Oily Rag: The August 2026 Edition
Oily Rag - The August 2026 Edition
As August slips into September, chapters close, new doors appear, and somewhere in the liminal space between what was and what’s next, old ideas loosen their grip and new ones flicker into view.
This month, our wandering takes us all the way to Tokyo, where the team found themselves chasing lights of every kind for our FW26 campaign - neon, dawn, streetlight. Back home, Jordan Hodge, our Keeper of the Kerning, disappears down a few mysterious rabbit holes to bring us his latest reads, listens and watches - little portals into the worlds occupying his mind. And somewhere (well) beyond the bitumen, Jeremy Tagand, our Head of Workshop, heads into the desert, where miles of dust and open sky leave plenty of room for soul searching and the occasional existential detour.
Consider this our offering from the in-between.
Until September,
Team Deus
Neon & Other Miracles
Tokyo sits comfortably in all tenses. It’s the pointy end of the stick. It’s the fizzy pop and the high-voltage sensory overload. It’s the kaleidoscopic ooze of neon dazzling on wet asphalt. It’s the inherent perfectionism present in every action.
The whole place runs on odd, obsessive regularities. You sit shoulder to shoulder in a tiny seven-seat counter joint under an elevated railway line, eating a bowl of ramen prepared with the maniacal precision of a Michelin-starred chemist. Outside, thousands of people move in absolute unison without ever brushing shoulders. It’s a miracle of manic order and it’s completely hypnotic.
In many ways, Tokyo is Deus’ spiritual home: a relentless engine of culture, craftsmanship, and quiet magic that keeps on giving in its own uniquely brilliant way.
Uluru to Adelaide: The BMW Safari GS Enduro
It started at Uluru, Northern Territory. 120 riders gathered beneath the enormous sky, against the red earth of the Australian outback. From there, the road pointed south towards Adelaide.
Mount Dare marked one of the driest points of the journey. A little outpost in the middle of nowhere, where the remoteness becomes tangible and the scale of the country begins to sink in - a small mechanical migration passing through a place that otherwise feels untouched by time.
A few stops along, the contingency found themselves in the Flinders Ranges, where the hard-edged desert softened into something altogether more cinematic. Ancient ridgelines, deep valleys and shifting colours - a final, spectacular chapter before the road carried them towards Adelaide.
The long way south became its own kind of reset.
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Reading, watching, listening - with Jordan Hodge
The unhurried practices. Small rituals that slow the world down.These are the stubbornly open-ended, resistant to quick consumption rituals of Jordan Hodge, Deus' Lord of the Layers aka Senior Graphic Designer that keep him porous to influence.
Reading
"A Short Stay in Hell" by Steven L. Peck
A Mormon man finds himself sent to a seemingly innocuous version of hell, where the only escape for its residents is to find the “book of their life” in a near infinite library.
"Yesteryear" by Caro Claire Burke
I know, all the girlies are reading this one (I picked this up after my wife finished with it). Well, it’s bloody good. An influencer wakes up to her family replaced by eerie lookalikes. Very clever sleight of hand.
"The Seven Moons of Malinda Almeida" by Shehan Karunatilaka
Set during the Sri Lankan civil war, a war photographer explores the fallout of his own murder in a ghost filled early ‘90s Colombo.
Listening
doggone: “William”
No album yet? Maybe this year. A mysterious up-and-comer. Echoes of Prince, Mk.Gee (some speculation that it might actually be his side project). 80’s guitar sounds and synth stabs, crunchy, glitched drums.
Various Artists: “Bulgarian Folk Ensembles and Songs”
Heaps of close intervals, drones and weird (to my Western ears) harmonies. Check out “Gyore Dos” and “Kalimanku, Denku”
Death Grips: “Government Plates”
Dangerous music to drive to. Perhaps not as accessible as “The Money Store,” but still has some bangers.
Watching
"Aftersun" (2022)
A father and daughter attempt to bond at a budget Turkish resort. Director Charlotte Wells’ feature film debut, with brilliant performances by both Paul Mescal and the incredibly talented youngster Frankie Corio. VERY sad. Watch for free on SBS in Aus!
"My Father's Shadow" (2025)
Continuing the father/child theme (and also a directorial feature debut), but in a much different setting- a chaotic Lagos during the 1993 Nigerian election crisis.
"Tucci in Italy" (2025-26)
Watched this on my way to Italy earlier this year to get me hyped. This is a bit more focused than his previous “Searching for Italy” series, it delves more into food preparation and into people's homes, rather than just restaurants.