TI can't breathe at the thought of a Hermes helicopter

White parchment sleigh bed attributed to Jean Michel Frank.

I get really emotional over the work of mid-century French designer and decorator Jean Michel Frank. He is the one visual stylist who managed to conclusively solve the conflict between modern design's fetish for reduction and the very human need for comfort and luxury in a room. Here's a man who could make a masterpiece out of varying tones of beige and his use of unconventional materials like straw marquetry and shagreen in unmatched in its perverse sense of what was and what was not luxury. What Coco Chanel did to women's clothing Frank did to rooms..that is..pared them down to chicest proposition of silhouette and finish possible.
As Eve M Kahn once wrote , "Frank would wrap spindly, minimalist tables or chairs in rarefied materials—goatskin, vellum, glittery mica—to look modern, but not icily clinical. Or he’d update demure traditional forms, fashioning turned legs and flared arms out of peasanty sandblasted oak or iron with upholstery as rough as dishtowels."
Pierre-Emmanuel Martin-Vivier has written an amazing book on this icon titled, "Jean-Michel Frank: L’étrange Luxe du Rien "(The Strange Luxury of Nothingness). This expression is one I absolutely love , though it sounds far more expensive in French.
The most exciting news is Frank's work still occasionally comes up for auction, since he tended to custom design pieces of furniture for the rooms his clients commissioned. Of course because he would use Hermes for his leather covered tables and upholstery and did lamps with the likes of Giacometti, let's just say prices are prohibitive. With Frank in mind I will endeavor to embrace the beige. It was the only tonality he could accept as a color.

Red's Tyler Riggs is very coveted for the Milan/Paris Shows FW08

At the women shows I look at the models. At the men's shows, I come with a magnifying glass seriously trained on the clothes. The clock's counting down to the FW08 men's presentations in Milan and Paris and this very specialized market-that of high end designer menswear - is in a very transitional place right this minute. Time was you knew what you would be getting well in advance when it came to "The Shows" . And what entertainment these shows would provide, Tom Ford's flagrant Gucci vs Miuccia Prada's highminded men's line. Raf Simons's art gallery perfect wauldrobe vs Galliano's flamboyant bucaneers. And then the piece de resistance. Hedi Slimane's rock inflected couture level work at Dior Homme. What clear identities they had then.
So what are the shows with the best advance billing right this minute? After being eclipsed by the perverse streamlining at Dior, the Prada suit has a lot of lost ground to cover. Oddly enough Ralph Lauren's return to Milan this season has high expectations building for the glimpse of some kind of spectacle, if not in terms of the looks which are sure to be conservative, then in terms of the show's production values. The revamp of Ferre, as previously mentioned on TI has the label whores (like us) drumming the thumbs in suspense.

Bike: Brooklyn Machine Works : Gear: Marc by Marc Jacobs: Boy: Armando: Public Image Worldwide

All I want for Christmas (right this minute) is this new Brooklyn Machine Works bicycle (apx $4000) because only those who know WOULD know. After skateboarding, urban biking is getting big in Brooklyn! Which is not to say I'm the only one getting into it. Full disclosure: jacked this jpg from Pharell Williams' blog, bbcicecream.com/blog , who in turn jacked it from the Barney's Christmas mailer. Speaking of Pharrell's blog, you haven't lived until you've seen his new custom made PURPLE croc Hermes Kelly .

Headline: Pharell's Rocks Major Hermes Moment. Andre Leon Talley Struck Speechless

LAX ART BENEFIT AUCTION: Sun Nov 4th 2007: Los Angeles

TI is about to take a spin through Los Angeles this weekend and it just so happens LAX Art, our go to source for navigating that booming scene, is having a benefit auction sponsored by Hermes on Sunday . There will be work from more than 100 artists including a John Baldessari print. Here are the details. Hoping to see all our LA massive there!

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 4 2007
2640 S. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034

VIP RECEPTION AND EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW
4pm to 6pm

LIVE AUCTION WITH CHRISTIE’S AUCTIONEER ANDREA FIUCZYNSKI
6pm to 7pm

SILENT AUCTION
7pm to 9pm

Presale VIP tickets $150
Regular price tickets $75
Bundle of 10 VIP tickets $1000

VIP ticket includes cocktail reception
Preview and presale artwork
Limited availability

To purchase tickets contact:
Aram Moshayedi
T.310.559.0166 or benefit@laxart.org,
or send check to:
LAXART
2640 South La Cienega Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90034

For more information, visit http://www.laxart.org/auction