WTF

[lotek01]

not sure if it counts as a wtf to everyone but this leather blouson from Aaker (normally really good shit) gave this dude who is usually fairly steezy some man boobs and a paunch. i can't stop looking at it. it looks decent on a girl though.

[Faust]

I think that's a women's piece.

[lowrey]

always thought the male model on Renne made everything look awkward.

[lotek01]

they're actually separate pieces as the original link seems to suggest...

[Fade to Black]

what i find particular offensive is that the design itself and the materials used are below average and rather remind me of the rummage table at h&m.
rubber sandals with an exclusive skull application goin for €650 instead of 6.50 at gap, what a bargain, what better way to show how rich and stylish you are -.-

yep...this...Mastermind Japan has always been praised for its ultra-luxe use of materials, but I have always found the treatments and fabrics used for the line to be extremely stiff and cheap feeling

[crouka]

Not quite, both types were used in Eastern religions. The nazis didn't flip it, they just used that one which changed the meaning of that particular orientation forever.

Still, I can't imagine anyone wearing it. Although in Japan it seems like these sorts of things don't matter as much. Judging from what seems to be fairly acceptable subcultures, I'd think they have their own ideas of "kitsch" irony...

The swastika was used in Iran, by American Indians, etc. It's a pretty common symbol and you could still see it on cheap trinkets in the US during the 30s. However I'd say it has been sufficiently recontextualized that I'd avoid using it on fashion items. I remember reading a debate about how the Japanese were courageously using post-modern remixing to remove swastikas from the Nazi context and make it something else, which is bullshit; they're just ignorant dumbasses (in that specific case) not critical theorists of negative-democracy discourse in the post WWII age.

that is a t-shirt johnio and ichinose did about 20 years ago as a replica of what malcolm and vivienne did 30 years ago.
if it is talked about as though it's attributed only to japan, that is no less than discriminating forgetfulness.

to be fair, the ordinary people in japan can at least imagine things the people in the western world would think about the hakenkreuz. most of them think the hakenkreuz to be taboo, and therefore avoid using it.
but generally speaking, japanese don't know about them as much as the west know,
and wonder how it is "fairly acceptable" in some part of the west when they happen to see people over there excited at marilyn manson and such.
so yes japanese may be ignorant, but the western people also seem to be ignorant in this matter as, when they see manji, they usually ask the japanese if manji bears any relation to nazi. no way. this shows how they still tend to think in a west-centered way. the dangerous is the common/mass subjective existence of a world in their perception, and the unquestioned belief in it.
manji had been an established and beloved thing in japan long long before the nazis used the hakenkreuz,
and still is of course.
if you see a kyoto map you find manji all over because manji is used there as a symbol of temple.
also manji is used as a family crest on many things including japanese style clothing.
and so on
when the artist usually known as hokusai thought he had awakened to the essence of painting in his 70's at last, he changed his name to manji.
maybe, on the whole, the west haven't tried to know about manji as much as the japanese have tried to know about the hakenkreuz.

[doldrums]

^word.

Not to belabor it too much because its all been said - its all over Indus Valley seals, and in my experience/travels is a huge part of any religions that originated in India (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism). Travelling in India, people put them everywhere to welcome others and as a sign of balance, dharma (kinda like the wheel). Right or left facing just takes on different meanings. Nazis turned it 45 degrees, thats it and maybe adopted it kinda like they copped the whole Aryan thing too...

[lotek01]

thanks for the additional info, crouka. always good to know perspectives others may miss.

i'm not a westerner and not japanese but i actually do know a bit about the manji and the other religio-cultural contexts, although it's due to my obsession with useless trivia than something i grew up with.

either way, the one on the shirt probably doesn't represent the manji. what it seems to be based on (this one i think?) was done in an era of punk tastelessness so the original does have a bit of social context. i didn't know the mastermind version wasn't recently made though... not sure if it actually makes a difference.

don't get me wrong, i'm all for crossing boundaries of tastelessness but i think only an idiot would pay money to buy that (and wear it in public). and a wtf on the designer's part (mastermind, not vivienne westwood).

[Faust]

agreed. thanks for that.

[Spencer]

http://www.geekologie.com/2009/08/new_line_of_marc_ecko_star_war.php

I want one.

[magic]

the black one looks good

[One]

Michelle Obama in Rick

[lowrey]

Reek in the white house = next level

that scarf is previous level, though

[Faust]

/\ lol

[Aleks]

she looks pregnant