Ephemera

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Fashion

Burberry Lunar New Year Campaign

January 13, 2022

Burberry is ringing in the new year with the release of its 'Lunar New Year 2022 campaign. The project is paying homage to the courageous, ambitious, and confident spirit of the year of the tiger. The campaign, photographed by Feng Li, stars models Liu Bingbing, Liu Chunjie, Wang Xiangguo, and Yang Ling against a modest white backdrop, allowing the classic designs in daring colors and patterns to take center stage.

This exclusive collection features a balance of womenswear in relaxed fits and lightweight and versatile menswear. For shoes, pumps carefully constructed out of Italian-tanned metallic leather and Burberry’s new Arthur sneaker in nubuck and their signature Vintage check cotton are featured. For accessories, we have a black cotton baseball cap embossed with TB in an appropriate tiger print and scarves with an updated Monogram design.

Text by Bianca Asare
Photos courtesy of Burberry

Despite the Italian-woven cotton belted coat, the tiger-striped technical wool knitwear, and the Italian-woven silk shirt dress, the bags are the stars of the show. Burberry’s Lola bag, a classic flap bag with a chunky chain strap, is featured in a bold embroidered tiger print, with lambskin piping and adorned with a gold Thomas Burberry monogram. The Olympia pouch, a dainty, curved shoulder bag, is featured in the same striking, woven tiger print. The featured clothing and accessories alike ensure that wearers feel unstoppable as they enter the year of the tiger.

Fashion

Finding Harmony in Tension with Fai Khadra

January 11, 2022

"I am a very holistic person when it comes to a vision," says Fai Khadra, the multi-hyphenate model, architect, designer, and creative director. Yet it's certainly rare to find someone who takes dedication in their vision with quite as much rigor as Fai. office sat down with the newest collaborator of heritage eyewear label Oliver Peoples to discuss their latest collection together, the first that Oliver Peoples has embarked on with a single individual. However, in our conversation with Fai, it quickly became apparent that his capabilities far surpass those of a mere individual, and represent the institutional, refined, and thoughtful ethos with which he approaches every project he takes part in. From the meticulous design of the frames, to the stunning campaign shot by Hugo Comte, all the way down to the design and seating arrangements for the collection's launch event, Fai sees through with his vision and executes his role as a creative director with the utmost zeal.

The result? A timeless eyewear collection and campaign that seamlessly integrates decades of artistic influence with a forward-thinking mindset. In pertinence to the developmental process for the collaboration, Fai explains that "in a kind of world where we see a lot of colorful images and products, I wanted to do something that felt like the antithesis to that."

Interview by Deren Owji
Photos by Hugo Comte

His motivations could not be made more evident than in the images from the campaign for the collaboration, starring Jordan Daniels and Fai himself. Comte's stunning black and white portraits and motion shots convey a polished elegance in throws with a pent-up recklessness. Such a balanced conflict is precisely what Fai has in mind. As he shares, "the things that are most interesting exist when there's a tension between them, yet they are somehow able to blend harmoniously."

Read the exclusive interview with Fai below.

Congratulations on your new collaboration with Oliver Peoples.

Thank you so much. It's my first time designing eyewear, so it was really fun to take on the challenge and try to create something that felt unique to me. I also wanted to push the boundaries of what Oliver Peoples is able to do and what they stand for as well. It was interesting to get that conversation started. This has been almost eight months in the works and it has been a very detail-oriented experience. A lot of different journeys encapsulated in it all.

Having gone to school for architecture, where do you see the most distinct parallels between fashion and architecture when it comes to designing?

I was just actually with a friend of mine who also went to architecture school, and we were saying how, if you want to do anything in design, we really think the best education you could get is going to architecture school. Even when presenting drawings or projects or even creating a layout, picking the fonts, and you know, choosing how to present these images: it’s all graphic design and questioning whether it fulfills the purpose it was designed for. You have to switch between thinking of things aesthetically, and also thinking of things functionally. And so I think I've kind of approached this collaboration with a similar mindset.

Given that mindset, what was starting the process of this collaboration like?

I've never designed eyewear and my entry point into this collaboration wasn't necessarily how the glasses were going to look, but more of what feeling or story or aesthetic is being conveyed. You can see a lot of references to artists I love, whether it be Robert Longo or Richard Avedon. I was also really thinking about this kind of rock and roll, LA in the 90s, Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee aesthetic. Something kind of reckless.

Something I find really fascinating about the designs is the corewire in the frame emulating the look of barbed wire. Where did the idea for that come from?

You know the kind of classic barbed wire tattoo that many people had in the 90s? It’s that kind of aesthetic and then relating it back to what Oliver Peoples does, which is just really, really beautiful, handcrafted glasses. It was also really fun learning all the technical terms of all these different aspects of the sunglasses, you know. Like the line that’s in the temples is called the corewire and they can do so many interesting things with them technologically and visually. We were able to three-dimensionally create that corewire into looking like barbed wire based on that inspiration.

What kind of other inspirations did you draw from in creating the rest of the frame and the campaign for it?

I was thinking about the polarity of these super clean, really classic images from Robert Longo in free form. That kind of expression mixed with something that was a little bit more rough, like the Pam and Tommy era, which I also just am fascinated by. I wanted to explore how we could bridge that gap. Is there a way to connect those two things that maybe no one thought to connect before? That is kind of how I always think. The things that are most interesting exist when there's a tension between them, yet they are somehow able to blend harmoniously. It creates an interesting tension which could be subliminally felt through the product or through the campaign.

How was the experience of modeling for and creative directing the campaign for the collaboration shot by Hugo Comte?

I am a very holistic person when it comes to a vision, which Oliver Peoples was very accommodating of. I will take over not only just the design of the glasses, but choose the campaign and how the stories are being told, all the way down to the event details for the launch. I designed the event and what it's supposed to look like down to seating assignments. I even designed the tables people will be seated at, so it's a very holistic approach to design which I think is more fun for me. It also tells the story best. When it came to the campaign, Hugo’s a friend of mine, and so is Jordan Daniels, and luckily we were able to get them for the shoot. I didn't design the glasses with any gender in mind. But even the way that Jordan is dressed shows it’s a little bit more masculine, as she's wearing a suit. You know, I'm wearing a suit and there's just kind of this play on the masculine and feminine. Hugo is so great at capturing that vision.

You can see that juxtaposition through the motion shots too. They convey a kind of fluidity which is really intriguing when thinking about what the story of the campaign is.

In a kind of world where we see a lot of colorful images and products, I wanted to do something that felt like the antithesis to that. Oliver Peoples makes such a wide range of glasses but when I first went into the store, I noticed that a lot of the frames are a little larger, and I automatically gravitated to doing something that was the opposite. We started to think about these more sleek and thin forms and from there developed what the eventual shape became. Oliver Peoples is also such a classic heritage brand, and I wanted to keep that essence by creating something that felt timeless, yet engaging a different kind of energy that may be more daring.

I read that there were references to a vintage frame in the design process. What kind of other materials were sourced as reference in the creation of this collection?

We initially took a 3D model of my face and then started playing around with different shapes on the computer, without even looking at anything in reality. While we were doing that, I also would just go around and look for different source materials. I would find different shapes and different lenses, and then we kind of collaged those things until we reached what would eventually become the final product.

Thinking conceptually about the glasses out in the world, what is one city or location anywhere at all that you think is most representative of the aesthetic and ethos of this collaboration?

For me, there is a very strong feeling of LA in the 90s.

It’s interesting to hear you say that because my first impression was of a more mid-century, European, Brutalist aesthetic. Especially with the narrow, angular frame and the barbed corewire.

I love that people are going to get different feelings from looking at them and wearing them out. What I said is only my feeling of it. It's not the correct feeling. It was just my interpretation, but I would love for people to have their own interpretation and their own kind of experience with them. I love that that's what you got when you saw them because I love all those things too. I love industrial looking things and brutalist architecture. I wanted to explore how to mix it with something that is maybe a little sleeker and more refined.

Explore Fai Khadra's collaboration with Oliver Peoples here.

Fashion

New Beginnings with The M Jewelers

January 11, 2022

Allow The M Jewelers to reintroduce themselves. The cult-followed jewelry brand was propelled to prominence by means of social media, but founder and jeweler Mark Shami wanted the true essence of the brand to shine through in a tangible and genuine sense, and with the opening of their new flagship store in NoLita — they accomplished just that.

One step into the new location tells you that this is no average shopping experience. The M Jewelers isn’t just about the products you leave with, but about the story behind the jewelry and the community it creates. In order to create a more intimate experience, the store is loaded with personal touches, such as a scent Shami and his team created exclusively for the location and a curated playlist so that you can really get to know the people behind the irresistible baubles.

Interview by Kayla Curtis-Evans
Photos Courtesy of The M Jewelers

office had the opportunity to visit the elegant new space and speak to Mark Shami ahead of the store opening this past weekend. Read on to really get to know The M Jewelers.

How did your story with The M Jewelers begin?

I started the company around eight years ago. I have a background of jewelers in my family; my dad was in the jewelry industry. He had a little mom-and-pop shop in the Diamond District and then my two uncles were both in the industry as well. I was always working with all of them and it was kind of a summer job at the time, or, you know, whenever I wasn't in school. So I learned all different aspects of the jewelry industry from them. And then later down the line, after working in the Diamond District for so long and working in their offices, I started to build a little bit of the website and take photos of things that were in my dad's shop. Growing up, I was making a lot of nameplates with my father and he taught me how to make name rings and all that — from start to finish. That was the side of the business that I really enjoyed, so I started developing what would be The M Jewelers in my head, early on. And at that time, the Instagram-era was starting to brew. We started making nameplates and sending them to different people. And there wasn't any paid promo at the time either. So all these people were posting things and it was starting to brew. We kind of built a community online first, and it started funneling in customers and customers. And then about two years later I had my partner join and we started really going after the marketing angle of the business and started gifting a lot. We were making about one-hundred to 150 nameplates a day and sending them out to everybody we could. And it was kind of crazy at the time because we didn't really have any money and we were just going and going. Since then, it's just been a big snowball effect of us taking what we built in the Diamond District and opening up the variety and selection of our products and getting better as a company. But I mean we're eight years in now and we've definitely learned a lot, and tomorrow we open our first actual store. We've done so many pop-ups all over the country and collaborations, like Nike, Kith, Adidas, Converse — a bunch of beauty brands and things like that. In the past year, we've really honed it in and thought, 'Okay, what really represents the brand? What makes sense?'

In what ways is this new storefront an ode to your first store that opened in the Diamond District?

The whole ethos of the brand is always going to be the Diamond District store; it's embedded in me and the brand for sure. And we still make all our personalized pieces there. But the cool thing is our staple items that are still our number one best sellers were our number one best sellers from the first day. So our product assortment is still the same product that we've been doing for eight years now — but with the new store, it's kind of a new rendition of those old products over time. The Diamond District and Mulberry Street to me are very, very similar in their own way though. The Diamond District is like its own country — its own world. When you go over there, it's super different; you feel like you're not even in New York. And then Mulberry is such a close-knit community and there's so much history here. So we want to take a little bit of both and kind of tuck into the street and not be super flashy or anything like that. We want it to feel like, 'Oh, the store's been here for 50 years already.'

I think the cool thing about the simplicity of the store is that it also lets the things that you guys do shine through. On a more personal note, looking back to that store in the Diamond District and then seeing what you have now, how does it feel to be experiencing this new growth for the brand?

Oh, it's amazing. I mean, when we opened that store, I felt like a totally different person. I was a lot younger. I feel like I'm a hundred years old now. That store was only 150 square feet — super tiny. But we were actually recently all looking back at all the photos and things we had from there. We used to pack all our initial orders there and now we have a team of 20 plus people. It's cool to see us grow into a space that's one thousand plus square feet and to let people come in and experience the brand for real here, the music we like to listen to, and to see the product. We created our own scent with a New York-based brand for the store too. So we've done all these things to really capture what the brand is all about, where in the Diamond District, it was just a really little booth and you came in and there could probably be a hundred different things happening at once. But here, it's going to be such a comforting, unique, clean experience. But we'll still have those nitty-gritty Diamond District products that we've always been showcasing.

Why did you decide to collaborate with interior designer Samantha Cullari for the new store?

The cool thing is, everyone who's worked on the store are really close friends of ours. We did it all just with our group. So my partner, Anthony, built the entire store — literally. And that's why it took us so long, but we built everything. It's all custom. It's really, really wild how long it took us because everything is in the details. And then Sam has been an old friend for about 10 years at this point. I always really liked her style. She's design-trained and she has really great taste and we always saw eye-to-eye on everything as far as design. She even built her own house. She said to me, 'Hey, if you're ever designing a store, let me know.' So right when we signed the lease here, I thought, 'Oh, let me go talk to her.' And we started talking and she had the right vision for it. So it really already feels like a community, like even tonight, we have a bunch of people that are dropping off stuff and it's really cool because it's everyone from around the area. It's cool to see everybody come in already and show their support. I feel like it's going to be a really special moment — this whole week.

I love how you added these personal touches to the new store. Can you tell me more about that scent you created?

Yeah, it's with a brand called Sidia. We developed this scent called 'Mulberry' in candles and essential oils for the past couple of months and it's really nice. It's kind of woody; it's calm.

Aside from some of the personal elements you guys added in, what are you most excited for others to see when they enter into this new space?

We have a bunch of surprises. We even built a whole custom flower cart that's going outside tonight and it'll be out for tomorrow. The bouquets are all ribbon-tied with our logo. So we're gonna create a cool experience with that. And even that company is a florist from Jersey City that we grew up with too. They're a little mom-and-pop shop and we're bringing them in to do all the flowers and arrangements and things for people. But what we're really excited about for tomorrow is that we've merchandised so well. We spent so much time on this place so we're really excited for people to understand the brand for the first time, you know? It really feels like it's the first day we're starting because everyone's always looked at us as, 'Oh, this is a really big online company. Is it real? Is it not real? What is it?' So I think tomorrow will solidify that.

Totally. I've known The M Jewelers for a long time but, I agree, a lot of it was on that basis of social media. I think putting a visual aspect to this name that everyone knows has to be something super, super rewarding for you guys.

One-hundred percent.

What about this particular location made you jump at putting the store there?

Our office is a couple of blocks away and I live a few blocks away too. We spend a lot of time in this neighborhood. The big thing here is that it feels like home for us and everyone around us — all the neighboring brands, stores, restaurants, and even wine shops — we know everybody. It just feels kind of perfect. And it was a blank canvas when we came in here, so it really feels like ours now. The moment we walked into this spot, we were like, 'Okay, this is it.’

The new store acts as an immersive shopping experience that travels beyond just shopping — it will also be a space for the community to come together and celebrate. Are there any events you are hoping to host there in the new year?

We have a lot stacked up for the store. One thing we're doing — we have a collaboration coming out with an artist named Mr. K; he's a tattoo artist at Bang Bang. He designed a whole collection by hand and he's going to be doing tattoos in the shop, in a few weeks when we release the collection. We've collaborated with artist and model Alexander Roth twice at this time. We're having him do a night, along with a wine company, where they come and do pairings of things. We're going to be activating very, very frequently. We are also going to do a ‘friends and family night,’ where everyone from the neighborhood, everyone even outside of the city that we're friends with, will come in. We're playing it safe with COVID right now. But in the future, we're going to have a lot of stuff happening here. I would say every few weeks on a monthly basis and especially in the summer. I run all the time and every time I would run past this area, I would think how much fun it is in the summer when there are people hanging out outside. We want to make everybody feel like they're a part of it. Everyone's welcome.