Leave it to Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant to create the most glamorous Hollywood-inspired collection of shapewear for Maidenform‘s 90th Anniversary. Since its inception on the market in 1922, the all-American intimates and activewear brand has been known and loved for celebrating curves and feminity in an innovative way – we’re talking about the company that filed the patent for the first prototype of the modern seamed uplift brassiere back in the late 1920′s.

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What a pleasure it is to watch Kiki Valdes‘ steady rise to fame! The young Cuban American expressionist painter living in New York – whom we’ve covered before on the site for his curatorial work on “The Outsiders” – has recently joined the Michael Margulies Artist Agency, a Miami-based agency that specializes in the representation and marketing of contemporary artists, as well as artist estates. Have a look at some of his most recent body of work:

Bulls Head (2010)

“I’ve always been extremely cautious about who I work with when it comes to my art practice. When I moved from Miami, I knew I had to find someone down there with the tenacity and influence to do more ambitious projects with. Michael Margulies has always been very kind to me and I am attracted by the fact that he really is just starting to show what he can do. His future in representing artists is going to be very strong.

I’m very impressed with his sense of duty to the art community and to the artists he represents. We pretty much decided to work together while drinking beer during St. Patties Day.That is exactly the kind of person I want to work with. He isn’t a gallery director; he’s an agent who works with galleries and very influential collectors. What he’s doing is very innovative, very 2.0,” Valdes explains.

The Beast (2011)

Columbia (2010)

Rivals (2011)

Joke 24 (2010)

Face-Time (2012)

Young American beauty Anna Speckhart channels Jim Morrison’s one true love Pamela Courson in this melancholic fashion story and film by Jason Lee Parry for Trendi Magazine. The editorial was shot in Laurel Canyon on Rothdell Trail, the “Love Street” of the same-named Doors song, where Pam and Jim used to sit on the balcony for hours, drinking and watching hippies walk by. Although the three bedroom flat was remodeled and caught on fire countless times until today, somehow it still feels like it got lost in time somewhere in the 1960′s. And if the legend is to be believed, the place was a wreck for the longest time after Jim’s death; hippies could just walk in, hang out and get drunk in good spirit. What goes around comes around…

She lives on Love Street 
Lingers long on Love Street

She has a house and garden 
I would like to see what happens

She has robes and she has monkeys 
Lazy diamond studded flunkies

She has wisdom and knows what to do 
She has me and she has you

I see you live on Love Street 
There’s this store where the creatures meet

I wonder what they do in there 
Summer Sunday and a year

I guess I like it fine, so far

She lives on Love Street 
Lingers long on Love Street

She has a house and garden 
I would like to see what happen

La, la, la, la, la, la, la 
La, la, la, la, la, la, la

Photography & Art Direction – Jason Lee Parry

Director & DP – Gandja Monteiro

Model – Anna Speckhart w/ Marilyn Models

Styling – Henna Koskinen

Makeup & Hair – Karoliina Kangas

Assistant Director – Hannah Schick

Photo Assistant – Caleb Barton

Post Production Assistant – Eduardo Maceiros

Special Thanks – Trendi Magazine & Kelsea Davis

Russian beauty Toma Barkova looks like a 1940′s screen goddess catapulted in the 21st century in a cheeky new editorial shot by Lev Efimov for Bambi Magazine‘s 10th issue. And since photography and music go along so well together, our very own DJ Wednesday has prepared a sexy playlist to get you inspired to turn on the heat in the bedroom this weekend… TGIF!

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Not only is Drew Barrymore the most charming actress of Hollywood and our ultimate girl crush, she also apparently makes pretty damn good wine. In fact, her first release – a Pinot Grigio made from grapes sourced in the Triveneto region in northern Italy – has already received a gold medal in France at Le Challenge International du Vin.

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Andy Patch is a young cinematographer, photographer, illustrator and activist based in Los Angeles. The fiery artist channels his rebellious ideas and impulses into elaborate drawings that are just as surreal they are evocative; it’s like symbolism on acid. Here’s a look at some of his best work so far:

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I discovered London-based fashion photographer Chris Floyd while scouring the Web for my next best Agent Provocateur outfit. He was recently commissioned to create a lookbook to showcase our fave brand’s 2012 Classics range of undergarments and decided to make a bold move in his artistic approach; inspired by the work of iconic photographer Bill Brandt, he used a wide angle lens to shoot them stunning babes; ”Wide angle lenses are anathema in fashion photography, longer lenses are more flattering to the features and compress the subject so that it’s easier to make everything look softer and more beautified. I liked the idea of going against the grain for Agent Provocateur in this way,” Floyd explains. Let’s just call it a wild angle lens, ok?

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Since I’m always up for providing entertainment to you, beloved readers, I thought an elegant, French brothel inspired lingerie video lookbook featuring yours truly would be a fun addition to our Sex section -  especially knowing for sure that it would be executed in an absolutely tasteful way by my girl Desanka Fasiska (Desanka Design) in collaboration with New York photographer Chris Clinton.

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After we previewed Herakut‘s “Loving The Exiled” exhibition at 941 Geary in San Francisco last week, I was lucky enough to get a quick chat with Hera – the female half of the dynamic duo – and to get real deep in this Q&A about their twisted symbolism, wonderful partnership and the luxury of doing art. Here are some shots of the opening night as well as a few great portraits, photographed by Abby Wilcox.

Hera and Akut

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SGC NYC‘s new  SS12 campaign is titled “Transparent Generation,” which reflects (literally) the fact that most of the garments in the collection are made out of sheer materials, but also (metaphorically) how everybody’s life on the Internet is absolutely overexposed. The video lookbook shot by Bon Duke features the gorgeous Taylor Warren lost in a New York hotel room without any communications device except for a very beige touch tone telephone; “basically the idea behind the video is a girl cut off from the Internet and TV, sort of just a little social commentary as to how she would she would pass her time,” designer Jason Alfano explains.

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We couldn’t be more excited for Stockholm footwear label Swedish Hasbeens to land in L.A. at one of our favorite locales, American Rag. The pop-up shop (opening tonight, psst!) will feature a new SS12 sporty collection inspired by the 1940s-50s, which includes a saddle shoe, a driving shoe, beach sandals, bowling boots and more. So poppy and fun I just want to live in them all summer.

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Florida-based fine artist Brianna Marie Angelakis‘ moody, poetic narrative and profound color palette caught my eye instantly. The young, promising painter (born 1990) paints with oils on the natural fibers of wood; “the imperfections of the wood remind the observer of the beauty found in nature, assisting in the release of the observer and herself into a natural world of reflection through past memories and experiences,” she explains in her artist statement. Have a look at some of our favorite pieces below:

Artemis on the Hunt

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Los Angeles photographer Brandy Eve Allen specializes in atmospheric storytelling. Ciao L.A. is a photographic memoir of the time she spent living in Italy in her early twenties, the tale of “a girl on a journey through language, love, culture, art and the ways it fucks with the heart.” Peek at this weird, provocative and undeniably beautiful collection of images below; they might just inspire you to shake your routine up a bit. And that would be a good thing.

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Seems like a lot of people are interested and taking positive action about food lately; whether it’s quitting fast food, deciding to start buying organic or going gluten free, the pursuit of a healthier lifestyle is all the buzz in America. Here at Live Fast we’ve recently dedicated serious energy and passion to put together a comprehensive holistic detox program with the help of ShapeShift‘s Kat Turner. But beyond getting educated about what to put on your plate, there is a lot to learn about the nation’s food system, and it all starts where to food actually comes from, and the conditions under which it was harvested.

A few days ago I caught up with my friend Sanjay Rawal, founder of the Illumine Group, a company specialized in nonprofit development, corporate social responsibility and humanitarian aid. His newest documentary project, Food Chain, aims to tell the story of hundreds of thousands of farm workers who suffer some of the worst human rights abuses to pick the food we eat everyday! Please watch this video teaser and read our conversation with Rawal who just got back from spending 8 months on the road gathering precious knowledge about the dirty, vicious secrets of the U.S. farming industry and the tools to make essential changes.

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Just when I needed an excuse to stock up on my favorite delicacy, Caviar Kaspia commissioned graffiti artist Andre Saraiva to create a colorful limited edition box label inspired by the look of a magic box to “access to a world beyond reality,” which is literally what your taste buds will experience when the precious little eggs pop in your mouth!

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Herakut‘s new solo show “Loving the Exiled” opens this Saturday at 941 Geary gallery in San Francisco and we’ve rounded up a few great shots of the amazing German artistic duo painting in preparation.

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