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April 29, 2013

Arizona Muse: Natural Beauty

The Model Channels Her Inner Animal for James Houston’s Eco Photo Series

Sporting a feathered mohawk, Arizona Muse communes with a crow in James Houston’s short for his green initiative, Natural Beauty. A mix of still and filmed portraits, Houston’s project features foremost environmentally conscious celebrities and top models—including Emma Watson, Brooke Shields and Karlie Kloss—and simple natural objects. “I was looking at the relationship between man and nature. We are really one and the idea of including the crow and Arizona worked well to illustrate that,” explains Houston. “It’s a dramatic journey of flight.” The images are showing at both the New York and Los Angeles outposts of MILK gallery and are showcased in an accompanying book that released in conjunction with World Earth Week 2013. Houston has shot innumerable campaigns for the likes of L'Oréal Paris, Donna Karan and Gap, but Natural Beauty is a project close to his heart and aims to raise awareness and funds for the non-profit Green Global USA, with all book royalties and a hefty percentage of print sales going directly to the environmental cause. 

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Carl Burgess for Nike

The Filmmaker Maps His All-Terrain Homage to Running

For their latest creative collaboration, Nike challenged film director, designer and dedicated jogger Carl Burgess to artistically interpret the exhilaration of running. The shape-shifting globe that appears today on NOWNESS is his answer. Burgess traversed London for the mission, recording the sounds of his journey and documenting its underfoot visuals with his Canon 5D. “We had the essence of the run in data and I wanted to bring it to life,” he explains. Burgess added vibrant colors and topographical embellishments to digital 3D renderings of his photos. He then timed the rotation of the spherical collage to the fluctuating speed of his run, as measured by Nike+ technology that analyzed the athlete's pace through a computer chip in his shoe. “When you go on a run, your mind wanders. You forget where you are. I wanted to show that,” Burgess says of his swirling psychedelics. It's not the first time he's harnessed digital manipulation for innovative results: the former art director for digital agency Hi-ReS! amassed a cult following for his 2010 video for Ratatat’s "Drugs," which tweaks stock footage of actors with forced promotional smiles sourced from Getty images.

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Spotlight

Corto Moltedo's Pool Party

A Splashy Film Celebrates the Italian Accessories Brand's New Milan Boutique

Wearing violet Speedos to set off a deep bronze tan, Italian playboy Carlo Mancuso cuts a memorable figure in today’s NOWNESS premiere. But the film's true stars are the spring 2011 designs from Corto Moltedo: crystal studded and neon patent clutches emblazoned with the brand's signature cassette motif. Designer Gabriele Corto Moltedo, whose parents founded Bottega Veneta, commissioned Paris-based director Dustin Lynn to mark the opening of his Milan boutique in the city's high-end Via Montenapoleone fashion district (his other shop is in the Palais Royal) and his e-commerce store. Shot at the lush Padua abode of the designer’s mother, the short sees Moltedo and Mancuso fall under the spell of model Alicia Rountree and her glinting accessories. "We wanted the [design] signature to come across filmically, always tracing a line of sexual metaphor, but without taking ourselves too seriously," says Lynn, adding that Mancuso was perfect: "Hugh Hefner, John Waters, and Marcello Mastroianni from Divorce, Italian Style all rolled into one." Moltedo’s self-proclaimed “pop-luxe chic” aesthetic is a world away from the classic woven leather pieces associated with his parents’ classic brand, but the label prides itself on the same commitment to craftsmanship. 

Facehunter will be at the store’s starry opening in Milan tonight; check back tomorrow for photos of the glamorous attendees.



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