Just two blocks from Flaunt’s Hollywood headquarters, the Kodak Theater, annual home to the Academy Awards, was alive with the sound of politics in action.
Inside the CNN Democratic Debate unfolded between remaining candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Outside on Hollywood Blvd., police barricades lined streets filled with news vans being flanked by bomb sniffing K-9 units.
Protesters and the politically minded from every camp were out in force to support their cause and/or speak out against other’s.
The bulk of the crowd was composed of anti-war protesters though demonstrators against torture and even Bush supporters lined the front of the theater with hopes of having their voices heard.
CNN had a station set up where onlookers could make personalized buttons on the spot to endorse their cause and television monitors on a nearby van streamed a live broadcast of the debate to those who couldn’t get a seat inside.
January 25th, 2008 - New York - The American Museum of Natural History was packed wall to wall by industry insiders, the hipster set, and lovers of the underground hip-hop world for Flavorpill’s One Step Beyond concert featuring none other than Kanye West’s DJ of choice, DJ A-Trak. The show was opened by Windy City ‘flowicists’ The Cool Kids, who performed some of their most notable cult favorites. The night was brought to another level, as show headliner Kid Sister rocked the house with her tongue twisting hip-pop lyrics and a fist-pumping performance. As many thought the night was winding down Kid Sister brought Kanye West on stage to perform their duet “Pro Nails.”
While much amusement befalls in darkness—and most of it naughty—Hot Chip’s latest full-length album Made in the Dark is (almost) as stimulating. The electropop Brits’ follow-up to the critically acclaimed The Warning struts their artistic credibility by utilizing dense rhythmic textures incorporating various instruments, synths, and vocals. The result is a scintillating jambalaya of repetitious layers that add thrust to their poppy songs (see Exhibit A: ‘Ready For The Floor’). These driving layers also create an engulfing trance similar to that which is stirred after hours of carpal tunnel syndrome inducing thumb gymnastics on NES. ‘Shake a Fist,’ released earlier on limited 12”, juxtaposes mechanical clashing and distortion with tribal sounding percussion, evoking feelings of a particularly disorienting spring break spent in an African factory warehouse, while the thumping beats tap into a primal urge to shake something (and possibly copulate with machinery). The quintet also proves equally apt at introspective, melancholy ballads, as on the title track, which provides a soul-filled come down to their other songs. But be warned: Hot Chip’s songs are so damn catchy; it’s highly likely they’ll be crammed in your cranium indefinitely.
-Claire Presthus
Flaunt Magazine, Ports 1961, Mosley Tribes and producer Beau Flynn hosted a special dinner engagement prior to the premiere screening of the movie “Choke.”
I love Anjelica Huston!
William H. Macy is the man & so nice too
Other guests on hand were…
Paz De la Huerta gave me a playful slap on the cheek after I took her pic, that was hot.
The after party took place at the Hyde Lounge. Thats right LA had invaded Sundance… Greendoor had parties going on there and so did Teddies.
Danny Masterson & Frankie Inglesi on the ones & two’s…
Party time…excellent!
The coolest thing I saw alll night was Angelica Huston dancing to NWA… Express Yourself!
Sam Rockwell throwing gang signs?
THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT
Thanks to Flaunt Magazine for having me come out and do my thing, I had a sick time.
Flaunt was on hand in New York City to cover the second season of the (capsule) men’s wear fashion event where 50+ designers gathered to exhibit their latest creations at the historic Angel Orensanz Foundation Center on the Lower East Side. The fashion savvy would do well to keep a watchful eye on the new purveyors of cool: Fremont, Nove, Chronicles of Never, Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair, Gram footwear, Schmoove, and 3:33.
Special thanks to Aileen at BPMW, wearethemarket.com.
Day two got off to a late start as we slowly regained consciousness, woken by the waft of Chef Luis’ home cooked breakfast buffet. Snow was everywhere, we suited up for the frigid chill and set off to the House of Hype daytime hospitality suite. A view from the balcony of Flaunt Manor.
Outside on the street, 50 Cent’s presence stopped bystanders and the entranced driver of the Fix movie van grazed a parked car… Looks like director Tao Ruspoli needs to fix more than the movie!
Heath Ledger <1979-2008> Heath Ledger was an actor who, by 28, had lived a life characterized by fine performances and daring career choices. He graced the cover of Flaunt in 2002, when he was 23, a young man on the precipice of fame, before his staggeringly restrained performance in Brokeback Mountain, and before he met and started a family with actress Michelle Williams. He told us: “I have learned that I would not waste my time for any amount of money for a project I don’t believe in. But the pressure is always there. Succeed or fail, you can’t ignore it. You have to face it head on.” Until the end, he proved true to his word. He will be dearly missed.
Images courtesy of Anthony Mandler for ArtMixPhotography.com. Published in Flaunt Magazine, Issue 38, October 2002. Cover art designed by Assume Vivid Astro Focus, aka Eli Sudbrack, courtesy of Kinetic Corporation, New York.
Flaunt Magazine presents Body English at the House of Hype with Ports 1961, Puma, & the Hard Rock Hotel. It was also the afterparty for the movie “Fix” starring Olivia Wilde
Part Time Punks
Voxhall Broadcast
Johan Renck (left) director of “Downloading Nancy” which starred Maria Bello
About one hour into the party it was lights out all up & down Main St. The first blackout in the history of the Sundance film festival…
It was wild in the streets! I took this in the dark
Patrick Fugit
Sal Masekela
I got a chance to photograph Brittany Murphy behind closed curtains
Her hubby Simon Monjack was had a portrait studio set up for Amnesty International
Vanessa Hudgens followers have compiled short video montages utilizing the recent story we ran on the High School Musical star. Issue 89 delivered a scintillating beauty story glamorously photographed by Gitte Meldgaard where Vanessa peers through the shadows to reveal the latest beauty trends. One YouTube compilation can be seen below.
Flaunt and Dewar’s celebrated the release of issue 89 at Gallery Bar in New York City. DJs Mike Nouveau and Mike Simonetti peppered the packed house with a stimulating set as party goers eyeballed the explosive work of cover artist Rosemarie Fiore while dangerously downing copious amounts of Dewar’s cocktails.
Fifty Thousand plus attendees gathered this weekend at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Downtown Los Angeles for the 15th Annual Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) Revlon Run/Walk for Women. Attendees poured onto the stadium grounds by the thousands to run or walk in support of breast cancer research, many donning the names of loved ones that have been affected by the illness. Prior to the start of the race participants were treated to a kick-off ceremony hosted by Tom Selleck, and Carrie Ann Inaba, and Revlon celebrity brand ambassadors Halle Berry and Beau Garrett. Performances by Jesse McCartney and Melissa Manchester segued into the lighting of the Olympic torch and the gunshot that started the race.
The race took anywhere from fifteen minutes to two hours for participants to reach the finish line inside of the Coliseum where they were greeted by an energizing performance from The Go Go’s. Upon completion, in addition to a personal sense of accomplishment, every person received a gold medal and complimentary snacks. In it’s massive size it was quite evident that this illness affects everyone and is not restricted by race, class, or gender, making it all the more empowering to be a part of such a massive charitable event.
In Support/In Memory of Kathy Hawthorn, Jean Henderson, Cheryl Gross, and all the women in our lives that have been affected by this illness.
depARTed: Inspired by the Expired
May 1st, 2008 by Andrew Dimpfl
While much of Los Angeles had fled to the desert to party like it was the 70s, the ticket-less donned their most festive attire and trekked to the World of Wonder storefront gallery for depARTed, an art show Inspired by the Expired. Flaunt.com joined curator Daniel Franzese in hosting the opening night bash serving up Karma California Brut and FIJI water to attendees. Everyone from Tupac to Elvis to Anna Nicole Smith were memorialized through mixed media as part of a collective pop-culture remembrance project. The show runs through May 19th at 6650 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood.
Check out the new Reap/Sew video on Flaunt’s YouTube page documenting the runway show during our recent L.A. Fashion Week event at Elevate Lounge in Downtown Los Angeles.
Stay tuned for more videos at www.youtube.com/flauntmag!
Behind the scenes with Mila Kunis
April 14th, 2008 by Nora C.
On our recent photo shoot for issue 93 at Smashbox Studios in West Hollywood, Mila Kunis wasted no time on polite phrases, jumping right into calling our photographer Don Flood a d-bag in the most endearing way possible. The lovable Kunis is a total sweetheart, funny, and very afraid of heights. With her 70s Show shoes retired, Kunis hits the big screen in the new Judd Apatow flick Forgetting Sarah Marshall in theaters now. Here are some behind the scenes photos of Mila in action. Thanks to everyone who worked on the shoot!
Stylist Johnny Wujeck getting Mila into some great pieces.
Mila was not into this crane at all!
Additional photos courtesy of Johnny Wujeck and Marcus.
Who You Thought You Were You Probably Aren’t But Almost Are If You Say So
April 8th, 2008 by Elliott David
blur blur blur. Teen angst is the new old new aesthetic, made tactile and visceral by all our own personal brands of self-loathing and the celebration of pity, parties and photoblog mobs. Not to mention recent artist’s/web-baby’s infatuations with: ambiguously young drop outs in oversized flannel with oversized bank accounts underplaying their beauty, smoking by oversized LA pools following their tiny perky tits and social ladder steps, stumbling drunk and sexy and blind by their bangs, knees tangled in too long t-shirts and isn’t the Sun so obnoxious and don’t we just not give a fuck. Then there’s the easy East Coast parallel aesthetic mentality: there are no backyards in NYC and we are on the street and we’re in small bedrooms and we’re in small bars and we’re naked at night, and nudity and the street and smallness means something about something and we don’t know what but isn’t everything here the best thing ever; It’s-always-summer-on-the-internet when we love ourselves in pictures and we hate to love love. I mean like GAWD. there is NOTHING to do in [hometown]. Let’s get fukkkd. I need soft focus. I need soft tongues. I need to wake up having forgotten I fell asleep. Are you getting all this on camera?
As M83, Anthony Gonzalez’s first three magnificent albums have been flirty if not infatuated with romanticizing teenage romance. His latest album, “Saturdays = Youth” is a love letter to the death of love letters, a full-blown dedication to our memories of youth: invented, lionized, repressed, reckless and totally unremarkable. For the new video to the album’s single, “Graveyard Girl,” Gonzalez brought back the director for his previous videos, Matthew Frost. And Frost brought with him his own fixation on popularity and cute outcast girls who say, “who needs popularity when I’ve got myself all to myself. Point me to the pet cemetery.”
And as a wonderful treat of wonderfulness, Frost casts for his new video, playing his go-to-role of Popular Girl/Stay Away From My Boyfriend, Freak (But Inside I’m Sad And Alone And Not What I Seem And You Don’t Know What I Have To Go Through) is a Flaunt favorite: model/angel Ruby Corley (myspace.com/rubycorley). One of the video’s main faults though is simple: As if the redhead Graveyard Girl who mourns the death of her domestic pet wouldn’t be the coolest fucking chick around.
In spite of all this: who we did or did not fingerbang, how bad it hurts when it hurts the worst, the insufficiency of exclamation marks, etc. it’s important to remember one thing: all dogs go to heaven. m834eva
Murakami Mania
April 8th, 2008 by mhenson
A retrospective work of the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami was unveiled at a star-studded dinner at the Brooklyn Museum, followed by a crowd pleasing performance by Flaunt’s own past cover boy, Kanye West. The exhibit primarily focused on Murakami’s works from 1991 to 2000, where he went through a personal exploration of his own reality through branding and identity. Within the exhibit there is a fully functional Louis Vuitton store, including the “Monogramoflauge” created by Murakami, available exclusively at the Brooklyn Museum.
Photos by Ashley Walker.
Behind the Scenes: David LaChapelle captures Emile Hirsch in Hawaii
April 8th, 2008 by Nora C.
Returning to magazine work after years of only shooting fine art, the renowned David LaChapelle recently photographed Emile Hirsch in a poetic cover story for Flaunt’s Issue 93. Hirsch made the trek to Hana, Hawaii, a remote hippie town, and David’s home turf, where he was met by a very intimate crew who captured the talented actor among the tropical landscape. Check out David’s first Flaunt cover in years, on stands soon. Thanks to everyone at the David LaChapelle Studio!
Photos courtesy of Claudio Conti.
This Whole World’s Wild At Heart and Weird On Top; or, I’ll Fuck Anything That Moves
March 31st, 2008 by Elliott David
David Lynch is a lunatic genius with a killer haircut and either a rad or shitty attitude, depending on how you look at things. Not only has he focused the aesthetics of predecessors like Alain Robbe-Grillet and Kenneth Anger into a singular cumshot of spectacular velvet mindfucking, but he’s also a pretty prolific weatherman.
News to yous is a PSA directed by Lynch: a heartwarming black-and-white film about how he hates your stupid New York faces, as well as his feelings re: littering and rats, which we learn he’s either for or against. Enjoy.
Also: hear Lynch wax articulate on the common brainwashing technique of product placement in movies and television.
Converse Conversations
March 31st, 2008 by mhenson
Downtown Manhattan was definitely talking last night at Conversations: Celebrating Converse 1HUND(RED) ARTISTS event at Open House Gallery. This soiree was part of ongoing celebration for the 100th anniversary of Converse, and the 1HUND(RED)ARTISTS program, that asked over 100 artists from around the world to lend their creativity to help fight AIDS in Africa. The gallery was packed wall-to-wall with NY’s A-List, who rocked out to beats by DJ Thurston Moore and Simian Mobile Disco. For more information on 1HUND(RED)ARTISTS visit www.converse.com/#100ARTISTS.
Photos By Ashley Walker
Lizzie Fortunato Jewels + TIMO! Wallets Preview
March 27th, 2008 by Elliott David
Droves of socialites, designers, artists, haberdashers and the birds & gents about town gathered at Piero Lissoni’s stunning showroom space By New York to preview Lizzie Fortunato Jewels and TIMO! wallets by Timo Weiland. Flaunt sponsored the exclusive event hosted by Alexandra Richards and the adorable-cum-gorgeous Anabelle Dexter-Jones. The venue was packed with beautiful people gawking at the jewels, the wallets, Flaunt’s spring fashion issue, and at each other. The crowd was so overwhelmingly filled with charm, chattiness and social camaraderie, that the party went on a good hour after the liquor ran out, a miracle for a Tuesday night in Manhattan.
Photography by Ashely Walker. Additional photography courtesy of GuestofaGuest.com
