PAPER please!

To be honest I rarely read American Fashion Magazines. I tend to read them in Dr. offices or when I am Flying and depending on how long the flight is, I usually grab a few to go along with a book.  When I do, I find myself flipping through all of them at the Airport stand trying to find which one peaks my interest. Don't get me wrong I used to read them all the time, as a kid I subscribed to Seventeen then Elle then Vogue. But as I grew up the American Magazines lost my interest and I turned to the UK, Italy and France for fashion direction and inspiration. Then when I moved to New York I came across a new type of Magazine called PAPER and quickly added that to my list. PAPER Magazine was created in the 1980's by Kim and David two creative geniuses who started the magazine as a 16 page fold out like a newspaper. It focused on Downtown culture and hip young upstarts in the Art and Fashion world. It was based downtown in a cool loft and everyone who surrounded the magazine exuded fresh energy and their ideas on fashion were not the typical 7th Avenue style. My husband at the time was a staff member and because of that I got to go with him to all the ultra hip PAPER parties. PAPER now has a new Glossy style to go along with the other mags at the newsstands but don't be deceived by appearances it has not lost it's independent cool. Then, this year Kim Hastreiter, was finally recognized by the CFDA.  On Friday I received our September issue in the mail  and was inspired once again by the fashion editorials, art and writing. 

Here is a glimpse of the editorials from this month.

 The Secret Garden 

Photographed by Katherine Wolkoff

Styled by Martha Violante

The New New Look.

Photographed by Autumn De Wilde

Styled by Shirley Kurata

In pure PAPER fashion

The next Editorial "She's got Balls" takes beautiful talented woman and transforms them into their Masculine side. I added  the pictures of what the woman really look like to show the transformation.

Veronica Webb

Gretchen Mol

 You will need to get  PAPER or go to PAPERMAG word up! to see who else was transformed.

When I heard this year that at the CFDA awarded Kim Hastreiter the Eugenia Sheppard Award I was elated. The CFDA awards have always notoriously gone to the usual suspects, there was really never any surprises. This is a quote of her acceptance speech June 8 2010.

"I’ve always been an outsider not only to the fashion industry, but in the other worlds I inhabit, from art to design to magazines. My passion is culture creation and this is what we do at PAPER, which we started 26 years ago at my kitchen table…

I share this award with — independent thinkers who inspire me and are not the usual suspects either. Because they are the catalysts for breaking new ground in the inseparable culture of where design, art, fashion, and style come from, and come together….
I hope the fashion world continues to look beyond the usual suspects. Just because you’re cute, connected, rich, or famous, doesn’t necessarily mean you design great stuff. I also wouldn’t put too much stock into this “one day your in- the next day you’re out” business. How you can be a genius today but next year you’re not because you’re “off trend?…

That said, I may continue to be a slightly thorny guest in this industry, but I’ll always adore and celebrate great fashion and the tidal waves that precede and follow it, so thank you again for honoring me and inviting me to such a fun party."  

 Kim Hastreiter 

Lastly you need to read the interview by Kim with fashion guru Sally Singer and shot by Todd Selby. Sally was recently hired as Editor-in-chief of T: The New York Times Style Magazine.

"People think that if they buy classics- a trench coat, or a v-neck sweater or a great pair of flat boots- they are safe because they've invested in things that are gonna last 20 years. But within six months, it's the wrong v-neck or flat boot, because suddenly the line is wrong.  Fashion people are stimulated by proportion shifting- getting taller, getting thinner. Hemlines go up, hemlines go down. Shoes get wacky, shoes get clunky, shoes get skinny.  The fastest things to date are those classics, cause it's just proportions laid bare.  There's nothing going on.  If you had invested in a feathered chubby or an incredible crinoline, it's never going to go out of style. I think the most eccentric things are the things that last the longest."

 Sally Singer

Enjoy!

XX 

Valerie and Camilla