Li Xiaofeng at Hôtel Costes

Yesterday evening, I spoke with artist Li Xiaofeng, creator of the Lacoste Holiday Collector’s Series 2010, over a bottle of Chablis in the courtyard of the Hôtel Costes. Following are his comments on a number of subjects.

Fashion: This is not about fashion design. The print of the cotton polos is entirely based on the porcelain shard sculpture created for Lacoste.

Lacoste: The brand has a long history and does a good job of preserving its traditions.

昨晚,我有幸与2010年Lacoste 假期收藏品的设计师李晓峰在巴黎的Hôtel Costes 共饮了一瓶夏布利葡萄酒,并讨论了以下的话题。

时尚:这次的设计不是一个时尚服饰的设计。这一次为Lacoste设计的马球衫的花纹全部都会是陶瓷碎片的拼图搭配。

Arrival in Paris with Li Xiaofeng

Artist Li Xiaofeng, his wife, and I arrived in Paris last night and were escorted to sumptuous, compact, famously pretentious Hôtel Costes, my home for the next week.

艺术家李晓峰及其妻子还有我三个人在昨天晚上到了巴黎,被送到豪华简洁的以自命不凡闻名的Hôtel Costes,它是我们下一周的家。

The 2010 Lacoste Collector’s Series is created by Li Xiaofeng. He wanted his favorite bracelet to be photographed alongside the invitation to the release event, which is this Friday in Paris.

To Paris for Lacoste

In three hours, I will be boarding an Air France flight to Paris. There, I will attend the release of Lacoste’s 2010 Collector’s Series. The launch party is on June 25 at the Musée des Arts et Métiers (Museum of Arts and Industry).

三个小时后我就要乘法航的飞机飞往巴黎。在那里我将参加鳄鱼2010收藏家系列的发布会。发布仪式将于6月25日在巴黎工艺博物馆举行。

The Future Global Cognitive Elite?

Elizabeth Ho is the single person of 100% Chinese extraction in the “It’s My Time photoshoot, currently occuring in the Meatpacking District.

Here she is being interviewed by May Chang, Senior Editor of the Chinese edition of Milk Magazine. May is a Hong Kong girl based in Beijing. The other member of the Chinese media at the “It’s My Time” event was Quentin Li, Fashion Director at Elle. And then there was me.

Two Nights in the Meatpacking

Springtime downtown is heartbreaking – the incomparable light, the adorable architecture, and everyone so attractive and determined. It’s another whirlwind tour through Manhattan, this time to attend the shooting of “It’s My Time”. Lodging is in the Standard, cocktails with the 20 finalists are in the Boom Boom Room and the photo shoot by Josh Olins is at Superstudios. I am eager to experience life in the Meatpacking District.

“It’s My Time” Finalists

Just announced are the twenty finalists in Benetton’s “It’s My Time” campaign, for which I have been blogging. These twenty will be flown to NYC to participate in the photo shoot. China’s billions are not well-represented. There is no one from the PRC and just one girl from Hong Kong. Interesting to note is that there is a young lady from the Islamic Republic of Iran. She reminds me of many of the beauties I saw while walking around the streets of Tehran. The prettiest, in my opinion, is this girl from France. I was very encouraged to see that there was someone who is older than me and also a bit similar to me in appearance. Sumit Patwari would seem like a handsome local in Rio De Janeiro, Beirut, maybe even Valencia. His sense of style is a bit more Bollywood than mine though.

A Man for Our Eclectic Times

Over on the Benetton “It’s My Time” blog, I posted a photo of a man who represents the next generation of the self-made global cognitive elite. Anatole has such a mixture of ethnicities, homes, thoughts, and skills that he is in a great position to guide the multinationals and international organizations of tomorrow. Concurrently, he shows a curious conservatism that either is a warning that change for good will not be achieved easily or a reassurance that the things worth preserving will remain.

Cool Crimsons

Continuing to blog for Benetton’s “It’s My Time” campaign, I just wrote about the trend toward China retro and Bye Bye Disco, the shop on Nanluoguxiang started by the New Pants keyboardist Pang Kuan (庞宽) and girlfriend Pei Pei (孙配配), who was on Stylites earlier.

“It’s My Time” Casting Event

For it’s casting campaign It’s My Time (in which Stylites is a partner), Benetton is doing a casting event on Mar 6 and 7 at the named-sans-irony Shanghai Super Brand Mall. If you are in Shanghai at the time, stop by. More information in Chinese on douban.com. Or you can send an email with contact information and picture to this email: castingbenetton@googlemail.com.

BENETTON世界范围的选秀活动“It’s my time”在上海三月6,7号有个活动。更多的信息在douban.com.

Blogging for Benetton

I’m blogging now for the Benetton It’s My Time Campaign, which seems in line with what I do on Stylites. Like them, my focus may begin with fashion, but the broader goal is always about telling stories of people here in Beijing.

My blogging with them over the next month or so will give some of the people appearing on Stylites a new place to express their styles, viewpoints and aspirations. However, my first entry is on something a bit different. I decided to discuss the top ten trends for 2010 and beyond. Everyone has to try their hand at the whole forecasting thing once in a while. Among my trends are “hip holidays” and “iconoclastic simplicity” but please check out the rest here.