YSL vs The London Lite - huh?

Every weekday in London on pavements near tube stations nice Indian looking men - charming and polite all - shove free newspapers into commuters hands. There were two London freesheets until this week - London Paper and London Lite. London Paper closed this week. So now I only have to feel sorry for one desperate vendor, and read one paper instead of comparing two in order to judge which has the better interpretation of the news. (All journalists do this, we can't help it.) I think this should make me happy - less paper waste, less mindless reading of popcorn journalism etc. Truth be told though, I like getting free information given with a smile. It's part of the buzz of living in a great, teeming, vibrant city like London. Which brings me to the point of this post - the fact that Yves Saint Laurent will, on September 12 at selected London locations (and many other cities besides) be giving away a free newspaper called Manifesto. This paper will be within a specially designed canvas bag, the back and front of which is shown above, and will feature visual highlights of the label's Autumn collection. For YSL fans it will be something to seize with intent, and there will be great smugness and satisfaction in ownership. But what if you just happen upon a YSL Manifesto vendor by chance? What if like thousands of busy commuting Londoners you just take it mindlessly? This is how I'd love to get my copy - just by chance, unknowing of the content. What a pleasure it would be to be greeted by striking imagery by photograhers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin of the most beautiful of the supermodels Christy Turlington wearing YSL. Getting a copy of Manifesto on the off-chance and being blown away by it, is an experience someone will have. And I think I'm jealous. I like how YSL creative director Stefano Pilati is just putting it out there. He's also doing the whole SocMe thing on Twitter and FB. Who knew high fashion could be so democratic and random in a good way? Bring it on....

Does Karl love Petit-Mal? We do...

I first came across the the Petit-Mal fanzine last season during Paris. On a long rainy night waiting for McQueen to start, my favourite compadre in the fashion world, who also happens to be an eminent critic, pulled a copy out of her bag and enthused while I hungrily waited to feast on what turned out to be rubbery sushi. What I saw in the dimly lit booth was a cacophony of vintage looking "Biff" "Bam" "Pow" graphics, telling a comic-book story using supermodels in place of Batman & Robin et al. I made encouraging noises, but I didn't SEE it for the brilliant thing it is. Oh how I hate it when that happens! Open mind......

Turns out these guys are turning the "serious business" of capturing beauty, hair and fashion-line-ups from backstage in an arty photographic way on its head. And in the funnest way possible are turning the bedlam into comic-book brilliance, and the models are all in on it and taking part! Anyway I think I've just caught the wave on this one before it goes majorly mainstream, because in the last week Petit-Mal has tunnelled straight into the centre of my consciousness. I hear its Sydney based art directors/graphic designers Shane Sakkeus and Jonathan Zawada are about to make an onslaught at London Fashion Week in collaboration with TopShop. Can't wait to see what they've been up to. And I know this is just the start of something fabulous, as for the entire SS10 shows they have full access backstage in every city for the first time. V magazine have called Petit-Mal the "new Vogue", I say it's Marvel meets Viz - classic! For now I will leave you to enjoy the above - just drink it in. I can't get enough of Karl's expression, really it's too funny. It's from their new issue, check it out here .