print press. Fashion 2.0 creates containers that leave space for people to express, and it uses pull communication and interactivity to make people active and entertained.
Lady Gaga may adore cult pop icon Grace Jones, but Ms. Jones won’t picking up her t-t-telephone calls any time soon.
The 61-year-old Jamaican-born model/actress/fashion radical, best known as a club performer, Warhol muse, Bond girl, hair maverick, and all-around fabu freakshow, was recently asked by London’s Guardian newspaper what she thought of the world’s current preeminent mistress of carcinogenic eyewear. Jones’ reply? “I really don’t think of her at all. I go about my business … I wouldn’t go to see her.”
And would they ever work together? “She did [ask], but I said no. I’d just prefer to work with someone who is more original and someone who is not copying me, actually.”
As stated on The Future on February 5, 2010, Gaga’s genealogy has never been much of a mystery: She is unabashedly built from the DNA of many stars who came before her—including but not limited to Madonna, David Bowie, Roisin Murphy, Prince, Cher, Labelle, Freddie Mercury and of course the original cult-of-personality maestro himself, Mr. Warhol.
Like the recent M.I.A.-chugs-the-Lady-haterade episode, this one will surely be met by Gaga loyalists‘ insistence that the Lady is, like, ten billion times more amazeballs than Jones, who is just too jealous/old/All About Eve-ish to acknowledge her younger and more commercially successful rival.
If progenitors like Jones are sometimes a little bothered that Gaga sails so easily down the far-out road they paved—and with a much fatter wallet tucked in her triangle pants—is that jealousy, or just humanity? I call it LIFE!!!
It might have been more interesting to see the singer clad in fashions created by contemporary African fashion designers, rather than to see her wearing fabricated, mock-tribal wear. Do you think the spread and the use of blackface is offensive?
The March issue of Details will wear a new look when it hits newsstands on Feb. 15, including fresh layouts and the introduction of a section focused on health and fitness, called The Body. “It’s not a full redesign; it’s a necessary polish,” explained editor in chief Dan Peres of the 194-page issue — which for the first time has models rather than a celebrity on the cover to emphasize the new focus on fitness.
“We wanted a cover that would really resonate and look a little different than the norm,” said Peres of cover boys Sean O’Pry, Arthur Kulkov and Noah Mills. “Model covers are so rarely done — largely because they’re not a very popular newsstand driver, I’m not blind to that — however I actually believe this will be one of our better selling issues of the year.”
The new Body section is 13 pages and includes stories on a celebrity workout; a requisite 30-days-to-better-abs routine in calendar form (with an online feature that sends weekly schedules to your PDA), and a nutrition article.
“I’m late to the game, admittedly,” said Peres of The Body section, pointedly praising the powerful franchise Men’s Health has built around this zone. “But I think we’ve done it in a way that mirrors the Details lifestyle — it’s refined and polished.”
The Body is overseen by new senior editor Tyler Graham, a veteran of Rodale and O: The Oprah Magazine, who has a book coming out later this year called “The Happiness Diet: How Eating Real Food Will Build a Better Brain.”
The book’s new design elements were overseen by Nathalie Kirsheh, who joined Details this winter as design director, a new position at the title. The title’s Dossier section, which included interviews and short features, has been eliminated.
Details was down 1.4 percent in ad pages last year to 777, but the dip is a big leveling off after the 35.5 percent decline in 2009, according to Media Industry Newsletter figures. Still, the magazine has some heavy lifting to do in order to climb back to prerecession levels, when it sold 1,369 pages in 2007.
“If I’m really honest with you, I’d switched on auto pilot. But I’ve started to drive again and it feels good,” said Peres. Looking ahead, Details will launch a revamped Web site in April and an iPad app in September.
On Saturday the 4th Annual BET Honors was hosted by Gabrielle Union. Celebration of special contributions of the six honorees in the arts and culture, the award show was a 2 hour event. Before the big show, the celebrities were on the red carpet of the BET Honors 2011 showing off their threads.
This inspirational award show which highlights distinguished African Americans performing at exceptional levels in their fields will premiere during Black History Month. The 2011 award ceremony were Cicely Tyson (Theatrical Arts), Jamie Foxx (Entertainer), Iman (Service), Linda Johnson Rice (Media), Herbie Hancock (Musical Arts), and historian Lonnie G. Bunch (Education).
Take a look at the red carpet of the 4th Annual BET Honors. The celebrities appear to be delighted to be part of the evening. The BET Honors will be on BET Channel on Monday, February 21 at 9:00 pm. Red Carpet Photos - Here
Iman's hair courtesy of Celebrity Hairstylist Oscar James at www.OscarJames.com
William Rast, the men's and women's fashion collection by Justin Timberlake, has arrived at Target stores in the U.S. along with a new campaign. The biker bohemian line is a collaboration with designer Trace Ayala.
Lady Gaga's meat dress, which she wore at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, still may be causing a stir, but there's another Gaga-related buzz hitting the newswires: her fragrance deal with Coty.
Coty has not yet issued a formal announcement detailing the specifics of the launch, but the company did state in a comment: "Coty is excited to be partnering with Lady Gaga to develop her first-ever signature fragrance. We will be unveiling additional information regarding our dynamic partnership at a later date."
According to published reports, the fragrance will launch during spring 2012 and will be released under Gaga's name.
During Sunday's awards event, Gaga won eight awards.
