Maxfield

My favourite store in Los Angeles, has to be, without any doubt, Maxfield. Located in West Hollywood, to be more accurate in the number 8825 on Melrose Avenue, this multi brand lifestyle store is fully packed with hidden gems among vintage one of a kind pieces and the most subversive selection of clothes of designers like Rick Owens, The Row or Ann Demmeulemeester! With a stark noir and moody setting, crystal cabinets display monkey heads with tiaras and taxidermia in danger of extinction species dressed to the nines overlooking the clientele, whose majority are A-listers. If you want to see Jude Law or Lindsay Lohan, head down to Maxfield and enjoy the experience of a lifetime, in how desperation mixed with money can turn into anxiety and no criteria whatsoever. She was buying a dreadful ensemble design for a flat chested kind of girl, he was buying clothes ideally made for Marilyn Manson. If to all this circus-like experience you sum up the fact that when you enter the side entrance(also the parking) you feel like arriving into Papua New Guinea or  the Pascua Island, caused by a gigantic, strategically placed, number of Monkey stone sculptures seating and waiting for you to step out and laugh at, from the dissapointment that comes after your frustrated trials of buying something that costs more than your house alone! Ladies and gents, save some cash for your life, if you want to live it to the max...Field that is!

Yves Saint Laurent

When you are born a genius, is hard to not be attracted by or aspire to be like one. That is exactly what happens when Yves comes to my mind. I remember once, when I was 10 years old, being asked what I would like to be when I grew up, and with an assured and firm answer replied: " I will take over the maison of Yves Saint Laurent". That was a clear hint for my parents, and also to myself, in a time where ballet, horses and literature were among my amenities in life. Monsier Saint Laurent was born in Argelia, still under French colony rights, in 1936, and created his couture house in 1960 after having an impressive curriculum of contest prizes and a firm position next to Christian Dior, whom will later replaced at his atelier in 1957 at only 21 years old (Is he a prodigy or what?). When creating the most influential pieces of a modern day women wardrobe like the saharienne, the tux, the trapeze dress or peasant blouse, his passion for art shine through every single detail, choice of fabric and colour scheme. Mondrian, Van Gogh or Matisse were a constant reference when brainstorming for an Haute Couture collection. Yves was also a lonely man, even though he had a long time companionship with Pierre Bergé(co-founder of the nowadays global brand YSL or French gay magazine Tetù) his depressive state of mind and his mood variations, found in Betty Catroux, not only a muse, but a confident to guide him through his deepest and most pesimist thoughts. A party goer and `bon vivant´ to the gallery, but an intimate, complex individual at home, Yves usually escaped to his villa in Marrakesh, where his lifestyle transformed from pure Parisian snobitty to refreshing bohemian rhapsody, all wrapped up in petroleum blue paint and surrounded by palm trees and water lillies!

Unfortunately everything has to come to an end. and my dear Yves Henri Donat Dave Matthieu Saint Laurent died of a heart attack in Paris in 2008. I know he is watching over me through his thick resin specs and with his both quirky and shy smile. Adieu Yves!