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Amelia’s Magazine | Modern Love: S/S 2012 Preview Interview with designer Sarah Arnett

Modern Love by Ola Szpunar.

Sarah Arnett is a multi talented designer who just happened to train at the same university as me. She graduated the year above, and since then has had an extremely interesting and varied career – from contributing illustrations to Amelia’s Magazine to creating a beautiful fashion line that is exclusively stocked in Liberty – it seems she is capable of turning her hand to all aspects of design! Prepare to be very inspired….

Modern Love SS12
sarah arnett Modern Love by angela lamb
Modern Love by Angela Lamb.

You’ve had an eclectic career, training firstly in woven textiles for fashion on the same course as me at Brighton Uni, and then moving into illustration, interior design and back into the world of fashion. Can you tell us more about your journey across these disciplines?
I found it very difficult to decide what to do in the first place, all I knew was that I wanted to go to art college, I grew up with a family of designers and makers so being able to sew and paint seemed normal and I used to watch my father work in his studio, everyone was able to draw, paint… in fact my great uncle designed fabrics for Liberty. Things happen in your life like having children, and other things become important… it’s the same with my work, other things become more exciting and more important. I am totally inspired by the process and that drives me to try more things. It’s an exciting time for crossing over disciplines and I have always just thought of my self as a designer… It could be fashion, interiors… or illustration. I am so inspired by working on a range of projects; in the last couple of years year I have shown in a couple of exhibitions at Somerset House, worked on Modern Love, designed the new look of the uniform for the National Trust, as well as creating illustrations for The Sunday Times Style Magazine. I also design a small bridal collection that I sell through a vintage shop in Brighton… and there is a long list of other things that I want to do!

Modern Love SS12
Sarah-Harnett-by-Laura-Griffin
Modern Love by Laura Griffin.

What is the highlight of working across disciplines?
No day is the same….

Modernlove ss12 Long v neck dress
And what have been the difficult parts?
I love and hate fashion, sometimes I think it’s a frivolous waste of time and on the other hand can make someone feel beautiful and have a real impact on their life… I don’t think I am a fashionable person and have never felt very comfortable in my own skin, but I am and have always been fascinated by clothes. I find fashion a very big challenge. The stress of running your own business is hard work, as is that freelancer’s worry of where the next job will be coming from… and there is always self doubt. But I look at all of these as things that drive me on to try and do better.

Sarah Arnett Modern Love by Isher Dhiman
Sarah Arnett’s Modern Love by Isher Dhiman.

Why did you name your clothing brand Modern Love?
Myself and my business partner Kim Hunt really liked the idea of a name that encompassed what we felt and admired about good design. The Love of beauty, vintage, heritage and the feminine and the Modern… a way of thinking, responsibility to the environment, ethical and local manufacturing, our vision, our way of working and maintaining a good work/life balance for ourselves (we did have our production meeting on the beach over looking a very calm sea today!) and a reference to David Bowie never hurt anyone! I

Modern Love print design SS 2012
Print design from the current collection.

For S/S 2012 Modern Love is all about a mix of tropical and country garden prints – described as earthy African hues meet the soft English sky (love that description) Where did you find inspiration for the imagery?
I find that I am constantly working and re-working the same themes which are a mix of my African, big sunshine early influences and my love of the softer, rolling South Downs up-bringing. I can’t ever choose between them. If I admire or value or find something beautiful or fascinating I am drawn to design with it, I think it’s a very similar sensation to eating something or collecting things. It’s a different way of owning or tasting something. I draw it.

Modern Love print design SS 2012
How do you reconcile living on the sometimes rainy south coast of Brighton with your fabulous African childhood? Are there ways to bring a bit of African sunshine back into your life?!
In a strange way having the coast and that big expanse of water and sky to look can be as dramatic and uplifting as the sunshine and dry African plains: I walk down to the sea every day I possibly can, it’s very important to me. Without it I would hate the winter even more than I do! My ideal situation would be six months here, six months there.

Modern Love print design SS 2012
How easy is it to design shapes to suit your prints, or do you begin the other way around?
The collection starts out with shapes and a woman in mind first. Then I feel like I have to think about that woman, what she would wear and start to fit the prints around it. It’s always a bit of a narrative, there has to be a reason for the print to be there. Quite often we will find an image of a woman for each season and then we will always question whether she will wear each design. Kim and I design the shapes together so we talk and talk and draw and have to justify why it has to be there. Once we have the bones of the collection together I go into my own world for a few weeks getting the new prints together. I like to engineer the print to the pattern pieces of the garment.

Modern Love print design SS 2012
Why did you decide to print the fabrics in Como, Italy?
There is a fantastic tradition of textiles in Como. I first went there when I did a work placement in Switzerland. We were very near to Como and visited it often. If you have to choose a location for a factory visit, I can’t imagine anything more beautiful! The printers I work with have printed in a traditional way for a couple of generations and then moved over to digital twenty years ago when it was first being experimented with. The laying down of pigment, whether via digital or by screen print, is only part of the process. They are very skilled in the handling and finishing of the fabrics which makes them feel beautiful and gives them a longevity. The digital process is much cleaner than traditional screen printing and uses far less water and energy. I like the tradition and the finesse of the final production. What they lack in delivering on time they make up in the detail and quality!

Modern Love SS12
Modern Love SS12 5

Modern Love by Nanae Kawahara.

Who are the craftspeople who make the collection for you? Can you introduce us to them!
Brighton is so full of talented machinists and pattern cutters, it’s a very sociable place and over the years I have met lots of people I can call on to help me. I have used the same machinists for the last ten years. They work form home and small studios as well as working for me they are working for lots of top designers; a good machinist is worth her weight in gold! There used to be a lot of small garment factories in the area and it’s a shame they have all disappeared. There is a new initiative called The Fashion Trust based in Sussex which is trying to pull all the local resources together which will be great for designer just starting up.

Modern Love SS12
Sarah Arnett Modern Love by Jacqueline Valencia
Sarah Arnett’s Modern Love by Jacqueline Valencia.

Modern Love is stocked exclusively in Liberty – a dream for most clothing brands. How did you get the label into this most prestigious of shops?
Well, Liberty made it very easy, even with beautiful photographs and constant emailing it’s very difficult to get the attention of the buyers unless you see them face to face at a show. We lined up with everyone else at their Best Of British Open Call and were the only womens wear brand to have got through last year. It was a great experience because at least you knew you had a few minutes of complete attention to show your collection in the flesh. I think it has been a great success and we feel very proud to have our collection there, especially since it was our first goal when starting Modern Love.

Modern Love SS12

Find Modern Love at Liberty right here.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday March 29th, 2012 2:56 pm

Categories ,africa, ,Angela Lamb, ,Best of British, ,Best Of British Open Call, ,Bridal, ,brighton, ,Como, ,David Bowie, ,fashion, ,Fashion Textiles, ,illustration, ,Interior Design, ,Isher Dhiman, ,Italy, ,Jacqueline Valencia, ,Kim Hunt, ,Laura Griffin, ,liberty, ,Modern Love, ,Nanae Kawahara, ,National Trust, ,Ola Szpunar, ,print, ,Sarah Arnett, ,Somerset House, ,Sunday Times Style Magazine, ,Sussex, ,The Fashion Trust, ,University of Brighton, ,vintage, ,Woven Textiles

Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with fashion designer Ramil Makinano

Ramil Makinano‘s Graduate Collection illustrated by Milly Jackson

I first saw the weird and wonderful work of Ramil Makinano at the Toni&Guy Hair Show during London Fashion Week last month. The show, which I very much enjoyed, was all about hair as you can imagine; the clothes were selected to compliment the hairstyles and were pretty basic. That is, except for the final pieces. Vibrant colours and odd shapes flooded the runway, and as a result of my review, Ramil got in touch to introduce himself. I couldn’t wait to find out more about this unique designer.

I met Ramil on a chilly Monday evening at Bar Music Hall in Shoreditch. It had been hard to pin him down, and I was about to find out why. Born and raised in the Philippines, Ramil moved to London fifteen years ago on a nursing scholarship with the NHS, despite being thoroughly passionate about fashion from an early age. ‘It was a good way to move away,’ Ramil told me as we took a seat with our beers. ‘I was interviewed in Manilla, and was one of the first few people to be brought over by the NHS.’ Ramil’s passion for nursing and inevitable need to fund his collections still see him working at St Thomas’ Hospital at weekends.

Ramil Makinano‘s Graduate Collection illustrated by Maria del Carmen Smith

After 8 years working as a nurse after qualifying in London, Ramil decided to return to his desire to become a fashion designer and had naturally heard of the world’s most famous fashion school – Central Saint Martins. By this time Ramil had obtained British citizenship and secured a place on the foundation course, professing to the degree specialising in print.

It was whilst studying at Saint Martins on a sandwich course that Ramil undertook placements with some of fashion’s greatest talent, experiences that he remembers very fondly. Internships at Matthew Williamson, Elisa Palomino and Diane Von Furstenberg allowed Ramil to fully explore his penchant for print. As I rub my hands together hoping for some juice on these fashion figures, I’m only slightly disappointed when Ramil has nothing but great things to say about the designers. He tells me a story about Von Furstenberg calling all the interns to the rooftop apartment of her 14th Street studios for lunch. ‘We were just sitting there, having lunch, on the roof, with Diane Von Furstenberg. It was INCREDIBLE!’ he exclaims. He attributes his successes whilst studying to course lecturer Natalie Gibson. ‘I owe her so much,’ he tells me, ‘she’s an incredible woman.’

Ramil Makinano‘s Graduate Collection illustrated by Estelle Morris

We move on to talk about Ramil’s breathtaking final collection that I saw at the Toni&Guyshow and that he presented during the CSM presentations in the summer. He digs out his portfolio and comes across a little nervous when talking me through it. ‘I feel like it’s a job interview!’ says Ramil. I feel like Diane Von Furstenberg for a mere moment, and I’m not complaining. Ramil’s inspiration for his collection came from two disparate sources – Medieval armour and Margaret Thatcher. Well, not that disparate when you consider satirical cartoons of the Iron Lady in Medieval garb, I suppose.

Pages from Ramil Makinano’s sketchbooks

His obsession with colour, texture and the aesthetic properties of materials is all over this collection. It’s fascinating to see where a designer started with their research and where they finished; where the collection has come from. Ramil leafs through page after page of design inspiration; vibrant patterns, sketches of Thatcher, photocopies of Medieval source material, grabs from movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars. His journey began at the Tower of London, and it is the armoury he saw there, with its bold silhouettes and sense of purpose that inspired Ramil so much. Throw in a powerful woman like Thatcher and you’ve got a seriously ambitious collection on your hands. ‘I didn’t want it to be serious, though,’ Ramil informs me. ‘I wanted to keep it playful; to be fun.’ Even the hardest-nosed critics would have trouble not finding any fun in this set of outfits.

Shapes in the collection are visibly inspired by the curves and sculpture of armoury, constructed from neoprene using techniques Ramil created himself. These are presented in a variety of bold colours, and the ensembles feature playful, almost childlike, prints of rockets and spaceships. It wasn’t a easy task by any means. ‘I had to make at least 8 toilles per garment,’ Ramil explains. ‘I am always seeking perfection.’ We discuss the surge in digital printing. ‘I do like digital prints, but I prefer traditional methods. I spent hours in the studio matching colours, testing colours – I like the interaction between fabrics and dyes that you don’t get with digital methods. I spent my whole student life in the print room, but I have no regrets. It’s not glamorous either, it’s dirty work!’

Ramil Makinano‘s Graduate Collection illustrated by Milly Jackson

So who does he admire? ‘Matthew [Williamson] and Diane [Von Furstenberg] especially – people who are successful in fashion but have their feet firmly on the ground.’ He also likes labels that continue to employ traditional methods – only Eley Kishimoto and Zandra Rhodes, he believes. What else does he get up to? It’s a pretty packed week, researching Monday to Friday and nursing at the weekends. ‘I love London galleries!’ he tells me, ‘because there’s so much to see. The Design Museum, the V&A, the National Gallery – they are all so wonderful.’ He try to persuade me to get a National Trust membership, one of his favoured possessions.

Pages from Ramil Makinano’s sketchbooks

He tells me he’s a ‘child of the MTV era’ and finds much inspiration in the graphics of music videos. It was an MTV show, House of Style, and Style with Elsa Klensch, that are amongst his earliest fashion memories. He tells me ‘I used to fight with my brother all the time because Elsa Klensch‘s show was on at the same time as American Basketball!’

So what’s next for Ramil? He’s currently researching his next collection – A/W 2012 – which promises to be ‘something completely different.’ It will most likely be print-based, but that’s all Ramil can tell me at this stage. One thing he is certain on is that he’s staying put here in London, and currently applying to various fashion bodies in the hope of a debut solo show during fashion week next September. I look forward to seeing his name on the schedule.

Photographs courtesy of Ramil Makinano

Written by Matt Bramford on Friday October 28th, 2011 5:11 pm

Categories ,2001 A Space Odyssey, ,A/W 2012, ,American Basketball, ,Armour, ,Armoury, ,Bar Music Hall, ,catwalk, ,Central Saint Martins, ,CSM, ,Design Museum, ,Diane Von Furstenberg, ,Eley Kishimoto, ,Elisa Palomino, ,Elsa Klensch, ,Estelle Morris, ,fashion, ,House of Style, ,interview, ,Iron Lady, ,London Fashion Week, ,margaret thatcher, ,Maria del Carmen Smith, ,Matt Bramford, ,Matthew Williamson, ,medieval, ,Milly Jackson, ,MTV, ,Natalie Gibson, ,National gallery, ,National Trust, ,NHS, ,print, ,Ramil Makinano, ,shoreditch, ,Star Wars, ,textiles, ,Toni&Guy, ,Tower of London, ,va, ,Womenswear, ,Zandra Rhodes

Amelia’s Magazine | Prints and Furnishings by Fanny Shorter: An interview with the talented Textile Designer

Fanny Shorter Passion Pair Blue
I first discovered the beautiful designs of Fanny Shorter at Cockpit Arts in 2013 and have since met her at Home London (twice) and Tent London. Last year she was a deserving recipient of the COADG bursary. Fanny trained as an illustrator at Brighton University but has since turned her skills to the joy of textile design, building an immediately recognisable brand that features beautiful bold designs inspired by a childhood growing up in the beautiful City of Winchester and family trips to museums and National Trust properties.

Winchester Richard Shorter
Winchester school Richard Shorter
Winchester views by Richard Shorter.

Your upbringing in Winchester with teacher parents sounds idyllic, what are your fondest memories of childhood?
We were just very lucky. We were housed in the school grounds where my father taught in Winchester and it was just an absolutely beautiful environment in which to grow up. I appreciate it more now even more than I did then. We were just outside most of the time. My mother was quite traditional but very creative and we were always encouraged to draw, sew, make things and write (although I’ve probably let that slip somewhat).

Calathea_Cushion_Lrg_Clementine_Fanny_Shorter
Why did you decide to study illustration and how did you end up specialising in surface design? (where did you learn the practicalities of printing for instance?)
I originally wanted to study painting but got cold feet about the enormity of possibility within fine art. I felt I needed some practical guidelines and illustration seemed the perfect compromise. My first surface design was in response to a brief at university and I just felt really comfortable designing with a very specific application in mind. Screen-printing followed quite naturally as a way of applying pattern to a material. I had an induction in screen-printing at Brighton but got really into it after I left and still love it as a way of working. It’s really physical and very satisfying.

Quince_Cushion_Small_Buttercup_Front_Fanny_Shorter copy
What was the most useful thing you took from your illustration degree in Brighton?
Having the freedom to explore different mediums and finding the confidence to develop your own style. I’m not sure I have it quite yet but I know now when I’ve done something I’m pleased with and when something is truly awful.

Fanny Shorter at work
How did you get involved with the COADG bursary and what has been the best outcome from winning the prize last year?
I was familiar with the Confessions of a Design Geek blog and read about the bursary winner, Jessica Hogarth the year before. It seemed like a great opportunity and I decided to apply the following year. The mentors and sponsors I met through the bursary have been so supportive. It’s a very daunting experience, setting up your own business, and they were very free and friendly with advice and time.

Small_Calathea_Cushion_Neon_Fanny_Shorter
Why did you take a studio in Cockpit Arts and why would you recommend it to fellow creatives?
Cockpit provides seminars and one to one business advice as part of your rent. I felt if my business was going to get off the ground I needed all the help I could get. Being at Cockpit Arts has been invaluable. It’s great to tap into the professional support available but also to be part of a community where there’s always someone just ahead of you in business whose brains you can pick. We have an open studios event twice a year and it’s a brilliant way to get comfortable with talking about your work and meeting your customers – something I was nigh on allergic to beforehand.

Calathea_Blood_Orange_Make_Up_Bag_Side_Fanny_Shorter
Calathea_Cushion_Magenta_Small_Fanny_Shorter_Press
Where do you look for inspiration when you start designing a new range of patterns?
Dorling Kindersley has always been an easy go to. Much of my work is inspired by natural science and it’s a quick, very visual source. I regularly visit National Trust properties, the V&A, Natural History Museum and Kew Gardens, Hampshire and Wiltshire all of which formed a major part of my childhood. Google is there too in times of crisis although daunting if you’re unsure where you’re even going to start. I’ll always use it to find facts and figures about the plants and birds I plan to use in a design.

Your brand is continually developing and you are about to add hand printed furnishing fabric by the metric. What do you hope for in the future?
If time I would like a range of furnishing fabrics, prints and wallpapers. I would ultimately love to bring screen-printing fabric by the metre back in house but I’d need a very long studio for that and in London it simply isn’t feasible at the moment. There’s the dream I suppose – having a workshop somewhere in the countryside with a printing dream team and a studio dog.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday February 19th, 2015 4:31 pm

Categories ,Brighton University, ,COADG Bursary, ,Cockpit Arts, ,Confessions of a Design Geek, ,Dorling Kindersley, ,Fanny Shorter, ,Home London, ,Jessica Hogarth, ,National Trust, ,screenprinting, ,Tent London, ,Textile Design, ,Winchester

Amelia’s Magazine | Balfron Tower by Ernő Goldfinger: Pop Up Opening with the National Trust

Last week I was invited to view the inside of the Balfron Tower in advance of a ‘pop up’ opening with the National Trust as part of Balfron Season. As a long term fan of Brutalist architecture I was excited at the prospect of seeing inside one of the famous Goldfinger tower blocks, so Snarfle and I trundled over to Langdon Park in Poplar, East London.

Balfron Tower Flat 130 interior bedroom

We were ferried up in the coffin shaped lifts (presumably built to accommodate emergencies… and deaths) before arriving on a top floor to view Flat 130, a maisonette flat once occupied by the architect Ernő Goldfinger for a few months after the block was built in 1968, apparently to demonstrate the benefits of high rise life. For the pop up the flat has been redecorated in an earnestly retro style by the Hemingways; think shag piles, Tretchicoffs and G Plan. Of course, I particularly liked the little illustrated details.

Balfron Tower Flat 130 interior bedroom 2

The walkways in the sky are connected to the ‘service tower’ by suspended concrete paths, not the most salubrious of passages after nearly 50 years of use. Gosh I do love a brutalist building but I wouldn’t want to live in one: arrow like windows recall the defensive architecture of medieval castles, and the predominant view below is of the A12, from which we usually view this building at high speed, on our way to places more pastoral.

Balfron Tower windows
Balfron Tower view
Glenkerry House Goldfinger
We made our way home via Glenkerry House (above, a later Goldfinger addition to the Brownfield Estate), the Festival of Britain clock tower and Chrisp Street market, where we stopped to enjoy some street food and music from Paul Mosley.

Chrisp street graffiti

Sadly this is the swan song for Balfron Tower as social housing: the flats are being scrubbed up to be sold off on the ‘luxury’ market – far from what Goldfinger originally intended.

Tours with the National Trust take place between 1st-5th October and 8-12 October and are will include a discussion on the local area, modernism and the development of post war social housing. Book your ticket here if brutalism tickles your fancy.

UPDATE! Due to popular demand the National Trust have now extended the tours of Flat 130, Balfron Tower for a further two weeks. Grab your tickets now as they’re sure to sell out again soon.

Tickets are being released for 6 more days of tours, Friday to Sunday 17-19 and 24-26 October. Tours are on the hour, 11am to 4pm. Please note places on tours are ONLY available by booking in advance at here. To register interest in visiting with a local community or educational group please contact london@nationaltrust.org.uk.

Joseph Watson, Programme Manager of National Trust London – “The National Trust is delighted to announce that more tickets for the Balfron Tower are now being made available for the coming fortnight. As part of the extension, we are undertaking further work with local schools and community groups, inviting them to visit Flat 130 for free. I would like to record our special thanks to local residents for welcoming us and allowing us to extend the run.”

Written by Amelia Gregory on Tuesday September 30th, 2014 2:14 pm

Categories ,1968, ,A12, ,Balfron Season, ,Balfron Tower, ,Brownfield Estate, ,Brutalist, ,Chrisp Street, ,East London, ,Ernö Goldfinger, ,Festival of Britain, ,Flat 130, ,G-Plan, ,Glenkerry House, ,Hemingway, ,Langdon Park, ,National Trust, ,Passing Thoughts and Making Plans, ,Paul Mosley, ,Poplar, ,retro, ,Snarfle

Amelia’s Magazine | A preview of the National Trust Brutal Utopias Tour at the Southbank Centre

Brutal_Utopias_south_bank_centre_ventilation
It’s no great secret that I’m a big fan of Brutalist architecture, so I pulled out all the stops to join a preview of the Brutal Utopias tour hosted by the National Trust over the next few weeks (tickets sadly already sold out). The tour offers a unique chance to see areas of the Southbank Centre that are not usually open to the public before the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Hayward Gallery close their doors for a major refurb. Baby Carys came along in my wrap and was admirably well behaved for a not quite two month old.

Brutal_Utopias_south_bank_centre_passage
We began our adventure with Joseph Watson (London creative director of the National Trust) in the bowels of the complex, tracing the routes of the service pipes in an underground passage between the buildings. I can see why they filmed episodes of Doctor Who down in these atmospheric innards.

Brutal_Utopias_south_bank_centre_ventilation_turbine
A trek up the stairs to the roof of the building revealed an astonishing and unexpected sight. I’ve never got quite so excited about ventilation before but these great machines have been operating continuously since the 1960s which is pretty amazing. The vast turbines suck air in from the sky and send it down to the concert halls, but because this is not exactly energy efficient they will be replaced in the two year refit. Thankfully some parts will be saved and left in situ. I’m not sure you can tell from this great fluttering bank of filters but there was quite the breeze in this antechamber where the air gets sucked in to be processed. It felt like entering a hurricane and gave Carys quite a jolt!

Brutal_Utopias_south_bank_centre_projectors
The original 1960s projection unit looming over the wood panelled Queen Elizabeth Hall includes these hulking beasts that will be restored for use once more: I was dwarved beside them.

Brutal_Utopias_south_bank_centre_hayward_Gallery
Finally, we admired the walls of the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Hayward Gallery, which were lovingly cast in concrete from slabs of Arctic pine showing amazing attention to detail. It’s really great to see this under-loved architectural style finally getting the attention it deserves before all the best examples are ripped down, let’s hope a few more wonderful buildings can be saved before they befall the fate of the Tricorn Centre.

For more information on these tours visit the National Trust website here.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Wednesday September 23rd, 2015 9:54 pm

Categories ,1960s, ,60s, ,architecture, ,Brutal Utopias, ,Brutalism, ,Brutalist, ,Carys, ,Doctor Who, ,Hayward Gallery, ,Joseph Watson, ,National Trust, ,Queen Elizabeth Hall, ,South Bank Centre, ,Southbank centre, ,tour, ,Tricorn, ,Tricorn Centre

Amelia’s Magazine | A Review of The Art of Dining Pop-Up Dining Experience at Fenton House: A Night With The Mistress

The Art of Dining at Fenton House by Briony Jose.

Anyone who knows me will know that I love my food, so when I was offered the chance to sample a unique outdoor dinner event from The Art of Dining at Fenton House I of course jumped at the chance. I arrived just in time to take a quick peek around the rooms of this National Trust venue – an old 17th century merchant’s house perched high on Hampstead Heath – and made a beeline straight for the rooftop balcony with stunning views over the City of London. On my way up I made note of a couple of antique embroideries that I would love to go back and pore over again another day, but it was the view of the immaculate gardens in the low evening light that really caught my attention.

The Art of Dining at Fenton House

Back out on the lawn each guest was given a glass of Prosecco topped with candied hibiscus flower, then guided towards two long tables. I was seated with a group of three charming men – not, as I had imagined, with other solo press guests. This could have been awkward as I felt I was intruding on their party, but luckily they were very accommodating and we chatted the night away. As one of them pointed out, the seating felt a bit like ‘being at a wedding where you don’t know anyone else‘ but having been to a few of these mass dining affairs I know this to be standard procedure, and I quite like the way in which it encourages strangers to talk to each other.

The Art of Dining at Fenton House flowers

The Art of Dining is the brainchild of chef Ellen Parr (who happens to be the daughter of photographer Martin Parr) and set designer Alice Hodge, and thanks to this artistic twosome we dined in wonderful style beneath dangling grapes and extravagant swathes of draped foliage. Tables were topped with lace, stuffed pheasants and candelabra, and our five courses were served on an enchanting selection of vintage crockery. The dinner was themed after A Night with the Mistress; inspired by a portrait of singer and courtesan Dorothea Jordan in the house, so in between courses from a menu inspired by the beautiful vegetable gardens and decadent past of Fenton House we were serenaded in Regency style by Kezia Bienek, with excerpts of favourite tunes from operas of the era.

The Art of Dining at Fenton House: stuffed vine leaves with slow cooked carrot salad.

Art of Dining's edible soil with freshly picked salad. Illustration by Rebecca Corney
Art of Dining’s edible soil with freshly picked salad. Illustration by Rebecca Corney.

Culinary delights included enticing combinations such as edible flower salad and soil (we were invited to pick petals from the arrangements on our tables, and the ‘soil’ was a combination of bacon, walnut, dates and rye bread), a richly succulent curried rabbit leg and an absolutely divine Eton Mess made with elderflower and gooseberry. There was also a very reasonably priced wine menu on offer courtesy of Borough Wines – I sensibly stuck to water with my meal. The copious courses were delivered over a three hour period which was perfect as I never felt overly full and it gave plenty of time to savour the unusual flavours whilst chatting to new friends.

Fresh Bacon Salad by Isher Dhiman.

Art of Dining by Jessica Buie.

The Art of Dining pop ups at National Trust venues are a wonderful way to experience unusual gastronomic delights combined with the chance to visit a little known historical treasure. Where else can you dine in such splendour for the price of just £55? The final episode of The Art of Dining‘s current partnership with the National Trust, The Servants’ Supper, takes place during November at Ham House in Richmond.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Tuesday July 30th, 2013 8:09 pm

Categories ,A Night with the Mistress, ,Alice Hodge, ,Borough Wines, ,Briony Jose, ,Dining Experience, ,Dorothea Jordan, ,edible flower salad and soil, ,Ellen Parr, ,Eton Mess, ,Fenton House, ,Ham House, ,Hampstead Heath, ,Isher Dhiman, ,Jessica Buie, ,Kezia Bienek, ,Martin Parr, ,National Trust, ,opera, ,Pop-up, ,Prosecco, ,Rebecca Corney, ,Richmond, ,The Art of Dining, ,The Servants’ Supper

Amelia’s Magazine | A Summer Punch Up at Sutton House: Kotki Dwa Staycations Album Launch Party Review

Kotki Dwa Staycations CD bundle by Sam Glynn

Staycations. A word us Brits are getting more and more used to: when the sun shines, there is honestly just no place like home. Great Britain has been the centre of attention this summer. After all, if it’s good enough for world record holders and a Queen, it’s good enough for us. The beautiful rolling green hills, still blues lakes and near-empty endless beaches. We’re spoilt for these spots, everywhere. So why not celebrate them? Forget the rain and embrace our terrain right? Right. Amelia’s Magazine music favourites, Kotki Dwa, well and truly do. So much so, Staycations is the title of their follow-up album. But wait… Here comes a very interesting tale.

While fans sat patiently waiting for second record news, the boys Alex, Tom and Tristan, were hatching quite the plan. An idea long in the making, came true this summer on 2nd July, the release date of the album. And this plan? To ask the National Trust to be their record label. They gave a firm yes!

Kotki Dwa Cakes by Abi Renshaw
Kotki Dwa rice paper printed jam cupcakes by Abi Renshaw

So we’ve all been to a National Trust property right? Yes? Well there are over two hundred historic houses open to the public. Your folks probably took you to an endless amount as a kid. Visiting these properties seemed like a staple part of growing up. Now I’ve hopefully got you reminiscing, it’s filled you with fond memories hasn’t it. The pristine gardens (with a maze if you were lucky), the delicious dairy ice cream from the café, the views from high above. Kotki Dwa thought the same. Dreamt up by the boys, which must feel like an awfully long time ago now, was this rather genius idea. Once they secured the all-important ‘yes’, the possibilities became endless. They knew exactly that this would open all kinds of (historic and stately) doors – to be inspired by, write about and record in.

A Summer Punch Up on Saturday 14th July was their big night. The album was out there, glowing reviews were flowing from Pitchfork, the Guardian and the BBC. This launch party was set to go off. Plus, the venue was quite special in it’s own right. Many ran through the doors bang on 7pm into Sutton House, Hackney’s oldest house and a National Trust gem. So much so, Alex spilled they wrote a track based on its ghost. Buried deep in Homerton, 80 lucky people got to party in this property, built in 1535 by a prominent courtier of Henry VIII. WOW. The Summer (it was raining) Punch Up started with the twilight punch picnic.

Cucumber triangle sandwiches, scotch eggs, jam filled cupcakes with their Polish name on rice paper (lovely touch and too pretty to eat) and flower cakes fashioned in plant pots with Oreo ‘soil’. Delicious.

Kotki Dwa Summer Punch by Edie OP
The Summer Punch Up cocktails menu by Edie OP

They even had themed cocktails after three of their songs. Outside in the bunting-filled courtyard was an ice cream cart. Pay a donation for a scrummy pot of Taywell and cover it in their home-made Pimms syrup. Yeah!

Supporting Kotki Dwa were two fantastic bands, Glaciers and Niteflights. Each surrounded by Kotki Dwa’s British holiday themed set of picnic hampers, hay bales and a snorkel. Once the twilight picnic had gone down and the dancing to both bands over, it was to be their finest hour. The first quarter of the hall filled with the 80 strong crowd. I’m pretty small in height so was pleased with my wing position right by the grand piano, oohhh. The room was beautiful, with its red walls and high beams. Sticking to songs solely from Staycations, you could just see it in their faces, how happy they were they’d got to here. The idea had become an album, and it was rattling that ghost upstairs no doubt. I very much enjoyed the heavily loud instrumental ending of The Wolf, and the single Poison required some serious dancing. The absolute highlight for me was during the song Staycations. A girl dressed in a crab costume was throwing beach balls into the crowd to lyrics such as ‘you la la like it when we go away’ and ‘didn’t I read that sunshine repairs your sanity’. A fantastic night ending with a disco hosted by DJs Midnight A-Go-Go and NZCA/LINES.

Kotki Dwa King Crab by Dan Morison
King Crab by Dan Morison

Oh to re-live that night all over again, yes please! I did the next best thing, I quizzed singer Alex about how they bagged the National Trust as their label and where you can see them play live this summer: read my interview with Alex Ostrowski here.

Written by Abi Renshaw on Friday August 3rd, 2012 9:43 pm

Categories ,A Summer Punch Up, ,Abi Renshaw, ,Alex Ostrowski, ,Bandcamp, ,BBC, ,Beach balls, ,Box Hill, ,bunting, ,Crab costume, ,Dan Morison, ,Edie OP, ,Geoffrey Taylor, ,Ghost, ,Glaciers, ,Great Britain, ,hackney, ,Halloween video, ,Harpsichord, ,Hattie Newman, ,Homerton, ,Ice Cream, ,Kotki Dwa, ,Lake District, ,Limited edition CDs, ,Lunch EP, ,National Trust, ,Niteflights, ,Picnic hampers, ,Pimm’s, ,Pitchfork, ,Polish, ,Queen, ,Recording, ,Robin’s Clogs, ,Sam Glynn, ,Sam Parr, ,Scotch eggs, ,Staycations, ,Sun shine, ,Sutton House, ,Taywell, ,The Guardian, ,Triangle sandwiches, ,Twilight picnic punch, ,World record holder, ,YCN, ,Yorkshire, ,Yorkshire Dales

Amelia’s Magazine | Kotki Dwa Staycations Album Launch Interview with Alex Ostrowski

Kotki Dwa at Sutton House by Sam Parr
The band at their Sutton House album launch by Sam Parr

Your 5 track EP ‘Lunch‘ came out in November 2011. Before that, It had been a wee while since you put any music out other than your Halloween video and exclusive Amelia’s Mag song for the USB Issue. Did this help you prepare for writing and recording Staycations, plus getting you back into performing live no doubt?

Yes we tend to leave quite big gaps in between our major projects. This time around it gave us the chance to develop our sound in the ways we’d been wanting to. The Lunch EP was kind of a ‘study’ to try out some new ways of doing things, moving forwards from our first album. We’d been working out how to be more economical with our part writing, so that things slotted together more deftly. Hopefully that comes through on the new album.

Great videos have always featured pretty heavily with your singles. I was locked in when I watched Robin’s Clogs! You all look like you have a lot of fun making them. As the three of you are all a creative bunch, this must be a pretty great extension of making music right?

We do love making videos and tend to have a lot of fun making them, perhaps too much sometimes! It’s good having a different outlet for ideas.

Kotki Dwa tied to their cardboard keyboard

Love the new video directed by Hattie Newman for the song Staycations. Plus she just played flute for a track at your gig. Where did you film this?

It was actually directed by Geoffrey Taylor but art directed by Hattie Newman (she worked with Geoffrey on all the styling and made some cool props). We’re pretty good friends the lot of us, so we all mucked in. To make the video we went on a jaunt around Great Britain, trying to take in the jaw dropping sights of the National Trust’s properties around the country, whilst also changing battery packs, avoiding parking tickets and generally trying to make a music video on the fly with only a few warm scotch eggs to fuel us.

Everyone loves a scotch egg. I’m sure many bands are kicking themselves that they didn’t come up with approaching the National Trust. Are they doing exactly as any other record label would?

We approached the National Trust a long time ago with our ideas. They’ve been great sports and have supported us with many of the resources that a record label might sort out — space to record in, help promoting the album etc. Fundamentally the setup has enabled us to operate very independently and do everything exactly how we’ve wanted to, which is good fun and never disappointing.

All the teapots inside Sutton House

So, as you started to formulate a plan to approach the National Trust, how did you do it? I imagine no one had ever asked them to be their record label before. Did they sit and think on it or jump at the chance to be involved? You must have been dying to tell everyone…

It was tempting to tell people about it in the early stages but we kept schtum. We approached the National Trust very carefully and very directly as a band. We knew exactly what we wanted to ask, and we knew exactly what the reasons were for them to say yes, so we explained everything with as much clarity as possible so that they would understand what we were on about. They got it pretty quickly and it took a couple of months to put the plan in place, but we got there!

How did this lightning bolt idea arise? I’d love to think you were just in a castle and thought, hey, imagine recording a track in here!

We wanted to partner with somebody other than a label for the release, because we thought it would throw up some interesting challenges. We’d already decided upon the title of our new album – Staycations – which we chose for its bittersweet connotations. And so, the National Trust sprang to mind because they look after so much of the British outdoors and so many weird & wonderful places for us to record in.

Alex from Kotki Dwa at the making of the video for Staycations

How many places did you visit up and down Great Britain in all? Do you have a favourite one? Did you write the album before or after these visits?

I think we’ve lost count. We’ve been to the Yorkshire Dales, Borrowdale and Upper Wharfedale in the Lake District, Heysham Head on the West Coast, Arnside Knott, Box Hill in Surrey, Pulpit Woods, Pitstone Windmill, plenty of the London properties including Fenton House, 2 Willow Road and Sutton House – the oldest house in Hackney! We really enjoyed visiting Malham Tarn in Yorkshire, where we had a relaxing boat ride.

Any plans to do anything further with them? I guess they’re helping you by stocking it in their NT shops now right? How many did you press?

We’ve just done a launch show at Sutton House, which the National Trust look after. We also put on a special exhibition at YCN on Rivington Street which showed some National Trust bits including some amazing old postcards which show some of the places they still look after today. We have stocked the album in a handful of their shops too which is nice, only fifty special physicals in existence.

Yes I have one. It’s hand bound in cloth with a lyric-postcard set and 4-colour risograph poster. Staycations has had good things written about it by the Guardian and Pitchfork. It couldn’t have gone much better!

It’s very flattering and we’re truly delighted by the response. We’ve been working on this for so long so it’s great to hear that people are enjoying the results. Hopefully if people enjoy the album they’ll buy it via our website!

During the making of Staycations video

Yes, it’s great you are selling it through Bandcamp. You all must be super chuffed with how well it’s all going. Especially as your loyal fans got to snap up just 50 limited edition CDs. Your original artwork or unusual features have been a pretty strong USP for Kotki Dwa. For instance, with the yellow Robin’s Clogs vinyl, I got the CD single, a flower pressed badge and fold out poster with lyrics. You really do think about the whole package, where many bands just don’t. Do you enjoy providing all these touches on the side of your music or is it just as important?

Yeah we enjoy making the whole thing as perfect as we can. We’re a fairly small operation so when we do something we do it wholeheartedly. I work as a designer at YCN so that comes in handy on the packaging front.

For me it makes it more treasured. Plus you obviously want your fans at your gigs to know the lyrics. For instance, with the Staycations MP3 version, I’m shown the lyrics on my iPhone! Don’t think I’ve ever seen this before!

Really? Cool, didn’t know that!

The sold out limited edition Staycations bundle

Well what a nice surprise! The album launch for Staycations: A Summer Punch Up, how did it go?

We had a really great time! We recorded some of the album at Sutton House so it was nice to revisit for a party. We had some great other bands playing too — Glaciers, fronted by brilliant illustrator Nic Burrows, and Niteflights who are an impressive new 4 piece well worth a listen.

Have you had to abide by a load of restrictions, like no noise after 10pm and you have to wear white cotton gloves?

National Trust visiting hours tend to be from 11 until 5 we’ve found, although we’ve bent a few rules like that over the past year! I did have to audition in order to be allowed to borrow one of the Trust’s oldest harpsichords though. Luckily I passed the audition and got to record with it — it’s on the album!

Inside the limited edition Staycations

Oh great! Have you pencilled in a UK tour for this year? Any other events planned like your Polish paper-cutting workshop?

Well we’re playing Midnight A-Go-Go in London on 25th August, which will be fun. Let’s see what else comes up…

You can catch Kotki Dwa playing at Midnight A-Go-Go on Saturday 25th August at The Waiting Room (underneath The Three Crowns) on Stoke Newington High Street. 9pm – 4am and tickets are just £5. Read my review of the Staycations launch at Sutton House here.

Written by Abi Renshaw on Friday August 3rd, 2012 9:50 pm

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