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.
This story is from the August 2019 edition of Female Singapore.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the August 2019 edition of Female Singapore.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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.
Showtime
Shaggy, floor-sweeping, candy-coloured faux fur coats. A tuxedo suit with exaggerated proportions that's a nod to Marlene Dietrich. Bondage-inspired evening gowns. One would think that a collaboration fronted by a contemporary label would mean tempering down on the drama, but the Bimba Y Palomo collection, a tie-up between the fun-loving Bimba Y Lola and the red-carpet provocateur Palomo Spain, more than doubles down on it. Here, the latter's creative director Alejandro Gomez Palomo gives an exclusive interview on keeping the dream of dressing up alive.
Glam Rocks
Lying At The Heart Of Celine Beaute, The First Cosmetics Line From The House Of Celine, Is A Decidedly Romantic Notion: That Makeup Should Be A Luxurious Ritual.
mother!
FOR AN EDITION CENTRED AROUND NOSTALGIA, HOW COULD WE NOT HEAR FROM THE ONES WHO'VE SEEN THEIR RESPECTIVE INDUSTRIES CHANGE OVER TIME? SIX RENOWNED AND BELOVED CULTURAL AUTHORITIES IN FASHION, DESIGN AND CULTURE IN SINGAPORE SHARE WHAT THEY'VE LEARNT, WHAT THEY MISS AND WHAT WHAT KEEPS THEM GOING.
the art of reflection
DICTIONARY.COM DEFINES NOSTALGIA AS \"A WISTFUL DESIRE TO RETURN IN THOUGHT OR IN FACT TO A FORMER TIME IN ONE'S LIFE, TO ONE'S HOME OR HOMELAND, OR TO ONE'S FAMILY AND FRIENDS\". KENG YANG SHUEN ZEROES IN ON FIVE SINGAPORE ARTISTS INTERPRETING THIS OFTEN-INTANGIBLE QUALITY AS WELL AS THE NOTION OF TIME AND MEMORY ONLY TO EVOKE POIGNANCY, CURIOSITY AND EVEN PLENTY OF LAUGHS.
thank you for the memories
GEN Z IS OFTEN SAID TO BE A NOSTALGIA-INFATUATED BUNCH. THE SIX DIGITAL NATIVES FEATURED HERE LIVE UP TO THAT REPUTATION WITH THEIR COLLECTION OF CLOTHES, ACCESSORIES, TOYS, OBJECTS AND MORE THAT DATE BACK TO A TIME IN WHICH THEY WERE GROWING UP OR IN SOME CASES HAVE NEVER EVEN LIVED THROUGH. PAIGE BOON GETS THEM TO OPEN UP THEIR ARCHIVES AND ABOUT THEIR LOVE OF YESTERYEAR.
Super Natural
Who Better To Tell Us More About The N°1 De Chanel Revitalising Eye Serum - The Latest Addition To Chanel's N°1 De Chanel Skincare Collection That Promises To Give Peepers A Fresh, "Wide Awake" Look-than The Maison's Doe-eyed Ambassador And Face Of The Line, Minji Of Newjeans?
