Notes on why i’ve saved them.
Friday March 28 2025
Takeshi Kitano portrait
Intense masculine energy with a delicate flower - lily - creating depth, coming from behind, wrapping over him to the front. The Styling is crisp and simple, no jewlery, no hat, no beard, no tats, to watch, no layers. The colors are warm. the feel is vintage. the composition simple yet refined.
Oi Polloi photoshoot
The lighting is simple. the shadow is dark. the vibe is playful. the last slid is a pose/composition you should try.
Yuthanan
The approach and documentation of a place/ hike / landscape with a fashion tilt/ lens. Images of hills, lakes, rocks, trees, flowers. All very achievable if you just take a hike at the right time. A fit pic, a shot of the shoes, a shot of the hand, a shot from the back.
Thoughts on Aaron Levine
There’s one thing people aren’t saying. He’s pretty damn handsome. He is sexy. He’s got it going on. The long hair, the beard, all that salt and pepper, reinforcing the idea that men peak in their 40s. He is playing into an established archetype. He’s the hot teacher. He’s the hot friend’s dad. Long hair and beards always play into the playful slouch style. This looks doesn’t work with a crewcut and a clean shave. Showing skin is always sexy. And he’s not afraid to do it. Much like Matty Matheson he knows how to bring out some skin. Top two buttons undone, cuff button undone, sleeve pushed up, no socks - no socks is a slut move, lets be real.
His look is a vibe. Is is honed it. It is not experimental - save the womens jacket every now and again. His looks hits a specific mark that you cannot identify. It isn’t asking you to work hard to understand it. It isn’t asking you to make space for it on the shelf. It simple invites you to sit next you him. But probably not talk to him.
Thoughts on ALDs “stolen valor”
Teddy is not black. Teddy is not Jamaican. Teddy is not a rapper.
I don’t know if teddy plays basketball.
The brand is some how rooted in Italian heritage?! but also black carribean culture.
Is Teddy Santis Arian Grande’s brother. The positioning is starting to bug me. Kith and ALDs use of black models has always been interesting to me. In the same way that the Runway seems to embrace Darkskin from Africa in a way that doesn’t promote blackness in it’s western sense, These models dont convey the essence of the black american but rather the clout of ana immigrant community with echem “class”. OR rather an “elegance” that has been stripped from pedestrian blackness with the advent of rap and the hip hop aesthetic…
How are all of these cultures, places, and aesthtics “available“ to the brand. A brooklyn nigga riding a quad bike in the Armenian dessert or whatever. Kids, Adults, grandparents, artists, artisans and trust fund babies. Actors, models, regular folks. The idea of tracing roots, even if those lines are made up. A cinematic approach this is costume design. This isn’t lifestyle - it encompasses too damn much. Am I driving my vintage porsche to my Nanas house to play pick up basketball while she cooks the fish I caught this morning? what even in the fuck.
Whether your an artist, athlete, collector, traveler, or blue collar worker, you have a place with ALD.
https://www.aimeleondore.com/blogs/news?pageNr=4
https://www.aimeleondore.com/blogs/news/ten-years-of-aime-leon-dore
https://www.aimeleondore.com/blogs/news/fall-winter-2020
https://www.aimeleondore.com/blogs/news/aime-leon-dore-for-new-balance-fw-21
The reality is, it’s hard to recreate the experience of seeing certain styling choices for the first time. A babushka in a pair of crispy new balance (size 12s)— a renewed, objectively retro, objectively fresh model mind you before the NB saturation wave — was cool maybe. Maybe it hit super hard. I can’t remember… I really can’t. I definitely watched the campaign video when it dropped becuase I was following ALD very closely at this point. BUT the problem is, my brain has NB fatigue at this point. This styling choice has become retroactively cringe! which is crazy. It is hard to see the innovation or the ground that was broken in hindsight.
Rockewell - staging - not the difference between staging and styling
Porco Rosso - staging - this feel is similar
Now look for photos of these aesthetics in real life / produce them
Pantheon on Menswear - the honest addition
Aaron Levine
Matty Matheson
Schmuck Everlasting
Toneloki
What else besides photography
written word
handstyle/typography
illustration
drakes, arpentuer, grin, (kid super, parra)
Things to Try -
Replacing the background
Adding graphics - and illustrations on top!**
blur
dynamic movement
dynamic poses
jumping
Triangle side pose
Plants
Still Life**
black and white newsprint orscgolf aesthetic
Retro outdoors
Tnf sully
beanie
EB parka
Patagonia fleece
Grey hoody
jeans or adidas soccer pants/shins
wool sock
Terrex or Jim Green
City Fit
Adsum green zip
scarf
Frizmworks padded liner
frizmworks fishtail
Navy Pacific trail
beanie
beams plus pants/games trousers/universal works(important tag)
clarks
Highlight fits
Green Cambro
leave print EB button down
pinstripe polo button down
fishhead reyn spooner
Linen Patagonia fishing shirt
Muji linen shirt
Gap linen coat
Eb faded denim
Ll Bean tropical blazers
Coaches Fit
Adidas Drill Top
Grey Camber
Umbro pant or adidas soft warm ups
asics or white slip ons
white sock
Ivy Fit
Ideas for styling
bandana - neckercheif
sweater around waist
More bags
Props
more - pedestrian - populist props -
plastic bags, to go drinks.
books/magazines/newsprint
paper bags
Lucy
butch/fem pose
tender pose
From the Back
vest fits
Tapeless- Camcorder_Setup
Vignettes
on the phone (it’s too loud here, speak up)
babushka
Collard Shirts - button downs
Cardigan fit
classes on croakies
photography checklist
stretch hips
stretch neck hump thing
look down dont hunch
try sitting
new camera angles?
slow shutter speed - blur trend
Fancis Bacon portrait
photoshop - cut out manipulations
handstyle
IG Attention I seek:
Phipps
Sperrys
Universal Works
EddiebauerUk
Adsum
Asics
Birkenstock
Best Made
Homebody
Outdoor Research
TNF
William_ellery
Bud Magazine
Savant
Lej
Looks to Copy from Inspo board
