S U D D E N L Y T H I S S U M M E R . . .
Back in 2000, when A.R.E. Weapons were playing “New York Muscle” at art galleries and L.E.S. loft parties, few would have predicted that the band, which seemed at the time more akin to a noisy art project, would have a career that extended a decade and survived the untimely death of a founding member. On the fifth album, Darker Blue, due in June, the Weapons shed a few of the harder-edged Suicide-isms in favor of sleeker, synthier sounds, but the band’s trademark Fuck You attitude remains, thankfully, present on every track. T. Cole Rachel
...SWIMWEAR TAKES CUES FROM THE BEDROOM Since launching their lingerie line The Lake & Stars in 2007, Brooklyn-based designers Maayan Zilberman and Nikki Dekker have been perpetually faced with customers posing the same question: when will you make swimsuits? The duo finally took the hint; this Spring they’ve added two covetable swimsuits—a one-piece halter and a string bikini—to their repertoire, both constructed from the same fabric used by French swimwear mavens Eres. Alisa Gould-Simon
...LIPSTICK GETS LUXE Given the “lipstick effect”—or the rise in cosmetic sales during economic crises—Olivier Échaudemaison, the creative director of Guerlain, chose an auspicious time to launch the company’s most luxurious lipwear. Rouge G de Guerlain is comprised of crushed rubies and comes in a white gold–coated case designed by French jeweler Lorenz Bäumer. It opens to reveal a two-sided mirror and closes with a solid click, “like that of a Bentley’s door,” notes Échaudemaison. Of course, the object’s resemblance to another, slightly more sensual woman’s product isn’t lost on Bäumer. “If Guerlain ever decides to discontinue the lipstick, they could use the packaging for other purposes,” he jokes. Karin Nelson
…VIDEO ART BURNS AND BLISTERS
As summery as a sunburn, the work of Guy Ben-Ner is
charged with the tension between caprice and regret.
In Stealing Beauty, for example, the Israeli video artist
combines the aesthetics of a sitcom with those of an
illegal party by filming his wife and children in an Ikea
store, engaged in the quotidian trifles of domesticity.
For his MASS MoCA survey, Ben-Ner has created
a highly anticipated new video. Says the exhibition’s
coordinator, Susan Cross: “Typical of Ben-Ner, he’s
borrowing from well-known literary sources: King Lear,
Dante, The Little Prince. And it will be action-packed,
most likely with car crashes.” Aimee Walleston
The Lake & Stars one-piece is available exclusively at The Smile, NYC. www.thelakeandstars.com
...CBGB LIVES!
No music venue has been
as synonymous with a
cultural movement as the
mythic NYC club captured in
filmmaker Mandy Stein’s new
documentary, CBGB. The
film, which premiered at the
Tribeca Film Festival, captures
the club’s epic rise and fall
with exclusive show footage
and interviews with the
people who lived it—Richard
Hell, Debbie Harry, and
Henry Rollins included.
T. Cole Rachel
...PRADA SERVES UP A CITRUS BOOST Prada’s latest fragrance, Infusion de Fleur D’Oranger, arrives just as the weather heats up, which is fitting, as its notes of Tunisian neroli, orange blossom, tuberose, and jasmine make for a deliciously light, girly scent best suited to giggling in a bikini with a big straw tote. Catherine Blair Pfander
Rouge G de Guerlain, $45, is available at Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue
...WE’RE GOING SHOPPING IN MIAMI
If Laure Heriard Dubreuil, Frederic Dechnik, and Milan
Vukmirovic have their way, Miami will soon become
a bona-fide fashion capital. The visionary trio (their
resumes include stints at Balenciaga, YSL, and Colette,
respectively) recently debuted The Webster, a 20,000-
square-foot South Beach boutique, boasting fashion
from Alaïa, Margiela, and Balmain, and photographs from
Vukmirovic’s personal collection. If that doesn’t make your
mouth water, its restaurant, an outpost of the Parisian joint
Caviar Kaspia, definitely will. Alisa Gould-Simon
…WE’RE DANCING TO FRENCH POP DJ duo Clovis Goux and Guillaume Sorge, aka Dirty Sound System, has a reputation for rediscovering little-known music and giving it new life on the dance floor. For the group’s latest release, Dirty French Psychedelics, the two shape a wily mix of ’70s Parisian pop into trippy, psyched-out tracks that are, as they put it, “to be listened to, eyes half-opened, in the heat of summer 2009.” T. Cole Rachel
Debbie Harry photography Godlis. Ben-Ner artwork Guy Ben-Ner, Moby Dick, 2003, video still. Courtesy the artist and MASS MoCA
…PARTY PEEPS HAVE A BRAND NEW BAG Belvedere Vodka has wisely tapped accessories designer Jonathon Kelsey, the up-and-comer whose shoe collection for Mulberry broke hearts and bank accounts alike, to design a handbag to match their new Black Raspberry maceration. The result is the Belvie, a white leather “overnight bag” that’s intended for chic party girls who don’t quite make it home before work the next morning. Catherine Blair Pfander
www.belvedere-vodka.com
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