Sat 5th May: Lazy Oaf Press Day

New garms from our friends at Lazy Oaf!! 

Friday 4th May: GIRLS AND BOYS

Here are snaps from the studio of  Brett Lloyd and Edward Quarmby who have just launched a new periodical entitled "Girls And Boys".  Each tri-annual issue of the large format magazine will focus on the work of just one photographer shooting a subtely provocative vision of both sexes.  For the first instalment, Brett shot Flo and Gabe for their relaxed and energised personalities in addition to their mix of innocent and erotic appeal.  The A3 format has been designed to unfold into A1 posters for teenagers to dissect and stick on their bedroom walls turning a piece of printed matter into an accessible artwork.  Here you can see their own walls decorated with tests from previous shoots and plans from putting together the final magazine.   The carpark of our studio block was converted into a launch party last evening to gather together friends and colleagues to preview the first batch of copies with the bulk now being sent out to international stockists for the rest of the world to pick up, pull out and pin up...........

Friday 4th May: NOKI SHWOPPING

SATURDAY 5th MAY & SUNDAY 6th MAY 

10.00-17.00  "THROWN AWAY FASHION WITH DR NOKI"

M&S Sustainable Fashion Lab, Dray Walk Gallery, Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, E1 9QL

Dr Noki will run an interactive, fun and engaging workshop where obsolete items will be cut up and reworked into new designs.

Thurs May 3rd: "Bauhaus: Art as Life" at The Barbican

                                     
Think what you will of the impact of the Olympics coming to London but one indisputable positive outcome is the incredible strength in art shows across the captial.  Every gallery and museum has saved their best for the summer of 2012 to come out with all guns blazing to put on the ultimate showcase for residents and tourists alike.  I've been doing the rounds of all the major destinations, lapping up the marvellous array of pieces pulled in from international collections to complete curations.  Last evening "Bahaus: Art As Life" opened at The Barbican and I had that magic feeling of standing infront of some of my favourite imagery of all time - critical works I have only ever seen in books before.  Iconic, classic, important designs and personal photos / memorabilia from the school including Oskar Schlemmer, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Walter Gropius etc. have been amassed for this largest London show in the last forty years.  I won't say any more other than YOU HAVE TO GO........... not least just for the gift shop which is stocking Patternity tights specially commissioned, Corrie Williamson jewellry and Darkroom Store homewares.  Also put June 23rd in your diary for my accessories workshop in the day to make your own costume to wear to a Bauhaus theme party in the conservatory in the night!!
See Bauhaus: Art as Life at the Barbican for more details.
(Images top to bottom:  pieces in the show, Anna Murray wearing her own Patternity design tights, project sketchbooks by CSM BA jewellery students, items in the gift shop, my own Corrie Williamson earrings and Patternity tights I wore for the private view)

Tues May 1st: Sustainable Fashion Lab "help noki cut the brand"

If you have seen the Truman Brewery covered in a chrysalis cocoon of recycled clothes you may be wondering which public artist has been unleashed on this Brick Lane landmark.  It is infact the work of students at The London College Of Fashion in the Centre of Sustainable Fashion who are working with Oxfam on a project entitled "Schwopping" sponsored by M&S.   For two weeks they are taking over the building on Dray Walk to host workshops alongside designers for the public to attend and get first hand experience of upcycling from those at the cutting edge.  Noel Stewart transformed the space into a millinery master-class last weekend and NOKI will be in charge this Saturday and Sunday with a lesson called' Cut the Brand'.  Guests can take a t-shirt from the rails but instead of buying it, they will be encouraged to cut it into strips to be made into "Noki Yarn" for knitters to crochet into new unique creations.  
Over the next few days there will be an accessories session with Michelle Lowe-Holder, Q&A with Christopher Raeburn, talk from journalist Lucy Siegle and exercise in transforming jeans into new denim garments with Gary Harvey.  To see the full line up and list of events, head over to The Shwop Lab.
M&S Sustainable Fashion Lab, Dray Walk Gallery, Old Truman Brewery, Off 91 Brick Lane, E1 9QL.
Opening Hours: 10am – 5pm from 

26^th April – 9^th May 2012

(photos c/o NOKI - here is his dog "Bail" whom he rescued / released from a dog's home)

Mon 30th April: Christian Louboutin at The Design Museum

I am a strong believer in what circumstantial, environmental and cultural stimulus a child receives has a direct effect and influence on the individuals creative output as an adult.  This theory can be proven as case in point with the designer known for turning ballet pumps on point, into high heels.  Christian Louboutin grew up in a household of women with a large family of sisters and single mother who instilled in him an inherent sensitivity for the feminine experience of life.  Witnessing their demands and disposition he directly absorbed a respect for womankind and an intrigue for the glamorous expression of dressing up.  He discovered this medium in its most extreme form via actresses in Hollywood films and the dancers of Parisian music halls.  As a teenager he would sneak out at night and sneak into these venues to watch the showgirls and re-visit the same performances numerous times to fully absorb each detail of the spectacle.  The word "detail" crops up repeatedly throughout his explanation of both his work and the curation of his 20 year retrospective which opened at The Design Museum this morning.  

He even goes into great detail when recounting his history in explaining his journey to arriving at presenting his first major gallery showcase.  It all began age 12, imagining the glistening cabaret costumes to be like feathers as natures own decoration adorning birds.  From a child's imagination he glorified the showgirls to be exotic birds of paradise and fell under a spell to become involved in assembling these exceptional exoskeletons.  A few years down the line he joined the music hall "Foiles Bergere" as an intern on an apprenticeship under the wing of the chorus, costumier and choreographers.  Learning his chosen discipline through the medium of theatrical direction has dictated his distinctive magical and outre approach within the fashion world.  To encapsulate this prominent period and acquired side of his personality, the major central space of the floor-plan has been given a "showtime" treatment.  Lighting is low, shed from tiny gold clam shell lamps onto a red velvet banquette - it's as if you've stepped into The Crazy Horse........... until you realise the stage is formed in the shape of a sole with the toe dazzlilng as a 3D hologram of a corseted curvaceous Dita Von Teese dancing in thin air.  

This all-encompassing clever trickery of the Design Museum's devised installation has been a year's worth of planning alongside Louboutin who considers every element of his life as one whole.  He sees no separation between personal and professional life, regarding the complete course as a multifaceted process akin to the development in each of his designs.  Great emphasis has been put on the "process" with an area apportioned as a recreation of his atelier complete with artifacts, sketches, patterns, paraphernalia and prototypes.  This was my favourite part in addition to a little insight into his photo-albums with blown up snaps recording his own developmental moments from trying out blue lipstick to partying with Zandra Rhodes and Duggie Fields.   Evidence of no differentiation between life and work is apparent from beginning to end in the exhibition and embodied in the broad spectrum of narrative concepts in each shoe.  One is a Rolls Royce with the grill as a toe cap, one appears as if you have slipped on a slippery fish with real scales and tail on the heel.  The little Louboutin boy who was swept up with fantastical dreams at the dance halls hasn't lost that fleeting naive uninhibited imagination............. 

...... which brings me to the subject of style over substance.  When challenged about comfort he has the perfect retort.  He would simply wish that any reaction to his designs would inspire a positive  response regarding its visual appeal rather than its practicality. This is followed by a fascinating anecdote of the dancers he shadowed who dined on veal capaccio only to disappear with the cutlets to discreetly tuck them into their stilettos.  Apparently the bloodless slithers of meat were a primitive solution to in-sole cushion pads which made Christian aware of this short fall in high heels early on.  He also explains that he adopts three minds when mastering a new model  - firstly the woman who will be wearing them, secondly the man who is the partner to the muse and thirdly, himself the creative ego.  With this triptych of perspectives, he aims to arrive at the ultimate outcome.   Perfection does not interest him because it eliminates chance fortune in design floors, so he doesn't work towards any particular ideal.  But as we know, he has met a few discernable characters with whom he has built a close bond through business including Dita.  He tells us that his obsession is "objects" and footwear is fundamentally a fetishised object, so perhaps this is where the synergy of that special relationship lies.  He has a very tactile disposition like most craftsmen do, unconsciously intrigued by surrounding surfaces and textures.  As he answered questions at the press conference he stroked the table cloth, and even lightly punched the ceiling when he first came in, as if testing its solidity like a builder or architect. He is after all an architect of engineering ingenious framework .......... but for our feet....................... (*one similarity, a mortgage may be needed in both acquisitions.......... but if you go to this show, you will appreciate why).