Friday 20th January: Lizzie Kings' "Tie & Die" book launch

When Lizzie Kings's publisher announced the launch of her book last night she simultaneously told the crowd that Lizzie has become one of their favourite authors.  Needless to say we are all equally fond of the magic wonder that is this creative gem of all things gold, yellow, exotic and cosmic.  Now her spectrum tie-dye techniques are documented in a step-by-step manual for any budding textile designers to have a go at recreating the aesthetic.  The party at Hackney's pink painted cafe Palm Vaults is hung with macrame plant pots, of which some dip dye variations appear in the book.  Have a peek for yourself in any book store from today, out on Pavilion Books!

(All photos by Mitchell McGillvary except a couple by me)

Friday 20th January: Lizzie Kings' "Tie & Die" book

Lizzie King has just launched her "Tie & Dye" book to turn her motto "Get Rich or Tie-Dyeing" into a do-it-yourself guide.  There are 15 projects to try out including water-melon bunting for summer parties and her signature rainbow shoe laces which she has made for NIKE in the past.  Here she sent me a complete kit to road-test the carnival sock instructions for red/gold and green feet ready for the road.  Here are my stages of preparation, dying and the finished article joining my archive Lizzie tassel necklace for the collection.  The book is now available nationwide and thru her own website with this personalised tote bag as a deal at her launch last night!............. see the next post.

Tuesday 17th Jan: Grace LaDoja at LSFF "Evolve" Filmmaker Q&A

As part of London Short Film Festival the ICA invited director Grace LaDoja to show a retrospective selection of her moving image and talk thru her career to date.  Despite already knowing and having worked with Grace, I learnt so much about her that I didn't know!  It was fascinating and a fantastic opportunity to see her films on a large screen - including the first promos for Twigs which set her up as an artist, not just a musician & performer.  There were her famous videos for Skepta as his collaborator and manager with anecdotes on how the relationship came about and insight to the "brand" development.  As he's now been nominated for multiple Brit Awards its going to be a very interesting year as it was the same awards show where his performance concept triggered the controversy that ultimately gave him mainstream success!  In addition to this, Grace gave background to her long-standing consultancy for Supreme which will now be top of news forums even more than usual with today's unveiling of Luis Vuitton AW17 mens collection on the Paris runway!

Follow Grace's Instagram to keep up with her projects and world travels............