My favorite Vanity Fair Issue (September 2008) had a feature on fashion’s new guard, and lo and behold, there are Asians in there. And lots of them! It’s happening in the fashion industry (Doo.ri, Alexander Wang, Peter Som, Richard Chai, Phillip Lim, than Thakoon Panichgul are pictured below), happening in film, in architecture and in many other creative industries.

Exciting times are a coming (minus the financial crisis, but I suppose that’s exciting too - in a whole other way). God willing, hopefully soon we’ll be seeing some diversity at the White House too.

photograph of Vanity Fair Fashion’s New Guard Article

It was one of those issues that makes you feel like you should be doing something more interesting with your life - not in a bad way. It just made me realize that there are wonderfully creative people out there who are actually achieving success while doing something they love. Where did I go wrong?

Anyway, instead of trying to mull that one over in my head, I’m going to share some interesting tidbits from the issue.

Conor Oberst

photograph of V Man Conor Oberst Article

I love that that recorded his album in some small Mexican village. The piano didn’t fit through the door, so they kept it on the porch and recorded parts of the album outdoors.

The quote that made me like him a lot:

“I guess I learned, finally, that nothing is really that big a deal. If someone’s not dying or getting born, it’s just not that big a deal. Everything in between those two experiences should be about just enjoying life.”

His music is pretty good too.

Daft Punk’s Electroma

photograph of V Man Robot Dreams Article

Written and directed by Daft Punk x black leather bike suits designed by Hedi Slimane. Sold. Added to my Netflix queue right after Ella Enchanted. Yay for Peter…no more chick flicks.

Hayes Peebles

photograph of V Man Hayes Peebles Article

He’s still in high school and he writes his own music and lyrics. He’s actually pretty good. I love musicians who have a lot of songs on their MySpace that you can listen to for free.

Kanye West’s Pastelle

photograph of V Man Kanye and Co. Article

Kanye’s got a new line out called Pastelle. He’s a pretty sharp dresser so I’m sure it’ll be an interesting line (due out in Oct/Nov along with sunglasses he collaborated on with Ksubi. Their site is worth checking out simply because the design is hilarious).

I might make Peter sport the mexican blanket bowtie for our wedding (I’m being serious). I also love Lupe Fiasco’s necklace which is, of course, his own. I hate when that happens.