Left: Stevie Dance. Image by Maya Villiger. Right: Collage from Shop Ghost.

Stylist and editor Stevie Dance’s instantly recognizable, light-infused aesthetic evokes an ethereal purism that is as light and delightful as the chiffon seen dancing in the wind of several of the videos she worked on for Russh magazine, for which she served as editor-in-chief from 2009 to 2010. Now a freelance stylist and contributing editor to Oyster magazine, Stevie has taken her captivating vision and turned into the website SHOP GHOST. Resembling an online scrapbook of sorts, the site combines moodboards, offbeat styling bullets and original interviews with industry friends to curate an online shopping experience that connects the dots between online style stalking and commerce.

Jodie Kharas: Where did the name SHOP GHOST originate from?

Stevie Dance: I was brainstorming online ideas when I was out in Seattle on a job and we were staying in a haunted B&B. It was charming but undeniably full of spirits. I called my assistant one night as I was browsing online trying to ignore the creaks in the room, and somewhere in that SHOP GHOST came about.

Jodie: In an industry that is so saturated with new ways of marrying style and commerce, your concept is pretty fresh. Did you set out to do something new?

Stevie: I just felt that most people I knew were spending time browsing online in an unedited, pretty aimless way. I wanted to provide something that felt personalized and intentional.

Jodie: What triggers the “Ghost Loves” collages?

Stevie: They are regular inspiration boards, but twisted and dreamed up so they feel like ours. My editor and right-hand-man, Steff, is a wiz on Photoshop now!

Jodie: You are potentially doing the designers you feature a huge service by linking fashion consumers to products featured on their e-commerce sites. What was your reasoning behind such a direct link from wish list to checkout?

Stevie: I love being inspired by online content, but I always felt there was a step missing. I wanted SHOP GHOST’s online pages to really work for the reader and provide solutions and suggestions. I wanted to offer our readers ways to digest the inspirational aspects of the site within their own lives.

Jodie: Your website bio reads “creative consultant and stylist,” which came first?

Stevie: Oh, I don’t know… I always wanted to be a film critic. I somehow put my hand up here and there and I ended up doing this. I love working with images and people, and fashion allows me this. Styling is a great tool for self-expression.

Jodie: What was the last amazing thing you saw?

Stevie: My mum visiting me in New York [and we] walked up and down Bleeker Street looking for Simon and Garfunkel records, and [there were] those beautiful crab apple trees blossoming early in my favorite Twelfth Street garden in the Village.

Jodie: Who are your favorite designers/brands?

Stevie: Pedro Lourenco, JW Anderson, Dries Van Noten, Leutton Postle, Kenzo, Josh Goot, Lover, Stella McCartney, Delfina Delettrez, A.P.C., vintage [Martin] Margiela….

Jodie: What is good style?

Stevie: Wearing your clothes, rather than letting them wear you.

Jodie: What are you excited to wear this summer?

Stevie: A hat.

The Reformation, an “environmentally sustainable fashion brand that repurposes vintage and surplus materials to create chic, limited-edition collections,” is well-known throughout New York City and Los Angeles—more so for its updated vintage style than its values. The brand’s inspiring origins and philosophy remain largely unknown. So, in honor of The Reformation’s new Ludlow Street location in Manhattan, designer Yael Aflalo reveals the method behind her team’s in-demand designs.

Jayme Cyk: How did you come up with the idea for The Reformation?

Yael Aflalo: It was a super organic start. I had [the womenswear brand] YaYa and I wasn’t really happy with it. I wanted to close it, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do next. I knew that I really liked making clothes, but I was having a difficulty with the system and how it worked. With all the deadlines, I felt like it was too much and there had to be a different way. There was a store available below my office in LA and I decided to take it. As a side project, we had this idea about re-doing vintage. When we started, as soon as we opened the store, I decided this is what I want to do. It was exciting and rewarding and so creative and really instantaneous.

Jayme: Being the designer of YaYa, I’m guessing that those fabrics were newly produced. How did you decide to go from new to reused?

Yael: When we were started The Reformation, we were also closing YaYa, so we had this big warehouse full of ten years worth of press and fit samples, lookbooks and stuff that didn’t sell. It was massive and overwhelming and the waste started to really get to me. During the first year of Reformation, I started to have an awakening. I began reading books and watching documentaries and it started to stir something in me. The final straw was when I was off in China. We were working on doing a shoe line and I got to this town that was in mainland China, which I had never been to before. When you walk around the city, you notice it exists with a pollution level that as an American we don’t have any frame of reference for. It’s difficult for me to explain, but it’s like the inability to breathe, the inability to see forty feet in front of you. Everyone walking around was wearing masks and all the rivers were completely decomposed. Right next to the contaminated water, there was a riverbank where a Chinese peasant was farming rice. While I was there, I got incredibly depressed and I wouldn’t leave my hotel. I kept thinking: I don’t feel like I’m doing anything. I actually felt as if I was being very detrimental. That’s when the shift happened. I decided to change my company around to be all about reformation.

Jayme: That’s such a great turnaround—the fact that the clothing is made from dead stock textiles and vintage goods. I find it extremely unique that The Reformation has such a luxurious factor. How do you decide on the fabrics?

Yael: A lot of the time in repurposed vintage, from concept to execution, there are a lot of problems. So by the time you see it, you’re thinking: This looks bizarre. So, we have designers using our aesthetic in every phase. They pick out all the materials and that’s how we can maintain that high quality of fabric, prints and textures.

Jayme: I know that your selection of clothing is divided into categories; where did these different divisions come from?

Yael: We have refashioned, curated and standard [categories]. I think that what allows us to do these types of subdivisions, is that we all come from very professional fashion backgrounds. When we look at a new item…

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….we think about how we can make it work. Also, when we’re designing new pieces, we determine what we want now. When we’re deciding on fresh bodies, we have to remember we’re not going find those in vintage, so we need to remake those and that’s where “refashioned” comes from. “Curated” comes from the fact there is so much good stuff that’s already there, we don’t need to remake each piece. Sometimes we change the buttons or make it shorter, but for the most part we leave the piece as is. And then the third one is “standards.” We started to realize there were certain things that were hot and everyone wants them in four colors. So we decide on the styles that we want in quantity and create them in multiple colors..

Jayme: With the categories, I know the store is merchandised into outfit conceptions, including how to wear the pieces. You essentially are giving your customer a lifestyle. How did you decide to compose the racks?

Yael: When I’m shopping, I want to see the designer’s ideas. I think a lot of the times we push the envelope on some of the styles, and when some people see them they don’t understand. But when they see them put together, then they say, “Oh, I get it now.” I think it’s nice to give a complete point of view.

Jayme: The Reformation definitely has a distinctive quality. How do you visualize your collections for each season?

Yael: It’s again all done very organically. We don’t conceptualize. Literally two months in advance we ask each other: What do we want right now? Or what do we want in two months from now? It’s a really great way of designing because there’s no excess; there aren’t any unnecessary items to round off a collection. A lot of the time when you’re designing for collections, you have to put in a lot of pieces for the others to make sense. We just don’t have to do that. It makes it really easy and so much more fulfilling too.

Jayme: And now you’re doing menswear with designer Bobby Waltzer. Is the men’s the same process as the women’s?

Yael: Absolutely, the same exact thing.

Jayme: The men’s collection definitely has a downtown feel; were you and Bobby going for that sort of classification?

Yael: Honestly, with the menswear I really left it up to Bobby. I told him to make whatever he wants. He’s really talented and I think he has a great sense of style

Jayme: I know that you’ll be doing multiple collaborations in the future—what’s next?

Yael: The next collaboration we have in November is with Veda. It’s so sick and we’re so excited. It’s a lot of repurposed leather and it’s really turning out beautifully—very rock ‘n’ roll, with a New Year’s vibe to it. I think it’s good to have these collaborations to bring in a different point of view. I think The Reformation look can be very feminine, and I think it’s nice to have other aesthetics.

Jayme: If you could sum up The Reformation in one sentence what would it be?

Yael: Oh God! We do environmentally conscious fashion that repurposes vintage and surplus materials.

Jayme: And what else do you want everyone know about The Reformation?

Yael: I want people to go to our new website. We just launched it and its our new baby.

The Reformation is located at 156 Ludlow Street, NYC.

Mandy Coon. Images by Cara Stricker. Text by Liz Doupnik.

Show: Kimberly Ovitz
Date: September 8, 2011
Time: 1pm
Venue: Pace Gallery
Inspiration: Destruction versus relief, man versus nature and Japanese architecture.
Music: Beginning softly and despairingly, piano music hung in the air before transitioning into a militaristic spoken word beat.
Favorite Look: Wide, flowing trousers topped by a soft blouse with strong side cutouts.
Quote : I caught up afterwards with the show’s makeup artist, Kristin Gallegos, as well as the designer.

Liz Doupnik: What was the conversation you and Kimberly had in terms of developing the makeup for the show?
Kristin: Instead of using a really finished look, we wanted it to be a little dark and a little weird so we took out the eyebrows—instead of bleaching them, we used concealer to get the same effect. For the rusty color on the eye, I used “Saddle” by MAC Cosmetics and just got really deep into the eye socket and across the lid and blended it out and underneath. We wanted her to be a little tough looking and the rest of face was really clean and pretty.
Liz: Could you please talk about the main inspiration behind this season?
Kimberly Ovitz: After the tsunami in Japan, I became really preoccupied with the idea of disaster versus relief and the idea of man versus nature. I was also inspired by the architect who was hired by the Japanese government to aid relief efforts by building temporary housing and using impermanent materials—I really took the rust colors and idea of that.
Liz: Would you ever think about getting into sculpture or architecture yourself?
Kimberly: (Laughs) Not yet—not right now.
Liz: Who were some of the designers you grew up loving and being inspired by as a young designer?
Kimberly: All the dark Belgians! I love them.

Show: Peter Som
Date: September 9, 2011
Time: 10am
Venue: Milk Studios
Inspiration: Vibrant fringed flapper meets 1940s cheeky sophistication.
Music: A thumping bass with female vocals.
Favorite Look: An azure blue drop-waist dress with sheer bodice and fringed skirt.
Additional notes: Screaming fuchsia, sunshine yellow and cobalt fused with floral patterns were paired on simple pencil skirts and structured blouses. Fringed frocks played a flirty partner to more classic but still contemporary tailored suits.

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Mandy Coon

Show: Mandy Coon
Date: September 9, 2011
Time: 2pm
Venue: Metropolitan Pavilion
Inspiration: David Altman’s sculptures of werewolves with protruding crystals.
Music: Dark music opened the show and subsided to a repeating phrase: “The future is here to stay.”
Favorite Look: A black top with straps revealing triangular reliefs and a pleated front peplum.
Quote: I was lucky enough to catch-up with the designer to gain an extra bit of insight into the collection.
Liz Doupnik: With the soundtrack, I noticed that the repeating phrase was “The future is here to stay.” What was behind the music choice? Also, how do you feel about the direction in which the fashion industry is shifting?
Mandy Coon: I asked my friend Jamie to help with the music so he mixed a few songs for me and I had [that one] stuck in my head the whole time I was working so I knew it was the one! In terms of the industry, I feel like I haven’t been in it that long but I think that things are changing. At some points, it’s a little scary. I think America is becoming more conservative, which I don’t think is possible so that’s a little creepy.
Additional Notes: The show was a wonderful study in and interpretation of fluidity versus restriction, as lightweight fabrics were constrained with innovative harnesses and minimalist vests with exaggerated lapels. Details were found in expected areas, such as the back of leather vests and jackets.

Illustrations by David Downton

Oscar de la Renta has taken the age-old mantra “Live each day as if it’s your last” and endowed it with his signature refined uptown twist. The result is live in love, both an affirmation and the name of his house’s new perfume (available in stores this October). Described as “a fragrance inspired by passion for life,” the scent is a reflection of “the woman who lives each day with joy, whose life is filled with beauty and inspiration.” As with Oscar’s fashion, the concept and scent succeeds by walking the line between tradition and modernity, evoking what renowned fashion illustrator David Downton refers to as “contemporary nostalgia.”

This perhaps explains why the New York-based brand turned to London-based David for the fragrance’s debut imagery. David’s illustrations, which he explains as both “classic and contemporary,” recall 1930s Paris when Christian Bérard dined with Christian Dior at Le Grand Vefour and Jean Cocteau mingled with Coco Chanel at the Ballet Russes—a time when, viewed through the rose-tinted lenses of time, life moved a little more slowly and creativity trumped commerce.

With live in love—a layered fragrance with top notes of orchid, bergamot, hyacinth, muget and galbanum, a heart of florals and a base of amber, sandalwood and cedarwood—Oscar expresses his desire to make every woman feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. And bottled in a custom vessel constructed to represent the many dimensions of a woman’s life, live in love urges its wearer to “Live in beauty. Live in wonder. Live in joy. live in love,” just as the artists did back during the twilight years of the belle epoque.

To better comprehend the inspiration behind live in love, David traveled to Manhattan to meet with the designer and his team (from the craftsman in the atelier to the house model), learned about the fragrance’s inspiration and attended the showing of Oscar’s 2011 resort collection. From there, David created a series of drawings, which he deems the “integration of a lot of fragments and conversations” and which embody “[A woman] who’s everybody and nobody.”

Exclusively for Dossier, David shares a couple of these preliminary sketches (pictured above and below) as well as his thoughts on the importance of illustration, the scent of a woman and what it means to “live in love.”

Erin Dixon: In your opinion, where do the realms of fashion, fragrance and illustration intersect?

David Downton: All the great fashion brands have fragrances. It’s part of the industry more and more…What I loved about this project in particular is that this is the only fragrance launch today, that I know of, incorporating drawings. When you think of the great ones of the past…[Rene] Gruau worked with Christian Dior for 30 years. When Dior did his first fragrance in 1947, it was Gurau he turned to. Between them, they would come up with an image that presented what Dior was trying to do. It was not specific. It was maybe a fan—it was never about telling directly. There is such a strong, long history of that. [Marcel] Vertes with Schiaparelli fragrances… These images were iconic and I think they lasted. Or at least they still look fresh now in modern day.

Erin: In terms of your personal take on women’s fragrance, is there a particular memory that inspired you?

David: Well, I think it’s very interesting when people are very taken with one fragrance and it sort of becomes them. It’s there in the room before they enter and it remains in the room after they’ve left. I don’t think people still do that so much. Certainly there was a time… I’m a great friend of Carmen Dell’Orefice and she’s only ever used one fragrance. And you could smell it in the hallways of her apartment building on Park Avenue. It became her.

Erin: Why in today’s image-saturated world does illustration remain important—why does it still feel fresh?

David: A shoot will involve half a dozen visions; a drawing is [done by] one person. It combines the eye, hand and heart. It’s inevitably personal and a very individual take. We are all photographers today. Everyone, including me, records things and sends them to someone and captures the moment. With a drawing, you’re trying to capture an idea forever. By its nature, it’s special. When you see a drawing in a magazine, it changes the page of the magazine, whether you particularly like the drawing or not. [The viewer] takes a breath. They study the drawing. They slow down a bit—I think we could all slow down a bit.

Erin: What does the phrase live in love mean to you?

David: I think it’s what we should all do. We are all so fantastically privileged to live every day, to love what we do—not all people do. If you get up in the morning and don’t wish it were Friday, how brilliant!

Erin: The tagline of live in love is: The new fragrance for women created by a man who adores them. What do you adore about women?

David: Everything. I think they rule the world—and if they really did, the world would really work. I mean, men had their go and look at the mess we made. I think they should do it over. We’ve done our work; we’ll let women do their best. I guarantee it would all work better.

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Williamsburg’s existence as a sort or urban Never Never Land means those who grew up in the ’70 and ’80s Lords of Dogtown era, still think they’re spry enough to skateboard. The arrival of DL Skateboards at the Grand Street Bakery means that just might have a fighting chance at looking legit while doing it.

Handmade by Derek and Lauren (the D and L of the brand) in their living room, the boards are inspired by “cruising barefoot, hurricane season, flat spells and The Cramps.” Painted with an old-school ocean wave, a rising sun or classic single stripe, they are ultimately functional art pieces. I’m particularly partial to the pink board (pictured below) because it seldom feels as though female skateboarders get much customized love. In any case, you can check the offerings out in person starting tomorrow, Saturday, September 3rd, when the Bakery will hold a party from 7pm-10pm, with performance by True Ghouls, to celebrate the boards’ arrival.

Since launching in 2008, SUNO—the New York-based womenswear label founded by Max Osterweis and Erin Beatty—has bestowed fashion with a perspective on discordant yet harmonious prints not seen since the pioneering textiles of Sonia Delaunay. Now, the brand has translated its kaleidoscopic aesthetic to eyewear, collaborating with Warby Parker to create five playful and ultimately unisex (see our above sample of Brooklyn residents for evidence) sunglass styles. And for every pair of SUNO + Warby Parker glasses purchased, another pair will be donated to someone in need via non-profit organizations like VisionSpring.

SUNO + Warby Parker sunglasses will be available in early August via the Warby Parker website.

Franco-American artist and photographer Kali Vermès started making terrariums to satisfy both her green thumb and creative impulses with one activity. The microcosms she creates, under the moniker Grow Little, are carefully conceived tiny, verdant worlds. Born in Paris, Kali grew up in an apartment filled with hanging plants. Her Russian photographer grandfather grew pear trees and tended a vegetable garden in his backyard in New Hampshire, and her Norman grandmother was a fervent gardener who always found the time to show off her magnificent plants. Kali began her career as a photographer and has worked with acclaimed artists such as Joel Sternfeld and Robert Wilson. Currently based in Montreuil, just outside of Paris, she curates little landscapes that bring a touch of green whimsy to the everyday.

Sarah Moroz: What incident or visual made you decide to create your first terrarium, and what then made you decide to make a career out of it?

Kali Vermès: I made my first terrarium because I wanted to make something with my hands. I was working on laying out a series of photographs I had shot at The Watermill Center and was having trouble getting this book project off the ground. During my residency at the Center, I had started to associate gardening with taking pictures, so I wanted to return to that. Combining a physical activity with a visual one was thrilling and greatly inspiring. It also stemmed from a need to watch plants grow inside my home, caring for them and protecting them during the hard winter. I was fortunate to be able to show my first terrarium at the Parisian design fair “Maison et Object” in 2010. My work was noticed there and I got some press via The Horti-Culturalist and The Cool Hunter, which started a wave of interest in my terrariums. I was touched and encouraged by the personal emails that were sent to me from around the world.

Sarah: Where do you source your materials?

Kali: My plants come from various sources, from basic nurseries to more specialized ones that have a great variety of succulents. I also find and collect specimens on day trips or weekends in the country. For example, I’ve been using a delicate wild geranium that I collected in a forest outside of Paris and that I now grow in my own little greenhouse. It adapts easily to new environments and enjoys the humidity of a terrarium but can also thrive in drier climates.
My containers are, for the most part, simple glass globes that I find in plant nurseries or in flea markets, but I am already working on designing my own hand-blown versions.

Sarah: How do you decide which glass vessels to pair with the plants?

Kali: I measure the diameter of the glass globes to the size and number of the plants, in order to maintain a harmonious composition and create a miniature landscape.

Sarah: How much does pragmatism override aesthetic, or vice versa, when you’re conceiving the terrariums?

Kali: It’s impossible to avoid compromise, especially with living organisms. They require specific environments that must be met in terms of soil, drainage and climate. It’s unlike composing a bouquet, which is ephemeral.

Sarah: What inspires you — both within the plant world, and beyond?

Kali: I am inspired by microcosms within larger systems, and I like to focus on those little plants that survive in unexpected places. Watching them grow inspires me, and I like seeing how they change. Outside the plant world, I’m inspired by contemporary dance—I’ve always loved Pina Bausch’s choreography, for example. The repetitions and patterns are hypnotizing and enchanting. I also like textile design, for the same reasons, as well as for the tactility and textures.

Sarah: Is there anyone working with plants or terrariums whose work you admire?

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Kali: I admire the stunning suspended plant-artworks created by Fedor van der Valk, as well as the aquaponic installations of Hugo Bonté, a living wall specialist, who created innovative hydroponics indoor farming systems.

Sarah: What’s your favorite green space?

Kali: I like the Old World charm of some gardens like this desuette [antiquated] botanical garden in a 18th-century baroque town I’ve recently been to in Apuglia, where young wild plants were growing beside exotic plants that have been there for many years. Every plant found its place and together comprised a natural unity. I also like places that used to be well-kept gardens but where nature ends up taking over, so there’s a variation between the wild plants and the ones that were intentionally brought there. The Jardin Naturel in the 20th arrondissement in Paris, close to the Père Lachaise Cemetery, is a tiny garden left to its own devices, where new and old plants cohabitate.

Sarah: Your terrariums are called Grow Little—do you have any interest of doing what you do on a bigger scale, like landscaping or even gardening?

Kali: Absolutely. I think the Grow Little terrarium aesthetic can be transposed to a larger scale. Thanks to the success of my terrariums, I’ve been moving in a new direction greening terraces and balconies, and I have recently been asked by the French magazine Elle Decoration to create an ornamental vegetable garden for an upcoming issue. These are confined spaces, much like terrariums, but the advantage is you can walk through them and contemplate them from the inside.

Sarah: You’re also a photographer; how does it compare to think about 3-D terrarium space versus 2-D photographic space?

Kali: When I started making compositions in terrariums, I strangely noticed that photography had a very important component of 3-D in it, because of the depth of field and the composition. Much like when I place plants in a terrarium, I try to place my subject within a frame, manipulating what I want the viewer to see. In my bubble-shaped terrarium, I have to cultivate this instinctive approach from all sides. My experience as a photographer helps me to observe my plant compositions with an exterior eye.

Grow Little specializes in custom orders and creative collaborations. Please send inquiries directly to Kali Vermès at growlittle@gmail.com.

For a Ukranian translation of this interview, click here.

My first recollection of male fragrance as an “alluring” entity was in junior high, in about eighth grade, when the more popular boys started soaking themselves in Drakkar Noir By Guy Laroche, an aggressive, headache-inducing scent. The less cool ones were stuck with their father’s Old Spice—such was the choice cologne of middle-aged, middle-class men at that time. Through a wholly non-empirical survey of American females aged 25 to 35, I have found this experience to be fairy standard. By high school, while we girls championed saccharine body sprays with names like Champagne and Strawberries, the boys had moved on to Davidoff’s Cool Water and Agua di Gio by Giorgio Armani. Today, a whiff of either transports me to a hall locker.

More than ten years later, these men mock their previous uniform of baggy jeans and sports jerseys, topped by a curled Yankees cap, tipped just so, but continue to splash on their adolescent scent. This could be considered a “signature” if any thought was given to its application. Of the minority that have transitioned to a new fragrance, most have entered the explosive arena of celebrity scents, and I have to admit from personal experience that Usher’s self-named fragrance isn’t half bad and Sean Jean Unforgivable is an industry top seller. According to William Andrews of P&G Prestige Beaute, Fragrance Design Team, the lab behind some of the world’s most popular and wearable scents, this is expected, given that “only 8% of fragrance purchases are planned; the rest are impulse buys.” Which means: 1) Whatever is at the front of the store sells. 2) Those nefarious department store spritzers are actually effective.

I had the opportunity to speak with Will at the New York press preview of Gucci Guilty Pour Homme, when he took us through the just-launched fragrance’s developmental steps. Each Gucci fragrance begins with the house’s Creative Director Frida Giannini. Frida creates the concept or “story” of the perfume, which in this case is a “young, fearless [man] with impeccable taste…a hero for our age—exuding charisma and more than a little dangerous. His life may be under his control, but he refuses to exert any restraint over his passions. The spirit of hedonism that this unleashes is intoxicating. His power resides in knowing that power is a game, and he is ready to play this game to the full when he meets his female match.” His “match,” the female version of Gucci Guilty, launched last autumn as “a fragrance for an iconoclast who lives life at full throttle—potent, spirited, unrepentant…[She is] a 21st century beauty who holds all in her thrall, her scent an audacious contemporary creation.” With any fragrance, it is “essential to tell stories,” Will notes, because this is what differentiates the scent in a “highly overcrowded market.” To put a number on this saturation, last year over 1,110 scents were introduced. However, he likens Gucci Guilty to a blockbuster film. “[This is not] a niche perfume—it is epic.” Think Spielberg, rather than Van Sant.

Once Frida has communicated the perfume’s story and aura, the scent construction begins. Fragrance development, Will clarifies, is “not art but design—[it is] art with a defined purpose.” Two to three raw perfumes are formulated, from which Frida ferrets her favorite and refinement commences. A team of trained noses and perfumers work closely with Frida to build a perfume that reflects her vision and brings “the elements of Gucci to life.” This process takes two to three years and one fragrance goes through between 250 and 260 iterations, though a number of these are strictly technical. The slight tweaks of the eaus and essences are what define it as a high quality fragrance. You know this because the first impression of the fragrance is right. It says it all, even as the scent develops with the dry-down.

In the olfactory sense, each ingredient adds a layer to the Gucci Guilty Pour Homme story. Fougère, or fern, is the overarching masculine element that classified prominent perfumes of the ’70s and ’80s, such as Yves Saint Laurent’s notorious YSL Pour Homme, and what Will expresses as “the smell of a well-groomed man.” For Gucci Guilty Pour Homme, the conventional fougère is made contemporary by Italian orange flower. Italian lemon and mandarin, with crushed green leaves, join punchy pink pepper to complete the first impression. In the middle of the scent, lavender—or “the traditional male floral scent”—emerges. Used as early as the 1800s by French barbers for both its aromatic and herbal assets, it holds an iconic place in the fragrance arena. Here, it is joined by orange flower and neroli, both of which speak to Gucci’s Mediterranean origins. Finally, patchouli, the hallmark of all Gucci fragrances and a favorite of Frida’s, fuses with cedar and the profoundly manly sandalwood.

The resulting Gucci Guilty Pour Homme is a boundary-breaking male fragrance because it could not have been made 20 or 30 years ago. It pushes the edge of feminine while remaining resolutely masculine, just like the tastemakers of today who aren’t confined by conventions or expectations. Gucci Guilty Pour Homme, Will reiterates, “is about an individual’s guilty pleasures. It is for a daring thrill seeker and risk taker who craves experiences. He is a seducer and provocateur who is also sensitive to women.” This is a far cry and welcome evolution from those teenage days of aftershave and musky garages.

Makeup (Left): Giorgio Armani Lasting Silk UV Foundation, Face Fabric and Eyes to Kill. Dior Impact in Trendy Taupe.
(Right) MAC Paint Pot in Blackground.

Photography by Charli Ljung
Makeup by Mayumi
Handmade wigs by Takayuki
Model: Vania at Ford Models Europe

Mac Paint Pot in Blackground and Eyeshadow in Carbon. Make Up Forever Glitter in Multicolored Silver 13.

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Mac Paint Pot in Blackground and Eyeshadow in Carbon.

NARS Lipstick in Jungle Red

(Left) Lancôme Le Crayon in Khol 01. DIOR 5 Couleur Designer Eyeshadow in Smoky Design. (Right) MAC Paint Pot in Blackground.

26-year-old Arielle de Pinto’s chainmail silver and vermeil jewelry has an otherworldly quality. Whether it’s the at-once-elegant-and-decayed cascading necklaces and gloves from her main line or the cleverly abstracted stainless silver figurine rings from her diffusion line, ADP, the Montreal-based designer’s jewelry transports one to another time and place; a time and place more mystical, dark and humorous than our own. This Friday (today) at Italy’s Vicenza Oro, the world’s leading exhibition of fine gold and silver jewelry, de Pinto’s eerie woven masks will make their big screen debut in an exhibition curated by Diane Pernet.

Titled Who’s Afraid?, the exhibition features a film collaboration between de Pinto and the LA-based boutique and magazine THVM Atelier. Directed by Nicholas Trikonis, the film features a group of Puritanically clad children playing in a serene wood, their sweet faces covered by de Pinto’s woven creations. The pagan-tinted short merges old and new world sentiments and brings de Pinto’s artful masks to life. “I feel as though the masks transform the children into creatures,” says de Pinto of the film. “THVM did a beautiful job. They really put in their all,” added the pleased designer. “And Diane has been a supporter since the beginning. She’s really dedicated to young designers and she’s just so great!” Judging by the film, which will be shown alongside a selection of other jewelry-centric shorts during Friday’s event, Diane’s project is indeed “great,” as is the film, which you can view in its entirety above.

Vicenza Oro is located in Vicenza, Italy at the Fiera di Vicenza Spa (via dell’Oreficeria, 16 – 36100 Vicenza) and runs from May 20th-May 24th.