Lqd presents Grooming Care for men.
Deeply cleansing for lifting away excess oils while moisturizing the skin, Lqd Face Wash uses fragrance free, foamless ingredients to ensure healthy sooth skin after usage. Perfect for all skin types, Lqd is for the modern guy who cares about his daily skin care regimen.
Inspired by the Spanish lifestyle of classic refinement fashion designer Silva Lago created a shoe brand for the modern woman appreciating comfort but wanting style.
An exclusive Black and Paper interview with Silva Lago.
Why did you want to design shoes?
Silvia Lago was born out a personal need. I couldn’t find shoes that were both stylish and comfortable to wear all day. I had to choose between sophisticated but uncomfortable stilettos or more wearable but less stylish high heels. I moved to Alicante in Spain, one of the world’s regions of luxury shoemaking, to learn the art of shoemaking and start a new shoe line that offered both elegance and wearability. With the help and advice of a team of shoe experts, podiatrists, last artisans and biomechanical experts, we have developed the first high heel shoes that improve comfort without sacrificing a sophisticated look. Our shoes feature a reinforced structure, cushioned insoles with high performing materials, anti-bacterial leather linings, stable heels with shock-absorbing heel caps, etc.
Is the collection a reflection of you roots?
I try to reflect Barcelona’s cosmopolitan style in all of my collections. Also 
the 40’s and 50’s fashion style of Spain’s aristocratic women is also a constant inspiration, always so elegant and stylish dressed by couturiers such as Cristobal Balenciaga. My designs blend the vintage chic style with a more modern aesthetics reflected in updated materials and colors. I also like to use a very bright and shiny color palette -fuchsias, yellows, bright blues..- as a reflection of Spain’s lively atmosphere.
Why do you think women love having so many pairs of shoes in their closets?
Shoes are a “magical” fashion piece and, as such, they have the power to elevate any outfit. Shoes are our weakness, and that’s why we love to have so many pieces. Sometimes we fall in love with a pair and we have to have it, even if it’s uncomfortable or it doesn’t fit well. And that’s what we are trying to change! All of the shoes in you closet should be both comfortable and stylish. We design for the modern cosmopolitan women who need to be polished, comfortable and confident in her shoes.
Should women’s shoes be more practical?
Absolutely! Our brand was born with that idea in mind. There shouldn’t be beautiful shoes that are not practical or uncomfortable. We are women on the go and we need our shoes to accommodate our busy lives, not the other way around. We need fashion pieces that make us be more beautiful and comfortable in an effortless way, and comfortable shoes are a must.
Do you follow other shoe designers?
I am very inspired by other designers and their successful stories. I admire the timeless elegance and chic style of my fellow Spaniard Manolo Blahnik. I also feel very inspired by the story of Stuart Weitzman, he is a great designer and businessman as well! I also follow Sarah Flint, an emerging shoe designer from NYC, who is doing some great work.
Are your shoes more for the day or night?
My collection is a reflection of my customers life, ranging from office day wear kitten heels to more elevated embellished night stilettos. Most of our styles are very versatile and easy to transition from office formal to off-duty style. All of our shoes are designed with the modern women in mind, to make her feel comfortable and beautiful at the same time. Note the stylish block heels for all day wear and the thin but stable stilettos to enjoy comfortably for evening events.
For more information go to:Silvia Lago.
Goodbye Instagram! It was nice while it lasted but for some reason it never felt like a relationship beyond a necessary inconvenience. Black and Paper has decided December 31st will be the last day we post on the social media platform. The thirst is real on Instagram and we are not thirsty. In an Age of Unrepentant Self-promotion mixed with suspect followers and likes, this is not the place for us. It is better focus on our growing web site instead of getting lost in the mix of endless selfies. Black and Paper is about informing along with inspiring; promoting creative people and looking for wonderful things to share with our readers. We try to be genuine. If the product does not fit, we do not recommend like many influencers for hire. For these reasons we decided Instagram or “Instathirst” as we call it did not fit with our philosophy. A Big “THANK YOU” to our followers! We will post more pictures and commentary here on blackandpaper.com
There are some Christmas Adverts that deserve mentioning. The John Lewis Monster Under the Bed is one of them. It melted our hearts while making us laugh.
Part 2 of the Black and Paper interview with photographer Brice Hardelin on his exhibition L’Homme Couture: A Photographic Odyssey.
Brice and I had a good time talking about his work over a glass of white wine. His career is going forward in many directions. He had just completed a well received male firemen calendar. He gave me a tour of his collection displayed on the wall of the hotel before continuing our interview.
How did the W Hotel in Paris become involved in this project?
My agent called to ask if I wanted to be a part of Paris Artist. It is an association of 150 artists in the city. The Paris Artist asked if I wanted to exhibit at the hotel. I organized a meeting. I liked the style of the W. It is young, dynamic. When the association asked the hotel who they wanted, the team chose me. I know my pictures are provocative but the W Hotel was supportive of my work. There was no censorship.
What do you think of the artistic state of the world?
There are lots of things. It is too Politically Correct. It is more and more commercial and boring. . If you look at the big fashion magazines there are only places for big names and ads. There is no space for new people. And for the big brands would stay away from images like these on the wall in front of you. For them it is going too far. For me it is not far enough.
Is there a lack of freedom?
No! None! There is no freedom at all because they want the same pictures for their clients. I have nothing against it because they have beautiful products but when you are a person with a different vision who likes to mix things like an African Mask with a Cartier Necklace no magazine would publish it.
What do you think Instagram Photographers who are no considered professionals?
I understand the platform but I have a problem with the business they are doing because they are making people think they are famous. For me they are holiday, vacation pictures. It is nothing! (Laughing) It is reality television. On Instagram everyone wants to know what you are doing for lunch but no one really cares. A person sitting on the toilet then the viewer goes to another image of another person sitting on the toilet! MEANINGLESS! What is the purpose of having 50.000 followers and none of them can buy the product! I use it of course like everyone else.
I am an old fashion photographer. I like prints Internet in a way is the death of photography. I No one wants real pictures. They want one picture after another, quantity over quality.
What is your next project?
The exhibition runs until January. I have an exhibition in Belgium, then, I am looking for an editor for a book of my work. I have editorials but I am thinking about a shoot in Africa.
L’Homme Couture is on display at the W Hotel Paris until January 3rd 2018.
During London Fashion Week Men’s we met Nadja Solovieva, the creative director of luxury scarf brand Vassilisa based in London’s Knightsbridge area. Black and Paper asked her a few questions about her collection.
When you design a collection, what do you think about?
The brand Vassilisa has an overall unique brand DNA / Concept. Besides each collection has a number of themes of inspiration, which are developed and interlinked, and relate to the main brand concept. It is a typical St Martins method or working by sketch book, these creative processes are not always straight forward to explain to public.
Now you are designing menswear looks, why did you branch out?
We started noticing men increasingly buying our scarves, it has been an organic process of observing the demand.
Your scarves are strong, can you explain these looks?
These scarves are a design-led product, each collection has a story.
What materials do you use in the scarf collection?
We manufacture with the finest mills in Italy, materials are silk, cashmere and modal, this is an amazing yarn, highly ecological, made from beech tree cellulose, which has amazing thermogenic qualities in cold and also most perfect for hot weather. We work with finest materials and craftsmen.
For more information go to: Vassilisa.com
Elena Ghisellini presentation from Milan Fashion Week.
Part 1 of The Black and Paper interview with photographer Brice Hardelin at the W Hotel Paris.
What is the L’Homme Couture Exhibition?
The ideal started with an editorial I did 4 years ago men with women’s accessories and jewelry. I was approached to an editorial for Mellerio, the oldest jewelry house in Paris. The brand was celebrating its 400th anniversary. I had this idea to take a picture of a girl and a guy in their jewelry. They were a bit of surprised because the jewels are normally worn by a woman. The results were fantastic. I liked the images a lot so I decided to continue the story. That is what inspired my exhibition L’Homme Couture.
Is this a gender free exhibition?
We should be beyond labels. If you think about fashion history, men were extravagant. During the Greek and Roman empires, the Renaissance, and the 17th century men wore jewelry and make up. Now everyone wears suits and sports clothes. It is boring! I am a fashion photographer. Except some details, it is all the same. I wanted to show something different, something to make people react. There is no label on this. I am a man born in the 1980’s. There were all these pop groups from David Bowie and Duran Duran who wore make up and stylish clothes. Suddenly in the 21st century, all is conservative.
What attracts you to the male form?
I like muscled guys but thin. Fashion models are quite long. I was fashion photographer for women at first. When I came back from living in Montreal for a time, an agency contacted me to shoot a girl and guy for a test. The agent liked the images of the guys. After that I was getting booked to shoot male models. Other agencies in the city started sending me only male models. I was boxed into the reputation of working well with men. I have been doing it for 10 years. I do editorials with female models but with men time is not constrained. I can shoot fast and explore other elements. With female models there is more time needed to set ups on the hair and make-up.
What style of photographer are you?
Portraitist first then I am a fashion photographer. For me the person is more important than the clothes. I like character and attitude in front of the camera.
L’Homme Couture is on display at the W Hotel Paris until January 3, 2018.
Part 2 of the Brice Hardelin interview will be online soon.
For more information go:Brice Hardelin
During IFA 2017 I had an audiophile experience that boarded on life changing. I had the opportunity to listen to the Bang and Olufsen Beosound Shape, amazing, another dimension to sound quality.
The Black and Paper interview with Petros Belimpasaksi, head of Sound Category and Platform for Bang and Olufsen.
What is the history of the artwork influence of the Beosound Shape
Inspiration for the concept came from the designer’s experiences with poor room acoustics in an open space environment, something which is becoming increasingly problematic as a consequence of the breaking down of walls between e.g. kitchen and living rooms, where more people are in the same room, but doing different things at the same time. This is also often seen in hotel lobbys, airports and other large open spaces where a lot of things happen simultaneously.
If you need to adjust the room acoustics you need something that breaks up the large surfaces, you have to avoid straight surfaces and get the sound to bounce in different directions. A snow landscape with mountain tops inspired the design, when you see how light on snow is reflected differently and creating different colours of white when you look across the landscape.
We are working with basic mathematical shapes and the hexagonal shape was chosen because it is a great form for creating large volume efficiently and by combining it with the cube and the square, you get enough volume and an interesting shape, you can repeat and extend in all directions. In this case, even the negative space – where there are no tiles – is an important part of the design. It has a very strong decorative element and at the same time it improves the ‘auditive climate’ of the room.
Besides making sound systems, this system has the benefit of not only making great sound, it can also make great silence. A speaker system that creates a great atmosphere in the home, by its mere presence, especially if you have a lot of hard surfaces such as wooden floors, large concrete walls or glass surfaces.
The modularity and thereby the flexibility of this concept is an essential part of BeoSound Shape – by creating hexagonal tiles in different fabric and colour options, you get the possibility to create your very own shape or pattern using different colours and surfaces, and over time renew your look, size and performance as you please.
If fashion or your interior decoration change, it is merely a question of selecting a new colour or fabric tile and click the new cover onto the existing grid. New colour options will be introduced on an annual basis.
Describe the systems parts and specifications
Here are the main components:
On top of those, in every BeoSound Shape there is a “BeoSound Core”. BeoSound Core (http://www.bang-olufsen.com/core) is the connectivity hub that provides all the streaming technologies from the product (eg. WiFi, Chromecast, Apple AirPlay, DLNA, Spotify Connect, Bluetooth, etc)
If you would like to get the detailed spec for each component (e.g. power of amplifiers, size of speaker drivers, etc), I would recommend to simply visit the http://www.bang-olufsen.com/shape and scroll all the way to the end, at the “Technical Specification”.
We also have a great short video that explains all those details:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Blg2WM7qkx8
Is this a product for only series Audiophiles?
No, on the contrary. The way people live with sound is not necessarily the same or the same for one person at all times. Therefore “one size does not fit all”.
BeoSound Shape is a unique product for people that live with sound, even if in the background. They enjoy music, but it takes a less visual and prominent part of there lives.
They want to Balance technology in their lives to a greater extend. Having technology there, but more in the background. Design and customization is key. Many have multi-functional environments, where the traditional division between rooms disappear and rooms are becoming true living spaces for eating, working, relaxing and playing.
They also use music as a mood setter. And that is what music is most often for – setting a mood. And this in not only true in the privacy of the home, but is actually relevant for many public and business environments too. Music can make people slow down, relax, be mindful, in a party mode or a pace setter at the gym. Therefore it is also used in the professional scene in hotel lobbys, at work or restaurants and the like.
Is this device an investment or a purchase?
You could call it an investment, but not in the terms of financial investment. It is an investment that would allow you, your family and 
your friends to get most of enjoying time together. Enriching your daily life with music, enhancing your mood as well as improving your room acoustics and interior. So, all in all, improve in general your well being, as good lightning or good air quality do.
At the same time, the product has been designed to be a very long lasting product. You can easily change colors and fabrics, when you redecorate your home. Or, scale it up in size (or sound performance) if you move home and want something larger. Even with the fast moving technology, the “BeoSound Core” connectivity hub can easily be changed and upgraded, as technology updates come in the future (updates that cannot be delivered just with software updates). So indeed this is a product where the customer’s investment is respected and long lasting. That is compared to a world of “fast consumer electronics” and “consumable goods”.
To convince Black and Paper readers , what album would you recommend they try on the system?
Everything sounds great on the BeoSound Shape, especially as it is upmixed with out unique patented algorithm called “Band on the wall”, which gives a great spatial experience. If I was to recommend my personal favorite tracks, those would be: “Hey Laura” by Gregory Porter and “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars.