Kendall Jenner wears one of the sleek gowns with mirrored embroidery designed by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel's haute couture show in Paris. Cover picture of Lily Rose Depp on the runway by Lucile Perron
Karl Lagerfeld, the creative director of Chanel, talks about his soigne new haute couture collection in Paris under the great, glass dome of the Grand Palais. We take a look backstage at the preparation before the show and Vanessa Paradis tells what it's like seeing her daughter Lily Rose Depp wear the closing diaphanous pink gown, writes Jeanne-Marie Cilento
Art Deco, mirrored runway at Chanel
SILHOUETTES for the new Chanel couture collection were inspired by the ovoid form of Alberto Giacometti's abstract bronze sculpture Spoon Woman from 1926. But Karl Lagerfeld made sure there were no artistic rough edges: "I wanted something impeccable ~ I think couture has to be flawless," he said before the show. Chanel has four couture ateliers with specialist artisans. "I don't think many couture houses have four ateliers. They are divine." The monochrome, Art Deco runway was inspired by the pale palette of British interior designer Syrie Maugham. The colour scheme of the collection and the setting of the show captured the alabaster interiors Maugham
was known for. The decor also recalled the mirrored staircase in Coco
Chanel’s atelier at 31 Rue Cambon with elegant, tall
vases of arum lilies and glittering, reflective walls and floors. "I wanted everything silvery, mirrored and metally ~ the perfect set for the collection,'' Lagerfeld explained.
"I wanted something impeccable ~ I think couture has to be flawless"
Bella Hadid wearing a high-set belt
The Spring/Summer 2017 collection of suits and gowns was just as sleek and highly finished as the setting, enlivened with dashes of sparkling tweed or floating feathers. Lagerfeld made the overall shape of his designs much more curvaceous than previous seasons with billowing skirts and wide belts.
There was a sense of 1920s proportions with long, loose-fitting gowns but the mirrored embroidery and stark shapes made it contemporary. The narrower silhouettes
mixed with those curves made for a varied yet cohesive collection that was a virtuoso reimagining of the Chanel oeuvre by Lagerfeld.
"All of the embroidery is abstract, no flowers," said the designer. "The belts are beautifully made and they are a little higher on the waist, making the legs look longer."
Three of the models of the moment wore some of the most glamorous gowns of the runway show. Bella Hadid
appeared in a halter neck black chiffon dress that flared from the high waist, falling to mid calf with a glimmering embroidered layer below. While Kendall Jenner’s
silver gown was long and sleek finished with a wide band of white
feathers. The cloud of pale pink organza that completed the finale was worn by Lagerfeld's current muse, Lily Rose Depp. Talking about her daughter walking in the show, singer and actress Vanessa Paradis said: " As a mother I was terrified but as a woman and artist, I was spellbound. It was like she was floating above the mirrors. And the dress was incredible. It was heavenly."
"I was spellbound. It was like she was floating above the mirrors. The dress was heavenly"
Lily Rose Depp and designer Karl Lagerfeld
It was Depp's second appearance on the catwalk for Chanel after her debut in December at the house's
Métiers d'Art show. She has also represented Chanel for an eyewear campaign in 2015 and is the
face of the fragrance, Chanel No.5 L'eau. Vanessa Paradis has also been a long time muse for Lagerfeld. During the 1990s she starred in the campaign for L'esprit de Chanel perfume, and has
since been the face of Rouge Coco lipstick plus accessories
campaigns. For this show, she watched her daughter from the front row and was rewarded with a broad smile.
Lagerfeld contrasted the delicacy of the collection with slicked back hair and crinkled, top hats. "I thought it was very funny, the little hat, like squashed top hats,'' he said. The femininity was enhanced with the defined, raised waists and the wide belts that accentuated the hips, low-cut décolletés and faux pearl jewellery transformed into anklets. This was in contrast to the dresses with straight, tubular lines. The limited palette was dominated by white, silver and grey, made brilliant with metallic, sparkling panels. A chorus of other muted colours included pastel pink, yellow, blue and green, worn with silver-leather high heels, or thigh-high boots.
"Normally we don't drape much at Chanel. But the drapery has to be flawless, the pleats have to be perfect"
Iridescent tweed suit with top hat
This season, the classic Chanel tweed suits are given new life with an iridescent glow, embroidered braids and draped at the waist, emphasising the curves of the tulip skirts. "Normally we don't drape much at Chanel. But this season, I made all of these drapes. But the drapery has to be flawless. The pleats have to be perfect." A trompe l’oeil effect made them seem like dress-coats, the jacket tucked into a pencil skirt with golf pleats at the back. For evening, there are swathes of duchess satin, organza and taffeta's, flocked and laminated lace, tulle, jacquard and Georgette. Sheath dresses are enveloped in mirrored embroidery, strips of sequin embellished lace, or balls of feathers. Bustiers are embroidered with flowers and leaves above big skirts. The dresses in tulle have deep, square-cut necklines plunging to the start of the waist and marabou boleros.
At the end of the show, Lily Rose Depp walked out on the arm of Lagerfeld in the frothy wedding gown of diaphanous pale pink organza. Watching from the front row were an unusually low key crowd including Anna Mouglalis, Caroline de Maigret, Japanese artist G-Dragon, the singer Cécile Cassel and English actress Lucy Boynton as well as French actresses Laura Smet and Karidja Touré.
High waists and full skirts gave Lagerfeld's new collection for Chanel haute couture a new silhouette
The House's four couture ateliers created the mirrored embroidery on the evening gowns that reflected the Art Deco setting
Slim, column dresses with marabou trim provided a contrast to the full-skirted gowns
Thigh high boots were worn with layers of fine organza and wide, silver belts
Top hats and neat suits and dresses reinterpreted Jackie Onassis's signature looks
Bright iridescent colour enlivened the classic Chanel suit
Backstage neon and chunky knits at Christopher Raeburn's show in London, photographed by Liron Weissman. On the cover is the new AW17 Belstaff collection
On runways from London to Milan, urban camouflage with a strong Seventies vibe dominated the Autumn/Winter 2017 men's wear season. Many designers' new collections were sporty yet bulky & rustic enough to do another day of battle in the metropolis. Our special correspondent and fashion editor Limor Helfgott looks at the latest directions and tumultuous changes causing seismic shifts in the fashion world, including combining men's and women's collections on the same catwalk
Barak Shamir wearing Vivienne
Westwood. Photo: Filipe Phitzgerald
THIS season, the biannual men's wear showcase London Collections: Men was rebranded as LFWM ~ London Fashion Week Men’s ~ a significant step towards pushing the men’s fashion industry up to the reach and importance of the women's collections. Dylan Jones, chairman of LFWM, said that the new name will help men's wear, especially as brands continue showing men's and women's wear together.
Does that mean that the two events will eventually be merged into one? Time will tell, as the revolutions in how fashion shows are presented and sold continue worldwide. In the meantime, London Fashion Week Men’s is a key player in the global menswear fashion scene with the best of Savile row brands such as Chester Barrie and Kent & Curwen showing new work alongside experimental and innovative designers such as Ximon Lee and Sibling.
Brooklyn and Williamsburg may be considered the home of hipsters, but London has Dalston, Brick lane, Shoreditch
Brooklyn and Williamsburg may be considered the home of
Corduroy-wearing hipster at Xander Zhou
hipsters, but London has Dalston, Brick lane, Shoreditch and other urbans villages that are full of trendsetters hipsters and goths: this is certainly a city full of avant-garde inspiration.
More than fifty brands presented collections over four days and London once again offered a well-organised and diverse range of British and international designers. Designers from China, Korea, France, Italy and Scandinavia showed their designs and proved once again that the British capital is being recognised as an international fashion hub. However, notable by their absence this season, were Burberry and Paul Smith. Burberry, trendsetters as usual, announced they will be consolidating their men and women’s shows during the women’s fashion week. Paul Smith chose to showcase his collections in Paris and Milan. Not all the trends seen on the catwalk were new and many were different interpretations of what we have seen before, but there was certainly a twist and a new experimental edge. What should we be looking out for next winter then? Here are some of the key directions for your wardrobe if you want to master the AW17 look.
London Fashion Week Men’s is a key player in global fashion with the best of Savile row brands showing alongside experimental designers
Include Leather This season across many runways, leather was present in different shapes and forms. Chinese designer Xander Zhou presented oriental futurism and offered his own quirky interpretation of outerwear alongside sharp tailoring.
Long, black leather at Xander Zhou AW17
Some key pieces in the collection included shearling coats and long leather jackets in bright blue and shiny silver, and oversized, almost off-the-shoulder jackets with batwing sleeves. Glittering turtlenecks were also seen in this collection, spilt over and offering mid-riff exposure, as the designer said himself: “You’d better work on those abs!” Berthold’s AW17 collection also explores the rhythm of restriction with fuzzy, dimpled, and crisp textures that are taken from torn, soft leather and papers left folded and aged over time. While Berlin-based, Chinese-born Korean designer Ximon Lee showed unconventional outerwear in his AW17 collection: Called Shame, it explored the space between the conscious and unconscious. A strong Seventies vibe was notable with pieces such as long, patent leather coat, flared pants and stand out pieces such as sheer shirts or velvet trousers. A frequent motif was the deconstructed leather pouch or vest, thrown over the shoulder.
A Seventies vibe was notable with pieces such as long, patent leather coats, flared pants and sheer shirts or velvet trousers The historic British company Belstaff, which has been going for 93 years, offered men's and women's wear with classic silhouettes such as the peacoat and duffel coat, recreated in luxury Melton wool. Notable this season are new vintage
Leather coats & jackets at Belstaff
treatments used to reinterpret the weather-beaten outerwear worn by naval sailors during WWII. Waterproof hand-waxed cotton and leather reinforced the stylish functionality of naval outerwear. An Officer’s coat with silver naval buttons was a stand-out for women, while the classic Milford coat (originally designed for Sherlock) has been updated with the naval buttons for men. The parka plays an integral role, emphasised by an all-weather version based on a Belstaff archival piece that was created for the military in 1960. Made from down-filled ballistic nylon, originally developed as a material for flak jackets for WWII airmen. For men, the leather theme has a well-worn patina for a lived-in effect while the women’s showed Belstaff’s fabric innovation, a lightweight leather blouson and a machine-washable nappa leather jacket plus a crackled vinyl-effect featuring different naval emblems emblazoned on the back.
Christopher Raeburn deconstructs materials like bomb disposal uniforms, blankets and camouflage jackets with bright yellow neon splashes
Christopher Raeburn. Photo:Liron Weissman
A Dash of Neon Christopher Raeburn brings another one of his innovative, sustainable collections this AW17 season. Both men's and women's wear were presented and the designs were all about remaking, reducing and recycling. The designer used deconstructed materials including bomb disposal uniforms, blankets and camouflage jackets with bright yellow neon splashes. Even the backpacks had neon protective covers. Women's wear remade pieces came in the form of Utility dresses, parachute parkas and bomber jackets, with a focus on femininity. But a strong men's wear aesthetic dominated in the rest of the range to ensure a unisex offering that compliments the entire collection. Raeburn's pioneering work has brought sustainable design to a more mainstream fashion audience, aiming to combine both a luxury and integrity.
Tuck Your Shirt into Baggy Trousers
Baggy & bright at Liam Hodges AW17
Neon was key also at Liam Hodges, who created a collection that conjured up a dystopia inspired by the film Total Recall. On his catwalk, we also saw a couple of other key trends this season: tucked in shirts and wide trousers. The collection featured layered long-sleeved T-shirts tucked into padded salopette style trousers with removable pockets and collarless puffa jackets. Quite a few designers kicked off their shows this season with trousers that swung wide. Forget the skinny fits men have been squeezing into, the wide trousers are making their way into your closet and it looks like they are here to stay. We are loving this trend, there is a romantic nonchalant effect to baggy trousers, and they are certainly more comfortable. Korean Designer Songzio featured the high-waisted version of baggy trousers with a Nineties aesthetic and a grunge vibe.
A couple of other key trends this season: tucked in shirts and wide trousers ~ forget the skinny jeans
Suede and rollnecks at Songzio AW17
Keep Your Neck Warm: Rollnecks and Hoods One of the most recurring silhouettes for next winter is the rising neckline. The higher the better, with some designers presenting bolder versions of the roll-neck even rising over the face. Songzio’s collection is one example where a high neck was presented throughout the collection. Called Misanthrope, once again the range blurred the boundaries between fashion and art, continuing with the Paint on Black’ concept: each item from the collection inspired by the designer’s original paintings. The fusion of abstract art with modernist clothing is the brand’s unique signature style. From cold sharply tailored suits to romantic volumes, every season is another delicately curated exposition.This dramatic and bold collection was balanced with delicate art prints and presented dense knitwear from capes to voluminous bomber jackets in hues of brown and black complimented by the warm touch of mustang patchwork.
One of the most recurring silhouettes for next winter is the rising neckline, the higher the better
High necklines at Berthold AW17
At Berthold, necklines were even higher in a collection inspired by wide, desolate hospital corridors and angular shadows. Called Asylum, it pushed and pulled proportions with dimensions seeming to meet and diverge. Thick, rough bandages wrapping heads and masking identities translated into seemingly limitless volumes yet still full of energy. Maharishi’s silhouettes this season include inspiration from traditional African clothing with prominent stylistic references to the Djellaba, a hooded, long loose fitting robe from north west Africa. Another is the Djellabiya, a hoodless wide-collared and long-sleeved robe from the horn of Africa.
Boys in mini-skirts and women in deconstructed suits with powerful shoulder silhouettes: a rousing flirtation with gender fluidity.
Get Cozy with Crotchet Ringing true to the original meaning of
Rising model Barak Shamir in crochet at
Vivienne Woodwood. Photo: Filipe Phitzgerald
unisex, the highly anticipated debut of Vivienne Westwood's Ecotricity marked the return of the queen of anarchic style to London this season after several years of showing in Milan. Featuring boys in rib-knit sweaters and mini-skirts and women in deconstructed suits with powerful shoulder silhouettes, the collection presented a rousing flirtation with gender fluidity. Models wore crowns, and were dressed in offbeat patchwork knits, unconventional pinstripe suiting and hybrid layering of staple fabrics such as Prince of Wales checked wool and chunky knitwear. Heritage plaids on playful suits were teamed with shawls and crochet sweaters. Men's wear collections will also be featured in February during fashion week, as some of the designers are still experimenting with showing both women's wear and men's at the same time. However, now that the men's wear showcase is officially a part of its big sister, London Fashion Week, we can’t help but look forward to the next season and wonder what LFWM has in store for us in June.
Soul connection on the runway, models wearing Nicklas Kunz's form-fitting SS17 collection in Copenhagen. Photograph by Jesper Bang-p Thortzen. Cover picture by Victoria Vogel Salomonsen
As London men's fashion week is getting ready to open the runway season for 2017, our Fashion Editor Limor Helfgott interviews talented Danish designer Nicklas Kunz about his life in Denmark and his cosmopolitan collections creatively inspired by the urban jungle, African tribes, sartorial couture and American rap music
Designer Nicklas Kunz. Photo: Limor Helfgott
NICKLAS Kunz's dark and masculine aesthetic creates bold, contemporary designs. Today he is based in Copenhagen while he originally did a BA (Hons) in England and then an MA at the Kolding School of Design. He worked with designers such as the avant-garde Henrik Vibskov before launching his first collection in 2012 in New York. Kunz's latest work is inspired by streetwear, rap music and sports clothes' fluidity ~ all elements he transforms into his beautifully-cut creations, finished with a close attention to sartorial detail.
They manage to exude both sophistication and ruggedness.
"When a garment is put on a model ~ as they are wearing it ~ that second when it all comes together is a moment like no other, godliness"
Kunz's SS17 Soul Inflamed collection shown in Denmark's capital during Copenhagen Fashion Week, uses jersey, mesh and neoprene with dramatic color-blocking in black, white and red, heightening the effect of well-tailored bomber jackets, leather coats and cropped pants plus sinous sportwear. Kunz likes to imagine he is dressing the urban warrior with asymmetrical designs, the line and cut metaphors for African tribes' war paint and scars.
Photo; Jesper Bang-p Thortzen
1. Where did you grow up and does this place still influence your creations? I grew up in Albertslund, a suburb in Copenhagen.We called it the concrete jungle, my home address back then was named Blokland. But I learnt to observe and interact with really deep souls and that shows in my creations I think.
2. When did you first realise you wanted to work in fashion? Right after I thought about being a fashion buyer as they control what is in fashion as they put items in shops. But I thought "why buy it when you can make it" ~ and then I was heading into the world of fashion. I have always had the knack to see the potential of designs in clothing and shoes before they are in fashion or become a trend.
Photo: Jesper Bang-p Thortzen
3. At the beginning of your career, how did you break into the fashion world? After pieces from my first collection were worn by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. Then I started to focus on the long term and now I would like to work with Eminem as he is the other inspiration to my life being an adolescent in Blokland.
4. What aspect of creation gives you the most happiness? I enjoy making leather jackets, long ones: when a garment is put on a model ~ as they are wearing it ~ that second when it all comes together is a moment like no other, godliness.
"I think the only way to do fashion is by mixing instinct with rationality"
5. What do you find the most challenging aspect of your work?
Hours in a day ~ when I’m creating something unique, I always want to explore it even further.
Masculine stole. Photo:Victoria Vogel Salomonsen
6. Can you describe the experience, person or training that has had the greatest impact on your career? My first mentor who was a weekly guest teacher at my BA training in England, Fred Spurr. He was a grad student from the Royal College of Art and he designed outfits for Queen’s front man Freddie Mercury. He showed and taught me how to be a fashion designer always looking to create something extraordinary.
"I hope wearing even our most simple garment will change how you look and feel. I like to think the designs make you feel like a lion rather than a cub"
Leader of the pack. Photo:Victoria Vogel Salomonsen
7. Describe what your studio is like and whether you have a set schedule of working everyday? Or is the process more fluid? The studio is full of fabric rolls, inspirational prints and drawings but I work best with a fluid yet scheduled way of working. The only thing that I’m focused on every day: process, deadline and execution.
8. Do you find your creative process is more rational or instinctive? Both, as I'm always working, even on my bike ride to and from the studio, I can't help seeing potential new looks and cuts. I think the only way to do fashion is by mixing instinct with rationality.
Black & White. Photo:Victoria Vogel Salomonsen
9. What type of man is wearing Nicklas Kunz? A bold man who has a sense of style, sophistication and who wants to stand out. I hope wearing even our most simple garment will change how you look and feel. I like to think the designs make you feel like a lion rather than a cub ~ regardless of sex as we also do womenswear.
10. How would you describe working as a men’s fashion designer in the ever changing fashion industry today? Will your brand be a part of the ‘see now buy now’ movement? We have already done the ‘see now, buy now’ with the SS17 collection. We had three pieces which went online right after our SJÆL I FLAMMER / soul inflamed fashion show ended.
The AW17 collection will be featured during Copenhagen fashion week in February and all items from the collection will be online right after the release.
I don’t focus that much on changes as true fashion is timeless. Alexander McQueen taught me that.
Tap photographs for full-screen slideshow
Asymmetry in charcoal, grey and black. Photograph by Jesper Bang-p Thortzen
Colour blocking with a vibrant red. Photograph by Jesper Bang-p Thortzen
All white with zips and mesh: too cool for school. Photograph by Jesper Bang-p Thortzen
Long, leather jacket with a Mondrian like pattern. Photograph by Victoria Vogel Salomonsen
The fluidity and comfort of sportswear with a dash of avant-garde style. Photograph by Victoria Vogel Salomonsen
New urban warrior. Photograph by Jesper Bang-p Thortzen
Metaphorical tribal cuts representing African tribes but in the urban jungle. Photograph by Jesper Bang-p Thortzen
Add Strong colour and jersey's fluidity adds another layer to the streetwear/sportswear aesthetic.Photograph by Jesper Bang-p Thortzen
dSubtle details and an all-white sports ensemble. Photograph by Victoria Vogel Salomonsen
A black and dark grey sheen takes this to a new level of stylish rapper on the town. Photograph by Jesper Bang-p Thortzen
Arriving early morning at Paramount Pictures Studios in Los Angeles. Cover picture and photograph above by Norman Buckley
Screenwriter and film director Catherine Cyran reflects on quotidian life in LA after a tumultuous Trump presidential victory. Her own career trajectory is the epitome of the American Dream, from growing up in New York's Brooklyn (before its transformation into a wealthy hipster enclave), the daughter of a Polish dockworker, to classical violinist and Harvard University graduate to today's Hollywood writer and director. But in a divided USA, where the forces of globalisation and rich man's politics are disenfranchising a generation, the American Dream seems a mirage. But the sushi is still good in LA, the surfers are out and emigrating to Vancouver could still be an option. Photographs of Los Angeles by American director Norman Buckley
Catherine Cyran shooting on location
LAis an early town. Maybe it’s the surfers who set the clock for us, rising at dawn to catch the best waves. Or maybe it’s because all the restaurants close by 9pm or 9:30pm at night, which means that there’s less occasion to stay out late, so why not get some sleep and try to accomplish something in the morning? In any case, I too am often up before the sun is, and sometimes I go for a walk in the dark, heartened by the lights of our local Starbucks, which opens at 5:30am. Try getting a cappuccino in Rome or Barcelona at 5:30am. On the other hand, if you’d like to dine or meet for drinks at midnight in those towns, you’re in luck. Anyhow, as soon as the first rays of the unflagging LA sun make their presence known, the streets start filling with other early-birds, running, blading, and biking, probably in part to look as good as they feel they should and in part to gird themselves for the frustration they soon will be experiencing, as they submit to the shocking rush-hour traffic in order to get to work.
Hopperesque: Starbucks before dawn
If they have jobs, that is. A lot of people in LA don’t. Let me qualify that: a lot of people in “the industry” don’t have jobs, at least not regular ones. By “the industry,” I mean Hollywood: the movie business, which is my world. Here, you’ve got actors trying to schedule auditions that don’t pay off 99% of the time, ditto for directors prepping for “pitch” meetings, and countless writers who “work” from home penning screenplays they have about as much a chance of selling as gamblers in Vegas have of striking it rich.
Of course, in other spheres LA has a lot of folks who have real jobs, doing real things: saving lives, patching roads, collecting garbage, watching other people’s children, tending other people’s yards. Painting other people’s houses, selling other people crap they don’t need. It can be a very lonely place. To get anywhere, you have to get in your car. This is because we all treasure our privacy so much that we need our big yards, our single-family homes, where we don’t have to interact with anyone other than the aforementioned nannies, gardeners, etc...
Early morning, Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles
This makes LA a very spread-out place: a “suburban” city with no real centre, or perhaps a city with many, many small centres, with everyone living in his own little “bubble.” (More on living in bubbles later.) The result of all this is, we live apart from everyone else, then we get in our cars and drive apart from everyone else. And that’s only if we must go somewhere, because in LA if you don’t absolutely have to go somewhere, how much better is it to avoid the choked roads and freeways and just stay in your house? LA is a great place to live in many ways. It has beautiful, endless beaches, towering canyons and mountain ranges, overflowing farmers’ markets, and a blessed climate – a place where, as it’s said, you can ski in the morning and go swimming in the afternoon. It also has an abundance of museums, cultural venues, and restaurants, as befits any large city.
Up as the sun rises, Lionsgate Bridge, Vancouver
By comparison, I love Vancouver, which is right up the coast from LA (a mere twenty-one hours by car). I may well live there soon – I am applying for Canadian residency even as we speak, not least of all because Vancouver, or “Hollywood North” as it is known, has a thriving film industry – but after having spent a month there recently, during which I was supremely happy, waking to the cries of seagulls and honks of geese outside my downtown loft, despoiling the oyster beds of The Lobster Man’s Granville Island shop, and circumnavigating glorious Stanley Park, I returned to LA only to realise, to my chagrin, that you could throw a rock and hit a better sushi restaurant in Los Angeles, for the price, than you could find in Vancouver after two hours trawling Trip Advisor.
Why is that? For one thing, LA has a very diverse population – We have more Vietnamese people than any other country outside of Vietnam, more Iranian people than any other country outside of Iran, more Thai people than any other country outside of Asia – but Vancouver also has a very diverse population. So why is our sushi so much better than Vancouver’s (just to use sushi as an example)? LA is also a big city. Far bigger than Vancouver, with a bigger talent pool to draw on, and a richer populace to boot. But is money the salient factor? Are people in LA just willing (and able) to spend more money to get good sushi? I don’t think so. You can get good sushi cheap in LA, certainly as cheap as you can get it in Vancouver (even considering that, at this writing, the Canadian dollar is worth about a third less than the American dollar).
Places close early in LA: Zuma Beach, Malibu
No, I think the real reason is that people in LA are more demanding and more worldly wise in their tastes. They have high standards; they know what good is. And I like this about LA. I love Rome, but in Rome, every sushi place is an “all-you-can-eat” place. Not that sushi is bad in Rome, if you can find it, but can you imagine an “all-you-can-eat” pasta place in the Eternal City? Ha. Ironically, only American tourists would go there. It’s complicated. Another thought: Recently, I went to downtown LA – There is a “downtown” in LA, a very urban place, and, yes, it has a lot of great museums and performance centres, but really, if you live on the West Side, closer to the ocean, in Beverly Hills, say, and have to drive an hour to get there, then compete for parking and resign yourself to paying $20-$30 for four hours in order to see a show that finally got here from New York a year after its debut and costs $150 per ticket, before plunking down $200 for dinner, then drive an hour back to Beverly Hills, is it really worth it? On a regular basis?
If you want to drive, LA has the world's food available
Anyhow, I braved this trek with my boyfriend for his birthday, and we went to The Broad, a new contemporary art museum that is both beautifully designed and richly endowed, then went to one of the new, hot restaurants that touts a new slant on “fusion” cuisine, which, as it turns out, is a cross between Southern European, Asian, and Middle Eastern palettes – and I thought: Is that necessary? Are we that bored that we have to eat three types of food at once? Must I have Abkhazian spiced avocado with my hamachi crudo? I also found myself contemplating the cost of an appetiser ($23), which, nutrition-wise, was roughly equivalent to the amount I might taste of something I was cooking in order to determine whether the seasoning was right, and I thought again: In some countries, I could feed a family of four for a month on what I am about to spend for one appetiser that probably contains fewer calories than would sustain a single person for more than a couple of hours. How wrong is that? Not that I’m a bleeding heart. Well, maybe I am.
Waiting to vote in Poinsietta Avenue, during the election
Look, the strong prevail, the weak are left by the side of the road. Nowhere is this more true than in America, and at no time has this been more true than in the wake of an election that made Donald Trump the President-elect of America. After eight years of President Barack Obama, no less. Eight proud, somewhat relieved years of showing both our own people and the peoples of the world that we actually believe in our Constitution, that we believe in guaranteeing individual freedoms, tolerating diversity in all its forms, and rejecting racism, sexism, and religion-ism; that we believe in the words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” The “golden door.” Right. In August, I was in Bergen, Norway, where I noticed a Mexican restaurant that wittily advertised, “Food so authentic Donald Trump would build a wall around it!” Touché.
My compatriots on the right – and I use the word “compatriots” loosely ~ claim that people like me, people in LA, in Hollywood, are living in a “bubble.” A bubble in which liberal, other-oriented, educated people seek to protect the climate, provide health care for the poor, and guarantee the rights of women and people who might be different from them: Mexican immigrants, disenfranchised African-Americans, LGBTQ, Muslims, etc.. Apparently, this is bad. And the right is now rejoicing that all of this will soon be a thing of the past, as they prepare to dismantle Medicare (health care for the old), Obama-care (health care for the poor), and abortion rights for women, while gearing up to bring back the coal industry and build more pipelines so that we can continue to do our best to destroy the environment. It is an utterly divided country. Look at the map. No, wait, I’ll save you the bother. On the “left” coast, you’ve got California, Oregon, and Washington – a “blue” swath of country that abuts both Canada and Mexico, which Trump lost handily and whose huge population generates a huge proportion of the national GDP (California alone is the fourth biggest economy in the world.) Then on the east coast, you’ve got New England, New York, and on down roughly to the Mason-Dixon line (a line that more or less delineated the northern states from the slave-holding southern states during the Civil War). These states also voted against Trump.
California sunset, Griffith Park
Then... you’ve got the vast “middle.” The “red” states, most of which are far less populous (and productive) than the coastal ones, but which were guaranteed by our founders to have a more-than-equal voice in electing our president via the electoral college. Without troubling the reader with the details, what this means in present-day America is that, as a Californian, my vote counts for two-thirds less than the vote of someone living in Wyoming, say. This was, and remains, a constitutionally mandated system intended to protect small states from the tyranny of large ones (but which also had the effect, perhaps not inadvertently, of protecting the large landowners of yesteryear from the unwashed masses in the cities). What isn’t constitutionally mandated, however, is a furthering of the electoral system adopted by all but three of our fifty states to employ a “winner-take-all” method of reckoning up their electoral votes, so that, in short: to the victor goes the spoils and to hell with the “minority.” Never mind that in the case of our recent election the “minority” was actually the majority; Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, and without “winner-take-all” she would have won the electoral vote too. This is the system by which Donald Trump became our President-elect. And this is what we, in LA, will have to live through for the next four years, if not eight.
Welcome to Hollywood: Bob Hope Health Centre
This is why I am despondent. This is why most of my friends are despondent. It puts a whole new spin on living in LA: to know that our votes count for “less than,” to live with the prospect of being ruled by a man who in no way represents us and vandalises our belief systems every day. How meaningless it feels to be trying to get a silly job making a silly movie that only people made truly desperate by the paucity of their own lives would take the time to check out, when the future of our nation appears so dire. Not that all movies are silly. Movies, like books and other art forms, at their best serve to shed light on the human condition, often evincing efforts by their creators to reach out to others, to say: “I am alone. Are you? Maybe we can be alone together.” So I understand. I need to go to Netflix once in a while too, to stem the flood of despair.
And I’m not disparaging my counterparts in middle America, or not entirely. I can’t, because I am them. My only sibling, my brother, whom I love dearly, lives in the “middle.” For his entire working life, he slaved in factories, often on midnight shifts, to provide for his family. And provide he did. Was he under-employed? He was. Was he underpaid? No doubt. But he believed in America, he believed that the fact that he had to tear his body apart in order to provide food, shelter, computers, the occasional hockey game tickets, and the latest software for his kids and grandkids was worth the price. In so many ways, he is my hero. And he voted for Trump. I tell myself: He’s in his own bubble too. I’m in my bubble; he’s in his. But it’s heart-wrenching that I cannot bring myself to talk to him. Not now.
Reflections from a car: a lone palm tree & traffic lights
And I hate what this election has done to me, to us, and to our country. I hate that I am embarrassed to be American. I hate that I have to hang my head in shame. I hate that we have to fight these fights all over again. I hate that it is the poor who will suffer most under Trump’s regime, since the rich already have their health care, can fly their daughters to other countries to terminate their unwanted pregnancies, and can pay for eldercare and childcare and whatever else they need. Most of all, I hate that I hate so much. I am tired of it all. In LA, we live apart, now more than ever. We always have been outliers, literally on the edge of the country, but now it feels as if the middle of America might well rejoice if, in what they would likely see as an act of divine retribution, the San Andreas fault finally imploded and dropped California in the Pacific ocean. Humans are communal animals, and presently there is no community in the United States. Nor, I think, will there be for the foreseeable future.
