Gossip05 by Aishti

05 FEV-MAR 10

Adventures of a gothic girl Monster mania Dance like thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no tomorrow Scandalous trends

You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exist until they tAlk About you

A new year, a whole new energy. Gossip’s first outing for 2010 is raging, rebellious and totally rock ‘n’ roll. Designer Delfina Delettrez uses rock as a point of reference in her line of gothic jewelry, while graphic whiz Parra pushes the street, skateboards and a splash of California sun into his drawings. The documentary American Teen, inspired by the teen cult classic The Breakfast Club, takes us on an inspired journey through a typical American high school, while the new Lebanese movie Every Day is a Holiday references Lebanon’s semi-desert landscapes to weave a poetic tale of loss and longing. And if spring is just too far away for you to handle, take a jaunt Down Under and party all night long in Sydney, or cross the Atlantic and get yourself to one of the world’s most dazzling and defiant cities: Los Angeles. Never retreat, never surrender. See you in spring, Gossip

DIRECTORY Publisher Tony Salamé Group TSG SAL / Editor-in-chief Marwan Naaman / Creative director Malak Beydoun ART director Laurent El Khoury / associate editor Natasha Tohme / ASSISTANT editor Tala Habbal writers Bettie Jane Adams, Sara Addy, Stefania Alacqua, Summer Banks, Paul Cochrane, Lana Gabriel, Ziad Gedeon, Ruby Gotham, Ilze Hugo Jana Jammal, AG Joy, Sassafras Loy, Sophie Marzano, Sydney Reade, Shirine Saad, Salma Salloum, Ann Valente, Kristin Julie Viola PHOTOGRAPHERS Nour el Khazen, Lazydigger, Petrovsky & Ramone, Georges Sokhn, Bachar Srour, Scott Van Dyke stylists Dalila Barkache, Tiphaine Siou-Gibon, Venus Waterman / illustrator Ghadi Ghosn production Fadi Maalouf, Maria Maalouf / Responsible director / George Chahine / Printing 140 El Moutrane St., fourth floor, Downtown Beirut, Lebanon / gossip@gossip-beirut.com

The art of printing

www.armanijeans.com

MEGAN FOX

Available at all A誰zone stores in Beirut

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Seven store, Beirut souks, Souk El Tawileh, tel: 01 99 11 11 ext: 560 Also available at all A誰zone stores in Beirut, tel: 01 99 11 11

citizens

GIRLY GOTHICA Delfina Delettrez started out creating quirky skull necklaces It would be cliché to say that Delfina Delettrez Fendi had it easy. The daughter of Silvia Venturini Fendi, accessories director at the Italian fashion house that bears her last name, and French jeweler Bernard Delettrez, she certainly didn’t have to struggle to get a foot in the door. But if Delettrez’s eponymous line of jewelry has been hugely successful, it’s mostly because her work is unique. Open about her personal life, the soft-spoken Delettrez, who was in Beirut late last year to present her new collection, confides that an unexpected pregnancy at 19 forced her to take stock of her life: “I was confused and didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I could no longer depend on my mother for money.” Delettrez felt inspired to design jewelry and started creating quirky skull necklaces made with silver and bone.

Word got around and before long she was asked by Colette in Paris to present a collection at a trunk show, first launched in October 2007. “In the beginning I was more into macabre forms, but then I started using more playful forms like frogs and other animals,” says Delettrez, who now presents two collections a year during Paris Fashion Week, owns a boutique in Rome and had two of her pieces purchased by the Museum of Decorative Arts at the Louvre for their permanent jewelry collection. It was at the prestigious museum that Delettrez unveiled her latest collection Anatomik. The line reflects her strong personality and whimsical perceptions. “It’s all about parts of the body, like the hands, nose, lips and breasts,” says the 22-year-old. The collection, she adds, is inspired by surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and includes pieces made with fine diamonds, scaramazza pearls and Massa Carrara marble.

“This collection is almost all high jewelry,” says Delettrez, pointing to the most important piece of the lot, a unique spider-shaped bracelet encrusted with precious gemstones. The surprise here? The spider’s large abdomen actually opens to reveal baby spiders atop a nest of pearls. The design is also available in silver with semiprecious stones (at a much lower price tag), because Delettrez wants her jewelry to be accessible to everyone. Prices range from 200 to 80,000 euros, reflecting the mix of fashion pieces versus high jewelry creations. “I like to put strong details in a really traditional piece,” she says. “It’s a bit shocking. Maybe the people here will need time to get used to this type of jewelry.”

[ Text Lana Gabriel ]

what to do

24 HOURS IN LA Ah, LA! It’s really everything you thought: sunshine, stars, shades. A great choice of cities, of course, and you’ve hit the tarmac at LAX with your aviator sunglasses, glass xtc pumps and skinny jeans, ready for a full day of hot fun. We saw you coming! With just 24 hours, there is no time to waste. Let’s get going.

8AM: GET THE CAR First things first. You need wheels. Attention-grabbing, location-appropriate wheels. From LAX make your way over to Midway Car Rental, where you can secure the luxury convertible of your choosing – shop from a list of options, including Mini Cooper convertible, a BMW 6501 (convertible), a (convertible) Lamborghini Gallardo Spider, and of course the Ferrari California (convertible). LAX, 6225 W. Century Blvd., T 1.866.717.6802, W midwaycarrental.com

9:15AM: YOGA AT EXHALE Get your hamstrings and your people-watching skills warmed up LA-style at the hip Exhale Center on the beach. Here, you’ll enjoy having your mental and physical selves connected via a Level I yoga class right on the Venice Beach boardwalk. Make sure to make a few calls on your BlackBerry on your way out, and don’t hide the sweat. On your way out, put your tooties on the sand and ogle the old-school punk/hippie/indie scene that still thrives along the boardwalk. 245 S. Main St., Venice, tel. 1.310.450.7676, W www.exhalespa.com

NOON: BRUNCH AT COMME ÇA You’re hungry, of course, but more important than what you eat in LA is where you eat. For midday fortification, Comme Ça is not only super hip, but also drops you very close to where you’ll be for the next few hours: Melrose avenue. It so happens that the food is also supreme; this is restaurateur David Meyers’ contribution to French-style bistro dining. Staples include pain perdu, bouillabaisse, a display of cheeses from all over the world and fresh oysters from the raw bar. Sit in a high-profile part of the restaurant. 8479 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, T 1.323.782.1104, W www.commecarestaurant.com

1:30PM: SHOPPING ON MELROSE AVENUE There is obviously no shortage of shopping opportunities in LA – long stretches of So Cal, sun-splashed pavement has rolled out before countless celebrities, socialites, and fashionistas, but if you want hip, you still need to get yourself to Melrose. The Melrose blocks between Fairfax and La Brea avenues have a long, rich history of cutting edge – from punk to pop – and while there has been a substantial amount of gentrification in recent years, it’s still the place to go: Fred Segal, Diesel, Marc Jacobs, miu miu, xtc, Red Balls, Agent Provocateur. Bring the plastic.

4PM: DRIVE LAUREL CANYON Let’s face it: there are a million places to drive in LA. But there are a few Southern California drives that should be made because they are classic, and this one will serve as your pre-happy hour tour of the city. Laurel Canyon has been mentioned and served as setting for more films than countable since it joined LA proper in the early 1900s. It has been home to as many famous – and infamous – superstars, among them counterculture rockers like Frank Zappa, Jim Morrison, Joni Mitchell and past and present movie stars galore. The winding road of Laurel Canyon is quaint, with beautiful homes tucked into the hillside, the sprawling grid of the city below. Wind up, then back down the canyon for a classic LA treat.

5PM: HAPPY HOUR AT CHATEAU MARMONT Lindsay Lohan recuperated here after her first drunk driving arrest, but that’s not why you should go. Everyone from Judy Garland to James Dean – from Entourage’s Vincent Chase to Greta Garbo has set up shop in this hotel, draping themselves across its famous bar for expert cocktails. Led Zeppelin (yes, all of them) drove their motorcycles through the lobby one happy night, and many, many stars have sang, celebrated, humiliated themselves and detoxed here. It’s one of the few places that maintains its cachet no matter how many years go by. 8221 W. Sunset Blvd., T 1.323.656.1010, W www.chateaumarmont.com

8PM: TACOS AT TITO’S TACOS You do not need a reservation; the tables are plastic, and you serve yourself. But you absolutely don’t need to hide behind your shades at Tito’s. While a “mere” taco stand, Tito’s Tacos is so reputable it spans every kind of clientele, all of whom are willing to boldly park right out front, be seen in bright daylight, and brave even the most tangled rush hour traffic to get a fix. If you had your heart set on a hot, trendy restaurant for dinner, you should go right ahead, but remember you’re in LA now – this is the land of deliriously good Mexican food, and that’s not always found where your Amex Gold is accepted. The local hipsters know where it’s at, and thousands of them will tell you it’s at Tito’s. Order the shredded beef tacos with cheese, chips, a side of salsa and a side of guacamole – and bliss out. 11222 Washington Place, Culver City, T 1.310.391.5780, W www.titostacos.com

9PM: EARLY DRINKS AT THE DRESDEN ROOM You saw this bar in Swingers, and it’s really that cool. Jazz duo Marty and Elayne have been playing the Dresden since the ‘80s, the bar has been serving up weird blue margaritas since the ‘60s and this lounge is still packed to the rafters most nights. You’ll be there extra early, to get the party started. 1760 N. Vermont Ave, Hollywood, T 1.323.665.4294, W www.thedresden.com

11:30PM: 4100 BAR Welcome to Silver Lake. There is no lake, but there is a serious deposit of hip. 4100 Bar is a hot scenester spot in a hot neighborhood. It’s a Far East-ish scene – dark, featuring several dragon tapestries and, of course, Buddha. The jukebox, which contains just about every musical genre possible, caters to as many different classifications of people. Gay, bi, straight, club kids, indie kids – everyone is accounted for and plied with cocktails that put hair on your chest. It’s crowded, and it’s poppin’. 4100 Sunset Blvd., T 1.323.666.4460.

9AM: COFFEE AT INTELLIGENTSIA Hailed as the best coffee in LA, Intelligentsia is the eco-sensitive home of laboriously crafted espresso and cappuccino, a wide range of roasts, and proudly executed foam. Once you’re seated you’ll enjoy the intense people watching and, of course, watching people people watching. The Silver Lake location has won an AIA design award and is truly a restful spot if you stick around. There is also outside patio seating, which you should only attempt if you didn’t lose your shades at 4100 the night before. 3922 W. Sunset Blvd., T 1.323.663.6173, W www.intelligentsiacoffee.com

[ Text Ann Valente Photos Scott Van Dyke ]

style

BRICK BY BRICK Lego is riding the cyber wave with incredible finesse

It’s almost enough to make you feel as though you’re hanging out in your childhood toy box. Lego is everywhere. You don’t need to be a cool hunter to know that Lego is cool. In fact it might even be the best place to invest your money, considering the run on Lego last Christmas, the subsequent shortage and extortionist prices charged by those eager to make a quick buck. But it’s not just for the holidays and Lego isn’t just a toy anymore. Those old-school interlocking bricks have been adapted and thrust onto a high-tech world. And they’re winning over the hearts and minds of people young and old. Just ask anyone who takes part in any of the numerous Lego competitions and Lego clubs or someone who hawks them on eBay for a tidy profit. The influence of this Danish toy has been spreading. Anyone who thought technology might spell the end for a toy that dates back more than three-quarters of a century were way off the mark. Lego is riding the cyber wave with incredible finesse. How else would you explain the slew of video games, including Lego Star Wars and Lego Harry Potter, the imminent DVD movie Lego: Adventures of Clutch Powers, the upcoming Lego Universe, a multiplayer online game and a cool new iPhone application?

There’s also Lego-inspired human-sized furniture called LunaBlocks from Lunatic Construction, ceramics, utensils and gazillions of other gadgets from companies that have jumped on the Lego craze. The brightly colored blocks are even putting their stamp on fashion and have made more than one appearance on the catwalk. Four years ago Balenciaga unveiled a Lego-inspired shoe for their fall/winter 2007 line and are now suing Steve Madden because of his copycat version put out last year. The following spring, models were paraded down the runway adorned with Lego accessories, like brooches and belt buckles, by Dee and Ricky (twitter.com/deeandricky), during the Marc by Marc Jacobs show. Leave it to designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac to max it out. A year ago, he designed outfits for a Lego fashion show. The four-minute video features Lego people strutting their stuff before a black-tie Lego crowd. In the fall, he sent his own line of Lego fashion onto the real catwalk. Gaudy or fun? You decide. Think color. Lots of it. In-your-face bright colors with Lego designs and hats made of actual Lego pieces. Perhaps you could chase down a few models to get that Lego set you wanted.

[ Text Jana Jammal ]

citizens

MARK SALLING: HUNK OF BURNING LOVE Don’t let Mark Salling’s tough exterior fool you: he may play a cocky football player on the hit musical dramedy Glee, but off-camera he’s a classically trained pianist with a passion for penning his own songs. In fact, the 27-year old attended the Los Angeles Music Academy in Pasadena and taught guitar lessons prior to landing the role of Glee’s resident rebel Puck. The multitalented star took a break from singing and dancing to chat with us about his fellow castmates, the show’s upcoming storylines and more. 1. Did you expect the show to garner the acclaim that it has? No. I knew it was a quality show but I was just hoping for a good niche fan base. I think people are slowly starting to find out that it is very universal. 2. Was there a particular moment when you realized just how big Glee had gotten? When we were nominated for a Golden Globe. 3. Your character is a total bad boy. Were you anything like him in high school? No, not at all. I was way worse. 4. What are your thoughts on the Mohawk you sport, which has stirred up quite a bit of buzz? It wasn’t my choice, but I’m playing a role; it’s not supposed to be me.

He plays a jock on Glee, but he’s a classically trained pianist 5. On the show, you have gotten to work with seasoned veteran actors such as Kristin Chenoweth and Jane Lynch. What is that like? It’s really great. With Jane it’s hard to keep a straight face and with Kristin it’s hard to feel confident about your own singing. 6. Do you and your costars ever hang out together off-camera? All the time. In fact, maybe too much. 7. Any future storylines you can share with us? We are doing a whole Madonna-themed episode. 8. Are there any songs that you’re hoping the Glee cast will sing in an upcoming episode? I really like the idea of a themed episode, but whatever the writers decide is fine with me, they know exactly what they’re doing.

9. What has your favorite mash-up been thus far? Definitely the “It’s My Life”/“Confessions” mash-up. 10. You have a music background, so why did you decide to go into acting? The music business sucks right now, and it just so happens that the right (and really great) opportunity came along. 11. What are your interests outside of music and acting? I am really into birds. 12. Any upcoming projects that you can share with us? I’m still writing and recording music and have things in the works. That’s all I can say for now.

[ Text Kirstin Julie Viola ]

music

The Shoes create happy pop music laced with unique and whimsical samples

IF THE SHOES FIT

ROCK ‘EM Fame is a fickle frenemy for the elusive electrorock duo The Shoes. In Japan, their gleeful melodies and infectious samples draw in manic fans by the thousands at mega music festivals like Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic. In France and the European indie dance pop scene, they soared to fame and then vanished from the spotlight a couple of years ago when they changed their name from The Film to The Shoes to keep their anonymity, only showing pictures of their footwear to the public. “We’ve chosen these anonymous names because we wanted people to just listen to the music,” says Guillaume Brière, 31, of The Shoes. Brière and partner in crime Benjamin Lebeau, also 31, met when they were kids in Reims, a small city northeast of Paris, and started jamming together as teenagers. They both moved to Bordeaux about 10 years ago where they set up their own home studio and became The Film. Their eponymous debut album, released in 2005, attracted wide critical acclaim, but it was their pop rock single “Can You Touch Me” that cemented their icon status when it was selected as the anthem for the Peugeot 407. Through The Film, the two guys developed the driving philosophy for their music: guitars and drums (played by them), electronic production, raw (and primarily English) vocals and pop song format with choruses and catchy hooks to kill. Since reinventing themselves as The Shoes in 2008, they have proved that, much like their peers Justice, they are at the forefront of the new chapter of the

French Touch movement, the ‘90s French electronic legacy left behind by Daft Punk, Cassius and Stardust.

“We love rock music and especially pop music, so we like to think that The Shoes is not only electronic,” says Brière. “It’s really pop, but it’s pop you can dance to.” In live performances, they sing, rock out on their guitars and mix on their laptops, all at the same time. “We’re always looking for music, we listen to a lot of old ‘60s and ‘70s music…soul, rock, reggae: I think it’s the best period,” says Brière. The first single off their upcoming album is “People Movin’,” with a kitschy DIY music video shot by Fabrice Brovelli of the French DJ duo KCPK. The video is a reverse loop of The Shoes walking through Osaka, Japan poking fun at their own niche fame. Brière says that they’re currently locked down in the studio, trading samples and working with friends Primary One, The Bewitched Hands and others for original vocals for their hotly anticipated album, due out by June 2010. With remixes for the likes of Santigold and The Virgins under their belt and having scored the track “Let’s Go” on the French trendsetting label Kitsuné Maison’s Compilation 6, The Shoes have mastered the art of underground global celebrity stardom.

[ Text Bettie Jane Adams ]

movies

Fangs vs. fur The Twilight phenomenon shows no sign of dissipating. With a spate of new werewolf and vampire films set to hit the screens, the mythical beastie is pop culture’s new darling and werewolf and vampire iconography is invading everything from fashion to film, gaming to literature. The seemingly scary but ultimately docile fictional critters like Twilight’s Edward Cullen (vampire) and Jacob Black (werewolf) seem to be just what the world needs to sleep better at night. The mythical beastie speaks to our fears and soothes them – providing the ultimate escape.

The appeal is unavoidable. All you have to do is pick a side: Camp Fang or Camp Fur? (Admittedly the Twilight vampire clan doesn’t have fangs, but hey, you get the point.) Are you dying for the charms of a smooth, glittery, androgynous vamp or a hairy, hypermasculine wolf? Mesmerized by the temptations of Vamp-style immortality? Or do you prefer the promise of metamorphosis that goes hand in hand with howling at the moon? First, let’s hear it for Camp Vamp: Bela Lugosi might be dead (as the same-named song by ‘80s Goth band Bauhaus repetitively proclaims), but Stephenie Meyer

Are you dying for a smooth, androgynous vamp or a hairy, masculine wolf ?

has given the bloodsucker trend some serious CPR. Since the first Twilight novel hit the stands, a spate of toothy fads has spread across the planet. This is vampirism for the consumer age, with poster boys like Volvo-sporting Edward Cullen and sexed-up southern vamp-hag Sookie Stackhouse. Since the Cullens have been proliferating bookstores and screens with pallid complexions and lingering looks, the Emo scene gained a surge of new converts. Browse the Net, and you’ll find everything from vampire wedding dresses (at www.brides.com) to tips on how to apply makeup like Alice Cullen. Smoky eyes and blood red lips are back (try Dior’s gray, sky blue, dark royal blue, silver and black eye palette, dubbed – what else? – Twilight). Vampish fashion is hot on the runways – think black lace and capes. Keeping us glued to the small screen are series like The Vampire Diaries, and on the film front there’s Cirque de Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant and Tim Burton’s remake of the iconic vampire flick, Dark Shadows (starring Johnny Depp), to look forward to. But for some the vamp revival is getting old: the lycanthropes are fast surpassing their paler brothers in popularity and Taylor Lautner’s squeal-worthy abs are partly to thank for this. It seems as if feminism hadn’t murdered the macho male after all. Metromales, à la Robert Pattinson, are being eschewed for a much more retro-roguish, manly ideal (again thanks to Lautner and his Quileute wolf pack’s abs). Faux fur, bushy eyebrows and big hair are hot on the runway – and designers like Emilio Pucci and Dolce & Gabbana have jumped on the bandwagon. Set to hit the big screen this February is the much-anticipated flick The Wolf Man (starring Benicio del Torro), while teen novels like Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver (set to be adapted into a movie) are hogging best-selling lists. There are whole websites on the Net dedicated to singing the werewolf side’s praises, and some of the biggest players in the vamp camp are also walking over to the other side: HBO’s popular vampire series True Blood is a case in point, incorporating a werewolf character into their third season. With all these beasties crawling out of the woodwork, it’s no use resisting the invasion: pick a team and join the parade.

[ Text Ilze Hugo ]

movies

The young

and the restless In American Teen, it’s the camera that coaxes the adolescents into spilling their innermost secrets – to the audience. There are few direct confrontations and certainly no five-way tête-à-tête. Breaking up via txt message has become routine. An indiscrete e-mail invites a barrage of ridicule and prank phone calls. Students vandalize a fellow student council member’s house after he champions an unpopular prom theme.

What is it to be an “American Teen?” Award-winning director Nanette Burstein follows five high school seniors in this enthralling documentary that tips its hat to the ‘80s classic feature film The Breakfast Club, from the late director John Hughes. “Remember high school?” the doc’s DVD cover taunts: “It’s gotten worse.” Only it’s actually surprising how little has changed, despite the invasion of cell phones and txt messaging.

The camera coaxes teens into spilling their secrets

In collaboration (some have alleged conspiracy) with her protagonists, Burstein strips away the veneer of sarcasm and bravado that made The Breakfast Club a portrait of how teens view themselves. She achieves the same effect thanks to the camera’s dispassionate eye and the protagonists’ raw candor, which makes her film equal parts moving and discomfiting. The aftermath of a jarring, off-screen breakup prompts the “rebel” (a hybrid of the original basket case and criminal) to fall into a serious depression: “I’m stupid. I’m ugly. I’m a complete failure.” Both films are anthems to what is a broadly universal struggle to grow up. They rest on the notion that, sure, high school is awful, but if you survive it, life will get better – probably. This last frontier of youth is the era when adult frustrations and longings take root, when it is possible to believe that the outcome of a basketball game can bring ruin or rapture, and that you must and can figure out who you really are…before graduation.

The 1985 film turned a handful of fictional Midwestern teenagers into icons, while almost pleading with viewers to look beyond the stereotypes of privileged youth – brain, athlete, basket case, princess and criminal. Their contemporary incarnations slide into similar roles like uniforms, then deny they’re putting anything on. “I’m not here to impress,” the new princess says. “I’m here to be myself.” The Breakfast Club is the name given to the alternate reality established by a Saturday detention, when five teens are forced to deal with each other and, eventually, to reach an unusual understanding (at least until the following Monday).

[ Text Sophie Marzano ]

wireless

FASHION COUP D’ÉTAT

When 13-year-old style blogger tavi gevinson made international headlines this past fall as the star of new york fashion week, the biggest names in the global fashion industry began taking notes from young bloggers who draw thousands of loyal followers. Move over anna wintour, street style bloggers are fashion’s new kings and queens, and their opinions are closely scoured by critics, designers, buyers and fans alike. We caught up with four young guns on the forefront of fashion’s new frontier.

Susie Lau

stylebubble.co.uk Twenty-something trendsetter Susie Lau (aka Susie Bubble) was one of the first young bloggers to make it to the front row at fashion week. The outspoken Londoner’s eclectic virtual fashion diary Style Bubble was born in 2006 and has since attained legendary status in fashion circles. Her musings on fashion (interspersed with snaps of what she’s wearing) are followed by thousands of readers every day. When not blogging she reigns as commissioning editor of Dazed & Confused magazine’s online home, Dazed Digital. -Origin of Bubble: When I was 10 years old, my best friend started calling me Susie Bubble because I was always in my own little world. -You know you’re a celebrity blogger when: You get recognized in awkward places... like when I’m stuffing my face with a sandwich on the bus. -Favorite designer: Azzedine Alaïa, for his consistency and tenacity in a very tumultuous industry. -Hottest street style trend: Wooden clogs. -iPod favorites: Woods, Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, Nite Jewel and School of Seven Bells.

Krystal Simpson

whatisrealityanyway.com A bible of vintage rock ‘n’ roll style, the blog What is Reality Anyway chronicles Krystal Simpson’s daily adventures, from shoot to sidewalk to front row fashion show. After appearing on the MTV reality series I’m from Rolling Stone, she has graced the pages of Elle and even designed a pair of jeans for Quicksilver. When not blogging, modeling or designing, she haunts San Diego dive bars with her band Little Feather or updates her hot blog. -On how style blogs have taken off: It’s great to see that everyone from magazines to fashion houses is taking notice and incorporating bloggers into their normal routine. -Blogging perks: All the clothing, jewelry and bags I get from companies and designers to work into my outfit posts. I also get to attend a lot of great events. -Personal style: I seem to dress like a glamorous boy. I’ve always wanted to fit in between Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg – I read that they used to share clothing. Imagine having access to that wardrobe! -Surreal celebrity moment: I picked out Steven Tyler’s stage clothing for one of his concerts when we were hanging out backstage. I could never have imagined that one day I would be digging through Steven’s wardrobe.

Move over Anna Wintour – bloggers are the fashion world ’s new kings and queens

Louise Ebel

César Arellano

misspandora.fr When redhead Louise Ebel isn’t brushing up on 19th-century art history as a student in Paris, she’s blogging. With a passion for all things vintage, her ethereal self-portraits are the stuff of gothic fantasy – think William Blake meets Sofia Coppola. These otherwordly DIY fashion shoots are interspersed with musings on her favorite artists.

diariodefiestas.blogspot.com Mexico’s stylish set are all clamoring to be the focus of César Arellano’s lens. Doubling as a photographer by night and a fashion history teacher by day, he prowls the city for blog fodder come dusk, camera in hand. His street style blog Diario de Fiestas is a paragon of cool. Brimming with edgy party shots and sweet street style, it documents the manic, electric energy of Mexico City’s creative underground.

-Best thing that’s happened since starting a blog: Shooting a video for French TV in the Ritz-Carlton. -Style icons: Anita Pallenberg, Courtney Love and Marie-Antoinette. -Favorite designer: Givenchy. -Best fashion purchase: Black Topshop ankle boots. I wear them all the time – they’re simple, they rock and they’re comfortable. -Favorite era: There are so many things I adore about the 19th century that are an expression of my personality, like romanticism and decadentism. I love the paintings, literature, music and fashion. I’m also fascinated with how they lived at that time, amid new modernity, industrialism, revolution and political conflicts. -Worst fashion trend ever: Harem pants. -iPod favorite: Syd Barrett.

-Blog beginnings: Diario de Fiestas was born from a fascinating undergroundfashion-art-party scene along with a bunch of new kids who are now the stars of Mexican fashion design, like Teamo, Marvin y Quetzal and EGR. I started partying with them and then decided to document it. -Personal style: My style is the consequence of being born in the ‘70s, being a teenager in the late ‘80s, too many drinks and drugs in the ‘90s and a lot of fashion designer friends nowadays. -Worst fashion trend ever: Cargo pants. I can’t stand them even if they seem to be making a comeback. -Best thing about being a celebrity blogger: The loyal followers.

[ Text Ilze Hugo ]

wireless

WATCH OUT OR I’LL CUT YOU! “I unfriended her and then blocked her,” says Véronique of a former Facebook friend. A philosophical difference had spurred a spat between the two on the unfriended friend’s status update. Ending it was easy. Delete. Whatever your preferred idiom, “unfriend” or “defriend,” as it is for the New Oxford American Dictionary, the phenomenon is becoming so ensconced in popular culture that the first one was chosen as word of the year by the dictionary. But this isn’t the first book of words to catch on: both terms have been included in the online Urban Dictionary for several years. Unfriend is the catchword for dumping Facebook friends, generally without explanation. And it’s as quick and painless as a click of the delete button – well at least for the one doing the unfriending, perhaps not for the unfriended. In an online world, where “friends” are added to one’s entourage with a simple click, often numbering 500 and more, including people met in passing or never met at all, is it really a shock that you can turn around and drop them just as unceremoniously? I can attest to this. A few months ago, a woman acquaintance of mine friended me on Facebook, only to turn around and unfriend me a few days later. WTF? Often, a cull of one’s Facebook friends has to do with a change in status. Michelle, 24, who has been on Facebook for about three years and has some 200 friends, decided to do a house-cleaning about a month ago. She ditched about 10 to 15 people, mostly exes or associates of exes. “It felt really good,” she says. “It was like throwing out an old boyfriend’s stuff.”

Sounds logical? Perhaps not to some. Most people are quite the opposite, preferring to keep exes and old friends around in order to “stalk” them online, says Michelle. In fact that’s what she had been doing with her most recent ex, habitually checking his profile, until she decided to include him in her throwaways. “I had to take away the temptation.” Sometimes the purge has to cut a bit deeper. Upon my return to Facebook after a hiatus of a couple of years, the initial intent was only to unfriend my ex and his close circle of friends. But it felt so right to discard these people who were no longer part of my life that I cut out anyone else I hadn’t seen or spoken to in a while. At the end of my unfriending frenzy, I was left with half the number of friends, though I was never one to accumulate them in the hundreds. Quite often, as in the case of Véronique, people unfriend others over differences in beliefs or politics or even because they find a person’s updates annoying. Good thing it’s not so easy to lose friends in real life.

Unfriend is the catchword for dumping Facebook friends

[ Text Jana Jammal Photos Walt Disney ]

citizens

GRAPHIC REVENGE The curves in his drawings tantalize the tongue: the brilliant blue and perky pink make for some of the hottest and tastiest eye-candy around. His look comes from skateboarding – crisp, fluorescent and edgy, like the sneaky glances in his Upskirt posters. Parra (real name Pieter Janssen), the 33-year-old Dutch artist behind the addictive, amorphous figures, designs posters, paintings and the Rockwell clothing line, while collaborating on ad campaigns for Nike and Ben & Jerry’s. After a childhood spent around art, he made his way to California to skate professionally before returning to Europe for school. Art school rejected him, but then just sitting in class was never his thing – he barely showed up until an internship in his third year took him to Amsterdam. “I arrived at my internship, and I didn’t know how to turn on a computer,” he tells Gossip in his West Amsterdam studio. This was the end of the ‘90s and the beginning of the Internet boom, so Parra went from learning how to switch on a computer to earning five grand a month designing websites for companies like Swatch. After a few years, he started making flyers for clubs on the side, and that’s when he switched on to his unique look: simple, bright figures with drawn instead of typed letters. Defining the Amsterdam party look, his surreal images of a gigantic wrecking ball or a pink hand holding a cigarette seemed to reference Andy Warhol, the techno scene and comic books all at once. And it is this tongue-in-cheek aesthetic – a mix of a teenage boy’s fantasies, supersaturated colors and razor-sharp lines – that has become one of the drugs of choice for 20- and 30-somethings who want art on their walls – as well as messenger bags and iPhones.

Parra’s look comes from skateboarding: crisp, fluorescent, edgy “People like myself and people my age, maybe from 25 to a bit older, they don’t have money for something ridiculously expensive, [but] they do want nice stuff on their wall,” Parra says. “They’re in touch, in contact with the graphic world, they read magazines, they see blogs.” And while they might not be buying paintings now, in 10 years, they will be. “I think we’re all growing, this whole generation together.” But until we’re ready to buy the pricey swag, we can always buy the T-shirts. Parra prints his sizzling designs on shirts and distributes them globally under

the Rockwell brand. When Gossip dropped by his studio, he was wearing one of his black T-shirts with a white “le” in script on its front – it doubles as an ad for his electronic music band Le Le. Although Parra still works in advertising, he’s trying to focus more on art. His inspiration comes from “crappy magazines, crappy television”: the poppiest of pop culture – take a look at the ubiquitous hand gesture in his “Talk to the Hand” poster. And he doesn’t just tap into it from his home base in Amsterdam, he gets it from jaunts to various cities across the globe, most recently Tokyo (“Business in Tokyo is done with drinking at night. So I didn’t see daylight. Seriously. Seven days. The last day I saw daylight. Terrible.”) and California, where he laid the groundwork for an upcoming exhibition in LA through Arktip.

[ Text Summer Banks Photos Piet Oosterbeek ]

style

LIKE BEING BRANDED Get moving! The spring/summer collections are out and it’s time to grab that sexy designer outfit before your BFF does. Here’s a quick peek at some of the hottest looks to fly down the catwalk.

Dsquared

Marc by Marc Jacobs

The spring/summer Marc by Marc Jacobs collection is a hodgepodge of styles and influences with so many different looks that you’re sure to find at least one piece to suit your own personal taste. Neons are still huge, like they were this past winter, with pieces like a hot pink and blazing orange dress. Jacobs also lets his African dreams run wild, creating beltedday dresses that scream “tribal!” Jumpsuits are still huge, and they come in a variety of vibrant colors and materials. If you’re a Madonna fan (aren’t we all?), get one of the line’s funky bunny bows and spruce up your hairstyle before you head out to party with your peeps. Burberry Prorsum

It was a grand celebration when Christopher Bailey returned to the London catwalk for his Burberry Prorsum spring/summer 2010 show. He probably figured that since London Fashion Week was celebrating its 25th anniversary, he might as well honor Burberry’s hometown with a smashing show after an eightyear absence. Many celebrities took note, of course, and they were sitting front row and center in order to view Bailey’s latest work: Gwyneth Paltrow and Liv Tyler fought over the same seat then joined hands in mock friendship under the disinterested stare of Anna Wintour, who herself was surrounded by glamazons Mary-Kate Olsen, Freida Pinto and Emma Watson. The highlights of the new collection are the reinvented beige, military-inflected coat and the sexy tulle draping adorning many outfits.

Yes, it’s true, Dean and Dan Caten, the once delectable twins behind the Dsquared label, are looking a bit older these days, with graying hair and aging skin: gravity, after all, has to take its toll. Never mind their looks, though, because their clothes are just as divine as ever, especially the spring/summer collection. For the hottest time of year, the twins indulged all of their camping fantasies. Well, Dean and Dan are Canadian after all, and people from that enormous, snow-covered country do enjoy outdoor amusements like fishing, hiking, rafting and, of course, camping. These nature-loving pursuits are all there in the new collection, with cutoff shorts, jean jackets, a fly-fisherman’s overall bib spliced onto a T-shirt and an evening dress combining nude satin and a plaid wool blanket.

D&G

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are just too cute for words. One is small and compact, with a shiny, polished, hairless head, and the other is tall, lanky and smolderingly sexy. (Girls, get it out of the gutter: they’re both out and proud, so the most you’ll get out of them is some loud squealing when Sarah Jessica Parker wears a pair of their strappy sandals to the Sex and the City 2 movie opening.) For the D&G spring/summer collection, the duo finally revealed their hidden passion for cowboys, taking their fans on a sexy romp through the American West. You want faded denim? You got it. Boyfriend jeans with holes? Yours for the taking. Bandannas in various colors? They’re all there. Just bring your own cowboy hat and get ready for a wild ride

[ Text Sydney Reade Photos Burberry Prorsum, D&G, Dsquared, Marc by Marc Jacobs ]

FIGHT FOR FASHION

[ Photos Petrovsky & Ramone

Styling Venus Waterman Hair Didi for Ï Day Spa Makeup Christian Abou Haidar Location Qarantina, Beirut ]

She’s wearing a Moschino dress, Diesel belt and Surface To Air leggings

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This page: She’s in a Diesel top, Manoush vest, YSL shoes, vintage bracelet and ring and customized Levi’s jeans by Daryl van Wouw Opposite page: She’s in an Hervé Leger dress, Balenciaga leggings and Gucci boots. He’s in D&G jeans and vintage belt

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[ Text Sydney Reade ]

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style

Available at all Aizone Stores In Beirut +961.1.991111

Top left: Whitley K top, LL296,000; Gucci jacket, LL5,867,000; Roberto Cavalli jeans, LL1,734,000; Danni Jo necklace, LL750,000; Danni Jo earrings, LL977,000 Center left: Blank shorts, LL144,000; Stella McCartney gloves, LL212,000; Marc Jacobs shoes, LL1,494,000; Jimmy Choo bag, LL2,907,000; Philippe Audibert bracelet, LL1,265,000; vintage T-shirt; vintage belt Top right: Bash shirt, LL364,000; Manoush gilet, LL629,000; Marc Jacobs shorts, LL826,000; Prada belt, LL2,113,000; Danni Jo necklace, LL750,000; vintage earrings Middle row, left: Alexander Wang hooded sweatshirt, LL667,000; Alexander Wang jacket, LL1,106,000; HervĂŠ Leger skirt, LL2,158,000; Danni Jo bracelet, LL1,250,000; Ela Stone earrings, LL318,000; Balenciaga shoes, LL1,878,000; Isabel Marant bag, LL659,000 Bottom left: Opening Ceremony T-shirt, LL387,000; Bottega Veneta sweater, LL977,000; Casting leggings, LL273,000; Balenciaga shoes, LL1,878,000; Babylone bracelet, LL436,000; Danni Jo earrings, LL407,000 Bottom, far right: Vince T-shirt, LL175,000; Stella McCartney belt, LL1,045,000; DKNY necklace, LL1,552,000; YSL bracelet, LL932,000; YSL leather band, LL1,401,000; Balenciaga shoes, LL1,878,000; vintage top; vintage shorts. Available at AĂŻzone.

DRESS TO THE MUSIC [ Photos Bashar Srour

Styling Dalila Barkache Makeup Christian Abou Haidar

]

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A RAINBOW OF GIFT IDEAS

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1. D&G sweater, LL503,000 2. Tumi luggage tags, LL60,000 (each) 3. Bond No. 9 Brooklyn perfume, LL408,000 4. Moleskine daily planner from Papercup, LL42,000 5. Marc by Marc Jacobs bag, LL623,000 6. Y Eyes bracelets LL53,000-LL195,000 7. Cartier necklace, LL3,265,000 8. Marc by Marc Jacobs T-shirt, LL225,000 9. Martin Margiela shoes, LL990,000 10. Marc Jacobs jacket, LL3,210,000 11. Roberto Cavalli datebooks, LL443,000 (each) 12. D&G bag, LL2,348,000 13. UUESC headphones from Union, LL135,000 14. Balenciaga sandals, LL1,793,000 15. D&G sunglasses, LL330,000 16. Paul & Joe shoes, LL1,238,000 17. Worn Free T-shirt, LL105,000 18. Gucci bag, LL615,000 19. Dannijo ring, LL218,000 20. Balenciaga shoes, LL975,000 21. Chanel nail polish No. 217, Splendeur, LL45,000 22. Lomography camera, LL300,000 from SuperCaliFragilisticExpialiDocious 23. Juicy Couture slip, LL45,000 24. DKNY hats, LL68,000 (each). Available at A誰zone unless otherwise indicated.

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Available at all Aizone Stores In Beirut +961.1.991111

style

LOVE PICKS:

ALL THINGS SPICED WITH ROMANCE

French kissing

Speak in tongues: it’s sensual, passionate and never gets old, no matter the occasion.

Boys don’t cry

And Carrie thought the post-it was bad? Apparently she never got a breakup hanky, the latest trend in breakup etiquette.

i heart art

hotter than asphalt

“I You,” the installation by Tim Noble and Sue Webster, is exhibited in Downtown Beirut near Aïshti as an ode to romance.

In Wild at Heart, a twisted adaptation of Barry Gifford’s novel of the same name, young lovers Sailor and Lula, played by Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern, are on the run from her overbearing mother as well as from the creepy characters she’s hired to eliminate Sailor.

gaga for pola

Lady Gaga is the creative director for a hip new line of Polaroid cameras inspired by the classic instant cams of decades past. Check out the redesigned PIC 1000.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

This Valentine’s Day, Nike has found a way to make love’s biggest skeptics jump for joy – literally – with the new women’s Nike Dunk Hi. What’s not to love?

Ping and pong, ying and yong

Bounce your heart away with this classic game for the fast and furious.

Sweet and sultry

Sweeten your Valentine’s Day with Cocoa & Co.’s naughty cookies. Try crunchy gingerbread, buttery sable and chocolate sable.

Fire red engine

The super stylish red Fiat 500 packs a more powerful punch than its cute exterior reveals, and with 500,000 ways to personalize this baby, it’s sure to be love at first drive.

love, love that BLOG Another Magazine’s new Loves blog, which highlights “beautiful things we love and love to share,” showcases a terrific selection of trendy new products from around the world. W www.anothermag.com/loves

Baby don’t hurt me

Haddaway’s addictive 1993 dance song, “What is love,” was an instant club hit in the ‘90s and remained widely popular after being featured on Saturday Night Live, The Office and, of course, in A Night at the Roxbury.

Forever and ever

Gabriel García Márquez’s novel Love in a Time of Cholera, spans 50 years and chronicles the undying love that Florentino Ariza bears for Fermina Daza.

Lady loves her Tramp Under the moonlight, in an alley behind an Italian café, over a plate of shared spaghetti, an upper-class cocker spaniel and a streetsavvy mutt share one of the sweetest, most memorable on-screen kisses ever.

citizens

CONNOR PAOLO KISS AND TELL

You may not know Connor Paolo’s name, but there’s a good chance you’ve seen his work before. The up-andcoming actor has already starred in blockbuster films including Alexander, World Trade Center and Mystic River; appeared in the hit Broadway musical The Full Monty; and graced the silver screen on shows such as Law & Order and One Life to Live. And of course, there’s his current gig as Eric van der Woodsen on the CW’s white-hot Gossip Girl. We chatted with Connor about what goes on behind the scenes of the steamy show and what it’s like being an über-achiever.

A fan asked me to take a bite of her candy bar and mail it back to her

You’ve worked with Hollywood heavyweights such as Oliver Stone, Clint Eastwood and Sean Penn. What was that like? I was a youngin’ when I worked with them. I was in awe of all of those actors, as they were the macdaddies of their craft. Eastwood, in particular, made me speechless – I had no idea what to say to him, and he scared the hell out of me. I worshiped every second. They taught me a lot. It was an intense educational experience. There are so many up-and-coming actors on Gossip Girl. What is the vibe like off-camera? The show is its own bubble. It’s both frenzied and subdued. We are working 24/7 and most people don’t sleep much, yet there’s this energy there. Most of the time it’s all business. Usually the only time you can relax is during hair and makeup. There’s a lot of stuff flying at you. You don’t get to see the scripts until very late. You attended a performing arts high school in New York. Was it anything like the prep school portrayed on the show? No, nothing like it. I went to a public school. The kids there couldn’t buy the Lakers. They came from drastically different, much more realistic economic brackets. A lot of kids were from Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn and even Staten Island, unlike on the show where the fact that Jenny and Dan are from Brooklyn is atrocious. There were not such ingrained cliques at my high school. There may have been fistfights but no sabotaging. We didn’t have as much time on our hands to plot the downfall of the student body.

You have had to portray Eric’s suicidal thoughts and his coming out. How did you prepare for such intense scenes? You go for the truth of the character. The only person who can understand the character is you. Eric deals with things differently than other kids recovering from emotional turmoil. But we’ve all had moments of depression and feeling like an outcast. I’m heterosexual but that doesn’t mean I can’t connect. The idea of not being accepted is a universal feeling. I tried to find the truth and merit behind his feelings. When did you realize just how big the show had gotten? A fan asked me to take a bite of her candy bar and mail it back to her, which was pretty funny…but, honestly, everyone told us the show would be big from the beginning. From wrapping the pilot, I was aware it would be big. I was familiar with The OC, although it was filmed on the West Coast, so I assumed it would blow up like that did. You’re only nineteen, and you’ve already appeared in hit films and a much buzzed-about TV show. What’s left on your to-do list? Most of my goals are within the industry. I’d like to continue down the same road and hopefully snag every honor. Of course, I’d still like to win the Super Bowl and be a rock star. And I want to go skydiving.

[ Text Kristin Julie Viola ]

citizens

EXPRESS YOURSELF A back alley. 3am. Creeping over the broken bottles and discarded furniture, they sneak up to the wall along the canal and whip out cans of spray paint. Suddenly, the gray wall is slashed with fluorescent pink, and a poster has been slapped up that reads “I DON’T WANT TO BE UR FRIEND ON FACEBOOK.” Street art today has become like Twitter for the urban landscape – making it and watching it change has become a way of life for the international talents like Banksy, making cities across the world their canvas. “The streets are a gallery without prejudice, and I do it because there are no rules,” says Melbourne’s most notorious graffiti girl Bo Ghetto Kitty, who uses streets all over the world as a showcase for her kitty stickers, spray-paint masterpieces and plastic babies. A woman in a male-dominated culture, Kitty deliberately sports a skirt when she’s out doing her work because it makes it easier to deal with the police if they ask her what she’s up to. “If I was going to do street art, I was going to have to play the game with the authorities,” she says. Most street artists start out with the simple tools: a brush, a bucket or a can of spray paint. XOOOOX, whose legendary stencils of fashion brands and models have appeared across Europe and New York, first picked up an aerosol can at 14. “My first graffiti piece came into being under a train bridge in the middle of a field,” XOOOOX says. “I wasn’t influenced by much then besides curiosity and a desire for adventure.”

Street artists have turned world cities into their canvas More recently, someone added a phallus aiming at the face of one of XOOOOX’s stencil fashion models. The scrawled graffiti was later cleaned up, leaving the original work none the worse for wear. El Bocho, the dark prince of street art with over 1,000 works in Berlin alone under his belt, placed a soldier on the wall one day and then just watched what happened. People kept writing next to the image until finally someone painted a flower growing out of its head. “People feel like they need to interact with art in public spaces,” says El Bocho. Although more and more street artists are getting gigs in commercial galleries and becoming icons of popular culture, the independent spirit of the work itself is holding strong, and so is the attitude of the artists that make it.

[ Text Summer Banks]

what to do

COMIC BOOK

REVOLUTION Samandal gives comics in the region real legitimacy We all grew up with them, even dressed like some of the characters for Halloween or became avid collectors of anything related. Batman, Superman (and the entire collection of super heroes), Archie, Doomsbury and a whole slew of titles have been around for generations. In fact, comics have been part of mainstream media everywhere since, well, even before the existence of a mainstream media. In the Arab world, many comic books came translated, although there were original Arabic versions, particularly from Egypt. But, they’ve had a tumultuous history in this part of the world, with some titles being discontinued shortly after their launching. Now, a group of Lebanese graphic designers and artists have set their sights on making comics a respectable and flourishing part of what people read in Arabic, English and French. With Samandal, a collection of comics from Lebanon, the region and across the world that began publishing in September 2007, founding members and editors Hatem Imam, Omar Khouri, Lena Merhej, Tarek Nabaa and the fdz hope to give comics in the region legitimacy as real artwork – and those who create them the opportunity to do so as a real career, and not simply a hobby (which is more often the case).

“The comics in each quarterly issue, which are definitely not intended for children, range from the humorous and political to social commentaries and serials that continue from one issue to the next,” says Imam. The seventh issue hit bookstores at the end of December. “It’s the first that’s been produced in conjunction with a Belgian group, and the first with a theme, revenge,” says Imam. It is also the thickest issue to date, with 34 submissions from across the world. Like any publication, producing and publishing Samandal is a costly business. For the first four issues, a New York- and Beirut-based organization, Xanadu, which is run by Lebanese artist Zena el Khalil, helped with the costs of publishing. While the intention is to keep Samandal a nonprofit endeavor, and accessible (each issue is priced at LL5,000), the editors have tried to secure other funding sources to cover their costs. The name of the collection comes from the Arabic for “salamander,” and represents, according to Imam, the similarity between the dual habitats of amphibious creatures and the dual world of comic books, which thrive between the printed word and images. “Plus, it’s a lot of fun to draw,” Imam says. Check it out at www.samandal.org

[ Text AG Joy ]

what to do

NeVer As good As the first tiMe Before you pop the question, you’ve got to know where to take her on that first date. Why settle on sushi when you could be strolling the moonlit seaside hand-in-hand or flirting on the terrace of a postindustrial warehouse? Innovative circumstances are key to a successful first date. To set your romantic life on the right course, Gossip has handpicked destinations for that all-important first date.

1 MONTAGNOU

2 CASA DEL MAR

4 BEIRUT ART CENTER

5 CAFÉ SHO

Montagnou’s location, high on Faraya’s snowy slopes, is hard to beat. What could be more romantic than a chalet-style décor, with windows overlooking the snowcovered hills and a cozy fireplace? Here, while powdery snow dusts the sweeping, sparsely populated surroundings, you and that special someone can share conversation over rich comfort foods. Faraya, T 09.341.441.

You may not think of the post-industrial wasteland near Jisr al Wati as the ideal location for your first date, but the Beirut Art Center is the place for an original, activity-driven evening with that special someone. Order a glass of wine, and pepper your conversation with observations about the art on display. Then, get cozy in the video screening room before a nightcap on the rooftop terrace. If artwork isn’t your thing, you can plan instead to attend one of the weekly film screenings or perhaps an avant-garde music event. Sin el Fil, T 01.397.018.

If you’re the romantic type, then head to Casa Del Mar, a quiet seaside Mexican hacienda past Jounieh. Picture a vaulted stone interior painted white that opens onto a terrace overlooking a sandy inlet, where boats bob under the moonlight. Casa Del Mar specializes in Latin dishes, sure to tantalize the taste buds. After dinner, take a walk on the beach and land that first kiss. Safra, T 09.854.058.

Taking your date to Café Sho in Monot says two things: I don’t take myself too seriously, but I seriously like you. The décor consists of a playful combination of light pastels and blond wood, but the menu is a modern and mature take on provincial and Mediterranean classics, with ginger ice cream for dessert. On weekends, call ahead to snag a table away from the wall, where you’ll have a little more privacy to get to know each other before hitting Monot’s watering holes. Monot, Beirut, T 70.117.955.

3 HARISSA TÉLÉPHERIQUE

If you have an appetite for danger, plan a téléphéferique ride for you and your date. The gondola lift that runs all the way from Jounieh Bay to the heights of Harissa is a veritable experiment in terror: it takes off into midair, reaching a peak height of 650 meters and swinging dangerously close to dozens of high-rises, affording you a naughty, forbidden glimpse into people’s bedrooms.

OSTERIA Are you shying away from a capital D date, or are you perhaps thinking of taking that special friendship a step further? Keep your options open at Osteria in Mar Mikhael: café by day, red wine and jazz by night. The rough stone interior and dark wood bar give it Old World sophistication, but the crowd is decidedly young and artistically inclined. Small tables mean that you can tune out the scene with a furtive whisper, balancing personal intimacy with social comfort. Mar Mikhael, Beirut, T 01.566.175.

[ Text Sara Addy ]

citizens

PARIS, SOMEDAY Sandra Mansour has big dreams for her eponymous label An internship with Lebanon’s most famous fashion designer Elie Saab is considered a great opportunity for any up-and-coming designer, but for Sandra Mansour – who worked with the haute couture master for four precious months in 2008 – it was a turning point. “It was an amazing experience, and I decided that this was what I wanted to do with my life,” says Mansour, who had previously studied painting at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, the prestigious Parisian art school.

Mansour, who is now 26, is working on a new collection comprised of 35 prototypes for winter 2011 that she’s trying to sell to a select few retailers, including Bon Génie in Geneva and Aïshti in Beirut. “It is going to be hard, but I am willing to take that risk,” says Mansour, who has big dreams for her eponymous label. She imagines fashion runway shows in Paris and New York in the not-so-very-distant future, but right now the focus is on establishing a recognizable brand name.

Certain that the glamorous world of fashion was calling, Mansour immediately enrolled in a year-long intensive fashion design course at Istituto Marangoni, a leading fashion and design school in Paris. Soon afterward, she put together a collection of nine evening dresses for Madame Muguet, the new Verdun boutique selling clothes and accessories by young Lebanese designers.

Whereas Lebanese designers are generally known – and even renowned – for glamorous gowns, the Genevaborn Mansour prefers casual clothing. “My plan isn’t to do haute couture,” she says. “I’m doing jackets and T-shirts, but always with a little extra something to make the piece different, so that they can be worn during the day or at night. My style is for women who are trendy and like to go out – a bit rock ‘n’ roll but at the same time nonchalant.” Casually attired in simple skinny jeans, T-shirt and cardigan, Mansour’s discerning sense of style is evident in the way she doesn’t let the clothing detract from the exquisite designer boots and handbag that she’s wearing. Her forthcoming collection – which is being manufactured entirely in Lebanon – is influenced by the work of some of her favorite designers, like Stella McCartney and, of course, Elie Saab. “He’s such an inspiration,” she says.

[ Text Salma Salloum Photos Nour el Khazen ]

music

Totally tuned in

album previews

Simian Mobile Disco Temporary Pleasure

The second EP from the group that rose from Simian’s ashes drops some stylish beats in the tradition of European house and electronica. The single “Synthesize” has hyped percussion and layers of vocals straight out of a rave. Disco diva Beth Ditto takes it slower and sexier with “Cruel Intentions.” Overall, the album drifts away from the band’s indie past and into a world of dance floor darlings composed of sugary synthesizer hooks and repetitive vocals. The hype and gloss of the SMD sound can move urban bar-hoppers to put down their cocktails and dance, even if they don’t remember the lyrics when the song ends. PLAYLIST Scarlett Johansson and Pete Yorn Break Up In 2006, singer/songwriter Pete Yorn spent a week battling insomnia. He finally fell asleep, only to awake with a vision for an album. Break Up channels the ‘60s Serge Gainsbourg recordings with Brigitte Bardot, but with this millennium’s sultry equivalent, Scarlett Johansson. The two set about making music about a love affair on the rocks. The result is a brooding, hypnotic album.

Lhasa de Sela Lhasa It’s hard not to consider the longing and melancholy in Lhasa’s voice a premonition: she died at the turn of the year after battling breast cancer. The kaleidoscope of sound has the bluesy poetry of Billie Holiday and the mysticism of Aztec legends. The singer drew inspiration from a life of wandering and discovering, saying “The road is alive, we can’t freeze or stop it. And we know we can’t.”

Kid Cudi Space Odyssey You can’t pin down Cleveland’s hip hop upstart. He’s got the rhymes of Kanye West, but he’s not afraid to sample Bob Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay” during his 401-friendly anthem “I Be High.” The hypnotic tracks on Space Odyssey prove Kid Cudi’s muse is rhythm, even when he dives into a spoken word rant. As he says, “It all depends on what the beat tells me to do.”

Boys Noize Power Alexander Ridha, the mixmaster DJ behind the noise, pumps up the dance floor with his second album. Tracks such as “Drummer” keep the tone upbeat, even amphetamized. Amid the driving noise, you can find startling moments of melody, such as the lovely yet lusty “Heart Attack.” The song skips from industrial crashing to muted electric whirs, exemplifying Ridha’s love affair with Daft Punk.

Usher Raymond v Raymond Fans are hip to Usher’s predilection for airing his dirty laundry through music. When the single “Papers” dropped, it seemed Usher was shaking Tameka Foster loose. In the song, the R&B singer accuses someone of only hanging “when the bottle’s popping and everything’s sweet.” Foster claims she heard the single before any mention of the D-word. At turns racy and risky, the album is trademark Usher.

DJ Med shares the new music he finds and the party photos he takes on his blog lazzydigger.com. Kick back and enjoy the hip playlist he put together for Gossip. 1. “Two

Weeks” by Grizzly Bear 2. “You Me & The Bourgeoisie” by The Submarines (Tonetiger remix) 3. “The Mule” by Z-Ro, Devin The Dude & Juvenile 4. “Nite And Day” by Al B. Sure! (Dusk mix) 5. “Sex And Candy” by La Chansons 6. “Intentions” by The Whitest Boy Alive 7. “When the Lights Go Out” by Naked Eyes 8. “Sleepyhead” by Passion Pit (piano acoustic) 9. “Luckier” by Shazam 10. “Lisztomania” by Phoenix (Classixx version) 11. “Airtight” by Cobra Dukes (Aeroplane dub) 12. “Blue Skies” by Noah and the Whale 13. “Night by Night” by Chromeo (Siriusmo remix) 14. “One Life Stand” by Hot Chip (album version) 15. “Seven” by Fever Ray (The Twelves remix) 16. “Death Race” by Villeneuve

nightlife

Where do we dance? Beirut needs nightspots between bars and after-hour venues The New York Times ranked Beirut as the number one destination to visit in 2009, while the travel guide Lonely Planet named the capital as one of the top 10 liveliest cities in the world. Deserving accolades for this party town, but when it comes to dancing, Beirut would not seem to be a natural contender for a ranking as one of the top 10 cities to shake your booty. Indeed, when dance-starved friends descend on Beirut from the Gulf, Damascus, Egypt or any European city, there are the inevitable questions about where to go out and party, as well as where to dance the night away. It’s easy to answer the first question, but the second requires a bit more brain power, simply because there aren’t that many places to dance. And by dance, we mean really dance, where your cares are lost in the beat and your body is at one with the rhythm, not shuffling between revelers, shaking your shoulder blades or trying to dance without kicking a chair or risk falling off a table. For while the Beirut two-step is an acquired skill to carry off gracefully, confined as it is to a half-a-meter-square radius, it is not a carefree dance. That said, Beirut is not devoid of dance spots, it’s just thin on the ground when it comes to dance floors. And what’s more, cavorters don’t seem to mind being crowded into a tight space, shaking, gyrating and swaying their bodies amid all the other dancing bodies. It’s a “damn the dance floor” mindset as any space will do. Indeed, one of Beirut’s liveliest nightspots, Basement used to have a good amount of dance space, but was reworked to pack in more tables. Acid in Sin el Fil is still a magnet for frenetic dancing, and Elec-

tro Mecanique in Mar Mikhael, Trend in Gemmayze and La Maison Blanche in Sodeco are warm-up dance spots for after-hours clubs. But for really shaking your booty, the reality is that choices are limited to one-night specials when international DJs are in town, and the beach clubs open in the summer. Independent, entrepreneurial dance organizers have to a degree filled the gap with irregular events at different locations throughout the year, to keep the more hardcore dancers dancing. Cotton Candy has become a regular on this circuit, taking over large spaces that can be truly considered dance floors, such as the abandoned Broadway Theater in Hamra and disused factories in Beirut’s northern suburbs. What Beirut needs are more nightspots that are somewhere in-between the clublounge bar and after-hours venues. A place that has fewer tables and comfortable couches to encourage people to get out and dance, yet not too large that it would feel empty. A two-level concept could work well, with one floor a lounge bar-chill out area, and an upstairs or downstairs with a pumping dance floor for people that really want to show their moves. If Beirut is to retain its top ranking spot on the global map as a lively city to party in, places to dance your socks off should be on the menu.

[ Text Paul Cochrane ]

movies

Fables and film feats

movies to watch

Lewis Carroll’s classic Victorian-era tale + director Tim Burton + Johnny Depp = one rad fantasy-adventure flick. With the quirky Burton at the helm, it’s no surprise Alice’s world is magical, colorful, whimsical and – yes, sprinkled with a bit of signature ghoulishness. Alice (played by the lovely Mia Wasikowska) is now a teenager who, upon hearing of an imminent marriage proposal, sprints from the sticky sitch. She follows a white rabbit down a hole (yep, that one), and the grown-up Alice is reunited with the otherworldly characters from her past visit. Depp’s Mad Hatter is mesmerizing and cuckoo, and Helena Bonham Carter’s Red Queen is equally off her rocker, in a darker way. The rest of the gang is still living in Wonderland, too: Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Cheshire Cat, the White Queen, the Knave of Hearts, etc. This visually cinematic feast is one reunion everyone will be glad to attend.

Alice in Wonderland

Remember Me

I Love You, Phillip Morris

Shutter Island

Chloe

Bye-bye Edward; hello, Tyler. Robert Pattinson has ditched the fangs and is playing a flesh-and-blood human in this new romantic/drama. (No fear, he’s still as sexy as ever.) A family tragedy has strained the rebellious Tyler’s relationship with his dad (Pierce Brosnan), but the love of the luminescent Ally (Emilie de Ravin) begins a transformation. Alas, secrets revealed and twists of fate threaten his newfound bliss.

Jim Carrey as Steve Russell and Ewan McGregor as Phillip Morris are bound to win your heart – just as they won each other’s – in this farcical true tale. Carrey plays a married small-town cop-turnedcon and falls deeply in love with his cellmate (McGregor). Multiple escape attempts from jail and one preposterous dupe after the other are at the crux of the quixotic journey, which, in the end, is truly a life-affirming love story.

When Martin Scorsese and Leo DiCaprio collaborate on a celluloid project, the audience is always in for a treat. Or, in this case, a serious scare. The horror/thriller takes place in 1954, when US marshal Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) is called on to look into a missing patient at Boston’s Shutter Island, a hospital for the criminally insane. A hurricane and an inmate riot trap Daniels on the island, where he begins to question his own sanity.

In Atom Egoyan’s film, Julianne Moore is a doctor married to a professor (Liam Neeson). They have a teenage son and a seemingly picture-perfect life. Hence, they’re doomed. Chloe (Amanda Seyfried) is the escort hired by Moore’s character to put her husband’s fidelity to the test. The tagline boils down the essence of the Fatal Attraction-esque plot brilliantly: “She invited Chloe into her life, her home and her marriage. Big mistake.” new oN DVD

FEBRUARY 1

FEBRUARY 9

FEBRUARY 16

FEBRUARY 23

The Invention of Lying

Peter and Vandy

Revanche

Good Hair

Crude

Nurse Jackie: S1

A liar’s adventures in a world where everyone else tells the truth.

In jumbled order, watch love bloom and fade for a New York couple.

Robbing a bank is never good. But then, how about taking revenge?

Chris Rock explores the wonderful world of AfricanAmerican hairstyles.

A provocative documentary on Chevron’s contamination of the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Edie Falco plays the saint/ sinner + Haaz Sleiman is her gay BFF.

movies

Every Day is a Holiday A slender woman in a red dress kneels in a desert, her underwear around her calves. An anxious woman uses a phone booth in the middle of the arid wilderness, pressing a gun to her chest. A young woman, her lips cracked and dry from the heat, talks about making love in the Mediterranean on her wedding day. The three women, lost in a no man’s land on their way to a faraway prison to visit their husbands, exorcise their deepest demons. Love, sexuality, violence, fear, freedom, identity, exile: Dima el Horr’s first fulllength feature film, Every Day is a Holiday, written with playwright Rabih Mroué, portrays Lebanon’s neurotic reality and shattered hopes. A poetic, sometimes surreal tale set in the semi-desert Hermel region, the movie wipes away civil war-related clichés, raising questions about the future of a nation still caught up in real and symbolic conflicts. An incisive plunge into the psychological, it transcends national barriers and explores the existential quest of women caught up in relationships of dependency. El Horr, who grew up between East and West Beirut during the war and is now working on a doctorate in film studies in Paris, wanted to make a profoundly personal movie. “I got everything out: my obsessions, the emotions that ate me up,” she says. “I did this movie with integrity and sincerity, without concessions. I think I finally got rid of my rebelliousness. I’m much calmer now.”

The movie is a poetic, surreal tale

Hiam Abbas, Manal Khader and Raia Haidar play women who serendipitously meet after their bus driver is killed by a stray bullet, leaving them helpless in the endless wilderness. Through their incongruous adventures, they bond, open up and find the strength to overcome the many obstacles of their journeys. Their men are absent; in the end, when the women finally find the prison, they have disappeared. “Lebanon is a country where men are never there,” says El Horr. “They are either fighting the war or working in

exile, and women are alone. But everything revolves around men’s absence. I wanted to talk about the gap between men and women and about women’s striving for independence.” Danger looms everywhere, reminding us that the political conflict persists. In their hallucinatory state, the three women free themselves from social taboos. Abbas’ character uses her gun. Khader rids herself of her husband’s nauseating smell on her private parts. Haidar comes to peace with her broken marriage. In a land where social and religious backgrounds rule every transaction, the three women stand together despite their differences. The contrasts between the actresses’ elegant dresses and the barren landscape, their sophisticated dialogue and a local truck driver’s roughness, and the story’s absurdity echo Lebanon’s complex reality. “I wanted to render multiple paradoxes, because Lebanon is a country of paradoxes,” says the director. “Even the title renders the paradox of a society that only cares about partying excessively, as if to forget.” How long can the country go on in this voluntary oblivion, avoiding facing its issues? Every Day is a Holiday spells them all out fiercely, reminding us of art’s primary purpose: to tell the naked truth, albeit beautifully. Every Day is a Holiday is scheduled to be released nationwide in February.

[ Text Shirine Saad ]

green

ECOBUZZ 1. Life in plastic

Like plastic but don’t want to harm the planet? Chilean designer Rodrigo Alonso uses waste from toys, appliances and more to melt plastic into an amazingly durable material (rotomoulding) for funky furniture that fits just as well in a home as it does in an office. Everything about this design furniture is eco-friendly, such as the molds for the furniture, which were conceived to use less energy and cost less money. To understand the design, just imagine a sphere that’s been shaved off in different places to create an offbeat furniture piece.

2. Byblos by the sea Thumbs up for Greenpeace Mediterranean and the mayor of Byblos who have embarked on a project to declare the waters off the historic town’s coast a marine reserve. Both the minister of interior and of agriculture are actually supporting the move, giving it a needed boost despite the usual red tape in the country. The area is a nursery to several fish species currently endangered by a basket of threats. If this proposed decree goes through, it will open doors for similar ones elsewhere in the country. 3. Towering green Enough of those square glass buildings already! Why can’t someone come up with a flowing, more human and creative shape? Well, Mad Architects have done just that. While their asymmetrical, 70-floor building might look like an untamed stack of floors, its curvy pizzazz and “green garden space,” complete with pools, trees and courtyards, make it a nature-friendly edifice. The firm plans to complete building in late 2010 in Chongqing, China. 4. The tiniest drop of water A Drop of Water is Dutch designer Bas van der Veer’s attractive rain-collection system, brilliant in its simplicity. Rain-blessed countries can easily benefit from such a gadget in the garden: once the watering “jug” fills up, the overflow collects in the tank below and can be used for other purposes like washing the car or alleviating water cuts. 5. Just fold it away Taking toddlers with you to a restaurant can be a drag, particularly if you have to keep asking for that highchair – or worse – lug your own chair with you. The way around this is with the Belkiz Feedaway, an ecological, lightweight, portable version of the heavy feeding chair. This can fold into your handbag and appear at any moment you want your baby in a chair. The idea is the brainchild of Betul Madakbas, a half-Dutch half-Turkish designer living in Australia. 6. Eco yoga

2. 3.

Recently rated the No. 1 eco-friendly yoga mat by the New York Times, the Original Eco Yoga Mat is made from jute and natural rubber to create the most environmentally friendly mat on the market. So go ahead and contort yourself into any shape you want, all the while making the planet a greener place to live.

7. Do you want fries with that? Dumping used frying oil into the sewage system can wreak havoc on the environment. Worse, some people go so far as to mix old cooking oil with cheap fuel to create a highly toxic heating fuel of sorts. Enter the Center for Development & Planning, a progressive environment and development group in Lebanon that is now collecting used cooking oil from fast-food chains and hotels to turn it into green bio-fuel. All you have to do is lobby your local falafel place or favorite eatery to sign up. W www.cdpinfo.org

8. Sit and breathe Imagine a chair that doesn’t look like a chair at all, but more like a huge piece of tofu. It may not sound so attractive, but the “breathing chair” conceived by Taiwanese designer Yu-Ying Wu won a red dot design award and is ready to take your living room to new heights. The cubic hollow chair – spongy white in color with irregular connecting veins – takes shape and becomes an armchair as soon as you sit on it. The chair automatically adjusts to your posture and weight – and provides ultimate comfort.

what to do

DATEBOOK Through February 20

Through March 4

February 1-27

February 4-12

“Projections” Culver City, California This “Festival of Rare and Hard to See Films,” includes a film by Roman Coppola and takes place at Roberts & Tilton.

John Crash Matos Addict GalLERY, Paris Graffiti artist and native New Yorker John Crash Matos showcases his new works in a solo exhibit entitled “Tin Machines.”

André exhibit Colette, Paris Parisian graffiti artist André presents his first drawings exhibition at the ultratrendy Colette shop.

Taylor Swift tour Australia The country/pop crossover star will perform seven concerts in Australia, including Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide.

February 4-18

February 8-March 27

February 11-21

February 12-28

Metropolis Cinema Sofil Beirut Fourteen films by the late French film director Robert Bresson will be screened at this retrospective.

“Soft Sculpture” The Running Horse, Beirut The art gallery brings together sculptures by young Lebanese artists Ziad Antar, Rasha Kahil, Hiba Kalache and Ziad Saade.

February 13-15

February 18-March 8

February 20

March 5-14

Rio Carnival Rio de Janeiro, Brazil The Brazilian street party will be exciting as ever, with colorful costumes, samba dancing and street entertainment for all.

Lady Gaga on Tour United Kingdom The pop sensation is wrapping up her world tour with 12 shows in the United Kindgom, starting in Manchester.

Paul van Dyk BIEL, Beirut The celebrated DJ, famed for his electronic dance music mixes, will perform live at a party organized by Mix FM radio station.

AV Festival 10 England Energy is the theme for the biennial festival of electronic arts, which includes visual arts, music and film.

March 6

March 7

March 14

March 14 and 28

Steve Aoki London

Barcelona Marathon Spain Adventure seekers will opt for a challenging run through Barcelona during the city’s annual marathon.

St. Patrick’s Day Parade London London celebrates its annual street carnival, with floats, marching bands and theater performances.

Formula One Bahrain and Australia The Formula One season kicks off in Bahrain on March 14 and then heads to Melbourne on March 28.

DJ Steve Aoki Kid Millionaire will perform live at London’s world-famous Ministry of Sound nightclub.

Winter Olympics 2010 International Film Festival Vancouver/Whistler, Canada Berlin The world’s leading film festival The 2010 Winter Olympics features an celebrates its 60th anniversary by exciting array of events, from downhill presenting a number of special events. racing to ski jumping.