Repetto Pop-Up Shop

by Ami Kealoha

From 5 September-1 December 2007, the Earnest Sewn flagship will host a 90-day installation of the iconic French footwear label Repetto, offering a handful of shoe designs for purchase for the first time in the U.S.

While this marks Repetto's first foray with pop-ups, Earnest Sewn has been a pioneer of the trend since April 2005, when they launched the Earnest Cut & Sew installation series. "Repetto was attracted to our store concept," says Earnest Sewn's president and designer Scott Morrison. "And although their routes are in ballet and ours are in work-wear, we both believe in paying homage to our respective origins, while updating styles to stay current and on the cutting edge of fashion." Read more...

By Meredith Fisher

Andrea Zittel: Smockshop

by Wendy Dembo

Years ago as an assistant at Pat Hearn Gallery, artist Andrea Zittel didn’t have the cash to dress like a gallerina. Instead, she started sewing her own uniforms and made a version for winter and one for summer. The originals are now incredibly collectible, but Zittel is staging a resurrection of the line with her latest project, "Smockshop."

Zittel designed a simple double wrap-around garment and asked other artists to reinterpret her original design. Zittel says the project “generates income for artists whose work is either non-commercial, or not yet self-sustaining.” The smockers include Tiprin Follett, V Smiley, Kate Hillseth, Lisa Anne Auerbach, Ashira Siegel, Molly Keogh, Ann Trondson, R.Scott Mitchell, Maude Benson, Mark Rodriguez and Peggy Pabustan, as well as some very special guest sewers.

After launching Smockshop in L.A., the project opens this Friday, 7 September 2007, at NYC's Susan Inglett Gallery. On Saturday, 8 September 2007, the Smockshop will host a day of performances in and around the storefront. The smocks are priced to sell.

Smockshop
Opening Reception: 7 September 2007, 6-8pm
7 September-13 October 2007
Susan Inglett Gallery
534 West 22nd Street
New York NY 10011 map
tel. +1 212 647 9111

AMP

by Phuong-Cac Nguyen

Based on the consistently fresh cuts and minimalist feel, you'd think AMP (A Mulher do Padre) was new to the scene. But the São Paulo-based label known for styles more akin to edgy Japanese brands is in its lucky 13th year already and only recently really beginning to gain ground with the factions they want to convert: 20- and 30-somethings who no doubt take fashion with their caipirinhas.

Each season's campaign merges art, film and fashion so they're indistinguishable from one another. It's a plot conceived by AMP founders Paula Ferrali and Vinicius Campion under the idea of an "anti-brand."

For example, the newest collection is "Venus Flytrap," a continuation of last season's campaign called "Crème Brûlée." The team behind AMP made a video accompaniment featuring only some of the clothes, and we're invited to watch the story as it and the collection unfold. The stories are intensely imaginative, frequently flirting with the line between esoteric and art, but that's not the point anyway. They're there to provide a context for the clothes and vice versa. In other words, one couldn't exist without the other. The project-slash-product erases the line between fashion and consumerism, yet on the other hand creates this make-believe world we want to possibly live in for a moment—or forever.

Peter J. Evans: Feedbacker

by Jacob Resneck

In North London, the Seventeen gallery presents British artist Peter J. Evan's first solo exhibition, "Feedbacker," at this Hackney arthouse showcasing his precise drawings and sculptures that are always more than the sum of their parts. Evans creates intricate pieces built upon simple repetitive actions.

At the centerpiece of this exhibit, scheduled to run from 5 September though 13 October, is the Waveformer which rises from the gallery's polished floor to create a sense of waveforms that while formed from solid wood, ebbs and flows to create the sensation of kinetic energy pulsating at the viewer's feet.

Having recently toured in Exeter, after its stop in London, Evans's pieces head north next year for a showing at Newcaste-Upon-Tyne's Workplace gallery.

Feedbacker
5 September-13 October 2007
Seventeen Gallery
17 Kingsland Road
London, England
E2 8AA
tel. +44 (0)20 77295777

Mama Tried Charity Ride

by Wendy Dembo

What started out as a cultural exchange, has turned into a cross-country ride for charity. Saved Tattoo's Scott Campbell has been riding motorcycles for years and recently, he started taking road trips with British actor Charlie Cox (currently starring in the film "Stardust.")

After discovering a cultural difference between bikers in their respective homelands, they used it as a conceit to raise money. Basically, in the U.S., Bikers warn other riders of upcoming hazards or to slow down by dropping their left hand and extending a finger. Campbell says, it's "not to communicate distress or warning, but simply to acknowledge a mutual respect that motorcyclists share."

This past Saturday Cox and Campbell set out from L.A., planning to reach NYC by 11 September 2007. On the way, every time they see the signal Cox will give $10 to benefit a children's psychiatric hospital. If the bikers don't acknowledge them, Campbell will donate $10.

You can get more info and contribute directly to the cause on their site.

CD-R with Braille

by Ami Kealoha

CDs and DVDs not only look alike, but also feel alike. Imagine not being able to see the words "CD" or "DVD" printed on the disc. How would you know what it was? You wouldn't! To help blind consumers, Japan's Mitsubishi Kagaku Media has released CD-R with braille on the disc's surface. Each CD holds 700MB of data, and they are packaged 10 discs to a box. To create the braille characters, two layers of Mitsubishi Kagaku-developed high viscosity ink were used. The discs are also covered in a special gloss to make them more tactile. Japan in general shows great consideration towards its blind citizens, going as far as to place special paths with raised bumps on sidewalks and train platforms for them to use as a guide and to outfit crosswalks with beeping noises to indicate when it is safe to cross. Just another example.

by Brian Ashcraft