Customer Reviews

Brief Encounters: Underwear Inspires Art

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According to the package insert, author 'Jason Salzenstein is a creative consultant, fashion editor, and award-winning film producer whose interests and scope of work covers all areas of design. He studied in Paris, worked with Hollywood celebrities for Dolce and Gabbana, and has contributed to publications around the world. His clients are global, but he calls Boston, Los Angeles and Seattle home.' What could also be added as a category in which Salzenstein excels is his ability to create a book about fashion that happens to be both educational and entertaining. BRIEF ENCOUNTERS, a fine play on words for this collection, is a survey for the various companies who design men's underwear and the reasons and concepts behind their designs AND marketing techniques.

The book begins with a series of essays and photographs form the underwear designers Andrew Christian (and his famous Flashback series spotlighting bubble butts), Aussiebum, Bon Bon, C-IN2, Diesel (especially their 'Be Stupid' line), ES Collection - the sport look, Nasty Pig, Papi, Rufskin, teamm8, Timoteo, and xtg - each essay accompanied by each company's ad campaign photographs her produced in rich color and large spread. The second part of the book gives Salzenstein the opportunity to curate the works of many photographic artists who have incorporated underwear into their work. These photographs are pure art without the commercial aspect - imaginative, exploratory, vividly colorful. One very well received aspect of this section is that both model and photographer are listed by name beneath each photograph: few artists are that sharing with their models' identities and the collaboration is very successful.

So in the end this is a book about current fashion as well as a book of the best in commercial photography paired with fine art photography. The star is the underwear - and the models who pose it! Grady Harp, November 10