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EDITOR’S LETTER What is life? Beautiful, rich, young and with the world at her feet. She has pretty much everything. But she is not happy. A little rich girl lost like the americans would say, reminiscent of Edie and of those style and beauty icons that disappeared quickly, as
#hachimagAZINE their beauty could not withstand the changing times. Like in a Douglas Sirk’s movie our protagonist tries to live in a world that seems not to belong her and day after day she gets ... an Imitation of Life. All this is the subject of this Hachi’s issue. What is life? A series of faded moments lived without taking risks or a moment of eternity, of madness, of daring, you inexorably pay. What is life?
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murat palta
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by Silvia Scorcella
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MURAT PALTA
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Yes, what you’re watching is totally correct: some well-known characters exited their contemporary iconic movies and happened to become part of traditional Ottoman miniatures! The result? A very balanced yet captivating visual blip moment, whose author is a young artist coming from Turkey: Murat Palta. “It all started four or five years ago when I was having a conversation with my brother about what it would be like if Star Wars took place during Ottoman era. Eventually, I decided to draw what we said and put it online: the reactions were good. At the same time, I saw the lack of this kind of adaptations in both traditional art and illustration in Turkey: traditional artists keep doing what they saw, telling the same stories (Conquering of Constantinople, a scene from a sultan’s hunting, religious themes, etc ) and illustrators keep doing what is on demand worldwide.
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I think it was a way of taking everything easy and I decided to go over that problem in my thesis project at the university.” That’s how Murat Palta’s artworks came to life and made him renowned: a brilliant blend of East and West, an unexpected juxtaposition of eras and cultures and the funny yet bold effect that jumps into your eyes while seeing the protagonists of cult movies such as Kill Bill, Clockwork Orange, The Godfather, Terminator, Pulp Fiction and many more, ironically and beautifully drawn within the typical flat, carefully detailed surface of Ottoman miniaturized scenes.
Well, drawing has been part of Murat’s life since ever, actually since he was a child and his family moved to his grandparents’ house in another city :“since I didn’t know anyone there, my father thought it would be a good idea to buy lots of papers and various colored pencils along with numbers of comic books. It’s where everything started: I used to spend my whole day on drawing”. Very curious about things, deeply interested in history, mythology, paleontology, video games and, of course, movies, well talented in grabbing inspiring seeds from them and then putting all together to create his magnetic art pieces, this is what comes into Murat Palta’s mind if asked about Hachi Magazine’s current theme ‘imitation of life’: “The last book I read few days ago. It’s called ‘Puslu Kitalar Atlasi’ (The Atlas of Foggy Continents). The novel takes place in Ottoman era, probably in 16th century: one of the characters finds an Ottoman translated copy of Discourse On The Method by Descartes, after reading the ‘Cogito ergo sum’ part, he starts questioning his self-existence and then decides he was wrong. According to his point of view, he thinks therefore, everything exist. So he believes everything he sees, every experience he gains, are parts of his thoughts”. East and West, different ages and cultures interweaving: could it be otherwise? No, it couldn’t: luckily for us, that love Murat’s manifold world! For more information www.behance.net/muratpalta
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MURAT PALTA
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photography
fashion editor
DANIEL RODRIGUES
stefano guerrini
INDEPENDENT MEN the faces of the future art director PEDRO L. PINTO make up SILVIA ILEANA STELLA hair stylist HANNETTE WOODS all models INDEPENDENT MEN
special thanks ROBERTO ANCONA
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LOUIS STEYAERT from Belgium Seen on Salvatore Ferragamo, Kenzo, Louis Vuitton catwalks
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CAMERON KEESLING from United States Seen on Givenchy, Moschino, Astrid Andersen catwalks
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INDEPENDENT MEN
MORRIS PENDLEBURY from United Kingdom Seen on Comme des Garรงons, Versus, Saint Laurent catwalks
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JOHN LYN from China Seen on Dior Homme, Dolce & Gabbana, Issey Miyake catwalks
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INDEPENDENT MEN
JELLE SOET from Netherlands Seen on Etro, Louis Vuitton, Gucci catwalks
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ALEKSANDR MIZEV from Russia Seen on Givenchy, Antonio Marras, Philipp Plein catwalks
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INDEPENDENT MEN
MARC LULOB from Spain Seen on KTZ, Au Jour Le Jour, Public School catwalks
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LUCA SCIASCIA 22
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by Silvia Scorcella
Out of the box, literally: there’s no better adjective for Luca Sciascia! As you peruse his creations by your glance and explore them by your touch, you dive into the colors, let yourself be amazed by the textures and guess the ironic blend of art hints, visual suggestions and revival of the past: then you’ll also rejoice in the noble position among the finalists at Who Is On Next? 2015, the contest by AltaRoma and Vogue Italia, he was rewarded by his creative strength. Welcome into Luca Sciascia’s unconventional fashion world! SILVIA . Tell us about yourself and your background: when did the very first encounter with fashion happen and how did it become your professional way? LUCA . I studied Scenography at the Academy of Fine Arts in Turin, and once the Academy was accomplished I enrolled for the Ied in Turin, the Fashion & Textile Design course. I worked for Kappa in Beijing, and later as a consultant for some product brands in Bali, where I had the chance to specialize in the embroidery techniques. I traveled very much, mainly in the East. My first job as a fashion designer was in Turin, for Trussardi Jeans, Gaastra and Mc Gregor. I’m glad I approached the sportswear before achieving my own collection: I learnt very much by working for other brands. SILVIA . How, why and with what style vision was your label Luca Sciascia born? LUCA . I established my brand after a particularly hard period of my life. As in every extreme experience, there are only two ways of facing the situations: you can let yourself be overwhelmed, or you can fight with all your strength. I think that having a dream to fulfill helped me to open my eyes and to make myself aware that there was no time to waste. “Inside” the work of all creative people there’s their inner past life, their private needs: I’m totally in love with my work, it couldn’t be otherwise. My style is visionary, antithetical, contaminated.
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SILVIA . Your own creative world is instinctual, beauty is a personal point of view, materials are the issue of experimentations and entrepreneurship is essential: what do these elements entail and how does their harmony happen in your fashion? LUCA . What distinguishes design from art is that within design the project about whatever object must be related to its use, duration, ergonomics and quality. You need a natural sensibility, no one can teach you this: while managing your brand you do not deal only with the creative part, but also with administration and lots of other technical aspects. I’ve been doing this job for ten years and every day I learn something new: there should be an ideal balance between the business and the mere creative aspects; sometimes you have to make do without the fabrics you fell in love with, simply because they are not within your strategy. SILVIA . Describe your last collection: what kind of inspiration does it originate from and how does this imagery take tangibly form within the creations? LUCA . My last collection is called “Casalinghe Surreal Pop #moltoperbene” (#veryrespectable Surreal Pop Housewives): I put Surrealism and Pop into a conversation with the world of the housewives in the Fifties. I made a huge research on materials, as for the fabrics feigning the typical sponge used to clean the pots, or the feather duster.
SILVIA . One name inside and one outside the fashion world you would love to work with? LUCA . Delpozo and Cocorosie. SILVIA . Beauty will save the world, a renowned quote holding some truth for those who create fashion: what is your ideal about beauty? LUCA . I reached the conclusion that everything that is reliable and authentic is beautiful. Style has on its base an appearance, a face, but also a personality. SILVIA . If I say “imitation of life” (the theme of this Hachi Mag issue n.d.r.): what comes into your mind? LUCA . The first thing that comes into my mind is the REM’s song: facts happening on a loop and backwards … “Come on, come on No one can see you cry “ SILVIA . Among the accolades received and the exquisitely personal dreams: what are your projects for the future? LUCA . I have no idea of what my future will be, and I’d add: luckily! I’m glad that I had the big chance to show my work off: I prefer enjoying the present, all that I have now. For more information www.diariosvisuais.com.br
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by Silvia Scorcella
The suggestion is kept inside the name: the Quattromani brand merges the creative talent and passion of two young fashion designers, Massimo Noli and Nicola Frau. Both of them come from Sardinia, where they are still living and conceiving their creations: a land of traditions and legends that gain a new life woven into their very contemporary clothes. Within Quattromani creations there’s fashion: that is inside the beauty that imbues the clothes and accessories, in the fascination of the shapes grabbing the feminine longing, into the grace crossed by the contemporary scratch. And there’s devotion: to the treasure belonging to the Sardinian artisan hands, for the ancient stories that pass through time, for the revolution that can sprout from a single thread. An exquisite mélange of aesthetic intuitions and stylistic practice that pervades also the s/s 2016 collection. Where, as in a brilliant Chinese boxes game, other four hands emerge: the two drawing the artistic inspiration, belonged to Edina Altara, ancient and amazing Sardinian author of a decorative world identified by an intense elegance and amusing Liberty curlicues; the other two hands interpreting on the fabrics that dreamy universe, belong to Berenice La Ruche, young Sardinian illustrator that lavished on the collection printed motifs revealing a dreamy delicacy inhabited by light swallows, cherry blossoms and young ladies in fool bloom. Intense awesomeness that Nicola and Massimo translated into clothes and accessories in perfect balance among the impalpable lightness and the material thickness of the traditional loom manufacture. Quattromani already flaunt an essential position among the finalists of the Who Is On Next? contest, but their way is yet to be walked: and it’s paved with beautiful stories that are yet to be told …
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SILVIA - Tell us about yourself and your background: when did the very first encounter with fashion happen and how did it become your professional way? QUATTROMANI - We met in 2002 when we decided to enroll in a fashion design study program, yet each one of us has always had a personal and natural passion for this kind of world. Actually, it didn’t happen a true encounter, let’s say that fashion has always been coming with us: we haven’t any precise date or moment, but we know that fashion has always been part of our life. SILVIA - How, why and with what style vision was your label Quattromani born? QUATTROMANI - Quattromani was born after a period of individual work for both of us, and from the need for swapping ideas, opinions and advices. In that moment a sort of need for the possibility to join our force into a unique project took form: “Quattromani” just to express the collaboration, the constant exchange and the wish for pursuing the same goal by joining our work. Since that moment we’ve put the basis for creating a contemporary style, colorful and stimulating, that could express our innate passion for this job. SILVIA - Your own creative world is instinctual, beauty is a personal point of view, materials are the issue of experimentations and entrepreneurship is essential: what do these elements entail and how does their harmony happen in your fashion? QUATTROMANI - It’s not always easy to get harmony among the different elements necessary to obtain a fashion product: you need perseverance, will, energy and a huge desire for enhancing the product you’re creating. Harmony can be easily established only if all the parts of the process can work, sharing the same perception of the goal. SILVIA - One name inside and one outside the fashion world you would love to work with? QUATTROMANI - We’d love to have the chance to collaborate with Tim Walker and seeing our clothes into one of his magical editorials. And one day we’d love to clothe Keira Knightley’s delicacy and elegance.
SILVIA - Beauty will save the world, a renowned quote holding some truth for those who create fashion: what is your ideal about beauty? QUATTROMANI - We believe that it is a very personal ideal. Beauty will save the world only if the world starts seeing beauty in everything around. Beauty can be found into a story, an imperfect smile, a word: the beautiful thing is the way we embrace it and instill it in the other people. Therefore beauty will save the world! SILVIA - If I say “imitation of life” (the theme of this Hachi Mag issue n.d.r.): what comes into your mind? QUATTROMANI - We could think about adaptation, as a sign of protection: not a literal imitation of life, yet the awareness of being prepared to face the always more frenzied changes that life puts in front of us. SILVIA - Among the accolades received and the exquisitely personal dreams: what are your projects for the future? QUATTROMANI - We have a lot of projects for the future: first of all, making our brand always more recognizable and usable by the audience. We’re working everyday very hard in order to make our project come true and concrete, to recount our land in a contemporary way: and little by little it seems that everything is coming alive.
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DANIEL RODRIGUES
STEFANO GUERRINI
mc kenna bird in: imitation of life make up PAOLO SFARRA hair stylist ADRIANO CATTIDI at Toni & Guy Milano stylist assistant CHIARA RIZZITELLI and RICCARDO TERZO models McKENNA BIRD at Monster
special thanks ROBERTO ANCONA
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fur coat Vivetta necklace Giulia Mancinelli Bonafaccia
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fur coat Angelo Marani tank top and pants Luca Sciascia skirt Up! Love it shoes Trenta7
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coat Angelo Marani cropped sweatshirt 5 Preview leather pants Atos Lombardini necklace SimonaB Bijoux Luxury on the right feather vest Daizy Shely jacket Atos Lombardini petticoat Ermanno necklace Angelo Marani
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fur vest and blouse Ermanno trousers Alessandro Dell’Acqua shoes Maurizio Pecoraro on the left fur coat Atos Lombardini suit Shirtaporter silk tank top Angelo Marani necklace Ellen Conde
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perfecto Kaema trousers Department 5 necklace Sveva
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on the left above Mckenna is wearing jacket Daizy Shely ring Feyem below fur coat 5 Preview pajamas Maison Scotch on the right fur coat Maurizio Pecoraro shirt Au Jour Le Jour leather pants SuperTrash clutch Benedetta Bruzziches
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McKenna is wearing vest Au Jour Le Jour jumpsuit Project 149 sunglasses Quattrocento bow tie Cor Sine Labe Doli clutch Kaema shoes Atos Lombardini on the right dress SuperTrash tiara Rosantica
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alexandre mury
by Silvia Scorcella
Within his artworks he disappears, rather than appearing: he is one that vanishes into nobody for then becoming everybody. He merges art into life and makes poetry of it. He brings the great protagonists of every culture, historic and contemporary icons, important themes and everyday life into it: he hybridizes the languages into a visual pastiche that finally brings the viewer too into asking himself more than a couple of questions. And once this mission is accomplished, Alexandre Mury continues on his own unceasing research... SILVIA . Aware of how wide and multitasking the experience of wearing the label “Artist” is supposed to be: what’s your artistic identity? And what’s your real identity behind the artist?
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MURY . During my childhood I was told that I was an artist: at school, when I was only two years old, one of my teachers called me “my Van Gogh”. I loved it so much that, since then, I’ve been trying to enhance it for all my life: and the thing I loved most about Van Gogh was not just his painting in itself, but the fact that he had been making lots of self-portraits. SILVIA . Tell us something about your background: when and how did you feel that art would have been your expressive way? What was your personal and educational path to achieve it? MURY . There are no artists in my family: my parents are artisans, a dressmaker and a carpenter. I grew up among the tools and I developed manual skills: making up things has always been fun for me. I graduated in Social Communication, I haven’t received any artistic education, but my passion for art turned me into a compulsive researcher.
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SILVIA . What kind of imagery and experiences do you draw the inspiration for your artworks from? Is there a boundary line between life and work, or, as it seems from your artworks, it is so faint that you become part of your works too? MURY . I work all the time: the daily life inspires me aesthetic and philosophical meditations. It’s a double-way approach, deconstructing and rebuilding the idea of identity and identification. Within my work, I don’t see myself as an individual, yet as a social being. Maybe this aesthetic experience of my work raises the idea that everything is performance: yet, it’s a whole blend of lots of artistic possibilities involving sculpture, drawing, painting, installation and photography. It’s a hybrid structure, a process where the whole idea comes from this multiple ego, in pieces.
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SILVIA . In your artworks you assume, almost wear, various identities, they’re like quotes from renowned references: who are these “protagonists” and what significance or tales do you commit to them? What visions are held into and offered by your artworks? MURY . Let’s talk about iconography, representation, originality, aesthetics and temporality of art. The “Tableau vivant” is less important: it’s a game of references, suggesting also a little freedom of interpretation. Actually, my work just aims at stating the ambiguity: the need for rebooting everything, the world, the things, time, space, ourselves, and art.
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SILVIA . Living, looking at and narrating reality armed with the twisting filter of imagination: according to you, what values does “being creative” hold and act for? How is the world watched by Alexandre Mury?
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MURY . Nobody creates starting from nothing. I’m a very curious person and I always try to experience new combinations: between the body language and the cultural values, representing a dialogue without representation, calling into question the taming of the glance. I think that the ideas are always moving, so an object doesn’t look the same every time we look at it. Putting myself in the place of another is a practice of self-awareness. I live art. These symbolic swaps happen also as emotional swaps: I draw life as an endless poem … everything can be art and I think I can turn everything into poetry.
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SILVIA . If I say “imitation of life” (the theme of this HACHI mag issue n.d.r.): what comes into your mind? MURY . I recall the poem “Autopsychography”, by the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, a passage of which says: “The poet is a faker. He Fakes it so completely, He even fakes he’s suffering The pain he’s really feeling.”
For more information: www.alexandremury.com.br
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VANCOUVER
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photos by Alberto Chincherini
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An amazing journey into the breathtaking landscapes of Canada: an intense taste of the Coast Mountains that decorate the city of Vancouver through Alberto’s photos, that chose the amazing paths of the Garibaldi Provincial Park, in the British Columbia region, to portray some of the most spectacular mountain views in North America. Within his tale in pictures about a past short fall visit, Alberto allows us to merge deep into the naturalistic beauty of Horseshoe Bay, Britannia Beach, Cypress Provincial Park, Squamish, Garibaldi Provincial Park e Iron Bay. Bon voyage!
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For more information www.albertochincherini.it
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DANIEL RODRIGUES
GIORGIO AMmIRABILE
fabio mancinI iN: a neW beginning make up PAOLO SFARRA hair stylist HANNETTE WOODS set designer ROBERTO ANCONA model FABIO MANCINI at D’MEN
special thanks MAX FESTARI
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coat and pants Alessandro Dell’Acqua vest Tagliatore socks Emporio Armani shoes Etro
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total look Versace
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FABIO MANCINI
total look Giorgio Armani
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parka, fur vest, shirt Roberto Cavalli pants Alessandro Dell’Acqua
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shirt and pants Emporio Armani shoes Giorgio Armani scarf Salvatore Ferragamo on the left jacket and pants Salvatore Ferragamo turtle neck Etro
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total look Etro shades vintage piece
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total look Giorgio Armani on the feft total look Bottega Veneta
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chico baldini
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by Silvia Scorcella
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His art is a truly mesmerizing one. It’s a story that unravels among incisive tangles of graphic strokes, soft colors whispering and tropical hues that wrap and rejoice: a tale that has the same substance as the shared feelings, a dialogue of pure empathy. Chico Baldini is an artist: since ever. Drawing belongs to him by nature: illustration is his communication instrument of choice. He was born in Brazil, but he speaks the language of dreams.
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SILVIA - Aware of how wide and multitasking the experience of wearing the label “Artist” is supposed to be: what’s your artistic identity? But first and foremost, what’s your real identity behind the artist? CHICO - I am a dreamer. A day and night dreamer, and I’m also a very curious person. I have an almost scientific way of looking at things: I try to observe in my own way in order to make new discoveries, to find the reasons for things and facts, to feed on information and beauty. I like to hear what people have to say. So, my artistic identity is a mix of this visionary curiosity with a tropical color palette. SILVIA - Tell us something about your background: when and how did you feel that art would have been your expressive way? What was your personal and educational path to achieve it? CHICO - I’ve been drawing since I was born. I can’t remember my life without drawing. I try to experiment with colors and media, but drawing and paper are my native environment. SILVIA - What kind of imagery and experiences do you draw the inspiration for your artworks from? Is there a boundary line between life and work, or it is so faint that you become part of your works too?
SILVIA - Living, observing and narrating reality armed with the twisting filter of imagination: how is the world watched by Chico Baldini?
CHICO - I think that a bit of my answer is in your question. Yes, my life is part of my work too. Today it happens within my sketchbooks: they work as my diaries, so that they’re neither written nor linear. My drawings reflect my feelings and what I am living in the moment. It is interesting to notice that when someone flips the pages of my sketchbooks, feels the mood of the situation I was going through. My imagery comes from my childhood interests. My mom was a history teacher, so I grew up in a house full of mythology and art history books: I used to read and flip the colorful pages of those books, that triggered my imagination and took me to an ageless time. I’ve read all the myths of ancient cultures and bios of artists that I could access: all this knowledge has been printed in my subconscious.
CHICO - Sometimes magical and always dramatic. SILVIA - If I say “imitation of life” (the theme of this Hachi Mag issue n.d.r.): what comes into your mind? CHICO - Our interpretation of life. Each one has his own versions of life: the ones processed by our experiences, the ones we express to the others, the ones kept within our subconscious. Life itself is the imitation of life.
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For more information www.diariosvisuais.com.br
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photography
stylist
DANIEL RODRIGUES
ELEONORA MARTINI
the Palace of the dark Light 84 make up DAVIDE ZINGARELLI hair stylist FABIO FAFFY LEONE models GINTARE at Joy and ARTUR DAINESE at Beatrice
special thanks ROBERTO ANCONA
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Previous pages Gintares is wearing Skirt Marios Bickini top Amani Bordeaux mongolia cape Ita Kli Shoes Aennis Eunis Bracialet and collier Sharra Pagano Arthur is wearing Trousers and shoes Tom Rebl
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Gintare is wearing Black Longuette Mangano T-Shirt Tom Rebl Coat Mira Shoes Cinti Black collier and metal bracelet Sharra Pagano Clutch Thale Blanc in the left Arthur is wearing Slip Versace
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Gintares is wearing Leather skirt Compania Italiana Green fur coat Mangano Black top Delfrance Ribeiro Collier Paola Grande Jewelleries Ring Alessandro Grimoldieu
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Black fur coat Messagerie Black top Compania Italiana Leggins and shoes Tom Rebl Bag Fatima Val Colier Sharra Pagano
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in the left Gintares is wearing Long georgette dress Mangano Collier and ring Paola Grande Other ring Alessandro Grimoldieu Shoes Gucci Arthur is wearing Shoes Tom Rebl
Gintares is wearing Gray fur coat Mangano Black top Versace Skirt Compania Italiana Shoes Jil Sander
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Gintares is wearing dress Mangano collier Diesel Black Gold
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NATALIE SHAU
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by Silvia Scorcella
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Who are those beautiful female creatures hung in a limbo dense with mystery, sensual inhabitants of dreamlike atmospheres that they make throbbing by their aristocratic body perfection, harnessed within an alluring silence, carnal but detached by striking a pose inside that faraway fairy world; still, so delicate and real, as faint rose petals scattered in the air?
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As in an intriguing game of mirrors, their identity is firmly fastened to that of their author: Natalie Shau, Lithuanian from Vilnius, young and already deservedly renowned for her artistic talent, that is digital-based while embracing also photography. “Well, I’m a digital artist who creates surreal female portraits: my work is very feminine and romantic, with some darker undertone and creepy twist; however my portrait subjects are also very girly and fragile. As a real person, I’m probably more realistic and I have many more different interests apart from art and fashion: such as weapons, history and geopolitics. I think my romantic and realistic sides are both equal parts of my individuality and character.” As for every real talent, Natalie’s education is made of the same substance as the vocation, grown and strengthen by a proper technical training: “I was always into art since I can remember: so I cannot explain how I am into
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it, I guess it’s some natural trait I have got. I had very extensive art classes in school, I also took some private drawing classes from time to time. But in terms of digital art and photography, I’ve learned everything I know by myself and with some friends’ help: nowadays, thanks to internet you can find so many tutorials about it, so you can learn something new almost everyday!” Well, so, who are those charming and arcane women, plunged into visionary worlds and dressed with meticulous stylish care? Where are they from and what tales do they hold? “My subjects are fairytale heroines, fallen angels, banished queens and lost souls. I’m very much inspired by fashion! Designers like Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Jean Paul Gaultier and many more. Most of my characters are dressed pretty intricate, so that I express their feelings and emotional state not only through facial expressions and posture, but also by clothing and style. I draw inspiration from all the arts: painting, literature, cinema, music. And nature as well. My own feelings and dreams can also inspire me to create artworks: sometimes I dream such vivid dreams that I just have to include them into my images.” There’s a porous boundary lying between dream and reality: one flows into the other, they double beyond the veil of illusion spread by Natalie’s digital brushes. But on this side of the veil, her vision about our life dimension turns to be very neat: “I think the world is a beautiful, wonderful and horrible place at the same time. People are so much absorbed by material things that they forget about compassion and kindness, or just simple awareness.”
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A vision that becomes an unexpected, quite profane yet redeeming piece of advice when Natalie is asked about the theme of this current Hachi issue “Imitation of life”: “Social media: that’s what comes to my mind immediately. I think I do not need to explain a lot why. Social media just invaded our lives and people become slaves of it. I think every person should get internet free days just for therapeutic reasons. Haha!” And maybe, they might have some rest in your enchanting pop surreal wonderland, we would add!
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For more information www.natalieshau.carbonmade.com
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imitation of life
by Silvia Scorcella
Going through his creations, and in the meantime discovering from his nice words what they encompass, makes you feel like being in front of a piece of intimist art painting, where the quiet combinations of tender light and vivid colors are indeed a very eloquent glaze on reality. He is Lee Wood and his brand L72 represents a very recent stylistic adventure, but that has already won the ample plaudit of the public and triumphed on the prestigious stage of Who Is On Next? contest. His fashion universe embraces multi-faceted paths, that to a great extent took place alongside Donatella Versace. A fashion universe that today reveals itself through the noblest and most subversive kind of luxury: freedom. SILVIA - Tell us about yourself and your background: when did the very first encounter with fashion happen and how did it become your professional way? L72 - I remember two incisive moments concerning my approach in fashion: the first one, when I was a child and my mum, coming back from a ski holiday, was wearing a custom-made dove gray mink coat. That was the first time I ever saw anything like that closely, and that, especially, I could even touch it. So my mum, all proud, showed me the lining with her initials jacquard-woven … I couldn’t believe it, it seemed like a miracle! The second moment was when I went with my mother (it’s always her fault!) to the hairdresser: while waiting for her turn, she was reading some fashion magazines and I gazed at those pictures so glossy, so impeccable, so far from my world, and my mind ran formulating a thousand ideas and as many thoughts. My career began in London, when I started to be the assistant of the stylist David Thomas: it’s thanks to him that one night I had the chance to meet Kinder Aggugini that, in his turn, introduced me to Donatella Versace.
#HACHImagazine SILVIA - How, why and with what style vision was your label L72 born? L72 - My brand comes from my urge to give voice to my personal aesthetic. I’m a reserved person, rather quiet and loner, but inside me my imagination continuously creates, wherever I am and all hours of the day. I’m like a Marcello Piacentini’s building: rigorous, symmetrical, neat, but with the interiors designed by Lorenzo Castillo. After 16 years at Versace, I felt the need for trying new creative ways. I had decided to open my own design consulting studio in 2013 when, while I was making some samples for promoting my activity, I realized that I was subconsciously laying the foundation of my own line. I spoke with different people and friends within the sector and the feedback was more than positive, everybody said I was crazy! I was happily surrounded by products speaking a common language, that could be a total look, without even thinking of it, it was pure instinct. SILVIA - Describe your last collection: what kind of inspiration does it originate from and how does this imagery take tangibly form within the creations?
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L72 - The spring/summer collection is called “Primary”: the concept of starting from zero. Last February (2015) I launched my brand with an exclusive press presentation, the project was called “Collection Zero: Non Conditioned”, so I was really starting from zero for the summer production. It’s a journey inside my childhood, moments where I became aware of the world I was in, a pure and instinctive approach, when colors enthralled me and at the same time taught me the chromatic circle, that the primary colors, red, yellow and blue were the main base for all the color blocks, like when I was a kid and I played with Legos, or rather I had fun organizing them by color. I thought to juxtapose this idea of nostalgia with a reflection on the expression of the time we’re living in, so it’s not only a mere memory of my naïf world.
imitation of life
LEE WOOD
SILVIA - If I say “imitation of life” (the theme of this Hachi Mag issue n.d.r.): what comes into your mind? L72 - I believe that what we’re living is an “imitation of life”. There’s something so insane in our today’s world that I can not think otherwise. I don’t think that this can be considered life, but that we’re literally surviving. We’re conditioned, directed, fed, driven by people and mechanisms that don’t want our prosperity. The world has turned into a game of powers and abuses and our lives are put on the line to bolster a media spectacle that can make us believe the unbelievable, and keep us quiet. As for me, life is something else. SILVIA - Among the accolades received and the exquisitely personal dreams: what are your projects for the future? L72 - My first thought is to continue working, learning and living the best life I can: maybe this is a little fanciful vision, but it’s true. For my brand, I would be able to develop a well-established business that can create the L72 lifestyle by extending the product categories in order to include various licences. Then, if I could dream, think freely without any limits … I would love to buy a plot of land in the countryside and build a brand new home where I could live in complete peace with a lot of animals, where I could finally resume my love of horseback riding and keep on creating from a studio overlooking the hills. For more information www.co-te.com
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CO|TE 110
imitation of life
by Silvia Scorcella
CO|TE creations can be identified by the same poignant immediacy as an epiphany, aesthetic and tactile together: the romantic esprit that is a caress for desire, the mild yet concrete minimalism of the shapes that is a mantra of purity to sprinkle with surprising prints and embellishments. The poetic geometry, that is CO|TE signature. A precious, contemporary tactful appeal, the same that leads the creative thought of Tomaso Anfossi and Francesco Ferrari: minds and souls of the Made in Italy brand that, in the prime of its youth already fully awarded, is en route to the international fame. SILVIA - Tell us about yourselves and your background: when did the very first encounter with fashion happen and how did it become your professional way? CO|TE - In some ways, fashion has always been an integral part of our path: it became our passion at first, and then also our job. We’ve always been fascinated by art in general, and then our experiences led us to choose fashion in order to express ourselves and what we believe is a contemporary vision of today woman. Our first encounter happened when we were younger: both of us had some relationships within the fashion field that brought us closer to this world, and so we had the chance to plunge into laboratories, among the smell of leather and the colors of fabrics. SILVIA - How, why and with what style vision was your label CO|TE born? CO|TE - CO|TE comes from the idea of two young boys about creating and featuring a kind of fashion just seen by two young and profane eyes, ready to blend forms, colors and volumes, and to offer them to a cosmopolitan woman, self confident and that loves playing with fashion, not being a victim of it.
#HACHImagazine SILVIA - Your own creative world is instinctual, beauty is a personal point of view, materials are the issue of experimentations and entrepreneurship is essential: what do these elements entail and how does their harmony happen in your fashion? CO|TE - At this historical moment a designer can’t simply be a fashion designer, but he has to understand that it’s necessary to face a market where there’s a great range of supply; that’s the reason why we characterize every single item making it unique, and at the same time we create harmony among all the clothes of a collection. The concept is to give strength to every single piece, so that every woman that wears it may feel different and unique, creating a look that represents at its best our vision made of research, Made in Italy and personality. SILVIA - Describe your last collection: what kind of inspiration does it originate from and how does this imagery take tangibly form within the creations?
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CO|TE - Our collections always start from the exchange of ideas between us: the search for inspirations going beyond fashion is of great importance for us, as well as the search for fabrics and details that could typify every single piece. You can feel our love for botany by watching our prints, while our use of colors subverts the usual rules saying that winter is dark and that summer means total white. We believe that our choice of colors matched with the choice of fabrics, that maintain the properly designed proportions conceived for the collection, is what makes CO|TE unique. SILVIA - One name outside the fashion world you would love to work with? CO|TE - We’d love to create the costumes for a Wes Anderson’s movie.
imitation of life
CO|TE
SILVIA - Beauty will save the world, a renowned quote holding some truth for those who create fashion: what is your ideal about beauty? CO|TE - There’s no a single unequivocal ideal of beauty: beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, so beauty is personal and is independent of the temporary fashion trends. Beauty goes beyond time! SILVIA - If I say “imitation of life” (the theme of this Hachi Mag issue n.d.r.): what comes into your mind? CO|TE - Since we’re both great lovers of cinema, we’ll think about Lana Turner in “Imitation of life” movie. SILVIA - Among the accolades received and the exquisitely personal dreams: what are your projects for the future? CO|TE - Now we’re about to leave for Japan, a country that we really love, and in the future we’d love to grow also within the American market from which we’ve started getting great satisfactions. We’d also love to travel, in order to always keep the eyes open and therefore to propose something always new, that lets us do our best putting heart and soul into it. For more information www.co-te.com
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photography
fashion editor
DANIEL RODRIGUES
STEFANO GUERRINI
lucas cantÃo in: Alone, without you... grooming DILYS WHITE stylist assistant CHIARA RIZZITELLI, RICCARDO TERZO and RODRIGO GIAIMIS RAMOS models LUCAS CANTÃO at L’Uomo Elite Milano
special thanks ROBERTO ANCONA and WENDY RANMA
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Lucas is wearing jacket Dirk Bikkembergs sweater Alessandro Dell’Acqua
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total look Alessandro Dell’Acqua on the left Lucas is wearing total look Corneliani
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Lucas is wearing total look Burberry Prorsum
imitation of life
lucas cantĂƒo
total look Les Hommes shoes Dirk Bikkembergs
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120 total look Brioni on the right Lucas is wearing total look Roberto Cavalli shoes Corneliani
imitation of life
lucas cantĂƒo
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jacket Messagerie turtleneck Dirk Bikkembergs on the left Lucas is wearing total look Bally
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MIKE DERGAS Upon an orthodox critical approach we should talk about his art pieces as “emotional hyperrealism”. Upon the voluptuous abandonment to the mellow pleasure as passionate viewers: the first, instinctive and irrepressible definition that his art raises will be… “just wow!” Mike Dargas, born in Cologne in 1983 and still living there, takes pictures of faces by painting, or even paints photographic portraits: he freezes time within an everlasting moment where you can plunge into, to explore the sweet material that flows on the senses. And caresses them all, one by one. It’s a pure wow-effect! -------------------SILVIA - Aware of how wide and multitasking the experience of “wearing” the label “artist” is supposed to be: what’s your artistic identity? But first and foremost, what’s your real identity behind the artist? MIKE - I was an artist before I had an identity.
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SILVIA - Tell us something about your “background”: when and how did you feel that art would have been your expressive way? What was your personal and educational path to achieve it? MIKE - I started paining as a child. Every time my friends were playing soccer, I was doing sketches, paintings or went to the museums on my own. I absorbed works of the Old Masters, like Caravaggio and others. Their brilliant techniques thrilled me and I tried to enhance my skills every day to become as good as them. I was obsessed. Even in my previous career as a tattoo artist I studied realistic figuration and did realistic portraits. I would describe myself as an autodidact that has studied art for a life time.
imitation of life
by Silvia Scorcella
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mike dargas
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imitation of life
mike dargas
SILVIA - Your artworks are characterized by intense portraits, so charged with realism that they seem to titillate all our senses: who are these “protagonists” and what significance or tales do you commit to them? What visions are held into your artworks? MIKE - I think my work has different layers that each viewer sees differently. Some might just see beautiful women, some might see an erotic motif and others might see a deeper meaning. In the end it is more about what a work moves within the viewer, not what I had on my mind while paining it. I am thankful that people want to see my art, that´s by far the greatest reward of all.
HACHI - If I say “imitation of life� (the theme of this Hachi Mag issue n.d.r.): what comes into your mind? MIKE - My paintings are a snapshot, an imitation of life, holding on to something I find interesting. I think it is very human to try capturing beautiful moments. For more information www.mikedargas.com
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WWW.HACHIMAG.COM
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EDITOR IN CHEF AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR Pedro Luiz Pinto and roberto ancona FASHION EDITOR Stefano Guerrini PHOTO EDITOR DANIEL RODRIGUES STAFF WRITER Silvia Scorcella and Stefano Guerrini BEAUTY EDITOR PAOLO SFARRA DESIGN MR. GREEN -----------------------FOLLOW US FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM #hachimag
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imitation of life