Happy Monday! The new week is here and with it comes the chance to delve deep into some fresh culture and fashion. Here’s your latest look at the i-D Guide.
Wear… Bottega Veneta’s Andiamo bag
The name of Bottega’s new it-bag, Andiamo, translates to “Let’s go!” in Italian; the perfect name for a hold-all tailor-made for us folks who like to have everything on us at all times. First introduced as part of Matthieu Blazy’s Summer 23 collection, each one is hand-woven and comes in a selection of colours and sizes. Grab yours here.
Or… Polly Nor’s Ace & Tate collaboration
It’s Valentine’s Day soon (whisper it), and if you’re going to have to look at all the smug happy couples you might as well do it in 2020 vision. Luckily Ace & Tate have just launched a collaboration with artist Polly Nor that they’re calling a “modern love story”. As in, you can buy yourself a pair of specs as a Valentine’s Day present and call it modern self-love. Why not! In anti-V Day fashion, the collection is inspired by desire and embracing our inner demons. Embrace your inner demon by picking up a pair online or in Ace & Tate’s flagship London store from Tuesday onwards.
Snag… the HEAT homeware mystery box
They might be known for providing us with surprise boxes of hot luxury fashion — everything from Balenciaga to Jacquemus — at a relative steal, but the masterminds behind HEAT have unveiled their latest idea: a box full of surprise luxury homeware. Everything from TEKLA towels to SUNNEI glassware is inside. Head over to Heat’s website to grab yours, with super-swift delivery.
Read… City of Blows
Best known for his performances in movies by the Coen Brothers and Guillermo del Toro, actor-director-playwright Tim Blake Nelson turns his hand to the novel for the first time with a tale of a world he knows all too well: Hollywood. City of Blows is a searing account of moviemaking and the toxic and elaborate characters behind it, firmly rooted in the realities of the industry today. Buy it here.
Watch… The Inspection
A24’s loud and proud slate of Oscar films has meant a handful of their quieter ones have slipped under the radar. Like The Inspection, a drama about a young Black gay man who, in an effort to appease his mother and prove himself, joins the marines. Jeremy Pope earned a Golden Globe nomination for his work on the project, which is in cinemas on 17 February.
Apply for… the Metallic Fund
Have you had your mind set on a project for a while that you’ve struggled financially to get off the ground? Well if you’re a creative — particularly a Black queer creative — the Metallic Fund is offering money and guidance to help with your great ideas. All the information can be found for the next round of funding here.
Listen to… Wasia Project
Brother-sister duo Olivia Hardy and Will Gao write the kind of music that speaks to their generations’s hard-felt malaise, cut through with a catchy, woozy indie-pop sensibility. Their new single “Petals on the Moon” is that mantra in microcosmic form: all ‘da-da-da’ singalongs and big proclamations of prospective loneliness (“Will somebody be there for me when all my friends have left?”). It’s so good, in fact, that it stands on its own two feet; that Will is also a hotshot actor with a part in Heartstopper is a mere bonus in this pair’s already exciting career. Stream the new single above and follow them on Instagram here.
Go to… Caroline Polachek’s Spiraling Tour
Yup, ahead of the release of her second solo studio album, Desire, I Want to Turn Into You, later this week, Caroline Polachek is jumping back on stage for her Spiraling Tour. It kicked off in Brighton last week, and will have several stop-offs in the UK in the coming days. (Most are sold out, but keep checking). From then on, it’s a steady journey through Europe and into the US come Spring. Stream the new songs and fight over whatever tickets are left by heading here.