What kind of music is the soundtrack to your work?

Alan: We listen to everything, we listen to classical music, we listen to jazz, we listen to rock. When we’re designing we listen to a lot of instrumental stuff cause we kind of consiously say that jazz and classical music are really interesting because it’s behind everything. But we love music. We DJ all the time. Almost every of our collections have been inspired by a musician or someone in music we really love, but we play Iggy Pop to Vivaldi to Miles Davis to Richard Hell.

Timo: To newer stuff.

Alan: Like Lady Gaga. Hey, hey.

What’s with the empty picture frames?

Timo: Sometimes the frame is more special.

Alan: We’ve been doing this since we started our company, walls with empty frames.

Timo: Not even necessarily antique, some are new, or [from] different periods like Art Deco or Regency or gold—gilt.

What fashion or literary books are you reading right now?

Timo: Just Kids by Patti Smith, Beautiful Fall, The Fountainhead—This is my fourth time, and I’m just flying through it. It’s an eight hundred page book, but I’m reading it like it’s a little pamphlet.

Alan: I’m still reading Life by Keith Richards. It’s crazy, that guy had sex with so many women, and has a lot of kids flying around. But he has a really interesting outlook on life; he’s not just some washed up rock ‘n’ roll star.

Photography by Catharina Duval de Navarre

The new ad, shot by Annie Liebovitz and debuting this Wednesday, is part of Vuitton’s “Core Values” campaign. Starting in 2007, “Core Values” attempts to reach a broader audience while emphasizing the luxury brand’s travel roots.

Other celebrities that have showed their values for Louis V include Sean Connery, Keith Richards, Bono and Catherine Deneuve. Jolie’s ad will run for at least 18 months and will include an interview online at louisvuittonjourneys.com/cambodia in which she will talk about Cambodia, the plight of the Third World, blah, blah, blah — I get it, you’re better than all of us.

Meanwhile, it looks like LV basically shelled out a reported $10 million just to hang out with Angelina Jolie on a wooden boat in the middle of nowhere. An “undisclosed portion” of which, naturally, went to charity. [WWD]

*Bands. No solo acts were considered for this list. Or we all know Bowie would be up here.

#10 - NIRVANA

Kurt Cobain embodies the grunge revolution of the nineties. He synced the music to the laying low layered baggy flannel I-couldn’t-care-less look. It was an anti-fashion statement, a call to his own philosophy with reckless comfort, and thus it became fashion.

#9 – GUNS N ROSES

Of the glam metal hair bands that existed in thick of the eighties, Axel Rose and his lusciously locked bandmates were some of the most authentic in the genre. Their punk tinged solid rocker look made their shaggy manes manly. Power leather, head banging bandanas, faded shrunken graphic tees and hand cut effects complement their genuine rockstar songs.

#8 THE KILLERS

The intrinsic cool of Brandon Flowers emanates throughout The Killers. They create the kind of music that so easily sounds contrived when attempted by others, and the same goes for their look. Their polished quality with major statement, like feather shoulders or fur jackets, embodies both music and style in the best light.

#7 – OUTKAST

Big Boi keeps it hood. André 3000 blasts it into the future while tossing around a twenties vibe. He raised his waistline when no one else did and created mayhem with his look in “Hey Ya!” Their music is as smooth and superfast-paced as their appearance.

#6 – THE CLASH

As key players in the original wave of British punk, their shredded, zipped and right tight aesthetic weighed heavily in the formation of the genre. Their politically driven lyrics are backed by their F-you look and general badassery.

#5 – MGMT

This psych rock group from the here and now is a major reason that American Apparel stocked its shelves with blinding neon. Their exceptional style leads Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser to experimentation and wild inspiration. For instance, on their website a fan asks, “What inspired the fashion choice for Lolla[palooza] in Grant Park? You looked pretty hot in those jackets. (In every sense of the word.) Amazing.” Andrew’s answer? Quite amazing indeed.

#4 – LED ZEPPELIN

Gah, it’s effortless. The unbuttoned bare chested sexiness of Robert Plant is only upped by the fur collared leather trench of John Bohnam, complemented by the multi-tonal jacket on John Paul Jones and completed by Jimmy Page‘s slick tweed. Their ever present style had the same air as their music; the loudest, most soulful wails and riffs and rips always rode the chillest undercurrent.

#3 – JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE

Jimi Hendrix dressed like the psychedelic royalty he was. Purple and mind altering patterns enwrapped him as he lit guitars on fire, shredded it with his teeth, and as LSD dripped down from the scarf tied around his head (allegedly). The Experience was a spectacle; heady music enhanced tenfold by the showmanship of Hendrix.

#2 – THE ROLLING STONES

The Stones are the greatest vaudeville act of all time, never ceasing. Clothing slings on their rockstar bodies with ease, as does some of the greatest rock and roll ever performed pour out of them. They started out, much like The Beatles and every early British Invasion band thereafter in straight suits and matching haircuts. With time and money they evolved into wearing spectacle-worthy designer pieces like Mick Jagger’s Prada cock feather fedora or these pants. Keith Richards sparked the eyeliner earringed look that Johnny Depp so famously adopted for Captain Jack Sparrow. Undeniable sex appeal lies as much in their music as in style of larger than life, gender bending (yet deeply masculine) cool. And they’re still at it now.

#1 – THE BEATLES

The boys who brought rock and roll to the masses went through a series of evolutions in their seven years as a band. They began clean cut and mop topped, singing sweet yet earth shaking songs of holding hands, sharing secrets, twisting and shouting above the echoing shrieks and screams of crazed fans across the globe.  Always the epitome of class, they experimented with the finest suiting in the world, and it was Pierre Cardin who introduced them to the Indian Nehru jacket. Once they receded from the touring spotlight, they blossomed further as style icons. Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour brought psychedelia to the forefront with neon military regalia, wild paisleys, beads, thin chains, moustaches and acid. Onto The White Album, which they wrote most of while practicing transcendental meditation in an ashram, they developed further spiritually and grew into newer versions of themselves. John Lennon was looking more like Jesus every day, and solidifying his round spectacle staple. Paul McCartney kept charmingly classy, now paring back the brights. George Harrison grew ever more spiritual, keeping a relaxed finery about him. Ringo was actually the most fashionably daring of the four, hamming up the giant rings and divinely accessorizing. The Beatles were indisputable trendsetters as their image and sound transformed through time, transforming the world around them.

The first piece that hits me is this massively belled bottom structure that appears to be double breasted all the way to the floor. A skirt?

NO. Gotcha. They’re pants! Which I could only tell when she shifted her stance. I need them immediately.

I round the corner onto the next looks, and who do I run into? Johnny Weir! Yes, the two-time-national-gold-olympian-international-figure-skating-popstar-cum-fashionality was browsing Timo in a fa-a-abulous bow tie and Timo Weiland suit.

He was totally sweating the skirt all the way across the room. I’ll go out of order here for just a moment to show you the folded layered thinner than paper skirt that Johnny calls his fave.

Going back in time, we reach the brilliantly spotted non-pictorial landscape. I got flashes of Georges Seurat, only digitized and far more abstract. I asked Timo’s design partner about it – hear his response in the interview below.

My first impression of the prints both on scarf in the foreground and on the shiny gold black jacket in the background was a metallic nineties Africa. And this shirt in front is really quite unique. It’s made from gold and ivory threads, woven into netting.

Here, take a closer look at this impossibly fine material.

Three suit-y looks I like came toward the end were glazed with granite. And check the muff – I want to put my hands all up in there.

I got to talk with Timo Weiland and his design partner Alan Eckstein as they floated around the room greeting friends and journalists alike, and basking in a job well done. They gave some fine insight into how the collection came to be, and why. (Pardon my video-phone quality. Sadly, it’s a Blackberry, not an iPhone.)

In case you couldn’t see in the vid, this is Timo’s personal favorite look to wear.

And that wraps up Timo Weiland’s fantasy trip through time and space and personality. Thanks for coming with me.

Gao’s gorgeous face will grace LV’s campaigns after LVMH posted a 26% jump in sales during the first 9 months of 2010, in comparison to the previous year. According to reports, Chinese men were largely responsible for this growth as they spent more money on luxury goods than their female counterparts.

Louis Vuitton no doubt hopes that Asian men will positively respond to someone who reflects their culture representing the brand, but Chris Kyme, founder of a Hong Kong creative ad agency, thinks it might have the opposite effect:

“If your target audience in Louis Vuitton is for Chinese guys, I’m not sure this would appeal to men. It seems like it would appeal more to women. Chinese guys want to feel reassured and congratulated on their success rather than be shown a pretty model with their product.”

Kyme believes that Louis Vuitton ads that featured celebrities like Keith Richards and Bono “are better suited (*cough* racist *cough*) to the brand and its demographic.”

Well pu pu platter on you, Chris Kyme. I don’t know about Chinese guys but this ad sure appeals to me and I’m glad to see some more diversity in advertising.

Besides, Godfrey Gao is a celebrity. You clearly need to catch up on your I Want to Become a Hard Persimmon.

Link Love: Wall Street Journal

Since he’s not being a pirate, snorting his dad’s ashes, or falling out of coconut trees, Sir Keef is keeping himself busy on a promo tour for Life, his new autobiography. And just in case you thought the Stones were kaput after their most recent world tour, you’re bloody wrong. As Richards tells BBC 6 Music,

Louis Vuitton decided to donate 15 percent of all sales from its U.S. Web site that day to The Climate Project, the non-profit organization founded by Al Gore.

They first partnered with The Climate Project in 2007, when it started
making donations on behalf of some of the personalities in Vuitton’s
Core Values advertising campaign.

The campaign has featured the
likes of Catherine Deneuve, Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi, Sean Connery,
Keith Richards and Francis Ford and Sofia Coppola.

“Over the
past few years Louis Vuitton has voluntarily made efforts to reduce the
impact of its activities on the environment,” Daniel Lalonde, president
and chief executive officer of Louis Vuitton North America said. “In
addition we are proud to be able to support The Climate Project.”

LINKAGE: WWD

And in more creative news from the world of LVMH, I just saw the Louis Vuitton creative with Keith Richards (this is delayed I know, but I’ve been catching up on my magazine reading). And, sweet Jesus, that man looks terrible—an LV suitcase would probably look better if it had accompanied him on all his world tours (though he, um, doesn’t seem the LV type, which makes the company’s choice to use him as spokesmodel rather odd). Either way, let this be a lesson to all you vain kids out there—just say no to drugs (or you’ll look like Uncle Keith).

Remember that Keith Richards Louis Vuitton ad?  Well this is the video for the much hyped ad campaign with the aging rock star.  Enjoy and then try to figure out why the hell Louis Vuitton suddenly sucks and can only be relevant when hyping collections from past seasons in Brooklyn Art Museums. Get back on the needle Marc. We need some inspiring ad campaigns pronto.

Interesting interview I found courtesy of TimesOnline.

At 64, Keith Richards hasn’t mellowed. With Shine A Light, Martin Scorsese’s documentary on the Rolling Stones, recently released, he could focus on the autobiography he is co-writing with James Fox, the author of White Mischief. Or he could begin cataloging his 3,000 guitars. Either way, he won’t worry much about the planet, despite starring in the recent Louis Vuitton ad, for which service Vuitton donated a fee to Al Gore’s Foundation.

“I’ve been invented by the media. I’m just a minstrel. I didn’t want to be a rock star, just play music. I realized that to do that, you had to be famous. It has nothing to do with wanting to be a star.”

“Bill Wyman is the biggest dandy. But Charlie Watts is the most stylish member. He spends his time on the beauty and the cut of clothing. There he is on Savile Row, and I’m the fashion icon? When I got older I wore my old lady’s clothes. If you notice, all the buttons are the other side.”

” I wore whatever my mother put me in when I was little. Boring shorts and wee T-shirts. I wore school uniforms. I hated brown shoes. I started dressing up when I had to find what fitted. Fashion thinks more about me than what I think about it. I just wore what I wore and people noticed. The sexiest thing a woman could wear? Being stark f***ing naked.”

“Show me a woman who is faithful, and I won’t believe you.”

“I don’t do underwear. I never do the washing. How would I know whether my clothes stink? I throw them away.”

“I love books … a well-dressed mind! Patrick O’Brian, Milton and Shakespeare are my favorite writers. And then the Bible. King Lear is my favorite character who isn’t insane. It’s only people who are insane who think they’re not.

“Skulls remind us that underneath it all, we are all the same. Beauty is only skin-deep.”

“I can’t say I’m bothered about the fate of the planet. I got a guitar case out of Louis Vuitton. They paid me a lot of money and it’s all going to charity. I’m going to charity.”