CITYist

Dressed down in a red tank top, denim vest and jeans, with her long blond hair pulled back, and armed with—of all things—a chainsaw, Cherie Currie screamed nothing short of badass as her bazooka-sized guns ripped into a block of wood at the last SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas.

Glass of water, cup of coffee, can of Busch. Jason Goodman offers all three on an afternoon tour of 3rd Ward, his art and design collective located in a converted Bushwick, Brooklyn warehouse. As executive director and cofounder of the D.I.Y. haven, he’s allowed to drink while looking in on jewelry-making classes and speaking over the roar of table saws and patting iMac-glued video editors on their backs as he walks by.

One would assume that the house of one of the creators of Benefit Cosmetics would be a Willy Wonka-esq delight of lipsticks and eye shadow, and that her daughters Maggie and Annie would don false lashes before they spoke their first words. “Contrary to popular belief we didn’t really grow up in a girly house filled with makeup,” said Maggie, “I think I became interested in makeup in middle school, maybe sixth or seventh grade when most other girls do. I remember wanting to wear Lip Smackers from Bonnie Bell because that’s when it was really cool to collect them and they have a lot of flavors.”

You won’t find Mina Stone’s studio in the Garment District, or any of the other usual spots populated by New York City’s young designers. Should you wish to seek her out, you’ll have to travel to The Fulton Mall, a noisy and well-populated stretch of downtown Brooklyn. There, among the crammed jewelry shops, 99 cent stores and Foot Lockers, you’ll find the creator of airy, hand-dyed silk frocks and jumpsuits. The clothes are sophisticated, almost serene, in marked contrast to the hectic surroundings. It’s a contradiction that’s perfectly at home for Stone, who has made her way by trusting her instincts, and often being in two places at once.

Conrad Keely does not travel lightly these days. Meeting him downtown at a Soho lounge on an unseasonably warm afternoon, he enters carrying a large leather case. One would assume the …And You Will Know Us by the Trail Of The Dead singer and guitarist would have one of his instruments in tow, but not this time. Rather, Keely has a large black satchel containing sketches and paintings from the last 20 years— because Keely is now an artist.

A fine piece of jewelry should last a lifetime. It should be so well made that it never loses the original luster. Its design should withstand the trends of fashion over the years. And the wearer should find the same delight in it at age 70 as she did at age 30. Grounded in tradition and inspired by eternity, custom jewelry designer Hirotaka carries these goals even further. He wants his work to last for generations, not simply a lifetime.

In fashion, you are either in or you are out. Or in Heidi Klum’s case, you are rather above it all. No longer a mere mannequin, Klum has become a brand unto herself, producing and hosting the eternally popular Project Runway while also jetting to her native Germany for her own Germany’s Next Top Model. She’s also a working mother of four, which led to her latest projects, the maternity wear line Lavish by Heidi Klum for A Pea in the Pod, and Loved by Heidi Klum for Motherhood Maternity. Since she was a budding designer before she became a model, it’s a creative development that comes quite naturally.

To be totally, brutally honest with you, there really isn’t a great deal of difference between one Liam Gallagher interview and another. Just poke around on Google and YouTube for a few moments to see what I mean. His persona is usually a predictable mix of cocky, belligerent, amusing, honest, sardonic, boastful, defensive and adamant. He’s the fucking man, and everything he does is better than every fucking thing else. Got it?

It’s a Thursday night at Ilori, the fittingly flashy eyewear purveyor in Soho, and fashion’s boy wonder is dressed as such. Sporting a black V-neck sweater with a plaid collar peeking out, distressed jeans and bright white sneakers, Jason Wu looks as if he’s barely old enough to sip the flute of champagne he’s holding. Regardless, he flits expertly throughout the room full of high profile editors and socialites, who are here to celebrate the launch of his first eyewear line. And judging by the awe-like reception, it’s clear that Wu has firmly penetrated the fashion zeitgeist.

‘V’ heads rejoice! After a long, cold, 10-month wait, True Blood returned with its weekly dose of intrigue, horror and, above all, sex. Also returning was actress Mariana Klaveno, better known as Bill Compton’s villainous vampire-maker Lorena, who’s one of the few actors entering their third season on the show, and whose mortality rate hovers somewhere around the national unemployment percentage. With all questions regarding this season of the hit show off the table, Klaveno spoke about her childhood, getting her big break and life in Bon Temps.

If there is any article of clothing that is quintessentially American, it’s a pair of blue jeans. Diana Vreeland said they were “the most beautiful thing since the gondola.” Yves St. Laurent declared, “I wish I had invented blue jeans: the most spectacular, the most practical, the most relaxed and nonchalant.” And we can envision them on every American from Marilyn Monroe to Bob Dylan to Barack Obama. So, if you’re working with denim, how do you bring something new to such a classic yet everyday item?

When you speak to Jessica Andres, you notice quickly that the Minnesota native has an endearing habit of using the phrase “you know?” as punctuation. However, the things that she’s talking about involve training for an M. Night Shyamalan trilogy, watching Adam Sandler improvise his lines on set, learning Tessenjutsu and (she hopes, in the future) going spelunking. So the answer is no: we have no idea what she means, and at only 24 years old, it’s quite the accomplishment that even she does.

New York-based designers Yuvi Alpert and Danna Kobo bring modernity to fine jewelry with their earthiness, business savvy and vision. Best known for their pavé hamsa pendants, diamond-set 14K white gold cap with black rhodium Tibetan mask bracelets and irregular 16-inch black diamond necklaces with beaded silk cords, the designers, both 26, have succeeded not only in crafting quietly elegant jewelry for a younger generation but have also helped revitalize an industry seemingly in need of a reinvention.

Before pursuing a career designing womenswear and hosting runway presentations at New York Fashion Week, Joaquin Trias was training as a professional tennis player. It didn’t take long for our conversation to turn to the world of racquet sports. “Most people in Spain hate me,” Trias, who is based in Madrid, jokes. “Because I prefer Roger Federer to Rafael Nadal. When you watch Federer [on the court] it doesn’t even seem like he’s on the ground. It’s like he’s gliding over it.”

Deep in the swamplands of northern Alabama remains a relic from the time when rock and roll was Rock ‘N’ Roll. The Stones, Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Boz Scaggs and Willie Nelson all laid down tracks at the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio here, and it’s that legend that drew the duo behind the blues-rock band The Black Keys to record most of their new album from the same place. Not that singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach thinks the change of scenery affected what they produced.

With a nod to Hollywood fashion of the ’50s and ’60s, Jaws and Hitchcock, reinventing the principles of California cool is what David Hickman, Nick Thomas and Scott Barclay — long-time friends turned business partners of SoCal menswear line Idol Radec — are aiming to do, one tailored summer suit at a time. In just a few seasons, despite a lack of any formal training, they’ve managed to transform a culture of carefree comfort, surfing and Malibu-stereotypes into something a bit more refined.

When Jim Jones, the lead singer and guitarist of the British band Jim Jones Revue, stepped up to immigration on his way to Austin, Texas to play the South by Southwest Music Festival, he didn’t get the usual inquiries of reason and length of stay. “Have you brought any Kool-Aid with you?” the customs officer asked instead.

An alien walks among us. She’s taken the form of a pop star (all the better to reach total world domination), though we’d be mistaken to assume she’s just another songstress on the scene with a serious voice. To know Janelle Monae’s music is to have her take you firmly by the hand and lead you into outer space. And though you may not have the foggiest idea where exactly you’re going, trust that she’s got it under control—and the ride will be sweet.

Few artists capture the imagination quite like filmmakers. Perhaps it’s the immediacy of the medium, but these men and women seem to have an uncanny ability to map the spirit of the times. As we enter the new decade, it’s an odd moment for movies. On one end of the spectrum, record-breaking crowds flock to blockbusters based on marketing campaigns (thanks, Michael Bay). On the other, your friend’s cousin is cutting his first flick at home on his laptop right now, and it could very well be a massive hit. Even in a saturated market, though, there will always be personalities who rise above the fray. Revealing a dedication to the authentic, an unwavering eye, and a willingness to get a little dirty along the way, the filmmakers profiled here are all paving the road for the next new wave.

ALEX HOLDRIDGE
Alex’s In Search of a Midnight Kiss received the John Cassavetes Award honoring films budgeted at less than $500,000 at the 2009 Independent Spirit Awards


Photography: David Black

What is this moment in time like for you?
In Search of a Midnight Kiss was a dream come true. I’d made two other independent films and when they all kind of fell apart, I was in the midst of utter depression. Just literally not a dime to my name, nothing but credit card debt and going through a breakup. I was having these deep questions of, ‘Do I have the will to start over and do this again?’ Because every [film] kills you just a little bit. You feel guilty asking so much of the people [you’re working with]. On Midnight, people were very kind and generous because we’ve worked together over the past decade. I was determined to do one [more film] before I gave up on LA.

[ . . . read the rest of Alex Holdridge's interview along with five additional young American filmmakers . . . ]

From the ethereal costumes to the dynamic explosive moves of the Stephen Petronio Company dancers, Stephen Petronio has managed to not only cap a successful 25th season, but has also created another moving piece to add to his already impressive repertoire.

Petronio, choreographer for the Stephen Petronio Company, is well known for his edgy performance art-esq dance numbers that have shocked and moved audiences since 1984. He has received fellowships from Guggenheim, the New York Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment of the Arts, as well as a New York Dance & Performance Award (Bessie) and grants from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award, National Endowment of the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts.

With a new sound (The Supremes meets The Animals), a new look (a little less grunge, a little more Swinging London) and two new members, Los Angeles-bred quartette The Like is poised for indie girl band domination. The two remaining original members, singer/ guitarist Z Berg (daughter of Geffen A&R man Tony Berg) and drummer Tennessee Thomas (daughter of Pete Thomas, drummer for Elvis Costello and The Attractions) favor retro tunes, thigh highs and saddle shoes. After a rollicking four-song set at Soho’s Downtown Studios last night, CITYist sat down with Z and Tennessee to discuss their upcoming Mark Ronson-produced record, singing into toilet bowls and how, like, they got the name The Like.

It’s a grey morning on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and Alison Goldfrapp needs a cup of tea. She apologizes in clipped British mumbles, and were it not for delicate blonde wisps dancing lightly atop a pair of Wayfarers worn indoors, you’d hardly guess you were in the company of an electro-pop icon. Waiting patiently on the couch — also in shades — is Will Gregory, her decade-long co-conspirator in the chart-topping electronic outfit known as Goldfrapp. Together they tuck into a streamlined couch at the Hotel on Rivington to discuss Head First, their self-produced fifth album. Reminiscent of a soundtrack to a forgotten 1980’s sci-fi film, it finds their music dramatically reinvented, evoking a neon-tinged wonderland of frothy, synthesized beats beamed digitally from a Xanadu paradise. Bold in their direct homage to the pioneers of electro past, the duo is careful not to assign their music to any particular genre. But upon first listen — and then obsessively on repeat — it’s easy to see that this might possibly be the second coming of disco.

Each season, Claude Morais and Brian Wolk, the duo behind womenswear line Ruffian, design beautiful clothes for a very particular girl. Collection after collection consistently offering necessities like tailored blouses, sophisticated yet exciting short little dresses, and immaculately structured pants and jackets that always lead to complete cohesiveness. Whether she’s the bad boarding school girl of Fall 2008, les demoiselles de Ruffian of Spring 2010, or the girl caught in the cosmos at Fall 2010’s Big Bang show, she is always “subtly elegant,” as Wolk puts it. The women they design for, he explains, “are really educated and sophisticated. They’re worldly, they’re traveled, they’re usually from nice families.” But, just before that all starts to sound too perfect, he adds, “And sometimes they’re not. We have naughty girls that we hang out with, too.”

I just want to work,” explains actress Dominik Garcia-Lorido. “I think it’s very admirable when actors are able to work and not get caught up in the whole celebrity thing.”

It may seem a bit premature for an up-and-coming 26-year-old to worry about the pitfalls of celebrity so early in her career, yet most emerging actors don’t call Academy Award nominee Andy Garcia “Dad.” And in our current TMZ age, most of Hollywood’s golden children are more known for their escapades at Teddy’s and Les Deux than any sort of actual work ethic. Garcia-Lorido has been quietly bucking that trend, however, working steadily in small independent films over the past six years while also finding time to attend UCLA and snag one of the most coveted, albeit nepotistic, jobs in the industry: Miss Golden Globe. Her stint under the radar, however, is likely to change this year with her appearance in the new film City Island, co-starring none other than “Dad” himself, Andy Garcia.

After the jump, check out Dominik’s picks for the best spots in Los Angeles.