January: Retribution and Reprise
From the archives of January 2025
My brain has been airgapped and preserved in a state isolated from the stock market, most news and all social contact for the past two months. Mutually delightful and sanity-deteriorating.
In my uprising, I’ve been discovering a wealth of Japanese fashion that is to my enjoyment and in preparation for a flight. I have also come to the conclusion that music can save a life, because I’ve been utterly engulfed.
My sartorial interests have been focused on the simulated representation of fantasy/reality through intersections between the online/digital. I have once again been drawn to metallurgy, engraving, inscriptions, material and textile amalgamation, artistic destruction and typography (duh). Featured below are a few of my recent fascinations.
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Briefly, I have a note on Paralyne. I was thinking these thoughts in an airport while reading the Design-2-Part magazine. Very random but the majority of this article was written while waiting to board the plane.
Anyways, on with it: paralyne is actually much better for encasing machinery because of its resistance to water and other CPU-irritants. I don’t support the usage of resin in this application (that I’m thinking about but you are not allowed to know about) because of the likelihood of literally blowing up your hardware. I think it trivial to wrap computers in resin. Please go back to a design college in the 80’s and put on your respirator mask.
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Baptiste by Sophia Brinkgerd is just beautiful. I am absolutely enthralled by the terminals and high contrast strokes. This typeface represents the pricking of a finger in the most romantic way possible. I do wish for a regular cut, as soon as possible. I will take a WOFF2 and I will quite enjoy myself.
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Hello to Engineered Garments’ Black Crewneck, made with 100% heavyweight cotton. I do very much enjoy this crewneck, which is so apparently “cobbled together.” I also know it is crafted by a designer hand, but I think it looks like it is patched with the thought that cohesion is inconsequential to the wearer. Something about pairing this with clanky three-inch sneakers or a pair of tailored jeans sounds just right to me, and who could resist a Track Your Shipment link with the word “engineering” in it?
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Cav Empt literally means “buyer, beware.” It is an overarching call to consider our purchases, ruminate on capitalism and challenge society’s status. I enjoyed this piece by the Tokyo-based, remote-enabled magazine Sabukaru. May we sit and anticipate SS/25’s collection!
I originally discovered Cav Empt from the shop, The Darkside Initiative, while querying for retaW’s lip balm. They’re a damn good stockist because I discovered a new love. Hide and Seek, which hails from Japan, is another delightful discovery.
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I have been drawn to ERD lately. Enfants Riches Déprimés is simply positioned against the World – a brand with stark cynicism and hints of delight in anarchy. Something against political figures, wealth and maybe its distribution. It’s fascinating to observe a rejection of privilege by doing the most privileged thing you could do, which is purchase an exuberantly expensive shirt. In comparison to other tees, of course. Craft in garment finds itself deceived by the rivets, razor cuts and sandpapered collars and hems, but I love it nonetheless. I have ample respect for Henri and his ability to act on what he loves with little regard for return or judgement. ERD is nearly an invitation to judge, and it is mere inspiration for his continuance of art.
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I’ve always really loved Society de Nobodies for their anarchist symbolism as well. I do love a nicely-destroyed Gildan piece with hem frays and faded ink misprints. And redacted text? Sign me up.
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The MA-1 bomber jacket is a fascination and fixation of mine that focuses on the story behind American military apparel company, Alpha Industries. Alpha was founded by Robert and Helen Lane in 1948 to produce flight jackets and outerwear for the DoD. The contract and its validity would later be challenged, but Alpha began to produce the infamous jacket in 1963. The 2024 version focuses on two snap-closure body pockets and with Alpha’s touch, is accessorized with an embroidered red tag. Now, we pay $200 to send tribute to the pilots who would embark into the air.
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MSCHF will always be sick as **** in my mind. No one can deny the fact that they are Vue hustlers, with Gabriel Whaley at the head of the controversy. I can’t help but swoon when I press CMD+OPN+I and go into heavenly inspection. If you weren’t aware, MSCHF pumps out projects and their correlating problems like its a game of COD shipment: consistently, quickly and creatively. My favorite project of theirs is a collaboration with Guo O Dong, The Persistence of Chaos, which is a functioning-but-recluse laptop infected with six of the most infamous computer viruses in history. Malware? Delicious.
Whaley’s approach to militant brainstorming and output is admirable in his domain. His early-life decentralization in North Carolina was a start to the “scorched Earth campaign” that is continuously led by the brand, and Whaley has self-ascribed the devout attitude of project-pumping to his experiences around the U.S. Army.
There is a coin called “MSCHF style-thinking,” minted from the Business Untitled interview above. Whaley began to formulate this with his early decisions in his departure from college enrollment and the army.. and later, corduroy pants from Urban Outfitters. It developed even more through the journey of horrible programming tutorials, God-channelled bad advice, shaved heads and such an oversized irony that fucks with everyone.
Whaley started by building viral moments (often, the best ones come on accident) and kept going. Speak like you write the code, and then exist!
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Lastly, I’ll feed the soul with a double-edged sword. I do so enjoy the Quantum Made Simple site, which offers education on quantum physics and some delightful 3d/audio experiments. Following is a link to a playlist of other animations from the La Physique Autrement channel.
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‘Tis all for the day and thus, the month. Goodbye and goodnight!