The promise of the new has its cost. Spring may be a time of fresh starts but birthing something new is no easy matter. The very newness of the season has its price. This spring it is pain and rawness that gives us the inspiration for the light and mesmerizing clothing of the season. Light textiles, cool colors, and metallic sheens that span spring and fall from Harlan Bel, Alice Ritter and Trovata sit beautifully on a layer of struggle that has us savoring the joy even as we contemplate the cost of the new. Elite Fresh Faces, Margaret Pridgen, Kyla Jamieson, and Marie Lunde Fossdal's ability to hold the space between joy and sadness brings the editorial alive. Their pale beauty reminds us of John Keat's La Belle Dame sans Merci evoking a hint of the flip side of birth. But even in death there is still the new waiting to arise. And lest we have a silent spring in which "no birds sing" we should take the time to remember, fresh from the womb, the pain of entering the world is the price we pay for spring. And that makes the light even stronger.

Harlan Bel's Brand Lunsford may hail from the South but her clothing knows no such cultural bounds. From pleasing pleats to trim bodice hugging tops, her work ranges from the flirty to the alarmingly seductive. And while we see the sweetness that could be attributed to a Southern "Bel" mentality we think Lunsford's work transcends neat categorization. While her motto for spring is "brighter, fresher, cleaner" there is a certain comforting structure and definition even in the lightness. Her spring collection is a quiet collected success. Slim high waisted pants, short skirts, a hint of sportswear and royal blue among traditional spring whites and grays make it a well edited and versatile collection. Her first Fall 2008 collection (featured today in La Belle Dame sans Merci) flows beautifully into spring, making a seamless transition. In a sea of young contemporary independent designers Harlan Bel has a perspective all its own.

Wayne Liu is a photographer, born in Taiwan, who currently resides in New York. An exhibition of his work, entitled, "China, You Are A Luck Star" is currently showing at Chelsea Market. In his show, he captures the landscape of modern China, using black and white film. This week, on Coutorture, Liu shot garments from the Chris Han Spring/ Summer 2008 collection without any direction from us, save for the styling. Our interview with Liu, below.


Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you first became interested in photography?
I studied cinema for one year in Taiwan but dropped out because I didn’t feel right fitting in working with a crew. Shooting for me is solitary so I had less adjusting problems. But now that I’ve been more socially adaptive, I also enjoy collaborating with some friends.


How are these collaborations different now, what about the relationship has changed? Or have you changed?
Living the past 9 years in NYC, I’ve met many people along the way. After coming back from my one-month travel to China, I went through old negatives and found some snapshots of them that I had never printed. Alongside, I have been contacting others to come back to my life for a chat and photograph them as a document of whom I had befriended.


What are some of the main themes that you pursue in your photography? Why is this compelling to you?
When photographing in urban streets, the constant flow of people may either cause one to a scatterbrain existence and/or focus right into one’s obsessions, which in my case would be the city as my mis-en-scene and the individuals that navigate within, especially beautiful women in passing that I could not connect with due to the rules of the urban environment.


Is this scatterbrained existence, this anonymity resulting in idiosyncrasy, a natural human state? In other words, is it forced upon us or is it our most comfortable position?
I suppose it may relate to the complexities of our society and it’s distribution of information to each individual receiver. If each interprets without an authority (which happens to be the case even in dictatorial China), then where and what is our communication? Each person comes with their conditioning which speak forth as an obsession. I try photographing whatever I see (and not dwell in my desires ad infinitum) to show a range of objects that may strike a conversation of something other than myself. But the girls I shoot do open up a certain, dare I say, innate sadness I feel around.


The exhibit of your work currently at Chelsea Market, “China, You Are A Lucky Star”, was reviewed by one writer with the following reaction, Wayne is looking at a modernizing China. He identifies himself as a voyeur looking in. The visual texture of the images stands in contrast to the emotional tenor. The images repeatedly focus on individuals, singling them out of the crowd or catching them in isolation. They are content to glide between the gritty modernization of their country, and the aggressive photographic style. What is your reaction to this review? Would say it’s an accurate description of your exhibit?
Photographing is by definition an aggressive act and/of representing the world. It forces upon the viewer memories that may or may not be true, whilst I’m reminded when and how I print in the darkroom that everything from the negative is eventually my interpretation of what had happened.


In fashion, these interpretations have become paramount to the eventual messages we send. Does this power, of the photographer in the darkroom (or on his computer), ever become more powerful than his subject or his context? Or does the truth always come first?
Photography is a language guided by exposure to light and a rehashing of the world. The conquering power of tools have been with us for some time, but I feel regardless how I may print, the initial lure of what I shoot in the world haunts me still.


Link: Haunted by Wayne Liu

Maybe it's taken you a while to catch on, and hey, np. Coutorture, aside from the writing, the photo galleries, the videos, and the network, is producing it's own photo shoots, refreshed a few times each week, to give you our say on fashion (without you know, too much of the pedantic say). That's right we're shooting and shooting, and barely breaking for lunch (although Dumont burgers have been known to be ordered), and in the midst of this madness, we've enlisted some of our friends and heros to shoot for us as well. This week, we're featuring a Coutorture exclusive by Wayne Liu, a photographer whose subjects do not catwalk nor pose. Hell, that's one of the main reasons why we wanted to work with him. For a fashion website, we kind of like that sort of thing.


The shoot took place on one sunny Saturday in a former public school house (now studio space for artists), in the Lower East Side. Liu brought his ICP (no, that's not the Insane Clown Posse) friends/colleagues/assistants (who can tell these days) and we all drank a couple of pots of coffee and ran around the place. There were photographers, models, photographers who were models, artists who were wondering why these strange faces were drinking coffee in their doorways. Liu was not drinking coffee, but shooting in the crooks of the place. We swear, we only saw an elbow, bootlace, and wisp of hair from him all day (we caught up later).


For the shoot, we've dressed the models in some pieces from the Chris Han Spring/Summer 2008 collection. Han's ethereal inspiration, her ability to make clothes that are wearable but still beautiful, coincided nicely with Liu's ability to bring out a haunted rawness in his subjects.


Links:
Haunted by Wayne Liu
Chris Han Spring 2008 Collection
Chris Han Pre-Fashion Week Studio Visit
Chris Han Fall 2008 Collection & backstage interview
Chris Han Spring 2008 In Brace Yourself

Siwy denim, the New York based label, has given us some non-frock alternatives for Summer. Usually in the summer, our jeans rotation slows down and emphasis is put on only the best and most comfortable pairs. Siwy is one of the only denim lines around that really designs a Spring/Summer collection. It's not just a lighter wash, it's everything from color to rise to cut, that's considered. This fact alone makes Siwy a prime candidate for dominating the top three spots of the coveted summer denim rotation. This season, our favorite styles include the Carmen shorts, a low rise, single pleat pair with rounded side seams (which equal breathing room) and the Selma, a slouchy boot cut pair that we can vividly imagine with our favorite ex-boyfriend t-shirt and canvas sneakers. What's more, this season's most prominent washes are a crisp white, midnight, and classic blue which decidedly cover all of our basic summer denim needs.