THAT DON'T IMPRESS ME MUCH
UHH is what you feel when you wake up in the morning and you look cooler than a banana. Or what your grandmother feels when she realizes that you are wearing pyjamas. As regular clothing. UHH is having a party in your head 24/7 and always having fun. UHH is Kate Moss getting drunk and Britney Spears cutting all her hair. Kristen Dunst in the Virgin Suicides or Donnie Darko wearing his stupid man suit. UHH is doing things just because. Because you love them or because you hate them, not because you don't care. Being genuine, looking like crazy. Being expansive, becoming platonic. UHH is having serious relationships with your shoes, jackets and bags. UHH is having the Bigfoot as a style icon, and the Olsen Twins, and the Queen of England and Leandra Medine. UHH is a good Nutella sandwich. And everyone loves Nutella sandwiches, even if they are not ready for them.
01 FRESH!
0101 Welcome to the freshness 0102 iThink you are cool 0103 It's too late anyway 0104 Style Icon: A$AP Rocky 0105 The place to be 0106 Very Opinionated 0107 Season Taxonomy
02 LA CALLING
Some of that actually happened and you know, the street style is “always” real.
03 WHY?
Brushing is for girls, not for Man Repellers
04 EDITORIAL
0401 Alienswear
05 UHH.COM
0501 #WIY 0502 Art on Art 0503 #UHHCoolFriends: Álvaro Martinez Edition 0504 #UHHSpottedMap
0* FASHION MAFIA 0** #DIY
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SPRING 2015 KICKS OFF with a strong reminder coming from #instafamous Donald Robertson: FASHION IS NUTS! And just in case you need some evidence, Paris Fashion Week left us with some genuine proof. Zoolander invading one of the best Valentino shows we’ve seen under Gasquiere’s hands, Kim winning everyone’s hearts with her new Draco Malfoy inspired hairstyle and Karl taking Brunch to the next level with the Oh-so-French Brasserie Gabrielle
(but...) What does that even mean? The intention for this printed pice of paper you have in your hands was making each inch of it look cool. Apparently not everyone undestands the term as we do. vSo just before we get serious, we wrote this quick list. This way, you can undesrstand that what we mean by cool is far more significant than just a four letter cucumber. COOL CAN MEAN: *Automatic, supersonic, hypnotic, AND funky fresh. It can also be used to describe Coachella. *Smart; cool can be used to replace “smart,” to depict anyone as intellectual as, say, David Foster Wallace, historically apt as Henry Kissinger, scientifically capable as Albert Einstein and as socially credible as Andy “Bravo” Cohen. *Weird; cool can be used to replace “weird” but only when weird is used to replace a combination of sketchy and vaguely dishonest — if someone stole your lunch money and then spent it on a red ant farm, for example, you might say, “That was…cool.” *Substantially pretty while emitting the swagger of Kanye West. Representativ figures include french women. “You look so cool” is therefore a high honor. *Wildcard: cool can mean kind — kinder than Oprah, it can mean vigilant — with more courage to its four letters than to Davey Crockett’s hunting expedition (cue: cool hat) and finally, it can mean “awesome,” non-hyperbolically, spoken with full authenticity and not a single tinge of sarcasm (or ground beef breath). Sometimes, too — a lot of times actually — cool just means cool (turn to the next page for a visual description).
i THINK YOU ARE COOL
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Andreas Wijk Andreas Wijk
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Public School
Here we’ve spent the past two dozen years training ourselves to accept the tragic (though accepted) fact that you can’t fake cool, you can’t buy cool and you certainly can’t learn to be cool. Now brands like Public School, Tim Coppens or Alexander Wang in his H&M takeover are turning that on its head. What is previewed is much more in line with what “the kids” are actually wearing and what is more, a command of what they’ll want to wear.
Neoprene
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He’s that pretty motherfucker Here’s the thing about my relationship with A$AP Rocky: he doesn’t completely know we’re in one. I don’t want to call us dating dating either — he’s seeing other people, I’m seeing pictures of him with other people so it’s fine, but where we have something truly special is in his ability to dress like the fashionably-adventurous-without-looking cartoonish person I wish I could be. It is often talked about how good designers elicit in their admirers the sense of, I could be that girl. So is it impossible to think that I could look at A$AP Rocky and say to myself, I could be that guy? But you know, as a girl. Absolutely not. We’re consistently celebrating and approximating men’s style. But at this point, labeling fashion with gender is practically as irrelevant as trying to assign it a time period; everything is cyclical, everything is fluid. Everyone is borrowing from everyone else. It’s nice, it means we really did all learn to share. What’s interesting is no longer that we want to steal sweaters from our great grandfathers or jeans from our boyfriends but rather, that we have the ability to develop a fascination with a style that’s quite different from our own. Part of A$AP Rocky’s style comes from his unadulterated confidence. He even refers to himself as “that pretty mother fucker.” But swagger and a cocky smile can only get you so far in fashion if your shoes are wack and your outfit’s basic. Instagram commenters will tell you so. In this industry, you have to be able talk, walk, and wear it. Rocky’s clearly done his homework. Where he picks up speed is his nod to Helmut Lang — a classic, Alexander Wang — the wunderkid, followed by his name-drops of Jil Sander, Ann Demeulemeester, Thom Browne, Rick Owens, Raf Simons. A$AP Rocky is, if nothing else, a major peruser of Style.com. We know he endorses Hood by Air and he’s been around at fashion week the past few seasons. But immersing yourself in clothes doesn’t automatically make you stylish — it’s personality first, and then something aesthetically inherent second. Consider his affinity for high-buttoned collars, for jeans that run a bit tighter than his music genre’s historical norm. Think about the way he embraces color, sports shorts like a surfer, wears black like Emmanuelle Alt, treats a suit as an outfit (as opposed to an occasion-appropriate requirement) and wears big, bold prints with pride. He very well may have a stylist. But I can’t help but believe that his say in what he wears is louder than other artists’ — that Steve Zissou hat and blue leopard jacket abov had to have been his call. Which is why, even though I wouldn’t personally wear head-to-toe Birds of Paradise a la Givenchy men’s 2012, I wish I could. He makes me want to be that guy. Or girl.
R
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Festival season backlash is hardly new. We’re sure there’s some sort of direct correlation between major, tabloid headline-making celebrities attending and the proverbial jumping of the shark of said festival that’s just begging for an Excel spreadsheet. Eye roll-worthy social media updates in their various iterations throughout the years (MySpace! Facebook! Twitter! Instagram! Snapchat! Meerkat!) and festivalgoers’ proclivity towards culturally appropriative gear are old news, too. As brilliantly covered by The Cut, we’re beginning to wise up to FOMO (let’s face it—a well-made bed causes as much envy as a weekend in Palm Springs). That, and we’re just about as guilty as anyone when it comes to fervently covering festival style. So why does the beginning of the 2015 festival season feel especially... ugh? For starters, things will inevitably start to sour any time the events start to feel a whole lot more corporate frat party than music festival. In the New York Times’ respective think piece on the issue, they covered the ‘No-Chella’ phenomenon, in which musicians and slashers alike eschew the actual festival in lieu of free booze and multi-brand pop-ups outside festival grounds. We’re not Hot Topic-tee wearing Almost Famous obsessives begging, ‘but what about the music, man’—these things require cash for big-time sponsors to survive. But in a similar slant to that of street style, we’re pretty convinced that the collective push away from mammoth festivals with attendance in the hundreds of thousands is really due to the desire to return to the more personal, authentic and intimate. When your stream is laden with snap after blurry snap of Drake on a massive screen, and surprise artist entrance humblebrags are as ubiquitous as an avocado toast, the appeal fades. Fast. And when things feel mass without a hint of irony (think: Nike slides), they lose any sense of, well, cool. And pretty much like street style, the notion of donning a costume-like approximation of what you think musical festivalgoers are ‘supposed’ to wear is about as inauthentic as it gets. Even so, if you just can’t go the entire summer without sweating it out in 90-degree-plus weather alongside thousands of strangers, fret not: there’s still a handful of mid-to-small-sized festivals that boast near-identical lineups (seeing Florence & the Machine is inevitable at some point) to the big ones across North America and Europe (Bestival, Isle of Wight, Outside Lands, Pemberton and many, many more). There’s only a fraction of the requisite obnoxious day-drunk. Snapchat involved. Promise.
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In a recent article for the New York Times from the field at London Fashion Week, Vanessa Friedman wrote that fashion is, “by definition unnecessary.” It was written to substantiate a point of victory regarding the energy that emerged from London, especially when held up against the dull restraint the paring down, scaling back and growing up — that was largely on display in New York. And she was right, frankly. But I took issue with this notion that fashion could be unnecessary, especially on the heels of a memorable Oscars ceremony, where I was reminded, through third-party participation in an event that galvanizes the act of getting dressed up to sit in a large auditorium and re-watch scenes from movies you’ve already seen, that entertainment is the crutch of our survival. Because when we’re confronted with the realities of existence, the ones we invariably fight — and fail — to defy, it is only really the notion of escape that keeps us moving forward. Of course, what defines escape will vary by person: one man’s art collection might be another woman’s new handbag, or prematurely released soundtrack, or new set of fishing supplies, but it is this sense of suspension from our own lives — the ability to step into shoes that don’t belong to us, to assume foreign identities and ultimately neglect the minutiae of our circumstances — that we find solace. Life. There is an axiom that is universally acknowledged as true, which says that “stuff” can’t buy happiness. I have argued that it can, however, rent it but I’m coming to realize that it’s not about the rental — it’s about the suspension. And fashion, no doubt, is the currency with which I trade. Diana Vreeland was right: “fashion must be an intoxicating release from the banality of the world.” And it is. Because without it, that banality reminds us of what the prolific comedian Louis C.K. touches upon frequently in his routines — that we’re all alone and we’re all going to die. The “banality” that Vreeland addresses doesn’t allow for us to divert our attention from the underbelly of our collective unconscious, where there remains in perpetuity a looming fear of the unknown.
But now I’m digressing. What’s more important than arguing that fashion can’t be unnecessary is considering whether that is even possible. Because when it is 17 degrees below zero, clothes are all we have. Literally. Maybe the bells and whistles that are sewn into the fashion as opposed to the de facto garments are disregarded or looked down upon but when they’re not, the champions of those bells and whistles feel imprisoned by the lack of choice inferred by an imminent snow storm or dangerous windchill. Getting dressed is, after all, our great escape and when that is compromised, we are left inert. Lifeless. Stuck. If fashion might actually convince you that there is no end point, there is no darkness and that life runs in an ongoing loop littered by rose-colored fancies, it cannot be deemed unnecessary. Quite the contrary; it is decisively necessary. For survival. For endurance. For the gumption with which you persevere. And on Louis C.K.’s theory, I offer this: we can’t fight the facts of existence and it’s true that we’re going to die — but worth canvassing is whether she who dies with the best shoes really dies alone.
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man·re·pell·er [mahn-ree-peller] -noun
she who outfits herself in a sartorially offensive mode that may result in repelling members of the opposite sex. Such garments include but are not limited to harem pants, boyfriend jeans, overalls, shoulder pads, full length jumpsuits, jewelry that resembles violent weaponry and clogs. -verb (used without object), -pell·ing, -pell·ed
To commit the act of repelling men
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Ever since she exploded onto the fashion-blog scene in May 2010 with The Man Repeller—a seamless blend of style reporting, personal reflections, and social commentary, all infused with the writer’s idiosyncratic wit—Leandra Medine has made a name for herself as the quirkiest critic on the front row. (“The Man Repeller” refers to the fashion-loving woman who gravitates toward outré clothing, even if it makes its wearer unattractive to the opposite sex.) Gearing up for the publication of her first book, Man Repeller: Seeking Love, Finding Overalls (Grand Central), today, the 24-year-old New York City native sat down with us to discuss writing, Fashion Week, and finding her voice—more Kanye West than Drake, as it turns out—as a blogger.
Your blog has evolved to include more about its author as opposed to just pure fashion reporting and commentary, though. Has that been intentional? When I started Man Repeller, I never intended for it to be a personal style blog about me. I thought I was pinpointing or locating a pre-existing social condition and just giving it a name—not necessarily dubbing myself the name. That just happened naturally. In the early days of the blog, I noticed that every time I would post even an image of my feet in different shoes, or a picture of myself on the site, those stories gained so much more traction and page views. I realized if I wanted T.M.R. to be something, I’d probably have to include a little bit more of myself.
Congratulations on finishing your first book. After blogging daily for the last three years, what was it like to write a full-length memoir? Leandra Medine: Thank you. I’m so nervous about the reception. When you’re writing a blog post, you can take solace in knowing that you will immediately know how people will respond to it, and if the criticism is bad, then that’s fine because you can work on that and fix it, and if it’s good, then that’s great because you know what to do in the future. It gets pushed down so quickly. With a book, it’s just out there forever. People can love it or they can hate it, but either way there’s a lot more attachment to it. I feel married to my book, whereas I’m in these perpetual one-night stands with my blog posts.
Whom do you envision as your target reader? I would hope that I’m speaking to girls who are like me— girls who are interested in and care about fashion but are also obsessed with becoming smarter. Even though people will look at several of my blog posts and be like, “Why are we talking about this current event instead of hem lengths?” I’ll be like, “You’re going to go on a date tonight and have something to say about one of the Tsarnaev brothers, and then you’re going to wake up tomorrow morning and say, ‘Thanks, Man Repeller.’”
What inspired you to start the project? I always grew up with the idea that in order to be a successful writer, I should have a book published. Sloane Crosley and David Sedaris are two of my favorite writers; they’re the kind of writers who make you feel like “I can do this. I want to do this.” And so that was my inspiration. My first foray into writing had a lot to do with Joan Didion. My “burning bush” moment was when I saw her uptown once. Slouching Towards Bethlehem is the sort of writing I always wanted to do. You reveal a lot of personal details in the book—perhaps even more so than on The Man Repeller. People always ask me how I muster the strength to be so open about things, and I explain to them that I took the Myers-Briggs test, like, four times, and every single time, I ranked an 87 percent extrovert, so it would probably take more strength for me to shut up.
You’re obviously passionate and knowledgeable about the designers you cover, but at the same time your blog doesn’t seem to take it all too seriously. Man Repeller is a humorous Web site for serious fashion. That’s what we call it. I would also hope that on a grander scale, it’s a testament to life in New York. That’s where the cronut stuff and “Rat in the Hat” [an advice column] and all those very New York–centric posts come in. What is a typical day in your life? It’s so uninteresting. I don’t believe that. No, it is. I wake up around 7:30, make myself a coffee. Actually, I’ve started going out for coffee—I’ve realized it’s very good for my mental health to get out. And then I’ll get to my computer around 8 or 8:30, set live the first blog post, and then from 9 until 1:30 I’m either working on the second blog post or the next day’s blog post or doing market research for whatever it is. I’m really lucky because scouring Neta-Porter is “market research.” It’s really fun. Sometimes it’s expensive, but it’s really fun
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And remember, BeyoncĂŠ wasn't built in a day practise makes perfect
So I’m essentially doing that until around 2 p.m., and then I set live the second post. It’s always two a day. That’s a new thing; it’s been that way for about two months, ever since the Man Repeller assistant came on full-time. And then it’s the same thing from, like, 3 until 6:30 or 7. I’m either working on the next day’s post or the following day’s post or the edtorial calendar. And then I usually go out for dinner and have so much wine. Do you see yourself expanding the brand beyond this book? I would love to write more books. You learn so much from working on a book that the second one would be so fundamentally different from the first. Because I’m married now, and the trials and tribulations of getting married at 23 are behind me, and now it’s just “O.K., the overalls are found. What have I lost?” Fashion Week is upon us; what kind of coverage do you typically run? I tend to do round-ups, but for the last two or three seasons, because my mind is just functioning differently now, I’ve been trying to do more of the think-essay things. My couture recap was: Couture is supposed to harbor the last true inkling of the indie spirit because it’s so fantastical and removed from what you want to wear. It’s not about consumerism. And yet this year, Margiela sent jeans down the runway, and everything that Raf Simons did was wearable. Armani Privé is making these nude pantsuits that you could get from the ready-to-wear collection. That was a really enjoyable piece for me to write, because it delved into the business of fashion. I would like to do a little more of that thinking stuff. [New York Times writer] Cathy Horyn is obviously the paladin of fashion critics, isn’t she? Do you ever find that the posts you are less proud of become a huge success and the ones you love fall flat? In the last month, there are probably three stories I’ve been super passionate about and really loved: cronuts; a tribute to Michael Jackson. But I don’t know how well they resonated with readers. That said, I think my readership has evolved with me, maybe in the way Miley Cyrus’s fans are growing up with her. Stacy London [the fashion consultant and a co-host of TLC’s What Not to Wear] actually said something really interesting to me. She’s a fan of the Web site, which is really cool to me. I ran into her on the street once, and [she] said she was so impressed by the headier and smarter thought pieces I’d been doing, and I said I appreciated that, that I felt like my readers wanted me to shut
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up and just show them pictures. She was like, “Don’t dumb down for them. You are setting the trends. You need them to rise to your level.” But then again, it’s, like, the difference between Kanye West and Drake. Drake is a low-common-denominator rapper, and Kanye West is a little bit more esoteric. Or the difference between kale and chocolate. If you’re hungry, you’re going for the chocolate, even though you know the kale is better for you. How long do you think you’ll keep up the site? I hope forever. I hope that it keeps evolving with me and takes on a different identity every time I want it to. And every time the readers want it to. The people who are running blogs now that are of note—Into the Gloss, SousStyle— they’re not just going to fall off. This is going to become the norm; we’re not going to be on the outskirts of fashion 10 years from now.
While we’ve all become familiar with the meaning of “man repeller,” the real question rests in our ritual practices. How many of us are active tribe members? Must some of us renew the MembeRship? Below, you’ll find a short quiz that will help you identify with your repelling tendencies. Because at the end of the day, only some of us have really let our sartorial choices open the flood gates. Sure, consummation is cool but you know what’s cooler? Martin Margiela.
ARE YOU A MAN REPELLER?
1. Your favorite runway designers are: a. Rick Owens, Commes des Garcons, and I was particularly partial toward Prada’s Spring 2011 show b. Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, Ralph Lauren c. Guess. Oh, that’s not runway? How about Guess by Marciano. Classy shit! 2. It’s Saturday night, you are… a. Prancing around the apartment trying to integrate eight different animal prints into one outfit. My turban is floral. a2. I’m also surfing the interwebs. Shop Nasty Gal and Pixie Market are among the tabs open on my browser. b. Getting an outfit together for date night. I think I’ll leave the dagger ring at home. c. Saturdays are reserved to intercourse, so I’m having intercourse 3. This spring you can’t wait to wear: a. Things that look like vaginas. b. Floral frocks and full mini skirts c. Lingerie as outerwear. Look out for the lady in a pearly thong, it’s me. 4. Your idea of sharp lingerie is: a. Marni and 3.1 Philip Lim, love me them silk granny separates. b. La Perla, I’m a fancy bitch in lace. c. Any of the shit they sell at Fantasy World on 7th Avenue; I’m known to wear cock-rings around my neck. 5. If you could describe your personal style in three words: a. Hemingway x Bowles, counterfunctional b. Girly and egdy c. Pleather, pleather, pleather! 6. Your favorite fabric is: a. Chiffon meets organza meets leopard print fur meets leather meets fatigue meets utility jacket meets feather meets reptile meets chain adorned tweeed. b. Suede c. Pleather, pleather, pleather! 7. Your style soul-mate is: a. Anna dello Russo x Rupaul b. Rachel Bilson x Juicy Couture c. Kim Kardashian x Jenna Jameson 8. While taking this quiz, you’re wearing… a. A slashed back cardigan with purple harem pants and peter pan booties b. Briton stripes and some skinny jeans c. Loads of shit I bought at DASH last weekend. 9. Your outfit needs a quick fix, you: a. Add feathers and a velvet bow tie b. Include a leather jacket c. Strip layers down to the nipple. A bustier willith do.
Congratulations, Man Repeller. Sartorial freedom is yours. You haven’t renewed your birth control prescription since Proenza Schouler’s debut collection but hey, more cash for you. In the battle between finding yourself a man friend and investing in some sweet new shoulder pads, your priorities are perfectly in order. Sure, you may reinvent the “cat-lady” credentials but who cares? Your closet rocks my Missoni printed ankle socks.
You’re a Semi-Repeller. This term was cleverly developed by the queen of Semi-Repelling, Rachel Strugatz. While you can appreciate a good wedge a la Giuseppe Zannotti or a disco horror film inspired cowboy bootie a la Derek Lam, you likely won’t rock the trend. You’ll probably stick to Givenchy cap toe booties and Alaia caged sandals. You like shoulder pads…but paired with skinny jeans, Rag & Bone harem pants but with bustiers, and little mini dresses with boyfriend blazers. Here’s to a supposedly nice balance.
Sorry Samantha Jones, you’re a full fledged Man Getter. Go back and try again. With all the fornication in your cards, you may want to get tested for STDs while you’re at it. Harnesses come and go…but herpes? That shit is forever.
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Fold this page for a good time
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Fold this page for a good time
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UHH IS A GOOD
WWW.UHHMAGAZI
NUTELLA SANDWICH
INE.tumblr.com
You never were one of those ones seeking attention. You were right there quiet, standing. Just being, but being with the intensity of those things that can’t help but be. Some call it passion, some others soul. I call it universe because it’s expansive. The realest expression of life. Platonic like poetry, or the magic love stories that can only be lived by the ones who believed in them. And you were there and I saw you. And I was here and I saved you, because I knew the world could only make sense to you in the arms of a dreamer. I love writing about you because you refuse to be written, neither described, nor limited in any way. You’re everything words are afraid to handle.
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We asked and Ane Santiago answered. Our question was as simple as difficult, what should we do with platonic loves? Not only platonic humans but platonic jackets, shoes, trips and histories. After reading it, we feel very much like she does, let's save all those platonic loves and make them ours. Ps. You should all follow her on insta @cartasaningunaparte) Ps II. Some role models just in case you are short on girl power.
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Welcome to UHH.COM
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Art on art on Kate Who is kind of real life art all by herself. She said it: Never complain, never explain. And that is what this issue's guests José Godino, Álvaro Martínez, Mireia Pascual, Anna Planas and Christian Rodríguez did.
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It's hard to know exactly when a young designer is made to cross the line, become a sensation and establish himself as a major force. The last half of the 2000s -a decade that proposed a wide variety of talented fresh-faced prospective heirs apparent to the fashion world- has given us names like Alexander Wang or Jason Wu. Now we are ready for the new generations. Its their turn to become sensation and leave the major forces for the ones named before. . Ă lvaro Martinez Wang, born in Valencia. Fine Arts student has dedicated the past few years to acquire knowledge from all around. He moved to London to work with Emilio de la Morena in 2012. For a fashion designer in the making London is always the place to be. He attended Central Saint Martin's school and left to spend a year living in Istambul. Where he kept on going with his Fine Art studies and using every project as an excuse to develop his fashion skills. Right now he is based in San Francisco, where he has taken fashion to another level in California College of the Art's fashion department, he has quickly become the -ultimate example of how far a lot of talent and a crazy experimentalism can go. When around him people quickly fall not only for Al's working method or his energy, more importantly, for his ability to bring a youthful sensibility so playfully and flippantly into his pieces-as if his girsl could shop high-end and still get out of bed looking good in the clothes she had on the night before. He's a master of the casual, the radical, and the more relaxed. From UHH we just have become early supporters, and fans His sketches and moodboards show perfectly how he creates stories in his head for every garment. Inspiration coming from very similar fields such as Sofia Coppola, southern California, European Charm or everything to tacky to be true. His Fine Art background and experience with the Spanish designer Juan Vidal and Emilo de la Morena give him an exceptional perspective over creation. His next step? Companies like Proenza Schouler , Wang himself or CĂŠline. Our next step together? Becoming the Karl and Anna of the future. Creating beautiful ambiences, stories and paying a few visits to our beloved Los Angeles.
I fall in love with so many things i can not tell the difference between what is platonic and what is not
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The behemoth that is fashion month is over, and we’ve returned back home to detox, decompress and remember what living without room service and a mini bar feels like. Oh, and click through slide after slide of every street style gallery on the entirety of the Internet. We mean, we guess we saw a fair portion of these looks first hand, but there’s something much glossier about seeing them through Tommy Tons’ lens—we totally missed Chiara Ferragni’s fourth furry Fendi bag charm IRL, anyway. We’ll be honest: even after Marc Jacobs shamed us all for putting so much value on street-born-and-bred fashion (he’s tired of the influence, ICYMI) and despite the associated circus that happens outside each and every show, we still analyze those galleries endlessly. And after this year’s study we’ve come to one long desired, finally true conclusion. The show pony—that put-on-for-Phil-Oh’s-camera peacocking, where the clothes look more like costume than, well, clothes—is, if not dead, than certainly over. (And over in the sense that sneaker wedges are over: O-V-E-R.) And, if you’ll bear with us (it’ll only be like two more minutes, we promise), we’d like to take this chance to celebrate... a little. But first, we’ll explain. Here’s how we see it. When Tumblr, Instagram, Jak & Jil, Facehunter, Streetpeeper, Scott Schuman (we could go on and on… and on) made people on the street and in the front row (instead of on the runway) the stars of fashion week and the names we needed to know, dressing up for the shows took on a whole new meaning. And we swear that for a long time, the crowd looked more like they’d undergone costume changes (a new multi-print look complete with designer bag, key chains and lace bunny ears for every attended show) than gotten dressed at 7:30 that morning prepared to brave a twelve hour day of shows. That headto-toe designer look taken straight from the previous day’s runway… despite the glamour, it all became just a little bit expected and straight-up, well, impersonal.
The real eccentrics, if you will. Michelle Elie, for instance, is light years from what anyone would deem reserved in her style—and yes, is often head-to-toe in wares bearing but one label, but it’s still a look that’s entirely her own. Anna Dello Russo and Susie Lau are still a kick to see on the street because they actually dress in fresh-offthe rack Saint Laurent (Dello Russo) and a hodge-podge of DSM’s greatest hits (Lau) even when Tommy Ton and co. aren’t snapping at them. We’re the first ones celebrate a great street style star, after all. But when Leaf Greener, she formerly known of the head-to-toe Moschino and Piers Atkinson headbands, finally made her long-awaited appearance in Paris after skipping the preceding fashion weeks wearing a caramel trench coat, cuffed blue denim and tortoiseshell ankle boots, we knew something was up. Blame it on the return of Stan Smiths as footwear staples and normcore as an industry accepted trend, but that pared-down look was pretty much everywhere—key markers include high-waisted denim (Reduns are our personal favorites), the ubiquitous Adidas, long, slouchy coats and a Céline sweater thrown in for good measure. Okay, so maybe it’s just as constructed, calculated and trendy as the over-the-top maximalist looks that feel so tired now, but take a look at the shots of Rachael Wang, Sarah Harris, Jayne Min and Gaia Repossi—even Russian couture collectors like Ulyana Sergeenko wore faded Levi’s. Forget our pinching stilettos, those were the people we wanted to epitomize. The winners of this season’s street style games (judging panel: us) upped their relatively simple basics with some well-placed accessories (Anya Hindmarch has never had such good advertising) and a few genius styling tricks. And that’s all they needed to show that they know what they’re doing when it comes to geting dressed—kind of like the sartorial equivalent of the humblebrag. We’re calling it now, guys: not to get all after school special, or anything, but we’re pretty sure dressing for yourself and wearing what makes you comfortable is the key to personal style anyway. Not that we’d ever say no to a pair of Maison Michel animal ears. Just putting it out there.
Before you’re quick to point out our hypocrisy —this very magazine inception was inspired by street style once upon a time—we’re not saying that we don’t love the people who truly pull it off. (Like them)
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INTRODUCING
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Rocking the Buzz Lightyear suit in a way that you could not even imagine. We will always U Cory
#Credits Most of the content has been created by me or by contributors specially for the magazine. However, all the written content comes either from the best blog on earth (The Man Repeller) or from the Coveteur (Which every once in a while publishes interesting points of view that are always very welcomed. The imagery that comes from online sources is mainly from style.com, Terry Richardson Photography or the on-line black hole that Tumblr is.
#THANK YOU! I feel very lucky to be able to wrap up the first issue of UHH saying thanks to a huge list of very creative cool bananas that have contributed in some way and created awesome content for the magazine. Helena Coll, for modeling and photographing while in LA. Also for being a good sister, mean advisor and all that stuff. Leire Serna and Álvaro Martinez for being the first members of the UHH team. Photographing, drawing, making fashion happen on a daily basis or just making me dinner while I work. The editorial acrylic tops were made by Leire and the UHH bomber Jacket by Álvaro. Lucky me. They say your work is always a reflection of who you sorround yourself with. Designers José Godino, Álvaro Martínez, Christian Rodríguez, Mireia Pascual and Anna Planas for taking Kate and UHH to the next level even without having seen any of it. And last but not least, CCA for taking me to the next level as a designer.
Uhh is just the beggining ALWAYS HAVE FUN
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Bye Bitches!