SHAME ON YOU, MCQUEEN - AN OPEN LETTER

Dear Lee,

I have been a long time fan of your work, but your recent Nazi ad for your diffusion line McQ, published in the "Happiness" (#270) issue of i-D magazine is shameful and outrageous. If you were trying to bring scandalous attention following the first rule of PR, "bad PR is still PR," you could have at least done someing excusable, say like the Lust Supper Diesel ad, which was kind of cute. I can't even call this ad something done in bad taste. It is horrible. There is no reason to put a Nazi eagle and swastika, and the Iron Cross on that poor model. These things symbolize nothing but hatred, suffering, and murder. Maybe you are one of those great admirers of Hitler? Is that why your head is shaved? Are you an anti-Semite? Do you hate gypsies and Eastern Europeans? I want to know. I am posting the ad on my blog, you can sue me for copyright infringement if you'd like - maybe you will get even more publicity and sell more clothes this way, not a bad deal. I am also posting some images of the Holocaust right next to your ad, so my dear readers get a reminder of what these Nazi symbols have really stood for.

Cheers,
Fashion Critic

DESIGNER PROFILE - HENRY BEGUELIN

Ladies (and Gentlemen!), if you want to stand out from the brown monogrammed Louis Vuitton bag crowd, look no further - Henry Beguelin is your man. Mr. Beguelin is a prolific leather goods maker whose quirky designs and stunning high-quality leathers make a beautiful and unique hand-made product. Just touch the leather, and you will be sold. He was launched into niche US stardome by Barneys, and they know their sh.. stuff. I will not chew your ear off with biographical details, I'll scrape them off his website directly, as well as some pictures. Yes, it's expensive, but not more than the fugly Guccis, and you will get a much higher value for your thousand dollars.

1971 HENRI opens a craft center-cum-shop in a little corner of a square that overlooks the sea. It was named "HENRY CUIR".

1981 His products were sold at PUPI SOLARI, a shop in Milan. He felt that he'd reached the limit of what he could do on his own so he decided to enlarge his craft center and gathered more workers.

1982 HENRI meets a shoe maker. A comfortable-to-wear moccasin was invented, which later became one of the vital items. HENRI gradually developed his interest in making interior products/furniture such as cushions, mini-tables and chairs. The company gradually expanded.

1985 The first shop opens in Milan. His name was used for the label except the spelling was changed into HENRY BEGUELIN. He has a crucial encounter with BARNEYS NEW YORK. As they were strongly impressed with HENRI's products, BARNEYS displayed them in show windows, which led to the recognition of the label in the American market.

1997 He developed doubts about the direction of the expanding company, and also the way his partner was managing the company. He decided to leave his job.

1998 He launched a new label. As a departure from HENRI BEGUELIN and to restart his creative production, it was appropriate to take the name of the little craft center-cum-shop in Elba, "HENRI CUIR" which was his starting point. "Cuir" means leather in French as well.
In the same year, his first shop opened in Minami Aoyama, Tokyo. His products are also available in some outlets in Europe and Barneys, New York.

1999 Milan store opens.

2002 HENRI CUIR Aoyama flagship store opens in Kotto-dori, Aoyama.
More shops opened in Kyoko, Osaka and Nihonbashi, Tokyo.

HENRYCUIR

@BARNEYS

NYC SHOPPING GUIDE PARKED

A lot of my avid readers (thank you!) have been asking me on shopping advice in New York. I covered this in one of the first posts of the blog, which was about a year ago (time flies fast!) and might not be easily accessible, unless you dig through the archives. Therefore, I have permanently linked to that post in the link section on the right >>>>. Enjoy!