CAPOTE (2005)

"Bergdorf's" is the first word Philip Seymour Hoffman, as Truman Capote, says in a scene that takes place in a small-town police station. The deputy is dumbfounded, having outed the best-selling author without even opening up his own mouth.

M83 "CAR CHASE TERROR" (2004)

M83 is the stage name of French musician Anthony Gonzalez. His minimalist electronica evokes a mood that brings to mind several quotes by Liam Gillick, as documented in FLY:

"It's about things being slightly out of focus, things being about hanging around, things being about trying to find those aspects of the culture that are hard to grasp right away. They're like the sparkles, or the after-effect. The feeling of the glow you get of the light in the nightclub the morning after. They're not really purely romantic but they're to do with standing outside a bar or something like that. Those kind of feelings."

"There are a lot of aspects of my work that are aprofound. They're kind of profound and they're kind of not profound simultaneously. They reach this kind of aprofound situation ... and the thing that makes me most touchy about the work is when people try to address this profundity thing, like, 'OK, where's the profound bit in the work?'. And I guess the idea is it's aprofound. It's sort of ... floating, somehow."

"What I do find very interesting about the two great republics that I like to operate in, France and America, is they have the absolute opposite reactions to the work, which are cultural clichés: One, a kind of positive response because, they don't know why. Not everyone, but a lot of people can't put their finger on what they like about the work, but they just want to communicate the fact that they think they maybe like it, and they think they maybe don't understand it, but that doesn't matter. And then in the French environment, and again, I'm talking about the enlightened Bourgeoisie, the response will be often: 'I understand everything, and I will tolerate this structure in order to, in a way, pay you to continue to do the work that I know you are secretly doing.'"

MISSHAPES (2007)

It only figures that the most commercial "subculture" of all time published a book made for the masses. Let's break it down:

 1. The book is small enough to fit in your Eastsport backpack.

 2. City Lights? No—Urban Outfitters carries copies. Never mind UO's notoriety for ripping off up-and-coming artists.

 3. Like The Fuck Up and Perks of Being a Wallflower, MTV Press published this book, effectively transforming Berliniamsburg from a Bobo wonderland into another teen cliché.

 4. It also functions as a Vidal Sassoon stylebook.

 5. Wasn't the movie supposed to come first?

MODTV: D&G SPRING/SUMMER 2007

 

Valentina Zelyaeva pledges allegiance and accidentally describes the current trend in the modeling industry. In doing so she puts a face and a title on the most up-to-date notions of female beauty.

But this Russian bombshell is two faced: she's also been the star of Ralph Lauren's fashion and perfume campaigns for the past several seasons. Funny how the girl who embodies idea Russian beauty is the face of the all-American brand.

But beauty forecasters in the modeling industry are sensing a big change in popular model types: from the ethereal Russian beauty to the mundane girl next door.

Nearly done with ethereality, designers and fashion photographers are no longer finding it so inspiring. Take Caroline Demarqui, a sixteen-year-old from Brazil who is the star of Marc Jacobs's fall fashion campaign. Another rising model, Irina Kulikova, has opened shows for Prada and (much hyped) Nina Ricci by Olivier Theyskens. V, Style.com, and British Voguehave also recognized her potential one of the next top models. But what makes this new herd of models different from the last is their earthliness, their extreme approachability. They look more like women walking down the street than women out of a vision.

OKKERVIL RIVER "NO EASY WAY DOWN" (2007)

Frontman Will Sheff cites the Dusty Springfield version of this Carole King song as the most inspiring. Maybe it's his age, but the lyrics come across more coherently in his cover.