Punk: Chaos to Couture

Brush aside all the celebrities who attended the Met Ball, and you'll see what this year's occasion was fundamentally celebrating - Punks. The Punk movement had an undeniable affect on everything - politics, culture, visual arts, music, graphic design and of course, fashion. The ripped jeans, nickel chains, out of context tartan, tshirts sporting unruly comments against society and the emergence of Fashion's Mother of Punk, Vivienne Westwood, and rising popularity of the musical anti-hero, Sid Vicious of The Sex Pistols.

The Costume Institute's exhibition, Punk: Chaos to Couture, is aimed at showing us all how rebellious we can be, simply through the way we band together and change culture through our collective resentment of the system. The exhibition will be at the Met in New York City will be open from May 9 - August 14 this year, so if you're heading to The Big Apple or are already a local, make sure you channel your inner rebel and bathe in the Punk atmosphere at the exhibition.

For more information on the Punk: Chaos to Couture, head to the Met Museum website

Images courtesy of Met Museum and Suzanne DeChillo from The New York Times

Vogue Hommes Japan #9 - Preview Day 1

The preview of the cover of Vogue Hommes Japan on Day 1

Nicola Formichetti, the Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Hommes Japan, former stylist of Lady Gaga, Creative Director for  Mugler and Head Designer for Nicopanda, is set to release the most anticipated issue of Vogue Hommes Japan this September. The issue features photography by Hedi Slimane, the Creative Director of Saint Laurent Paris and eerily beautiful artworks by the alternative "it" girl at the moment, Grimes, but most of all the issue is a chance for men worldwide to see the Fall/Winter menswear collections in a variety of editorials complementing the garment and the dark punk atmosphere that Nicola has injected into the usually glamorous Vogue magazine.

As it is the eventful month of fashion of September, Nicola began a series of previews of the issue in collaboration with Models.com - with the covers, digital covers, fashion films, and stop motion versions of the editorial images for everyone to see. I selected a few images to share, as I could not help but do so as the previews of the magazine so far have signaled to me that this issue will probably be my most prized in my collection, if I manage to buy it!

First of all, the covers were released according to what was being previewed on the day. On Day 1, the cover (above) was previewed, along with the editorial that complemented the cover featuring Gryphon O'Shea, shot by Hedi Slimane, with Grimes' artworks - "Bleached".

One of the artworks by Grimes

There is no doubt that Gryphon would've been the perfect man for this editorial - a beautification of the dark subcultures of Goth and Punk, particularly London's punk scene, whilst drawing from elements of maximalism. Hedi Slimane has shot this editorial emphasizing the mysteriousness of many men within these subcultures, and has captured how this aesthetic is now praised within the fashion industry rather than isolated from high fashion. Grimes has added to the atmosphere with her abstract morbid artworks, a style she is best known for.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL PREVIEW FOR DAY 1

All images courtesy of Models.com