Wednesday 18th September: Guest Post - Bethan Laura Wood LDF ZIGZAG//CRISSCROSS @ The Aram Store

With the London Design Festival in full swing, The Aram Gallery  has been treating the experimental design-philes of the capital to numerous exhibitions showcasing anyone who's anyone in the world of innovative product design right now. Last night was the turn of Bethan Laura Wood; product designer, Royal College fellow, and an all round creative super force, with a seriously enviable rainbow wardrobe. 

Her recent practice has been influenced by the urban environments of London and Mexico City, and features a wonderfully varied selection of tones, textures and finishes, emulating the vast diversity of both cities.  The stand out pieces of the evening were the light features, which cast the most beautifully ethereal patterns in a selection of candy tones, echoing the glassy spun sugar of her colourful cachetada cocktail installation.


ZIGZAG//CRISSCROSS runs until the 2nd November 2013 and is at The Aram Gallery, WC2B 5SG.

Words and Pictures by Amy Lee. 

Wednesday 18th September: BLOG TAKEOVER - ICA Off-Site - A Journey Through London Subculture, 1980s to Now

A major new project at The Old Selfridges Hotel opened this week, an experiment whereby the ICA seeks to test the existence of an interconnected legacy that can be traced back to the 1980s and beyond.

The instillation really embodies the spirit of the post-punk DIY aesthetic. The ICA's off-site project takes over the first floor location of the Selfridges Hotel, a vast crude industrial space.  Sitting amongst various installations and video are more than 50 vitrines exploding with life, history, memorabilia, and relics from an eclectic mix or artists, studio collectives, style icons, designers and other legendary subcultural figures who were asked to create a mood, or 'personal archeology within.' 

The space brings together up to 60 influential artists and art movements from London past and present, including Bodymap, Matthew Darbyshire, Giles Deacon, LouiseGray, Zaha Hadid, Jeffrey Hinton, Sarah Lucas, Lucky PDF, NicolaTyson, Julie Verhoeven, Studio Voltaire, Jonny Woo and Bethan LauraWood.

We very quickley spotted ones of Freds Brooches located inside the VogueFabrics cabinet curated by Lyall Hakaraia. Instantly identified due to the spectral colour and clever use of paper in origami form. Hakaraia, a regular host of 'transvestite after parties,' set up the East End club Vogue Fabrics in 2008. Housed in the basement of a Dalston townhouse - which in its previous life was a Turkish dance studio, immigration office and dosshouse - Vogue Fabrics now hosts parties every weekend and cultural events during the week. 

The project invites you to walk through London's sub culture from the punk, new romantic, club kid, fetish scene, making links between London’s diverse creative scenes from the past and into the current. Examples from art, fashion, design, film, installation, architecture and dance, as well as nightclubs, restaurants and bars, make up the monumental instillation.

An exciting and energetic space and 'experiment', there really is so much to take in, a reflection maybe of London's diverse and ever evolving scenes and movements. The project asks some interesting questions - What is counterculture and does it still exist? Over four Decades, what connections can be made between all of these different strands of creativity? Do the creative generations today have the same desires to make something for nothing? Is there sill enough risk-taking? Visiting the exhibition we are invited to take the journey and find the answers for ourselves.

This has been a blog take over by Ciara and Nicci from Fred Butler HQ.

(Picture credits:  Exhibition shots by Ciara & Nicci. Private view portraits by Fred inc. Bethan Wood, Julie Verhoeven, Christos Tolero, Felicity Hayward, Tamie Adaya, Princess Julia and Bobby Abbley.   Snap of Fred & Seye by Gemma Cairney)

Tuesday 17th September: Blog Takeover: NEWGEN at Somerset House LFW SS14

  

NEWGEN is an internationally recognized 'launch pad' for new designers, providing a source of funding and support for emerging British talent since 1993. Sponsored by Topshop, the showcase at Somerset House included mens and womenswear designer Nasir Mazhar and footwear designer Sophia Webster.

Nasir Mazhar showed his SS14 womenswear collection yesterday at the Topshop presentation space in the form of a girl gang party photoshoot. Known for literally putting his name all over his work, this season's interesting twists included fringed branding, figure hugging bandage dresses, and amazing leg accessories including something akin to leg braces(!!)

Sophia Webster is a name that we have heard a lot this summer. A graduate from the RCA Footwear MA she is going from strength to strength having been awarded the Conde Nast Footwear New Emerging Designer of the Year award for 2012 she is now a part of NEWGEN. Her ss14 collection is wonderfully fun and feminine, harnessing the innocent fun of little girl-hood and translating them into fashion forward footwear.

This has been a blog takeover by Ciara and Nicci from LFW.

Tuesday 17th September: BLOG TAKEOVER - Patternity Studio presents 'Patterns on Screen' LFW S/S14

Photos from Ryan Saradjola

We were very excited to be invited to 'Pattern On Screen' as presented by "Cult Pattern Visionaries" Anna Murray and Grace Winteringham A.K.A PATTERNITY at the Canon presentation space, Somerset House. The event was an exciting and inspiring showcase of past, present and even future films with an exclusive preview of upcoming projects and collaborations. The screening was followed by a short panel discussion and Q&A with fashion film directors  Zoe Hitchen (former first assistant to Nick Knight at SHOWstudio),and Lily Silverton (fashion features editor at POP magazine) discussing how 'pattern' shapes their practice. 

  

Collaborative films showcased included 'Conscious Pattern' from Zoe Hitchen x Patternity Studio, a film launching Patternity's knitwear collection with Chinti + Parker. Merging pattern with classic knitwear shapes the collection is described as being a wearable celebration of pattern. It is also a visual reminder (and an addition to) the constant presence of pattern in our daily lives, a key directive in the Patternity manifesto:
 

"BECAUSE A SHARED AWARENESS OF PATTERN HAS THE POWER TO POSITIVELY SHAPE OUR WORLD" 

In 'When Stripes Collide' from Lily Silverton x Patternity, pattern is created through digital multiplication of the model's body. The manipulation of the film to the soundtrack is sharp, the use of monochromatic fashion very bold and striking. A particularly stunning shot is the layering of the model towards the end of the piece; here colour inversion produces a really unusual and almost supernatural image of the body.

'Pattern Power Superstripe' from Plastic Horse is a short animated piece exploring the distortion of stripe. The imagery within this piece is particularly eye-boggling. Pattern has been chopped and reworked into optical illusionary landforms and graphics which visually respond to the soundtrack, each rolling hill swathed in contour stripe.

As well as collaborative work we were also treated to some of Patternity's personally selected inspirational films, one of which was 'Incandescent Meta-morph-incessant' directed by Elisha Smith-Leverock and styled by Kim Howells for our very own Fred Butler. Praised in the introduction for her attention to detail, Fred's fashion film explores pattern and repetition through the purity of paper and paper folding. Shape and silhouettes are developed through Freds ongoing research into the possibilities of origami. 

STREETSHAPES, another film from Zoe Hitchen, was an exclusive preview into a collaboration between Patternity and Pretty Polly. Putting patterns onto legs and creating patterns with said legs (pattern-ception), this fashion film married motion graphics and film with true precision. Katie Hilton, graphics and motion designer from Manchester worked on the motion graphics in this piece; if this is anything to go by then she is certainly one to watch.

The presentation certainly left a lasting impression on our minds. Our journey home proved to be more interesting than usual, spotting endless patterns in what is usually a mundane trek through the city. It would seem that Patternity's objective of increasing awareness of pattern has certainly worked on us.

Our snap on the way home:

This has been a blog takeover from Ciara and Nicci from LFW.

Tuesday 17th September: BLOG TAKEOVER - Darkroom presents: SO SOTTSASS

Darkroom presents 'A season of playful postmodern design' for A/W 2013. Inspired by visionary Italian architect and designer Ettore Sottsass.

Coinciding with London Design Festival, Darkroom windows and store have been transformed into a wonderful display of postmodernist design. Splendid accessories for men, women and home with collaborations and commissions from new and recognised artists and designers including Studio Pepe, SpottiEdizione, Jamie Julien-Brown, Elke Kramer, Hay, Zuzunaga and StoneTheatre.

Expect colourful, multifunctional and ambiguous pieces in sculptural forms. Interesting materials including exotic veneers and widely patterned plastics laminates, papers, ceramics, textiles, woods, glass and marbles make up the products for sale in the shop.   

One of the most significant counter-forces to modernism in the history of design, Ettore Sottsass made monumental artistic contributions to every decade since 1945. His remarkable career produced a provocative body of work. From the iconic Valentine typewriter for Olivetti, to the subversively kitschy furniture of the Memphis group, Sottsass enlivened the functionality of ordinary objects, while pushing the boundaries of current tastes and creating new paradigms for future design.

Darkroom have zestfully curated a fantastic homage to the visionary Sottsass, highly recommend from Fred Butler HQ.

This has been a blog takeover by Ciara and Nicci.

Tuesday 17th September: Maiko Takeda at Somerset House LFW SS14

Maiko Takeda's graduate collection  'Atmospheric Re-entry' began with wondering what it would be like to wear a cloud. Graduating in June this year, Takeda's unusual millinery has received huge interest, already having been worn by Bjork during her Biophilia tour.

Her pieces feel very natural, the sensitivity to their surrounding and tactility making them very pleasing to see and feel. They create a rippling atmospheric layer around the body as the quills respond to their surroundings and the movement of the wearer. Strangely beautiful there is a definite essence of futurism in this collection.

Three of Tekada's pieces are on display at the Somerset House Exhibition for LFW SS14. We really enjoyed seeing them in person and finding out a little more about their origins.


This has been another blog takeover from Ciara and Nicci from LFW.

Monday 16th September: LFW Designer Showrooms - Auria Swimwear SS14 'Wish You Were Here'

The Designer Showrooms at London Fashion Week provides promising contemporary designers with a platform for them to engage with buyers and press, and it's a great opportunity to discover emerging brands with a strong aesthetic and a shed load of talent! Which is exactly what I found in the Estethica-backed Auria London.

Fundamentally, Auria's latest collection is the water baby born out of a collaboration between designer Diana Harris and illustrator Margot Bowman. However, you only need look at their new designs to see it is so much more than just another designer/illustrator collab...

Firstly it's guilt free; completely ethical, the line is produced in the UK from 100% recycled material, so you can babe out on the beach satisfied in the knowledge that your swimwear is helping protect the blue skies above you, not polluting them. 

Secondly, the collection achieves something that in fashion is a rarity; it features pieces that manage to be just as statement as they are versatile, and the variations on looks that can be attained within the capsule is never ending.  

The majority of the pieces can be worn dry as daywear as easily as they can be worn on the beach. The carefully considered shapes and styles incorporate features which draw the eye to all the right places. This combined with graphic prints and bold colouring makes for pieces that are not only wearable, but interesting and fun without compromising femininity.    

Highlights of the collection include 'Wish You Were Here' palm tree high waist shorts, and a summer essential white two piece, complete with red, white and blue airmail string ties. 

Words and Pictures by Amy Lee