Pop-Up at Redchurch Gallery, Shoreditch | London Life

London is teeming with blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments. Head to The Gallery on Redchurch Street in Shoreditch this weekend for an exclusive view of prints by king of contemporary art Damien Hirst in The Pop-up by the Loughran Gallery; also on show, work by up-and coming star Lara Carew-Jones, Abstract artist Harland Miller and sculptor Marc Quinn, whose famous work of Alison Lapper topped a plinth in Trafalgar Square in 2005 - 2007. Dave White will be launching new screen print works, too.  The Loughran crew will be hosting drinks on the night of 4th April as part of the notorious First Thursdays around the East End. 

For arty types, this kind of event is often the chance to pick up a future masterpiece. For The Loughran Gallery who are normally found showing the likes of Tracy Emin in Lancashire, these London pop-ups are an exciting way to find an edgy urban setting to match the mood of the works on display. Founder and creator Juliette Loughran said “It is great to make art available to everyone, we want to create a space where people can come to enjoy and appreciate the work in an intriguing, fun and exciting environment. We have such a diverse mix of artists showing at the space we hope there is something to cater for all tastes”.

The Pop-Up by the Loughran Gallery runs 4th - 7th April at the Gallery, Redchurch Street, London. For more info, visit The Loughran Gallery.

Warrior VIII by Dave White

Proctolin by Damien Hirst

Q&A: Sass and Bide Autumn Winter 2013 | London Fashion Week

Sass and Bide showed a cool, contemporary collection for Autumn Winter 2013-14. Titled "Wintergate", the collection featured strong shoulders and flowing lengths that are typical of the easy glamour of the Australian brand. I loved the use of bright yellow against the monochrome and the embellished dresses and knitwear. Backstage, I caught up with Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton to talk about the show and future plans for the brand.

Can you tell us a bit about the concept of the collection?

"It was really just a study of the internal mechanics of manmade structures, so we, the design team, spent a couple of weeks scouring the city for particularly manmade objects but also took them apart but rebuilt them. It was really just a study of the process of building things, so we quite wanted to centralise that and add the woman and the beauty to that rather sterile, clinical process. In some of the pieces, it was more obvious than others, it was a bit more subliminal; that’s it in a nutshell.

What’s the plan for 2013 for Sass and Bide?

We’re really just trying to open this New York store, we talked about it last season but we’re just sort of looking for the right space, so that’s something that’s always on the forefront of our plans, and just the online – shipping is now global, we’re opening up in most markets – but the store is the one we’re I’m

sort of pushing for, because I’m looking forward to opening some stroes in the Northern hemisphere.

What is your soundtrack to 2013?

The “Crunk It” song that opened the show, that is our soundtrack!

Thanks, girls!

Check out the video below for highlights from Sass and Bide's official You Tube Channel

Sinstar Pop-up, Boxpark, Shoreditch | Spring Summer 2013

Freshly opened in Boxpark pop-up mall in Shoreditch, the new flagship for Essex brand Sin Star offers a range of graphic tees and funky separates where the rock kid look meets a sportier, summer vibe. Founded in 2010 and grown into big name on ASOS as well as a hit with independents, the brand started off doing printed tee shirt but has expanded into a full range for the modern lad's lifestyle. I caught up with designers Sam Bell and Ryan Stipe to chat about the new range.

"It’s about having a good time; it’s about not regretting stuff," says Sam. "It’s quite a rock n roll look; it’s about music, really. That’s where all of this comes from; music." Originally the pair started out as musicians, playing together in band, and that is what informs their design process. Leather jackets and denim are also key. 

Though they are intended for boys, girls could easily nick a Sin Star tee or two from their better half's wardrobe, or indeed pick up one for themselves. "It’s a lot of acid washes, really bright colours and some really dark stuff, which I really like," said Sam. "It's basically just sort of get the party vibe out there." 

I love the saucy glamour model prints. For Sam, it made perfect sense. "Yeah, these are amazing, we worked with an artist who works up front, and we just made a few adjustments, and to be honest, they’re a match made in heaven; they are like a rock n roll magazine." 


With the cheeky girls and funny animal face prints, there is definitely a sense of humour to it all that shows these boys aren't about to take themselves too seriously. "We know people like to buy the more fun stuff as well, I like the more serious, graphic designs, in terms of what they say; Ryan has fun with stuff and he designed the Panda Party one which is amazing." 



On the back of the Boxpark exposure, the boys have big plans for this year, and sunshine and parties seems a good head space to begin. "I’m looking forward to doing a pop up shop in LA", Ryan says. "We’re also just looking forward to giving our customers online and out customers that like our brand, like the lifestyle behind it, because that’s what I would want, if I supported a brand." 

Check out the Sin Star pop up shop at Boxpark, Shoreditch High Street, open until aprox. 9th June, 2013.

Hamilton & Hare Spring Summer 2013

As well you know, gender bending is kinda my thing, right? And ever since working at Mr Porter, my peepers have been opened to the gorgeous attention to detail and subtle statements possible in menswear. More than anything, I'm fascinated by the problems and peculiarities facing boys today, and how they might be different from problems posed to girls.  

Let me introduce you to Hamilton and Hare. Label founder Olivia Francis wanted to fill what she described as a gap in the market; all things considered, it's more like a gaping chasm. Bespoke underwear for men; think about it - while we womenfolk have a wealth of choice, some might even say too much, men are kind of expected to clothe themselves with little more than something with the name of a big brand people below their waistline, but nothing where the shape or fit or colour actually matters.

So back to this new London brand. Just six months young, they focus on classic boxers; unique in focusing solely on mens underwear at all, the niche is one they command to perfection. Created by Raf Simons menswear designer Cameron Foden, their designs are shaped at the waist and in the leg, foremost to look great on the body. In particular, Olivia was not a fan of the "nappy" look most boxers have and set out to change that with success. They are sleek and effortless, inspired by and created for the City of London and the smart gents who work there.

It totally makes sense that this amount of detail should be put into a product most men wear most days. That's a whole lot of boxers. Saville Row tailor Graham Tuckett is also on the creative team, and it shows; their streamline shape also means they sit well under suits and smart trousers. Unique finishing touches taken from shirting can be seen at the hems. Mother of pearl buttons and soft cotton labels mean they are comfortable and luxurious. And why not? Women's undies have long been a retail rescue remedy for feeling low, why not have the boys feel a bit better with a pair of boxers? 

Maybe it's having a female CEO, but borrowing from the girls doesn't end there. The logo of boxing hares is evocative of the item's early history, and the shorts come with a matching pocket square, so those in the know can match their smalls, as well as giving a cheeky wink to anyone watching.

Central Saint Martin's Late at the British Library

Fashion school has brought about an explosion of opportunity for attending events and meeting new faces. Case in point was Central Saint Martin’s event Late at the Library at the beginning of this month. The British Library has a huge fashion archive and it was done as a way to encourage students to come and use the facilities at their disposal. There were DJs and drinks, photo booths and print-making stands to tempt us in, and publishers and bookshops had stalls to promote their wares.

The Journalism BA students had put together a fantastic display of their favourite magazine covers, like Spare Rib and the Vogue "Reconstruction Issue" from 1945. There was the cover of Woman's World from when Oscar Wilde was editor, as well as Egoiste and Garage. I attended a talk by Dylan Jones, editor of GQ magazine and Chairman of London Collections: Men where he spoke about the need to be ferociously confident in your approach to getting work experience. He also slated Google as the lazy approach to research; “the internet is so brilliant for so many different things, but a lot of the time in research, you end up in exactly the same place because that’s all there is.”

Right in line with the ethos of his setting, he encouraged students to reconsider the physical experience of researching with books, even with the possibility that you might be side tracked with the wealth of information on offer: “being side tracked is part of the joy and part of the success of writing” he said. For Jones, it is the quality of your research that brings about high standards in your writing. For him, GQ is one of the last serious, long-forms of journalism, and with that comes a more old school approach to doing things.

To finish off the night, there was a fashion show by students using the escalators as runway. I got chatting to Jai’me Jan, better known as Jai’me London Boy of Boy Meets Fashion. For Jai’me, events like these are where new talent can be spotted early on: ““What I love about going to events like this is actually seeing the amount of creativity in emerging designers, who are the future of our fashion industry” he said. What’s more, you never know who you’re going to meet: “basically, it’s the perfect way to network with people who actually work in the fashion industry.” Cheers to that!

Diesel + Edun Studio Africa x Dazed & Confused: See Saw by Margot Bowman | London

You'd be forgiven for getting lost in the number of collaborations going on at Diesel Village last week. It was a meeting of great minds indeed. It all started with the Diesel + Edun; Diesel founder Renzo Rosso and Edun founders Ali Hewson and Bono joined forces with a shared love of the Africa. They produced a 25-strong denim collection for Spring Summer 2013 informed by and manufactured entirely in Africa, a box-fresh take on a place often overlooked in fashion.

That produced the Studio Africa Project, a spotlight to showcase seven highly talented designers, musicians and writers from the region. Enter artist, designer and creative director Margot Bowman; the South African who grew up in London runs Esthetica and has dressed the likes of Rita Ora. She worked with these creatives to make a series of art that was launched at a party with Dazed & Confused magazine and agency Margaret last week. Got that? Good.

In true 21st century style, I was Intagramming the whole thing for Dazed, but I got to talk to Bowman about the exhibition. The works capture and celebrates the spirit of the Diesel Studio Africa Venture in all its collaborative and forward thinking spirit. There are three basic principles mashed together: technology and the human experience; the international language of creativity; and the often-overlooked continent of Africa. Here is her take...

"The project is called See Saw, and it aims to create empathy between people. Using digital technology to create empathy is the opposite of what it normally. Most of the digital tools that we use are quite driven towards a narcissistic sort of behaviour, and I wanted to do something that was like the inverse of that. 

The posters are all really visceral, I think they’re really tactile. It’s all mixed media. I was using ink and paint and working with them digitally, and I hope that they’re really visceral works; you look at them and you don’t even know what it is, and you go closer, and you have a reaction to it. On each of the posters there’s an abstract or quite emotive line. There’s a narrative in that, and it relates to the video, which you can access through scanning the QR code that’s on the poster, and basically I asked everyone who was part of the Studio Africa campaign to make a video of where real and magic could be in their world, and the posters are inspired by their videos. 
It’s this idea that there is a sense of magic in the world that we can all relate to, it’s not really religious, it’s just kind of like a spiritual thing; and if we all acknowledge that we are inspired and touched by the same things, then I think we can find common ground. I think we all feel quite different from each other, and quite isolated. I never feel more lonely than when I’ve been on Facebook; it’s not system-specific, but I just think it’s something about watching other people and not taking part, being like a passive person. I kind of wanted to go against all of that, and show that like, you can have a really visceral response to something, like a poster, and connect with what it’s saying.
Be part of the narrative; and then, see what someone who lives on, like, the other side of the world, what is important to her, and where real and magic could be in her world, and empathise with it. With the mobile side of it that we are taking to it, when you scan the barcode, you navigate through rotating your phone, and that was really important, because I didn’t want it to be a passive digital experience. Like fucking scrolling man! Scrolling isn’t touching! Everybody on the bus is scrolling, and I just wanted to do something that was a little bit more interactive, like, you have to rotate your phone! It’s not a big deal, but you have to do it, so you move with the content. There’s a couple of pages that build on the narrative that’s developed in the poster. Then there’s the video which encapsulates it, and then there’s a final page about who made the video, and where it’s made, and some really factual stuff to counteract the abstract text that’s gone. 

I feel like we’re moving into this time of people being quite spiritual and kind of hippy, but in a power, digital way. Iinteract that; because everyone’s fucking lost. Noone’s got the answer, and everyone’s looking for it. It talks about it with the exhibition, but our parents don’t have Twitter, they don’t get it, and the government just seems really out of touch with what we’re doing. I feel really international; I know I live in London and stuff, but I don’t really feel like contained by that, and I’m not religious, so, it’s like I’m looking to technology, or I’m just looking on the internet for like, “what’s going on?” and, “why am I doing this?”, “what should I do next?”. Looking to technology is really understandable for our generation, but the same time, it might not be the right answer to look at technology in the form that it is at the moment.

We control technology. It’s a Catch 22 when you personify technology, like it’s something that’s controlled by people, and we are the people that control it, and we can do whatever we like with it. I think that we’re going to change, and the technology we’re going to make is going to change. There’s a lot of a short term gain that’s going on; it feels good when you go on whatever social media site it is you care to mention, and you’ve got a “like” or whatever. That feels really good, but then afterwards it doesn’t feel good, and then you’re chasing that high. We just need to be more critical; it’s like, you always look when you cross a road, and we need to start doing that with technology, questioning it, having an opinion. It’s really complicated and people don’t have an opinion on it, and it’s like, how the fuck does your phone work? You’re like, oh, whatever it does, it’s fine. We need to question things; is this a good idea for me? Is this what I should be doing? Do I want to login with Facebook or should I just go on this site? 

The Studio Africa Project a really cool thing. What I really like about it is that it acknowledges complexity. People are actually different, and there’s some really fucking cool shit happening in a place that you didn't think there was anything cool happening, and it’s a fresh look, and an honest look, at something that is amazing, and I think by showing the continent of Africa, and the people that are involved in it as real people. They’re bloggers, they’re stylists, they’re photographers, you can relate to them like you can give them empathy, you make them more, like, more relatable, and it’s not like this facade of like safari or slum, which you can’t connect to. Because it’s like, I’m not a lion! And I live in a building with walls, so both of those scenarios I can't relate to at all, so, why would I care about it? If you can't connect to something you can't give a shit about it. And what I think is really great about this is, it's like, “yeah! They have Tumblr too!”"

A big thanks to Margot for her time! 

What I Wear | Doll Delight

Loving this new Love Struck dress! Recently on a night out, I was chastised for wearing all black. Appazza it means you want to hide. Pah! Not with these fierce Aldo booties or tiger print Wolford tights! I've matched the studs on the dress with my Absolut Vodka cover I use as a witty clutch bag, too; this ensemble has attitude. The baby doll shape of the dress dress is soft and feminine, though, and I added the bowler to balance out the roar! with softer lines for a kind of punky doll feel.

Earrings: Topshop
Jacket: H&M
Dress: Love Struck
Tights: Wolford
Boots: Aldo
Bag: Absolut Vodka