Oil… a low-impact commodity?

More Than One Way to Load a Gun

Anna Chapman shot into stardom following a Starbucks sting operation in the U.S. that exposed her as a Russian spy and led to a very public arrest in June 2010, along with 9 others.

Since then, she has been exiled to Russia and has been under lockstep surveillance – from magazines, fashion blogs and television shows to the cover of Russian Maxim and just recently, walking the runway for Ilya Shiyan and Yana Rudkovskaya at Moscow Fashion Week.

Was the loaded gun she held to head of a male model as she made her way down the runway gimmicky?  Sure.  Was intentionally dropping the gun at the end of the runway even more gimmicky?  Yes.   Did it work?  At least for now.

When mentioning Fashion Week, Moscow’s contributions don’t even touch the first 10 cities to cross the mind of the average fashionista.   However Moscow FW 2011 has put two new designers’ names into the forefront.  And although they may not remain there for long or for any merits of their own, for better or worse, they have made a momentary impression.

Danger is always exciting in fashion.  It thrives on extremities.  It’s this intrigue that thrust Chapman into the limelight in the first place and although she received criticism by KGB veterans for the loaded gun stunt, it was hardly a sabotage maneuver for her career.

Kind of like how Kate Moss lit up at the end of the runway for Louis Vuitton at Paris Fashion Week on Non Smoking Day.  Both women know how to turn disgrace into a powerful media tool.  Unfortunately, however, only one of them gets to wear Louis Vuitton.

Rise Japan: San Francisco

What could easily have been mistaken for a raging block party in the Tenderloin of San Francisco last Saturday night, was actually Vol. 1 of Rise Japan – a collaborative effort of galleries Heist, Kokoro Studio and Japanese art collective S.I.R.

The event raised money to provide aid for those affected by Japan’s earthquake and Tsunami.  100% of the proceeds of the 100+ artists who donated their work went to the Artists Help Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Fund founded by Dice Tsutsumi, an art director at Pixar Animation Studios and partnered with Give2Asia.

Live performances, Onigilly, and 2 dollar Sapporos all contributed to the sidewalk, nay, street spillage and enthusiastic atmosphere not present at all art openings.  Not to mention local bars Ambassador and Rye Bar offered special cocktails with partial proceeds being donated to the cause.  Throughout the night, over 900 guests made their way through the small spaces and an estimate of over 90 paintings were sold in a single night.

If you missed it, you have a second chance.  Rise Japan Vol. 2 will be held at Arc Studios & Gallery this coming Thursday, April 7^th from 7 pm -11 pm.  Or if you can’t make it to the event, you can donate to the cause here without  having to get out of bed.  But that’s just not as fun, now is it?

‘IT WAS BEAUTIFUL TO SEE THE WHOLE BLOCK BEING UNITED FOR A CAUSE.’

- S.I.R.

Photos courtesy of SFStation.  To see more from Rise Japan Vol. 1, click here.

John Galliano Fired From Dior!

Designer John Galliano has been fired as creative director for French fashion house Dior after his alleged anti-Semitic remarks at a bar in Paris. Dior Couture’s chief executive Sidney Toledano said he condemned Galliano’s reported comments “in the strongest terms, which are in total contradiction with the essential values that have always been defended by the Christian Dior house.”

Old Nr. 7 Brand celebration

OMG! Old Nr. 7 turned 160 years old!

Congrats Jack!

Tyrannybook by Amnesty International

AI (Amnesty International) has created a social network based on the well-known Facebook cmmunity-look, dedicated to the surveillance of some of the world leaders who violate Human Rights the most. By building a global community of Human Rights defenders, this nonprofits organization aims to get more involved in the social networks during this year 2010, not only to gain the visibility inherent to the web platform, but also to facilitate the contact between the causes it promotes and the public. Thus was born Tyrannybook, a network that aims to generate a global consciousness about the countless atrocities that take place here and there across the globe. Using a following system, the users can be updated about the faults committed by those leaders against the well known and recognised Human Rights. Released by Amnesty, the profiles of the tyrants are updated both by the organization itself and by the users, according to the current situation of the countries where they lead. However, as time goes by, it will expand by the addition of new profiles from the Amnesty. It’s up to each user to decide which leaders they are most interested to watch. Between them, users can even become allies, exchanging points of view and discussing current issues. This is the first version of the site. And like every social network, it will grow and be constantly updated with new tools and functions. The Tyrannybook will gain size and presence on the web each week that passes. In this first phase there are ten tyrants in the site: Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan, Kim Jong Il of North Korea, Than Shwe of Myanmar, Hu Jintau of China, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, Thomas Lubanga Dyilo of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Radovan Karadzic of Serbia, Aleksandr Lukashenka of Belarus and Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov of Chechnya.

Taking advantage of the visibility of this kind of social networks, Amnesty hopes to get more support to the causes it promotes. Inside the Tyrannybook all its action are reported and have a direct link to Amnesty International – Portugal’s official website. There the users can get more information on how they can help promote Human Rights.