Sun 20th June: Tom Ryling: His Lady Poverty

"His Lady Poverty" is Tom Ryling's final project for his BA Art Practise at Goldsmiths which is on show this weekend and tomorrow. You can board the brand new East London Line to get down to Goldsmiths which is great fun for the novelty and its super quick! A whole new portal to South London has opened up.................which is just great meaning I could make it down to Tom's private view on Thursday.
He has woven a story to be translated from printed text and interpreted in the installation.............. "sculpture" if you will! For example the fiction unfolds to revel that his regular protagonists sew themselves a curtain from an accumulation of their own clothes which Tom has pieced together and you can see hanging here in his space within the exhibition. As circumstances change the characters then bundle their belongings together to make a swift dash from their home that is crumbling around them...........


"Let's get lost, lost in each other's arms
Let's get lost, let them send out alarms
And though they'll think us rather rude
Let's tell the world we're in that crazy mood.
Let's defrost in a romantic mist
Let's get crossed off everybody's list
To celebrate this night we found each other, mmm, let's get lost"


Tom has referenced quotes from Chet Baker and printed the prose within a flyer/fanzine that runs as a lo-fi Xerox instrucion manual to his show............with pin badges made in collaboration with Karlie Shelley a.k.a Pins London..................colour matched by Elisha and I on our grey and red outfits!
If you can't make it to the Goldsmiths campus (the rickety rooms once inhabited by some of the YBA's) you can catch Tom's work sometime soon as he plans to pick up the pieces and plant them in another group show.............

To check out more of Toms multifaceted styled and written work go here and here for Glass Magazine

My fairy Godmother was reading the blog the other day and my wish has been granted .............so if you are at Glastonbury this year you may also catch us on the door of NYC Downlow ............... you have been warned..........

Saturday 19th June: Donna Wilson/ Supermarket Sarah - report by Emily Beard

Report by Emily Beard:

The collaborative wall between textile aficianado Donna Wilson and Supermarket Sarah had them both literally playing 'House' together!

Donna Wilson began knitting during a MA at Grays School for Art. She constructs everything from cake cosies to glasses and sweater-wearing cermaic dogs, all in a wonky yet lovable signature style. Each of Donna's pieces marries practicality and sustainability with modernity of design. This off kilter style complements Supermarket Sarah's penchant for all things kitch and one of a kind, and slightly odd.
Donna has had her work exhibited at ‘Knit 2 together’, and has been featured in national magazines, newspapers and on TV channels such as MTV. Each piece she creates is hand made and one of a kind.
She credits her Scottish countryside upbringing for the textures and organic fabrics (her main source is lamb wool) she utilises in her pieces.

Check out the new wall here....................there's a rainbow!

Friday 18th June: Mouse and De Lotz - dey got da lot!

My first ever time attending Brownies aged 7 was a cookery lesson on how to make not chocolate brownies but chocolate "Tiffin" cake. I have been hooked to this crack cake ever since. So far the only places I have found that can provide anything up to my standard grade are The Kemptown Deli
and Kalender Cafe..............or the fair hands of Maki Lou Lou. So, as soon as I found out that the new cafe opening up next door served up "tiffin" I cut thru any preliminary polite protocol when I met co-owner and chef Nadya (Mouse) .........I wanted clear, concise answers...........are raisins on the ingredients?..........this is essential but overlooked............answer: "NOT RAISINS BUT DATES"............HOLD THE SIEVE AND STOP BAKING, WHAT DID YOU SAY?..............DATES?..............AND GINGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The proof is in the pudding..........which I sampled and rellished earlier today at the first day of opening up shop! For the past couple of weeks, I have been lurking round the premises like a Patrick Wolf fan stalking the steps of the Shepherds Bush Empire days before a gig. I have been so excited about the chance to sip a Square Mile coffee and munch on slice of heaven...........or sample a woopie pie which is the new trend in bakery - a hybrid of the cupcake and scone. Both Verity Keefe and Craig Lawrence cannot comment or give me a quote on tasting this delicacy as they have been put into a raspberry butter cream coma since sinking its sharp sweetness. However Verity did liken it to the experience of imaging what a Whizz Pop Cookie might taste like if she had encountered Moon Face on the Faraway Tree to slide down the slippery slip............
Aside from the sweets, the entrenpeneurs also serve up savoury moments for lunch such as Hot Salt Beef w/mini pickles, smoked salmon on rye and cheese on toast with mustard. But lets get back to the sweet stuff..............for breakfast you can pick up a saucer size toasted tea cake with home-made rhubarb and ginger jam. Business starts at 8 o'clock so there's plenty of time to stop off before you slope into work...............or come back at the weekend when there may well be story telling sessions or even an evening supper club to meet like-minded foodies.

Here you can see the beautiful decor and mural painted by artist / jewellery designer Hela Dondertman who was brought on board via Victoria's sister Jessica De Lotz. This is the link to the small world of fashion, food and general East London goings on..........when I went to Hannah Marshall's last preview night, I sniffed out and detected that Alistair Guy had a parcel of Tiffin.............which he had acquired from his friend embarking on a cafe enterprise on my road.................. his friend being Jessica who sells her jewellery at Kabiri alongside mine..........and here we are a few months down the line and its OPEN!

I can see this is not going to be the last of my reporting from next door....to sample for yourself, take a right at Nando's, give it a wide birth and wander up to Mouse & De Lotz, 103 Shacklewell Lane, E8
Fred rating: ****

Friday 18th June: i-D online - report by Emily Beard

Today is the launch of i-D online! Woop Woop! My favourite magazine publisher put onto the web by one of my favourite editors - Laura Bradley - the whizz kid behind The Fashion Almanac aided with the geek knowledge of techie's Phoenix. Laura and fellow designer Jocelyn Lloyd have been hidden away for a few months, heads down and locked into compiling this major destination for all Google reader blog rolls. I shall now hand you over to my assistant Emily Beard who has looked over the site to give you a concise run down on what to expect before you copy and paste the URL......

"i-D’s new site ‘i-D online’ heralds the magazine’s transition into the digital era. In a follow up to the six print issues of the magazine per year, i-D is expanding their content to speak to their online readership.

Instead of simply regarding i-D as a magazine, readers are now invited to embrace the i-D name as a lifestyle.

Bucking the trend of regurgitating information as seen in the magazine, visitors to the i-D site experience new content, tailored to the online format through concise articles and straight forward navigation.
In a move complementary to the heritage of the magazine, aside new information, the site also displays archive content, allowing new and veteran readers alike to view less accessible content. The site will also link back to its printed issues through the ‘Magazine’ section, elaborating on the key themes and ideas explored in the issues.

The i-D site will be encouraging its readers to interact with the site, for example recommending events for the ‘i-Diary’ feature which lays out a day by day schedule of upcoming events.

Each section of the site is divided by content, varying from the specific (e.g. ‘Straight Ups’- Street Style portraits form past and present and ‘i-List’ with Top 10 lists from varying contributors) to the less disciplined (e.g. ‘i-Spy’, currently displaying a mash up of how to do a Charlie le Mindu hairstyle, Noel Fielding’s exhibition, and images of Sonia Rykiel’s artwork).

The format of the content is reminiscent of the simplicity and ease of a blog, but still references the multi-faceted content and sections that would be found in any issue of i-D. Contributions and articles on emerging talents are presented alongside those of more established names, representing the i-D ethos of nurturing new talent alongside existing."

Thanks to Laura for the photo from i-D HQ and Terry's i-pad!

Friday 18th June: Alex Cunningham for Peter Jensen Resort 2011

Here we have the latest in the Peter Jensen's rabbit's escapades - Resort 2011. To shoot the looks, Peter asked Alex Cunningham to dress a set with lots of over-size wrapped presents as a backdrop to his collection inspired by one of his childhood books "Lisa's Birthday". Here is the photographer Leigh Johnson showing the book to model Julia Nobis for direction! Its funny that I find most of my own aesthetic is unconscious reference direct from the illustrations I had in stories when I was a child............obviously its a really important and undeniable force on impressionable young minds! New parents - choose carefully when sifting through modern titles!

The collection is super lush - as always..................styled here with accessories made by the stylist Beth Fenton and party time millinery magicked up by Bernstock Spiers. Alex has echoed the crepe paper-chain prints in the props and the ribbon bow detail from Peter's new totes. Being a typically modest mouse, Alex doesn't want to take all the credit and would like to take this opportunity to make a few words of thanks............... to Rosy and aptly an accomplice named Warren:

"A very long night of wrapping presents with lots of thanks to Rosy & Warren who are going to apply to Father Christmas for stints as elves with these new found expertise!!"



To see the official shots click here
To check out more of Alex's beautiful work, click here.

Friday 18th June: CSM BA Fashion and Textiles Exhibition

Thanks to Craig Lawrence for snapping the CSM BA knitwear static show for me at last evening's private view.............open now to the public within the Charing X Road campus..........


Credit: Craig Lawrence

Thurs June 17th: FB by TW

Apologies for lull in posting this week............I have been back in my Essex homelands...........which took me on a gardening rose expedition to Cants in Colchester............where I was back in 2004 assisting Shona Heath on set for a Tim Walker British Vogue shoot............seen here in a Polaroid that he kindly gave to me after the light test.........

Regular posting will resume tomorrow.............

Thurs June 17th: BG wearing FB at YSL

Bjork , Louise Neri, and Stefano Pilati at Indochine, NY
Photo Olivier Zahm for Purple
(image lifted without permission, sorry Olivier..........eek)

Tues15th June: Pet Shop Boys at Primavera

Rosy Nicholas sent me her photos from Primavera knowing I would appreciate The Pet Shop Boys set design! The appearance was the first performance of the Pandemonium tour this summer which is coming to the UK for their headline act at Glastonbury on the 26th,.......................(argh, I WISH I was going this year..............if anyone knows any way I can go.........please can you be my fairy godmother as this Cinderella can see no pumpkin on the horizon..........)
The Pet Shop Boys stage was created by Es Devlin who has designed scenes for Lady Gaga's "Monster Ball" tour and Kanye West's "Touch The Sky" tour............. amongst many, many other amazing projects so go and get lost in her website.........

Mon 14th June: The Fabulous Russella

Here are a couple of recent studio visitors - The Fabulous Russella and La John Joseph - who came to film something that will be unveiled soon but here is a little sneak at Russella's look - a pair of Dean Sidaway ceramic and wool shoulder pads - too fabulous!

Mon 14th June: Novero

This is the future.............so listen up...........and get ready to answer your calls with your accessories. Novero have invented a novel range of jewellery that has bluetooth technology intergrated into necklaces..............wearable communication. I am so excited by this prospect and this is only the very beginning! The technology that the group have pioneered is so tiny that it can be incased into any wearable devise................and the science is becoming so sophisticated that the components in development are getting even smaller............

"We believe that what we create should be high fashion expressive and individual; we see no reason to stick to conventions. We envisage a world where people will no longer have to adapt to new technology, because new technology will adapt to them."

Novero invited me to the press launch of their first collection "Victoria" at the Red Dot Museum in Essen designed by Sir Norman Forster. This gigantic colliery has been transformed into the world's largest Design Museum and permanent exhibition of 15,000 products! - the perfect place to host a product launch! It was no standard exhibition of gadgets though, as Novero commissioned a performance especially for the event by London based "In Nothing Flat" who cleared the corridors to make way for the site specific show. Here you can see Jessie Rose who spun on silks with her silhouettes caught in light design by Jurgen Strohmayer and here you can also see part of the crane puppet made by director Gareth Martin...............which was opperatd by dancer Naomi Reynolds..........who it turns out knows the girls who are opening up a cafe next to my studio in Dalston............so in 6 degrees of seperation it really isn't possible to go anywhere withought discovering a connection to something closer to home.........news of which to come SOON!

Sun 13th June: Birthday Boy Reuben

Happy Birthday Reuben!