Dennis Basso S/S 09

So we survived abother round of Fashion Week. Nicolas Petrou's collection for Dennis Basso garnered several positive reviews, as well as some major PETA protests happening outside.






The looks were easy to wear, modern, and glamorous. I didn't really have much to do with this collection except order the fabric, snaps, and thread, and watch other people around me suffer. Watch the video below for a quick overview, and stay tuned til the end for a special cameo.

Dennis Basso's Spring 2009 collection

Bear Lover

Later this fall, Steiff, the world's oldest teddy bear manufacturer, will be producing a 'limited edition' (2500 pcs) Karl Lagerfeld teddy bear available at Neiman Marcus.



The bear (which is presumably clad in Dior Homme) will retail for $1,500, though will probably go for much more via Ebay. Steiff has undoubtedly struck gold- who knew that so many people wanted to cuddle with Karl Lagerfeld? Do you think the bear has hidden face lift scars?

Pretty/Trippy

While I was hustling my T's at the Young Designer's Market a tall attractive straight man walked by wearing one of the coolest shirts I'd ever seen. I didn't know what the design was exactly...a sperm whale? a cobra? When I finally had the guts to make my friend Shannon ask for for his picture he impolitely refused and told me to look up the artist, his 'friend' Si Scott.



Even though he was rude, or maybe I was rude, can't quite recall, I'm glad I got the guy's name. Si Scott's work has been weaving in and out of the new neaveau aesthetic of the twenty first century. Amazingly, all of the work is hand drawn, but looks like it was done on the sexiest Mac in the universe.

Check out his work at http://www.siscottstudio.com

My personal favorite is the True Love Swan. Goes to show that not all of today's commercial or gallery art is digital or spray painted on a brick wall. Thank god there are people willing to go blind for their art form!

Feline Affection

I recently discovered the wonders of Cat Prin, a company based out of Japan. The pictures are worth a thousand words--and the words themselves, are arguably the best engrish on the web right now.



"I am a frog."



"A spring admission season -- exactly . It is the uniform of "the school of a sacred cat"! "


Don't you doubt? "Although I want to dress with dress extravagant with my cat, doesn't a cat dislike having" clothes on?

It is impossible that continue for time long to be sure, and you continue dressing a cat. But about [ to which you dress a cat and take a commemorative photo on special days, such as a birthday of a cat, ] is OK.

Baby Boom

Oh no. Oh yes. President Jolie and First Lady Brad Pitt and their beautiful children at their chateau in France where they are planning world domination. This is too good to be true. ANGELINA FOR PRESIDRENT T's will be reappearing at the Young Designer's market this weekend to celebrate-- along with a few more surprises.

This business of selling baby photographs has not been hurt by the faltering economy-- the future Ms President and Stud Hubby scored a cool 7 million dollars -- per twin (Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline *sigh* the glamour..) -- for the photos. No doubt they will be donating the moola to refugees- instead of splashing it around Beverly Hills. Apparently there was also a stipulation that the crap rag also stop referring to the couple as Raisin Brangelina. Such a political duo!

I must note that it is a little disconcerting the cover photo only featured the white members of the royal family. Don't you think Maddox, Pax, and Zahara are going to be pissed they missed out on a cover shot?.....








....Then again...maybe not.

Six Degrees of Separation

I recently discovered some old photographs of my great-grandmother, the super great Mary Astor, cuddling on set with James Dean.



James Dean's young death catapulted him to eternal fame and iconoclasm, despite the fact his career was quite short and debatably unexciting. I haven't ever actually seen a movie with Jimmy Dean, although when after I saw these photos I found myself looking through more galleries set up by his fanatics-- and can definitely understand the allure. He is so brooding and sensual! Bad boyishly charming! Sigh...




They co-starred as mother and son in a made for TV movie in 1955 for "The US STEEL HOUR" and hour long LIVE television drama. The segment was called "The Thief." I wish television was still live - and I mean dramatic television - not the bloody Miss Universe Pageant. It's like free theater from your living room.

It was this particular role that secured James Dean his part in Rebel Without a Cause, which in turn, secured his immortality.

I particularly love the way my great-grandmother looked in this part of her career- although it is harder to find pictures of her during this time because she was mostly pioneering the actor's art form in the then new media of television. She is a little older, and reminds me a little more of my beloved Grammy and Moms.

Welcome to the Dollhouse

Somehow, in my recent travels to Europe, I missed London. Now, I feel like selling all of my worldly posessions for an overnight flight so I can see the monster Viktor & Rolf retrospective at the Barbican Museum.



The retrospective isn't like anything the fashion world has ever seen. Its not a stuffy old gallery filled with white mannequins and silver placards.



Its an ultra modern Dollhouse, V&R style. The dolls are crafted out of 5 times baked bisque porcelain. Their makeup and faces were styled to look like the original models who donned their outfits. The fashion house hired a wigmaker full time for one year to recreate crazy coiffures out of real human hair.





The ensembles themselves are perfectly scaled down replicas of the original outfits, some of them taking twice as long to reproduce as the original.

Both designers have were quoted as saying this is the most exciting thing they've done in their entire careers. And when you consider the fact they've dressed Maggie Rizer in forty outfits at once, painted their models pitch black from head to toe, and set off a Flowerbomb heard round the world-- dressing a bunch of dolls has been no small feat.

http://periodici.repubblica.it/d/?num=590

Hey friends. check out pages 256-271.

Metropolitan Doll

This is Snejana, she is the prototype of a line of dolls I am working on to debut later this summer, tentatively called the Changelings. She's 20 something inches of gorgeousness. Her skin is muslin, her face is hand drawn, and her hair is mongolian lamb.



Each doll will be one of a kind. Prices are available upon request. She is meant to be dressed up, played with, and photographed.



Snejana has already provided hours of fun for me and my roommate, and many unsuspecting guests that have passed through our Park Slope abode. You should see her when she gets drunk.

The Resurrection of Yang

Hello all.

Yangabang is risen. I've been busy as all hell in a handbasket-- working on a line of t-shirts, and more excitedly, my line of muslin dolls...soon to take over the world.


Here is one of the prints for my capsule collection of silkscreened oversized T's-- available exclusively at The Young Designer's Market in Nolita, the new location in the West Village, select boutiques in the East Village, and by mail order.




Stay posted....

National Horrigraphic.

As a kid, me and my brothers would tag along to the Downtown Salt Lake Library bi-annual book sale. One year I scored boxes and boxes of ancient issues of National Geographic. Since then, that yellow bordered magazine has always been able to touch a place deep inside of me. The sharp and colorful images are filled with the beautiful, and more excitingly, THE GROTESQUE.

CHECK OUT THE HORRORS OF OUR WORLD!!



Now I've been to the zoos in Taiwan, and yes, they are a little shady. The animals all look hungry and angry. So it was no surprise to see a man's limb marinating in the mouth of an alligator. But thank god, he's fine. His baby pinky just doesn't move anymore.



And look how scary! Hatshepsut, the fabulous Queen of Egypt who was a famous crossdresser way ahead of her times, was finally found buried in a desert. Still knows how to strike a pose! Go on Hatty! Vogue!



I don't think he knows mummies are really dead people.



People who don't believe in global warming are dumb! Our atmosphere is shrinking! The sun's coming in! Jesus is coming, hide your bong!




And to leave off on a cute note. For every rare (1 of six) spotted Amur leopardess we kill, four little white tiger cubs are born in a zoo somewhere.

Moving Day

So, The Company finally made the move from the Garment District to Long Island City this weekend. It was quite a fiasco, and one hell of a workout. These are a few pics of me, hard at work, unloading years of fur coat storage into Budget Rental Trucks. It was actually an awesome week at work, and really made me realize how much I love my job, and how much I love fur. This is awesome!

Presidential Nominee.

It's official. YangaBang Incorporated is nominating Angelina Jolie for President. Her work for the UN is unparalleled in the Hollywood Scene, as well as her efforts with soon to be first lady Brad Pitt raising awareness about the Sudan, Hurricane Katrina, and orphaned children everywhere.


T-shirts available in French Gray, Pale Blue, and Shiloh White. If you want one, come to the corner of Prince and Mulberry in Nolita this weekend for an exclusive chance of owning one of the first samples. They will be available online soon in extremely limited editions. Email me for special orders.

Angelina For President is copyrighted with YangaBang Inc.

Metropolitan Dolls

Here are some creepy pics of the dolls I'm auctioning off on Ebay. The one in the middle is the star. She was Paleontologist Barbie, I got her when I was probably ten, or eleven, or maybe thirteen years old. I was fascinated by her khaki hat, shorts, and dino printed top. Maybe she wouldn't be getting sent to the auction block if I still had all of her accessories.



These are the Generation Girls. It is actually a shared collection between my brother Anthony and my sister Alyssa. They were supposedly the hippest girls in high school. And then their hair was tangled and their hip clothing used on dolls who had less style. It's time to graduate girls.

National Geography: Spotlight on Paris

So, our receptionist is out because of a special event for Basso (sale sale SALE!), and I, because of my obvious wit and charming smile, am the perfect temp-orary replacement. It's lovely. Answering sixteen phone lines...and rediscovering the amazingness of National Geographic and Paris Fashion Week all in the same afternoon!

So exciting.



Do you remember what a dying star looks like??



Do you know what a 330 foot Guatamalan sinkhole looks like? In case you don't, please refer to the diagram on the right. It turns out you shouldn't build neighborhoods on top of rocks that are soluble. If a watermain breaks, you might find yourself drowned in sewage!



And have you ever tried a calamari ring the size of a tractor tire? Neither have I but I'm sure it's damn tasty.



And, in Fashion News, Viktor and Rolf showed in Paris yesterday. I wasn't into the clogs, but the lighting & clothes were a hot jam. Check out the hilarious review over @ style.com. Quoting Sarah Mower: As the rigs got bigger and the girls' expressions more frozen with fear, involuntary gasps escaped from the audience. "Oh my God, she's listing!" hissed one observer. "I can't look!" cried another. "That poor girl's slipping!" shrieked someone else.




Bangalicious.

Fashion Week Recap

Since I have lost touch with all of my friends and family because I value furs and fashion more than honor and relationships, I thought a nice little recap of Fashion Week Hell would be appropriate. The show was crazy ridiculous and you'll see more posted as days go by, but here are a few snaps from the styling sessions.





I was chatting with some of the models while they were waiting around during castings to see what their thoughts were on the eating/lack of eating scandals. They were all pretty indifferent, except for one particular girl, Lisa, who had a tourist yell at her the morning prior. "Go eat a sandwich bitch!"




From Left to Right: Brittany DeBeers, Numero stylist Bill Mullen, Unidentified Russian Model, Patternmaker Futoshi Yora, Dennis Basso HimSelf, Creative Director Nicholas Petrou. (Jack Cohen, Head of Sales and Ex Best Thing @ Fendi, is blocked by Dennis Basso.)



Ahh, the glamour of fashion.