Richard Chai's debut men's collection is just as detail-driven as his fawned-over women's offering. The line, which we got a hands-on look at today, includes boiled-wool outerwear, jacquard suiting and trenches with cashmere accents, and a host of intricate knits—"I drove my sample knitters crazy," Chai says. Shapes range from ultra-skinny pants to extended length cardigans, while colors are mostly subdued—rust, navy, and gray dominate—and nicely offset by a variety of plaids and stripes. The designer's already moved on to his next project: Putting on a full runway show for Spring '09.

Click here for highlights from the collection >

When Rudy Giuliani famously set about cleaning up Times Square in the nineties, photographer Lisa Kereszi found herself in the right place at the right time. She focused her camera on old-school strip clubs like the notorious Show World, which adapted to the new era by helping launch the neo-vintage New Burlesque movement. The lenswoman then traveled across the country to document the trend as it gained momentum over the past few years, and now her work has finally been collected in the sexy, gritty new monograph Fantasies. The subjects include everything from the now-abandoned theaters to unused costumes to (most importantly) the girls themselves. And while the influence of her old boss, Nan Goldin, is obvious, Kereszi clearly calls her own shots.

That's the shocking news from his weird and morose interview with German weekly Die Zeit. (He also calls his field a "dreadful form of expression," and says he's "ashamed" of his past work.) Given the guy's been on a tear lately—his upcoming SLS Beverly Hills hotel has us particularly psyched—we hope somebody gets him back on his meds, stat.

Talk about bad timing: Just as a recession looms, Pininfarina has unveiled its first-ever chopper. The Agusta AW139 Executive isn't exactly restrained, either—the tricked-out cabin includes two 15-inch monitors equipped with touchscreens, eight speakers, and a booming woofer (presumably for blasting "Flight of the Valkyries," Apocalypse Now-style.) Price is TBD.

Maybe all those rock-oriented video games are paying off: Check out this video of Yuto Miyazawa, an eight-year-old Japanese kid who can really shred—on an actual guitar. And let's face it, you better wail if you're playing a polka-dotted Flying V.

First, there's Daft Punk, and now there's The Future Library, a pair of robot-shaped shelving units premiering today at the Armory Show. They're designed by Michael Amzalag and Mathias Augustyniak of M/M Paris, which has also done ad campaigns for Yohji Yamamoto, Calvin Klein, and Givenchy (among others). The shelves are based on their own silhouettes and house what may be the fair's safest purchase: books from Hans Ulrich Obrist's ongoing collection of interviews with artists, architects, and designers, The Conversation Series. "The idea is to create an archive that's not related to any specific space or time," Augustyniak says. "It's a self-portrait of the way we are working, traveling from one area of creation to the next. It's a trailer for a bigger project to come." Beware the rise of the machines.

The Future Library at the Armory Show, today through March 30, Pier 94, 12th Ave. at 55th St., NYC; then at USM Modular Furniture, 28-30 Greene St., NYC, through May 5

Well, no one's ever accused the Austrians of taking things lightly, but this still seems extreme: Political party BZÖ is calling for an investigation into how Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer got his iPhone a full day before it was released there. (Apparently, Austria gets gadgets nine months after we do.) We always said early adoption comes at a price, but this is ridiculous.

[Engadget]

If you were lucky, your dad taught you the right way to shake a man's hand: firmly, yes, but quickly and conclusively. And if you were even luckier, the sultry French divorcee who lived next door took you aside one day and exposed you to the intricacies of the air kiss. (Regrettably, I'm 0 for two in this instance.) In any case, global travelers confounded by the ever-evolving etiquette of the greeting should enjoy Christina Binkley's piece in today's Journal (if more for commiseration than actual advice). A warning: The bonus slideshow, in particular a 1989 smooch between Gorby and former East German autocrat Erich Honecker, might turn you into a handshake-only man for good.

"There's nothing transgressive about these kinds of photos, not anymore," gallerist Aaron Rose says of his latest show, Being True. "The sell-by date on that has absolutely passed." Allow us to disagree: The exhibition—which features two decades of work from photographers like Terry Richardson, Angela Boatwright, Poppy de Villeneuve, and Patrick O'Dell—feels pretty damn vital to us. But maybe Rose has just moved on—his documentary Beautiful Losers had its NYC debut last night. The film (which will be released to the public later this spring), like his book and traveling exhibition of the same name, charts street art's rise from niche oddity to corporate phenomenon, and includes interviews with friends of Rose like Mike Mills, Barry McGee (pictured), and Shepard Fairey. "All these artists I came up with, their aesthetics are the mainstream now," Rose says. "Pretty soon, some new generation of kids is going to come along and shake it all up again. Might put me out of business, but hey—that's how it should be."
Being True, opening tonight, The Journal Gallery, 168 North First St., Brooklyn, NY, thejrnl.com; Beautiful Losers is scheduled for release in late spring/early summer, beautifullosers.com