As the story goes, Najeeba Hayat, founder and creative director of up-and-coming footwear label Liudmila, was freshly graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in government when she decided that she wasn’t destined for a life of bureaucratic “banging your head against the wall.” Pursuing a lifelong love of style, Hayat moved to Milan and took a shoemaking course at the ArsSutoria School.
Perennial UK-rock instigator Liam Gallagher has released the second single from his upcoming debut solo album As You Were, a title which is also the way he signs most of his tweets. “Chinatown” is a number driven by acoustic guitars and a thumping bass drum, drenched in monolithic reverb.
ONE OF THE VERY FAVOURITE childhood homes I grew up in had a powder room that was known as “the blue bathroom”, for its pale blue decor palette. But what I remember most about that room, was that it had double sinks that were each shaped like seashells.
ON SUNDAY we packed a wicker basket filled with baguettes, cheeses, jamón ibérico, pâté and something fizzy to drink and went to the gardens to lounge away a beautiful day in the sun. We found a perfect spot nestled amongst trees grouped in circular pattens, forming small open spaces in their midst that beckoned the laying down of a blanket and the kicking off of one's shoes to feel soft grass on bare feet. Since most of our picnics occur at the seaside, this one was a lovely change, the rustling of the leaves and the sound of cicadas intermingling in the late-afternoon air heavy with the scent of blossoms and dreams. It was a perfect way to spend a summer's day.
Alex Cameron – Candy May A while back, after having caught Australian musician Alex Cameron as an opener for Angel Olsen, I was pretty enamored of his performance, and the assuredness of its shtickyness (and yes, it is shticky). If you can appreciate Lana Del Rey for her mellifluous lists of hollowed signifiers and decoupaged images of millennial-imagined withering Americana, you might likewise find it easy to appreciate elements of Cameron’s aesthetic (though perhaps there’s some withering Austral..iana there, too).
ON FRIDAY NIGHT, by the golden glow of hazy street lamps, we followed the strains of jazz to a clearing in the park to discover couples swing dancing. It was unexpected and utterly perfect for a midsummer’s night, and really rather romantic. On Saturday night, again in the park, we happened upon a full jazz concert, white garden chairs set around an outdoor stage in front of the water fountain filled with late-night revelers, some with children in tow, late-arriving tourists on bicycles and circles of friends on blankets on the grass, sharing a bottle of rosé. Summertime here is the very essence of joie de vivre and we’re lucky to be a part of it. This week’s links include Living with Pink and London’s 30 Most Instagrammed Restaurants, a blue & white beach house and much, much more …
IT WAS A PAELLA ON THE BACK TERRACE kind of weekend; and cheese trays and Serrano and baguettes with paté on Sunday, after spending a leisurely afternoon in the shade of a giant Moreton Bay fig tree while a fluttery wind rustled the leaves and we sipped our summery drinks and talked about life. Things can be such a whirlwind on weekdays–but weekends, weekends were made late mornings and cava nights … This week’s links include ballet and little white dresses paired with espadrilles; photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue, the new Ned Hotel and much, much more …
Turntable Kitchen recently commissioned Yumi Zouma to cover a classic record in its entirety for the site’s Sounds Delicious subscription service. After months of deliberation, the Yumis eventually landed on Oasis’ landmark 1995 LP (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, and without giving away too many spoilers, let’s just say they nailed it.