THE LINE-UP

The 50 most important things happening this spring/summer.

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Key Piece

THE SWEATSHIRT

This summer is all about sport, so it follows that the sweatshirt takes center stage. The beauty is that it will stand up to things that knitted sweaters won’t. Like being worn all Coachella long, being stuffed into a backpack, and worn all over again. Oh, and it looks cool, too.

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Key Piece

THE CHINO SHORT

Like chinos, but shorter, chino shorts can be worn with a shirt and shoes (yes, actual leather shoes) when it gets hot. Or, if that’s a bit of a stretch, put them on with a v-neck T-shirt and some Vans. Easy. This summer, look out for new, brighter colors like burnt orange and deep indigo.

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Key Piece

THE OXFORD SHIRT

Simple, effective, versatile, the Oxford shirt is 2012’s answer to all of the questions you’ve ever had about shirts, like: ‘What’s good with a blazer and jeans?’ and ‘What should I wear on a Friday night that will get me past the bouncers and still look cool?’

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Key Piece

THE BACKPACK

Unless you’re the type of person who just takes a credit card and your cell phone when you leave the house, you’ll need a bag. And the backpack is where it’s at. Better for your back than a messenger bag, but more importantly, it looks the business and it’s an essential at a festival, beach, trek through Papua New Guinea…

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Key Piece

THE DECK SHOE

You know the deal, summer footwear can tend to be casual, but that’s where the deck shoe comes in. Easily dressed up with chinos (and no socks) or dressed down with jeans and a T-shirt. And no socks means no socks.

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Key Piece

THE PRINTED SHIRT

Buttoned-up and peeping out under a crew neck, or worn over a tank in the summer sun, S/S'12 is all about the printed shirt. Let the brave go for big graphics like Hawaiian, or get hold of smaller, subtler, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it types.

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Key Piece

THE DESERT BOOT

It’s unlikely you’ll be wearing these in the actual desert, but regardless of the environment, the desert boot is a shoe worth pulling on this season. It’s one of the few smart options you can wear comfortably right through the summer. Traditionalists say they look best with a chino, but style mavericks may also enjoy teaming them with shorts.

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five trends that may
or may not TAKE OFF

1. Hoodie bows

Tie a bow in the drawstrings of your hoodie; it's literally that easy.

2. VISIBLE HIKING SOCKS

Walking socks worn poking out of your boots - ideally worn with pants rolled up far enough for them to be visible.

3. SWEATER SNOODS

A sweater worn over your head but not over your arms. Ideal for office environments when you have a cold. Or a love bite.

4. PIN-ROLLED JEANS

Pull your jeans tight at the ankle, fold over and roll up. Congratulations, you've just pin-rolled your jeans.

5. BACK-TO-FRONT CAPS

The ‘90s are hip all over again, and eventually everyone's going to get bored wearing caps the right way round. Maybe.
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Social media
you’ll be signing up to…

PATH

Allow us to introduce Path, the newest social media platform and, perhaps more importantly, the latest place to embarrass yourself in public by not being properly aware of its rules. Tech experts (well, the guy that designs our iPad mag) are billing Path as the new Facebook, an all-encompassing form of communication that not only allows you to tell people what you're doing, but also how you got there, what you were listening to and the coffee you were drinking when you did it; a bit like Spotify, Facebook and Foursquare rolled into one.

Path.com
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Social media
you’ll be signing up to…

PINTEREST

Social site Pinterest lets you create mood boards to share – and show off your visual taste to your followers. The premise is simple: 'pin' images online and copy them onto boards to present them on. It's like hanging out in a teenagers' poster-clad bedroom (but thankfully without the odd smell). Although Pinterest launched in 2010, it's fast approaching Facebook levels of followers: this January, it hit 11.7 million unique users, making it the fastest site in history to break through the 10 million-visitor mark. Pin that.

pinterest.com
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Social media
you’ll be signing up to…

THIS IS MY JAM

That song that's been in your head for days? The one you keep drumming out the beat to with your fingertips when you should be paying attention in meetings? That's your 'jam', that one addictive song that brand-new site This Is My Jam want you to share. Sign up, create a profile page, pick your song (the site will find it for you), then share it via Twitter and Facebook. A few days later the site will ask you to pick another, while you can check out picks from other Jammers. Simple, sharable and well designed. Get jammed.

thisismyjam.com
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New hoods
to hang out in

STRASBOURG SAINT-DENIS, PARIS

Why: Like all the best places, Strasbourg Saint-Denis is a bit scruffy – well, scruffy for Paris. The neighborhood (in the 10th arrondissement) is home to hairdressing supply shops, hookah restaurants, Phoenix band members and small indie film production companies whose employees hang out in the local bars, cafés and a retro American diner. It’s not the postcard-version of Paris, but a rougher, wonkier version of it. With wig shops.

Hangouts: American diner Le Fil Rouge Café; age-old bar Chez Jeannette that draws a hipster crowd.
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New hoods
to hang out in

REDFERN, SYDNEY

Why: Sydney is a shameless show-off. Australia’s brashest city has a deserved reputation as a party destination and, on the weekend, sunburnt backpackers and locals populate the 24-hour bars. You can escape the Jägerbombs and go a little further afield, through hipster enclave Surry Hills to Redfern. New cafés, bars and galleries have opened in recent months – in an area that is to Sydney what Dalston is to London.

Hangouts: Café-bar The Fern; The Eathouse Diner; drink at The Norfolk; shop at furniture store Great Dane.
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New hoods
to hang out in

HACKNEY WICK, LONDON

Why: With the Olympic Park rising up around them, Hackney Wickers have decided to flip a finger to Europe’s largest construction site and concentrate on building their own community of artists – it’s full of cheap studio spaces and has recently earned itself a hipster café and pub, The Hackney Pearl. This July sees them go up against the Olympics with their own brilliantly named Hackney WickED festival (see what they did there?).

Hangouts: The Hackney Pearl; the canal-side The Counter café; late-night parties and vintage sales at the MKII photographic studios; nearby Chatsworth Road with its food and fashion Sunday market.
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New hoods
to hang out in

ASTORIA, NEW YORK

Why: Astoria, Queens is New York’s forgotten neighborhood, even though it’s an artisan loaf’s throw from Williamsburg. Locals have described it as ‘anti-hipster’– it’s not all fixed-wheel bikes and ironic tattoos – but it’s got the feel of Brooklyn before the hipsters moved in. This spring/summer will be all about the 3 Cubed Film Festival – where local bar The Sparrow Tavern sets local filmmakers a challenge – make a three minute film in three weeks – with a film showing and boozed-up after party.

Hangouts: Indie film festivals at the Hell Gate Social bar and The Sparrow Tavern; elk burgers at BareBurger; deep-fried pickles at the Sweet Afton bar.
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Trending now

THE FRESH PRINTS

There is one vital ingredient for this summer’s biggest trend that you can’t buy in shops: a sense of humor. Because, realistically, it’s a very dull person who pulls on some camouflage print shorts and doesn’t grin from ear to ear. If camo isn’t pressing your buttons, check out other prints, including Navajo, Peruvian and even leopard. There, it’s been said. Remember, less is always more with these things so maybe go easy on the head-to-toe outfits and instead wear any print with plain, dark denim.
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Push your look into spring/summer

NEW NAUTICAL

Wear juiced-up anoraks with heavy-duty work shirts and pared down deck shoes; classic seafaring style, updated. Fish fingers not included.

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Push your look into spring/summer

Rock vintage

Army jackets, bandana-print shirts, button-up jersey and super-soft worn-in denim: take your cues from the classic Woodstock headliners.
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Push your look into spring/summer

japan street style

Geometric camo, washed-out khaki shorts, graphic print tees, and techy-looking oversized backpacks topped off with a 5-panel cap: think Japanese streetwear – but with an eco edge.
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Push your look into spring/summer

PICK ‘N’ MIX TAILORING

Mix and match suit jackets and pants, and wear bright over-dyed colors (keeping it simple on the other half). A deep red, washed-out blazer with simple dark navy chinos and leather lace-ups? Nice.
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Push your look into spring/summer

PRINT MASH-UP

Print is popping up on snap-back caps, backpacks, shirts, and shoes – just about everything. Wear it selectively, with simple outfits – or be brave and mash it up.
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The Hero Piece

The HawaIian Shirt

We asked design agency It's Nice That to round up this year’s five most important artists to create bespoke print designs for spring/summer’s most important item: the Hawaiian shirt. They handpicked Jonathan Zawada, Mike Perry, Michael Willis, Mario Hugo and Hisham Akira Bharoocha. The results? Five exclusive shirts available from Asos.com at the end of March.
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Artists
to name-drop

JONATHAN ZAWADA

Skulls, flowers and human-machine mash-ups – visual artist Jonathan Zawada's work is full of unexpected pairings. The young, L.A.-based Australian has already art-directed cover art for The Presets and Rustie, and co-created backstage fashion comic Petit Mal!, style and maths blog Fashematics.com and fractal-print accessories with the Trust Fun collective (available at Liberty, London). He's exhibited in L.A., Sydney, Barcelona and most recently in Paris for his Kindred Spirits exhibition at Colette. One to watch.

trust-fun.com
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Artists
to name-drop

MIKE PERRY

Brooklyn-based artist Mike Perry is a jack of all trades, turning his hand to creating books with romantic titles (Pulled and Hand Job), magazines and newspapers, making clothing, paintings and wonky illustrations – and even a little teaching on the side. He's the art poster boy of mags like Tokion, Grafik, Arkitip and even Elle Girl, has exhibited in London, New York, Amsterdam and Tokyo, and recently created illustrations for a Nike sneaker. Want to work for one of the world's coolest artists? He's looking for an intern this autumn – apply via his website. We're just working up our resume.

mikeperrystudio.com
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Artists
to name-drop

MICHAEL WILLIS

Michael Willis is the Creative Director of the Panther Club, a sinister-sounding organization that is, in reality, a breezy independent art label that collaborates with international artists. Commissioning projects and giving a platform to lesser-known art-folk, Willis runs the operation from his UK HQ, but it's his personal work that excites – bold imagery, psychedelic graphics and the ‘80s all influence Willis' brilliant pop art projects for clients like Kitsuné Records and Apartamento magazine. Thankfully, what happens in Panther Club doesn't stay in Panther Club.

pantherclub.eu
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Artists
to name-drop

MARIO HUGO

The New York-based artist and designer works in typographics and textures, usually at his computer, although he's an accomplished pencil-and-paper designer, too. He's exhibited internationally from Berlin to Barcelona and is well-versed in the world of fashion, producing work for mags like Dazed & Confused and Elle, projects for Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana and Nike, and even re-worked the Stella McCartney website via his design agency Hugo & Marie.

mariohugo.com
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Artists
to name-drop

HISHAM AKIRA BHAROOCHA

Visual art, photography, music and daydreaming are all the interests of Japanese-born, Brooklyn-based artist Hisham Akira Bharoocha. He's exhibited in solo shows around the world and in group shows in New York, San Francisco and Paris, and has been featured in mags like i-D, The Fader and Blend. Collaborating with experimental rock group Boredoms, he once rounded up 77 drummers for a musical performance piece in New York – only to better his own record the following year with 88. Nice work, Hisham.

hishamb.net
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Festivals
to be seen at

SNOWBOMBING

Where: Mayrhofen, Austria When: 9-12 April

Highlights: Dizzee Rascal, Example, DJ Shadow, The Vaccines.

Leave the mud behind and head to the hills (well, mountains). Held at the Mayrhofen resort, this is a winter wonderland – verdant forests, stellar skiing, fondue and a nightclub made of snow. There’s a raft of dance and DJ big-hitters to keep you up till dawn, plus plenty of indoor parties, including a club in a sauna. Don’t forget deodorant.

Most likely to: Find yourself in a post-party Jacuzzi or at an igloo rave with your tongue frozen to the wall. - Kim Taylor Bennett

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Festivals
to be seen at

Coachella

Where: Indio, California, USA. When: 13-15 April, 20-22 April

Highlights: Radiohead, The Black Keys, Dr Dre & Snoop Dogg.

This is the antithesis of slumming it. This three-day event is held on a pristine polo field, surrounded by picturesquemountains and onsite camping is five star compared to the Glasto mud baths, but a lot of punters choose to rent condos which means excellent after-party potential. Plus, it’s near to L.A. so A-listers in short shorts abound.

Most likely to: Get a tan, snag a Hollywood star, forget your ID and find you’re not able to buy alcohol. - Kim Taylor Bennett

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Festivals
to be seen at

SONAR

Where: São Paolo, Brazil. When: 11-12 May

Highlights: Björk, Four Tet, James Blake, Justice.
No festival this early in the season can match Sonar for beats and hedonistic revelry. Launched in Barcelona 19 years ago, Sonar has expanded to Brazil and Tokyo (21-22 April), ending in its hometown (14-16 June). City festivals of the dance persuasion are often the most hardcore with headliners playing late and parties beyond dawn, so pace yourself.

Most likely to: Need a week off to recover. Go skinny-dipping in the ocean at 6.30am (if you go to the Barcelona branch). - Kim Taylor Bennett

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35/50

Festivals
to be seen at

PINKPOP

Where: Landgraaf, Limburg, The Netherlands.
When: 26-28 May

Highlights: The Cure, Bruce Springsteen, Soundgarden.
Holland’s biggest and best music fest has been going for 42 years, attracting 60,000 gig goers each day. The full line-up is yet to be announced, but last year’s headliners (Coldplay, Kings of Leon, Foo Fighters) should give you an idea, as if Springsteen wasn’t enough. Plus, the Dutch are super friendly and helpful – always a bonus in a foreign land.

Most likely to: Eat a ton of pancakes, frites and croquettes. Have a lost weekend en route in Amsterdam and miss Pinkpop. - Kim Taylor Bennett

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Festivals
to be seen at

Primavera Sound

Where: Barcelona, Spain. When: 30-31 May, 1-3 June

Highlights: Björk, Spiritualized, Beach House, The xx, Beirut.

You can’t beat Primavera’s choice cuts across indie, dubsteb, electronica, chillwave and post-rock. It’s like All Tomorrow’s Parties (who partner with PS), but instead of Butlins you’re in Barcelona and rather than eating Papa John’s in the cold, you’re wolfing down paella with the Med at your feet. The vibe is relaxed and un-corporate, and no campsite means lots of locals in attendance and apartments aplenty to rent.

Most likely to: Be a wall-to-wall hipster fest. With the hot weather, the probability of side-boob spotting is promising. - Kim Taylor Bennett

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Must-see films

PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS

When: March

Why: Anyone who’s seen the ‘Puffy Shirt’ episode of Seinfeld, where Jerry unwittingly accepts to go on national TV wearing a ruffled white shirt that wouldn’t be out of place on Adam Ant, will know that the pirate look is going to be a tough sell on the European catwalk. The British folk festival circuit, fine. Catwalks, no. Aardman Animations, the Bristol animation doyens behind Wallace and Gromit have a new claymation film and it looks like a corker. Hugh Grant lends his tabloid-bashing tones to the Pirate Captain, a bushy-bearded sea dog looking to win the coveted Pirate of the Year award. - David Jenkins

WATCH TRAILER
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Must-see films

THIS MUST BE THE PLACE

When: April

Why: Sean Penn? Playing a Nazi-hunting Robert Smith-a-like Goth with a squeaky accent? Yep, this loopy new film by Paolo Sorrentino sees the man’s man thesp show us his sensitive side as he ambles across the American Midwest with a dinky suitcase in search of the guard who bullied his estranged father in the Nazi death camps. Black fright wigs, white face powder and rouge may not be your key spring look, but the film is so ostentatious and idiosyncratic that you’d be a fool not to see it. Plus, David Byrne of Talking Heads makes a delicious cameo as himself, playing the song the film is named after at a bizarre New York club. - David Jenkins

WATCH TRAILER
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Must-see films

ROCK OF AGES

When: June

Why: Remember when Tom Cruise did that funny dance in Tropic Thunder and was instantly vindicated for years of weirdness? Well, someone has thought to capitalize on Tom’s it’s-just-a-bit-of-harmless-fun streak by casting him in a screen version of Broadway musical Rock of Ages. With a plot lifted from the Coyote Ugly school of hyper-liberal hellraisers vs snot-nosed buzzkills, it's set in a garish L.A. rock club circa 1987 frequented by hair-metaller Stacee Jaxx (Cruise, sporting unsightly back tattoo). When Catherine Zeta-Jones and her pink business-suited conservatives call for the club to be closed, a showdown ensues. Style-wise, this is a spandex, leather and pink tassel affair. - David Jenkins

WATCH TRAILER
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Must-see films

CONFESSION OF A CHILD OF THE CENTURY

When: June

Why: Earlier this year Madonna directed the execrable W.E., in April we get to see Rihanna’s acting chops in Battleship, then in June comes the eagerly awaited (?) screen debut of scuzzball libertine, Peter ‘Not Pete’ Doherty. French director Sylvie Verheyde takes the reins for this adaptation of Alfred de Musset’s autobiographical 1836 memoir, and it sees the law-bothering rocker get serious, playing a dandyish rogue opposite Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lily Cole. It looks like Doherty was given carte blanche to select his costumes, so similar are they to the Libertines’ on-stage attire: brass-buttoned military jackets, frilly cuffs, neckerchiefs and ill-fitting top hats. - David Jenkins

WATCH TRAILER
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Must-see films

WETTEST COUNTY

When: August

Why: Your two-word guideline for film in 2012? Tom Hardy. Hammersmith’s favorite son will be all over our cinema screens this year, vaulting him from semi-obscurity to the very pinnacle of the A-list. While his turn as masked bad dude Bane in Batman sequel The Dark Knight Returns will grab the headlines, potentially his most interesting role is in John ‘The Road’ Hillcoat’s Wettest County. Adapted by Nick Cave from Matt Bondurant’s historical novel, it’s set among a band of bootleggers in prohibition-era Virginia and the style is linen shirts, billowy chinos, suspendered and tighter-than-tight side-partings. - David Jenkins

WATCH TRAILER
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Go-see exhibitions

RYAN MCGINLEY

Where: Triennale di Milano, Italy.

When: Opens 21 February.

What: Naked brilliance.

Why: The past decade has seen this young American artist-photographer seduce the art and fashion set with nudes lost in an endless summer of beautiful youth. On yearly rural road trips, he’s photographed hipster babes and boys up trees, wandering through flowery meadows or exploring dark caverns, clad in just smiles and high spirits. A selection of these works feature in ‘0 to 100, The New Ages of Life’, exploring how technology is changing human development. - Skye Sherwin

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Go-see exhibitions

THE WHITNEY BIENNAL

Where: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

When: Opens 1 March.

What: American art NOW.

Why: This is the temperature-taker for American art, where icons rub up against fledgling starlets. There’s a bleed between art, dance and music this year, including pouty provocateur/actor/artist/musician Vincent Gallo and dance genius Michael Clark. Look out for work by the late Mike Kelley, exploring America’s dark dreams through pop culture and teen rebellion, while Oscar Tuazon’s wooden beam constructions give minimalism a punky DIY edge. - Skye Sherwin

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Go-see exhibitions

DAMIEN HIRST

Where: Tate Modern, London.

When: Opens 4 April.

What: Pickled cows and diamond skulls.

Why: Twenty five years of sharks in formaldehyde, surgically slivered livestock, breeding flies, spot paintings and that ludicrously lavish diamond-encrusted skull have made Damien Hirst the planet’s most buzzed-about artist and one of the richest. As the guiding light of the YBA generation that included Tracey Emin and Gavin Turk, Hirst put Brit Art on the map. Will this survey reveal a singular artistic genius, a brilliant entrepreneur or art’s most over-inflated stock? - Skye Sherwin

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Go-see exhibitions

TOMÁS SARACENO

Where: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

When: Opens 1 May.

What: A city that can fly.

Why: This architect-trained Argentinian artist has come up with a unique answer to urban overcrowding: Cloud City, a solar-powered, endlessly adaptable flyingmetropolis. Saraceno has been building Cloud City module by module for the past decade using clear PVC and the latest technology. Results have included floating gardens and giant bubbles you can walk around in and on as if you were treading air. When it lands on the roof of the Met, it’s sure to haveNew York agog. - Skye Sherwin

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Bands to playlist

TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB

It’s been a whirlwind couple of years for TDCC. Since debut album Tourist History went gold in 2010, the band’s pop-fuelled gems became as ubiquitous as oxygen, audible everywhere from sticky-floored indie enclaves to BBC Three ads. With a worldwide tour done and dusted, the Northern Irish upstarts are now holed up in Glasgow recording their sophomore effort set for a September release. If Alex Trimble et al are to be believed, expect a ‘bigger sound’ that takes hip-hop influences from throne-hogs ‘Ye and Jay and emo-rapper Drake. - Karmel Mandrick

twodoorcinemaclub.com
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Bands to playlist

MORNING PARADE

While these five ex-laborers from Essex might have more experience building stadiums than playing them, that’s all set to change this year. Signed to EMI, Harlow’s finest should have no trouble realizing their dream of playing to packed-out arenas thanks to a slew of ‘90s style epic soundscapes built on JCB-sized hooks and crescendos to satiate your inner air guitarist. As accolades from Zane Lowe and Vogue pour in and debut album Us & Ourselves climbs the charts, it’ll be tough to rain on this lot’s parade anytime soon. - Karmel Mandrick

morningparade.com
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Bands to playlist

TRIBES

Since 2005, any band brandishing a bevy of guitars and floppy fringes has been lauded as the saviors of a stale Brit pop/lad rock scene. So far, actual success stories are few and far between. For every The Vaccines, there’s a Viva Brother – so which er, tribe will Tribes fall in to? Obviously, we’re no Mystic Megs, but we reckon these fresh-faced Londoners are in with a chance. Their first album Baby shares the ramshackle London spirit of The Libertines while anthems like We Were Children call out for a last orders sing-along. So raise your pint and let it out. - Karmel Mandrick

tribesband.com
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Bands to playlist

DRY THE RIVER

In the vein of Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver and Mumford & Sons, this year’s purveyors of woods-y folk are Dry the River, a wonderfully bearded brigade destined to reverberate over festival season. A sound as bucolically charming as their moniker suggests, DTR’s layered harmonies make for a rich tapestry of sound that feels like dining out on a wedge of Kobe beef in a log cabin. Get your share early with this exclusive acoustic performance shot at ASOS Towers, and catch them on theirmonth-long London tour where they’ll be testing out the lush Shallow Bed on a live audience. Stick a fork in us. - Karmel Mandrick
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Bands to playlist

JACK PEÑATE

He’s back! Again! Having slalomed through the saccharine whimsy of 2007’s Matinee to the morbid-yet-optimistic Everything Is New in 2009, the XL artist returns from a three-year hiatus to take on another sonic reinvention for 2012. Comeback track No One Lied shows the Londoner at his most bare bones with a simple black-and-white, one-take video, filmed at his home in London. No news on when – or even if - we should expect an album this year but if this taster’s anything to go by, it’ll be worth the wait.

jackpenate.com
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