Perhaps the most eye-catching part of their site is their blog. Although it’s not quite elaborate on words, the pictures they post are quite simply flabbergastingly beautiful. Although it’s quite difficult to find a good source of the latest designers without the site being convoluted, Clear’s posts for underground (yet amazingly talented) fashion designers pull me in for a double take. The magazine does fixate upon luxury brands thus would only be fitting they’d pick the cream of the crop of unknowns.

Take for example Kisa, a Russian-brand with its eyes set to be the next Gucci, according to the International Herald Tribune. I don’t particularly care if they want to be the next Gucci, what I do care is if any online store carries (or will carry) their line. I love the subtlety of their details and the styles are certainly very wearable. The Russians are indeed coming.

The crux of the content can, of course, only be found in the print version, which I once again highly recommend in getting. A glimpse of their well thought out layouts are posted on the site’s front page and really, who doesn’t want to read about mechanical structures when you have an intriguing image like this:

Image credits: Catwalk.com, Clearmag.com

Since Clear Magazine’s website is forever under reconstruction, I decided to take some pictures of the issues I own of this highly underrated Fashion and Design magazine.

Sure, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar may be the leading fashion bibles on the shelves today, but what they lack is content since 70% of it is filled with nothing but advertisement. Clear, on the other hand, is anything but fluff, this is a high end magazine.

By high end I mean it in a way that this is the kind of magazine you don’t throw away, will never go out of style, and each issue is designed uniquely, yet they retain the same basic structure since its inception.

Looks

While many are printed on cheap, thin, disposable paper, Clear Magazine has heavy, thick, glossy paper, printed especially on Yupo paper. The peculiar thing about it is the translucent cover that sheaths the hardcover. Often the graphics overlaying the model, a play on graphic design. The logo and “clear” covers are instantly recognizable and comes in various shades with each issue. Graphically each issue has a distinct style, whether it would be explosive red and white rays, angled text, gradient backgrounds, or funky graphics over photos, anything goes.

Content

Most of the content come from international contributors- reputable photographers, writers, architects, designers, editors, and so on. The main categories they focus on are: architectural design, object design, and of course, fashion. Many articles are dedicated to luxury objects like the Nokia Vertu, a gold Mac laptop, designer watches, and luxury cars.

Sections

One section of 5 or so pages are graphically dedicated to shapes we recognize from burnt toast to jeans and give you a short history of each item depicted.

There are 2 fashion editorial themes per issue, with the best airbrushed work I have ever seen. Wow.

In architectural design, there are a slew of new places discovered with every issue from Amsterdam to South Africa. You’ll find the latest boutique hotel and breathtaking photos from Moscow to Tokyo.

In several issues, there is one special page made exclusively for Clear – the magnetic paper. Thick like the cover of the magazine, but thin enough to fold and flop like pages, the magnetic paper is a first. The page can be torn off and stuck on your refrigerator, clearly, the magazine is all about innovation.

This is the kind of magazine that are collectible and will never go out of fashion. It’s the perfect coffee table compliment.

I have a bunch of updates for you coming up, and in a couple of weeks I’ll be attending fashion week. 3 whole days being holed up in a building for 4-6 hours at a time on top of going to work from 9am. There will be much to talk about, that is if I don’t drop dead from exhaustion first.

Coming Up:

• Magazine review for one of my favorites: Clear Magazine.
• Label Report: Michael Kors, Teenflo, and a tailoring spot called Charles Le Tailleur.
• Show review for the annual Casa Cares fashion show featuring a slew of designers including Dinh Ba, Rush Couture and Aqua Di Lara.
• Montreal Fashion Week press releases concerning several magazine launch parties.
• Most likely exhausted from Fashion Week, I’ll be giving the “spa” a first try, see how those Swedish massages fare.
• March 25th is Gloss’ latest issue! Hopefully it’ll feature my interview with jewelry designer Allison Sklar.
• Onsite reports being at Fashion Week, observing the crowds, and wondering how I’ll keep my sanity throughout these long hours. No show reviews, that’s reserved for Gloss.

In essence, I have a lot to say but not enough time to write them down!