These good-looking bad boys were “born in London, raised in California”, and have tons of character. Some love them and others hate them, but they always get a reaction. Made by T.U.K. and inspired in the Punk/Rock and Roll music scene, they are original, practical and come in different colours and patterns. And if you feel adventurous and seek a little more height and attention, the stacked creepers with large platform soles are simply fabulous!
It is definitely worth having a wander though the funky illustration exhibition that’s just been opened at La Viande Gallery, just off Old Street. “Capital letter full stop” is less about grammar, and more about brilliant drawings, collage, painting and mixed media illustrations. The collection of work is inspired on 'sentences', but the content is far from wordy. The six talented illustrators showing their work at the exhibition are clearly experimenting each in their own personal style, hence their varied individual outcomes.
Ever been to a festival hosted by a key member of a well-known band, who then gets up early to cook sausages on the barbie for all his guests every day?
Well, I just did, this weekend. Sam Genders of Tunng - possibly the nicest man on Planet Indie, put on Thermal in his local pub, The Fishpond, in Matlock Bath, Derbyshire. A bizarre mix of chip shop and arcade seaside town (at the most landlocked point in the UK) and genteel townhouses, Matlock Bath defies any kind of stereotype. I have been looking forward to it all summer long and didn't let the fact that I would have to go on my own deter me from heading up the M1 with posh projectionist Diana Mavroleon.
End if the Road really was at the end of a very long, winding and scarily narrow road. After eventually parking up and getting out of the car to hear the last of the Midlake’s set (the beautiful ‘Head Home’) we headed to what was to be our home for the next few days; slightly disappointed about the torturous getting-out-of-London-on-a-Friday-night traffic making us miss not only Midlake, but Scout Niblett, Jim White and Viking Moses, but very excited about the weekend to come.
Myself and three of the design team at the lovely Amelia's Magazine headed down to Gloucester Road - where all the swanky hotels be - for the SuperSuper/ Vauxhall Fashion Scout Show last night. Why did we bother? I don't know. I felt uneasy about going as soon as it was mentioned... just not my bag baby... but we went along, safe in the knowledge that there would more than likely be something for us to laugh about. We spent an hour queuing. Oh Yes. Here we are (below)...
“There he goes!” says guitarist Jeffrey Foskett as Brian Wilson pads offstage like an acid scarred Yogi bear. “65 years old and he’s still got it!” After years of false starts, the music performed that Sunday evening was a testament to the creative re-birth of one of this century’s finest composers. The man who single-fucking-handedly invented a state of mind had come home – his spiritual home – and shown just how transcendental and awe inspiring his talent still is.
Modernist at the BFC tent and Fashion Week fatigue has inevitably set in. We've reached the last day and the mood couldn't be more different from opening Sunday. Like the final day of your hols we're all just ready to go home, make a cup of tea and watch Corrie. No pushing, no frantic running around and a distinct lack of posing and posturing, it was a nice way to end my LFW.
I was excited by the prospect of this talk, and thrilled to see so many people attend. Who were they all? And would they leave any more fired up to do anything than when they arrived? The panel brought together a mix of designers and people working in the design industry. With prominent design journalist John Thackara chairing, and one scientist, Dr Lloyd Anderson from the British Council this debate was never going to be centred solely around design. It was lucky that Sophie Thomas from Thomas.Matthews
was there to help steer the discussion back to the realms of the brief. Joining them were Jody Barton who I suddenly realised used to live with my good friend Simone Lia – who I was pleased to see, was as sarcy as I remembered, and often stuck for words – an interesting choice for a debate then!
I first met Jody Boehnert, the founder of Eco-Labs at Climate Camp where she was noticeably vocal at a lot of the talks that I attended, and then again at the Transition Towns talk at the Urban Fair in Brockwell Park. She now sits with me on the Green Steering Group at LCC where we are helping to come up with ideas for a year of study inspired by design for sustainability.
The debate started with the idea that as a population we are currently suffering from a failure of imagination when it comes to picturing the future, and therefore there is a huge stumbling block in changing our ways to become more sustainable when we can't even imagine what our world might become. For me this is a massively pertinent point: I remember when I was little I was obsessed with an Usborne book called Future Cities (The World of the Future) published in 1979. In fact, because I never throw anything away I am able to pull that book off my shelf right now, to find that it still fills me with dreams of the future, even if the days it predicts are already here. It's funny how much was correct, even if the graphics on the home computers that would certainly fill every home – along with flat screen TVs – feature that cute pacman style from the late 70s instead of slick Mac graphics. Looking back at the predictions of Future Cities it is interesting to see what they got so right alongside the more fantastical ideas, such as space cities and towns on the moon, where the 2020 Olympics were anticipated to be held. Ho ho! The book also foresaw two different futures – one where green cities supported locally sustainable populations not disimilar to those towns envisaged by today's modern Transition Towns movement, versus the polluted hellholes of a "dying world".
Okay, so there is a reason to my ramble (and I got so excited by my point during the actual talk that I managed to rather dramatically fall of my chair when handed the mic, prompting me to scream "Fuck!" (classy as always). My point is that this book really fired my imagination as a child, something which I remember vividly to this day. Tempted as always onto Google to do a bit of research, I found this comment, from someone on Amazon: "I read the Chinese version of this book when I was a kid. For a children's book, it's surprisingly insightful. It's also interesting to see how some of the preditions in the book have come true. The illustrations are great too. I find this book pretty inspiring even for an adult and I highly recommend it especially if you like sci-fi."
So it is clearly not just me.
And this is where the role of illustrators and designers comes in – we could be the most amazing force for instigating change. Done well, design can become all invasive and inspiring. At the moment noone really knows where we will be at or what our lives will be like in the next decade or two, but one thing is certain, things will be different. They have to be. We can decide in advance whether that future looks like, in the words of Future Cities, the "polluted city of a dying world" or a "garden city on a cared-for planet," and if designers can join forces with visionary movements such as Transition Towns then we will be contributing something vital. Part of the problem though is we really have no model for the future, and as the panelists said, sustainability doesn't sound very sexy or appealing to the vast proportion of people – and it is currently only really the guilt-ridden middle classes who are practicing any kind of offset sustainability options, most of which don't really address the key big issues, such as not flying.
Most communication about ecologically sound practices and speculations of what we need to do to alter the future of earth focus either on alarmist doomsday scenarios or the nebulous idea that small actions can make a big difference and technology will take care of the rest.
Now for all those haters and doubters out there, I don't deny that to some extent my magazine pushes new products and more things that we don't really need, but hopefully it is not, for the main, promoting the message of big businesses screaming CONSUME MORE at every turn, when the sustainable message is in fact one of less consumption at every level. In a logical extension of the flow of all consumer trends we are even currently in danger of going under in a sea of eco-junk, as defined by the wonderful George Monbiot. But if I was to get fully eco-preachy in my magazine then who actually would want to read it – my opinion is firmly situated in the idea that people must come to their own conclusions that to live sustainably in communities is actually a much better and more fulfilling way to live. No one responds well to being TOLD what to do (hello to the antagonistic twat that I met outside after the debate. Yelling in my face because I don't do all my shopping at pricey organic stores – because I can't afford to feed my umpteen work experience unless I buy the cheaper fruit and veg at my local market, thereby at least supporting local labour – is not going to make me change my ways. It is just going to piss me off.) Clearly he didn't listen too closely to the debate, through which it was constantly reiterated that you can't threaten a population, because they just suffer information fatigue and switch off. Humans need experiences that stimulate positive thoughts, because otherwise it is all too easy to become paralysed with fear and the response to that is all too often to bury one's head in the sand. Some sort of consensus was reached that it will most likely be a combination of communication and experience that will help us to change collectively.
A few attendees were keen to point out that things are not changing fast enough at a higher level, so we need more laws in place to prevent over-consumption. This, I think, removes the burden of responsibility from the individual, when it has been proved time and time again that the actions of many individuals all over the world can actually result in a huge global shift of consciousness, and it is ridiculous to rely on governments, tight in the grip of the short term financial interests of big businesses. And of course restrictive laws piss people off and encourage rebellion.
Design may operate within an economic system that is obstructive but it is up to us as designers to help find solutions from the bottom up in whatever our specialist skills may be. The creative industry can be a mixed blessing – most designers leave college having been primed to help create more demand for products we don't need, thereby leading to more consumption and demotivating feelings of guilt. I have to say that I was hugely surprised when John Thackara asked who in the lecture hall feels any guilt about their current jobs. I was one of maybe five people in the room who put their hands up. I think that people underestimate their personal contributions to global warming on every level. In the western world we all over-consume, and a cursory bit of recycling is way off the kind of overall changes we need to instigate in our entire lifestyles. Somehow sustainability has to be seen to be a desirable alternative, and the point was made that you can't sell sustainability because it is about curtailing desire. I am not sure I agree with this – we all desire certain things in our lives – but actually if you ask most people to list the things that are most important to them they will come up with a list that puts family, friendship, freedom, community and shared experiences higher than the possession of any kind of material goods. We don't consume other people as we do products! (The exception being the solitary lifestyles and ensuing emptily promiscous behaviour of many unhappy people.) But maybe our desire for what is truly important does need to be reawakened, and that is where the power of design can be utilised, to stimulate desire for a better way of life. There needs to be a seachange in education – students can be made more aware of the power of their design, and given options to think more about what they are designing for and with. Whilst there are currently not many well-paying jobs in the area of sustainable design (a point that was reiterated several times) this is going to become our future and it is important that we consider that because at some point being green will be an asset.
It is impossible to avoid becoming political when talking about this topic, and the question was asked as to whether it is possible to change the system from within, by working with and for big corporations and helping them to adapt to a more sustainable approach. Well-known environmentalist and former president of the Sierra Club Adam Werbach suffered a huge backlash when he went onto work for Wal-Mart, but maybe it is better to be in the middle pushing out than in the outside trying to get in? Yes, we do need to see huge changes in the way that businesses run, but we are all automonous and as such we can choose how we each live our lives. There needs to be an ongoing dialogue about how designers can use visual communication to promote behavioural change without being dictatorial. I personally think our whole lives need to be looked at holistically because nothing in the end is seperate. In the field of Deep Ecology there is the ecological self, which is that part of us that is not seperate from the earth, and feels the pain we inflict upon it. In me for instance it probably manifests in guilt and a desire to live closer to nature as much as possible – for we are in fact all part of this place we call home, and all of our actions have a repercusive impact.
The debate was over very quickly and followed by a few drinks to wind things up. We barely even touched on sustainable practices within the kind of materials used by designers, and there was no real conclusion, although I will attempt to sum up what I think made the most impact on those present:
Designers must consider more carefully their role as agents of change via visual communication. The personal practice and lifestyles of designers and illustrators should be sustainable. We should think in the long term and try to imagine a future that looks positive rather than negative. We can teach by doing – and designers can offer their services towards promoting sustainability awareness. A new network that connects designers and ecologically aware companies up could be useful, much like that which existed in the 90s.
All this needs to happen soon because the tipping point of consciousness needs to come before the tipping point of climate change...
To paraphrase Lovefoxx (for some reason it seems apt), Music is my lifeline, and equally, art and creativity in all their forms are essential to human happiness. And I would be a fool to deny my own love of beauty – it's the reason why I produce my magazine and why people want to look at it. Humans are drawn to aesthetic beauty and for that reason it is up to artists to help inspire change.
Shown at the Baden Powell House, Aganovich’s ‘Forces of Victri’ collection was a buzzy event. The champagne helped. And also took the edge off waiting in the foyer. As the PR power pussies in black clutching clipboards moved to guard the doors, they announced 'would rows one to four to please step forward in the line'.
I've never really got the whole Edie Sedgwick thing. Sure, she had a nice haircut and an interesting line in friends but 'Icon' just seems a bit of a stretch. I mean, let's be honest, she was no Jane Birkin. Consequently I was less than thrilled to read that Spijkers En Spijkers had based their SS08 collection around Warhol's eye-shadow addicted muse. However, for the sake of a fair review and in an effort to curb my increasing cynicism with these 'themes', I decided to put my Sedgwick (possibly Sienna Miller related) prejudice aside and pretend I never saw that darn press release in the first place.
London Fashion Week saw designers opting for an altogether more girly look for spring/summer 08, distancing themselves from the stark androgyny that has dominated for the past couple of seasons. Fitting then, for Mei Lui who’s label Victim Fashion Street, champions the frills, lace and ruffles to pretty perfection. Following on from her dramatic autumn/winter collection; awash with black, Lui has rediscovered her love affair with colour and styled it into pastel rips and rags akin to a modern day Pollyanna.
There was much expectation and hype around Steve J and Yoni P’s SS08 collection, as they purposely chose not to disclose any hints as to what to expect from the collection: on the recycled paper invite only the print of a carrot and a cabbage. What were we to expect this time from the talented duo?
Many thanks to Mr Avsh Alom Gur who injected a bit of much needed humour into an otherwise straight-faced London fashion week. Part of the Vauxhall Fashion Scout line-up at Baden Powell House (which also doubles as a youth hostel, useful for anyone who needs a lie down between shows) he drew a sizeable crowd for a relative newcomer. The enthusiastic rabble also included my 'Best Dressed Show-goer of the week'; a woman I seemed to see everywhere, pulling off the Katharine Hepburn power-trousers meets 50s rockabilly look with eye-popping skill day after day. Superb.
Ah, Sinha-Stanic, where to start? A 40 minute delay had already caused the crowd to become a little twitchy and things didn’t improve when we reached the catwalk entrance only to be told 'sorry folks, we're full' by the main-man; a rather well-dressed Ray Winstone look-alike. I was unhappy to say the least but took comfort in the fact that I was surrounded by the chattering, slickly-groomed ladies of Elle and Vogue's very own Alexandra Shulman.
The ever consistent Siv Støldal served up an interesting alternative to all the flashy catwalk palaver with her ‘High Visibilty’ presentation yesterday. Ever the individual, she ushered in her SS08 collection with a double whammy of video installation and live performance. Sketch housed part one, a short film following a young man through his day in the capital. Little happens. Our protagonist gets up, smokes a fag on his balcony, drapes himself in some of Siv’s creations then goes for a swim at the Lido. However the stillness and subtlety of it all (accompanied by a brilliant dub tinged soundtrack) was fitting for a designer who quietly impresses season after season. The clothes were an integral part of the film but this was equally just about creating something really beautiful.
For her third and final collection sponsored by Topshop, Ann Sofie Back stepped into a boldly daring yet boundlessly commercial new style, as seen yesterday at a packed out Bloomsbury Square.
Word about town was that Peter Pilotto was going to be an interesting one.
The magical pastel explosion at http://www.bassoandbrooke.com/ was without a doubt a hit for next season. Beautifully draped dresses were combined with sportswear pieces blurring all boundaries between formal and casual. The designers cleverly broke all the rules in subtle ways.Vibrant pastel prints with graphic designs, abstract patterns and splashes of colour gave an original twist to the classic tailored coats and dresses in rich wool and silk.
I have Russians sitting next to me and behind me - in the front row. Proof that the Russians have come, if there ever was one. So naturally I get speaking to the fashion editor of Russian Elle, who gives me a sceptical once over as if to say "what the fuck are you wearing?!" and she would be right - my jeans are at the moment covered with oil from my bike - but changes her tune when she finds out who I am!
Glasgow’s Deryck Walker drew quite a crowd at the rather labyrinthine Royal Academy of Arts this Monday. Part of the increasingly popular On/Off schedule, there was bustling and shuffling abound once doors opened. The theme seemed to be futuristic tailoring; less Balenciaga 'Tron', more angular classics, much of the collection was surprisingly wearable perhaps down to the overwhelming amounts of black and white. That's not to say that this didn't make any nod to the obscure.
Luxurious pastel gowns and cocktail dresses with flamboyant beading predominated on the catwalk at Julia Clancey’s SS08 show “Diamonds and Pearls”. Though not particularly experimental, the dresses were glamorous and well-defined both in style and finish. Embroidery and hand-sewn crystal details embellished the flowing silk, chiffon and satin gowns that came in pastel peach, pink, lemon and beige variations.
After a long delay to the start of the show, the “fairground catwalk” at Eley Kishimoto’s SS08 was worth the wait. The bright colours and bold graphic prints they are so well known for were complimented by a good dose of sophisticated humour on the accessory front. Easy fitting dresses as well as a myriad of separates in different combinations were at the order of the day.
It was all about cool and sophisticated on the COS runway this season, on the hot Saturday morning last weekend at the Royal Horticultural Hall. This season COS was obsessed with ‘clean’ looks, and opted for stark and minimalist Scandinavian aesthetics. They drew inspiration from the modernist design influences of Danish and Scandinavian designers from the 1950’s and 60’s, focusing on architectural qualities and sleek proportions.
It's time to wear those unashamedly plastic Holgas round your neck with pride people because the Lomography Congress is rolling into town. If your secret shame has had you hiding your 120 film under the bed and scribbling LEICA in tippex over your homemade pinhole camera, then unburden yourself and rejoice in this week long series of activities including talks, workshops, parties and various other geekcentric events.
Well what a hive of celeb activity this was. "I just had to squeeze past Kelly Osbourne and Kate Moss to get a bottle opener" said my friend as I stumbled out of the toilet. We had managed to shuffle our grubby little East-end plimsolls over to the groomed W1 last night for a night of Smash & Grab at Punk, where the Queens of Noize were DJ-ing and Peek-a-Boudoir were performing. My friend was sure she saw Kate Moss having a sneaky fag behind a sofa, I'd probably give it a shot if I was her to be honest.
I recently had the pleasure of visiting an establishment that combines two of my favourite past times: drinking and shopping. The only other place I have found that can offer this superb combination is the supermarket and somehow Morrison’s doesn’t have quite the same appeal. The Three Threads, unlike certain supermarches, doesn’t sell dodgy fruit and veg and bottles of “Spirit Drink” but rather lovely clothes from small, international designer brands.
When The Go! Team arrived, out of the blue, almost three years ago with their exhiliratingly wonderful debut 'Thunder, Lightning, Strike' they proved to be a breath of fresh air.Their childlike innocence, party packed live shows and an album full of unashamedly 'fun' tunes - fusing hip hop, rap, indie guitars and sampled brass, was the perfect tonic for a scene cluttered with spiky guitar acts who took themselves all too seriously. Sure the record missed on the much coveted Mercury prize, but it has endured and The Go! Team are now a fixture on any festival bill worth its salt.
Being unfamiliar with both Caribou and Architecture in Helsinki, I headed down to the cavernous venue that is the Koko in Camden to open my eyes and ears to new music, or so I thought! Opening for AIH, Caribou delivered a stormy six song set in true psychedelic style, needless to say this involved atmospheric guitars and vocals combined with driving drums and the mandatory animated optical illusion backdrop. Throughout the set the band remained static, and even with the addition of another drum kit to drive the final song I was left wondering, where is it all going?
Tilly and the wall were on fine form tonight, headlining an impressive line-up at Camden's finest dive-venue, the electric ballroom. Placing myself in the front row, wedged against the humongous speakers was just asking for trouble but the 48 hour deafness was worth it. This was my first Tilly experience-if I wasn't close enough to get hit by a tap shoe, I wasn't trying.
Something strange has been happening to electronic rock music recently. We all already know that bands like Klaxons are received ill-gotten awards for doing precisely what The Happy Mondays did at the end of the 1980s, and there are still fluorescent loons bouncing off the walls of grimy nightclubs every weekend, but when did this hybrid genre start giving people goosebumps? Urging me to stand on the roof of my house with arms outstretched like only a football montage and Nessun Dorma ever have done before?
Tatty Devine has opened up an exhibition space in their recently refurbished shop in Brick Lane. They will be holding regular exhibitions of like-minded artists and musicians, and this month they have chosen the work of Rachel Ortas, illustrator, graphic artist and artist in residence at Central St Martins. The exhibition features her bright and beautifully made silkscreen print illustrations of the AI AI’s, monsters from outer space that are both adorable and slightly wild at the same time, with their cuddly bodies and menacing, pointy, little teeth. You’ll also get to see one of the 3-D AI AI’s in person… a delightful character.
Aided in no uncertain terms by a show stopping performance at Texas’ recent South By Southwest festival, Portland three-piece Menomena present their debut UK release. This is in fact the bands third release – with their two previous albums available in the US exclusively. School friends Danny Seim, Justin Harris and Brent Knopf have derived a creative process of much interest that has resulted in a work that is both experimental and forward thinking without being inaccessible.
The blurb that accompanies ‘Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind’ make Vashti’s personal concerns for this album’s flight into the public sphere clear. Vashti was not in her tender years a folksinger. Andrew Loog Oldham did not lead her down the garden path of pop because in her mind she was already there. The singles and demos that stretch over two disks in this compilation do indeed support this statement. For example ‘Coldest Night Of The Year’ is testament to her mainstream tendencies brining back memories of the woah-wao-yeh-yeh-yehs of 60s pop, adorned with reprises and key changes.
The queen of kooky anti-folk is on the rise and she’s moving at the speed of light. Emmy weaves beautiful narratives of heart break and the pain of sea-change in images so delicate and insightful the punch line literally knocks you out.
