This is an exceptionally good article: http://www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/11476/cover-story-riccardo-tisci-burberry-interview-susannah-frankel-2019. Fashion pages often celebrate iconoclasm and there is a pretty steady drumbeat of distaste for established order and old things. I have noted before how bizarre this attitude is since mostly what people love are heritage brands, typically with national tones. There is also a surprising…
My use of Lacan and de Tocqueville to explore a bit the moral dynamics of HBO’s stylish family drama Succession: French Eyes on HBO’s Succession
Separated by centuries, nonetheless the two Englishmen agree. Speaking about Apple products, Apple’s chief of design says: “I believe that human beings sense care in the same way as we sense carelessness.” Here Jony Ive invokes Shaftesbury’s idea of value tones. Objects are constellations of discrete, discernible value qualities combined with symmetry. Care is such…
Russell Brand is a true intellectual, I make the case here: https://www.lawliberty.org/2018/10/25/russell-rebrand/
A long and interesting article about Gucci’s chief creative, Alessandro Michele (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/t-magazine/alessandro-michele-gucci-interview), documents the continuing relevance of the liberal arts. As explored in V&R, Chapter 1, Hume argues that the engine of commerce is the refinement of the arts & sciences yet one hears all the time that the liberal arts are moribund. A…
Over at Law and Liberty I have a new post on geopolitics. It’s a review of the latest book by Robert D. Kaplan: https://www.lawliberty.org/2018/10/01/american-power-in-a-medieval-world/. His books are always excellent and offer “big picture” analysis of major world trends. Kaplan is extremely well-read but also has his “nose to the ground” and so combines understanding…
Instagram is a “best foot forward” platform. It’s a digital space for people to showcase their best selves. Hume would love it! Pope Francis also seems to be keen (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/25/technology/instagram-celebrities-cultural-powerhouse.html?). Inspired by the “best version of your self” idea, Francis has an Instagram post where he declares: “It’s good not to do evil. …
I am just back from the magnificent “Heavenly Bodies” exhibition in New York. The exhibition is a respectful and fascinating exploration of the influence of Catholicism on fashion designers. I highly recommend. For me, I literally laughed when I noticed a bit of papal subversion. One hears all the time about fashion subverting the…
A book doing the rounds in France is causing a stir in fashion circles (https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/sep/02/academic-exposing-ugly-reality-high-fashion-giulia-mensitieri). We have to hope that anthropologist Giulia Mensitieri’s book makes it into English (if not, I’ll give it a crack in the original and try to give my take on it). Happily, the account in The Guardian is full…
Here is Alan Lee again, and what a marvellous comment it is: “My preference is for working in analogue – charcoal, pencils and watercolour; I like the organic and tactile nature of pigments, burnt wood and water, and the sense of working within a tradition. I enjoy the extra possibilities and effects offered by…