Base Magazine

[basestyle-blog]

What's Gucci My N**** ? What's Louie my killa? What's drugs my deala? What's that jacket, Margiela? Why yes Yeezy, it is! Now normal peasants like you and I may not be able to afford a Maison Martin Margiela jacket under normal circumstances, so thank god H&M thought of  us when choosing the latest guest designer for their long time guest collaboration series.

According to insider at Margiela who spoke to GQ UK, the  Margiela for H&M  collection is "a series of re-editions, featuring Maison Martin Margiela garments from various seasons since menswear was introduced in 1998. Each garment will be labelled detailing the year and season of origin."

Peep shots from the Sam Taylor-Wood shot campaign above! You can scream "F*ck the other side, they're jealous" on November 15th when the line hits H&M stores worldwide.

[basestyle-blog]

Next time you need to hide your face tattoo, consider Dermablend Pro LOL

[meninthistown]

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meninthistown:

Colour and texture in Chelsea.

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Dope! Check out this concept package by  JJ Lee and Cindy Ng making Vitaminwater actually look like... an actual vitamin capsule

[billidollarbaby]

[basestyle-blog]

billidollarbaby:

Kanye West Show #PFW

[brimalandro]

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trinitrent:

And the church said “amen”!

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Estelle + Maxwell. Fashion's Night Out.

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It doesn't matter that Marilyn Monroe, Marlène Dietrich and Grace Kelly have all been dead (collectively) for 70+ years, their images of glamor live on in an innovative new J'ador Dior campaign featuring Charlize Theron. Shot by Jean-Jacques Annaud, the campaign places the beauty icons backstage at a modern fashion show. AWESOME AD.

[basestyle-blog]

H&M HAS SIGNED A CONTRACT ON THE FIRST STORE IN BULGARIA

H & M, Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M), will be opening their first store in Bulgaria during March 2012. The store will be located at the best business location in the fashion conscious mall, The Mall, in the capital city Sofia. The store will be a full concept store and will have a sales area around 2,200 square meters, distributed on two sales floors. “We see this as a natural step in our expansion strategy; to now be able to offer our customers in Bulgaria a chance to buy fashion and quality at the best price. We see great potential for expansion in the country,” says Karl-Johan Persson, CEO at H&M.

[basestyle-blog]

Varsity Jackets will be one of the hot staples this fall, with all the major designers featuring a vintage varsity piece in their fall collections.

We peeped some affordable options vio Asos, one of the dope online retailers that folks seem to love! Check Em Out!

[basestyle-blog]

NEW YORK TIMES| Hip-Hop + Basquiat

Finally Someone wrote about this! For a while, I've been trying to comprehend Hip-Hop's latest obsession with late NYC artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Seemingly out of nowhere, the artist was being name checked in rap songs, and posted on tumblrs everywhere by folks who I'm sure honestly had no idea who he was 2-3 years ago. Peep the New York Times Article about it below!

Fred Brathwaite, a k a Fab 5 Freddy, the longtime hip-hop impresario and former friend of the artist’s, said Basquiat’s sudden exposure on hip-hop airwaves coincided directly with the 2010 release of a Basquiat documentary. In addition to exposing the artist’s story to a larger audience, the film established a connection between Basquiat and hip-hop, by way of their friendship. “It made people in the hip-hop community realize we were tight,” Mr. Brathwaite said.

“Jean-Michel lived as the only black person in the room,” he said. “A Jay-Z or Swizz Beatz can relate to that as record executives.”

But references like that on the 2010 track “Most Kingz” describe a deeper connection.

Jay-Z begins a verse in the song with the couplet “Inspired by Basquiat, my chariot’s on fire /Everybody took shots, hit my body up, I’m tired,” and in later verses makes reference to the pressures of escaping the ghetto but not its stigma, something Mr. Sirmans says Basquiat, whose work was often regarded by critics as “primitive,” faced.

Read the full article here.

[basestyle-blog]

In her short 22 years on earth, Aaliyah blessed the world with her music and dancing, giving us 80/90's kids some jams that still go hard to this day, thanks to Timbaland and Missy Elliot. I don't think I would be doing too much by saying Aaliyah was something of a style icon for the kids that grew up watching her.

Aaliyah hit the scene with a smooth tomboy swag with her 1994 debut, Age Ain't Nothing But a Number. Armed with dark sunglasses and baggy mens clothing, Aaliyah shrouded herself in a mystery that wasn't contrived, rather a real reflection of her own shy personality. Though it was a part of the times, being in baggy clothing was Aaliyah's version of "Sasha Fierce". It was how she felt comfortable doing her thing on stage.

As she grew older and released her second album One In A Million, the clothes weren't as ridiculously baggy as they once were and started, subtly at least, to highlight her svelte figure and washboard abs.

By the time Aaliyah released her third self-titled album, Aaliyah,  she was a 22 year old woman bursting with life and sure of herself in a way she wasn't before. This was reflected within the music, which featured way more mature themes, imagery and lyrics and videos that oozed with natural sex appeal for songs like "Rock The Boat" and "We Need A Resolution".

As Aaliyah got older, some things still remained the same. Dark glasses were always a staple and her affinity for wearing her long dark hair swept in front of one eye, like '40s film star Veronica Lake, never quite faded away.

In an era of fashion gimmicks, remembering Aaliyah's fashion sense reminds us of what it truly once meant to be a maverick. Rest In Peace, Aaliyah.

[basestyle-blog]

Aaliyah X Tommy Hilfiger: Remember when we said in the 90's Tommy Hilfiger was everything for urban youth? Look no further than Aaliyah joining the brand for her first endorsement deal in 1996. Aaliyah was joined in the campaign with fellow fashionista Kiddada Jones, daughter to music legend Quincy Jones.

[basestyle-blog]

BASE STYLE | Ralph Lauren Drops 'Polo' moniker... is the "hood" to blame.

One of the things that irks me the most is when upscale fashion brands become hood staples. Nothing grinds my gears more than red bottoms walking a project pavement or the Louis V pattern being assaulted in more ways the one.

However, the latest luxury brand to become a choice pick amongst young African-American shoppers has been the Ralph Lauren Polo brand. Somewhere around 2009, the brand garnered extreme popularity amongst young urban black males, many of whom are choosing the brand as their premier pick to show how "fresh" they can get. The loyalty to the brand by these kids is almost reminiscent of the late 90's when Tommy Hilfger was THE brand that everyone wanted to be associated with.

Yet at the firm’s annual meeting on Thursday, shareholders voted to change the company name to Ralph Lauren Corp. The move is a result of just how much the Ralph Lauren corporate identity has evolved over the years, as it has expanded with several brands and labels that do not carry the Polo name and logo. It is also in line with other developments at the company, including the redirecting of Polo.com to Ralphlauren.com in 2008.

I wonder how those Urban connoisseurs of the upscale brand feel about the name change? I also wonder whether the influx of consumers out of the brand's target demographic becoming unofficial ambassadors for the brand had anything to do with the name change?

[basestyle-blog]

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So I was going through a fashion blog and peeped a picture of Oscar De La Renta with a young black man. At first I thought it was his escort or something, but then I remembered De La Renta is known to be quite the ladies man. Could it be his....son? Meet Moses De La Renta, Heir to the Oscar De La Renta brand.

It was the summer of 1984. A few nuns were strolling the streets of La Romana, a resort town in the Dominican Republic, when they heard a baby’s screams coming from a dumpster. The news soon reached the bronzed ears of the city’s most renowned resident, Oscar de la Renta, who at the time was mourning the death of his first wife. (Via NY Observer)

While I hate to be color struck, isn't it F*cking awesome that the heir to such a classic, iconic fashion brand is a Dominican, black man?

[basestyle-blog]

There's an unwritten fashion industry rule that pretty much says there can only be x amount of black supermodels at a time, if any. Where this rule is even more blatant is in the world of Male models. While we can all probably easily list 5 black or African-American Supermodels with ease, try doing the same for African-American male models and you'll probably be stumped at Tyson Beckford.

However, I gotta give it up to Andre Douglas! Dude has been booking work consistently for over 5 years and has become a familiar face for any frequent readers of fashion magazine staples like GQ and Details. Andre’s been featured in ad campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger, Brooks Brothers and DSquared2 among others. I've often seen his image in Sears and in Macy's as well.

In an industry were few models of color succeed and have lasting careers, we here at Base Style are extending props to Andre Douglas for the doing the damn thing for a  while now! In a way, he's opening doors for more Male Models of color to break into the mainstream!