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.
Snag… The Warning! Book
The lurid yellow Warning! sticker you will have seen around, plastered on everything from phone cases and laptops to suitcases, is an ominous reminder that somebody is always watching. Now, its designer Bafic has compiled thousands of tagged images that appeared on Instagram featuring the sticker into a new book, aptly titled The Warning! Book. What’s more, each of the pictures are paired with the auto-generated alt text each image was accompanied with, in its often misspelled and nonsensical form. A fascinating documentation of modern art and the looming presence of voyeurism in our lives, and how the two are in constant dialogue, it’s available to buy here.
Wear… Carne Bollente’s Tom of Finland Foundation collaboration
French masters of sartorial slut Carne Bollente introduce the second volume of their link-up with the Tom of Finland Foundation. In it, you’ve got knit vests of muscle men snogging, beach towels for summer, T-shirts, blankets and coach jackets. Perfect for the hunk-obsessed people in your life, the sexy collection launches 1 March, and can be bought here or on SSENSE.
Stay at… the Paramount Hotel
New York, New York, it’s a hell of a town — and where better to stay than right at the heart of it! Indeed, while some may baulk at the idea of staying in its neon-lit epicentre, the Paramount Hotel is a must for any intrepid urbanite, whether in town for fashion week (as we were) or just for a sexy sojourn in the city so nice they named it twice. Nestled just a stone’s throw from Times Square and its quintessential Big Apple energy (with cosy rooms mercifully perched high above the din of the streets below) you’re just a few blocks walk away from the chic shops of 5th Avenue and 57th Street, not to mention a short subway ride from the delights of Chelsea, the West Village and downtown Manhattan. A paramount location for paramount stay! Check out booking information here.
Go to… Self Esteem
We did Rebecca Lucy Taylor’s first interview as Self Esteem back in 2019, when she gave us some proper life advice. Now, she’s arguably the most interesting and talked-about independent artist in Britain, who’s managed to sell out tours faster than you can blink. After a Mercury nomination for her latest, Prioritise Pleasure, she’s back on the road with I Tour This All the Time, her latest live show that kicked off last week. It runs until 25 March in the UK and then she scoots off to the States. All of the dates are sold out — unsurprising, considering the hype — but always worth checking back at the right vendors to see if any more prop up for sale. (Or, if you’re feeling bougie, you can get the VIP tickets to see her support Blur at Wembley Stadium, where she may or may not outshine the headline act.) You can guarantee it’ll be worth the graft required to get a ticket. The venues are only getting bigger. Check the full date rundown here.
A Hard Man is Good to Find!
London’s Photographers Gallery plays host to this homoerotic exhibition, which brings together images taken over the past 60 years of the male physique. Formed around the places in which men sought these subjects, from Brixton to Highgate and everywhere in between, it’s comprised of catalogue shots and personal collections taken by the likes of Cecil Beaton, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Guy Burch, Basil Clavering, Bill Green, Angus McBean and David Gwinnutt. It’s on show from 3 March to 11 June 2023. More information here.
Read… I Have Some Questions for You
Author of the devastating Pulitzer prize-shortlisted AIDS novel The Great Believers, Rebecca Makai returns with a new novel that turns a mirror on our morbid obsession with true crime. I Have Some Questions for You sees Rebecca’s protagonist, a film professor and podcaster, ruminate over the fate of a girl she knew during her boarding school days when she returns to said school to teach a podcasting class to a new crop of students. It raises questions of who was convicted and whether justice was really served. You can buy it here or get the audiobook instead.
See… Romeo and Julie
The acclaimed writer Gary Owen finally brings this long-delayed-by-COVID play to the stage of London’s National Theatre, and it’s a bright, charming and devastating piece of work. It follows Romy (or Romeo), an 18-year-old Cardiff lad who, after a one night stand with a later-reticent mother, came to be the sole parent of a child with only his alcoholic mother for support. But when he meets a girl his age, albeit one with tangible sights set on studying physics at Cambridge, the fate and responsibilities of each of their lives change drastically. Rosie Sheehy and It’s a Sin actor Callum Scott Howells play the two lead roles with grit, humour and conviction; their performances will move you deeply. It runs until 1 April. Buy tickets here.
Listen to… Lucia and the Best Boys
We first met Lucia (then sans the Best Boys label) at The Great Escape back in 2019. Now, their big, operatic take on grunge-rock is polished, overwhelming and powerful. Listen to the new track above and follow their Instagram here.