DAVID BOWIE For the last two days, I’ve been listening to nothing but David Bowie on my playlist. I even ran to it. I am in mourning, or at least, as much as any one person could who is not closely related to him. But music fans cannot always make that distinction so easily. |
PRAYING FOR PARIS My first apartment in Paris was on Rue de Charonne. I was studying in Paris at the time, and didn't know anything about the city. I felt like a fish out of water. In some respect, I was a little scared being somewhere completely new for the first time. But I perservered. I was in Paris, for goodness sake. |
TECH PREVIEW: LEICA SL Exactly, who is Leica’s target customer for the new Leica SL? Obviously, it’s not Leica’s core M customer, and it’s not Leica’s top-tier professional S customer, and it’s not Leica’s remaining aspirational customer of leftover alphabets. |
LESS IS MORE On a recent weekend R&R in Kyoto, I stumbled upon a little coffee shop in a scenic part of the city, near the famed bamboo forest. It was called % Arabica Arashiyama, and quite frankly, it had some of the best coffee I’d ever had. The coffee is roasted on the premises, so the coffee is strong, smooth, and exceedingly fresh. |
THAT SUGAR FILM The secret to looking your best is to live a healthy life. If you're healthy, you'll look good in anything. So it comes as a surprise that so many people choose not to live a healthy life. And it's no secret why. As a society, we eat more than we should. Or do we? |
TECH REVIEW: LEICA 246 I don’t know if I like my Leica Monochrome Typ 246 more than my original Leica M9 Monochrome. After shooting it for a while now, I have to say that photographically, it’s a big improvement. Blown highlights can now be saved, as well as underexposed shadows. |
GO SET A WATCHMAN I don’t know if I can read it. I have too fond a memory of Gregory Peck in the film adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird”. To discover that after all these years, Atticus Finch, the noble lawyer and caring father, was a racist? It’s like the world turned upside down? |
MEN'S SPRING SUMMER 16 The Traveller – A man who flies from Tokyo to Los Angeles via Paris, Milan, Berlin, Marrakech or Hong Kong, who surfs on the surface of the globe thanks to the Internet and social media which have erased distances but not differences. |
WOMEN'S PRE-SPRING 16 Continuing the championing of ease and relevance she debuted for Autumn/Winter 2015, this season Ports 1961 creative director Natasa Cagalj examines uniforms, and reinterprets the idea of what workwear could mean today. |
COLLECTION LAUNCH PORTS 1961 celebrated the launch of their latest FW15 collection, hosted by Milan Vukmirovic, in his first season as menswear Creative Director. The collection was revealed at the new store located in Hong Kong’s Canton Road, which was then followed by a star studded party at Central Pier 4. |
WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY Obviously, I cannot predict the future, but I don’t believe that wearable technology will ever take off. Mind you, I have no doubt that the iWatch will be a success. But the question now is whether Apple can force the iWatch to be an indispensable part of the Apple ecosystem |
SPRING IS FINALLY HERE! Finally, spring is here! And not a minute too soon. It has been so cold here, in New York, all winter long. But to be fair, the temperature has gradually gotten warmer over the last week or so. However, it really didn't occur to me until I saw a lovely bunch of tulips growing by the curbside right outside my townhouse. |
SPRING SKIING NISEKO If the droughts in California are any indication of snow conditions out West, 2015 is by far the worst ski season in recent memory. However, this really wasn’t a concern for me. You see, I have been in Hong Kong for the last couple of weeks, and this Easter, I decided to ski in Japan. |
NETFLIX GLOBAL If you travel outside the United States, you may sorely discover that your video streaming subscription may be blocked, the minute you try to watch a movie on your personal device. The reason this happens is because movie studios license their movies based on region. |
MOST CANADIAN PHOTO EVER I would first like to apologize for the grainy image. I did try to find a higher quality one. But I suspect that this Twitter image is the only one circulating around the internet. Yes, this a photo of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police playing hockey, up in the ice capped mountains of British Columbia, Canada. |
LE PAIN QUOTIDIEN Fast food New York style. That’s how I regard Le Pain Quotidien. Although, that wasn’t always the case. I remember the first time I went to a "Le Pain". A French classmate of mine took me to its original New York location on Grand and Mercer - many more years than I care to admit. |
TECH REVIEW - AMAZON FIRE It is likely that most of our customers have a preference towards Apple's newest iPhone 6 and 6 plus. However, out of curiosity, I decided to buy myself an Amazon Fire phone. It had once been selling at $650.00 for an off-contract version, which is rather expensive for a 32GB handset. |
WOMEN'S FALL WINTER 15 A/W 15 marks Natasa Cagalj’s first main season showcase. The Central Saint Martins trained designer, who was appointed creative director in November 2014, continues the championing of ease and relevance that she debuted for Pre-Fall. |
NEWS - NATASA CAGALJ We would like to welcome Natasa Cagalj as our new creative director of Ports 1961 womenswear. Natasa is an incredibly talented individual and creative force. Her vision is perfectly in line with the Ports 1961 woman. |
MEN'S FALL WINTER 15 In his first collection for Ports 1961, Milan Vukmirovic focused on building a foundation of essentials made up of the ‘best of the best’ iconic menswear pieces. The cornerstone…a capsule of 10 white shirts every guy must have. |
MUST WATCH - EMPIRE Taraji P. Henson of Fox TV’s debut musical drama, “Empire”, is dressed in Ports 1961, for the cover feature on the January 16th issue of “The Hollywood Reporter”. |
CAR REVIEW - MERCEDES GL The Mercedes GL is a car in a class of it’s own, especially here in Europe. It is the only supersized optional 3 row luxury SUV that is currently available in Europe. BMW, Audi, and Land Rover doesn’t have one. |
TRAVEL - BALI The holiday season can bring out the most nostalgic for many, trimming the tree and stuffing stockings. But for me, it’s bah humbug. Who needs the cold! If nothing else, holiday season is code for vacation - and nowhere says vacation more than a beach in the tropics. |
TECH REVIEW - BLACKPHONE Privacy concerns is a subject that has gained increased attention over the past couple of years. With growing concerns over identity theft and government surveillance, many are looking for ways to protect themselves from prying eyes. |
NEWS - MILAN VUKMIROVIC We would like to welcome Milan Vukmirovic’s as our new creative director of Ports 1961 menswear. Born in France in 1970 to a Serbian family, Milan was raised in Paris. As a young boy, Milan exhibited an early aptitude towards fashion. |
STYLE ICON - SOPHIA LOREN I’ve always admired the on-screen presence of Sophia Loren. It all began with the film, It Started in Naples, especially after her performance of the tongue-and-cheek musical number, “Tu vuò fà l’americano". |
ITALIAN INSPIRATION - DAVID Having relocated to Italy, the natural inclination is to go on a day trip to explore the surrounding area. For my first mini excursion, I decided to “hire” a car and go to Florence where I could finally see the statue of David, by Michelangelo. |
TECH REVIEW - GOOGLE GLASS For some reason, tech companies are under the impression that wearable technology is the future of the industry, in their search for the next big trend. It may very well be. But to date, I haven’t found anything that really catches my attention. |
HOMAGE TO CANADA Remembering where you are from is a source of integrity. So for the first entry of our Ports Journal, we would like to give tribute to where we are from. We are from Canada, a nation who’s branding has been misrepresented by our one bordering neighbor to the south. |