isla maia

i know, i've read your previous posts, normally that helps to get a feel of the character who's posting regularly.

i wouldn't say you're a ... "prick" ... dickhead, i think you're just being straight forward and blunt, and some have to just take you as you are.

can i ask you something ... what turns you on about clothes? seriously. like why would you choose one type of jeans/denim cut over another, a brand over another? there must be something that appeals to your sense of taste, no? how would you describe your sense of taste?

i'm asking this because superfuture is related somewhat, if i'm not mistaken, to "diesel" and they're into projecting a specific type of image that tends to appeal to a specific persona, who's into dressing and expressing themselves in a particular way, maybe to fit a "tribe"-look, or a self-expression thing.

i always believe there's an art in everything, especially when someone knows what he likes on him and follows fashion or anything creative, art, movies, music, etc.

and peace on earth! amen to that.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote: Ong-Bak is a Thai movie.

yes, pretty "yeouuch!" too ... the thai actors are pretty formidable in that movie.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

i know the director isn't a hong konger, and jet li isn't a hong konger either. i've seen quite a bit of zhang yimou's movies especially during the early days when he often had his main star and lover then, gong li, in the main role ... "the story of qiu ju"; "ju dou"; "red sorghum" and yes, "raise the red lantern".

again, i'm no film expert nor critic, i just like good story lines, beautiful executions and interesting cgi. some parts of the movie can suck, but generally, if it's entertaining, then i'm entertained and it's on to the next dvd. that's the great thing about movies at home, you can watch like 5 in a sitting and you're going from one emotion to another with every one of them.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

music scene - hmm. for hong kong, action is generally around the lan kwai fong and soho area, but the club scene's pretty fickle, some clubs are hot for a period then something else comes up and everyone goes to check that place and hang around there for a bit before they get bored. i've got friends who own clubs there but can't recommend now as they often end up changing the club names and interior just to get the attention of the clubbers back. i don't know if the name's still the same.

for shanghai, i'll have to ask our recording studio guys there as usually i'm tied up in-doors listening to new tracks instead of checking out the scene.

for xian, i'll post after january, i'll find out and let you know.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote: you're taking me too seriously too

not really, just don't want to offend you

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote: you're taking me too seriously too

not really, just don't want to offend you

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote:

"i've had to outfit a guy recently from the fall/winter collection of the ... of all brands ... chinese arts and crafts (cac) label, but wow, were they great stuff, and this amazing cashmere chinese padded coat with fur neck lining in dark brown with embroidered cuffs (US$110 - major steal!); and outstanding linen pants were incredible on him. when he got to paris, his friends were all asking him where he got the jacket and pants."

wow, you wanna let me know where i can get one of those?

--- Original message by xcoldricex on Dec 25, 2004 10:28 AM

on hong kong island, china resources building, wanchai area, up the escalator one floor, and to your left, chinese arts and crafts, it's really well designed and looks high-end, so don't get intimidated by the decor, just go in and ask the sales ladies there to show you their special discount winter jackets for men. they'll pull you a few and bring you over to the racks that have the discounts. they usually do a periodic major discount for some special items. the original price of the jacket before it was reduced to US$110, was US$350.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

oops...u're a girl.(from the other post where I called u a guy) I should've known...u talk a lot.

--- Original message by dickhead on Dec 22, 2004 04:19 AM

actually, i write more than i talk, and i'm often more with a crew of guys - not easy to be with women, they do talk a lot but i'm not usually posting often unless i'm got a break in my schedule.

--- Original message by isla maia on Dec 22, 2004 05:32 AM

you're defensive too! You're a real woman.

--- Original message by dickhead on Dec 25, 2004 09:07 AM

i'm a real woman, yes. defensive? if that's how you read it although i don't see why i should be defensive with you. just interested in keeping the peace and not into insulting people in this forum. so maybe yes, defensive.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote:

The quality of Vogue Homme editorials has been bad lately..

The brands that they place the most coverage on are quite boring.

--- Original message by raijin on Dec 23, 2004 07:26 PM

i'm not into vogue homme, i receive it like i do a pile of other men's magazine from around europe and the world. i prefer to check the shows out, meet the designers and see the collection up close and personal. that's when i get to appreciate a brand and designer more. i hardly look at any magazines these days unless i'm on the plane or train - then it's like, hmmm, that scent wasn't that fabulous when i tested it; that ad's awful (i can't get over sephora's poster ad this season, it's like the decapitated head of this white persian cat on the head of this model sporting pink hair and a tiara ... makes me think, riiiiggghttt ... so, are we to assume the cat bled pink blood into her hair?! - where's the rest of its body?? or ... how the hell is it hanging on to that girl's head with the tiara??)... it does suck to criticize more than admire.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote:

i'm just trudging around my modest position at the bottom of the agency food-chain to make the ends meet...

but now i'm curing a jetlag at a godforsaken W in NYC

--- Original message by kiteless on Dec 23, 2004 03:44 PM

oh my gawd, no wonder you know all those marcom terms. i gave up on agency work a while back. really glad i did too.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote: the b2b2c2e2i2i

<groan> that still didn't come out right. should be tv2zine2b2b...

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote:

well, i suppose you could just tell them you're an underpaid account executive temping your way towards your dreams of being paid for reading all the fifty-eleven editions of vogue all day and posting profound shopping tips on internet forums....

--- Original message by kiteless on Dec 22, 2004 01:51 PM

or i could tell them i'm one of the lucky cios that survived the b2b2c2e2i2i alpha-numerical dotcom crash. and what do you do?

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote:

well it's pretty sad how all the most "brilliant" minds of the network agencies could come up with during a whole decade was that you could use the same pay-off in print ads and tv-spots, and call it "integrated"...

other overused marcom terms (besides 'marcom' itself) that makes my ear go sore:

"# degrees" - to illustrate holistic view (ie 360° marketing)

"interaction" - used in a non-digital context, ie "customer interaction"

"positioning" - al ries deserves a painful death

"integrated" - so you're doing final arts for procter&gamble customer magazines?

"design systems/platforms" - home made theories by people who didn't finish high school

"brand architecture" - see above (but grad school)

"storytelling" - if i hear another native tribes analogy, i'll die

"cross cultural" - "our creative director in london force us to run his ads in kuala lumpur"

"creative, fresh-thinking" - "see you at Cannes Lions. My award-winning client pay the drinks"

"guerilla" - not a penny but I still want to sleep with the traffic girls from DDB in Cannes

"strategic design" - like what, is there anyone claiming to do non-strategic design?

"strategic" may be the best one of the lot. i once ran into a "strategic trade marketing agency". strategic meant they read the fucking brief before they did their sad little shelf stands and coupons

Edited by kiteless on Dec 22, 2004 at 08:06 AM

--- Original message by kiteless on Dec 22, 2004 08:02 AM

your ear go sore? i get an acute migraine attack spot on just as the question ends. "what do you do?" ... "do you have an aspirin? like five of them??"

so can i just say i work for television?! then tomorrow, i can get to say i work for a fashion magazine. the day after, i produce music. i tell you, it's a hard life.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote:

Margiela was one of the OG "Antwerp 6" from Belgium to hit the scene in the mid eighties and apprenticed to JP Gaultier--was one of the metadesigners to pioneer deconstructionism (outside of what the press thought at the time) and has been an underground cult force since 1989---he's not very mainstream and is known for keeping the press a bit at bay doing hardly any interviews save the ones that directly impact the serious inquiry of the fashion press regarding some of his collections. His thought and the creative direction for his house and the future of operating outside the boundaries of fashion and still being relevent is partly what brings him the following and status he has---In a word he's dope and is "one of the primarilly responsible" for a lot of the deconstructive trends we've seen over the last 6 years...

He cuts brilliantly and is without a doubt one of the most influential designers from a pure design perspective of the last part of the 20th century and the millenium...

--- Original message by Bryanscott on Nov 9, 2004 09:37 AM

excellent piece on margiela! and his cuts are outstanding. very few designer have that talent.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote:

Quote: i work on what is known as "intergrated communication"

oh this great cliché of advertising 90s...

--- Original message by kiteless on Dec 22, 2004 07:06 AM

ugh. tell me about it. it's either "intergrated communication" or "multimedia" - then they'll think you're producing video games.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote:

christopher doyle though is natively australian has said that he is more 'asian' now than australian since he has spent the better part of his life in taiwan, hk etc...so i find it odd that someone would think that hero was shot with more an australian eye...interesting though.

--- Original message by kremedla on Dec 22, 2004 06:15 AM

yes, as i've said, i know christopher - i've moved among the hong kong movie makers and know quite a few of them as friends.

my reason for saying that the cinematography was great because of an aussie eye (and not a chinese one) is simply because for years and years, the focus of hong kong made movies were often on action, not artistic expression and i stress "artistic" in terms of colour, texture, quality. these are often what young film-makers in europe (and not only film-makers, graphic students, those in fashion, in the creative industries generally), and internationally outside of the u.s. are taught to develop. the development and perfection of an "eye" - one that allows you to weigh and provide symmetry - the beauty of form from balanced proportion ... and you either have it or you don't.

canadian, australian and new zealand film-makers, unlike american film-makers, don't have to bow down to the pressure of producing a movie according to a commercial formula, so most could afford to be "artists", and express themselves given the ability to raise the money to turn their art into something the public could view eventually and hopefully appreciate.

hong kong never had a proper film school, and everyone had to learn from starting jobs in advertising agencies working on commercial campaigns, and following a "director" who oftentimes was a foreigner and they were considered the best then as they charged astronomically for their work. those who tried to learn on the job, eventually picked up what they felt was the trick of the trade, and yes, some learnt finally to develop an eye.

... of course, everything's improving now and with the hong kong and mainland chinese movies going international, some production are really outstanding. i make it a point to always buy the latest movies in hong kong and get feedback and recommendation from my friends there. the last one (some months ago) they recommended was ONG-BAK and they were telling me that this was awesome stuff, no wire and stuntman to take the beating. nothing hong kong can beat. it's incredible. whew. left me stunned.

anyway, i'm no film expert, i just love movies that are beautiful, have great stories, make me laugh, make me feel good, or keep me in suspense. i also love to monitor the development in cgi even if the storyline of the movie sucks. i can't take horror and violence too much and really will prefer to avoid them.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote:

oops...u're a girl.(from the other post where I called u a guy) I should've known...u talk a lot.

--- Original message by dickhead on Dec 22, 2004 04:19 AM

actually, i write more than i talk, and i'm often more with a crew of guys - not easy to be with women, they do talk a lot but i'm not usually posting often unless i'm got a break in my schedule.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote:

Christopher Doyle is more Chinese than Australian......

--- Original message by dickhead on Dec 22, 2004 04:35 AM

was it christopher doyle! wow. i was told it was another aussie, not him! okay, so i have the chinese dvd version so the name's all in chinese and i didn't realise it was him. i know christopher, he's really cool! and yes, very into the hong kong chinese scene and very respected.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote:

I forgot....

BARAKA!!!

--- Original message by RedFoxxworth on Nov 8, 2004 04:42 PM

i'll second that! beautiful, beautiful work!

i also like

- the red violin: cross over culture and travel from europe to china, following the plight of a special musical instrument and its mysterious colouring; violin pieces incredibly moving! i want to play violin like that bloke!

- farinelli: only because that singing voice is inhuman (it's actually computer manipulated, but awesome!) and sends chills down my spine;

- hero: the cinematography is breathtaking, even though for a chinese movie it had to use an aussie eye for cinematographic compositions ... superb colour and contrasts.

- lord of the rings: yeah, but hey ... what can i say but i love the whole collection! so inspiring and it's great that it broke hollywood "formula" and gave us quality work and not the usual blood, gore, violence, good triumph over evil ... and er ... come to think of it, it did have blood and gore and formula! BUT I LOVE IT ANYWAY!

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote:

so, again, anything particularly superfuture going on new year's eve in shanghai?

and hey, isla maia, you've convinced me to do my best to check out xian while i'm in china. was gonna skip it cause it seemed to hard to get to and it seemed like the only thing there was the terracotta soldiers. any specific tips on xian?

--- Original message by vinc3 on Dec 21, 2004 11:06 AM

there's quite a bit actually as i was sent a translation of the chinese details in english and it's about 19 pages, but i'll quote the names of the places of interest which hopefully you can research from the web, if not, ask me again and i'll quote the extract here ... and then i have to re-produce this really interesting bit on the cuisine:

places of interest: XIAN CITY WALL, SHAANXI PROVINCIAL CITY MUSEUM, MUSEUM OF QIN TERRA COTTA WARRIORS & HORSES (of course), FAMEN TEMPLE, BIG GOOSE PAGODA, BELL TOWER.

food extract:

Food

People visiting Xi'an must be surprised by the numerous historical sites and interesting places, as well as being left with a deep impression of the food of the city.

Xi'an's food, generally speaking, is served in large portions, is inexpensive and each dish has its own story.

On a downtown street, everywhere one can see signs, including "Old Sun Family's Paomo (steamed bun soaking in mutton soup), "Old Ma Family's Mutton" and "Old Liu Family's Hulutou (a local snack)". At the food street, food stands one after another stretch several hundreds meters. At night, temporary food stands fully line both sides of the street. Everywhere, there is a smell of delicous snacks.

On the street, small restaurants and temporary food stands serve very cheap snacks. A bowl of hulutou costs only three yuan. Many temporary stands sell Chengdu's hot specialty, 20 cents per cube. With so many rich snacks, a lot of local people do not prepare meals at home and are willing to eat at food stands.

There are three most famous restaurants--high-class Xi'an, average and lower-class Tongshengxiang and Defachang--among the city's restaurants. A variety of snacks in Xi'an have three restaurants gather many together.

In the front hall of the Xi'an Restaurant, a buxus board is carved with the story of the restaurant. When the attendant serves you a dish, she will tell you briefly a vivid story. For instance, she will tell you that this is a dish of chicken that Empress Dowager Ci Xi liked best, and the other is a dish of fish Chinese singer Wei Wei liked. Almost every dish has its own allusion.

After being rebuilt, old Tongshengxiang and Defachang restaurants stand highly at the most flourishing Zhonggu (bell and drum) Street. One meal costs more than ten yuan. In addition, there are feasts costing several hundreds or even thousands of yuan.

Tongshengxiang is known for its Niuyangroupaomo (steamed bun soaking in beef or mutton soup). It has become very popular as a dish for entertaining foreign state leaders. In 1983, the dish was moved from the restaurant to the national banque, and in 1993, Chinese traditional painting master Huang Zhou wrote an inscription mainly desctibes its appetizing taste. Because of this the dish becomes more and more famous. If you come here to taste it first, you do not eat too much because it is very filling.

Defachang has many special dishes, but the dearest is jiaoze made of Shark's fin. Another kind of jiaoze as big as a small fingertip filled with chicken meat. It is called a pearl jiaoze and is boiled in a hotpot of chrysanthemum soup. About this, there is a vivid story that when Empress Dowager Ci Xi came to the city she asked her cook to provide her with a new taste, and the cook prepared this kind of jiaoze to please her. It was well received. She ate three, six or nine in number, which is regarded in China as meaning good luck. Today, the words are different, for having one jiaoze, means to go off smoothly, two jiaoze for double happiness coming at the

Quote:

Isla Maia, thanks again for the kind words, I appreciate it. Its a bit of a coincidence that you say for the females we should release bags because our bags will be released around february. They are a similair style and concept to the belt and should be interesting to get see the feeback. In regards to someone else taking this cocept it is pretty well protected with a world copyright although we know in these times that still says nothing, however if it means anything to you it is protected. The material is Dupont same material as BMW door handles and a lot of store owners are liking the fact that no animals were harmed to produce this belt as opposed to leather, Thanks again,

IJF

--- Original message by I J F on Dec 21, 2004 03:26 PM

hey, if you make bags and really cool one, let me know! i'll be your first client and i'll promote you er ... you do have distributors in europe and asia, right?

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote:

if anyone knows if there are any dsquared stores

or shops that carry dsquared clothing in canada please let me know!

thanks!

eric

[email protected]

--- Original message by xcarddownx on Nov 27, 2004 07:29 AM

wow, d-square! i met the twins in 1996 and interviewed them, they've really gone a long way! they were kindda reasonably priced in paris then.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote:

i'll be staying at each place for about 3 months at a time. it doesn't have to be classy. just a good location, cheap, and livable... just not MAD sketchy.

--- Original message by xcoldricex on Dec 21, 2004 07:39 AM

right, so you can totally forget chungking mansion, it's a ... er ... slum, but hey, way back in the 60's it was the IT place and really happening. i should know, my dad's musician mates who were rocking hong kong then all lived there.

for three months, you can take one of those long-staying hotel rooms, or short-term apartments. what you should do is this ... if you can get a hold of hong kong's major newspaper, the south china morning post, check out the classified section, there's a portion on residential, and you get a lot of offers there, from short-term share-apartments, to other deals. if you can't get a hold of the paper, book at least a couple of days in hong kong in one of the hotels, there's rates from as little below US$100 a day, and then check the paper out. they move fast in hong kong, so once you see something, call the number up and get an appointment, then you can check out the place and if you like it, negotiate, and your moving in can be done in about 1-2 days.

then you're set for 3 months. short term leases go from a month to a year.

some creatives i know get introduced to friends there who know friends they know, and from that network, there's usually a room available to accommodate short term visitors. hong kong residents tend to be hospitable as they travel around often and bunk out in other friend's pads all around asia.

i'll be back early january, if you're not heading there by then, i'll post a place for you to check out.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote:

intresting....

i suppose men are paying more interest in Fashion due to an incease in coverage via certain sectors

i find trends particularly in the case of menswear prove hard to correlate

. In my opinion it appears to live without any running aesthetic which may underpin each season

I am intrested to learn more on your views

with regards to men's magazine's

i know of

self service, id, dazed, vogue hommes perhaps this may give you an insight to what i may be possibly intrested in.

do you work for any magazine in particular?

--- Original message by velvetant on Aug 30, 2004 02:36 PM

gosh, and just when i get to your post, it's the start of the autumn-winter collection come end january!

the skin and cosmetic industry are focusing on men and they've started to do this since the introduction of a forum on men and youth/young adult in paris a year ago during the first cosmeeting exhibition in paris (september 2003). since then, the focus on men has started getting stronger.

trouble is, market and culture conditioning where fashion and trends are concerned, has always been hitting on women, and i always assumed it was because we ladies are really easy to manipulate when it comes to telling us that clothes and makeup is what makes us attractive to men.

you don't hear it said that clothes and makeup draw women to men though, i mean, hip hop clothes where the denim crotch fall to the level of knees, where hair style get hidden under baseball and skull caps, where guys think they're made up with a slather of vaseline on their lips for cold winters, where sneakers and shoes and having like gadzillion of them from vintage to the latest releases ... it's not really what draw women to men, come on?!

women adore men not for clothes, makeup (i'm even tempted by gaultier's line for men - they have the right shade of neutral!) or even aftershave. so clothes on men, it's something hard to recommend unless you know the persona of the guy.

i like men's lines but tend to go more for cut. i'm always on the lookout for a certain "silhouette", not too broad on the shoulder or too v-cut with jackets, something that's understated, yet the flow works and moves beautifully, and you can only check that out when you touch and feel and let a guy with great proportion and body try the stuff out.

i've had to outfit a guy recently from the fall/winter collection of the ... of all brands ... chinese arts and crafts (cac) label, but wow, were they great stuff, and this amazing cashmere chinese padded coat with fur neck lining in dark brown with embroidered cuffs (US$110 - major steal!); and outstanding linen pants were incredible on him. when he got to paris, his friends were all asking him where he got the jacket and pants.

suits are hard, but it gets super difficult when you check streetwear and smart casuals. it takes a certain "panache" for a guy to carry some stuff off, and it takes a guy knowing himself and what he likes on him, from something serious in suits and business-wear, formal wear, casual, club, lounge, how he can identify a look that works for him in different setting.

a man has to probably have a talented and fashion-conscious woman or develop a sensitiveness and an "eye" for what looks right for him. frankly, it's hard for a guy to follow what's in "fashion" as most men don't think much of fashion. they're usually just tee-shirt and denim creatures.

i work on what is known as "intergrated communication", but focus more on lifestyle television production and magazine.

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia

Quote:

Well, from what I keep reading (cover stories galore, like in TIME and PAPER SKY), Shanghai is the new "it" city in Asia. Lots of cool things happening there, be it in the art scene, or with shops and cafes/bars.

--- Original message by Jean Snow on Nov 17, 2004 07:22 PM

that's what everyone's been telling me for years, and guess what, i didn't even want to leave my hotel room to check the scene out when i stayed in shanghai three weeks ago. i had to cover 9 cities in china (beijing, shanghai, guangzhou included) and maybe it's just that thing about this "magic" in the air, but i didn't feel it in shanghai - i felt it in XIAN. (i'm returning every month now for regular assignment so the sked between europe and china is a killer one for me.)

xian is where it's going to happen, but in a few more years and this is the real capital of china, the real cultural heart of that old dragon. anyone with an ounce of creative blood in him/her will feel it and know i'm right!

i've had buddies (and i'm talking about guys from hong kong who are trusted by the mainland government to develop china) work on building shanghai up and yes, beijing too, since early 1990 (after china open its doors to international tourism in the early 80's). they did a good job making shanghai happen, but as someone who harbours and cultivates the creative spirit, i'm more into inner mongolia and xian. i mean, how can you ignore something like the terracotta warriors, the exquisite ancient cuisine that have amazingly romantic names and introduction ... and the culture and depth of the people of xian, and their awareness and admirable intent and practice of historical and cultural preservation?! how can you not have visions of genghis khan and the fiery musical, vocal and dance performances of the mongolians? give me xian and inner mongolia anytime, i will travel the distance just to be with the people of these provinces! not with the money-oriented shanghainese or cantonese.

from the people of china themselves, they'll tell you, if they trust you, they are wary of chinese from taiwan, shanghai, and yes hong kong. the chinese from these places tend to be too commercial and ruthless, and not enough depth and culture remain with them. it's all just money money money, and make it happen any which way, and draw the suckers in that way.

china is happening, but i'd rather take hong kong to shanghai, and xian to shanghai anytime.

was i too brutally frank?

baby, we're all beautiful!

--isla maia