With a steady stream of personal and collaborative projects and an active, 218k-strong Instagram account with Virgil Abloh as an ardent follower, the new york-based graffiti artist has not only outlived most of his contemporaries, but would also easily outshine any Gen Z in hypebeast-ness – without even trying. Who better to school us on the evolution of street art and its intersection with fashion? Keng Yang Shuen reports.
Futura (real name: Leonard Hilton McGurr) would make a successful influencer, and it’s not just because he’s already got the catchy alias to match. In town for the opening of Constellation – his first solo exhibition in Southeast Asia that ran at private art salon The Culture Story till early June – he’s a natural in front of the camera. Zero awkwardness and zero airs; just plain, relaxed cool in his street style-worthy uniform of discreetly chic streetwear staples: beanie, black-rimmed glasses, subtly logoed tee, cargos and sneakers.
For all its randomness (snapshots of his paintings, cityscapes, assemblages of objects ranging from remote controls to Lotso plush toys, and pop culture icons including one Off-White bodysuited Celine Dion at Paris Fashion Week), his Instagram account (@futuradosmil) is a tight, tasteful edit of visual ephemera for the street art and graphic design crowd. Laconic, often playful captions typed exclusively in upper case add to its offbeat appeal (he accompanied the Celine Dion photo with a single word: “TITANIC”, to which Virgil Abloh – an active follower – commented with a rowboat emoji). Like many a post-millennial, he is in person vocal and articulate, answering questions at length, but the man is far from your typical Gen Z – he is 63. And all that charisma and social media-friendly savvy have been honed through a decades-spanning career in the street art scene that started before most of the chieftains of Hypebeast culture and Instagram were born.
If the late Karl Lagerfeld was fashion’s exemplary renaissance man, Futura can be considered the street art equivalent. That he’s outlived equally seminal peers like Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat has sure helped with that title.
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The Party Edit
Club-appropriate hits from the Resort 2025 collections
She Calls The Shots
Since The 2000s, Rihanna Has Been Making Dance Floors Work, Work, Work With Her Infectious Electronic And R&b-inflected Pop Hits. For Another Side To Her "Queen Of The Night" Persona, There's Her Role As The Latest Face Of Dior's J'adore Perfume And Its Accompanying Campaign Film. Shot By Her Long-time Friend Steven Klein, It Features The Barbadian Baddie Striding Through The Gilded Halls Of The Palace Of Versailles Dripping In Gold. Here, She Shares More About How The Famously Feminine Fragrance Embodies Celebration.
GOOD VIBES
EVERY YEAR, CHANEL PICKS A PLACE ON THE WORLD MAP NOT ONLY TO INSPIRE, BUT ALSO TO SHOWCASE ITS ANNUAL CRUISE COLLECTION (IT’S A TRADITION THAT’S ROOTED IN THE MAISON’S EARLY YEARS WHEN COCO CHANEL PRESENTED A LINE OUTSIDE OF THE USUAL FASHION CALENDAR TO INCITE WANDERLUST FOR TOASTIER, MORE PICTURE-PERFECT CLIMES DURING THE WINTER MONTHS). THE LATEST DESTINATION: VIBRANT MARSEILLE – THE FRENCH CITY THAT RECEIVES THE MOST SUNSHINE; HOME TO AN ECLECTIC REPERTOIRE OF CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS AND LANDMARKS; AND A MAGNET FOR EMERGING CREATIVES WITH ITS MIX OF GRIT AND GLAMOUR, LAND AND SEA, AND YOUTHFUL BOHEMIAN ENERGY. THE RESULTS? A COLLECTION THAT MAKES US WANT TO LET LOOSE AND DANCE. NOELLE LOH REPORTS FROM THE PHOCAEAN CITY.
THE VIPS
SOME OF THE 17 PEOPLE SPOTLIGHTED ACROSS THE NEXT 26 PAGES HAVE BEEN IN THE NIGHTLIFE BUSINESS WAY BEFORE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC DECADES EVEN. OTHERS LESS, BUT HAVE BEEN FOR MUCH OF THEIR LIVES DEEP INTO MUSIC, VIBING IT OUT ON DANCE FLOORS AND MAKING SURE EVERYONE AROUND HAS A HELLUVA GOOD TIME. THEIR ENDEAVOURS RANGE FROM A MODEST NEIGHBOURHOOD BAR TO CONGLOMERATE-BACKED, MULTI-CONCEPT SPACES AND A MULTIFARIOUS NETWORK OF POP-UP PARTIES, ALL OF WHICH HAVE BEEN MAKING AN EXTRA-LOUD SPLASH IN THE PAST YEAR. WHAT ELSE THEY ALL HAVE IN COMMON: THEY'RE RETHINKING AND RESHAPING PARTY CULTURE FOR THE FUTURE - OR, TO PARAPHRASE CHARLI XCX, THEY'RE BUMPIN' IT. KENG YANG SHUEN AND NOELLE LOH PUT THE CAMERA FLASH ON.
THE NIGHTS
ROUGHLY TWO YEARS ON SINCE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, FOLKS FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE ARE STILL TAKING IT UPON THEMSELVES TO THROW THEIR OWN INDEPENDENT PARTIES WITH MORE EXPERIMENTAL SOUNDS, AND MORE INTENTIONAL AND INCLUSIVE EXPERIENCES THAT INJECT A ROUSING UNDERGROUND ENERGY TO SINGAPORE NIGHTLIFE. KENG YANG SHUEN TURNS THE SPOTLIGHT ON FOUR OF THE NEWEST ORGANISERS ON THE SCENE AND TELLS YOU WHY YOU SHOULD HIT THEIR PARTIES.
THE SOUNDS
THEY'RE ALL UNDER 30, MOSTLY SELF-TAUGHT AND EMERGED PROFESSIONALLY ONLY AFTER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. MOST DON'T EVEN HAVE A REGULAR GIG (YOU'D HAVE TO CHECK THEIR INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS TO FIND OUT WHEN NEXT THEY'LL BE PERFORMING), BUT DON'T YOU DARE CALL THEM BEDROOM DJS. KENG YANG SHUEN SPOTLIGHTS SEVEN EMERGING SINGAPORE-BASED MUSIC SELECTORS AND MIX MASTERS WHO'VE BEEN TEARING UP DANCE FLOORS IN THE PAST YEAR AND SHOULD BE TAKEN VERY SERIOUSLY.
A Not So Common Scent
For the first time, the singular house of Hermes has launched a chypre perfume fragrance type known for its complexity and dualistic nature a that comes in a first-of-its-kind bottle, no less. Keng Yang Shuen finds out more about Barenia, Hermes's latest scent that hit stores recently, from the brand's in-house perfumer Christine Nagel.
Strange Love
The six names in this story create wildly different works that tend to blur the boundaries among disparate disciplines. All have little in common except one thing: a certain wondrousness and sense of curiosity that inspire audiences to look at familiar things anew. Keng Yang Shuen reports.
The artist
Johnny Depp is certainly far from the conventional leading man: the iconically quirky on-screen roles, the rock musician persona (he was a guitarist before becoming an actor), the unexpected neoexpressionist portraits in 2022 (these paintings of cultural heroes ranging from AI Pacino to Elizabeth Taylor sold out in a day), and of course the title of being Dior's long-standing poster boy for its wilderness-inspired flagship men's perfume Sauvage for nine years and counting.
spirited away
Collaborations with the art world have become a trusted way of injecting novelty into fashion.
