“I’m a spokesperson right now so right now my style signifier is spring and stylish and classic but saturday morning…”

“I might be more West Indian, a bit more Brooklyn with a ponytail, cutoff jeans, a mesh tank top and some high tops.”

Nicole Christie

That pop of orange…

Upon returning to my hotel thursday night, after a delectable meal near Nishi-shinjuku-gochome with my friend Theodore, I learned that our cycling tour had been cancelled due to the predicted rain for Friday’s forecast.

We were scheduled to take the Edo-Tokyo ride with the a guide from the Tokyo Great Cycling Tour.  I read about the Tokyo Great Cycling Tour in the travel section of the New York Times.  Tokyo was actually called Edo during Japan’s Edo Period (1603-1868), which basically refers to a time in Japanese history characterized by strict social order, isolationist foreign policy, and an increase in the creation and popular enjoyment of arts and culture.  It was a time of great artistic and intellectual development.

“NOOOOOOOO,” I said to the concierge who broke the bad news to me.  First we missed the kabuki performance and now the cycling tour!  What the coconuts!!!  If I had Adele’s voice and the immortal powers of Hephaestus I would have set fire to the rain.

Would that have helped us or burned us?

I called Ayo to help me formulate a Plan B. 

“Let’s check out this cool exhibit I read about at the Mori Art Museum,” she exclaimed. 

 Lee Bul: From Me, Belongs to You Only at the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo.

“Making allegorical depictions of the human longing for a perfected physical body or an ideal society, Lee has continued to pose questions about what the future holds for mankind,” said Nanjo Fumio, Director, Mori Art Museum.  ”The exhibition subtitle, ‘From Me, Belongs to You Only,’ hints at the way of thinking that has informed her interaction with the society around her.”

Beyond Human

Cyborg W3, 1998

Bul examines the human quest to achieve physical perfection.

When I dream a world…

Utopias and Dreamscapes

“I actually think this is an inherent condition of utopia-to always give us the feeling that it’s getting closer.  So human beings are always fated to dream of it and to plan it.  And yet we’re also fated to be disappointed by the inevitable realization that it’s unreachable.  Still we dream.  I’m fascinated by those failures, as well as the dreams that the dreamers knew could never materialize.”  

Lee Bul

Ephemeral Presence

Sorry for suffering-You think I’m a puppy on a picnic? 

12-day performance, Gimpo Airport, Narita Airport, downtown Tokyo, Tokizawa Theater, Tokyo 1990

Under my Louise Bourgeois umbrella.  Spider umbrella!

After an amazing afternoon at From Me, Belongs to You Only we were famished so we took lunch before continuing our hunt for stellar Japanese fashions. 

I obviously gave up on trying to adhere to my diet…

Postcards to mommy and daddy…

Did I just eat a cheeseburger?  

“How do you say fat ass in English?”

What a delightful afternoon!  

My friend Ayo and I had originally planned on seeing a Kabuki performance at the Shimbashi Enbujo Theater yesterday but after a desperate search to find the theater, with time working against us, we arrived at the box office of the Shimbashi Enbujo Theater only to learn that the last performance was actually the day before.

Ginza.  Lost in translation and direction.  

 My tears dried on their own.

We were extremely disappointed to have missed the last performance at the Shimbashi Enbujo Theater so we decided that the only way to reverse our misfortune was to spend a minor fortune on a little retail therapy… 

Ayo wanted to stop in this quaint little shop nestled in a corner of a charming street in Ginza.  She purchased a beautiful summer kimono, which literally translates into “thing to wear,” wooden sandals, an obi and a few decorative hair pieces for a complete look.  She’s going to look like a real Japanese lady while navigating the streets of Harlem come summer.  Look at that smile…that’s a satisfied customer!

Several weeks ago I read about the opening of Dover Street Market Ginza in the New York Times styles section.  Dover Street Market is a multilevel fashion retail store created by Rei Kawakubo of the Japanese fashion label Comme de Garcons.  The original store is located in Dover Street, Mayfair, London. Dover Street Ginza, here in Tokyo, opened just over a month ago.  If I could compare it to anything we have in NYC, I’d liken it to Barneys. However, the offerings here at Dover Street Market Ginza are much more thrilling and progressive.  Each floor, and section, is a mixture of menswear and women’s wear.  The offerings are a harmonious blend of emerging and well-established designers; Nemeth, Comme de Garcons, Louis Vuitton, Rick Owens and so forth.  It’s a fashion innovators heaven!  This is definitely not a shop for the faint at heart or the coin conscious bargain hunter. 

This is our amazing sales associate Larz who introduced me to an amazing label called Nemeth.  Those are my new Nemeth pants he’s holding.  The customer service in Japan is unlike any other.  It’s really fantastic!  Larz took us on a tour of the entire store.  If we wanted to try something on another associate would go and find the size while we continued to peruse the shop with Larz at our side to answer any questions.  On each floor and in each section there were dressing rooms prepared for us to slip into.  His knowledge of each and every label was rather impressive.  Nemeth, for example, was created by an English ex-pat who married a Japanese woman.  After the founding designer passed away his wife continued on as the brand’s creative director and head designer.  

Installation at Dover Street Market Ginza.  A rose is still a rose!

It’s customary in Japan for your sales associate to escort you to the exit after you’ve completed your purchase.  Good luck with that in NYC!

Larz getting prepped for his close up…

Dover Street Market is opening in NYC soon!  I can’t wait!

After a highly successful excursion at Dover Street we jumped on the JR at Yurakucho station and headed over to Shibuya so that I could introduce Ayo to one of my favorite cafes and a few of my favorite shops.  

When you’re out hunting (shopping) it’s imperative that you wear comfortable clothes that are easy to change in and out of.  

Bustling Shibuya.

The men here will give you a serious handbag that is just as chic as the one his girlfriend carries.

I LOVE Tokyo Wonder Site!   Not only do they offer complimentary wifi but the food is delectable, affordable and they have an amazing green tea sundae.

Imagining myself walking through the streets of NYC in my Nemeth pants.  Ah, bliss!

So cute!

 Ayo.

The sales associates at HARE were absolutely darling.  I copped a cool pair of aviators for about $40.  The young lady here tried to fit me into a dope polka dot button down shirt I was craving but even the large was too small.  Oh well!  She was more embarrassed than I was.  

“It’s not your fault your people are super snatched dear!”

Me with Sam Reiss of Colby Models NYC.

Alicia and David working their magic in hair and makeup.

My inspiration for the male models makeup was a mixture of the monsters from the film “I Am Legend” and Occupy Wall Street Protesters who hadn’t bathed in several days.  

Nusya checking out her transformation into Anna Wintour.

Me directing the models on how to hold the protest posters.

Alicia Oliveri finishing Darren.

The protest posters are basically ripped up cardboard boxes that David Gensler found in his studio.  I attached a few of them to sticks so they’d be easier to handle.  The protest posters look amazing in Issue 2 thanks to Josh Vanover’s fantastic artwork!

Marlon, Margarita Lukin and photographer Timothy Rosado.

David Gensler taking studio portraits with one of his vintage cameras.

Studio portraits of the models by David Gensler.

David Gensler shooting a studio portrait of Sam.

Reece Ewing, who was kind enough to assist me, checking out the models in one of their looks for the shoot.

Nusya is adorned in a Cavalli fur jacket, cocktail dress and shoes.  Her sunglasses are by MYKITA.  She walked onto the set in character and ready to go!  

Though he considers himself to be “cursed by the love gods,” Alexander Esguerra is on a mission to help couples capture their love-on canvas-through his experiential art movement Love & Paint, which he recently presented in a show entitled “Vernal Equinox” at The Box in New York City.  A week after the wild success of Vernal Equinox, Esguerra’s seventh exhibition, we met at Café Select and spoke in great detail about his life and work so that I could capture the man behind the love and underneath the paint.

Alexander Esguerra.

On being laughed at by the love gods…

“Yeah, it’s like the love gods said we’re going to give you this amazing idea and all of the love that you’ll surround yourself with, you’re never going to get it.  It’s kind of fucked up.”

In regards to sex as a source of inspiration and motivation…

“I always get kind of weird when people bring in the word sex because originally the project was called ‘It’s Just Sex.’  At that point it was just sex but I realized there was this element that I was trying to ignore and it was me trying to dismiss everything as just sex.  I realized it wasn’t just sex, it was love!  I started to realize the difference between sex and love.  Sex is an active love, whether it’s a one-night stand or just playing around.  We use sex as an excuse to find companionship.  I still think that we are all lonely.  Sex does motivate me but love motivates me more than sex.”

His lovers are…

“My lovers?  Special.  I think I have a knack for weeding out the bitches, the fakes.   I’m close with almost every girl I’ve ever dated or hooked up with.  Very rarely do I have a break up with someone and we never talk again.  We’re all very close and it’s not because of sex, it’s because I chose awesome people to be with and we happened to have had sex.”

Ardent fans, groupies, stalkers…

“Totally!  I’ve been getting hit up from a lot of promoter douche bags.  People come to the bar ((Miss Lily’s) more often, random text messages, a lot of Facebook requests.  It’s funny! I’ve been accepting everyone’s friend request, not because I want to have a lot of friends but because I want to have a larger network to advertise to.  I look at Facebook as business.  As this is growing I’ve realized that I want to keep my circle tighter.

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