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JONATHAN VELARDI
Arts, Culture & Lifestyle Writer
Sample Portfolio | Lifestyle
Serif vs Sans Serif | 2014
Published by Ohh Deer
To serif or sans serif, that is the question - a typographic crux that has tormented creatives
from the days of the stylus through to our present digital generation. Everyday font wars play
out on products and 'propaganda', each one battling for attention; for a moment of our
appreciation or disdain. The weight on the shoulders of designers and illustrators is palpable
at the prospect of briefs for dynamic logos and brand identities that require packing in their
clients’ heritage or contemporary traits - or both as is often the case - into one slick gesture of
typographical embodiment. Before even thinking about axes, baselines, caps or kerning,
there is the not so small detail of which font to use. Who's already picked up on the use of
Ohh Deer’s Lucinda Grande for this blog? In an age of online publishing, the signifiers we
emit to the critical eyes of the World Wide Web not only include the content of our 140character soliloquies or snap-happy selfies but also critique towards our taste of not what our
words say, but how they look.
Before computers there was
the printing press and before
that there was the trained
hand. Give me a quill today
and I’d probably serif the life
out of every letter and
punctuation mark on the page
with enough flourishes to
make
the Rococo
period
blush. The bygone signifiers
of one’s own character
through means of skill and
technique,
such
as
calligraphy,
possess
a
potency equal to today’s
concern for identity through the codes of computer-based platforms that favour the modernist
lines of sans serif. There is no doubting my personal online persona as a writer and artist
drags the quill to trash as quickly as you can say ‘Baroque’. I confess I am not one for
typographic technicality and wouldn’t consider myself the 'font of knowledge' on the matter,
but I’m fully aware of the loaded symbolism fonts bear, which result in an almost narcissistic
approach when deciding how and what you want to project of yourself with or without a
‘projection’ on your Ps and Qs. Are you a traditionalist, a hipster, or an ironic hipster who rolls
with the classics? These labels are enough to give anyone a headache à la ‘Curlz’.
We need only look at the furore typeface commands across all aspects of society to
understand its cultural significance. Take Internet giant Yahoo! who replaced its whimsical
serif logo, which had gone through slight modifications since its conception in 1995, with a
thinner, sans serif style that unimpressed Silicon Valley as well as the global online
community. In 2012, loyal followers of fashion reacted unglamorously to the decisions of
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1 newly appointed designer Hedi Slimane at the house of Yves Saint Laurent, who was to not
only drop the ‘Yves’ in the luxury brand’s name, but replace the established italicised logo
with a contemporary and bold Helvetica-inspired typeface. Then we have the font trendsetter,
film director Wes Anderson, who has earned a cult following for both his meticulous visuals as
well as his use of the early 20th century typeface Futura, showcased in his 2001 indie
masterpiece, The Royal Tenenbaums. Arguably one of the most famous tastemakers of the
21st century, Anderson’s ritual of giving each of his onscreen characters personalised
stationery has created memorable close-ups of beautifully considered fonts that now flood the
pages of Pinterest and Tumblr with similar geometric sans serif styles in homage. Look out for
new font on the block ‘Archer’, a blocky serif font, which Anderson has picked for his latest
creation, ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ which will be released later this year.
Japanese design studio TYPE takes the ‘what does your font say about you’ question to new
levels this year with the launch of an eyewear collection directly inspired by typeface.
Spectacle arms take on Helvetica’s solid sans serif design while the accents from
the Garamond family are incorporated onto the bridge of a classic keyhole frame. Each
product is available in light, regular and bold styles and will undoubtedly be popular with those
in the design crowd who wish to wear their typographical allegiance with pride. To serif or
sans serif - where does your loyalty lie?
Image: TYPE 2014
Hello My Name Is Paul Smith | 2013
Published by Ohh Deer
If there was a soundtrack to the Design Museum’s latest exhibition, dedicated to the fashion
designer Paul Smith, it would have to be the whimsical melody of Willy Wonka-hit, ‘Pure
Imagination’. Hello My Name Is Paul Smith is an invitation into the mind of the
celebrated British designer through a Wonka-esque journey of creation, inspiration and
collaboration. Spanning a career of nearly forty years, the exhibition is a colourful display of
not only Paul Smith the brand, but also Sir Paul Smith the man. Visitors are welcomed into
the exhibition by a giant post-it note inscribed by Smith that reads 'EVERYDAY IS A NEW
BEGINNING' – a befitting mantra for the sixty-seven year old designer who has built his
namesake label from its humble beginnings in Nottingham to a leading global operation. From
the re-creation of Smith’s first shop in Byard Lane, Nottingham – all three metres squared of it
– to the chaotic installation of the designer’s personal office swamped in knick-knacks, and
lifted from its Covent Garden headquarters in London.
Hello My Name Is Paul Smith is an intimate
portrait of an avid collector with a penchant for
pink, who thrives on the sublime and the
ridiculous in equal measure. A gallery of framed
images are hung floor to ceiling to portray Smith’s
wonderfully broad landscape of stimulation. Fine
art
prints
by Patrick
Caulfield and Damien
Hirst hang next to flea market finds and graphic
posters from around the world, which in turn
neighbour the designer’s personal photographs,
such as shots of fashion campaigns from over the
years.
“Classic
with
a
twist”
is
how Smith succinctly
describes
the Paul
Smith brand
that
arguably
epitomises
quintessential Britishness through eccentric
detailing, which is found in his menswear and
womenswear collections. Swatches of vintage chintz, florals, silks, velvets and wool are
showcased in a kaleidoscopic studio installation inspired by art, design, history and
travel. Smith was one of very few designers who understood lifestyle branding at conception,
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2 developing the brand’s identity through various collaborations that are revealed throughout
the exhibition in the shape of four-wheels, two-wheels, carpets and even condiments.
In a recent interview with television presenter Alan Yentob on BBC’s The Culture
Show, Smith places himself “between Savile Row and Mr Bean” – an analogy that
encapsulates the attention of both traditional craftsmanship with the playfulness of pattern
that has earned the label international popularity, not to mention the designer’s very own cult
following. For, what Mr Bean is to Germany, Smith is to Japan. The designer is a fashion rock
star amongst his Japanese clientele; a country that he was able to explore boundaries in with
both denim production as well as large scale architectural masterpieces for his retail outlets.
The latter is one of many early disciplines Smith pioneered amongst his counterparts in the
fashion industry. Paul Smith flagships around the world command architectural pilgrimages,
as do their interiors that remain curated down to the very last detail by the designer himself.
From Nottingham to Nippon, the exhibition is an inspiring journey into Smith’s boundless
vision. If it’s taken nearly forty years to say ‘hello’, this exhibition is really only just the
beginning of getting to know the one and only, Sir Paul Smith.
Hello My Name Is Paul Smith runs to 9th March 2014 at the Design Museum, Shad Thames,
London SE1 2YD.
Image: Paul Smith 2013
Outside The Lines | 2013
Published by Ohh Deer
‘Keep within the lines’ is one of those phrases we become familiar with when we’re all
grownup. It usually signifies a reluctance to squish the elaborate signature we’ve been
perfecting on A4-scale since childhood. This skill lets us fit ourselves into an (inadequate)
space on forms and certifies our status as part of adult-dom. Bore. Big kids need fear no
more the reality of precariously navigating the nib of their pen in confined spaces thanks to a
new publication, Outside the Lines: An Artists’ Colouring Book for Giant Imaginations.
Featuring over 100 black and white drawings, Author Souris Hong-Porretta brings together
celebrated international talent from the creative worlds of animation, illustration, fine,
contemporary, graphic and street art as well as photography, music and video gaming to
contribute to this grownup colouring book.
Conceptual designs range from the iconic bold
aesthetic of Keith Haring to his contemporary
counterparts such as Ryan McGinness, Steven
Harrington, Shepard Fairey, Katsuo Design and AIKO.
The work of these artists makes up the eclectic mix of
content in this book, which ranges from traditional to
graphic styles, past and present. White cube
cognoscenti, animation aficionados, graffiti junkies
and culture vultures will all enjoy interacting with the
established artists on the page to produce their very
own collaborative works of art. With plenty of space to
customise and colour as well as the reverse of each
side left blank, this colouring book will have you
quickly reverting to your childhood ways, and you'll be
proudly pinning your work to the fridge in no time.
With the line between institutional and alternative
platforms ever-blurring, Outside the Lines functions as
an accessible outlet for contemporary art, letting it reach beyond conventional audiences to a
greater, more unassuming readership. As with the rise of graffiti and street art as an accepted
art form within the commercial world, this publication is much more than a colouring book –
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3 offering a narrative of art education without the use of words. It comes as no surprise that
Author and Curator, Souris Hong-Porretta is based in Los Angeles - home of the art billboard
- as the city has successfully carved a name for itself on the art map with the introduction of
several outlets for major public art away from institutional confines.
Whether a gift for a fellow culture comrade or an escape from the big bad world of rules and
regiment, Outside the Lines is guaranteed to appeal to all big kids. In the same way as riding
a bike, you never forget how to colour in, and you always remember how much fun it was to
let your imagination run wild. The hardest thing will be digging out your old crayons and
markers – once they’re found, your fridge will become unrecognisable.
Outside the Lines: An Artists’ Colouring Book for Giant Imaginations, curated by Souris HongPorretta, is published by Penguin Group.
Image: Penguin Group 2013
Interior Confidence | 2013
Winter may have decided to overstay its welcome, however in a corner of High Wycombe in
Buckinghamshire, a furniture showroom is in full bloom, bursting with kaleidoscopic colour.
Last weekend I travelled to the market town that was once the chair making capital of the
world and epicentre of British furniture making throughout the nineteenth-century to visit Out
of the Dark, a charitable social enterprise that recycles, restores and redecorates salvaged
furniture. Founded by Jay and Jade Blades in 2010 as an extension to their already
successful charitable programme Street Dreams, Out of the Dark is a practical resource for
disadvantaged and disengaged young people in the local community to engage with skills
training and business within a creative environment. I had discovered the enterprise on
Twitter last year and after following their work online I was very excited to finally see it with
my own eyes.
Few traces of High Wycombe’s furniture past exist today with only a handful of workshops still
in production on the Abercromby Works industrial estate where Out of the Dark is based. In
contrast to their dark wood counterparts, the bright white showroom at Out of the Dark HQ
stages a euphoric collection of mid-century pieces - from Avalon, Mackintosh and Bucksbased firms Ercol, G-Plan and Parker Knoll – that have been either donated or
salvaged. Colour-comrades will be in their element amongst the colour blocking aesthetic the
enterprise has adopted in a zany Georgian palette of duck egg blue and arsenic green paired
with canary yellow and fuchsia that accent as well as readdress the craft of forgotten furniture
in an unashamed era of finite flat packs. For one-off warriors, the only duplicates you will find
here are furniture sets and even then, legs of chairs or tables will be given their individual
stroke of colour. My personal favourites were candelabras made from wooden lamp stands,
ideal for eco-friendly romantics, and when clustered together make quite the grand statement.
In the equally colourful workshop below, Jay kindly gave me a tour of the different
workstations where his young apprentices learn and master a range of skills from wood
planing to Danish cord weaving and even caning; the lost art of rattan vine decoration which
is currently being taught by a ninety-one-year-old local caner. Dashing from wall to wall to
show me the library of books and how-to manuals it was clear to see from Jay’s own
enthusiasm why the current group of young people, aged between fourteen to eighteenyears-old, are so actively involved in something which they do in their free time between
school or being out on the streets. He continued to explain why colour blocking was favoured
above more on-trend styles such as vintage or shabby chic; the latter being easily achieved
with a lick of paint and a lacklustre sand down, while the former demands commitment and
crisp execution – sanding, stripping then multiple coats of paint followed by several layers of
varnish – to produce the smooth finish of concentrated colour.
On a psychological level this process encourages confidence and commands respect; the
respect the piece of furniture as commodity deserves by the apprentice as well as the respect
earned by the apprentice through achievement. Working on three to four pieces at a time,
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4 they will see each piece through from beginning to end and witness its journey upstairs in the
showroom to when it is bought and taken away to a new home. I don’t know any better feeling
of satisfaction than that. Emily, one of the more experienced young people, was not alien to
satisfaction. The G-Plan chest of drawers she was currently working on was one in a long line
of memorable achievements she modestly described. Having worked at Out of the Dark since
she was fourteen-years-old, Emily explained how she had known nothing about furniture
before and now finds herself giving once-overs to friends’ living rooms. Considering a career
as a tattoo artist, Emily is a testament to Out of the Dark’s disciplinary formula that
subsequently fosters new directions for the enterprise to explore. She recently launched an
initiative to incorporate hand-drawn elements inspired by her interest in tattoo art on the
furniture and invited other female graffiti artists to work on panels on larger pieces to create
both unique and functional works of art.
It was a pleasure meeting
Emily,
Jay,
Jade
and
everyone at Out of the Dark
over the weekend. Exploring
the workshop brought me
back to my art school days
and the invincibility of knowing
when you have a good thing
going - only, I was much less
confident with colour. Riding
the waves of upcycling and
sustainability as well as the
resurgence
of
personal
expression in the home that
was
documented
by
celebrated
British
artist
Grayson Perry last year, Out
of the Dark not only appeals to
young design-conscious customers but also to those who remember these classic pieces
from conception. A group from the Women’s Institute in Bourne End who preceded my visit
exemplified this very concept of nostalgic clientele who have not lost their desire for
personality in their home amid a commercial market that offers very little to discerning seniors
other than mahogany and magnolia. While it may not be to the taste of design purists, with
several private commissions in the workshop awaiting only restoration, makeovers are not the
only thing the enterprise is about. In as much as Jay and Jade nurture the inner and outer
confidence of young people who don an overall with growing pride and give new life to design
classics, Out of the Dark entices customers to rediscover their confidence and potential for
minor or major doses of eccentricity within the four walls of their own home through colour,
style or a spruce up, and all for a great cause.
Ever in demand from exhibiting fairs nationwide to the pages of The Financial Times How To
Spend It luxury supplement magazine, it seems this kind of confidence is contagious.
Londoners can find the Out of the Dark team running a workshop during Fabrications
London later this month and in the West County, at the exhibition Furniture as Art in Bath
between 25th April - 4th May. The showroom is open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays
10am - 5pm or by appointment.
Image: Jonathan Velardi 2013
Luxury For The Senses | 2012
This weekend sees the closing of the celebrated exhibition Leather Forever by French luxury
house Hermès. I paid a visit to Burlington Gardens in London to explore a material that
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5 remains the house’s ‘noblest conquest’. If a brand was human, leather would be its skin and
Hermès would be the top model of them all – charting the history of six generations up to the
present Dumas family member Pierre-Alexis, who is artistic director, the story of Hermès is
rich in style as well as substance.
Greeted by a specially commissioned leather-lined Citroën 2CV to mark the automobile
company’s 60th anniversary in 2008, the message that visitors would be taken on a journey
could not have been more clear. Up the stairs and past the unassuming marble statue
(Kelly bag under her arm), the exhibition consists of twelve interactive rooms that have been
exquisitely designed by Alexandra Plat and created by Speeg Michel and Sigmasix. From the
library of supple and exotic hides hung from pulley systems to the multimedia installation of
the house’s signature orange boxes piled high adjacent to two leather craftsmen from the
Pantin studios in France, surrounded by their customised tools and threads - if the first two
rooms were anything to go by this was not to be any old retrospective.
For anyone who receives the Hermès newsletter or visits the World of Hermès, you will
already know creativity with a dash of wit are the key ingredients that keep this brand young
and fresh. Between the vitrines of leather goods from the house’s archives and private loans
– my favourite being the large bespoke artist’s portfolio – one is walking through a horseshow
on white sand in one
room and through a
curtain of leather piping
the next; an incredible
digital display projects
the motions of stitching
and hardware on a
series of leather bags
and clutches, followed
by the final products in
all their glory set in a
wondrous nomadic popup tent with jet set
trunks and luggage,
immersed
in
that
trademark orange light.
Subtle and discreet as is the brand, Leather Forever is an incroyable presentation of how to
make an exhibition of one of the world’s most expensive luxury brands – free from brash
logos – exciting, as well as accessible. Colour, texture and the perfume that is leather make
this an exhibition for the senses and it is evident the same attention to detail curatorially has
been directly inspired by the heritage of craft and execution that is simply Hermès. This very
execution par excellence features in the final room where four one-of-a-kind PasseGuide bags have been created to represent England, Ireland, Scotland and
Wales. Christie’s are currently conducting an online auction that will end on 31st May 2012
with all proceeds donated to the Royal Academy of Arts.
th
th
Leather Forever runs from 8 to 27 May 2012 at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Image: Hermès International S.A. 2012
Money Maker | 2012
The eyes of the Art world and the pen nibs of the critics were focused on London at the
beginning of the week for the anticipated retrospective of Damien Hirst at Tate Modern,
London. What is the first extensive survey of the artist's work in a British institution, the
opening of the exhibition reflected the gravitas that Hirst now commands. Not only has the
Tate chosen Hirst to occupy their summer 2012 slot - during the height of the country's Royal
Diamond Jubilee and Olympic celebrations that will be visited by hundreds of millions around
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6 the world - the artist gave a primetime television interview of the exhibition on a national
network station, inviting some of the most expensive works of contemporary art into the living
rooms of millions across the country. While I challenge anyone to compete with the
accessibility of contemporary art that is unquestionably being pioneered by Britain, as well
as Channel 4, the network behind the interview (whose choice of presenter in personality
Noel Fielding was not to everyone's liking - queue The Sunday Times art critic Waldemar
Januszczak who received a tirade of abuse from Fielding fans on Twitter), the element of
media attention is precisely how Hirst has risen to his position today, through tabloid hysteria
of formaldehyde, sharks and front page Doctor Death attributes created by red-top giant The
Sun back in the nineties.
After David Hockney's criticism of Hirst's 'factory' practice earlier in the year, die-hard
traditionalist critics and commentators, probably Sunday painters themselves who could only
dream of a team of skilled assistants, dived into several debates around conartists, frauds and obviously the dirty word of money. Money (in its millions) is a word seldom
detached from a sentence with the words Damien and Hirst in them. After the artist's historic
Sotheby's sale in 2008 and creation of the world's most expensive work of art in the form of
an eight thousand, six hundred and one diamond encrusted human skull, costing fourteen
million pounds, it's not difficult to understand why. Hirst himself simply justifies his millionpound-mediums as materials that were accessible to him at the time. Can one really argue
with that? With every critic denouncing Hirst's content and mainstream ventures such as his
commercial arm, Other Criteria, and even the factory transparency now for all to see
at damienhirst.com, there is also equal praise of genius and icon that places Hirst at the top
of contemporary British art. On the markets, a Hirst is reportedly selling for less than in 2008
but who is to say a renaissance is not around the corner. Hirst is ultimately a living brand, a
brand that competes with renowned trademarks such as Warhol or Haring, directed by their
posthumous foundations. Hirst is forty-six years old, has reportedly returned to painting by
hand (The Devil's In The Detail, October 2009) and is unlikely to retire to the Devon
countryside just yet. While this is not the
beginning, illustrated in the way the artist
cringe's at his first exploration of colour on
kitchenware when an art student during
the televised interview, it is certainly not
the end for brand Damien Hirst.
Nowadays not even the exhibition gift
shop is saved from scrutiny - with limited
edition Hallucinatory
Head spin-painted
skulls on sale for no less than thirty-six
thousand, eight-hundred pounds it's
unsurprising this souvenir made a fair few
inches of newsprint this week. I myself
love a good gift shop and I am fascinated
how pencils and rubbers are not enough
to cater for the cultural caché that gallerygoers now demand. Here are a few of my
favourite, albeit reasonably priced, items
from Damien Hirst at Tate Modern:
Magnet set (£9.95), Pill scarf (£125.00), Beautiful Amore umbrella (£39.95) and The
Incomplete Truth anamorphic cup and saucer (£12.50).
Image: Other Criteria, Tate 2012
In The Meguro Mood | 2012
Whether you like it highlife in a fifty-third floor suite, like it down low upon a tatami mat in a
ryokan or if you're a die-hard when-in-Rome traveler and do as they do in a capsule hotel,
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7 then Japan offers all of this and much,
much more - hotel slippers inclusive across the country. When I was in Tokyo
last year I wanted to check into a hotel I
had read a lot about in design
publications. CLASKA is an eighteenroom boutique hotel housed in a
converted seventies high-rise located in
the trendy Meguro district scattered with
interior design shops and studios. While
the hotel's seventies' history remains on
the exterior, clad in a patchwork of eraspecific earthy tones, the interior is a
creative manifesto - "question Japanese
aesthetic…
through
exploring
the
'ordinary life' of Japan" - that mirrors its neighbourhood surroundings, presenting three
traditional tatami-style rooms, twelve western-style rooms and most intriguingly, three D.I.Y.
rooms commissioned by young artists and designers to create conceptual themes on the
seventh floor. My curiosity got the better of me and debating between ‘Pajama’ and ‘Scar’, I
booked myself into Room 701 – ‘Someone's Atelier’ - designed by Norihiko Terayama. The
organic arrangement of framed flowers and wooden workshop-esque desk made for a simple,
yet functional room with a great high rise view of Meguro and an unsurprising attention to
detail such as the custom key fobs which are unique to all D.I.Y. rooms.
While I could have spent my whole time exploring my room, more eccentricities were to be
found throughout the hotel: Mixroom was only outside my door on the same floor and is run
by designer Kaname Okajima who produces alternative gifts for the home and accessories;
on the floor above, the 8th Gallery is a large space with a rolling exhibition programme of art
and events and the commercial Gallery and Shop DO located on the second floor offers a
selection of contemporary Japanese products and exhibits artists' handicraft who conform to
the beautiful aesthetic of the hotel and its mission of innovation and design. Now a successful
concept brand, Shop DO may be found downtown in PARCO Shibuya department store and
in Osaka. A great item produced by the hotel is a bilingual city guide - Tokyo By Tokyo - that
has been composed by some of Tokyo's most creative characters, all of whom offer an
alternative guide and a plethora of hidden gems, district-by-district throughout the city, with
titles from ‘lavish toilets’ to ‘bars and clubs that know how to party’.
The full glass lobby looks out onto the
buzzing neighbourhood and houses the
hotel's cool Kiokuh lounge bar and
restaurant which makes for a great spot to
see and be seen in both day and night, as
well as DogMan, the in-house dog salon
for perfect little pooches pampered by
their equally perfect beauticians. The
rooftop terrace is a glorious deck that
looks across the sprawling city and while
Meguro is not considered central to any
tourist
attractions,
the
scene
in
neighbouring Daikanyama,
south
of
Shibuya, is not to be missed. One of
Tokyo's über hip enclaves, Daikanyama is
where the yuppies set up home, with
boutique shops and restaurants pitching up in bespoke architectural creations on a small yet
impressive scale in keeping with the village-vibe of the area. Enjoy the tree-lined pavements
and take a lunch break at Caffé Michelangelo, a Daikanyama-classic.
If you need to head out to the bright lights you will not be disappointed on your walk from the
hotel to Gakugei-Daigaku station which will take you straight into Shibuya. A ten-minute walk
through meandering narrow streets will bring you to a brilliant bohemian market of healthy
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8 delis and convenient stores that make for a great example of everyday life in the city. The
creative thread clearly runs deep in the area - don't miss Baden Baden, Maison romiuni and Good Fortune Factory, a selection of creative hotspots of style and for the stomach,
tucked away en route. I had a great time at CLASKA - its style and service were both
exceptional, a rare balance in an affordable bracket. CLASKA is the ideal hotel if you've
already hit the tourist trail and are in the mood for a taste of stylish Tokyo through a bohemian
lens. If that alone doesn't sell it to you, I don't know what will.
Images: Jonathan Velardi 2011
Sex, Drugs n’ Fish & Chips | 2011
The Reading Rooms at the V&A began the run up to London Fashion Week and celebrated
Vogue’s annual Fashion Night Out on Thursday evening with an intimate talk by author and
first men’s editor at Vogue, Geoffrey Aquilina Ross. Appropriately held in the library at this
V&A outpost, surrounded by coffee table books and catalogues from the worlds of art, design
and fashion, Aquilina Ross began his introduction of his new book, The Day of the Peacock:
Style for Men 1963-1973 with a title bestowed on him in recent years, “… they call me a
veteran editor”.
While no more in the fashion mix, Aquilina Ross went from fish & chip shop to the inner
sanctum of Mr Fish during the swinging Sixties – a career path that one can only imagine
today from an era that certainly deserves the veteran status – and he amuses at the title as if
the decade of sex, drugs and rock n’ roll was a war which he survived and is able to tell the
tale. Many unfortunately are not. The Sixties proved to be a curious time of social shifts.
When straight-laced boys from the King’s Road joined the punk rock youth of Carnaby Street
to meet at a sartorial crossroad on Savile Row. The banker, the rock star and the dandy
developed a market within the fashion world that had showed very little interest for the male
consumer in the past. The cut of your cloth was just as important as the tailor cutting it and as
popularity grew thanks to icons such as Cecil Beaton, Mick Jagger and Peter Lichfield, the
shifts towards men’s fashion throughout the decade saw the limitations of bespoke transform
into off the rail production, providing male identity to the masses.
The Day of the Peacock: Style for Men 1963-1973 travels from Granny Takes A Trip to Mr
Fish, as well as everything in between, and charts the Vogue editor’s shoots with legendary
photographer David Bailey of the movers and shakers from a decade that pioneered male
expression through cuffs, hems and lapels.
The Day of the Peacock: Style for Men 1963-1973 is published by The Victoria & Albert
Museum.
The Good Times Are Bach | 2010
Cars, chicks and money have hardly been at the forefront of our minds when the words of
recession ring fervently like an unwanted mantra. But if the luxury goods market is anything to
go by, the economic barometer just notched up a few levels to read ‘the good ol' days’.
Surrealist director and photographer, David LaChapelle commented on our broken
aspirations, and cars, at Art Basel Miami last year with his exhibition, Cars and Money.
His is new collaboration may be in the same vein but speaks a very different message.
Behold the Maybach Zeppelin, a half a million pound sedan born from the automotive dynasty
Daimler that was rumoured to have considered killing the brand due to slow sales in 2008.
But with its concept launch at the Geneva Motor Show last year, Maybach has launched the
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9 Zeppelin's advertising campaigns,
shot by LaChapelle, which features
another dynastic icon - and
conveniently
haute-lifestyleconnoisseur - Daphne Guinness.
The two-part campaign features the
original 1931 Zeppelin DS 8, set in a
Gatsby-esque tableaux, and the
new mammoth sedan in the other,
that centres Guinness in both time
frames as a symbol of bridging the
past with the present, as she is well
known for doing with her own
personal style. But is it too soon to
return
to
our
unashamedly
ostentatious ways? Could we be seeing the Zeppelin seductively placed in the music videos
of young rappers again? If the Maybach is back, then maybe the good times are not as far
away as we thought.
Image: Daimler AG 2010
This Sample Portfolio is regularly updated – please download the latest Lifestyle copy at
jonathanvelardi.com/writing
Jonathan is available for articles and reviews on contemporary art, design, fashion, lifestyle,
travel, profile and events – no subject is out of bounds and challenging briefs are very
welcome.
Lifestyle
Jonathan Velardi | jonathanvelardi.com/writing
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