While the notion of cave dwelling may ordinarily invoke images of the dark and dingy, one extraordinarily dedicated desert sculptor has created a series of spaces that challenge expectations of underground living through meticulous craftsmanship and architectural beauty. Ra Paulette, a New Mexico-based artist and subject of the 2014 Oscar-nominated short documentary Cavedigger, has been…
American fashion journalist, stylist, creative director, and former Editor-at-Large of Vogue magazine, André Leon Talley was an exceptional Black figure in an industry that was notoriously elitist and often times discriminatory. Celebrated as a truly singular style icon, he is widely credited for his advocating of diversity in the world of fashion. Earlier today, aged…
African American scholar and activist, bell hooks’ wide-ranging works examine the connections between race, gender, and class. One of the most impactful crossover academics of the late twentieth century, hooks published more than 30 books and numerous scholarly articles, appeared in documentary films, and participated in public lectures. The ground-breaking thinker passed away last week,…
Though his name may not be familiar to most, his work very likely is. Jay Ohrberg is Hollywood’s favourite car designer, having conceived and built hundreds of experimental vehicles with a remarkable range of appearances and features. His creations have been included in over 100 films, television shows, music videos and advertisements, earning him the…
Virgil Abloh, the American designer, artist, DJ and stylist, first came to prominence as Kanye West’s Creative Director, going onto make a seismic impact on the fashion industry with his luxury streetwear label, Off-White, and, more recently, his position as Artistic Director of Menswear at Louis Vuitton. Born in 1980 to Ghanaian parents, Abloh was…
Last week, Bottega Veneta announced the appointment of designer Matthieu Blazy as the Italian fashion house’s new Creative Director, only days after Daniel Lee’s sudden departure. Blazy had been working closely with Lee since mid-2020 on building Bottega Veneta’s refreshed image. In light of this, his new position at the helm of the brand is…
The Medu Art Ensemble was a collective of cultural activists operating out of Gaborone, Botswana during the apex of the anti-apartheid resistance movement during the late twentieth century. The collective first came together in 1977 as a group of Black South African artists mutually invested in regional liberation struggles and resistance to South Africa’s apartheid…
Yasuhiro Wakabayashi, known professionally as Hiro, was born on 3 November 1930 in Shanghai, China to Japanese parents. At the end of the Second World War, Hiro’s family returned to Japan from China. It was in 1954 that Wakabayashi made the decision to relocate to America, enrolling at the School of Modern Photography in New…