Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Jesus Men in Istanbul, not Constantinople

Perhaps it is in times of economic hardship, men look to their savior for fashion advice. This might explain the "Jesus Man" trend here in Istanbul. 
 Or maybe it is because Istanbul (Constantinople) is home to a rich Christian tradition, and is today home to the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (left), leader of the Orthodox Christian world. 
Yet I find it fascinating that the Jesus look is overcoming the streets of Istanbul in full force, not just amongst hipsters and gypsies, but men of means wearing nice suits and chatting on iPhones at the Four Seasons or the Ottoman. 

The buzzword in many fashion houses is "economy" in Fall Ready to Wear clothing this season. Lanvin for instance is priding itself on timeless classic clothing, bringing back the 1940s sobriety, sharp lines, black, and simple accessories (of course with a shimmer here or there). So how does this explain the religiosity of hair fashion here? Maybe everyone wants to look like a rock star and not the famed JC, but I would like to think that when the pocket is short of change, opting out of a haircut and going Christian in a Muslim land is not a bad look. Plus Madonna loves Jesus....  bringing me to....

VANITY OF THE DAY
As a practitioner of Kabbalah, Madonna has found herself a new object of worship, by the name of Jesus Luz. This sexy 22 year old model landed himself some work with D & G a way back and even did some steamy photoshoots in W with her. Not going to lie--who wouldn't worship that? In the photo below on the right, he is bringing universal love to mankind (or rather, womankind....). All I can say is DAMN. 


2 comments:

  1. i just came across your blog. really well-written! keep on the good work!

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  2. There's a reason that Turkish men go for the "jesus" look and it's not what you think. They're following a different icon, one of their own - a pop icon to be precise. Tarkan. Check out his 2001 look. Read about it here: http://tarkandeluxe.blogspot.com/2004/07/passion-of-tarkan.html

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