The side project of Melody's Echo Chamber guitarist Pablo Padovani, Moodoïd invites extra attention to its new EP, and that's not just with the slick mix courtesy of Tame Impala's Kevin Parker. The video for "De Folie Pure" delights even as it makes us a smidge uncomfortable in its wild mix of international sounds and dress. We'd hope its meant in the best way.
The Moodoïd EP is out this week on Les Disques Enterprise.
Like us, you've seen that Bleu logo showing up on one of your chums around town and you're curious about Bleu de Paname. Well, now is the time to pop. If you're in the market, the affordable, French-made label has just released its Fall 2013 shirts in red and blue chambray as well as indigo. We're digging the curved hem, which upgrades this infinitely wearable basic to a must-have.
Bleu de Paname Standard shirt is $105 at TheEnd.com.
Thierry Boltz and Claude Saos of design outfit Boltz & Saos bike daily, so when they set out to make a wooden bike, they weren't messing around with gallery pieces. Their design for the WOOD.b, in fact, utilizes both wood (an ash plywood) for the "tubing" portion of the frame and high quality steel from Italy's Columbus for the bases and fork. The hybrid design, they say, allows the bike to be comfortable, dynamic and sturdy enough to actually use—as well as making it and its mechanical parts easily maintained at a typical bike shop. Currently, they're offering four base models—but the bikes are made to order and customizable.
WOOD.b are handmade in France and available on demand at bsgbikes.com.
BSGBIKES-woodb from BSG BIKES on Vimeo.
French fashion house Louis Vuitton is known for its iconic accessories: coveted speedy bags, monogrammed leather suitcases, and custom trunks made by hand since the 19th century. Now the lux brand has created a collection of travel books that highlight various cultures from the viewpoint of artists who aren’t familiar with them. For the series’ first installment, Congolese painter Chéri Samba explores Paris with pigment-soaked brush strokes, French illustrator Jean-Philippe Delhomme (of Unknown Hipster fame) examines the sleepless streets of NYC, while Japanese artist Natsko Seki interprets London via her sanguine world of mixed media. Each year, new locations and titles will be added. Next up for 2014? Manga artist Jiro Taniguchi scouts Venice, and Italian comic book author Lorenzo Mattotti adventures in Vietnam.
Unusual venues, specially commissioned music, bizarre themes: designer houses have pulled out every trick in the book to enliven a format that fundamentally is just about models strutting a catwalk in clothes.
Leave it to French fashion house and record label Maison Kitsuné to shake things up with Show Business, the house's Fall-Winter 2013 presentation. The video by Pitti W, directed by Loïc Prigent, presents the new Kitsuné wares in a rock concert/fashion show/TV show format starring Kitsuné label associated acts Verbal and Yoon, Say Lou Lou, Yelle, Eli & Fur and Citizens. Bonus: You can buy tunes from the bands online right now, as opposed to the threads, which hit later this year. We tend to think the gig format makes for an approachable intro to the French fashion line and an interesting additional chapter to the story of rock and fashion's on-again off-again love affair.