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Published on December 21, 2007

For his first photo shoot, Procter ook on the hazardous job of photographing a Dior show from 30 metres up on a roof. Indeed, his signature style is panoramas. He took pictures for Karl Lagerfeld and The Museum of Fine Art, Boston. For the 10th anniversary of avant-garde designer John Galliano at Christian Dior,  in the March 2007 issue of Harper's Bazaar, Procter presented Galliano's couture collections with a Marie Antoinette look-alike. Procter has also produced fashion pages for V, Vogue Nippon and The New York Times. There was also an exhibition at Collette sponsored by Armani and Prada, and worked on advertising campaigns such as Adidas Y-3, Nike and Marriott Hotel.

LaChapelle was given his first job at age 18 by none other than Andy Warhol, working for Interview magazine. Since then, he won Best New Photographer Award from VH1 in 1996 and has won many other awards in photography, art direction and for his music videos, which include "Rich Girl" by Gwen Stefani and "Dirty" by Christina Aguilera. LaChapelle's signature is the provocative and groundbreaking use of computer manipulation, placing celebrities in wildly imaginative and erotic settings.

Recently, LaChapelle launched a 688-page book showing his most striking images from 1985 to 2005. Measuring 34.5cm by 50cm, the hardcover "Artists & Prostitutes" explores themes of pornography, the cult of celebrity, mass consumerism, decadence, the body as commodity and fantasy. This limited edition book has only 2,500 copies. It's available in Bangkok at Playground on Soi Thonglor for Bt29,000.

For more on Procter, see www.jedroot.com.             For more on LaChapelle, see www.davidlachapelle.com.

 

Bright ideas

With climate change being probably the most crucial issue facing the world today, designers are looking to make innovative products that make people feel like they are doing something to make a difference.

One of those new products is the Plumen, a low-energy light bulb prototype by Hulger, a London-based boutique electronics company. Rather than stick with the same old basic shape, the Plumen takes the humble light bulb to a new level, twisting, flattening and looping the bulbs into abstract designs.

Another designer doing cool things with lighting is Tom Dixon. At the London Design Festival in September, he launched the "Great Light Giveway", which featured an installation of 500 energy-saving light bulbs hung together as a state-of-the-art chandelier in Trafalgar Square. He then gave away 1,000 lights to Londoners on a first-come first-served basis. His design firm is going to launch an extension of his Copper Collection called the Blow Pendant Light, a fixture that he says is the first specifically designed to accommodate the energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulb.

Finally, there is Ango, a Thailand-based light and furniture company led by chief designer Angus Hutcheson. Nature and sustainability are key elements in the designs, made  with such renewable resources as silk cocoons, rattan, mulberry-tree bark and hand-cast polymers that require minimal energy to process.

For more information see, www.plumen.com. www.tomdixon.net and www.angoworld.com.

 

Ultimate Member Limited

Talking about sex toys or deciding to buy one of them can lead to embarrassing moments. But with a good design and innovative look, accessories under the brand name Ultimate Member Limited, might be something you would want to collect, and show off.

The sexual luxury lifestyle brand Jimmy Jane and London play den Kabaret Prophecy have collaborated to make this limited-edition collection of vibrators, with etchings by cartoonist Jamie Hewlett, co-creator of the Gorillaz band. However, this project is nothing to do with the band itself, so Gorillaz fans, don't panic.

The six vibrator cartoon drawings are inspired by VIP members of the nightclub and have names like Dick Ward, Omaha Hi-Lo, The Profit, Vanity Unit, Major Maja Flink and The Honourable Van Sackful Symthe. Each is a limited edition of 1,500 pieces. They cost $275 (Bt9,200) each, or $1,650 for the whole package.

For more details about the characters and online purchasing, go to www.jimmyjane.com.