Branding the man: why men are the next frontier in fashion retail

Back in the mid-1990’s, there were a few coop spaces South of Market where indie kids could come and sell their homemade clothes, DJ tapes (as in cassettes), and spend a lazy Sunday half-heartedly working and whole heartedly being “chill”.

A bit of that flavor returns this weekend with Man Up: A Pop Up Menswear Market in one of the many empty spaces which dot the City’s fashionably unfashionable mid-Market Street.

Man Up is the creation of Durable Good Concern, a collective of cool dudes who’s aim is to support enterprising young brands and local shops. This weekend you’ll find well-known folks like AB Fits, along with a dozen other merchants of cool. Chronicle Books is front and center with a collection of manly texts, from Playboy: The Complete Centerfolds, to Clint Eastwood: A Life in Pictures.

Just across the aisle is Taylor Stitch, a just launched brand which lets you custom order bespoke tailored shirts.  You can also purchase a copy of my book, Branding the Man, which I’ll happily sign for you once I’ve finished figuring out what kind of collar to put on my gingham checked shirt.

Todd Barket’s UnionMade filled his booth with the store’s wonderfully sturdy assortment of men’s button down shirts, denim, and washed leather western shirts. His no-nonsense utility gear has a crisp wholesomeness that makes you feel like one of the working people — even if you’re unemployed.

Room 4  — that’s the name of the store — has a nice collection of original rotary dial Princess phones. Not sure if they are manly enough for Man Up, but if I wore one of their vintage wool Pendleton shirts, maybe I could call you in a masculine way. Vintage cufflinks, Penthouse magazines, and corduroy jackets round out the offer.

Speaking of all things manly, make sure you stop by the Movember table. Movember is “the month formerly known as November, where men grow a moustache for 30 days to raise funds and awareness for the fight against prostate and testicular cancer.” Now that should help you Man Up if nothing else will.

Throughout the weekend, Man Up will offer a variety of Libations, from free Lagunitas beer to Absinthe. Cheers Dude.

Man Up Pop Up Menswear Market. Friday, January 29, 2010 – Sunday, January 31, 2010. At the California Modern Art Gallery, 1035 Market Street, in San Francisco. Hours are  Jan. 29: 3PM – 9PM; Jan. 30: 11AM – 7PM: Jan. 31: 11AM – 6PM. Visit their website at www.sfmanup.com.

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French photographer Brigitte Lacombe has made a name for herself with her utterly clear, unfussy photographs of the world’s most remarkable celebrities.

I met Lacombe at the home of Susie Tompkins-Buell, activist, philanthropist, and long-time collector of photography, who opened her home for a private evening to celebrate her photographer friend’s new book,  Brigitte Lacombe: Anima/Persona.

I later had the chance to chat with her about the ever-growing power of photography in probing beneath the surface of celebrity. It is almost impossible to find a photo by Lacombe that does not offer its subject honestly and directly. It is not a photo but a mirror placed in front of us. Lacombe sees us as we  truly are — nothing more.

In a December 2009 profile of Meryl Streep in Vanity Fair, Lacombe provided an incredible montage of images from her thirty years experience of photographing Streep, chronicling the actress’s amazing beauty through the years.

She took a few moments to contemplate what brought her this far, and why celebrities feel instantly comfortable being photographed by her.

Pellegrin: What is it that drew you to photography and why do you think you are better able to express yourself with a camera than with a brush or pen or music?

Lacombe: I was very influenced by my father’s great love of photography, and [I] dropped out of high school to be an apprentice. It turned out, luckily, that it was a vocation!

Pellegrin: Would you agree that photography is as much about the person in the photograph as it is about the photographer?

Lacombe: Yes very much so.

Pellegrin: So what does your work say about you?

Lacombe: No artifices, direct, and very black and white.

Pellegrin: Your work manages to pierce beneath the surface of the subject… what is it you look for when you meet someone and how do you use the camera as a tool to tell a story — what is your process?

Lacombe: I stay one on one with the person I photograph and try to create an atmosphere with no tension. I am very focused and scrutinize the sitter intensely, but with good intentions!

Pellegrin: Your new book, Anima | Persona contains images from some of your most famous work. What was the process to edit these images and how is this book a companion to the one before it?

Lacombe: I worked very closely on Anima / Persona for over a year with my Associate Janet Johnson, and with Pascal Dangin who is the co-publisher with Steidl…. [I ] Reviewed my archives of the last 30 years , and narrowed down  the chosen images, again and again, until it seems that you have the ones that you cannot live without.

Pellegrin: Women photographers have only somewhat recently been truly recognized for their contribution to the world of photography: Tina Modotti, Margaret Bourke-White, Dorothea Lange… is there a “female sensibility” to the art?

Lacombe: I am not sure that I see such very different sensibilities within the women photographers that work today. I don’t think I would be able to tell if a photograph has been taken by a woman or not without looking at the credit.

Pellegrin: What is the relationship between your camera and a celebrity — how do you use your camera to photograph a famous person?

Lacombe: Of course it is never about “the camera” but about how you approach someone. The world of cinema and movies is a world I am familiar with and [I] do not feel intimidated by [it], so I approach it with simplicity.

Brigitte Lacombe: Anima/Persona is published by Steidldangin and retails for $95.00.  Order it from Amazon.com and save $35.00.

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French photographer Brigitte Lacombe has made a name for herself with her utterly clear, unfussy photographs of the world’s most remarkable celebrities.

I met Lacombe at the home of Susie Tompkins-Buell, activist, philanthropist, and long-time collector of photography, who opened her home for a private evening to celebrate her photographer friend’s new book,  Brigitte Lacombe: Anima/Persona.

I later had the chance to chat with her about the ever-growing power of photography in probing beneath the surface of celebrity. It is almost impossible to find a photo by Lacombe that does not offer its subject honestly and directly. It is not a photo but a mirror placed in front of us. Lacombe sees us as we  truly are — nothing more.

In a December 2009 profile of Meryl Streep in Vanity Fair, Lacombe provided an incredible montage of images from her thirty years experience of photographing Streep, chronicling the actress’s amazing beauty through the years.

She took a few moments to contemplate what brought her this far, and why celebrities feel instantly comfortable being photographed by her.

Pellegrin: What is it that drew you to photography and why do you think you are better able to express yourself with a camera than with a brush or pen or music?

Lacombe: I was very influenced by my father’s great love of photography, and [I] dropped out of high school to be an apprentice. It turned out, luckily, that it was a vocation!

Pellegrin: Would you agree that photography is as much about the person in the photograph as it is about the photographer?

Lacombe: Yes very much so.

Pellegrin: So what does your work say about you?

Lacombe: No artifices, direct, and very black and white.

Pellegrin: Your work manages to pierce beneath the surface of the subject… what is it you look for when you meet someone and how do you use the camera as a tool to tell a story — what is your process?

Lacombe: I stay one on one with the person I photograph and try to create an atmosphere with no tension. I am very focused and scrutinize the sitter intensely, but with good intentions!

Pellegrin: Your new book, Anima | Persona contains images from some of your most famous work. What was the process to edit these images and how is this book a companion to the one before it?

Lacombe: I worked very closely on Anima / Persona for over a year with my Associate Janet Johnson, and with Pascal Dangin who is the co-publisher with Steidl…. [I ] Reviewed my archives of the last 30 years , and narrowed down  the chosen images, again and again, until it seems that you have the ones that you cannot live without.

Pellegrin: Women photographers have only somewhat recently been truly recognized for their contribution to the world of photography: Tina Modotti, Margaret Bourke-White, Dorothea Lange… is there a “female sensibility” to the art?

Lacombe: I am not sure that I see such very different sensibilities within the women photographers that work today. I don’t think I would be able to tell if a photograph has been taken by a woman or not without looking at the credit.

Pellegrin: What is the relationship between your camera and a celebrity — how do you use your camera to photograph a famous person?

Lacombe: Of course it is never about “the camera” but about how you approach someone. The world of cinema and movies is a world I am familiar with and [I] do not feel intimidated by [it], so I approach it with simplicity.

Brigitte Lacombe: Anima/Persona is published by Steidldangin and retails for $95.00.  Order it from Amazon.com and save $35.00.

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