Cool Hunting

by Ezra Natalia

When they're not listening to bands like Phew, Googoosh, Yellow Magic Orchestra and Las Grecas, fashion designer Solomon Chase and visual artist David Toro are at work on their new avant-jewelry project Face. Starting the project about six months ago, their first Face product is their Bindi that comes in a variety of incarnations including plaid, plaited hair and a reflective smiley face. It will be sold at the "Cosmic Collision" installment of New High (M)art in Lost Angeles' Chinatown as well as directly through their site.

The latest facial region they've turned their attention to is the eyebrow. Their "brow-hats" come in many different shapes, all in a highly reflective material — perfect for haunting the outdoors at night!

With veils, glasses, visors, eyebrow wigs and more, their experimentation seemingly knows no bounds. There's no typical day for Toro and Chase, each one is magical.

The duo say they've always felt that when they have an idea, they should attempt to create it without hesitation. As now, past collaborations testify to their interest in simple products that are not only simple in form but also in function and concept. Their belief is that these type of ideas seem to hold strongest.

So why face jewelry and not anything else we might ask? They answer that face jewelry is an exploration, uncharted territory. Not much has been done with the face yet it's such an important part of our lives. Their thought was, why not transform, adorn and accessorize our faces? Faces have such a complex and interesting structure and each one is unique, attributes that the two have found very inspiring.

While their unusual creations might seem the work of fashion extremists, Toro and Chase claim mediocrity is their biggest inspiration though they admire others that take risks, push boundaries, genres, and work heavily with concept over pure aesthetics, citing the NYC-based designers Telfar Ohne Titel as favorites.

Advice from the designers? "Wear face accessories and your life will improve." Check their website for additional retail locations in the near future. Bindis are $30 for a set of three and $50 for a set of five. Reflective eyebrows are $30 a pair. Glow-in-the-dark Bindis are $10 each.