Chastened but not deterred, Paris Fashion Week promised something of a respite for the ragged fashionistas who were able to make the trek over from Milan. With Lombardy the epicentre of a growing crisis in Italy, Milan Fashion Week closed under a cloud, as the number of coronavirus cases in the country reached 150, ten towns were placed under quarantine, and Giorgio Armani brought down the curtain in front of an empty theatre. Attendees scrambled to rearrange flights and find makeshift modes of transportation, and by the middle of the week the bulk of the fashion world had still managed to descend on a relatively tranquil Paris, although shows by the Chinese designers Masha Ma, Calvin Luo, and Jarel Chan and Taiwan’s Shiatzy Chen were cancelled. In fact it took until this Sunday for Milan to succumb to a travel ban, with the whole of northern Italy including Lombardy and the cities of Milan and Venice placed under quarantine as cases across the country approached the 6,000 mark and the death toll surpassed 230.
All of that still seemed a long way off last week as the luxury designers set out their stalls and with Gallic flair the French capital gave itself over to fashion. If France held out the hope of fresh air and brightening skies, the first show of Paris Fashion Week served as a reminder of the enveloping fog, as amid habitual face masks and houndstooth tailoring, patchwork rugs and knits, and white drapery wrapped up as though the vestals were given over to bondage, Marine Serre’s post-apocalyptic atmospherics shifted from climate disaster to the conjuring of future worlds inspired by Dune, Frank Herbert’s science fiction classic. By contrast, Dior marked a welcome return to the old new normal. On the day after Harvey Weinstein’s conviction for sex crime and rape, Maria Grazia Chiuri emblazoned her show with feminist discourse and a firm boot over the strewn body of patriarchy, as Bar jackets, headscarves, fishnets, and combats were juxtaposed with slouchy fits and a palette of orange and navy checks in a confident but modest show which drew inspiration from the 1970s.
From the Tuileries to the Place de Varsovie, in the vicinity of the Palais de Chaillot and Eiffel Tower, at Saint Laurent Anthony Vaccarello abounded in vibrant latex and retro jackets. Leather capes and wool coats, loosely draped or cinched at the waist, were the order of the day as Bruno Sialelli played cinematic ode to the past at Lanvin, Felipe Oliveira Baptista’s Kenzo debut was imbued with a nomadic spirit, at Maison Margiela John Galliano explored tulle fabrics and ‘bourgeois gestures’, while Dries Van Noten added a dash of nocturnal glamour. Loewe pumped up the volume with ruched brocade, big sleeves, and silhouettes which ballooned at the waist around tight bodices, at Celine Heidi Slimane showcased a signature blend of culottes, skinny jeans, and glittering dresses, at Hermès, Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski revelled in traditional fabrics shot in primary colours, and while Issey Miyake embellished connection, shows at Balenciaga and Givenchy drew the weekend to a close with a suitably oppressive air of darkening grandeur.
Models in life-sized animal costumes ran amok amid the celebrity guests at Stella McCartney, while at Alexander McQueen, Sarah Burton drew from folklore and the poetic heritage of Wales to offer a self-styled love letter to women. Kanye West sprung one of the surprises of Paris Fashion Week, when after rumblings on Saturday, streetwear and avant-garde enthusiasts alike awoke the following morn to a ‘Sunday Service’ gospel concert at the Bouffes du Nord in the 10th arrondissement. An off-piste runway show followed on Monday night on the sloping lawn of the Espace Niemeyer, where West unveiled his latest Yeezy collection, replete with a rap debut courtesy of his daughter North, bulging sliders, and swaddling textures.
Back on the runway proper, Chanel and Louis Vuitton were the headline acts as Paris Fashion Week drew to a close on Tuesday. Virginie Viard styled out ruffled shirts over a stripped-back river setting at the Grand Palais, while at the Louvre Museum, specially reopened for the occasion, Nicolas Ghesquière collided contemporary biker chic with petticoats steeped in historical romanticism. Chanel’s show swallow dived while Louis Vuitton’s was lauded for its blend of age-old whimsy, au courant flair, and futuristic eclecticism. But amid the street style and beauty trends, coronavirus fears spread and fashion peeked a glimpse over an uncertain horizon.
* * *
James Lipton, the articulate, courteous, and often lampooned creator and host of Inside the Actors Studio, died on Monday at the age of 93. According to his wife, Kedakai Mercedes Lipton, the cause was bladder cancer. Following what he fondly described as a roguish youth, where he worked as Dan Reid, the nephew of the hero, on the WXYZ radio programme The Lone Ranger, studied to become a lawyer, joined the navy, and spent months in Paris as a pimp, Lipton began an encompassing career in the entertainment industry. He wrote for several soap operas including Another World and Return to Peyton Place, studied under the renowned acting coaches Stella Adler, Harold Clurman, and Robert Lewis, and even choreographed a ballet for the American Ballet Theatre and wrote Broadway lyrics while struggling to establish himself as an actor. Eventually he turned his hand to production, and in 1977 he produced President Jimmy Carter’s inaugural gala, the first of its kind to be televised, going on to produce a dozen of Bob Hope’s birthday specials.
Inspired by his own studies, in 1994 Lipton cultivated a relationship between the Actors Studio and The New School, both in New York City. At the time the Actors Studio had no steady income, and the immediate goal was the creation of the Actors Studio Drama School, a fee-based graduate programme. As part of this programme, Lipton added a non-credit class which became Inside the Actors Studio. Lipton interviewed acclaimed actors, writers, and directors over the course of several hours in front of an audience of students, condensing these interviews for hour-long episodic television. Preparing the questions and carrying out much of his own research, with Paul Newman as the first televised guest, Inside the Actors Studio aired for twenty-two seasons on Bravo before Lipton stepped down in 2018. In the meantime, Lipton served as dean of the new drama school, was regularly parodied by Will Ferrell on Saturday Night Live, appeared on The Simpsons, and from 2004 featured in a recurring role as the warden Stefan Gentles in the comedy series Arrested Development.
* * *
Israelis went to the polls on Monday, for a curiously low-key legislative election marked by political corruption and a strange sort of voter fatigue, as the rest of the world’s gaze fixed intently on the coronavirus. Elections in April and September last year swung narrowly between the incumbent prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his challenger Benny Gantz, without managing to forge any tangible conclusion. Netanyahu and the nationalist conservative Likud won April’s vote, before Benny Gantz and the Blue and White – a party established at the start of the year on a pluralist, anti-corruption ticket – edged ahead in September. But with less than one percentage point separating the parties both times round, compromise was in short supply and any effort towards government formation soon stymied. Thus Israel headed into its third legislative election in less than a year, mired in a climate of division and stagnation.
Opinion polling since September’s vote showed Blue and White extending their lead, but in recent weeks Netanyahu had managed to narrow the gap through a combination of grand gestures and political machinations. For more than three years he has faced corruption allegations, accused of bribery and fraud in an effort to solicit funds and obtain favourable press coverage. Finally last November, Netanyahu was indicted, becoming the first sitting prime minister in Israeli history to be charged with a crime. Towards the end of January, the indictment was made official as Netanyahu withdrew his request for parliamentary immunity, hoping to push the scandal to the back of voters’ minds with no conclusion in sight and a pressing election. In the meantime Netanyahu hosted a controversial World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem on the seventy-fifth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, handing a platform to Vladimir Putin’s brand of historical revisionism, before travelling to Washington to stand alongside President Trump as he unveiled a decidedly lopsided peace plan, immediately rejected by Palestinian leaders.
Those two events allied to Netanyahu’s well-honed strongman routine led to a bump in the polls, and while Gantz faced a precarious balancing act and tried to capitalise on the prime minister’s indictment, Netanyahu rebounded with attacks of his own and a vow to extend Israeli sovereignty over West Bank settlements. In the end Israelis, whether riled up or resigned to their fate, turned out in large numbers to hand Netanyahu what he called ‘the biggest victory’ of his life, with one major caveat: Likud and its allies still do not possess enough seats to form a government.
Early projections following Monday’s vote suggested that Likud and the right-wing bloc – which includes the far-right Yamina and the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism – were on course for 60 seats in the 120-member Knesset. By Wednesday however, the fuller picture showed that while Likud had surpassed Blue and White with 29.48% versus 26.59% of the vote, the right-wing bloc remained stuck on 58 seats, three short of a parliamentary majority. Support from the Joint List of Arab candidates, who made historic gains, winning 15 seats with 12.61% of the vote, could theoretically hand Gantz and the Blue and White the remaining 62 parliamentary seats, but prior to the election Gantz ruled out any coalition or confidence agreement with the Joint List, eager to secure his footing among Israel’s Jewish majority. As Netanyahu sought defectors, the opposition planned a bill barring indicted officials, and Avigdor Lieberman, head of the nationalist but anti-Netanyahu Yisrael Beiteinu, could still end up kingmaker.
* * *
Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof wasn’t present in Germany last weekend when his latest film, There Is No Evil, an anthology in four parts about soldiers conscripted to carry out the death penalty, won the Golden Bear at the 70th annual Berlin International Film Festival. Since the salt lake symbolism of his 2009 film The White Meadows and his expressions of support for the nascent Green Movement, Rasoulof has faced increasing censure from the Iranian authorities. In 2010, he was one of several artists including his fellow director Jafar Panahi to be charged with issuing propaganda against the government, and he was sentenced to six years in prison, though after one year he was bailed on appeal. His subsequent films only became more overt in their criticisms of societal ills and political oppression. Upon returning to Iran in 2017, his passport was confiscated, and last July on the basis of Goodbye (2011), Manuscripts Don’t Burn (2013), and A Man of Integrity (2017) he was once again charged with propaganda, banned from leaving the country for two years with another prison sentence left dangling.
At the Berlinale last weekend, Rasoulof’s daughter Baran accepted the Golden Bear on his behalf, one of the most prestigious awards on the European film circuit and the top honour afforded by the festival. Now a handful of days after his biggest success, according to Rasoulof’s lawyer the director has been ordered to serve a one-year prison sentence. According to the lawyer, Nasser Zarafshan, Rasoulof was summoned on Wednesday by text message, but plans to file an appeal rather than turn himself in especially while the political system reels from coronavirus.
* * *
Original vinyl pressings of Tyler, The Creator’s Cherry Bomb, Chief Keef’s Back From the Dead 2, The Weeknd’s My Dear Melancholy, and Robyn’s 2005 self-titled album, five-record deluxe sets by Philip Glass and Sun Ra, a comprehensive Notorious B.I.G. retrospective, outtakes from Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew, and live albums from Thelonious Monk, David Bowie, and Billie Eilish are among the highlights announced for Record Store Day. This year’s iteration is scheduled for 18 April, with Brandi Carlile serving as the special ambassador.
* * *
McCoy Tyner, one of the most acclaimed and influential pianists in jazz history, died on Friday at the age of 81 years old. Growing up in a hotbed of jazz, where Jimmy Smith and Lee Morgan commanded the local clubs and Bud Powell and Richie Powell were neighbours, Tyner studied at West Philadelphia Music School and the Granoff School of Music, and by 1960 had joined The Jazztet, led by the trumpeter Art Farmer and the tenor saxophonist Benny Golson. Six months after his recording debut, he joined up with his old acquaintance John Coltrane, who was putting together his own group. As part of Coltrane’s classic quartet, alongside the drummer Elvin Jones and soon the bassist Jimmy Garrison, Tyner played on a flurry of iconic records from My Favorite Things and Coltrane’s Sound on Atlantic, to Impressions, A Love Supreme, and Ascension on Impulse. Tyner also appeared on Coltrane ‘Live’ at the Village Vanguard at the height of the group’s early experimentations, while an early recording by Coltrane of Tyner’s composition ‘The Believer’ served as the title track for a 1964 release on Prestige.
Known for his resounding chords and harmonic invention, Tyner was pivotal to the development of Coltrane’s jazz. In a 1961 interview, Coltrane said, ‘My current pianist, McCoy Tyner, holds down the harmonies, and that allows me to forget them. He’s sort of the one who gives me wings and lets me take off from the ground from time to time’. While playing under Coltrane, Tyner recorded several albums on Impulse as part of a trio. He left the quartet in 1965 as Coltrane’s style become more noisy and atonal, threatening to overwhelm his piano. As a bandleader Tyner won critical acclaim for his albums on Blue Note, and he also worked as a sideman for artists as diverse as Art Blakey and Ike & Tina Turner, before his debut on Milestone with Sahara in 1972 proved a commercial breakthrough. Much of his output from this period shows African and East Asian influences. Tyner went on to win five Grammy Awards for his music, the latest for Illuminations which was released in 2004, and in 2002 he was named an NEA Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Also on Friday, Barbara Martin, an original member of The Supremes, passed away at the age of 76. Martin replaced Betty McGlown as part of the Detroit group The Primettes in 1960, and the following year she and her groupmates Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard signed a recording contract with Motown as The Supremes. Martin sang on many of the group’s early singles and she appears across their debut album Meet the Supremes, sharing the lead vocal with Diana Ross on ‘(He’s) Seventeen’ and leading the rare cut ‘After All’. However after leaving the group in the spring of 1962 in order to begin a family, she did not appear on the album cover and rarely spoke of her time in the music business. Martin subsequently gained a degree in psychology and worked in the field of mental health. News of her death was confirmed by The Supremes on their Facebook page, where the group wrote ‘Our hearts go out to Barbara’s family and friends. Once a Supreme, always a Supreme’.
* * *
From motorbike rallies and graveyard tours to demonstrations far-flung from Pakistan to Colombia, and with increasing disdain for the corporate takeover of the event, 8 March marked International Women’s Day. Marches took place across the globe in the names of workplace equality and an end to violence and discrimination, and big brands put their best feet forward. At Culturedarm, read about the history of International Women’s Day from socialist conferences and labour movements to the present, in ‘An International Record of Women’s Suffrage’.
* * *
Beyond the rapid spread of COVID-19 in Italy, which by Sunday had reported 5,883 cases and 234 deaths, and the expansion of quarantine measures to cover 16 million people in the north of the country, in China, previously the heart of the virus, cases continued to slow. China reported just 40 new cases on Sunday, and no locally transmitted cases outside of the epicentre of Hubei, as the country continues its remarkable turnaround since cases in the region hit a high of 3,156 early last month. A classification change resulted in a spike on 12 February of around 15,000 new cases across mainland China, and in total the country has now suffered 80,859 infections and 3,100 deaths, but against the backdrop of a strict lockdown local cases over the past week virtually ground to a halt. Worldwide COVID-19 continued its spread, now in more than 100 countries as globally confirmed cases surpassed the 100,000 mark. Major music festivals were among the cultural events to be impacted, with the postponement of Ultra Music Festival followed by the cancellation of South by Southwest.
