Louis Vuitton just unveiled 3D skyline coats, and they’re wild
The Telegraph
Psychiatrists fear that transgender children are being “coached” into giving rehearsed answers when trying to access puberty blockers, the Court of Appeal has heard. Dr David Bell, a former governor at a gender identity NHS trust, expressed concern that children may be pressured by parents, friends or websites when trying to address feelings of gender dysphoria. Dr Bell, who was a psychiatrist at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust from 1996 until earlier this month, was granted permission on Friday by two senior judges to intervene in a landmark case examining whether transgender children can legally take puberty blockers. In November, the High Court ruled that children should not receive the controversial drugs unless they understand the “long-term risks and consequences” of them. The NHS was forced to change its guidance overnight, preventing children from accessing the hormonal treatment without a court order. The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust has since launched an appeal against the ruling. In a preliminary hearing on Friday, lawyers on behalf of Dr Bell told the court that he wishes to intervene in the appeal as he has since retired from the NHS Trust and feels he can speak more freely. In legal papers lodged before the Court, Dr Bell is described as a “high profile whistleblower” after he published a report in August 2018 which “investigated serious concerns” raised by ten clinicians working at the Tavistock. The report found that the Tavistock’s gender identity clinic, GIDS, “is not fit for purpose” and some young patients “will live on with the damaging consequences.” Dr Bell said he felt “victimised for whistleblowing” by the Trust in the wake of the report and as a result “did not feel able to participate” in the initial High Court dispute. However, Dr Bell retired from the Trust earlier this month on January 15 and “is no longer subject to the same constraints,” the legal documents said. “There is evidence that staff members may be frightened of coming forwards,” the documents continued. “Dr Bell, a highly eminent psychiatrist who until recently occupied a senior position with the Appellant, is now free from his employment and able to describe the concerns, which he investigated in some detail.” Lady Justice King and Lord Justice Dingemans granted his application to intervene in the appeal, which will be heard over two days in April, while other groups, including the LGBT charity Stonewall, had their application denied. Lawyers for Dr Bell said he wants to tell the court about concerns that were raised to him by gender identity practitioners, including that “children may be ‘coached’, whether from parents, peers, or online resources, to provide rehearsed answers in response to particular questions.” The practitioners were also concerned that “highly complex factors” - including historic child abuse and family bereavement - can influence children’s attitudes towards gender, meaning puberty blockers is not always the best course of treatment. The landmark case on puberty blockers was first launched against the Trust by Keira Bell, a 23-year-old woman who began taking puberty blockers before deciding to reverse the process of changing gender. Ms Bell said the clinic should have challenged her more over her decision to transition to a male when she was 16. It was also brought by a woman who can only legally be identified as “Mrs A”, the mother of a 15-year-old autistic girl who is currently on the waiting list for treatment. At the initial High Court hearing in October, their lawyers said that children going through puberty are “not capable of properly understanding the nature and effects of hormone blockers”. They argued there is “a very high likelihood” that children who start taking hormone blockers will later begin taking cross-sex hormones, which they say cause “irreversible changes”, and that the NHS Trust offers “fairytale” promises to children because they are unable to give their consent to the sex-change process.
Louis Vuitton cityscape jackets turn you into walking 3D architecture
Louis Vuitton
If you can wear your heart on your sleeve, then why not the city of Paris?
Puffer jackets featuring detailed 3D cityscapes made an appearance Thursday at a livestreamed Paris fashion show presenting designer Louis Vuitton’s fall-winter 2021 menswear collection. The jackets are part fashion, part architecture and part really awkward to wear on crowded subways.
Virgil Abloh, artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection, designed two of these “wearable miniature cityscapes.”
One, the “Paris Skyline Puffer,” dresses the wearer in French landmarks including the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame Cathedral and Eiffel Tower (which makes for quite a tall shoulder pad). The “New York City Skyline Puffer” features skyscrapers from New York and other cities, including the John Hancock Center in Abloh’s hometown of Chicago.
Louis Vuitton
“With his new Louis Vuitton collection, Virgil Abloh employs fashion as a tool to change predetermined perceptions of dress codes,” the fashion house says.
#LVMenFW21
Man-made myths. With his new Louis Vuitton collection, Virgil Abloh employs fashion as a tool to change predetermined perceptions of dress codes. Watch the performance on Twitter or https://t.co/6xVVOWQerS pic.twitter.com/fNgp59zD2z — Louis Vuitton (@LouisVuitton) January 22, 2021
The elaborately choreographed and staged multidisciplinary runway show blends fashion, poetry, movement and music. It took place at the Tennis Club de Paris against a modernist set inspired by the Barcelona Pavilion, which served as the German Pavilion for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, live onlookers couldn’t attend. You can, however, watch a film of the show, titled Peculiar Contrast, Perfect Light, and dream of a day when you can go places besides your living room wearing fancy clothes. Here it is:
High Concepts Flourished at Paris Men’s Fashion Week – SURFACE
FASHION High Concepts Flourished at Paris Men’s Fashion Week Presented in a “phygital” format, the marquee event offered compelling collaborations and hyper-conceptual takes on menswear in equal measure. We round up our favorites below.
Virgil Abloh’s Skyline Puffer Jackets The award for most WTF design goes to Louis Vuitton artistic director Virgil Abloh’s wearable cityscapes, two jackets lined in 3D architecture that were presented during a live-streamed runway show unveiling the brand’s fall-winter 2021 menswear collection. The Paris Skyline Puffer is adorned with familiar landmarks such as the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, and Notre Dame Cathedral, while the New York City Skyline Puffer showcases an amalgam of global skyscrapers, including the John Hancock Center in Chicago and Hong Kong’s I.M. Pei–designed Bank of China building. Shot at the Tennis Club de Paris against a modernist set inspired by the Barcelona Pavilion, the choreographed film, titled Peculiar Contrast, Perfect Light, mixed in elements of poetry, dance, and music. —Nate Storey
Thom Browne Childrenswear The perfect school uniform apparently resembles Thom Browne’s childhood Catholic school getup. the dapper American designer conjured an ode to his favorite schoolhouse outfit: a completely gender-neutral ensemble for children. It appears that his namesake gray suits have shrunk tinier than they already were, comprising a gray jacket, knit sweater, gray shorts/skirt, leather oxfords, and tube socks with Browne’s signature stripe motif. Unveiled in a short film by Cass Bird, Thom Browne Childrenswear features a miniature version of his signature wardrobe that was introduced part and parcel with the 2021 menswear collection. The black-and-white vignette is set in a midcentury office mise en scène where debonair children tap on vintage typewriters in choreographed fashion. These objects—no doubt completely foreign to them—result in a boredom-fueled tantrum. Bouncing off of the walls, the children are all wearing more or less the same thing, yet look completely different in their garb. “They were jumping on the desks and throwing things at each other,” Browne told The Cut. “They were being themselves. [Even though] they’re all wearing the same thing, the personalities of each and every one of them is so apparent.” —Gabrielle Golenda
Loewe x Joe Brainard Lately, Jonathan Anderson has used his platform to celebrate the creative forces that influenced him, from ceramics pioneer Ken Price to the beloved Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli. This season, the Loewe artistic director turns the spotlight to Joe Brainard, the late multi-hyphenate known for vibrant collages and autobiographical stream-of-consciousness texts that seem to transcend time. And the striking visuals of the Tulsa-born artist’s pansy collages are on full display in Loewe’s A/W 2021 collection, which translates his delicate floral formations onto vibrant tactile knits and tent-like trousers that elongate to reveal full artworks. On Instagram, meanwhile, Loewe hosted conversations between close friends and collaborators of Brainard, who died of AIDS-related causes in 1994. “[His] artwork and writing have a relevance not only to today’s world but to the future too, because people everywhere are delighted and encouraged by his openness, kindness, and courage, as well as the pleasure he took in sharing his work with his friends and admirers,” Ron Padgett, an American poet, explains in one of the videos. “Then there’s his artistic genius, which never goes out of style.” —Ryan Waddoups