Sat 5th Sept: No Days Off Update

Just at the moment Im catching up with the lastest news from different departments to see what everyone else has been up to over the summer. Teo Connor and Patrick Duffy are the terrible two that work as the team "No Days Off" who don't just have a brilliantly shrewd name but also turn out equally astute graphic design. Somehow they managed to steal a few minutes from the grindstone to send over these images of their latest projects.

The first client here is Paloma Faith, who's album book and single sleeve they have art directed. They have also informed me that Paloma's is performing at The Scala soon, which everyone should go to as she is amazing live...............

The second album artwork they have been attending to is She Keeps Bees record 'Nests'. It is currently album of the week in NME available at Rough Trade now or on iTunes for the absolute steal price of only £4.99! Its BEEn on constant play in the NoDaysOff studio for ages and according to their personal review "if you like the White Stripes and PJ Harvey, get it. Apparently Morrisey is a fan, which usually mean the band are absolutely shite, but this time he seems to have got it right." You have been told!

The third image here is Electronic Poet which is a design for a new clothing range, soon to be on sale in Oki Ni and also online at www.paper-scissor-stone.co.uk.

Last but not least is a snap from work in progress of a series of 'NO' paintings for an exhibition in the pipeline for a future show. All pieces are designed on reclaimed items from the streets of Whitechapel, where the duo are based.

To check out more new work visit their ace website at www.nodaysoff.com, with lots more to come in the next few months......

Friday 4th Sept: Lucy Aebischer

Here is Lucy Aebishcer who came to help me last season by sewing, sticking and generally keeping me sane over the festive period when I was studio bound in solitary confinement. She just graduated from Bath Spa and has spent the summer assisting other colourful folk such as Jiggery Pokery and most recently Jamie Brown painting the outside of The Old Blue Last with giant cat faces.............check her blog for pictures if you aren't in the East vicinity to see for yourself.......http://lucy-aebischer.blogspot.com/
Here are couple of snaps from time she has spent with me this Summer ........and also her business card which is a rainbow stick of rock packaged with screen printed label and polkadot film..............what a WINNER!

Thurs 3rd Sept: Scott Ramsay Kyle

So Im setting up shop at Supermarketsarah.com today and installing my guest wall which will go live at fashion week. Its going to be an opportunity to buy some of my archive pieces................Swarovski encrusted lobster anyone? But in my nature of collaboration and recommendation I have selected 10 designers to also feature on the site for your chance to snap up other one-off items by some of my favourite creatives. I had to reach for a paper bag to stop hyperventilating when I received the delivery from Scott Ramsay Kyle. Here is a cape that he made specially on commission for Jane How once upon a time.............an original created by a true original.............BEATUIFUL!

He is just wrapping up finalising his new website if you want to check out more:

http://scottramsaykyle.com

Thurs 3rd Sept: I HEART CARR

SO BLOODY EXCITED TO SEE DIANE'S FULL FEATURE! Here is a snippet from her blog today.
Here is one of my mentor's Alistair Carr in conversation about working with one of his mentor's Mr.Pearl.................don't get much better than this............
...........Alistair you are looking HOT my friend!

Weds 2nd Sept: Spadgermatazz for Slashstroke

Amy Gwatkin shot my last collection for an article in the new magazine slashstroke which has launched online today. This is the spread which also features a portrait by Amy in collaboration with Anna Leader with whom she used to work with under the guise of "Mishkin". After the shoot we sat down to drink tea and talk shop for an informal and investigative interview to accompany the images.............all of which we recorded on dictaphone for Amy to transcribe..........but got lost.........isn't it always the way! But it didn't matter because it was the perfect excuse to actually stop working and get together for some quality time for once..........any time spent with these two ladies is an absolute pleasure ........I only wish we could do it more often..............

Tues 1st Sept: Lady Ga Ga in convo with Craig Lawrence

Craig and I are both from the illustrious creative breeding ground of East Anglia UK. Yep, the fields of sheep and combine harvesters nurture some seriously strange talents! The last time we were both back in the homelands, we hooked up for a walk along the blustery beach of Southwold to catch up on how are collections were going. As Craig had been at home that week I assumed that it had been some down-time with the family and keeping local. Oh no! He related that he had just returned from a jaunt up to Manchester for an MTV recording of an interview with Lady Ga Ga. .........as you do, natch! LOL! So here it is! Its just launched on the international music channel but you can check it all out at this link. The series is different musicians meeting up with the creatives that inspire them.............the other episodes feature The Beastie Boys, Marilyn Manson etc.

In the run up to fashion week you can keep up to date with Craigs news as he has started twittering and just launched his own blog in conjunction with photographer Kenzie Burchell called "Chateau De Gateau"..........lots of excitements looming..........

http://www.chateaudegateau.com
http://twitter.com/craigknitwit

Tues 1st Sept: Ritta Ikonen Profile Fin

There are lots more images from Ritta that I could post to give more insight into the workings of her mind and world...........but I have edited it down to give a one-hit, one-stop shop of information. But whilst it has taken a few days to upload them in installments I received a thankyou message from the artist with this photo attached..............exquisite!
Ritta at The Hayward.
Thankyou so much for all your time in compiling everything Ritta, best of luck with all your new secret missions!
Now go and have a poke around all her previous projects:

Tues 1st Sept: Ritta Ikonen Profile Part VI

And these mates, I have lost their origin. But they are important.

Had a wonderful haircut here one day... all done with clippers!

Who knows what this place was called..., but it was pretty incredible. A blessed shop where I finally found a foot for my little random sewing machine, found abandoned on the streets of Brooklyn.

To finish off Ritta's profile here is a selection of random things that made her chuckle on her adventure...........quite a good measure of her comedic sensibility. When I knew that Ritta was going to NY I put her in touch with another NY/LON photographer friend of mine -Annie Collinge as I knew that they would get on.....both with the same ridiculous sense of humour and quirky aesthetic. I was right.......according to Annie :
" thank you for putting me in touch with Riitta, she is very funny, she took me to lecture about NY waste disposal..."
Wish I had been a fly on the wall for that one!

Mon 31st Aug: Profile Weekender : Ritta Ikonen Part V

In this excerpt I'm going totally off-shcedule from the feature because I just have to! When I was researching some content for the profile on Ritta's latest news..........I came across this past project. How gorgeous is this? She was commissioned by Action Aid to create a large scale installation using over 200 shoes donated for the "Put your foot down" campaign. If you watch this film clip you can see many of her inventive and resourceful techniques for customising the wide variety of 2nd hand shoe styles. It ranges from glued feathers to modrock to metal panel beating! So gorgeous and clever.............just like Ritta!

Mon 31st Aug: Last chance saloon

Ok, so I got it wrong.........the final day to vote is today.............so please go for it...........lets cross all 10 fingers and 10 toes.........
Whatever the outcome......... Ive had a lovely time doing the canvasing with our fun campaign and all the support has been most humbling..........XXXX

http://www.dazeddigital.com/projects/BlogAwards/Finalists.aspx?Category=Fashion

Photos Dan Wilton
Model and Artist Maki Lou Lou

Sun 30th Aug: Profile Weekender : Ritta Ikonen Part IV

So what is next in the pipeline for Ritta?

"Other stuff coming up are exhibitions and some more masterclasses in Russia in September, some talks in Helsinki and a little project with YCN, Whitechapel gallery, Tate etc."

Damn the girl isn't giving anything away! But talking of YCN, here are some action snaps of Ritta setting up the earthworm from the series 'A sentimental yearning' from a previous YCN LIVE project at Applied Works. The worm was lost overground in Hoxton and made its way to rehabilitation in Dartmor............

"Some photos from an earthworm day...
The promised rain and gloom never came for our planned shoot. I put my hope into autumn rains and shall return for the final picture. Got plenty of manoeuvre shoveling experience by now..."

Go to Ritta's site to see the final photos by Anja Schaffner of the worm winding its way round Shoreditch.........

Sun 30th Aug: Profile Weekender : Ritta Ikonen Part III

Ritta's other major preoccupation whilst in NY was working with Ian Wright on their contribution for this year's "If You Could: Collaborate" exhibition titled 'Peace and Quiet'. Here is the brief for their venture which could possibly give some hints as to what they have been up to but unfortunately the whole process is top secret until the opening in January. So this is a great scoop to see a couple of snaps from their initial time together..............

Sat 29th Aug: Profile Weekender : Ritta Ikonen Part II

Ritta is a collector. She collects lots of different bizarre unconnected things...........e.g hair clippings to catalogue her colour changes or just random round things found on the floor for no reason at all! Here some of her ziplock bags of findings from her 3 month stay in NYC. I would like to have seen the security scan of her suitcase on the way home! Whilst away she kept up an ongoing project of sending obscure and obsolete objects to her old tutor at Brighton. Not only is it a really fun looking idea to document with addresses squeezed onto strange surfaces but its pure entertainment in experimenting with what exactly can be posted........

"Post office queue in Chinatown after lenghty negotiations over some A6 sized seeds, car tyres, moneyrolls etc trying to get into the NY postal system. Still anxiously waiting for confirmation from Margaret Huber whether they reached the destination..."

Sat 29th Aug: Profile Weekender : Ritta Ikonen

Here is a little introduction for anyone possibly not familiar with the work of Ritta Ikonen..........if you aren't = sit up and pay attention.......RITTA RULES!
I have to ashamedly confess that I wasn't aware of her work and therefore extremely grateful to have been invited to the very 1st ItsNiceThat talk which was focused on Ritta (watch it at the link below). Both her work and her character are in equal measure charming, trailblazing, enchanting, ridiculous, intuitive, whimsical and real. Her natural demeanour is just hilarious and if you stick with me this weekend I'll let you in on some of her many, many obsessions and projects............thanks to Ritta for compiling an incredible batch of behind the scene snaps for a glimpse into her world..........

Ritta is originally from Finland but cultivated itchy feet for travel from a childhood with time spent living in Greece and France...........more recently Japan and London..........and most recently New York. I contacted Ritta for an update on what she has been up to over the last few months whilst on her transatlantic adventure. Her work regularly takes her to bizarre destinations (Neel - this wreeeeks of you!) for example dressing as an iceberg in the Baltic or Snowflake in Moscow..........
these are projects where Ritta has created costumes to convey a certain concept .........this is certainly a definitive Ikonen tool but by her own admission she is not a one trick pony and experiments with other mediums...............which I will be able to show with each post.........
But to get things started here are some shots of her body of work with costumes.........the classic Nylon project which found her dressed as a car seat is one of my favourites...........the other was a toothbrush which you really should check out at her site.........


http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/441-talk-1-riitta-ikonen
http://www.riittaikonen.com

Friday 28th Aug: Talky Talk Talk

Here is Chrissie Abbott who was the guest speaker of last evenings talk for the monthly ItsNiceThat series of lectures. She chose Danny Sangra and I to follow her speech with a little one of our own. The other chap concealing his identity is of course one half of the ItsNiceThat team who prefer to stay anonymous .............c'mon lads............take some credit for your ridiculously lush enterprise and the hard graft that has garnered it!!!!!
To find out about Chrissie's childhood of hippie parenting and penchant for Fraggle Rock & Bagpuss and Danny's preference for drawing on magazine covers instead of sketch books from growing up in a hairdressers..............there will be a playback on the website...........

http://www.chrissieabbott.co.uk
http://www.dannysangra.com
http://www.itsnicethat.com/talk/its-nice-that-talks

Thurs 27th Aug: En Vogue

One day left to vote....................PLEASE VOTE..............our campaign worked.............thanks to everyone who helped!

Thurs 27th Aug: Rachel Gilman

When I had my first meeting with boutique owner Nathalie Kabiri, she was wearing a captivating pair of geometric hand painted earrings that I later discovered are from the store's repertoire of rad jewellery. I fell in love with this designer and was terrifically chuffed to be put in a display cabinet next to this line. They must have sensed our joint passion for all things angular and colourful.............which has since brought about us making contact ftom all the 100 designers stocked. Not only do we share a similar aesthetic but I have discovered that Rachel also got into making jewellery firstly as one-off pieces for shoots she was styling..............

Me doing jewelry was an absolute last minute fluke. I was going to style a shoot for Missbehave magazine and I wanted to have crazy large earrings, unique things as everyone borrows the same things for shoots, so i wanted to personalize my fashion stories.... I found materials and paint and glue and was excited about what came about. This was about two years ago. I am a full time first assistant to stylist Aleksandra Woroniecka so the only time I have to play with jewelry making is at night. I like to paint and craft to scary movies, especially from the 80's like Fright Night, Sleepaway Camp, They Live and whatever ghost hunting paranormal show is on the Science Fiction channel.

Rachel is from the USA and went to F.I.T. in NYC to study fashion design but didn't enjoy it as apparently she couldn't sew well and would get "stress stomach aches from being overwhelmed". That's a familiar story! Although she confesses to not having patience for intricate detailed work, I think that's not actually the case as they are so dinky and cute! More recently she has started to play with metallics and different materials such as chains in combination with the wood pieces. So where does her inspiration come from?


My parents raised me around Native American art, Kachina dolls and paintings of sunsets so those have served to be great inspiration. ...We have pink wood benches with cactus painted on them and a life size wood sculpture of a cowboy named Slim in my parents house. Their sense of whimsy and taste in art is what guided me.



Above are Rachel's own snaps of earrings inspired by folk art entitled "Southwest" and "Santa Fe". There is also an editorial scan of her earrings in Numero and an unpublished shots of Aggy wearing her earrings. There is also one of my snaps of how Rachel's collection looks at KABIRI...............who have relaunched their website today so anyone can order a pair ..........anywhere............go click and check out the new look site.............



http://www.kabiri.co.uk/
http://www.rachelgilmannyc.blogspot.com/
http://www.rachel-gilman.com/