Classiq - An online journal that celebrates cinema, culture, style and storytelling.

31 January 2019

A Sporting Life: The Snow Chasers

On mountain slopes | photo courtesy of Ioana Istrate

It’s the thick of winter in the Northern hemisphere. Daylight is still in short supply and the biting cold won’t go anywhere anytime soon. I am a summer girl, but I have never contemplated escaping to some warm destination in winter. Where is the magic in that? Winter is beautiful in all its frosty glory. But, admittedly, experiencing winter solely in the city makes it hard to enjoy it. Again, where’s the magic in that? So the only reasonable thing to do is to go to a place where the snow is even bigger (and whiter). Yes, that’s right. There’s nothing quite like winter in nature, and better yet, in the mountains. The inner peace and calm from being in the midst of the pine forests and pristine snow slopes combined with the equally fascinating and intimidating feeling of being up there.

With snow season fully underway, I have reached out to a snow sports enthusiast and expert in the hope that we will open up your appetite for venturing out and experiencing winter properly. Ioana Istrate is the co-founder of Boarder’s Snowboard Store in Bucharest, an advocate for an active lifestyle and initiator of many educational projects that have as goal getting children (and adults) familiarised with winter sports, and sport in general, and fostering an interest in sport to last a lifetime. I am fortunate to know Ioana personally and her positive vibes and energy always inspire me, and I am sure she will send an inspirational message to you as well.

And because you can never fully enjoy winter unless properly dressed (you know the saying, there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing), we have that covered, too. I assure you, this active winter wardrobe will not boast all of the elegance of your everyday style. Burton, the Snowboard attire brand carried in Boarder’s Snowboard Shop, combines the technical knowledge of contemporary skiwear with the sophistication of the classic to create clothing that not only keeps you warm, but looks good, too.

On mountain slopes | photo courtesy of Ioana Istrate

The last time we spoke on the phone you were up on the mountain. How often are you up there in winter?
Well, when I am in my hometown, Sinaia, I go up in the mountains pretty much every day or, at least, every powder day. The thing is that now I have to live in Bucharest almost half of the time, due to business, but I try to be out in nature as much as possible and my long-term plan is to move back to Sinaia at some point.

You grew up in the mountains. Is this how your love for the mountain and for snow sports came about? Have you always had a sporting life?
Yes, for sure the fact that I grew up in the mountains contributed to my love for them. Snow is something that I’ve always loved, ever since I had my first memories. I used to spend hours out in the snow when I was a kid and would get back in the house all frozen and only after huge effort from my mom.

At kindergarten, I started attending the ski training at the local sports club, but I didn’t enjoy much the military-like style of teaching there, so I quit after two or three years and started attending the ballet classes, which I did for almost five years. I started skiing again in high school and never stopped until I switched to snowboarding. Also, I’ve always loved hiking in the forest and biking, too.

What age did you start snowboarding?
I started snowboarding in my twenties – 21, maybe 22…

Boarder’s Snowboard Store

What makes you choose a particular slope? What are the best slopes for snowboarding you’ve tried?
I prefer backcountry riding. The best places I’ve ever ridden are in Hintertux, Austria, and both Chamonix and La Grave, in France. But the place I love the most is my home mountain, in Sinaia. It offers great landscape and riding possibilities, plus I know it very well and I know when it’s safe to get out there and when it’s not.

What’s the most challenging thing you’ve done up on the mountain?
There have been some moments up there when I didn’t have the experience and I exposed myself to unnecessary dangers, or when I overstated my physical limits, but probably the most challenging moment was when I went for backcountry riding on a steep and icy slope in Făgăraș Mountains, many years ago, together with a couple (husband and wife). We were hiking up so we could ride down after. At some point, after about half an hour hiking, when we were about to reach the peak, the woman slipped right in front of me and fell all the way down screaming; her husband put on his skis and went down after her and I remained up there, alone and scared as hell, unable to move an inch, stuck on an ice lens. It took me a while to pull myself together but finally I put my skis on and rode down to find out the woman survived, but was badly injured. I’ve chosen more wisely my riding terrain and my companions since then, so I guess it was a useful lesson.

Boarder’s Snowboard Store

When did you open your first Boarder’s shop? What’s the story behind it?
We opened the first Boarder’s Shop in 2001. We were already involved in the business with a sports shop opened in 1994, called Surmont, where we used to sell mountaineering, climbing and skiing equipment and mountain bikes. We got in love with snowboarding and started to sell some snowboarding gear in the old shop, so it came naturally that we had to open a snowboarding store, which was the first one in Romania to sell snowboarding gear exclusively. In 2002 we got the Burton Snowboards distribution for Romania and things have only got bigger and better since then.

Boarder’s Snowboard Store specialises in sportswear and snowboarding equipment. But it is so much more than that. It’s about the love for the game, it’s about a certain life style, too. Do you feel you have created a little community of cool and conscious people who can be an example for others as well?
I like to believe we did this. The thing is that we really love what we do and, when you do things with passion, I think it’s impossible not to touch others’ lives in a good way.

Boarder’s Snowboard Store

I believe that what is also important is that we all get out there and experience the mountains and nature. Isn’t this the best way to find inspiration to want to protect it?
Absolutely! The more time people spend out in nature, the better. It’s good for the mind, it’s good for the soul and a good soul and a calm mind can only work in good ways. Nature is the most amazing thing and spending time out there is the best way to make one’s life better. I also think parents have a very important job to get their kids to love and protect nature, as we cannot get another once we’ve ruined the existing one.

I wholeheartedly agree. It’s never too early to instill the love for sports and nature in your child. It’s important to develop their sense of wonder, their curiosity and their wild spirit. In this regard, could you tell me a little about Boarder’s Learn To Ride Center?
Burton Snowboards initiated Burton Learn To Ride Program in 1998, in cooperation with snowboarding schools around the world, so snowboarding would be learned easily and in a fun way. The goal of this program is to give the rookies a first happy experience in snowboarding, with proper, quality gear and with professional instructors, so they would stick to the sport and get to the slopes as soon as possible.

Our Boarder’s Learn To Ride Center in Sinaia is part of this program with experienced instructors and gear especially built for beginners (kids or adults). For more advanced riders we also offer freestyle and freeride/backountry guiding.

Boarder’s Snowboard Store

You encourage people in micro-adventures, so to speak, to spend time outdoors, to exercise as a way of life, and that’s wonderful. What is the best age for children to start snowboarding?
Any age is good for starting snowboarding, but kids can start as early as two years old. At Burton, we’ve got gear specially made for this age (boards, bindings, boots, clothing, protections).

We know where to find you on a beautiful winter powder day. Come spring, what sports will you take on to?
In spring, there are still amazing places for backcountry snowboarding, at higher altitude: I particularly love the wild valleys in Bucegi Mountains. When snow is really gone, I stay close to the mountains, trekking and mountainbiking. Apart from that, I enjoy very much going with my SUP (stand up paddle) on mountain lakes and to the seaside.

Boarder’s Snowboard Store

Boarders’s Snowboard Store: 24, Ion Câmpineanu Street, Bucharest
Boarder’s online: boarders.ro | Facebook: @boarders.store

photos: courtesy of Ioana Istrate (snow photos) / Classiq (shop photos)

Posted by classiq in A sporting life, Interviews | | Comments Off

28 January 2019

François Truffaut, His Alter Egos and His Brown Leather Jacket

François Truffaut, Jacqueline Bisset and Jean-Pierre Léaud on the set of “La nuit américaine” (1973) | Les Films du Carrusse

“The film of tomorrow will be filmed by adventurers,” Truffaut had said as an introduction to what would become La Nouvelle Vague. “The film of tomorrow will not be filmed by technicians, but by artists for whom film will be an extraordinary and impassioned adventure. The film of tomorrow will be an act of love.”

In a scene from La nuit américaine (1973), director Ferrand (François Truffaut) throws down a pile of his latest film-book acquisitions (on Bresson, Hitchcock, Dreyer, Lang, Godard, Rossellini, Hitchcock, Bergman). The entire film is Truffaut’s love letter to movie-making. The film, which remains one of the best ever about the world of cinema, is about the making of Meet Pamela, and by the name of it, it’s clear it’s not a masterpiece. But that’s not important. To Ferrand, it doesn’t matter whether the film is a success or not, the important thing is the collective process leading to it, not the final product.

“I make movies that resemble those that I loved,” said François Truffaut. I think these words do not ring truer than in relation to La nuit américaine. There are so many references to other films and directors in this film, which was specifically dedicated to Lillian and Dorothy Gish. There are many tricks behind the camera revealed. Even the title, La nuit américaine (Day for Night), refers to the technique used to shoot night scenes in daytime using special filters. And the filming of Meet Pamela takes place at the Victorine Studio in Nice, in the south of France, which has produced movies since the silent days. But it is Truffaut’s love of making films per say that permeates the entire movie.

Charles Denner and Brigitte Fossey in “L’Homme qui aimait les femmes” (1977) | Les Films du Carrusse

Ferrand is always alone throughout the film. The passion from during the day, when he’s on the set the entire time, transforms into a recurring nightmare when he is alone in bed at night, haunted by the image of a little boy who steals Citizen Kane film stills from a cinema where the movie is screening (something Truffaut himself used to do in his childhood). When he is confronted with Alphonse (Jean-Pierre Léaud) wanting to quit the filming because his girlfriend has left him, Ferrand tells him: “Don’t be a fool. You’ve got your work. That’s what matters. No one’s private life runs smoothly. That only happens in movies. No traffic jams, no dead periods. Movies go along like trains in the night. People like you and me are only happy in our work.” Those are Truffaut’s own thoughts.

Film is capable of overcoming life’s imperfections. “To make a film is to improve life,” Truffaut would say. It can manipulate time, it gives purpose to life. Film can even overcome death and being forgotten. Alexander, one of the actors in Meet Pamela, is killed in a car crash during filming, but minutes later he reappears in the rushes. Film can offer immortality. Actors live on through film. Truffaut sometimes acted and sometimes made small appearances in his films (just like Hitchcock). I wonder if that was another way of him of making sure he will be remembered. For Truffaut, his movies were a means of attaining the absolute, the permanent.

And if he did not act or appear in one of his films, one of his alter egos did, sometimes even wearing his clothes. Truffaut often wore a brown leather jacket, usually with a blue shirt and tie, as you can see in the film still from La nuit américaine at the top of this article. Bertrand Morane (Charles Denner) wears a similar jacket in L’Homme qui aimait les femmes (1977) and Jean-Pierre Léaud wears both the jacket and shirt in L’Amour en fuite (1979).

In L’Homme qui aimait les femmes, Truffaut wanted to investigate further the character of Ferguson that he and Charles Denner had created in 1968, in La Mariée étairen noir (The Bride Wore Black). Denner thus followed in the footsteps of Jean-Pierre Léaud, becoming another alter ego for Truffaut. Bertrand Morane is a seducer. He is obsessed with women’s legs. “Bertrand is not however portrayed as the conventional womaniser. Truffaut makes no apology for him, he is not presented sympathetically,” concludes Robert Ingram in the book François Truffaut: The Complete Films. We see him as he is. “He is not arrogant, nor does he force his attention upon women,” Ingram continues. He does not idolatrize some women in the detriment of others. He generously recognises the attractive potential in every woman. They are all unique and irreplaceable. He is capable of traveling hundreds of km to find an unknown woman he barely saw, as if his life depended on it. He is a loner. And by responding to every look a woman gives him – the look of a married woman he sees in a restaurant, the look of a young woman who comes to the window with a book in her hand – he is confronted with his raison d’être. Only this way, by delaying solitude, he has the illusion of vitality.

“Who are all these women, and where are they going? Who are they meeting? (…) I will tell you the truth: they all want the same thing as me, they want love …” At the very end, at his funeral (he was badly injured when he was chasing a woman in the street, then died at the hospital falling from his bed while trying to look at the legs of a nurse – yes, Truffaut saw the humour in the tragic), Geneviève Bigey (Brigitte Fossey) says: “Bertrand looked for happiness in quantity, in the multitude.” She is the only one who got it right. Geneviève is the editor of the book he had written and which is about to be published, “L’Homme qui aimait les femmes” (“The Man Who Loved Women”), which he wrote as a tribute to all the women in his life, because otherwise “I am afraid I will forget”. But maybe he is also afraid of him being forgotten if he doesn’t write the book. A book ensures its writer timelessness, too. Bertrand always wears his brown leather jacket, usually with a beige sweater and a shirt with its collar picking out.

Jean-Pierre Léaud and Dorothée in “L’Amour en fuite” (1977) | Les Films du Carrosse

Jean-Pierre Léaud said about Truffaut: “He lived only through film and for film.” And he says Truffaut gave him the most beautiful profession in the world. Léaud has an impressive career, having worked with many talented directors, but he said he knew that, in fact, he belonged to a certain moment in the history of cinema: La Nouvelle Vague, François Truffaut. He will forever remain linked to the image of the character Antoine Doinel. Truffaut was reluctant about doing another film with Doinel, before embarking on L’Amour en fuite (Love on the Run), wondering whether the character would not lose his charm in adulthood. Disclaimer: he doesn’t.

Truffaut wrote that, in L’Amour en fuite, Antoine Doinel is “always on the run, always late, a young man in a rush… Antoine should stop…running away…he should take advantage of the present… should stop settling a score with his mother through every girl he meets.” In turn, Léaud said in interview with Magda Mihăilescu that “François was obsessed with time, he was restless, always in alert, he thought he couldn’t do everything that he wanted to, he always had two-three movies in his head.” We see the resemblance. Doinel is in fact either profoundly disappointed, edgy, neurotic, or elated and bursting with enthusiasm. The two states of mind Truffaut seemed to have oscillated between his entire career. He was only happy when working on a film and the completion of a project brought his spirits down. Doinel wears a brown leather jacket, blue shirt and tie (with or without a sweater) in the film, the exact same outfit that Truffaut did in La nuit américaine. As Léaud said about his great friend and director, “His films were his reality.”

When he sees his son off to a school trip, Doinel tells him to practice his violin to become a great musician. His son asks: “What if I don’t?” “Then you’ll become a music critic,” comes his father’s answer. Of course, we well know that Truffaut was a film critic before becoming a filmmaker. Truffaut lived for making movies.

editorial sources: François Truffaut: Bărbatul care iubea filmele (“François Truffaut: The Man Who Loved Films”), by Magda Mihăilescu, François Truffaut: The Complete Films, by Robert Ingram

Posted by classiq in Film, Film costume | | Comments Off

24 January 2019

A Sporting Life: Fair Play

”Fair Play”, illustration by Irina Georgescu exclusively for Classiq

During his Game, Schett and Mats show, from the currently undergoing Australian Open, Mats Wilander, a great tennis player, one of the best tennis analysts and commentators and a personal favourite of mine, said that tennis is about a lesson in life. By respecting the rules, you respect the others. And, by that, I think he meant opponents, spectators, viewers watching from home, everyone.

I have wanted to write this article since the US Open women’s final back in September. I was so outraged by Serena Williams’ crass lack of sportsmanship and by the American public’s horrible behaviour cheering that sort of conduct that I felt I had to talk about it, especially that so many in the media transformed Williams’ outburst into a much needed expression of contemporary feminism. It was, in fact, just another display of the current feminist outrage culture that has substituted analysis. By her disgraceful act, she not only overshadowed her competitor’s once-in-a-lifetime achievement (you only win your first grand slam trophy once), but she did a disservice to every human being, not just to every woman. For weeks I engaged in heated arguments with anyone who tried to find any kind of excuse for her behaviour. Because it was inexcusable.

What she did, although not a singular outing during a grand slam tournament (her matches with Jennifer Capriati and Kim Clijsters come to mind), was by far one of the ugliest things I have seen in sport, not just in tennis. Chris Evert, a true tennis legend, who was standing on the podium for the ceremony after the match, said for Time magazine that she just wanted off. “I’ve never seen or felt anything like it. The negativity, the anger.”

As enraged as I was though, I decided to let it rest and take a step back to calm down. Regardless of my opinion, I thought it would do no more than contribute to the 2018 US Open final being remembered for the wrong reason. It would be unfair. Unfair to the champion, unfair to the one who was the bigger human being, Naomi Osaka. A 20-year-old player who, after having rallied through the tournament, was composed from the very beginning and took the first set before any of Williams’ issues with the umpire began to surface. A player who maintained her focus, not being distracted by what was happening around her. A player who would have defeated her opponent even without the penalties. A player who was rightfully assuming her place among champions. It was meant to be a celebratory moment. It was meant to be her moment. And that’s what everybody should remember.

That being said though, I would still like to recommend you read Martina Navratilova’s opinion in The New York Times. I think she made her point so elegantly. She got it right. She said that the question tennis players have to ask themselves is: “What is the right way to behave to honour our sport and to respect our opponents?”

Addressing Williams’ argument that if she had been a man, she would have gotten away with it, Navratilova continued: “But we cannot measure ourselves by what we think we should also be able to get away with. In fact, this is the sort of behaviour that no one should be engaging in on the court. There have been many times when I was playing that I wanted to break my racket into a thousand pieces. Then I thought about the kids watching. And I grudgingly held on to that racket.” This is what it is all about. It is our children whom this sort of behaviour will have the biggest impact on. And we want our children to look up to the right role models. We need our children to love sport, for their wellbeing, but also for having real, worthy, healthy models to look up to. I used to think tennis, more than any other sport, provided this kind of model through its champions. Being the winner of the most grand slam titles, in men or women, doesn’t necessarily make you a champion. And what she did there only makes her a bad sport.

So today I am highlighting a few of the most memorable fair play moments in tennis. Let’s learn from these true champions. Let’s learn by the right example.

Roland Garros, 1982
Mats Wilander – José Luis Clerc
(7-5, 6-2, 1-6, 7-5)

At the end of the semifinal against José Luis Clerc, Mats Wilander requested replay of the match ball as he did not want to win the game due to a questionable referee decision.

He led 5-1 in the fourth set, but Clerc managed to level the score at 5-5, looking good to send the match into a decider. Then Clerc made four consecutive unforced errors to give Wilander the 11th game at love. Moments later, Clerc was serving at 30-40 and the ball was called out. Clerc complained about the call, but the chair umpire, Jacques Dorfman, had already descended from his chair. However, instead of going to the net to receive the congratulatory handshake, Wilander stood in the backcourt shaking his head. He walked over to the umpire and said a few words: “I told him I can’t win like this. The ball was good. We should play two balls.” The players returned to their positions to replay the point. Clerc sent a backhand into the net and Wilander won.

Dorfman said he was convinced that the ball had been out, but he allowed the point to be replayed because both players agreed to it. But he added: “In all my experience, I have never known a gesture of sportsmanship like that on a match point.” It was not the first time Wilander had given back a match point. He had done it before, in a junior tournament in Italy. That is what great champions are made of.

Mat’s extraordinary display of sportsmanship garnered him the Pierre de Coubertin World Fair Play Trophy. The Swede, 17 years of age, also went on to win his first grand slam title and his first Roland Garros. He was the first (and youngest) player to win the tournament at his first attempt. Nadal would be the second, 23 years later.

Melbourne, Australia, 2015
Rafael Nadal – Tim Smyczek
(6-2, 3-6, 6-7, 6-3, 7-5)

As Nadal served for the match in the second-round, ahead by 6-5, 30-0 in the fifth set, a spectator shouted out during his first serve and the ball flew long. Smyczek caught the attention of the chair umpire and insisted that Nadal be given another chance. Nadal was given another first serve opportunity and he gave Smyczek a thumbs-up sign and a small wave. It was a selfless act from the American, especially when you consider that he was just two points from defeat at the time. “It was a great example, what he did today,” Nadal said.

“I think he deserves the sportsmanship award for the next 10 years, and I’m going to be pushing for that,” said Benito Perez-Barbadillo, Nadal’s public relations manager, who leapt to his feet in the box applauding after Smyczek’s sporting gesture. “I’m sure that Rafa would agree and everybody would agree. I’ve never seen that, and I’ve been in tennis for 19 years. Unbelievable.”

“The thing that really goes beyond anything else, beyond the comeback, the cramps, is how nice it is to see that sportsmanship is there at the top level,” Prez-Barbadillo added. “And that’s what we have to show kids, and that’s what we had. It’s something to acknowledge. It doesn’t surprise me because he’s known as a very nice guy, but to do that in a match? Wow. There’s no words. Class act.”

Wimbledon, 2018
Rafael Nadal – Juan Martín del Potro
(7-5, 6-7, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4)

In a fantastic five-set Wimbledon quarter-final, Rafael Nadal and Juan Martín del Potro not only played a tennis of the highest quality, but also displayed the kind of sportsmanship and class only few tennis players are capable of.

I am a Rafa fan through and through and I have talked about him before, of all the reasons I admire him for, besides his hard-work, resilience, competitiveness, determination and achievements on the tennis court. He is different and unique and, above all, he has an innate humanity and humility that will always set him apart. And it disheartens me that he has never been given the same credit as Federer by the media. Nadal’s smallest of mistake has been used to discredit his achievements, whereas Federer has always been favoured, regardless of win or loss. I know they both have worked hard for their success, but everything seems to have made it harder for Nadal to achieve his greatness, and that’s why he is the greatest player to me, and to others as well.

Juan Martín del Potro is another great tennis player who has the stuff that only true champions are made of. Dedication, fair play, modesty and down-to-earthness. At the 2017 French Open, when Nicolás Almagro had to retire early in the first set of his second round match against del Potro and simply broke down on court in despair, DelPo displayed incredible sportsmanship, compassion and concern for Almagro. He has been there, he knows the agony of defeat because of injury, which probably deprived him of being multiple Grand Slam champion.

During his match against Nadal at Wimbledon, when Rafa slipped on grass a couple of times in the final set and fell on the back, del Potro came to the net and made sure his opponent was okay. Then, when the match ended, Juan Martín fell shattered on the ground – “I wanted to stay there all night long,” he later said. Nadal jumped over the fence, went to the baseline and embraced him in a moving touch of sportsmanship. The moment was captured by countless photographers and del Potro later wrote on his Instagram: “This photo says it all.” It did.

As much as I love the game and its grandness, it is humbling moments like these that remain the most unforgettable.

Note: The “Fair Play” print is available for purchase exclusively on Classiq Shop.

editorial sources: “Wilander Topples Clerc, Gains Final”, by Nick Stout for The New York Times / “Another Loss for Nice Guys; This One Wins Praise”, by Ben Rothenberg for The New York Times / “What Serena Got Wrong”, by Martina Navratilova for The New York Times / “Her Turn”, by Sean Gregory for Time magazine

Posted by classiq in A sporting life | | 1 Comment

21 January 2019

Living with Intention: Seek Minimal

Joss Bacalla, founder of Seek Minimal | photo credit: Olivia Lopez

At the beginning of the year, in my letter from the editor, I was writing about some of the changes I have made in my lifestyle in recent years and it was incredible to receive your feedback and realise how many other people are doing the same thing. How many of you have set on the same path of living mindfully, of being authentic, of finding your voice in doing what you are passionate about, of defining success on your own terms, of embracing self expression and style with purpose over fast fashion and trends.

It’s been a long time since I last read a glossy magazine or the established fashion, beauty and lifestyle press. At the moment, I doubt I will ever do it again. Not when a serious alternative exists. An alternative that is breaking standards, that’s open-hearted, forward thinking and dedicated to give us a better choice. Seek Minimal gathers creatives, inspiring people, passionate entrepreneurs who tell their stories. It’s one of those galvanizing experiences that will motivate you to live well, to take better care of yourself and the others around you, to eat wiser and better, to choose quality over quantity, to appreciate craftsmanship and the hand-made, to prefer the confidence and clarity offered by timeless, classic styles, to be responsible for your actions. It’s a supportive community of people with the same vision who believe that sustainability and simplicity are the new luxury, who believe that we can do better for our own good and for the good of everyone around us and of this beautiful planet we live on.

I have recently talked to the founder of Seek Minimal, Joss Bacalla, about her brand and her style as a way of living. It’s the kind of style story that is inspiring and inspirational. Because it’s her personal style, she is not advocating it for anyone. It just is what it is. Authentic, purposeful, open-minded. But you know what is another wonderful thing about Joss? That she doesn’t disconsider anyone who is not (just yet) as thoughtful about sustainability as she is, that she encourages everyone who wants to make a difference to take it one step at the time. Through Seek Minimal however, she is consistent about asking of everyone to try harder. This is what we need to remind ourselves every day. To be the best version of ourselves, and that means living with intention, with style, with conviction, with enthusiasm. To be present.

”I try to honor the feeling of
feeling good about any choice I make.”

Seek Minimal is committed to people who want to make a difference. It inspires smarter choices. It gives an alternative and raises the question “Why not try harder?” I see Seek Minimal as a serious alternative to the established fashion, beauty and lifestyle press. What led you to creating Seek Minimal? What’s your biggest aspiration as a brand?
Knowing you see Seek Minimal as a serious alternative to the established fashion, beauty, and lifestyle press is one of my aspirations. I started this endeavour as a way to educate other people, and myself, about sustainable luxury. I would find myself jumping from Instagram account to Instagram account, and reading the ‘about’ section on these brands websites, and I thought “what if there was one place where you could learn about these ethical brands and the people behind them?”.

My biggest aspiration is for Seek Minimal to be a community for powerful men and women who want to change the world. We all want to make a difference and don’t know how; using our purchasing powers is always a way to start. I would love Seek Minimal to continue interviewing business owners and creators, hold conferences where people can ask these people advice and questions, and eventually be able to purchase ethical products online.

We live in a hectic world and more and more people are trying to go back to basics, to find a balance, to live mindfully. Seek Minimal seems to carry this message of living simply, of living life as a conscious choice. What does beautiful living mean to you personally?
I’ve only recently welcomed the mantra of ‘self-care’ into my life, but I find myself constantly going back to it. Self-care not only meaning eating healthy, exercising, and getting enough sleep, but looking at the kind of person you are, and if you’re happy with it. It’s also about enjoying the world around you. Travel and explore the world, go outside and take a deep breath after it rains, give all your love to the people around you, find a hobby that is therapeutic, take the time to enjoy your hot cup of morning coffee, and make your dreams happen. Living mindfully with purpose is living beautifully.

Joss Bacalla photographed by Olivia Lopez

Someone once told me that you have to care enough about style to have any. I believe that, just as I believe that it’s important to put some thought into the way you dress each morning, but not in the sense that you have to put on your high heels and your most polished look, but rather that you have to be true to yourself, which is something your clothes can reflect. What does style mean to you?
My style has always been an extension of myself. My mood, my feelings, and who I am speaks through my style. It’s an art of expression. Women who have style care about how people see them, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Describe your style in three words:
Minimal, Feminine, Comfortable.

You feel your best dressed in:
Anything that makes me feel comfortable in my own skin.

Do you apply a socially conscious philosophy to all aspects of your lifestyle (personal style, beauty regimen, homeware, food, etc.)? How do you live life as a conscious choice?
I try to honor the feeling of feeling good about any choice I make. I try my best to always make an ethical choice when purchasing clothes. I want to feel beautiful being as natural as possible, which means being conscious of what I’m putting into my body, and what I’m putting on my skin. My home reflects a very minimal lifestyle – it’s my happy place, so to feel peace and calm within my walls is something I’m always striving for.

Where do you shop mindfully?
So many incredible places. A few would be AWAVEAWAKE, Kara Thoms, Gracemade, Hey Moon Designs, Mohinders, Power of My People, and Ode to Odd.

How does your place of living influence your style, and how does it inspire you creatively?
Mentally, I’m always learning about new sustainable and minimalistic brands – so that alone influences my style. With starting Seek Minimal, I’ve become so exposed to incredible people who have started their own passion projects which always keeps me on my toes and thinking about what I can do next.

In a physical sense, I’m in Los Angeles, so I’m very fortunate to have a lot of sustainable brands around me and people who share the same ethos. Meeting with creative women and praising each other on our accomplishements has become the norm, which I’m incredibly grateful for. My style and creativity has continued to blossom and I am constantly learning.

Los Angeles is so alive with creativity, collaboration and support. So much seems to be happening in Los Angeles, and in California in general, at the moment in the artistic field (maybe more so than ever before), sustainable fashion included. Why do you think is that?
There are so many people who live in Los Angeles who aren’t actually from Los Angeles. It’s a lot of people moving to the city who want to make a change and make a name for themselves. It’s competitive, but also supportive because everyone knows what it’s like. Creative people from all over the world move to Los Angeles, so of course the creativity, collaboration and artistry is flourishing. It’s incredible.

What is the one thing you would miss the most if you lived anywhere else than Los Angeles?
The weather. Hands down.

”I wish people appreciated more: love, the earth, each other.”

Joss Bacalla photographed by Olivia Lopez

Who and what inspires you?
Everyone I meet inspires me! Truly. The process of meeting so many powerful and unique people for Seek Minimal has been transformational. Women specifically who empower other women and build something from nothing continue to infinitely inspire me.

The textile industry and its products have shaped the contemporary world more than anything else. The disposal of textile waste is one of the biggest preoccupations we have at the moment. How do you see the future of fashion? As the founder of a brand that seeks to bring a stylish and meaningful alternative to conventional fashion, do you think there is a significatly increased interest in the locally-made, in craftsmanship and sustainable shopping or do you think it will take mass action to curb our addiction to mass-produced, cheap products?
The fashion industry is a beautiful thing. The art of expression, the passion, and the creativity. However, the sad thing is unless you’re actually in it, you don’t realize that the environmental impact is massive. Textile waste is towering over us and it is still engrained in people’s minds’ that clothing is disposable.

Not going to name names, but huge brands that do come out with new styles weekly, who are responsible for a large percentage of textile waste, have the opportunity to educate their consumers. They’re the ones that the majority are listening to. They’re the ones that have created an idealogy that you’re not enough unless you have the newest item of the week. Some have stated to carry conscious lines which I think is a step in the right direction. If more brands did this and started exposing the idea of sustainable luxury it wouldn’t seem like such a daunting idea to a consumer.

The positive side is that there are more people using their voices and social media, like myself, fighting this cause. There are also a considerable amount of ethical companies flourishing which is heartening to see and consignment stores and thrifting are becoming more of a trend. With these combined efforts I believe there will be a shift.

Yes, these companies exist, they do their part, and we must do ours. What do you think is the first thing every individual should do in order to address this issue, any tip that may help someone else just starting out on their sustainable journey?
People are skeptical of spending $200 on a dress, when they can buy four for just as much. I get it. I was the same way. The idea of spending that much money on one item of cothing is definitley discouraging… Not going shopping as often is also a hard shift for people.
To make the change overnight is impossible, even I still succumb to fast fashion. My advice is to simply start thinking about the impact you’re making when you purchase a piece. Is this an impulse buy? How often will you actually wear it? Is the quality good? Being conscious of your purchase can really make a difference.

Another thing I want to stress is that as a society, we too easily give into trends. That’s exactly what you’re putting your money towards – a trend. You’ll notice that, with sustainable brands, almost all of their pieces are timeless. There’s longevity, the quality is better, and you’re supporting people who actually want to be making these pieces.

In this time and age, what do you wish people appreciated more?
Love, the earth, each other.

What makes you happy at the end of the day?
My relationships, my health, and doing what I love.

Website: seekminimal.com | Instagram: @seekminimal

Posted by classiq in Beauty & Beautiful Living, Interviews, Style | | Comments Off

18 January 2019

Editorial: Ice Blonde

Catherine Deneuve and Jean-Paul Belmondo in ”La sirène du Mississippi” (1969) | Les Films du Carrosse

The Editorial: thoughts, short stories
or essays about the world of cinema

François Truffaut’s La sirène du Mississippi was dedicated to his two greatest inspirations. The first one was Jean Renoir. The final scene, where Julie (Catherine Deneuve) and Louis (Jean-Paul Belmondo) walk off towards the border and an uncertain future, is just one of the several references to Jean Renoir’s films, and a clear allusion to La grande illusion (1937). “Louis and Marion, like Maréchal and Rosenthal before them, wander off into the snowbound, featureless landscape, their future and destination unknown”, writes Robert Ingram in the book François Truffaut: The Complete Films.

The other homage the French filmmaker paid with this movie was to Alfred Hitchcock. Indeed, Deneuve’s ice, cool blonde look would have been perfect for an Alfred Hitchcock noir or thriller. I like that Mississippi Mermaid is an unusual noir, capturing the dark spirit of classic noir and putting it into a setting that is rotting and tropical, the decaying colonial backdrop of Reunion Island. Although a fan and big proponent of the genre, Truffaut skillfully steered away from the cinematic trappings of the American noir, approaching a new direction. “Johnny Guitar (1954) is not really a true western in the same way that Mississippi Mermaid is not really an action film. My taste leads me to pretend to subscribe to the laws of Hollywood genre films (melodramas, thrillers, comedies, etc.).”

Beautiful and mysterious, hidden behind her opaqueness and inaccessibility, Deneuve’s femme fatale taps into that “paradox between the inner fire and the cool surface” (as Truffaut himself put it) categorization that defined Hitchcock’s blondes. In fact, throughout her entire career, Deneuve has not been afraid of taking complex roles that ruffled and darkened the surface of her beauty.

“Deneuve, with her icy yet mysterious perfection, is the French Grace Kelly,” is how Pauline Kael described her. But Marnie was the Hitchcock film that Catherine reportedly admitted she would have loved to make.

Further reading: Catherine Deneuve’s costumes in “Mississippi Mermaid” / Style in Film: Catherine Deneuve in “Belle de jour”

Posted by classiq in Editorial, Film | | Comments Off