YSL vs The London Lite - huh?

Every weekday in London on pavements near tube stations nice Indian looking men - charming and polite all - shove free newspapers into commuters hands. There were two London freesheets until this week - London Paper and London Lite. London Paper closed this week. So now I only have to feel sorry for one desperate vendor, and read one paper instead of comparing two in order to judge which has the better interpretation of the news. (All journalists do this, we can't help it.) I think this should make me happy - less paper waste, less mindless reading of popcorn journalism etc. Truth be told though, I like getting free information given with a smile. It's part of the buzz of living in a great, teeming, vibrant city like London. Which brings me to the point of this post - the fact that Yves Saint Laurent will, on September 12 at selected London locations (and many other cities besides) be giving away a free newspaper called Manifesto. This paper will be within a specially designed canvas bag, the back and front of which is shown above, and will feature visual highlights of the label's Autumn collection. For YSL fans it will be something to seize with intent, and there will be great smugness and satisfaction in ownership. But what if you just happen upon a YSL Manifesto vendor by chance? What if like thousands of busy commuting Londoners you just take it mindlessly? This is how I'd love to get my copy - just by chance, unknowing of the content. What a pleasure it would be to be greeted by striking imagery by photograhers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin of the most beautiful of the supermodels Christy Turlington wearing YSL. Getting a copy of Manifesto on the off-chance and being blown away by it, is an experience someone will have. And I think I'm jealous. I like how YSL creative director Stefano Pilati is just putting it out there. He's also doing the whole SocMe thing on Twitter and FB. Who knew high fashion could be so democratic and random in a good way? Bring it on....