New Highs, May 10-16
The Paraphernalia Index of Who's Doing It Right
I’ve noticed that everybody loves a fucking list, so now I’m keeping one. Welcome to NEW HIGHS. An every-so-often roundup of important aesthetic enhancements to your one and only lifetime. Madonna once said “beauty’s where you find it.” (Vogue, 1990. Prod. Madonna & Shep Pettibone. SIRE/Warner Bros. 0-21513) Am I making sense here?
Did everybody stand in line and buy their SALEM Supreme collaboration pieces this morning? Did you gawk at the cataclysmic campaign film directed by SALEM and Tommy Malekoff? I’m fascinated by the few people in Supreme’s Instagram comments who don’t know SALEM’s work, or who lack the superfluous, byzantine knowledge to genuflect appropriately. Maybe you should start with the most comprehensive and dizzying Google Sheet ever conceived and get up to speed on the scope of this band. The body of work is peerless.
Vaquera announced their first fragrance in collaboration with Comme des Garçons Parfums, called Classique Perdu. Coming on the heels of their Melted Aviator sunglasses, they’re having what industry experts academically refer to as a hot streak. Per the description (CAPS LOCKS theirs):
A NEW SCENT THAT FEELS LIKE A PERFUME YOU ONCE KNEW, THEN FORGOT. YOU HAVE JUST STUMBLED UPON IT IN THE BACK OF A THRIFT STORE SHELF. INSPIRED BY THE SCENT OF PERFUME ADS IN 90S FASHION MAGAZINES, THE SCENT OF FRESHLY DRIED HAIR AFTER A SHOWER, THE SCENT OF YOUR CHILDHOOD CAR’S AIR CONDITIONING, AND THE METALLIC SPARKLE OF A SUMMER DRINKING FOUNTAIN—WOVEN WITH MYSTERY, NOSTALGIA—CLASSIQUE PERDU INVITES YOU TO REDISCOVER A FRAGRANCE THAT FEELS BOTH FAMILIAR AND FORGOTTEN, AN ICONIC SCENT LOST AND FOUND AGAIN.
It’s available now.
I’m not in Cannes (I’m in Paris) but I wish I was. I miss it. I crave and desire it. It’s where I belong, etcetera. There’s nothing like seeing the most galvanizing selections from the coming year of international cinema and going into all of it totally blind, in one of the most beautiful places on earth. The lineup titles are so unknown to me, that I am lazily obsessing most over the Cannes Classics section, consisting of newly restored prints of beloved films. This year’s selection is dedicated to the memory of production designer Dean Tavoularis (the Godfather films, Apocalypse Now, Zabriskie Point, Bonnie & Clyde, One From The Heart, Rumble Fish), the sort of gesture that always gets me where it counts. The lineup includes 4K restorations of Jerzy Skolimowski’s Moonlighting (1982), Giuseppi Patroni Griffi’s Metti, Una Sera A Cena (1968) co-written by Dario Argento, Ken Russell’s The Devils (1971), Vittorio De Sica’s Two Women (1960), and others from Luchino Visconti, Roger Corman, Akira Kurosawa, Orson Welles, and a strong Studiocanal lineup. This is good news for everyone, because it means these 4K restorations will be distributed on Blu-Ray or programmed internationally in the near future. If you’re on-site, definitely check out the Cinéma de la Plage schedule, it’s always fun to watch a movie on the beach with a bottle of Veuve. It’s called being alive.
Harry Nuriev’s The City physicalizes the hyper-obsessive consumerism (and attendant waste) a lot of substacks are evincing of late. I missed it in Paris, and I guess then it was in Berlin? Whatever, you get the vibe. Spiritually, I relate to the idea.
MADONNA CONFESSION II WORLD PREMIERE TRIBECA FESTIVAL JUNE 5TH DIRECTED BY TORSO. Torso was subsequently “unmasked” as David Toro and Solomon Chase in the press release for this, which also revealed a post-screening Q&A would take place, hosted by Jimmy Fallon. David and Solomon have never kept their identity a secret but being press shy and using a joint pseudonym has confused more than a few people. You might know their work as Torso across music videos, campaigns, and films for the likes of Dior, Courrèges, Jean Paul Gaultier, Luar, Mugler, Telfar, Charli xcx, etc. Or maybe you’ve seen their editorials in RE-EDITION, Carcy, Dazed, i-D, Buffalo, MYTH, CR Fashion Book, or Interview. They’re also one half of DIS. I happen have it on good authority that this Madonna film is going to be extremely headless. I’m using this as an excuse to post a personal favorite video of theirs:
I finally read Famesick, and it really is as startlingly frank and genius as everyone says it is. Lena Dunham’s memory for detail is so lucid and phenomenal, it operates as a sort of a breathless, comedic, stream-of-consciousness—while somehow remaining disarmingly unpretentious? Each recollection buzzes under the looming threat of drama, each detail is painful and perfect, each admission takes a scalpel to her own private cadaver of flamboyant self-oblivion in the wake of her own success. It’s totally addictive and I couldn’t stop laughing. It’s better than it needed to be, which is remarkable and warrants acclaim.
David Sims shot Apple Martin for Chloé. I heard she was not the original casting for this campaign, an example of when the second option turns out to be the best option.
IDEA and Dover Street Market London are launching a book edition of “the original dyke zine” KUTT. The launch is part of Photo London. Some of my friends collect those zines, the book seems like an automatic yes.
via IDEA. Fashion editorial is not dead. I’m not linking to all of these—take it upon yourself to seek them out. I’m big on Johnny Dufort and Suzanne Koller’s collections story for System Collections Issue No. 3 Autumn/Winter 2026-2027. They’re three for three over there. Anders Edström and Jodie Barnes have the best Chanel story this season in Double. In fact, every story in the new issue of Double is really good. Dexter Lander and Charlotte Collet have a really good story called “domestic troubles.” Michella Bredahl and Lotta Volkova shot people in their homes, getting dressed as outré performance. Nothing’s more indulgent and luxurious than Alasdair McLellan shooting a chiseled youth with a perfect flat top (hair by Kim Rance). Mark Kean and Robbie Spencer’s story in U Repubblica is glamorous and sick. Giampaolo Sgura’s cover story for this season’s epic conglomeration that is Arena Homme+ is fucking stink. It’s a wristwatch story, by the way. I think it’s important to draw attention to these things. The future of our creative existence cannot simply be measured in Instagram likes, can it? Say something, you cowards.
Quick sidenote: in another timeline, Pedro Pascal would have shot the cover of BUTT with Terry Richardson or Wolfgang Tillmans, styled by Mel Ottenberg, and all would have been right with the world. But, evidently, his Fantastic Man cover by Ethan James Green and Carlos Nazario is the next best thing.
Have you been attending the screening series at Metrograph curated by John Early of important films that inspired his forthcoming directorial debut Maddie’s Secret? Phenomenally embarrassing if not! Death of a Cheerleader is a core text for me. The first time I saw it, I was on acid in Palm Springs. Do the math. I recently had the opportunity to meet Tori Spelling and praise her performance, and her head doubled back on a swivel because she couldn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth.
What do you mean there is a documentary about Jocelyne Wildenstein produced by Ronnie Bronstein and the Safdies premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival, what do you mean Alissa Bennett is in it and so is Michael Musto and so is Amanda Lepore? Are you fucking kidding me?
How do I secure myself a staycation at the Pocketbook Hudson Hotel and Baths? The bathrobes are by Eckhaus Latta and the bathhouse rubber seating is by Rich Aybar. Can’t any of you hook it up? I really just need a spa after this trip. (I should also do my obligatory annual pilgrimage back to New York, the city that made me, and the forever home I avoid.)
Have I talked to you all about Night Flight Plus? It’s the greatest streaming service (except for Kanopy). They’re celebrating their 45th anniversary—long story, they used to be a cable access channel—with a newly restored 4K screening of Lou Adler’s Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (1982), a celluloid punk classic. If you’ve never seen it, it sounds like now is the time.
This week I’m back on Bandsplain with Yasi Salek, talking about Madonna for almost four hours. Grab a Celsius and join us.
PARAPHERNALIA #008
To quote the evil bitch character who Claire Danes was trapped in a Thai prison with in Brokedown Palace:
You like? Go take. 🤭
Let it be known, Patrik Sandberg is the first to acknowledge my floral abilities.
New Salem so so so good