A Magazine #9 : Curated by Proenza Schouler

[BerlinRocks]

This is the issue P&S were supposed to curate ...

On the cover Chloé Sevigny.

No additional information, sorry !

- A Magazine on FB -

 

[BerlinRocks]

additional information from A Magazine twitter :

Bruce Weber interviewed in A curated by Proenza Schouler by the boyz themselves?...

 

[Scott]

that's what was said on the web site. i highly doubt it would be anyone other than they specifically since A is about direct curating.

i wish A would have got a.f. vandevorst(shockingly they have yet to do one) or boudicca designers zowie and brian to curate. at least it would have stayed in that spirit of A. PS.....a very commercial direction for them,imo.

 

[BerlinRocks]

^yeah yeah it's curated by P&S ...

no idea why i wrote "supposed to" ...

 

[j'adorekapusta]

um i expect this issue to get some serious critics for the curators chosen.
but who knows, maybe the guys can come up with some good stuff.
what i wonder is if the magazine wanted to appeal to American audience, why haven't they chosen the Rodarte girls or Rick Owens? Proenza Schouler guys seriously don't seem to be the same level as previous curators.
thanks for the info, BerlinRocks

 

[MulletProof]

the cover is actually quite good.. striking.. and, kind of sugary for A standards actually.
such a bizarre decision.. I agree even the Rodarte girls would've made this a little more tolerable, and I really dislike their body of work.

thanks for posting, berlin!

 

[Scott]

exactly j'adorekapusta. if that is their intention they could and should have got rodarte or rick owens...or even threeasfour!

mullet,at least the rodarte girls would have gave it some vision. they have interesting tastes and influences.

 

[j'adorekapusta]

^ absolutely! i believe their work is very much visually-driven with all the references they bring into their designs. would've made an interesting compilation of imagery, don't you think?
and Owens' obsession with dark side of things, exploring human's sexuality, humbleness and self-destruction. oh, i would die for an issue like this.

 

[mikel]

Only the cover is posted and everyone just assume that the contents will be very bad. What suggests that the contents will be bad? P&S may not be avant garde cutting edge designers but they are certainly a nice duo with an interesting aestetic. So I won't jump to conclusions and will not judge the unsees content.

The cover looks good.

And besides can you blame a small independent mag to go a bit more commercial in these hard times?

 

[Scott]

^thing is,A is not some conde nastie pub...it's an art fashion magazine whose concepts are more visually paved.

for me it's the same as asking marc jacobs to curate. just a real banal move,imo. but i understand too. they need the revenue to continue making it so they need to make a bit more attractive to sell it.

i still would have loved to see what an and filip could have done. with their love of military,horses,ecclesiastical,old world sensuality and elegance....could have been incredibly powerful and poetic.

 

[mikel]

I understand your point and I defenitely see that it's not some conde nastie pub. But who's to say P&S can't come up 'more visually paved' content? Just because they are an American brand, because I feel that if P&S were Parisian designers the sentiments towards them would have been very different.

 

[MulletProof]

In my case, it has nothing with nationality, Scott already mentioned wonderful [American] figures that would've been a more suitable alternative, like threeasfour.. Rick Owens.. Matthew Ames.. they all have such strong concepts that don't seem too susceptible to trends or celebrity culture in order to gain some appreciation and engage observers.. and I really admire them for that.. I always associated A with creators (not just designers) that are able to put integrity and vision as a top priority.

 

[Scott]

yeah i don't know how the american bit got mixed up there. it's got nothing at all to do with that. it's the approach in design...the creativity. PS isn't like any of those i mentioned. and there are plenty of creatives in america for certain.

btw,i know i said i understand the direction but does any one really believe it will actually work if it is the case? i mean A is very niche and independent so it's not as if they have the kind of turn-around like the supermarket selection. not even the kind of circulation another,i-D or D&C get.

 

[wheneveriwakeup]

Proenza Schouler? Strange..
Are they even relevant in terms of creativity these days? Their collections are hardly memorable or inspiring in the slightest....

The cover lacks soul....
It's probably Chloe... she is stagnation in the flesh, imo...

 

[mikel]

yeah i don't know how the american bit got mixed up there. it's got nothing at all to do with that. it's the approach in design...the creativity. PS isn't like any of those i mentioned. and there are plenty of creatives in america for certain.

btw,i know i said i understand the direction but does any one really believe it will actually work if it is the case? i mean A is very niche and independent so it's not as if they have the kind of turn-around like the supermarket selection. not even the kind of circulation another,i-D or D&C get.

In my case, it has nothing with nationality, Scott already mentioned wonderful [American] figures that would've been a more suitable alternative, like threeasfour.. Rick Owens.. Matthew Ames.. they all have such strong concepts that don't seem too susceptible to trends or celebrity culture in order to gain some appreciation and engage observers.. and I really admire them for that.. I always associated A with creators (not just designers) that are able to put integrity and vision as a top priority.

All valid points. But why expect the worst? I still think the negative sentiments are unnecassary when not a single thing about the contents are known. And it's not like P&S are Dsquared or something.

 

[Dieselmax]

Richard Burbridge shot Chloë for the cover

 

[cesarcmma]

A Magazine #9 Chloë Sevigny by ¿? - Curated by Proenza Schouler

source | nytimes.com

Yankees Doodling Dandily

By Eric Wilson
Published: June 17, 2009

COMING out this week, the ninth issue of A Magazine, the austerely titled Belgian fashion publication that is guest edited by a different designer each season, happens to be the first created under the direction of an American designer — or, in this case, two.

This is a distinction that Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler proudly note in the pages of their magazine, practically bursting with firecrackers, even though the increasingly globalized fashion world might react with a shrug.
The previous issues have all been edited by designers who show their collections in Paris, including Yohji Yamamoto, Martin Margiela and Riccardo Tisci, without any fanfare about their respective Japanese, Belgian or Italian nationalities. So what does it matter to be an American designer today?
“We know this is a magazine that appeals to predominantly an art or fashion crowd, people who have been there, done that,” Mr. Hernandez said. “But we wanted to show a facet of America that hasn’t been showcased before.”
Their magazine includes features about American photographers both well known, like Bruce Weber, and underappreciated, like the late Jimmy DeSana. There are tributes to land art installations and Marfa, Tex.; a pencil drawing of Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln by Mathew Cerletty; and, on the cover, a portrait of Chloë Sevigny with stars on her face and red and white eyeliner that appears inspired by Old Glory.
“When we were asked to do this, it happened to be during the election, when America was having, for lack of a better word, a revolutionary moment,” Mr. Hernandez said. “It was so cool to be American.”
At the same time, the process of editing, assigning photographers and coordinating photo shoots with no budget gave the designers an appreciation for the collaborative elements of magazines, as their past collections were reinterpreted, interestingly enough, by an international cast of photographers and stylists.
“Lazaro and I, for the most part, just talk to each other in the studio,” Mr. McCollough said. “Putting together a magazine is a lot more social.”

 

[Meg]

I'm intrigued. I like the combination and the idea of showing a different side of America

 

[Scott]

i'm not really taken by that synopsis. the cover is lovely though.

 

[user.n.]

a bit bigger pic

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