SOLE II SOLE: UBIQ
Founded in 2001, Japanese sneaker brand Ubiq in recent years has managed to gain a following stateside from sneaker heads obsessed with exclusivity and those just concerned with silhouette and balance. Created by Tokyo based designer Kosaka, the shoes are inspired by concepts and novels. Add that with his dedication to quality and you have a sole stirring product. (Available online: www.ubiqlife.com)—J. Dwayne Joseph
Above: Fall 2009 Fatima suede (in three colorways) , $120.00
Kandinsky Colours
Trace went to the Kandinsky preview at the Guggenheim Museum yesterday.
A blockbuster of a show, the exhibition comprises of almost a hundred of the painter’s most important canvases, reuniting colourful palettes from the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Stadtische Galerie in Lenbachhaus and Kunstbau in Munich. Snaking up the white spiral of the Guggenheim, they chart the progression in chronological order of the master from his more figurative works to later abstraction.
Kandinsky was truly a transcultural visionary. Born in Moscow in 1866, he ended his days in Paris in 1944, having lived through two World Wars and the Russian Revolution. He lived in Berlin and travelled all over Europe and Tunisia. Originally trained in law and economics, it was only at the relatively late age of thirty that he started painting and producing theoretical tracts examining the relationship between music, emotion and colour.
Set to run till mid January, the show will be accompanied by dance and performance art from the Works & Process team and the infamous First Fridays. The nights will start up again in October, running side by side the indie rock series of concerts It Came From Brooklyn.
For more information visit the Guggenheim site.
Bling bling and business as usual at Baby Phat Show
The runway gleamed with gold glitter, a carpet of gold, and the music pounded so loud, ribcages shook. Anticipation mounted, schmoozing subsided and the seat next to Amber Rose remained resolutely empty.
Trace took a front row seat at Kimora Lee Simmon’s fashion spectacular on Wednesday night at the packed Roseland Ballroom which was streamed live to Times Square.
Amanda Lepore, Serena Williams, Alan Cummings, Kim Kardashian, that guy from America’s next top model and that girl who got kicked out of Destiny’s Child were all present. And no one was there for the clothes. When Trace asked their next door neighbour whether he was a fan of Baby Phat, he looked like someone had just vomited in his lap.
But Baby Phat did the job. Fun, fabulous and flirty… and we wouldn’t be seen dead in it. But Moroccan prints, cut-out swimsuits, bright orange and lycra hotpants are hardly funeral wear.
The show finished with a thumping MJ tribute as four models came out wearing Baby Phat T-Shirts, tight tight jeans and one sparkly glove. It may not have been haute couture but it was a lot of hot fun.