Young designer Flik Hall may have only set up her eponymous label in 2009, orderbuy but she has already gained a following for her bold silhouettes and eye-popping prints. About to showcase her fourth collection at LFW, we caught up with Flik to hear all about working with Henry Holland, her fashion predictions for the new season, and why she thinks print design is having ‘a moment’.
You worked with Henry Holland and Giles Deacon – what did you learn from your time there, and do you think their design aesthetic has influenced yours?
I learnt very different things from each of them. Henry taught me how to structure a business and working there opened my eyes to all the other things that that go into making a successful career in fashion design. He showed me you have to focus on so many different angles and that you should not cultivate an exact path for yourself and instead be open to new ideas and projects.
Working at Giles I learnt a lot about formulating prints and attention to detail. I think because we used to experiment with so many materials or objects that one would not directly associate with fashion, it helped to broaden my fundamental associations of what we can draw from. I wouldn’t however say they’ve influenced my design aesthetic directly.
What inspired your latest collection?
I took inspiration from looking into the lives of Mexican families and the altars that they display in their homes. The altars would appear chaotic, but seemed very beautiful to me at the same time. Many are juxtapositions of items such as family memorabilia – they would be filled with dolls of all description in various outfits, some bigger and smaller than others. I was drawn to the interesting spaces shaped in-between the dolls in some of the altars, which was what led me to experiment with porcelain doll arms for my prints.
The hessian I used in the collection is a fabric that plays a great part in (the Mexican families) lives – used as table clothes, clothing and even as bags for collecting sweet corn.
How much do you think you’ve come on since your first collection?
I still have so much to learn, I’m still a novice in many respects – but sometimes that can work as an advantage. I feel as though with every season I manage to channel my ideas that little bit better; I’m also imbued with all that happened in the previous season, and that little bit more capable and confident.
Do you have any advice for aspiring designers – where to get started, and how to set up your own label?
Stay focused, work hard, be open-minded and get carried away.
How do you create a print – what is the process behind each one?
With the baby arm prints for my S/S 2011 collection, I found a box of old porcelain limbs at a flea market – I think they were previously used for set design. I arranged them in heaps of different variations on the floor on a white background and took photos. I then cut the images up, put them together like a puzzle, and ended up trying to form abstract shapes to replicate semantic signals, crosses, sound waves, and stained glass windows.
With the rise of designers like Erdem and Peter Pilotto, do you think print design is having a moment?
Yes, I totally think the relationship between print and fashion is very prominent at the moment. I especially think with the scope of so much new technology available, the way we understand print is challenged all the time. I digitally print on leather and until fairly recently only traditional methods were available. These kinds of changes mean there is a lot more to experiment with, and a greater variation in the style of work print designers are creating. I think that both Erdem and Peter Pilotto fuse their cut with colour and print really well, they both treat print so differently.
What are your plans for the label?
To continue with the label, consistent with the ethos with which I started it. I’m expanding the size of my collection this season which is exciting because I normally have about three times more looks that don’t make the final collection. It’s nice because there are always two or three pieces I regret not including – there’s less scope for regret this time around!
Any New Year’s resolutions?
I want to learn something totally new. I still haven’t worked out what it is yet though. I would quite like to learn how to restore antique jewellery.
London Fashion Week is just around the corner – what are your fashion predictions for A/W 2011, or what would you like to see people wearing?
Firstly I would like to see people investing in well made designer pieces that they love, independent of them been ‘on trend’ or throw away fashion. I would like to see more people wearing turtle-necks, vintage undergarments and garments with more heavy duty embellishments.
Name the most inspiring place or person in London…
Victor Wynd’s little shop of horrors The Last Tuesday Society on Mare Street.
Any other new designers you think are ‘one’s to watch’?
I love Lily Heine’s MA collection; the building up of layers is beautiful like an intricate carving. I also really like Scott Arnold’s contrasting use of fabrics in his BA show. I think there will be interesting things to come from him.
How would you describe the archetypal ‘Flik Hall girl’, or is there anyone in particular you design for?
She has a lot of conviction and marches to her own drum.
Flik Hall is becoming a bit of a regular here at Amelia’s, and is it any wonder when the Central Saint Martins graduate continues to deliver covetable collections season after season? Speaking with Amelia’s earlier this year, she enlightened us on her past work with fashion heavyweights House of Holland and Giles Deacon; almost one year on and their influence and handed-down expertise is beginning to shine through more and more.
Flik Hall dubbed herself a novice back then, but with three successful London Fashion Week seasons under her belt, she could have quite easily fooled me otherwise. Since then, print-enthusiast Flik has gone on to create two more delectable collections, continuing to incorporate her love for printed leather and structured silhouettes. The latest collection sees a new direction from the London-based designer, and I was lucky enough to see, hear and learn a little bit more about the creative process behind such bold and imaginative designs.
I first clapped eyes on the new collection earlier this month at the Rendez-Vous Femme trade show in Paris, where Flik Hall was successful in ruffling a few Parisian fashion feathers with her experimental vision. Amongst the vast number of exhibitors, not to mention the throngs of buyers, journalists and trend reporters, there was one corner of the room that instantly caught my eye. Flik’s designs are the definition of innovative. Whilst many designers stick to a time-honoured formula resulting in them fading into a background of summery floral prints and tassels, Flik Hall’s ever-developing penchant for experimentation earns her some serious print-infused brownie points for S/S 2012.
Back in London, the press event for next season’s collection was held at the uber-cool Vyner Street Gallery: an underground platform for emerging talent nestled in the depths of Hackney and the heart of Londons contemporary art district. Walking into the gallery space was like entering into Flik Hall’s world: a world of mythical fantasy. Accompanied by an eerie soundtrack, a short spellbinding film directed by artist Ashley Joiner was projected across the back wall, whilst the clothes on show delivered a sense of femininity juxtaposed with a strong, dynamic edge.
The small, intimate space had a very personal feel to it, and it was a real pleasure to meet Flik Hall, who revealed to me that she didn’t always want to be a fashion designer, ‘I used to want to be an artist when I was younger,’ she disclosed. ‘But my designs always seemed to naturally fall around the figure, so it all eventually transpired into fashion.’ And is it any wonder? With her choice of ethereal colour tones and that trademark use of eye-catching prints, the collection was successful in capturing my attention all over again.
S/S 2012 takes its inspiration from the deep blue sea as Flik Hall looks to the texture and intricate detailing of octopi skin for direction. Never one to shy away from experimentation, it is this imagery that makes up the signature print within the collection incorporating close-up screen prints of octopus skin and tentacles transferred onto soft leather pieces. ‘I’ve always been interested in Roman mythology and mythical creatures,’ Flik explained. ‘I was interested in the octopus and how its fluidity can be interpreted in strange and wonderful ways.’ The result is unexpectedly beautiful prints that call to mind A/W 2011’s equally striking doll arm designs, confirming how Flik can expertly convert creepy connotations into something imaginative and wearable, whilst maintaining the label’s other-worldly appeal.
Last season’s dark and moody colour palette of black, and more black (don’t get me wrong – I am a fan of black), has been overthrown next season with only the smallest dose of raven undertones to be seen. ‘I like to mix it up quite a lot with a dark collection followed by a lighter collection, my aim is to keep it fresh,’ said Flik. Keeping in with next season’s sea-theme, innocent whites and delicate creams are highlighted with muted sea shell tones of pink, peach and lilac, whilst rich sand and deep petrol blue give added depth to the range. When asked about the creative process behind each print that she creates, Flik Hall explained that the whole process is very hands on, ‘I take lots of pictures, print out lots of images, collage them and then distort them,’ she said. ‘It’s just all about trying to figure out what’s right for me.’
A delicate contrast to that of previous collections, next season offers a more feminine approach that is both ethereal and elegant. Layered silk and trademark printed leather was seen next to metal eyelet details: a representation of octopi suckers that reinforces Flik’s creative mind and attention to detail. Describing the collection as ‘ambiguous, sensuous and wet‘, Flik Hall has turned to opaque and sheer fabrics that contrast each other on narrow skirts and floor-length dresses, while her original flare is highlighted by the careful use of wetsuit-inspired Neoprene. As something that in my opinion could quite easily have gone horribly wrong, Flik pulls it off with structured mini dresses and voluminous jumpsuits that maintain a sense of femininity, whilst reconfirming that dynamic edge the label is beginning to be known for.
Though colour and print have been replaced with a more romantic aesthetic, Flik Hall‘s structured silhouette remains. The adoption of Neoprene is a clever addition to an already inventive collection, marrying structured shapes with semi-transparent fabrics. The overall desired effect is successful as I can’t help but conjure up swirling images of the deep sea, whilst one glance at the model’s intricately placed hair – mirroring that of curling tentacles – is enough to confirm the key influence of the mythical half-octopus-half-human creature known as Cecaelias.
I was mesmerised once in Paris, and mesmerised all over again in London; Flik Hall is constantly pushing herself forward and thinking outside of the box. Even if she does insist on keeping the label small and exclusive, S/S 2012 sees a stellar collection from one of London’s best up-and-coming designers that predicts a promising future for the Flik Hall brand.
Written by Sarah Deane on Wednesday October 26th, 2011 12:51 pm
Illustration by Naif Al-Mutawa courtesy of PagetBaker Associates
What do you do when your freedom of expression has been seriously hampered? What happens when an artist has to muster all the courage and strength in the world to plough on amidst censorship, dosage opposition, cheapest intimidation and threats? The Freedom to Create Prizeaims to encourage and support artists all over the world who operate in a stifling climate where they are isolated. Created as “a celebration of the courage and creativity of artists around the world who use their talent to build the foundation of open societies, this site promote social justice and inspire the human spirit”1., this prize is unique in that it celebrates the power of art to fight oppression, break down stereotypes and build trust in societies broken by conflict, violence and misunderstanding.
Photograph of Moshen Makhmalbaf courtesy of PagetBaker Associates
There are more than 1,000 entrants from Africa, Asia, Latin America, eastern Europe and the Middle East and Human Rights advocate Bianca Jagger presented the main prize yesterday night to Moshen Makhmalbaf, the Iranian filmmaker dedicated to the Green Movement. “People of my country (Iran) are killed, imprisoned, tortured and raped just for their votes. Every award I receive means an opportunity for me to echo their voices to the world, asking for democracy for Iran and peace for the world.” Guests from the worlds of art and the human rights attended the reception in the grand surroundings of the Victoria and Albert museum. The prize is worth $50,000, but they give half to an organization that will advance the cause their work highlights. Representatives from Burmese refugee women’s group The Kumjing Storytellers who use giant paper maché dolls to represent their stories of ethnic persecution in Burma and the plight of migrants and refugees from around the world received the second place prize winner, The director from The Zugdidi Shalva Dadiani State Drama Theatre, David Alan Harris from Poimboi Veeyah Koindu and Sheenkai Alam Stanikzai were all there along with last year’s inaugural winner, the Zimbabwean dramatist Cont Mhlanga.
Logo courtesy of PagetBaker Associates
Set up by Richard Chandler, a billionaire New Zealand-born philanthropist based in Singapore, the arts prize shines a light into those parts of the world where creative freedom is not a given. This year alone, we have had the Obama cartoon in The New Yorker and Osama Bin Laden as a cameo on family Guy; there are societies in greatest need but these awards is a reminder that we must always remember not to take for granted the civil liberties we enjoy in this country. In 2006, a Kuwaiti doctor, Naif Al-Mutawa, launched a comic called The 99, featuring 99 superheroes, each based on a virtue expounded in the Koran. “Some of the more conservative places in the world weren’t so happy to let The 99 in,” he says.
Artist Sheenkai Alam Stanikzai. Photograph courtesy of PagetBaker Associates
Women artists are showing strong pieces this year; Third- prize winner Sheenkai Alam Stanikzaihas created an installation piece about the traditional suicide method of abused Afghan women: “I recognized the similarity between these ancient events and contemporary world events, so I decided to show my feelings about what is happening: more than 40 women are dying every day.” Pakistan’s Sheema Kermani entered a series of dance and theatre pieces about the veil, polygamy, sexual abuse and honor killings: For long periods, it has been almost like a life underground,” she says.
Installation by Sheenkai Alam Stanikzai. Photograph courtesy of PagetBaker Associates
Judges in attendance included leading international human rights lawyer and jurist on the UN’s Internal Justice Council Geoffrey Robertson QC, BBC arts correspondent Razia Iqbal, Time Out founder and chair of Human Rights Watch Tony Elliot, and award-winning Anglo-Indian artist Sacha Jafri. Nick Broomfieldpresented the Imprisoned Artist Prize; Geoffrey Robertson QC presented the Youth Prize. And there was an enjoyable performance by Emmanuel Jal.
It is suitably symbolic that the awards ceremony took place in the UK, home of the Magna Charta as it shows that engaged artists are not alone in this fight. Prosperous societies are founded upon creativity. Britain has a history of encouraging artistic expression and is a leader in showing other countries how to build strong foundations for economic, political and cultural development in order to lead tomorrow’s world. Political cartooning is a great British institution that prides itself in rocking the boat and rightfully getting away with it! Freedom to Create is a worthy initiative; their desire to seek to improve lives by addressing society’s ability to support and sustain creativity is to be commended. In the end, everyone was a winner!
1. Press release courtesy of PagetBaker Associates
Incase you missed the first instalment (where have you been?) Amelia’s magazine caught up with London based women’s wear designer Brooke Roberts to find out about her inspired new collection. Sinnai dress (reversible) in exclusive silk/ glassino jacquard knit.
Can you tell our readers a little more about your SS10 collection?
Right at the beginning of the project I took a brain scan which took about 50 image slices through the brain. I then artworked the images with a CAD designer friend who helped to manipulate them into python skin effect, buy and repeat patterns that I then merged with Yoruban sculpture. To learn about this Nigerian tribe I went to the British Museum and looked at all of the sculptures and masquerade videos, site taking colour inspiration and texture ideas from their artwork. The collection is a mixture of medicine, science and Yoruban culture.
You’ve said that you take a lot of your inspiration from your work as a radiographer and with that in mind I wondered if you were interested in fashion trends and if you try to reflect current trends in your collections?
As a designer I can’t really ignore the industry behind my profession, but I try not to let outside influences take over my inspiration and vision. Trends are really important. I try not to follow them or reference them too much in my work. Trends happen to find their way into my collection one way or another, often from working with suppliers. For example my thread and fabric suppliers have their own seasonal trends, textures and colours for the season which I end up inevitably incorporating. I’ve also been known to look on WGSN from time to time.
Exar suede washed denim jacket with ortho fringing, sinnai leggings in exclusive silk/ glassino jacquard leggings and silver and red gold skull slice earrings.
Exar suede washed denim jacket with ortho fringing (ortho fringing is made from metal plates that are used to straighten and repair bones within the body).
Do you have any design heroes?
I love Thierry Mugler. It doesn’t matter how many times I look at his work. I’ve got quite a few of his vintage pieces and I love wearing them! Rifat Ozbek is another I like and John Galliano is great too. It’s like a dream for a designer to work in a house like that (Dior) where you can create your own fabrics; it’s a beautiful fusion of craft and technology. I also love Alber Elbaz, he’s so commercially brilliant – I think most women want to wear his clothes! His designs are so romantic; I think he’s got a real sensibility with fabric and movement. I also love Gareth Pugh; he would be the young designer I like.
What are you looking forward to in the next decade seeing as 2010 is fast approaching?
I’m looking forward to just developing my label, growing it and evolving. I want to learn more, as in this kind of job you’re learning everyday and are exploring new ideas and techniques. I’m trying to work with the Australian wool industry to integrate Australian merino into my knitwear because it’s a beautiful product and I love knitwear so I’d like to explore it and at the same time if I can help out the Australian wool industry it’s a good move, especially as my family are wool growers!
Silver and red gold spinning skull slice pendant- diamond set.
Lastly, do you have any strategic tips or advice for anyone toying with the idea of a career in fashion, with the ambition of going it alone as a designer?
You need to have a strong idea of what you want and what you want to be first. Then I’d suggest going out and finding the best experience you can so intern and put in a lot of hours. Learn, develop and once you feel ready to start a label get some good business advice and then apply for all the awards as a way of getting support. Just work really hard! Brooke’s current collection is stocked at King and Queen of Bethnal Green.
Written by Rachael Oku on Tuesday December 1st, 2009 9:11 pm
If you’d been with me and Amelia earlier in the weekend when she hastily gave me a beginners 101 in handling an SLR camera (kindly lent to me by Frances Bonnington), then you’d have been amused to see me passing on the same lesson to my two neighbours in the second row at the upstairs catwalk space at Freemasons’ Hall.
I don’t know what the odds are of three fashion writers ending up next to each other with the exact same Nikon camera and me being the least clueless about how to use it, but it seems like one of those comedy inevitabilities of fashion week. Possibly it’s the way things are going with more and more publications and blogs getting in on the catwalk frenzy without the aid of an official photographer, but with a definite need for images in the visual heavy world of contemporary journalism. Or something.
Ekaterina Kukhareva‘s collection was not what could be called contemporary looking, however it was exciting and somewhat psychedelic. The towering models with their novelty oversized hair rollers (by Lara Jensen) were the personification of a 70′s baroque sofa, resplendent in highly patterned sparkly viscose knits in a colour palette of retro fuschias, violets and turquoises.
I don’t know if it was the shoes or the direction, but the models walked like military marionettes, all stiff legs and startled expressions.
The PR spiel on the collection contained the story of a group of bored housewives tripping to exotic locations, endowing them with ‘empowered lucidity‘. I’m all for feminine empowerment, but not sure that becoming at one with one’s wallpaper thanks to a chemical binge is the way for it.
Still, great to see this inventive designer’s intricate patterns artfully deployed across these body-con pieces, certainly living up to the opulance of the show space and the high expectations of the audience.
Written by Jenny Robins on Thursday February 28th, 2013 2:09 pm
London Undercover
If you’re looking for a quirky present this Christmas why not opt for an umbrella with a twist? London undercover is a new brand which specialises in quintessentially British umbrellas. With designs ranging from Full English breakfast and Café tablecloth, page Fish & Chips wrapped in newspaper, unconventional Union Jacks, Hounds Tooth and Plaid designs there is something for everyone. Prices start at £40.
Ethical Justice Foundation Giles Deacon, Zandra Rhodes, Allegra Hicks, John Rocha, Luella, Christian Lacroix, Betty Jackson and Katharine Hamnett have all designed exclusive prints for a collection of t-shirts in aid of The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) produced on organic and fairly traded cotton and printed with organic certified inks. This great capsule collection of T-shirts are designed to help raise awareness and funds for EJF’s Cotton Campaign to end child labour and the use of dangerous pesticides in cotton production while promoting the benefits of organic, fairly traded fashion. Prices start at £30.
Mr P.S
If you’re looking to pick up something festive for the Christmas table in the coming weeks why not opt for this Cranberry themed 100% cotton tea towel, also available in Lime. Priced at £8.50.
Paul Smith
As one of the UK’s forefront fashion designers it comes as no surprise that Sir Paul Smith has teamed up with computer software giants Apple to create a range of limited edition accessories just in time for Christmas. Pick up one of these Mac book 15” Mini Cooper sleeves bearing Sir Paul’s signature multistripe. Several products are available offered in a choice of sizes, fabrics and prints. Case pictured priced at £89.
Equa
If you’re on the hunt for a more meaningful gift to give this festive season why not opt for the Just Trade 5 a Day Brooch, a quirky vegetable brooch, handmade from organic Peruvian cotton. All brooches are hand made by the Zoe Project which provides training and fairly paid work for women living in some of the poorest shanty towns in Lima, Peru. Designs also available are corn-on-the-cob, beetroot, peas-in-a-pod, red pepper, cauliflower and broccoli. Priced at £9.
DIY Couture
DIYcouture is a fantastic website which publishes books that allow people to make personally tailored clothing without couture price-tags, and affordable clothing that has not been made using sweatshop labour. Each book teaches the reader to make one piece of clothing from the DIYcouture collection. The books are an evolution of and a step away from traditional sewing patterns. They use colourful computer designed diagrams and photography to guide novice sewers through the making process. Priced at £9.
Matt and Nat
It’s not often that I write about the same brand twice in one week however, so impressed were we with their wares it felt right to include them in the gift guide too. After all which eco contentious fashion savvy woman wouldn’t want one of these on her arm? Pick up this vegan ‘Chi’ leather wallet with grey lining, tone on tone stitching, antique brass and copper hardware, and embossed MATT & NAT logo on front. Priced at £50.
Pants to poverty
Pants to Poverty is a new kind of underwear on a mission to rid the world of bad pants! These organic, safe sex pants are made from 97% organic and fair-trade cotton and 3% lycra and even come with a fairly traded French Letter condom made from natural latex – impressed yet? With £1 per pair of pants sold going to the Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa (TAC), the money raised will support essential work empowering people to access lifesaving treatment in some of the worst affected regions in the world. Priced at £11.99.
All images courtesy of the brands written about, all there is left to say is Merry Christmas x
Written by Rachael Oku on Monday December 14th, 2009 5:49 pm
Mediumly-interesting fact: Nelson’s Column stands at 169 feet. The relevance of this morsel? Angela Palmer’s new installation of rainforest tree stumps in Trafalgar Square, purchasepharmacy which would once have stood as tall as the Column but now are rather lower to the ground, unhealthybuy more about more roots than trunks. Palmer’s work is intended to highlight the destruction of the rainforest. Much better than the 4th plinth people. That didn’t quite work did it?
Dieter Rams @ The Design Museum
The Design Museum is excellent because it gets down to business: if you can’t sit on it or reasonably hang it on the wall, use it to build bridges or fill a teacup, you won’t find it there. This ethos of substance as well as style echoes the title of the current Dieter Rams exhibition, “Less and More”. He was Head of Design at Braun and every time you see something ergonomic and pleasing to look at on an appliance, like an iPhone for instance, you can see his influence. His ten design principles:
Good design is innovative.
Good design makes a product useful.
Good design is aesthetic.
Good design makes a product understandable.
Good design is unobtrusive.
Good design is honest.
Good design is long-lasting.
Good design is thorough down to the last detail.
Good design is environmentally friendly.
Good design is as little design as possible.
C Words: carbon, climate, capital, culture @ Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol
How can I persuade you polar bears are relevant to this event? Well, polar bears reflect our confused feelings about climate change: yes, they’re cute but they’d also happily rip off your head and eat your brain. Only through constructive debate can we resolve our feelings.
C Words is a two-month build-up to Copenhagen, using a multitude of free events, installations and discussions to generate interest and action on the topics of carbon emissions, our changing climate, capitalist structures and the culture wars. More about active engagement than simply mulling over points, PLATFORM, a group of artist-activists, aims to question how culture will grow up in the context of a low-carbon future.
Bob and Roberta Smith, who is actually one person, will be showing their/his works to celebrate and commiserate the end of their/his residency at the roomy “Factory Outlet” space at Beaconsfield in Vauxhall. Smith is known for painting signs and there are references to the previous usage of the space, as a “ragged school” for poor little boys and girls to learn to read, in the use of text.
This exhibition at the Jerwood Space takes the tack that seeing the process behind an artwork is interesting in itself. This isn’t always the case – looking at the sketches for a work do sometimes make you grateful for the myriad choices the artist had to make to get it to the end result but it can also be a bit boring. This exhibition focuses (ha!) on artists who use photography as part of their process and escapes boredom by including interesting artists such as Cornelia Parker and Rachel Whiteread, whose work you can imagine hinges on perfect recollection of spaces. I am persuaded about this exhibition, but I will never be persuaded about “alternative versions” of songs at the end of special edition albums.
Image courtesy of Environmental Justice Foundation
ENVIRONMNENTAL JUSTICE FOUNDATION POP-UP STORE
13-27 NOVEMBER (MON-SAT: 10-7PM, viagra 100mg SUN: 12-6PM)
WHITE GOLD, 1ST FLOOR, KINGLY COURT, W1
FREE ENTRY
Over the coming fortnight the Environmental Justice Foundation charity will be setting up shop in the heart of London’s Carnaby Street to help raise awareness of forced child labour and environmental abuses in cotton production. The EJF pop-up store will be selling a limited edition range of T-shirts designed in collaboration with fashion heavyweights such as Luella, Giles Deacon, Zandra Rhodes, John Rocha, Betty Jackson, Christian Lacroix, Allegra Hicks, Katharine Hamnett, Jenny Packham, Alice Temperley, Richard Nicoll and Ciel. EJF will also be stocking 100 shopper bags designed by Eley Kishimoto which will retail at the bargain price of £10 or come free when you spend over £50 in store. As they sold out like hot potatoes at LFW last month make sure you get there while stock lasts.
ASSEMBLY THRIFT STORE OPENING
19 NOVEMBER
THE WATERMAN’S BUILDING, ASSEMBLY PASSAGE, E1
FREE ENTRY
This week sees the lovely chaps behind the East End Thrift Store open a new shop called Assembly just off Brick Lane. As an expansion of the existing space in Whitechapel, Assembly aims to bring together the most eclectic and unique vintage finds in clothing, accessories, jewellery, quilts, fabrics and even rare books. Situated within a disused factory the shop space has been created to resemble a New York loft which will also be used to host exhibitions and installations and installations by young contemporary artists.
Image courtesy of Paul Smith
PAUL SMITH SAMPLE SALE
19-21 NOVEMBER (THURS/FRI: 9-7PM, SAT: 10-5PM)
PRINCES HOUSE, 37 KINGSWAY, WC2
FREE ENTRY
World renowned for his offbeat and unique designs British fashion legend Sir Paul Smith is holding a three day sample sale later this week. Look out for his trademark striped suits and floral dresses at heavily discounted prices.
Image courtesy of the Victoria & Albert Museum
CELEBRATE OUR FASCINATION WITH HAIR
FRIDAY 20TH NOVEMBER (6:30-10PM) V&A MUSEUM: SACKLER CENTRE, CROMWELL ROAD, SW7
FREE ENTRY
If you’re looking to change your image or simply want a new hairdo for the festive season than treat yourself to a makeover courtesy of London College of Fashion students. Head down to the V&A to take part in a fashion illustration workshop and watch an A-list make up demonstration led by LCF’s partner institution the Hong Kong Design Institute. For those who are less keen on having a student get to grips with your locks you can always experiment and try new hairstyles digitally.
Image courtesy of Ethical Fashion Forum
GLOBAL SOURCING MARKETPLACE
20-21 NOVEMBER (FRI: 10-7PM, SAT: 10:30-5PM)
CHELSEA COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN, 16 JOHN ISLIP STREET, SW1
£20 FOR UNLIMITED ACCESS OVER BOTH DAYS
Later this week the Ethical Fashion Forum will be hosting a two-day ethical sourcing marketplace which will bring together an array of brands, retailers, manufacturers and cooperatives working to high ethical standards. This yearly event aims to create opportunities for suppliers with the overall goal being to reduce the environmental impact of the industry, support fair and equitable trade, and reduce poverty. The event gives industry professionals and consumers an opportunity to network with suppliers and gain information about ways to get involved through a series of seminars and talks.
DESIGNER SALES UK SAMPLE SALE
20-22 NOVEMBER (FRI: 11-9PM, SAT: 11-8PM, SUN: 11-5:30PM)
85 BRICKLANE, E1
£2 ENTRY, £1 CONCESSIONS
Brainchild of Elaine Foster-Gandey, the DSUK website was founded 20 years ago and is the first in its kind to sell samples and stock directly from the biggest fashion houses to customers at seriously discounted prices. Currently gearing up for their fourth sample sale of the year later this week, expect to find great value womenswear, menswear, kidswear and accessories. With over 100 different labels to choose from during this three day shopping extravaganza you’re sure to find a bargain.
Written by Rachael Oku on Monday November 16th, 2009 4:24 pm
Ghost Forest in Trafalgar Square is a well-timed art-installation taking place ahead of the UN conference on Climate Change from December 7 to 18, visit web involving 11, diagnosis 000 delegates from 192 countries. Ten tree stumps selected from seven indigenous species all with delightful exotic names are represented – Denya, Dahuma, Danta, Hyedua, Mahogany, Wawa and three varieties of Celtis – and have been placed at the feet of the National gallery, right at the very centre of Western Industrialization. They are all with a rich and varied ecology and all with equally diverse uses by man; the Celtis Adolfi-Friderici is evergreen, but many of its leaves do fall during the dry season. It grows up to 100 feet tall and is of abundant forest availability. It is hard not to be moved by the contrasting sight of those stumps laid to rest on white concrete blocks close to the 196 feet-tall Nelson’s Column.
Londoners know Trafalgar Square as a rather uninspiring and barren site inhabited by a swarm of pigeons and tourists. The place is now invaded with what appears to be sculptures for posh interiors. Or is it a vast graveyard of searing beauty? The Celtis is used for interior joinery, plywood, and furniture components back in its country of origin, Ghana. In Europe, it is mostly used in the coffin industry. At Trafalgar Square, it all looks like an odd burial site. Now Ghana’s trees have the good fortune of benefiting from the Voluntary Partnership Agreement. Artist Angela Palmer says: “Having lost 90% of its primary rainforest over the past 50 years, Ghana now exercises strict regulations in sustainable and responsible forestry. Last year it became the first country in Africa to enter the VPA (Voluntary Partnership Agreement) with the European Union in an effort to outlaw illegal logging.”
Celtis and its friends do not end their epic journey in London; having traveled all the way from the tropics, they will travel to Copenhagen to remind UN employees that the removal of the world’s ‘lungs’ through continued deforestation needs to be dealt with without delay, no matter what Obama says.
Angela Palmer is an artist with convictions: “Many thinkers maintain that all art is political; politics touches all aspects of our lives. Life is about politics. And art is about communication, often transmitting unpalatable truths.” Breathing In, currently at the Welcome museum from the 20th of October to the 22nd of November 2009, is another one of Palmer’s projects currently in the capital. In April 2007 Palmer travelled to Linfen in Shanxi Province, China, home to the most polluted air on Earth, and then to Cape Grim on the northwest tip of Tasmania where there’s the purest air and water on Earth. The exhibition is a straightforward display of the results of her journey to capture the physical properties of climate change. The evidence is undeniable- the previously white outfits worn for a day now blackened by the unhealthy Linfen air, the dark face cleanser pads and air pump filters…the facts are brutal. There is an uneasy juxtaposition between the pristine green luscious Tasmanian rainforest and the cloudy, polluted, dusty and overpopulated Chinese streets. Angela Palmer’s art is good medicine for anyone still wondering what all the fuss is about Climate Change. You leave the building wanting to help a worthy cause.
Ghost Forest in Trafalgar Square is a well-timed art-installation taking place ahead of the UN conference on Climate Change from December 7 to 18, page involving 11,000 delegates from 192 countries. Ten tree stumps selected from seven indigenous species all with delightful exotic names are represented – Denya, Dahuma, Danta, Hyedua, Mahogany, Wawa and three varieties of Celtis – and have been placed at the feet of the National gallery, right at the very centre of Western Industrialization. They are all with a rich and varied ecology and all with equally diverse uses by man; the Celtis Adolfi-Friderici is evergreen, but many of its leaves do fall during the dry season. It grows up to 100 feet tall and is of abundant forest availability.
It is hard not to be moved by the contrasting sight of those stumps laid to rest on white concrete blocks close to the 196 feet-tall Nelson’s Column. Londoners know Trafalgar Square as a rather uninspiring and barren site inhabited by a swarm of pigeons and tourists. The place is now invaded with what appears to be sculptures for posh interiors. Or is it a vast graveyard of searing beauty? The Celtis is used for interior joinery, plywood, and furniture components back in its country of origin, Ghana. In Europe, it is mostly used in the coffin industry. At Trafalgar Square, it all looks like an odd burial site. Now Ghana’s trees have the good fortune of benefiting from the Voluntary Partnership Agreement. Artist Angela Palmer says: “Having lost 90% of its primary rainforest over the past 50 years, Ghana now exercises strict regulations in sustainable and responsible forestry. Last year it became the first country in Africa to enter the VPA (Voluntary Partnership Agreement) with the European Union in an effort to outlaw illegal logging.”
Celtis and its friends do not end their epic journey in London; having traveled all the way from the tropics, they will travel to Copenhagen to remind UN employees that the removal of the world’s ‘lungs’ through continued deforestation needs to be dealt with without delay, no matter what Obama says.
Angela Palmer is an artist with convictions: “Many thinkers maintain that all art is political; politics touches all aspects of our lives. Life is about politics. And art is about communication, often transmitting unpalatable truths.” Breathing In, currently at the Welcome museum from the 20th of October to the 22nd of November 2009, is another one of Palmer’s projects currently in the capital. In April 2007 Palmer travelled to Linfen in Shanxi Province, China, home to the most polluted air on Earth, and then to Cape Grim on the northwest tip of Tasmania where there’s the purest air and water on Earth.
The exhibition is a straightforward display of the results of her journey to capture the physical properties of climate change. The evidence is undeniable- the previously white outfits worn for a day now blackened by the unhealthy Linfen air, the dark face cleanser pads and air pump filters…the facts are brutal. There is an uneasy juxtaposition between the pristine green luscious Tasmanian rainforest and the cloudy, polluted, dusty and overpopulated Chinese streets. Angela Palmer’s art is good medicine for anyone still wondering what all the fuss is about Climate Change. You leave the building wanting to help a worthy cause. Ghost Forest in Trafalgar Square is a well-timed art-installation taking place ahead of the UN conferenceon Climate Change from December 7 to 18, approved involving 11, salve 000 delegates from 192 countries. Ten tree stumps selected from seven indigenous species all with delightful exotic names are represented – Denya, Dahuma, Danta, Hyedua, Mahogany, Wawa and three varieties of Celtis – and have been placed at the feet of the National gallery, right at the very centre of Western Industrialization. They are all with a rich and varied ecology and all with equally diverse uses by man; the Celtis Adolfi-Friderici is evergreen, but many of its leaves do fall during the dry season. It grows up to 100 feet tall and is of abundant forest availability.
It is hard not to be moved by the contrasting sight of those stumps laid to rest on white concrete blocks close to the 196 feet-tall Nelson’s Column. Londoners know Trafalgar Square as a rather uninspiring and barren site inhabited by a swarm of pigeons and tourists. The place is now invaded with what appears to be sculptures for posh interiors. Or is it a vast graveyard of searing beauty? The Celtis is used for interior joinery, plywood, and furniture components back in its country of origin, Ghana. In Europe, it is mostly used in the coffin industry. At Trafalgar Square, it all looks like an odd burial site. Now Ghana’s trees have the good fortune of benefiting from the Voluntary Partnership Agreement. Artist Angela Palmersays: “Having lost 90% of its primary rainforest over the past 50 years, Ghana now exercises strict regulations in sustainable and responsible forestry. Last year it became the first country in Africa to enter the VPA (Voluntary Partnership Agreement) with the European Union in an effort to outlaw illegal logging.”
Celtis and its friends do not end their epic journey in London; having traveled all the way from the tropics, they will travel to Copenhagen to remind UN employees that the removal of the world’s ‘lungs’ through continued deforestation needs to be dealt with without delay, no matter what Obama says.
Angela Palmer is an artist with convictions: “Many thinkers maintain that all art is political; politics touches all aspects of our lives. Life is about politics. And art is about communication, often transmitting unpalatable truths.” Breathing In, currently at the Welcome museum from the 20th of October to the 22nd of November 2009, is another one of Palmer’s projects currently in the capital. In April 2007 Palmer travelled to Linfen in Shanxi Province, China, home to the most polluted air on Earth, and then to Cape Grim on the northwest tip of Tasmania where there’s the purest air and water on Earth.
The exhibition is a straightforward display of the results of her journey to capture the physical properties of climate change. The evidence is undeniable- the previously white outfits worn for a day now blackened by the unhealthy Linfen air, the dark face cleanser pads and air pump filters…the facts are brutal. There is an uneasy juxtaposition between the pristine green luscious Tasmanian rainforest and the cloudy, polluted, dusty and overpopulated Chinese streets. Angela Palmer’s art is good medicine for anyone still wondering what all the fuss is about Climate Change. You leave the building wanting to help a worthy cause. Ghost Forest in Trafalgar Square is a well-timed art-installation taking place ahead of the UN conferenceon Climate Change from December 7 to 18, information pills involving 11, stuff 000 delegates from 192 countries. Ten tree stumps selected from seven indigenous species all with delightful exotic names are represented – Denya, click Dahuma, Danta, Hyedua, Mahogany, Wawa and three varieties of Celtis – and have been placed at the feet of the National gallery, right at the very centre of Western Industrialization. They are all with a rich and varied ecology and all with equally diverse uses by man; the Celtis Adolfi-Friderici is evergreen, but many of its leaves do fall during the dry season. It grows up to 100 feet tall and is of abundant forest availability.
It is hard not to be moved by the contrasting sight of those stumps laid to rest on white concrete blocks close to the 196 feet-tall Nelson’s Column. Londoners know Trafalgar Square as a rather uninspiring and barren site inhabited by a swarm of pigeons and tourists. The place is now invaded with what appears to be sculptures for posh interiors. Or is it a vast graveyard of searing beauty? The Celtis is used for interior joinery, plywood, and furniture components back in its country of origin, Ghana. In Europe, it is mostly used in the coffin industry. At Trafalgar Square, it all looks like an odd burial site. Now Ghana’s trees have the good fortune of benefiting from the Voluntary Partnership Agreement. Artist Angela Palmersays: “Having lost 90% of its primary rainforest over the past 50 years, Ghana now exercises strict regulations in sustainable and responsible forestry. Last year it became the first country in Africa to enter the VPA (Voluntary Partnership Agreement) with the European Union in an effort to outlaw illegal logging.”
Celtis and its friends do not end their epic journey in London; having traveled all the way from the tropics, they will travel to Copenhagen to remind UN employees that the removal of the world’s ‘lungs’ through continued deforestation needs to be dealt with without delay.
Angela Palmer is an artist with convictions: “Many thinkers maintain that all art is political; politics touches all aspects of our lives. Life is about politics. And art is about communication, often transmitting unpalatable truths.” Breathing In, currently at the Welcome museum from the 20th of October to the 22nd of November 2009, is another one of Palmer’s projects currently in the capital. In April 2007 Palmer travelled to Linfen in Shanxi Province, China, home to the most polluted air on Earth, and then to Cape Grim on the northwest tip of Tasmania where there’s the purest air and water on Earth.
The exhibition is a straightforward display of the results of her journey to capture the physical properties of climate change. The evidence is undeniable- the previously white outfits worn for a day now blackened by the unhealthy Linfen air, the dark face cleanser pads and air pump filters…the facts are brutal. There is an uneasy juxtaposition between the pristine green luscious Tasmanian rainforest and the cloudy, polluted, dusty and overpopulated Chinese streets. Angela Palmer’s art is good medicine for anyone still wondering what all the fuss is about Climate Change. You leave the building wanting to help a worthy cause.
Last week was Community Week in Leeds, information pills meaning all week Leeds University Union hosted various events on their campus aimed at students and ways in which we can make a positive difference in our local community.
Kicking off rather appropriately with ‘Talking Rubbish’ on Monday, prescription wheelie bins were hot on the agenda due to the bin strike in Leeds which has amazingly reached its 12th week now because of rows over unfair pay. The vast amount of recyclable waste which had not been collected since the beginning of September when the strike began was finally shifted this week, unhealthy and residents can expect letters from Leeds City Council informing them of the changes to be made in their area.
On Wednesday it was ‘Safe in the knowledge’, a day aimed at teaching ways we can prevent burglary in the LS6 area. For example did you know that, according to the union’s ‘Knowledge’ campaign, in 2008 almost 52% of student homes burgled were due to open doors or windows? So first step: Shut your windows, lock your doors! It is pretty easy to pop out or even just upstairs and forget to lock the front door. Most of the burglary stories I’ve heard happened to people who were in the house at the time, for instance last year someone wandered into my friend’s house in the middle of the day, pinched their underwear and left a ‘surprise’ in the middle of the carpet. The Knowledge website offers practical advice on preventing burglary and making your student home a more secure place.
Images courtesy of Leeds University Union
Thursday was concerned with volunteering. The Union runs a great volunteering service which supports students who want to give a little back locally and abroad. For instance why not become a Carbon Ambassador? Sounds pretty impressive and you receive FREE training in energy efficiency practices, and what’s more you can then share your new skills by giving talks in your area and teach others ways they can cut carbon emissions.
Image courtesy of Leeds University Union
The week finished off on Friday with Representation, which gave you the chance to chat about anything community related that may be worrying you, such as poor street lighting, recycling, suspicious take-aways, anything. Community Week may be over but Leeds students can still get down to the Union at any time. Go meet the student representatives and find out how you can get involved in local campaigns and make your neighbourhood just a little bit lovelier.
Following their super successful appearance at Barfly last week I made my way to a west London location to meet the plastiscine girls. On the way I’m trying desperately to remember my French from school to impress them. On a trip to Paris with my friend Ruth, malady there was no way we would have got by without my “C” grade, I’m sure I can think of something amazingly French to say. I arrive and briefly they are all there, hugs and an ipod charger are exchanged and then drummer Ana and bass player Louise are whisked off back to Paris. I’m sure they are going to have to get used to this whisking about business. So, I was on a very bizarrely patterned couch (see photo above) with lead singer Katty and guitarist Marine. I thought I’d open with my French skills…
Bonjour
K: Bonjour
Cava?
K: Cava merci, Vous parlez francais?
Non, that’s my limit
K: That’s good enough!
(Really?! That’s all that I could have come up with?! I should have revised more.)
You guys played Barfly last night, how do you find London crowds?
K: We really enjoyed the crowd yesterday because it was very busy, so we were really happy! We had a lot of friends in the crowd so they were dancing and jumping! It’s always good to have people reacting when you say something. In Paris people are so quiet, just at the back with their arms crossed and watching. They are interested but they just don’t move. So it’s good to be here and have the crowd reacting.
There seemed to be a lot of French folks in the audience, That must have been nice?K:
K: Yeah, I was really surprised! When I asked, “Who is French tonight?” there were quite a lot of people shouting!
So, How did your story begin?
K: Marine and I met in high school when we were 15 or 16. We started the band because we watched lots of bands like The Strokes and The White Stripes. We loved them, they had so much energy onstage, they were young and we thought we want to do the same thing. So we started the band and a few months after we were already doing some gigs in bars in Paris. We actually learnt our instruments on stage because we just wanted to play! We didn’t care if we could play, all we wanted was to play and get on stage and get into it!
So, you began by doing covers?
K: When we started we did a few covers, but we were very interested in doing our own songs. We did some covers from The Strokes and other bands for a while then we started doing our own songs, thats what really interested us more rather than covers.
A lot of your influences are English so do you guys find it more natural to write in English?
Both: Defiantly
K: Because all the songs we listen to are in English it is very natural to write in English, but sometimes we do write in French. We get direction from people saying we should say things this way because it’s a better way to say it in English. But yes, its natural because the music we like is English and American, we were never really into French bands
I read that French radio stations have restrictions on what they play (a percentage of French radio has to be French songs)
K: Yeah, so its quite difficult for us to be on the radio in France because we may be French but we sing in English. We are not in the same category as big international bands like the Arctic Monkeys, But then we don’t sing in French so we don’t fit into that category either, so its quite difficult to be on the radio.
You worked on your album with top producer Butch Walker what was this like?
M: We went to Malibu to record the album and it was amazing, it was really beautiful and we were in the this big house all together and in the morning we would go to record together or go swimming. Everyday we got to work together! It was interesting because it was the first time we were working with someone American. When we are French we don’t know if we would get along or have the right words to express, so we had a really long talk with him and he said what he likes and we said what we like. Butch is really passionate about music.
He’s worked with a wide range of people from Katy Perry to Weezer and now you guys
K: Yeah, he has done a lot of very big pop stars and he also works with acts because he really likes them, he’s done a lot of indie bands like Hot Hot Heat.
M: He was very honest, he said I do some stuff for money I do some stuff for passion and you are a passion for me.
K: He told us that from the first time he saw us playing on stage at Coachella he fell in love with us.
So what acts are you into right now?
M: Lots of stuff, lots of English acts, I love the Jamie T album, I think it’s amazing. I like Metronomy, Katty loves Florence and the Machine. Also I love Eagles of Death Metal, we went to see them in Paris. We like lots of old and new stuff.
“Bitch” was on “Gossip Girl”, this must have been a massive deal for you?
K: I think we didn’t really realize when we did it! It was such a big thing to do! When we saw it on the internet were like “that’s weird!”. We watch the programme, we know the characters and the story so when we arrived we wanted to know what was happening! We were playing on stage at a ball so we couldn’t hear what the actors were saying! It was nice because all the actors came to us to say “hello” and Leighton Meester who plays Blake came up with our album and she wanted us to sign it!
How did this come about because it’s as if the song was written for “Gossip Girl”?
M: No, its on the album so they heard it on the album it was picked out because it worked really well. We recorded it back in February.
You have a great relationship with Nylon can you tell us a little more about this?
K: Marvin Scott Jarrett ,the editor in chief at Nylon, he is so passionate about music and he always puts a lot of bands in the magazine. I think he wanted to launch a label and so he did it with Nylon, Nylon records. We are the first band signed because he really liked us and I think he thought we were a good image for the magazine. He knew of us because in Paris fashion week we were on the cover of a magazine, from this he got in touch with our label, at the time which was Virgin, us we came to NYC to play at a party for the magazine. Then when we came back again he had the idea for the label and wanted to sign us.
So you spend a lot of time here and in NYC, would you ever relocate?
K: We would love to live in New York! We all love it there! I think people are amazing with us there! Sometimes here when people see four girls on stage in a rock band it is weird for them, like there is something fake, something wrong with it, but in NYC they are just like “That’s cool, its just four girls rocking” and they don’t care.
M: Also, I think that in NYC everybody is doing something interesting. We were only there for a few months we already made such good friends and there’s so much going on and so much different music. I think it would be good for the band living in NYC for a bit for inspiration.
K: You walk in the street and you just feel good there, I don’t know what it is. Its such a big city but you still feel safe.
I follow u guys on twitter and I noticed you had a meeting with Topshop today, You guys are obviously into your fashion, Who are your style icons?
K: Yeah we got it all myspace/facebook/twitter there a blog that marines writes on.
M: Yeah we like fashion because we are girls. I love david bowie from the ziggy stardust period
K: I love Debbie Harry, she’s got it all the music the style, she’s amazing
The same thing could be said about these girls, they have the style, they have the music, they also seem to have it all. I glance and notice the smudge of a stamp on my hand from the entry last night, this reminds me that I have not even bothered to wash for our meeting today never mind attempting to dress nicely. I don’t think there is much point in trying around these girls though. They are naturally chic (I think it’s a French thing) with a playful grunge twist. I’m in love with them for the fact that they just decided to pick up interments to be onstage; from viewing them at The Barfly they all seem to be perfectly at home this platform. These beauties armed with the energy and attitude they bring to their performances, their catchy rock/pop tracks and their effortless style is a winning combination for these pop/grunge goddesses to begin a French revolution.
Image courtesy of Environmental Justice Foundation.
ENVIRONMNENTAL JUSTICE FOUNDATION POP-UP STORE
13-27 NOVEMBER (MON-SAT: 10-7PM, sick SUN: 12-6PM)
WHITE GOLD, recipe 1ST FLOOR, dosageKINGLY COURT, W1
FREE ENTRY
Over the coming fortnight the Environmental Justice Foundation charity will be setting up shop in the heart of London’s Carnaby Street to help raise awareness of forced child labour and environmental abuses in cotton production. The EJF pop-up store will be selling a limited edition range of T-shirts designed in collaboration with fashion heavyweights such as Luella, Giles Deacon, Betty Jackson, Christian Lacroix, Alice Temperley, Richard Nicoll and Ciel. EJF will also be stocking 100 shopper bags designed by Eley Kishimoto which will retail at the bargain price of £10 or come free when you spend over £50 in store. As they sold out like hot potatoes at LFW last month make sure you get there while stock lasts.
Image courtesy of Rokit Vintage Clothing.
ROKIT ROCKING CHRISTMAS
26 NOVEMBER (6-9PM)
ROKIT, 42 SHELTON STREET, COVENT GARDEN, WC2
FREE ENTRY
If you’re looking to get into the festive spirit this week then head down to Covent Garden for this glamorous in-store event where in-house stylists will be on hand to help you choose something unique and original for all those impending Christmas parties! With drinks, cakes and live rockabilly rock’n’roll with Ronnie King and the Hustlers what more could you ask for? With an added incentive of 15% discount on offer you’d be made not to pop in for a mince pie.
Image courtesy of the Old Truman Brewery.
ALL I WANT FOR XMAS
26 NOVEMBER – 20 DECEMBER (THURS: 5-9PM, FRI: 12-6PM, SAT/SUN: 10-6PM)
T1 SPACE, F BLOCK, OLD TRUMAN BREWERY, 15 HANBURY STREET, E1
FREE ENTRY
Launching this Thursday the Old Truman Brewery has come up with the perfect antidote to pre-Christmas blues with a one-stop shopping event that aims to inject the fun back into the much dreaded Christmas shop. Featuring a wide variety of exclusive goods on sale from independent retailers in the form of gift markets, exhibitions, designer sales, independent shops and even a pop-up emporium you’re sure to find something for everyone. With the brightest creative talent from the worlds of design, art, fashion and home ware it’s time to start checking off your Christmas list and see who’s been naughty and who’s been nice!
Image courtesy of Ada Zandinton.
ADA ZANDITON SAMPLE SALE
26-27 NOVEMBER (THURS: 6:30-9:30PM, FRI: 11-7PM) DIGITARIA, 60 BERWICK STREET, SOHO, W1
FREE ENTRY
A firm favourite among the British ethical designers, Ada Zanditon is to host her first sample sale later this week. Hosted by Ada herself in conjunction with Notion magazine there will be exclusive music videos from Bishi and a fashion supplement giveaway. If you’d like to get your hands on pieces from Ada’s AW09 range at heavily discounted prices (up to 70%) make sure you put this date in your diary, just don’t forget to RSVP.
Image courtesy of Fashion & Textile Museum.
TWIST BABY TWIST
27-28 NOVEMBER (7:30-10:30PM) FASHION & TEXTILE MUSEUM, 83 BERMONDSEY STREET, SE1
£15 (INCLUDING FOALE & TUFFIN EXHIBITION ENTRY AND SHOW)
This weekend the Fashion & Textile Museum will be hosting two evenings of swinging sixties entertainment to celebrate their current exhibition Foale and Tuffin: Made in England. Celebrating everything great about this iconic decade in British culture there will be a host of live music and dancing from the likes of Remi Nicole, Theoretical Girl, The Equations and BeBe & Paulo on Friday and Eliza Doolittle, The Bang Bang Club and Henry Johnson on Saturday. If that wasn’t enough you’ll also find film displays, fashion shows, 1960s themed make-overs, DJs, a mysterious David Bailey photo booth plus many more activities to keep you entertained.
Image courtesy of Oxfam.
OXFAM MAKE DO AND MEND FASHION SHOW
28 NOVEMBER (FROM 2PM WITH CATWALK SHOW AT 6:30PM)
ST. MARY’S CHURCH, WYNDHAM PLACE, MARYLEBONE, W1
£5 ENTRY
This one-off “Make Do and Mend” event takes its name from the WW2 propaganda campaigns when clothing rationing was introduced. In current times where every penny counts Oxfam are encouraging consumers to step away from the “throwaway” fashion and embrace the quality and individual style their stores have to offer. To bring home this message Oxfam are hosting a very special event which will see a host of market stalls sell everything from accessories to wedding dresses, as well as an exhibition on the history of 2nd hand fashion, a swap shop and a special customisation corner. If all of this wasn’t enough to whet your appetite there will also be food and drink on offer, live music and DJs and the piece de resistance; a special Oxfam fashion show.
Written by Rachael Oku on Monday November 23rd, 2009 10:16 am
Ghost Forest in Trafalgar Square is a well-timed art-installation taking place ahead of the UN conference on Climate Change from December 7 to 18, visit web involving 11, diagnosis 000 delegates from 192 countries. Ten tree stumps selected from seven indigenous species all with delightful exotic names are represented – Denya, Dahuma, Danta, Hyedua, Mahogany, Wawa and three varieties of Celtis – and have been placed at the feet of the National gallery, right at the very centre of Western Industrialization. They are all with a rich and varied ecology and all with equally diverse uses by man; the Celtis Adolfi-Friderici is evergreen, but many of its leaves do fall during the dry season. It grows up to 100 feet tall and is of abundant forest availability. It is hard not to be moved by the contrasting sight of those stumps laid to rest on white concrete blocks close to the 196 feet-tall Nelson’s Column.
Londoners know Trafalgar Square as a rather uninspiring and barren site inhabited by a swarm of pigeons and tourists. The place is now invaded with what appears to be sculptures for posh interiors. Or is it a vast graveyard of searing beauty? The Celtis is used for interior joinery, plywood, and furniture components back in its country of origin, Ghana. In Europe, it is mostly used in the coffin industry. At Trafalgar Square, it all looks like an odd burial site. Now Ghana’s trees have the good fortune of benefiting from the Voluntary Partnership Agreement. Artist Angela Palmer says: “Having lost 90% of its primary rainforest over the past 50 years, Ghana now exercises strict regulations in sustainable and responsible forestry. Last year it became the first country in Africa to enter the VPA (Voluntary Partnership Agreement) with the European Union in an effort to outlaw illegal logging.”
Celtis and its friends do not end their epic journey in London; having traveled all the way from the tropics, they will travel to Copenhagen to remind UN employees that the removal of the world’s ‘lungs’ through continued deforestation needs to be dealt with without delay, no matter what Obama says.
Angela Palmer is an artist with convictions: “Many thinkers maintain that all art is political; politics touches all aspects of our lives. Life is about politics. And art is about communication, often transmitting unpalatable truths.” Breathing In, currently at the Welcome museum from the 20th of October to the 22nd of November 2009, is another one of Palmer’s projects currently in the capital. In April 2007 Palmer travelled to Linfen in Shanxi Province, China, home to the most polluted air on Earth, and then to Cape Grim on the northwest tip of Tasmania where there’s the purest air and water on Earth. The exhibition is a straightforward display of the results of her journey to capture the physical properties of climate change. The evidence is undeniable- the previously white outfits worn for a day now blackened by the unhealthy Linfen air, the dark face cleanser pads and air pump filters…the facts are brutal. There is an uneasy juxtaposition between the pristine green luscious Tasmanian rainforest and the cloudy, polluted, dusty and overpopulated Chinese streets. Angela Palmer’s art is good medicine for anyone still wondering what all the fuss is about Climate Change. You leave the building wanting to help a worthy cause.
Ghost Forest in Trafalgar Square is a well-timed art-installation taking place ahead of the UN conference on Climate Change from December 7 to 18, page involving 11,000 delegates from 192 countries. Ten tree stumps selected from seven indigenous species all with delightful exotic names are represented – Denya, Dahuma, Danta, Hyedua, Mahogany, Wawa and three varieties of Celtis – and have been placed at the feet of the National gallery, right at the very centre of Western Industrialization. They are all with a rich and varied ecology and all with equally diverse uses by man; the Celtis Adolfi-Friderici is evergreen, but many of its leaves do fall during the dry season. It grows up to 100 feet tall and is of abundant forest availability.
It is hard not to be moved by the contrasting sight of those stumps laid to rest on white concrete blocks close to the 196 feet-tall Nelson’s Column. Londoners know Trafalgar Square as a rather uninspiring and barren site inhabited by a swarm of pigeons and tourists. The place is now invaded with what appears to be sculptures for posh interiors. Or is it a vast graveyard of searing beauty? The Celtis is used for interior joinery, plywood, and furniture components back in its country of origin, Ghana. In Europe, it is mostly used in the coffin industry. At Trafalgar Square, it all looks like an odd burial site. Now Ghana’s trees have the good fortune of benefiting from the Voluntary Partnership Agreement. Artist Angela Palmer says: “Having lost 90% of its primary rainforest over the past 50 years, Ghana now exercises strict regulations in sustainable and responsible forestry. Last year it became the first country in Africa to enter the VPA (Voluntary Partnership Agreement) with the European Union in an effort to outlaw illegal logging.”
Celtis and its friends do not end their epic journey in London; having traveled all the way from the tropics, they will travel to Copenhagen to remind UN employees that the removal of the world’s ‘lungs’ through continued deforestation needs to be dealt with without delay, no matter what Obama says.
Angela Palmer is an artist with convictions: “Many thinkers maintain that all art is political; politics touches all aspects of our lives. Life is about politics. And art is about communication, often transmitting unpalatable truths.” Breathing In, currently at the Welcome museum from the 20th of October to the 22nd of November 2009, is another one of Palmer’s projects currently in the capital. In April 2007 Palmer travelled to Linfen in Shanxi Province, China, home to the most polluted air on Earth, and then to Cape Grim on the northwest tip of Tasmania where there’s the purest air and water on Earth.
The exhibition is a straightforward display of the results of her journey to capture the physical properties of climate change. The evidence is undeniable- the previously white outfits worn for a day now blackened by the unhealthy Linfen air, the dark face cleanser pads and air pump filters…the facts are brutal. There is an uneasy juxtaposition between the pristine green luscious Tasmanian rainforest and the cloudy, polluted, dusty and overpopulated Chinese streets. Angela Palmer’s art is good medicine for anyone still wondering what all the fuss is about Climate Change. You leave the building wanting to help a worthy cause. Ghost Forest in Trafalgar Square is a well-timed art-installation taking place ahead of the UN conferenceon Climate Change from December 7 to 18, approved involving 11, salve 000 delegates from 192 countries. Ten tree stumps selected from seven indigenous species all with delightful exotic names are represented – Denya, Dahuma, Danta, Hyedua, Mahogany, Wawa and three varieties of Celtis – and have been placed at the feet of the National gallery, right at the very centre of Western Industrialization. They are all with a rich and varied ecology and all with equally diverse uses by man; the Celtis Adolfi-Friderici is evergreen, but many of its leaves do fall during the dry season. It grows up to 100 feet tall and is of abundant forest availability.
It is hard not to be moved by the contrasting sight of those stumps laid to rest on white concrete blocks close to the 196 feet-tall Nelson’s Column. Londoners know Trafalgar Square as a rather uninspiring and barren site inhabited by a swarm of pigeons and tourists. The place is now invaded with what appears to be sculptures for posh interiors. Or is it a vast graveyard of searing beauty? The Celtis is used for interior joinery, plywood, and furniture components back in its country of origin, Ghana. In Europe, it is mostly used in the coffin industry. At Trafalgar Square, it all looks like an odd burial site. Now Ghana’s trees have the good fortune of benefiting from the Voluntary Partnership Agreement. Artist Angela Palmersays: “Having lost 90% of its primary rainforest over the past 50 years, Ghana now exercises strict regulations in sustainable and responsible forestry. Last year it became the first country in Africa to enter the VPA (Voluntary Partnership Agreement) with the European Union in an effort to outlaw illegal logging.”
Celtis and its friends do not end their epic journey in London; having traveled all the way from the tropics, they will travel to Copenhagen to remind UN employees that the removal of the world’s ‘lungs’ through continued deforestation needs to be dealt with without delay, no matter what Obama says.
Angela Palmer is an artist with convictions: “Many thinkers maintain that all art is political; politics touches all aspects of our lives. Life is about politics. And art is about communication, often transmitting unpalatable truths.” Breathing In, currently at the Welcome museum from the 20th of October to the 22nd of November 2009, is another one of Palmer’s projects currently in the capital. In April 2007 Palmer travelled to Linfen in Shanxi Province, China, home to the most polluted air on Earth, and then to Cape Grim on the northwest tip of Tasmania where there’s the purest air and water on Earth.
The exhibition is a straightforward display of the results of her journey to capture the physical properties of climate change. The evidence is undeniable- the previously white outfits worn for a day now blackened by the unhealthy Linfen air, the dark face cleanser pads and air pump filters…the facts are brutal. There is an uneasy juxtaposition between the pristine green luscious Tasmanian rainforest and the cloudy, polluted, dusty and overpopulated Chinese streets. Angela Palmer’s art is good medicine for anyone still wondering what all the fuss is about Climate Change. You leave the building wanting to help a worthy cause. Ghost Forest in Trafalgar Square is a well-timed art-installation taking place ahead of the UN conferenceon Climate Change from December 7 to 18, information pills involving 11, stuff 000 delegates from 192 countries. Ten tree stumps selected from seven indigenous species all with delightful exotic names are represented – Denya, click Dahuma, Danta, Hyedua, Mahogany, Wawa and three varieties of Celtis – and have been placed at the feet of the National gallery, right at the very centre of Western Industrialization. They are all with a rich and varied ecology and all with equally diverse uses by man; the Celtis Adolfi-Friderici is evergreen, but many of its leaves do fall during the dry season. It grows up to 100 feet tall and is of abundant forest availability.
It is hard not to be moved by the contrasting sight of those stumps laid to rest on white concrete blocks close to the 196 feet-tall Nelson’s Column. Londoners know Trafalgar Square as a rather uninspiring and barren site inhabited by a swarm of pigeons and tourists. The place is now invaded with what appears to be sculptures for posh interiors. Or is it a vast graveyard of searing beauty? The Celtis is used for interior joinery, plywood, and furniture components back in its country of origin, Ghana. In Europe, it is mostly used in the coffin industry. At Trafalgar Square, it all looks like an odd burial site. Now Ghana’s trees have the good fortune of benefiting from the Voluntary Partnership Agreement. Artist Angela Palmersays: “Having lost 90% of its primary rainforest over the past 50 years, Ghana now exercises strict regulations in sustainable and responsible forestry. Last year it became the first country in Africa to enter the VPA (Voluntary Partnership Agreement) with the European Union in an effort to outlaw illegal logging.”
Celtis and its friends do not end their epic journey in London; having traveled all the way from the tropics, they will travel to Copenhagen to remind UN employees that the removal of the world’s ‘lungs’ through continued deforestation needs to be dealt with without delay.
Angela Palmer is an artist with convictions: “Many thinkers maintain that all art is political; politics touches all aspects of our lives. Life is about politics. And art is about communication, often transmitting unpalatable truths.” Breathing In, currently at the Welcome museum from the 20th of October to the 22nd of November 2009, is another one of Palmer’s projects currently in the capital. In April 2007 Palmer travelled to Linfen in Shanxi Province, China, home to the most polluted air on Earth, and then to Cape Grim on the northwest tip of Tasmania where there’s the purest air and water on Earth.
The exhibition is a straightforward display of the results of her journey to capture the physical properties of climate change. The evidence is undeniable- the previously white outfits worn for a day now blackened by the unhealthy Linfen air, the dark face cleanser pads and air pump filters…the facts are brutal. There is an uneasy juxtaposition between the pristine green luscious Tasmanian rainforest and the cloudy, polluted, dusty and overpopulated Chinese streets. Angela Palmer’s art is good medicine for anyone still wondering what all the fuss is about Climate Change. You leave the building wanting to help a worthy cause.
Last week was Community Week in Leeds, information pills meaning all week Leeds University Union hosted various events on their campus aimed at students and ways in which we can make a positive difference in our local community.
Kicking off rather appropriately with ‘Talking Rubbish’ on Monday, prescription wheelie bins were hot on the agenda due to the bin strike in Leeds which has amazingly reached its 12th week now because of rows over unfair pay. The vast amount of recyclable waste which had not been collected since the beginning of September when the strike began was finally shifted this week, unhealthy and residents can expect letters from Leeds City Council informing them of the changes to be made in their area.
On Wednesday it was ‘Safe in the knowledge’, a day aimed at teaching ways we can prevent burglary in the LS6 area. For example did you know that, according to the union’s ‘Knowledge’ campaign, in 2008 almost 52% of student homes burgled were due to open doors or windows? So first step: Shut your windows, lock your doors! It is pretty easy to pop out or even just upstairs and forget to lock the front door. Most of the burglary stories I’ve heard happened to people who were in the house at the time, for instance last year someone wandered into my friend’s house in the middle of the day, pinched their underwear and left a ‘surprise’ in the middle of the carpet. The Knowledge website offers practical advice on preventing burglary and making your student home a more secure place.
Images courtesy of Leeds University Union
Thursday was concerned with volunteering. The Union runs a great volunteering service which supports students who want to give a little back locally and abroad. For instance why not become a Carbon Ambassador? Sounds pretty impressive and you receive FREE training in energy efficiency practices, and what’s more you can then share your new skills by giving talks in your area and teach others ways they can cut carbon emissions.
Image courtesy of Leeds University Union
The week finished off on Friday with Representation, which gave you the chance to chat about anything community related that may be worrying you, such as poor street lighting, recycling, suspicious take-aways, anything. Community Week may be over but Leeds students can still get down to the Union at any time. Go meet the student representatives and find out how you can get involved in local campaigns and make your neighbourhood just a little bit lovelier.
Following their super successful appearance at Barfly last week I made my way to a west London location to meet the plastiscine girls. On the way I’m trying desperately to remember my French from school to impress them. On a trip to Paris with my friend Ruth, malady there was no way we would have got by without my “C” grade, I’m sure I can think of something amazingly French to say. I arrive and briefly they are all there, hugs and an ipod charger are exchanged and then drummer Ana and bass player Louise are whisked off back to Paris. I’m sure they are going to have to get used to this whisking about business. So, I was on a very bizarrely patterned couch (see photo above) with lead singer Katty and guitarist Marine. I thought I’d open with my French skills…
Bonjour
K: Bonjour
Cava?
K: Cava merci, Vous parlez francais?
Non, that’s my limit
K: That’s good enough!
(Really?! That’s all that I could have come up with?! I should have revised more.)
You guys played Barfly last night, how do you find London crowds?
K: We really enjoyed the crowd yesterday because it was very busy, so we were really happy! We had a lot of friends in the crowd so they were dancing and jumping! It’s always good to have people reacting when you say something. In Paris people are so quiet, just at the back with their arms crossed and watching. They are interested but they just don’t move. So it’s good to be here and have the crowd reacting.
There seemed to be a lot of French folks in the audience, That must have been nice?K:
K: Yeah, I was really surprised! When I asked, “Who is French tonight?” there were quite a lot of people shouting!
So, How did your story begin?
K: Marine and I met in high school when we were 15 or 16. We started the band because we watched lots of bands like The Strokes and The White Stripes. We loved them, they had so much energy onstage, they were young and we thought we want to do the same thing. So we started the band and a few months after we were already doing some gigs in bars in Paris. We actually learnt our instruments on stage because we just wanted to play! We didn’t care if we could play, all we wanted was to play and get on stage and get into it!
So, you began by doing covers?
K: When we started we did a few covers, but we were very interested in doing our own songs. We did some covers from The Strokes and other bands for a while then we started doing our own songs, thats what really interested us more rather than covers.
A lot of your influences are English so do you guys find it more natural to write in English?
Both: Defiantly
K: Because all the songs we listen to are in English it is very natural to write in English, but sometimes we do write in French. We get direction from people saying we should say things this way because it’s a better way to say it in English. But yes, its natural because the music we like is English and American, we were never really into French bands
I read that French radio stations have restrictions on what they play (a percentage of French radio has to be French songs)
K: Yeah, so its quite difficult for us to be on the radio in France because we may be French but we sing in English. We are not in the same category as big international bands like the Arctic Monkeys, But then we don’t sing in French so we don’t fit into that category either, so its quite difficult to be on the radio.
You worked on your album with top producer Butch Walker what was this like?
M: We went to Malibu to record the album and it was amazing, it was really beautiful and we were in the this big house all together and in the morning we would go to record together or go swimming. Everyday we got to work together! It was interesting because it was the first time we were working with someone American. When we are French we don’t know if we would get along or have the right words to express, so we had a really long talk with him and he said what he likes and we said what we like. Butch is really passionate about music.
He’s worked with a wide range of people from Katy Perry to Weezer and now you guys
K: Yeah, he has done a lot of very big pop stars and he also works with acts because he really likes them, he’s done a lot of indie bands like Hot Hot Heat.
M: He was very honest, he said I do some stuff for money I do some stuff for passion and you are a passion for me.
K: He told us that from the first time he saw us playing on stage at Coachella he fell in love with us.
So what acts are you into right now?
M: Lots of stuff, lots of English acts, I love the Jamie T album, I think it’s amazing. I like Metronomy, Katty loves Florence and the Machine. Also I love Eagles of Death Metal, we went to see them in Paris. We like lots of old and new stuff.
“Bitch” was on “Gossip Girl”, this must have been a massive deal for you?
K: I think we didn’t really realize when we did it! It was such a big thing to do! When we saw it on the internet were like “that’s weird!”. We watch the programme, we know the characters and the story so when we arrived we wanted to know what was happening! We were playing on stage at a ball so we couldn’t hear what the actors were saying! It was nice because all the actors came to us to say “hello” and Leighton Meester who plays Blake came up with our album and she wanted us to sign it!
How did this come about because it’s as if the song was written for “Gossip Girl”?
M: No, its on the album so they heard it on the album it was picked out because it worked really well. We recorded it back in February.
You have a great relationship with Nylon can you tell us a little more about this?
K: Marvin Scott Jarrett ,the editor in chief at Nylon, he is so passionate about music and he always puts a lot of bands in the magazine. I think he wanted to launch a label and so he did it with Nylon, Nylon records. We are the first band signed because he really liked us and I think he thought we were a good image for the magazine. He knew of us because in Paris fashion week we were on the cover of a magazine, from this he got in touch with our label, at the time which was Virgin, us we came to NYC to play at a party for the magazine. Then when we came back again he had the idea for the label and wanted to sign us.
So you spend a lot of time here and in NYC, would you ever relocate?
K: We would love to live in New York! We all love it there! I think people are amazing with us there! Sometimes here when people see four girls on stage in a rock band it is weird for them, like there is something fake, something wrong with it, but in NYC they are just like “That’s cool, its just four girls rocking” and they don’t care.
M: Also, I think that in NYC everybody is doing something interesting. We were only there for a few months we already made such good friends and there’s so much going on and so much different music. I think it would be good for the band living in NYC for a bit for inspiration.
K: You walk in the street and you just feel good there, I don’t know what it is. Its such a big city but you still feel safe.
I follow u guys on twitter and I noticed you had a meeting with Topshop today, You guys are obviously into your fashion, Who are your style icons?
K: Yeah we got it all myspace/facebook/twitter there a blog that marines writes on.
M: Yeah we like fashion because we are girls. I love david bowie from the ziggy stardust period
K: I love Debbie Harry, she’s got it all the music the style, she’s amazing
The same thing could be said about these girls, they have the style, they have the music, they also seem to have it all. I glance and notice the smudge of a stamp on my hand from the entry last night, this reminds me that I have not even bothered to wash for our meeting today never mind attempting to dress nicely. I don’t think there is much point in trying around these girls though. They are naturally chic (I think it’s a French thing) with a playful grunge twist. I’m in love with them for the fact that they just decided to pick up interments to be onstage; from viewing them at The Barfly they all seem to be perfectly at home this platform. These beauties armed with the energy and attitude they bring to their performances, their catchy rock/pop tracks and their effortless style is a winning combination for these pop/grunge goddesses to begin a French revolution.
Image courtesy of Environmental Justice Foundation.
ENVIRONMNENTAL JUSTICE FOUNDATION POP-UP STORE
13-27 NOVEMBER (MON-SAT: 10-7PM, sick SUN: 12-6PM)
WHITE GOLD, recipe 1ST FLOOR, dosageKINGLY COURT, W1
FREE ENTRY
Over the coming fortnight the Environmental Justice Foundation charity will be setting up shop in the heart of London’s Carnaby Street to help raise awareness of forced child labour and environmental abuses in cotton production. The EJF pop-up store will be selling a limited edition range of T-shirts designed in collaboration with fashion heavyweights such as Luella, Giles Deacon, Betty Jackson, Christian Lacroix, Alice Temperley, Richard Nicoll and Ciel. EJF will also be stocking 100 shopper bags designed by Eley Kishimoto which will retail at the bargain price of £10 or come free when you spend over £50 in store. As they sold out like hot potatoes at LFW last month make sure you get there while stock lasts.
Image courtesy of Rokit Vintage Clothing.
ROKIT ROCKING CHRISTMAS
26 NOVEMBER (6-9PM)
ROKIT, 42 SHELTON STREET, COVENT GARDEN, WC2
FREE ENTRY
If you’re looking to get into the festive spirit this week then head down to Covent Garden for this glamorous in-store event where in-house stylists will be on hand to help you choose something unique and original for all those impending Christmas parties! With drinks, cakes and live rockabilly rock’n’roll with Ronnie King and the Hustlers what more could you ask for? With an added incentive of 15% discount on offer you’d be made not to pop in for a mince pie.
Image courtesy of the Old Truman Brewery.
ALL I WANT FOR XMAS
26 NOVEMBER – 20 DECEMBER (THURS: 5-9PM, FRI: 12-6PM, SAT/SUN: 10-6PM)
T1 SPACE, F BLOCK, OLD TRUMAN BREWERY, 15 HANBURY STREET, E1
FREE ENTRY
Launching this Thursday the Old Truman Brewery has come up with the perfect antidote to pre-Christmas blues with a one-stop shopping event that aims to inject the fun back into the much dreaded Christmas shop. Featuring a wide variety of exclusive goods on sale from independent retailers in the form of gift markets, exhibitions, designer sales, independent shops and even a pop-up emporium you’re sure to find something for everyone. With the brightest creative talent from the worlds of design, art, fashion and home ware it’s time to start checking off your Christmas list and see who’s been naughty and who’s been nice!
Image courtesy of Ada Zandinton.
ADA ZANDITON SAMPLE SALE
26-27 NOVEMBER (THURS: 6:30-9:30PM, FRI: 11-7PM) DIGITARIA, 60 BERWICK STREET, SOHO, W1
FREE ENTRY
A firm favourite among the British ethical designers, Ada Zanditon is to host her first sample sale later this week. Hosted by Ada herself in conjunction with Notion magazine there will be exclusive music videos from Bishi and a fashion supplement giveaway. If you’d like to get your hands on pieces from Ada’s AW09 range at heavily discounted prices (up to 70%) make sure you put this date in your diary, just don’t forget to RSVP.
Image courtesy of Fashion & Textile Museum.
TWIST BABY TWIST
27-28 NOVEMBER (7:30-10:30PM) FASHION & TEXTILE MUSEUM, 83 BERMONDSEY STREET, SE1
£15 (INCLUDING FOALE & TUFFIN EXHIBITION ENTRY AND SHOW)
This weekend the Fashion & Textile Museum will be hosting two evenings of swinging sixties entertainment to celebrate their current exhibition Foale and Tuffin: Made in England. Celebrating everything great about this iconic decade in British culture there will be a host of live music and dancing from the likes of Remi Nicole, Theoretical Girl, The Equations and BeBe & Paulo on Friday and Eliza Doolittle, The Bang Bang Club and Henry Johnson on Saturday. If that wasn’t enough you’ll also find film displays, fashion shows, 1960s themed make-overs, DJs, a mysterious David Bailey photo booth plus many more activities to keep you entertained.
Image courtesy of Oxfam.
OXFAM MAKE DO AND MEND FASHION SHOW
28 NOVEMBER (FROM 2PM WITH CATWALK SHOW AT 6:30PM)
ST. MARY’S CHURCH, WYNDHAM PLACE, MARYLEBONE, W1
£5 ENTRY
This one-off “Make Do and Mend” event takes its name from the WW2 propaganda campaigns when clothing rationing was introduced. In current times where every penny counts Oxfam are encouraging consumers to step away from the “throwaway” fashion and embrace the quality and individual style their stores have to offer. To bring home this message Oxfam are hosting a very special event which will see a host of market stalls sell everything from accessories to wedding dresses, as well as an exhibition on the history of 2nd hand fashion, a swap shop and a special customisation corner. If all of this wasn’t enough to whet your appetite there will also be food and drink on offer, live music and DJs and the piece de resistance; a special Oxfam fashion show.
Written by Rachael Oku on Monday November 23rd, 2009 10:16 am
Our House, a collaborative artwork by Amelia’s Magazine created in aid of the Up My Street campaign by Shelter.
A few years ago I held an open brief to put together a piece of art on the theme of a House of Cards, which was sold at auction in aid of Shelter in the company of such luminaries as Damien Hirst, Alexander McQueen (RIP) and Vivienne Westwood. The Shelter Card Quilt included interpretations of the Two of Hearts by 54 illustrators and artists, including some who became regular contributors to Amelia’s Magazine and went on to feature in my books. The final artwork sold for £2,200 to a mystery bidder, so we were thrilled to raise so much money for a good cause.
It’s fitting that I first worked with two of those illustrators, Lesley Barnes and Thereza Rowe, when they entered the House of Cards open brief back in 2009, and it’s fantastic to see how much their confidence and careers have developed since then.
Close up of roof, attic and front door by Lesley Barnes.
To represent the idea of an emotional connection to a secure home environment I settled on the idea of creating a house full of rooms, each of which features the individual illustrator’s interpretation of happiness and security. I wanted to include a broad spectrum of ways in which people are happy today, whether singly or together, and at whatever age that might be: so there’s the family with grandparents by Emma Block, a single mother with her baby by Yelena Bryksenkova, a children’s party by Natsuki Otani, and an older lady enjoying a luxuriant bathtime by Antonia Parker, to name a few of the scenarios. I worked closely with Lesley Barnes to create the body of the house, including the attic, roof and doorway, and then each of the other illustrators worked on their own room. I hope the final artwork, Our House, embodies feelings of comfort, security and happiness in the home.
There will be a silent auction held tonight at the private view at the Coningsby Gallery, so I popped in earlier today to check out the other artworks.
Bidders will be spoilt for choice for once again we are in very good company: there is original art to bid for by top artists such as Julian Opie, Grayson Perry, Anthony Gormley, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Giles Deacon, Bob and Roberta Smith and Miles Aldridge. We are delighted that our image has been used on the Shelter website and took pride of place in the Metro newspaper!
I am extremely grateful to the illustrators who got so enthusiastically involved with this project, and to Richard Penny at Ripe Digital for so kindly printing the final high quality A1 giclee print. I hope that Our House resonates with someone, and that once again it will sell for a princely sum – all the proceeds of which will go to support the important work of Shelter.
The contributing illustrators have been blogging about Our House too. Here’s some links to their websites: Emma Block introduces the grandparents who inspired her piece. Lesley Barnes describes how she put her architectural skills to work. Thereza Rowe shows off her room, with one man and his dogs.
Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday March 8th, 2012 4:54 pm
Illustration by Naif Al-Mutawa courtesy of PagetBaker Associates
