SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.
Today’s Look: Faith, Civic Center
Tell us about your look: “I’m a thrift store connoisseur.”
Fashion
A guide to artists with famous namesakes
Read the growing number of enthusiastic articles about Soundsuit creator Nick Cave and you’ll soon notice most of them have something in common — at one point or another, the journalist or author has to interject that this Nick Cave isn’t the Australian gothic blues dirge icon. Cave the dancer-turned-sculptor/designer likely faces his musical namesake at every turn, but he is just one contemporary visual artist with a well-known moniker. To clarify matters, behold this illustrated breakdown.
NAME Nick Cave
FORTE Murder ballads
SIDE GIGS Writing, acting, and leading Sinnerman
CURRENT PROJECTS Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (Mute, 2008); a screenplay with the Leonard Cohen-ish title Death of a Ladies’ Man
QUOTE “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth / And anyway I told the truth / And I’m not afraid to die.”
NAME Nick Cave
FORTE Sculpture, video, and artistic fashion with untamed imagination
SIDE GIGS Dance and choreography
CURRENT PROJECTS “Meet Me at the Center of the Earth,” at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts; a 90 Soundsuit dance performance in 2012 at Chicago’s Millennium Park
QUOTE “The arts are our salvation — the only thing that allows us to heal and also helps us dream about what will make the world a better place.”
NAME Phil Collins
FORTE Blue-eyed soul, romantic movie themes, turning prog into pop, drumming, Alamo artifact collecting, and becoming an icon of male pattern baldness
SIDE GIGS Duets with Billy Ocean, replacing Peter Gabriel in Genesis
CURRENT PROJECTS Fatherhood, greatest hits collections
QUOTE “She’s an easy lover / Before you know it you’ll be on your knees.”; “I feel so good if I just say the word / Su-su-sussudio.”
Street Threads: Look of the Day
SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.
Today’s Look: Elizabeth, City Hall
Tell us about your look: “I’ll wear anything as long as it’s comfortable.”
The new razzle dazzle
a&eletters@sfbg.com
More on SFBG:
>>A guide to artists with famous namesakes
Where is the center of the Earth? According to artist Nick Cave, it lies somewhere between a night out at Taboo with Leigh Bowery and a Brazilian Carnaval parade. It can be found in Liberace’s glittering stage getups and Yoruba ceremonial hunting dress. Other possible coordinates include Yinka Shonibare’s Africanized rococo costumes, Cockney pearly suits, the hautest of haute couture, and the fun fur tribes of Black Rock City.
Thankfully, for us, Cave’s crocheted, sequined, bedazzled, embroidered, dyed, and encrusted vision of the heart of the world can be found locally. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts’ "Meet Me At the Center of the Earth" presents the largest exhibit to date of the Chicago artist’s work, which straddles the realms of sculpture, high fashion, body art, and dance with a visual ferocity and level of workmanship that is alternately stunning and inspiring.
Cave’s art practically dares you to play chicken with your thesaurus. One would have to borrow a page (or several) from the descriptive reveries of Thomas de Quincey or Ronald Firbank to fully convey the cluster fuck of beading, psychedelic hair furs, plastic tchotchkes, yarn, tin toys, buttons, second hand sweaters, and enough sequins to cover a thousand ’80s cocktail dresses that he has quixotically and painstakingly pieced together.
The centerpieces of "Meet Me at the Center of the Earth" are undoubtedly Cave’s Soundsuits — wearable sculptures that take their name from the sounds created by their movement. They fill YBCA’s largest gallery like some other-wordly pantheon of gods and monsters. Arranged in an X-shaped configuration with paths running down the center of each axis, the suits form a giant visual nod to the exhibit’s title. X, of course, marks the spot, and hanging above the room’s center is the Earth itself, swathed in several shades of inky sequins. On the adjacent walls hang two huge and possibly glitzier tondi — the Italian Renaissance term Cave uses for these round hangings — which serve as flattened counterparts to the globe.
The display lets you explore the Soundsuits from every angle. Designed to cover the entire body, the suits hide any individual traces of the wearer by creating a second skin, and then some. The suits with towering, festooned cage structures — which bring to mind both Balinese funeral pyres and Simon Rodia’s Watts Towers — still have a vaguely human outline at their core, whereas the suits patterned in all sort of brilliantly colored fur-like human hair could very well be studies from an unrealized Jim Henson project. This lycanthropic aspect of the Soundsuits is explored most humorously in Cave’s more recent pieces, which take the reverse tactic of fashioning knitwear pelts for taxidermy models of bears and beavers.
While much of Cave’s work, to quote New York Times critic Roberta Smith, "fall[s] squarely under the heading of Must Be Seen to Be Believed," it also begs to be heard. It is unfortunate that YBCA wasn’t able to more fully integrate the sounds of the suits into their display. Although there is an adjacent gallery that shows several videos of the Soundsuits in action — including great footage of Cave and a posse of pom-pom covered lion dancer-clown hybrids inciting massive dance parties in public — the suits themselves stand silent. The audio/visual divide enforced by the two-gallery layout seems to point to the larger issue of static mannequins being the curatorial norm for costume and textile-related exhibits. I guess we’ll have to wait until May, when choreographer Ronald K. Brown stages his Soundsuit performances, to see Cave’s creations in action.
Cave writes in an artist’s statement for the show that he hopes "we will dream together" One would have to have a heart of stone not to take up the challenge and the invitation delivered by Cave’s art — and implicit in the exhibit’s title — to create another scene, to go beyond what’s familiar, and to transform oneself. I left YBCA dreaming of raiding craft stores, thrift shops, and fabric outlets. I dreamed of painting the town red, cerulean, silver, magenta, and neon green with sequins and glitter. I dreamed of dancing. I’ll see you at the center of the Earth. I’m halfway there.
NICK CAVE: MEET ME AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH
Through July 5, $3–$6 (free first Tues.)
Tues.–Wed., Fri.–Sun., noon–5 p.m.; Thurs., noon–8 p.m.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
701 Mission, SF
(415) 978-2787
All photos by Jim Prinz
Editor’s Notes
Tredmond@sfbg.com
Well, most of you got the joke. A few angry phone calls and e-mails came in wondering how we could possibly have endorsed a guy who deports immigrant kids, breaks up families, panders to downtown, and doesn’t have time to run the city. And one person wondered how we got his front tooth to sparkle like that (computers), but in general, readers figured out that Gavin Newsom is not our candidate for governor of California or president of the United States. And that rumor about Ross Mirkarimi and the ring-tailed lemur fashion disaster isn’t true, either — or at least, he fervently denies it.
I guess everyone needs a laugh these days, because the world was full of great April Fool’s jokes. My favorite, I think, was perpetrated by both the Guardian of London and Mountain Xpress, an alternative weekly in Ashville, N.C. They both announced they were ceasing print and Web publication and becoming "Twitter-only." Mountain Xpress dubbed its new venture the "Twaper." The Guardian explained that anything worth covering could be covered fine in 140 characters.
And it’s some kind of statement on the condition of newspapers today that so many people totally bought it.
San Francisco transportation officials announced this week that they’re going to raise prices of parking meters, increase the hours when the meters are in effect, and possibly end free Sunday parking. That’s supposed to generate $9.5 million in new revenue, which could help stave off some Muni cuts.
I have no problem with this — parking ought to be relatively expensive, and people who drive cars are (generally) better able to afford a fee increase than people who ride the bus. Soon they’re going to need meters that take dollar bills, because it’s getting hard to carry enough quarters in your pocket to pay for an hour’s parking.
But let’s not forget what this actually is. It’s a tax — a tax on people who, for whatever reason, park their vehicles for a short time on city streets in commercial areas. That $9.5 million isn’t just free money, any more than the money Gov. Schwarzenegger thinks California will get by better promoting the lottery is free money. Somebody pays.
And when we start looking at this year’s city budget, we need to look not just at what’s being cut and what revenue might come in, but at who’s paying to balance the more than $400 million tab.
City workers have already agreed to pay part of it. The biggest city-employee union has agreed to accept cutbacks that will amount to more than $40 million, and other unions are expected to follow suit. And of course, a few hundred have already been laid off.
People who swim in city pools are paying — the hours have been cut. Sick people are paying — city health services have been reduced. Muni riders are going to pay with longer waits and higher fares.
But so far, I don’t see Mayor Newsom asking the very wealthy to pay. They don’t take buses, they don’t park at meters, they don’t need free public swimming pools or free health care. I don’t see any tax increases hitting any of them.
That’s got to be part of the discussion. Because I’ll pay more to save the city — but I don’t want to feel like a chump. *
Street Threads: Look of the Day
SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.
Today’s Look: Dylan, 25th Street and Castro
Tell us about your look: “I’m sorta a rock star and I love really skinny jeans.”
Style on (less than) a Dime: Take the boring out of button down
SFBG’s Laura Peach checks out local fashion you can afford. Check out her latest installment here.
Recently I was talking to a friend who lost her job. She was lamenting about her feelings of uselessness and loafing round the house looking for something to do. “Maybe I could pick up knitting… or crocheting… something, anything to keep my hands busy.” A few minutes later came the shift in conversation to clothes, and how she is bored with everything in her closet.
It was this combination of topics – unemployment, the need for a hobby, and the desire for an updated wardrobe – that led us to the idea of reconstructing our own clothes. Cheap? Check. (The clothes are already in your closet.) Keeps the hands busy? Check. Revamps the wardrobe? Double check.
Problem is, we didn’t know how. So we asked fabulous local clothing reconstructionist Miranda Caroligne, who we profiled in January’s Careers and Education section , where to start. She showed us how to turn a boring button-down into an exciting frilled-top worthy of Louis XIV (should his highness become a modern Mission-dweller). With her directions, some basic sewing materials, a shirt out of your closet, and a little time (which, if you are stuck in the same situation as my friend, you may have plenty of), you can reinvigorate your style without spending a dime.
Learn to make this shirt yourself! Fun and recession-friendly. Photo by Kimberly Sandie.
Street Threads: Look of the Day
SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.
Today’s Look: Anna, Second Street and King
Tell us about your look: “I always like to by comfy, no matter what I’m wearing.”
Street Threads: Look of the Day
SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.
Today’s Look: Halley, Hyde and Market
Tell us about your look: “I’m a second-hand fashion person.”
Street Threads: Look of the Day
SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.
Today’s Look: Olena, Civic Center
Tell us about your look: “I like European style.”
Snap Sounds: The Juan MacLean — ‘The Future Will Come’
By Brandon Bussolini
THE JUAN MACLEAN
The Future Will Come
(DFA)
Whether or not you were up enough on your rock genealogies to make the connection between John MacLean, guitar scraper for synth-punks Six Finger Satellite, and The Juan MacLean, the latter unit’s 2005 debut Less Than Human (DFA) probably took you by surprise. Like LCD Soundsystem, TJM looked towards history to fashion its electro-futurism, but while LCD appealed to rock kids with nods to the Fall, Can, and Daft Punk, TJM’s necro fantasies tended towards marrying Chrome’s glimpse of future-shock with Cybotron’s sleek, muscular productions. On The Future Will Come, the results remain strangely successful, all the more remarkable given techno’s way of sloughing off its skin every two years.
The Juan Maclean, “One Day”
Last year’s Happy House EP displayed just enough refinement and innovation to make up for the group’s three year silence: the 12-minute main track is a mainline rush of looped house piano figures and Nancy Whang’s mantra-like vocals. Of course, it’s not as hard to eliminate the extraneous moments on an EP. Part of what makes this new full-length recording durable is that it moves confidently away from the digressive, instrumental style of the first album towards a minimal, vocal-heavy style that makes its point more effectively, in less time.
I had to make an exception, at first, for MacLean’s singing style. Less chanty and easily endured than on Less Than Human’s “Give Me Every Little Thing,” it remains stiff. With added Brian Eno-like modulations, it resolves less quickly than the album’s other pleasures. Whang’s increased presence in particular is welcome: it allows her monotone to reveal subtle emotional inflections. The assertive vocal cadences of the incredible “One Day” split the difference between disco and hi-NRG, for example, before the chorus melts them down into a strange, bliss-inducing alloy. It’s tempting to see The Juan MacLean as a kind of genre-supercollider: they work in a tradition too perverse to accurately be called either techno or rock or even fit under the umbrella of a catch-all like “electro.” More likely, and less common, TJM is making it up as they go along, which must be where some of that joy they’re singing about comes from.
Boobs!
› superego@sfbg.com
ALTER EGO Yo, yo, yo waaasssuuuppp in the Sheez Franheezy! It’s me, DJ Daddy Huf ‘n Pufz, takin’ over this Super Ego shit and giving you da club reals for reals! That sorry skinny faggot Marke B. had to go get his kneepads repadded or some shit — don’t drop the soap on the 22, y’all — so I’m stepping in with the 411 in the 415 after dark. But first I gotta open a big ol’ can of NO HOMO on this column, yo. You feel me, man? Fuck all that gay-ass gay and art school dropout shit B.’s always squealing like a little pink piggy about. I mean, I got four words to describe his nightlife problem: no boobs and no bottle service. And where the fuck’s the VIP? All you "alternative" types need to drop the asshole attitude and those fucked-up granny outfits and get on the velvet rope tip. You ridin’ with Big Daddy Joe now, and this is how we roll.
Rollin’! Dude, I just flew in from the Winter Music Conference in Miami (big ups!) with my partner Timmy "Turbo Iroc" Nguyen. He’s that whack kind of Asian dude who tries to talk all hood and stuff, but then when you say, "Yo, what?" he gets all stiff and repeats it in English. Makes me bust a nut every time, cuz you know he talks Chinese or some crazy shit to his parents at home. Naw, he’s cool, and this is why our set-up works: He gets me into all the Asian parties on 11th Street, and then I get him into all the white ones. Hey, I ain’t racist! Double the ladies, double the pleasure! I just got that tattooed with barbed wire and roses around my left bicep.
Anywheezy, da WMC. Fuck the music, you should have seen the fine-ass poolside "talent," dawg. Those chicks had plastic in all the right places — and they didn’t just use it to cut up my lines, know what I’m saying? Lemme tell you, they were all about the Big Daddy Pufz, the decks-wreckin’ Romeo in wraparound Guccis. My Twitter was smokin’! Five or six of those hotties, two cans of body chocolate — throw in a sweet bag of lean and I got my first video, yo.
Back to the Yay — me and Turbo gonna throw on our sickest Affliction tees, slick up our cuts, and make this a weekend the ladies will never forget, for serious, dude. Duuude. Dude!
Dude? *
HOLLYWOOD NIGHTS
This muthafuckin’ part-ay looks so off the ho-ho that they gots to rewind it, back it up, and put on a triple "z" at the end. Bay Area Breedz Entertainment, your No. 1 Bay Area party connection, is pullin’ it all out for NBA star, my man, Stephen Jackson on his b’day b’day — with a full-on, "up close and personal" performance by SNOOP DOGG himself!!! Snoop! In. Da. Heyaaaz! Yo, my Hummer just got a hummer. Woof! This slammin’ yay-fair is an "exclusive celebrity birthday," co-hosted by Shaw Town, Next Level Events, Location415, Ankh Marketing, Deshawn Mitchell, and J.E. Media. Da best!!! No sportswear, tennis shoes, hats, or T-shirts. Keep it classy, y’all.
Fri/3, 9 p.m., $20 advance. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. www.mezzaninesf.com
CHRISTIAN AUDIGIER HIGH FASHION CLOTHING EVENT
Not to be missed, party people! This exclusive luxury lifestyle event is all about living large. You know those way-dope hats, shirts, and bags with all the sparkly fancy writing on them that high-profile celebrities like Manny P., Colby O. Donnis, Jayde Nicole, Ike Taylor, Michael White, and the smokin’ hot Ikki Twins wear? Fuck Ed Hardy, Christian Audigier’s your man for the true L.A. look with UFC cred. Your host, my man, Boogie will be giving out thousands of dollars’ worth of sophisticated Christian Audigier apparel at the one and only Boss 750 Luxury Lounge Nightclub. And the first 50 ladies get a free gift bag! Reserve your booth now, dawg — this one’s gonna be hecka packed. Dress code strictly enforced, no baggy clothes or sports attire.
Sat/3, 10 p.m., $20. Boss, 750 Harrison, SF. www.boss750.com
SAMANTHA RONSON
Yo, I don’t get it, y’all. If you’re gonna be a lesbo, why you gotta look like a punk rock dude? I like the lesbians with the big racks and long-ass fingernails on the porno who get down in the hot tub with the whipped cream. Warm it up, ladies! Yeah. Just don’t try to compete with me and my boys in the satisfaction department, fo’ rock ‘n reals. Ain’t nothing like a real man’s loving. You with me, fellas? Knock ’em back. Boom. This man-chick Ronson may use that Lohan hottie as a muff-warmer, but a girl behind the "wheels of steel" trying to spin like a real DJ? What to the what-what? If she shares out some Lindsay, though, I may let her sing a verse on my forthcoming album, Bay Up or Shut Up, Bitchez. Drop date: May 15 on Rock Star Energy Drink Records. Free downloads now on the MySpace.
April 10, 9 p.m., $15. Slide, 430 Mason, SF. www.slidesf.com
America’s Next Top Supervisor
Eleven began the competition, but after last week’s spectacular fiasco involving Ross Mirkarimi and a ring-tailed lemur, only five finalists are left to face our panel of sublebrity judges, who reviewed their looks, poise, style, and grace during a session of drunken Googling (Droogling). Which one will receive a $100 modeling contract with Board Babes and a seven-slide spread on HuffPo? Who’s gonna be on top?
THE JUDGES:
Nicole Markoff of local label Nicacelly (www.nicacelly.com), fashion goddess
Anna Conda of clubs Charlie Horse (myspace.com/charliehorsecinch) and Herr-A-Chick, merciless queen
Marke B. of SFBG, noted closet case
THE HOPEFULS:
MICHELA ALIOTO-PIER
Nicole Oh, you round-the-way girl. Peek-a-boo lacey undergarments haven’t looked this good since Jody Watley. As for your slimmed-down bamboo hoops — nice touch! We know you’re feeling underground, all gold chains and sweet blue eyes. Represent!
Anna You’re a beautiful woman with great eyes and hair, but would a little color — just to break up the funeral gray — kill you?
Marke She’s definitely working the "sweet as apple pie," all-American look. But you know that within that pie lurks a coiled python as pink and sweaty as any hot dog, and that’s what brought down the auto industry.
CHRIS DALY
Nicole C-Diddy, you’re pushing up on some Sarah Palin eyewear, but I’m not hating. I’m feeling your approach and evolution, running from the "Didn’t we meet at Pops a couple years ago?" 5 o’clock-smudged hipster through proud beard-papa.
Anna Wha … hunh? Oh, I’m sorry. Just a little nap.
Marke I thought Chris was really going to blow it on the Bollywood challenge, but he barely edged out Jaslene by last-minute waxing his thighs with some packing tape and break dancing right through the herd of elephants. Who’s sari now, Jaslene?
Street Threads: Look of the Day
SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.
Today’s Look: Sam, 26th and Castro
A note from Ariel: “Sam doesn’t know I’m submitting this — but he’s just so darling, I had to!”
Street Threads: Look of the Day
SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.
Today’s look: Jocelyn, Hayes and Laguna
Tell us about your look: “As long as you have one robust color on, you can wear all black and you’ll be golden.”
Street Threads: Look of the Day
SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.
Today’s Look: Tadesse, Gough and Hayes
Tell us about your look: “I’m a ballet dancer, so I don’t have much time to think about what I’m putting on — but I always try to keep it colorful.”
Street Threads: Look of the Day
SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.
Today’s Look: Stefanie, Market and Hyde
Tell us about your look: “I love mixing old vintage pieces with new clothes.”
GAYVNs: the long, hard rundown of events
By Marke B.
The GayVN Awards: You’ve felt the gay dude excitement, you’ve felt the straight dude excitement. Now, feel the excitement for yourself at the upcoming onslaught of gay porn-related events, as we explode through the wormhole of this weekend’s fabulous — and flab-u-less — events. OMG — meet the stars! Share the love! Be a part of history!
Hey, don’t shoot me — I’m just the 12-inch pianist.
Will the violent, controversial To the Last Man from Raging Stallion take home the GayVN for Best Picture? Will you take home its stars? Maybe
————–
Friday, March 27th
6PM
Falcon Studios’ GayVN Weekend Kick-off Party
Hosted By Juanita MORE!
Q Bar
456 Castro
Roll In Style
A Safer Sex Fashion Show
With NakedSwordsman 2009 Steve Cruz
Sui Generis
218 Church
To The Last Man Signing
Does Your Mother Know?
4141 18th St.
7PM
Raging Stallion Studios Party
The Edge
4149 18th St.
Bel Ami Studios Party
440 Castro
440 Castro
Barrett Long’s Cockstar
Moby Dick
4049 18th St.
Jet Set Men Studios Party
The Mix
4086 18th St.
Dirty Boy Video Studios Party
Twin Peaks
401 Castro
GayRealityPorn and PornTeam
The Midnight Sun
4067 18th St.
Shout-out to 50 hot local fashion designers
By Juliette Tang and Laura Peach
San Francisco’s fashion scene is vibrantly alive. In our city, you can find almost any garment you want, whether it be a new pair of yoga pants or some crushed velvet medieval slippers, straight out of the studio of a local designer. We love supporting local culture, and we love that there are so many talented designers out there contributing to the melting pot that is San Francisco style.
Besides those we featured in this week’s Spring Fashion Issue, we want to give some shout outs to 50 designers who’ve been on our radar lately. These individuals each have a unique approach to fashion, but together, they contribute to the vast diversity and uniqueness of our distinctly San Franciscan fashion culture.
Distilled Clothing
MEN
1. Printed playful hoodies: Gama-Go
2. Fashionable urban dandywear: Nice Collective
3. Hip-hop flavored urban streetwear: Upper Playground
4. Sexy undies for men: Diane Kirkland of DMK
5. Clothes for art/fashion rockstars: Shotwell
6. Loud and colorful nu rave hoods: Official Tourist
7. Casual daytime menswear: Artificial Flavor
8. Tongue-in-cheek geek chic: Distilled
Street Threads: Look of the Day
SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.
Today’s Look: Aisha, Civic Center
Tell us about your look: “I made this dress from material I bought in Ghana. This is an everyday sort of dress they would wear in Ghana.”
Alloy trio
› a&eletters@sfbg.com
It’s another typical afternoon at Zeitgeist: mid-’80s punk rock roaring from the jukebox, the constant clang of beer bottles, the pervasive smell of burgers. "I like these industrial dudes over here," says Brian Hock, the drummer of SF three-piece Bronze. He looks at a gloomily outfitted bunch a few tables away in the gravel pit. "They’re fucking rocking it hard style."
On hearing Hock’s keen observation, I confess to his bandmate Joe Oberjat that when I arrived to meet Bronze on this semi-overcast Saturday afternoon, I initially mistook him for someone at that picnic table — a surly-looking, gothed-out version of Mickey Rourke sandwiched in the middle of the pack.
"Which one? The industrial dude?" Oberjat asks.
"He looks a little pissed off," says vocalist Rob Spector. "But he’s about to pound a double shot of whiskey."
While this is my initial in-person meeting with the band, I first caught Bronze last summer, when they gave an unprecedented performance at a July 4 CELLspace event, cleverly titled "Born on the Fourth of Julive." That day, the trio was an unknown element of an awesome bill that included the likes of Death Sentence: Panda!, No Boss, Sic Alps, and Tussle.
Bronze’s set commenced with Hock, Oberjat, and Spector garbed in matching military suits and sitting side-by-side with their heads tilted downward. Three friends then sheared the trio’s locks while a patriotic number spouted over the speakers. After what seemed like nearly 15 minutes of clipping and cutting, the band members finally rose to their feet and played a knockout batch of tunes. The sound: seriously blissed psych drone-scapes and kraut goodness, à la Can and Harmonia, with smatterings of Flowers of Romance-era P.i.L.
"July 4 was definitely a very strategic-type thing," Spector says, laughing. "The haircuts took a really long time — I knew [they] were going to take longer then we expected."
"It was also our drunkest show," Oberjat adds.
Drunk or not, the band — which formed from the remnants of groups like Fuckwolf, the Vanishing, and Night After Night — has a knack for performances that please the eyes as well as the ear. It’s possible to get a sense of this by checking out some of the YouTube videos on Bronze’s MySpace page (www.myspace.com/copperclub). During one clip, shot in Big Sur, Spector teeters back and forth in a crazed manner, his Dave Thomas-tuned warble getting locked in a groove between Hock’s kinetic beats and Oberjat’s jacked-up, skittering synth sounds. A flood of bright colors spills over the group as Oberjat lurches about in the forefront, toying with his signature custom-made boxed-shaped instrument while swooping down occasionally to joust with a heap of floor pedals.
"We enjoy being a bit theatrical sometimes," Hock explains. "We’ll always [do] slight things that maybe no one will notice, but once in a while we ham it up a little bit. If we play, we want to put on a show in some fashion."
Though Bronze has yet to put out an official release, that’ll change in 2009. Queen’s Nails is set to drop the band’s 10-inch self-titled debut, and Hex will issue a 7-inch single. The band is also deep into recording a full-length for Tigerbeat6, which they hope to have ready before heading out for a European tour in the fall.
BRONZE
with T.I.T.S.
April 1, 9 p.m., $5
The Stud
399 Harrison, SF
(415) 863-6623
“Meet Me at the Center of the Earth”
PREVIEW This collection of "soundsuits" by Nick Cave (the Chicago artist, not the Australian musician) is the most anticipated show of the season. If, as this paper’s D. Scot Miller has observed, Afro-surrealism is in the air, then Cave’s art — a fusion of fashion, body art, and sculpture so imaginative that it might possess transformational qualities — is a prime example. His wearable constructions are eye-boggling counterparts to the Afro-surreal music of figures both present (Chelonis R. Jones) and newly revived-from-the past (Wicked Witch). Cave’s art also possesses aural qualities that won’t be evident until the show opens. A former dancer with Alvin Ailey and the current chair of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s fashion program, he’s also collaborating with choreographer Ronald K. Brown on some performances in May.
Cave’s soundsuits arrive in the Bay Area as a ceremonial contemporary extension from the fabulous but nostalgic European fashion on display in the de Young Museum’s Yves Saint Laurent show. In fact, the most bizarre and audacious of that exhibition’s pieces — a 1965 bridal gown that resembles an intricate cocoon or sock — might as well be an old colonial relative of Cave’s wearable works, which are constructed from a wide variety of natural and artificial material. These acid-trip Bigfoot creatures and dancing rainbow phallus totems are fun, but they kick. Cave made his first soundsuit in response to the Simi Valley aesthetics of the Rodney King verdict, and in an older project he rescued racist lawn jockeys, turning them into figures of promise and potential.
MEET ME AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH Sat/28 through July 5, $3-$6 (free first Tues). Opening reception Fri/27, 8-11 p.m., $12-$15. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission, SF. (415) 978-ARTS. www.ybca.org
San Francisco style
› culture@sfbg.com
When it comes to fashion, San Francisco is an interesting paradox. Bay Area designers and consumers are notoriously innovative, politically conscious, and stylishly playful. Many who grow up or study here go on to make waves on a national or international scale. And yet this city still is not considered a global style center in the way that New York, Paris, or Milan are. In recent years, even L.A. seems to be getting more attention as a legitimate fashion capital than San Francisco.
With spring (and spring fashion lines) afoot, we decided to profile some of our favorite local designers — those who, regardless of their popularity outside city limits, have decided to stay put or move here to contribute to the San Francisco fashion design dialogue. We predict it won’t be long before the fashion establishment is singing their praises — and wearing their designs. 
On Lawrence Cuevas and Marivel Mendoza, from left to right: 1) Denim double pocket shirt, avocado tee and twill shorts by Turk+Taylor; 2) Leather jacket and sheer top by Mi, leather hotpants by Shaye, jewelry by Muscovie Design; 3) Raindrop dress by Sara Shepherd, kit leather button shoes by Al’s Attire, jewelry by Muscovie Design; 4) Leather jacket and jeans by Mi, dot tee by Turk+Taylor, white tie by Indie Industries, wing-tip shoes by Al’s Attire; 5) White tee by Mi, corset skirt by Shaye, jewelry by Joy O, polka-dot hat by Al’s Attire. (All Photos by Jeffery Cross. Photo illustration by Mirissa Neff. Styling by Lauren Cohen, Laura Peach, and Juliette Tang. Hair and makeup by Shamika Baker)
SOCIALIST STYLE
With delicate features, a smattering of transparent freckles and dark blonde hair that hangs in messy curls to her elbows, Shaye McKenney could be a model. But her approach to fashion is more altruism than narcissism. After returning from an extended sojourn that took her to India, tribal Amazon, and on many nomadic adventures in between, the Oakland native and daughter of a designer opened La Library on Guerrero Street— a borrow-or-buy boutique whose purpose is to make stylish clothing available to all.
“The sense of ownership we have is not sustainable,” says McKenney, whose business model was inspired by the designer handbag rental concept seen in Sex and the City. Which is why she doesn’t just sell outright the airy white dresses, embroidered linen jumpsuits, and leather hot pants she makes from her mother’s fabric remnants. It’s passion for social change — as well as for a good pattern and great fit — that drives her. The whole point is being able to share. “We should not have to sacrifice glamour and art because of money and a bad economy.”
OLD-FASHIONED, FASHION FORWARD
Tucked away in a former North Beach butcher shop among towers of vintage hatboxes and fabric bolts stacked to the ceiling, custom clothier Al Ribaya is king of the cutting board. His old world tailor shop Al’s Attire makes every imaginable piece of clothing to order, paying more attention to detail than profit. “It’s a difficult thing to make money at,” he admits. “People don’t know what it takes to build something one stitch at a time.”
The other distinguishing factor about Ribaya’s shop is that he outfits people from head to toe. Using the same effort, energy, and remarkable focus, he makes everything from shoes crafted with soles of repurposed tire treads or turn-of-the-century buttons to suits, shirts, pants, jackets, skirts, and dresses. He even makes hats from suit fabric remnants. Every garment is custom labeled with the wearer’s name (alongside Al’s, of course). But despite all this retro hard work (and handiwork), Ribaya’s styles are remarkably fresh and modern. 
On Lawrence, clockwise from top: 1) Striped hat by Al’s Attire; 2) Double-pocket zippered denim shirt by Turk+Taylor; 3) Chambray golf jacket by Al’s Attire; 4) Dark denim jeans by Mi, 5) Silver wing-tip shoes by Al’s Attire; 6) Seersucker shorts by Turk+Taylor, 7) Brown leather jacket by Mi; 8) Avocado tee by Turk+Taylor. Underwear and socks by American Apparel.
FORM AND FUNCTION
What if one piece of clothing could be worn seven different ways? What would happen if you took a jacket and turned it upside-down? Or backward? These are the questions that the innovative, boundary-breaking creative minds at Harputs Collective have been asking. Their answer— called the swacket —hangs beside an oversized mirror in the airy industrial Harputs Own shop. The collective members are waiting for curious customers to come and play with the architectural sweater/jacket outerwear—putting it on backward, changing the swooping collar into a hood, then flipping it upside-down and adding a belt, until the most flattering fit is found.
The studio was started in September, a serendipitous confluence of a few thoughtful designers, a retiring tailor who stocked the store with fabrics and machinery, and an established high-end retailer with such a sense of play he will dye garments from New York lines when they are past season just to see if they will sell better in indigo than white. Our favorite part? A garment that fits well and can be worn several ways is less likely to go out of style — and therefore inspires us to consume less. (Our least favorite? They declined to participate in our fashion shoot. But we love ’em anyway.)
FASHION PHILOSOPHY
Mi Concept‘s visionary pieces are offered as a bespoke capsule collection for people who appreciate fashion-forward, cutting-edge design — and who aren’t afraid to look like time travelers from some distant utopian future.
Before designing any piece of clothing, Dean Hutchinson, creative director of the Mi Concept, asks himself, “How do I stimulate conversation?” The purpose, Hutchinson, says, is to challenge people to think beyond fashion. It must be working: ever since Mi Concept emerged at 808 Sutter last December, conversation and buzz have followed.
Peek inside the unmarked store and you’ll find an eerie modernist sarcophagus illuminated by fluorescent tubes, where dauntingly expensive-looking clothes cling to hangers as if worn by invisible ghosts. Together the space and the clothing create a synthesis of progressive, modern design.
Hutchinson eschews classic forms in favor of postmodernist distortion, working with asymmetrical lines and deconstructed shapes, often incorporating multiple silhouettes in a single garment to create an effect that evades easy labeling in any genre. “The other day someone said it was like a marriage between Rick Owens and Jil Sander,” Hutchinson said. “That was sort of flattering. But I don’t think about fashion like that. I have an initial idea, and then it just takes on it’s own life. It’s art.” 
On Mari, clockwise from top: 1) Bias-cut raindrop dress by Sara Shepherd; 2) Rouched front dress with pockets by Jules Elin; 3) Bell sleeve wrap jacket by Jules Elin; 4) Corset skirt with teal detail by Shaye; 5) Kit leather button boots by Al’s Attire; 6) Brown leather hotpants by Shaye; 7) Black leather jacket with sleeve zippers by Mi; 8) Polka dot hat by Al’s Attire; 9) Zipper-front dress by Turk+Taylor. Underwear and socks by American Apparel.
ECO-FRIENDLY FOR EVERYDAY
Jules Elin’s designs for women are simple and casual, without sacrificing style. The ideal wearer seems to be someone who is practical and comfortable but can appreciate the occasional coquettish detail — like a bell sleeve or a floral lining — on an otherwise unembellished piece.
While Elin is conscious of seasonal trends, there is nothing overtly “fashion-y” about her classic silhouettes: a swing coat is spruced up with extra-large buttons, a zippered jacket is adorned with a ruffled Peter Pan collar, and both are stylish without coming across as self-consciously en vogue. Elin’s pieces are made with organic cotton and get bonus points for not having to be dry-cleaned. On being called an eco-designer, Elin reflects, “I never really thought of it as being progress; I thought it was the right thing to do.”
When it comes to the designs themselves, San Francisco is always an inspiration. “There’s a lot of movement and architecture to the pieces,” she says. “But they’re also really sweet in a way that matches the demographic of this city.” And it’s Bay Area weather that determines the length of Elin’s sleeves: always long enough to be worn over the hands when it’s cold. San Franciscans are responding positively in turn, and even the dire economy hasn’t slowed the growth of her brand. “It’s just made me realize I can always work harder.”
CLASSIC SF DAYWEAR
When examining Turk+Taylor‘s well-edited collections of sustainable, nouveau-preppy clothes, the aesthetic appears so cohesive you could never tell that they nearly always result from a disagreement between the designers, Andrew Soernsen and Mark Lee Morris. “We fight all the time,” Soernsen proclaims. “We end up yelling.” During our interview, Soernsen and Morris often contradicted one another while answering the same questions — even the straightforward ones. “But somehow,” says Morris, “it all comes together.”
Soernsen and Morris don’t have fashion degrees. “We can’t sew. We aren’t pattern-makers.” The two designers run their business out of Soernsen’s apartment in NoPa, where boxes of samples are stacked on the floor, racks of clothes clutter every room, and eco-friendly fabrics perilously overflow from shelves and surfaces. Somehow, amid the jumble, they’ve managed to create beautiful collections of casual daywear year after year.
This year was the brand’s fifth, but neither Soernsen nor Morris has quit their day-jobs. “I don’t know how we have time to do this,” Soernsen admits. “We’re so unorganized.” The self-deprecating posturing belies the fact that they’ve grown into an influential label synonymous with San Francisco style. A perfect example? Pop into the SFMOMA store, and you’ll notice the museum tees are all by Turk+Taylor.
ACROSS THE POND AND INTO THE BAY
Sara Shepherd is, at heart, a contradiction: edgy London meets cuddly San Francisco. Originally from England, Shepherd moved to San Francisco to attend the Academy of Art University and stayed on to teach at the academy and create a fashion line out of her SOMA studio.
Shepherd’s Victorian menswear-inspired clothing evokes images of urban dandies and Byronic heroes, but her work is consciously feminine and innately modern. With tailoring that emphasizes shape over ornament, Shepherd draws her inspiration from classic British icons, whether fictional, like Alice in Wonderland, or real, like Elizabeth I. Despite the distant historical comparisons, her vision remains practical and wearable for San Francisco women who “know their own mind, who feel strong and confident in what they wear and who they are.” Like Elin, she’s also careful to consider San Francisco weather when designing. “There needs to be the opportunity to layer the clothes. There’s always, always a layer to them.” More local design! See our Pixel Vision blog for 50 more of SF’s hot designers and an exclusive guide to reconstructing a boring button-down into something better, with designer Miranda Caroligne.
WHERE TO BUY
Al’s Attire
1314 Grant, SF; 415-693-9900. www.alsattire.com
Harputs Own
1525 Fillmore, SF; 415-923-9300. www.harputsown.com
Indie Industries and Joy O.
www.indieindustries.com and www.joyodesigns.com
Available at Studio 3579, 3579 17th St., SF; 415-626-2533
Jules Elin
Available at Ladita, 827 Cortland, SF; 415-648-4397
Muscovie Design
Available at Collage Gallery, 1345 18th St., SF; 415-282-4401
Mi
808 Sutter, SF; 415-567-8080. www.themiconcept.com
Sara Shepherd
Available at M.A.C. 387 Grove, SF; 415-863-3011
Shaye
La Library, 380 Guerrero, SF; 415-558-9841
Turk+Taylor
Available at ABfits 1519 Grant, SF; 415-982-5726
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