PRAGUE

Bone Church







40,000 corpses!

BERLIN, DAY 2 pt 2

PROJEKT GALERIE (projektgalerie.net) SHOWROOM

MASNADA (masnada.it)

Somehow, the designer of Masnada created my dream wardrobe. Mostly black and of daring textures. Dresses with chains instead of fringe, and leg openings when a skirt hem is expected.

POSTWEILER HAUBER (postweilerhauber.com)

At times it is easy for me to instantly write of clothing with bright blocky colors, or things that seem overly childlike in their playfulness. Postweiler Hauber, however, blew my mind a little bit. The first thing that caught my interest (and maintained it for the 5 minutes I inspected it frontwards and backwards) is the long shirt/dress held by designer Raphael Hauber in the first image. It's a shirt. It's a bag. It's a little bit Mondrian, and I want to wear it.

One thing that makes the Postweiler Hauber collection stand out is the impeccable mix of fabrics. One dress (not shown, but exemplified in the 2nd picture) was a cotton with a gauzy overlay, featuring a surprise of silk at the hem patchworked with a featherweight jersey.

ROUTE.

Perhaps a little bit crafty for my liking, but undeniably exquisite.

BERLIN, DAY 3/4

BAR 25
Arrived: 1:45am
Left: 7:30am

Photos were taken between 5-7am



Michael started talking to me because he heard my accent. He's from Baltimore. His best friend is a guy who I went to art school with named Johnny Rogers. Total coincidence. Are we surprised?

BERLIN, DAY 2 pt 3

WAIT. Before I report on pt 2 of day 2, I HAVE to fast forward to part three.

After investigating the Projekt Galerie showroom (a bit of a longer story that I will expand upon for the next entry), I was invited to their closing party, and given two "VIP" free entry tickets to their closing party event.

The party was hosted in a guerrilla shop called Dark Lands. Featuring designers such as Carol Christian Poell, Damir Doma, and Undercover, the aesthetic is similar to Atelier in NY, but much more goth. The shop opens officially on Friday, but will only be staying in the Mitte location for 6 months. They then pack up, and move to a new space. Total vagabond status. The interior of Dark Lands repeats the theme of transience by a total lack of interior design. In fact, the interior appears to be totally gutted and void of any remodeling.

The space functioned in four separate ways:

1. Clothing store - menswear in leather, canvas, fishnet, massive forms, heavy silhouettes, androgynous knits. Leather necklaces and skulls on chains (hey, I have one of those!) laid on an old piano that was painted white. The piano keys were wooden.

2. Bar - One small room was set up as a bar. This was an awful use of the space, since you had to pass through that room to get from the entrance area to the bathroom or clothing space. I think I waited 20 minutes for a beer. Lucky in this time, I bonded with a fellow named Tony from London who was also angry about the line situation

3. Art Gallery - Three of the rooms were dedicated to 3-artist photography show

4. Performance space - Dark Lands has a downstairs cavern-like area that can be accessed by small, one sided stairwell. Upon reaching downstairs, there are worn brick walls and chandeliers. Candles sit on steps without candle holders. In one corner there is a neon sign that looks like 4 stars combined (a girl named Jette Stolte took my photo in front of it, as soon as I find it online, it'll be here), and a strange metal-and-wire sculpture which turned out to be a musical instrument. This space functioned perfectly as a small club (they were playing great music), but as the night went on, it turned into a venue for a band and a operatic ear-bleeding performance.

I found it almost ironic that the title of the event was "COME TOGETHER", as it successfully combined the things that make me the most excited: art, fashion, performances, gothicness. I was overwhelmed, and totally intimidated by all of the gorgeous men & women there. I was also very surprised by how outgoing a few of the people there were. Maybe it was the shredded stockings that beckoned strangers to start up conversations. Whatever it was, thank goodness because it could have been an painfully lonely night at one of the coolest parties I've attended. I haven't been in such an alien situation in a long, long, long time. San Francisco is just so comfortable.

BERLIN, DAY 2 pt 1

Last night, after a refreshing 3 hours of sleep, I woke up at 6am and mapped out my whole day. My journey started at the Wood Wood shop, then to Projekt Galerie, their Temporary Showroom, Beck's Fashion Experience, Andreas Murkudis, and the Kostas Murkudis showoom (these I will go into depth on today).

Actually, this story starts in San Francisco after receiving an e-mail from Kostas Murkudis inviting me to their Berlin showroom. I didn't know much about the line, but never turn down the opportunity to see the entire range of a designer's pieces.

Now back in Berlin, I passed by the showroom about 5 times (3 of these I wasn't even looking for it. The other two I was straining my eyes to find the address). Finally, I found the number 21 and headed upstairs, per the invitation's directions. First of all, their showroom was on the 3rd floor, and not on the 2nd as written. I tried all possible combinations of doorbells, but to no avail. I was totally locked out.

I remembered that the Andreas Murkudis shop was around the corner. Andreas is Kostas's brother, and has a shop which carries many of the same lines as HARPUTS MARKET does. For men, Margiela, Y's Homme, Balenciaga, and of course, Kostas Murkudis. For women, Y's, Sara Lanzi, Margiela, and a few more. The shop is divided up into two separate buildings, with a small courtyard in the middle. The locked showroom is basically upstairs.

I asked the woman at the desk about the showroom, and she referred me to a gentleman who turned out to be Andreas himself. He personally brought me up to the showroom, and told me about a few of the pieces.

1 dress, 140 different colors to choose from.At this point of the day, I was sweaty and greasy from the muggy weather and a little bit intimidated by all of the hot Berliners. Also, the woman running the showroom was up to her elbows for that night's fashion show.

She then said to me, "you are coming to our show tonight, right?"
Oh...! I didn't know that! A fashion show? When?
"6pm"
Well it's 4:45pm. Fine, I'll go.
So little ol' zana experienced her first fashion week runway show. Middle section, 4th row seat. More sexy men. Spotted Yvan (the facehunter). The highlight for me was the last 5 looks, all made from see-through black fabric. I had started a project of see-through clothing, and Kostas Murkudis did a much much much better job.

Tonight we are going to a party hosted by Projekt Galerie. I have stories about them, stay tuned for that later. Creep shot. She looked great.

IGGY POP OR JESUS?

Tonight's DVD: Iggy Pop or Jesus?

Purcahsed bootleg in Mexico City in 2006. I will spare you any sort of critique of the music or the man or the interviews because I'm no expert on the subject, and Iggy Pop speaks so eloquently about it all. There's a great section where he talks about a live show in which he walked over the crowd's arm, and someone handed him a jar of peanut butter. I won't reveal more than that. It's strange to feel nostalgic for a time in music that I never experienced...