Sat 27th: Conference Call

Whilst we had a 3 way Mishkin conference call via Skype to Anna in Switzerland she showed us her new local Charity Shop Goldmine finds. Check out the unworn Charles Jourdan she snapped up for £4 (equiv in Swiss Francs)! Geez! Get us on the first Ryan Air flight out there!

Thurs 25th Sept: Good One

After Maki & Chloe's friends painting exhibition opening in Hackney we headed up the road to see Esser play at the Macbeth as part of the Levis "One to Watch". It wasn't until we were en route that Maki disclosed that she had done the set design in the exhibit in the upstairs gallery of The Macbeth! So we went straight upstairs to admire her massive logo for ethical clothing label " Good One". Here is a picture from the early stages of making the letters.
Esser's performance was excellent and I'm so glad I have seen the act the behind the music. They are about to embark on a national tour so be sure to go and search them out before it blows up..................next single will be "Satisfied" which they are shooting the video for today.........

(I forgot to add that on our journey we also by chance saw Chloe featuring in a film............ (these are prolific ladies!)..........walking past the gallery of jaguarshoes with a film in the window featuring Chloe dressed as an owl in her friends work "Today I am a Polar Bear". Hanna Waldron's exhibition of illustration and print "Tonight I am an Owl" is on at No.1 Kinsland Road until 18th October.)

Weds 24th Sept: Aurevoir Miss Honey Penny

Yesterday was the end of an era for the online pioneer Penny Martin who has left the mirrored doors of SHOWstudio to take up a professorship in fashion imagery at The London College of Fashion. Although Im sure they will greatly miss her I reckon they will be equally pleased to share her as Nick Knight's touching post revealed:

"When you work with Penny, whether it is a 6 hour non-stop live interview with Dame Vivienne Westwood or a quick soundbite backstage to a Vogue journalist, everybody comes away from the meeting feeling better about themselves."

This is very true for me as Penny has been a driving force in propelling me out of obscurity by taking a chance and trusting her instinct. So I am eternally grateful for this breath of fresh air in a very blinkered industry. I entered a competition which I ended up being a winner for. Out of sheer surprise I sent a thank you card followed by posting various other random communications. One day Penny got in touch to ask me to contribute to a project and this multiplied with time (no-one else has ever sandwiched me between Giles Deacon and Chrisoper Kane!..........im talking schedully, not bodily.........!). Not only have these invitations helped my journey immensely but Penny has always been a lush personality behind the work. For example kindness in taking me out with the team for a night and kindness in allowing me to blog through their site. That was my 1st experience of blogging and the big gulps of apprehension as I clicked the upload button to the live feed thru to SHOWstudio's homepage. Cripees that was a responsibility! But she cured my paranoia by sending me an encouraging text message.
Always a reassuringly smiley face in the fashion pack crowd, Penny is a shining light. And here I have only mentioned her personality. To describe her impact through developing and establishing the force of SHOW would need a whole other post.............

Weds 24th Sept: Madame Butterfly

Yesterday I was reading an article about Amanda Harlech and found something out that I didn't know. She first worked with John Galliano after his graduation by asking him to make costumes for the Malcom Maclaren record sleeve "Madame Butterfly" which she was styling. I have the record but had no idea that the artwork was such a seminal point in this historical partnership of designer and muse. Galliano must have revisited this reference for Dior S/S 2007 Madame Butterfly inspired collection!.

When trying to find out more, I discovered this charming extract from the book "Two Million Miles" by celebrity photographer Andrew McPherson.

"This was the birth of a new romanticism, a fshion imperative that we lived, breathed, and dreamt. Fashion was our everything, our religion, our nourishment, and our entertainment. This wasn't just a fad, it was a revolution against the chrome-slick sexiness that defined high fashion in the late seventies. I was indoctrinated into the movement by Amanda Harlech, a young fashion editor who was already a style icon. Our influences ranged from Rossetti to Tastafari, from Coco Chanel to Chaplin, an each set of photographs we made sent us on a new visual adventure. Amanda met John Galliano on a Madame Butterfly project during the autumn of 1984 and was one of the first fashion editors to champion the talented young Londoner. They subsequently became one of the brightest teams in the whirlwind of the Paris fashion shows in the late eighties and most of the nineties."

Tues 23 Sept: Art Director Alun Davies

Another intern talent I come across at SHOWstudio in 2005 was Alun Davies who had just graduated from graphics at Kingston and was interested in Art Direction. Fast forward a few years to fashion week and I was very excited to read on an invitation that Alun had done the set design. The event last Thurs was the book launch for Hwyel Davies 100 Fashion Designers at Diesel HQ. Alun was asked by Penny Martin of SHOWstudio to create a typographic installation for their part of the collaboration with the Future Tense film season. At the initial meeting a happy accident resulted in the decision to use hi-vis gaffa tape as a surface for hand drawn stencil names of the designers as credit titles up the long ramp of the site. Slick 3D titles were also hand made from mirror card and outfits for performers seen in the last picture. The live window installation which Alun set up as a site specific intrigue to entertain the que of guests which apparently had hilarious mixed response!

Since setting up his own Art Direction studio back in April he has had a variation of connected events.........set design for photographer Vincent Peters for Vogue Italia, Italian GQ and portraits for Monca Belluci and Vincent Cassel. Vincent Works in Paris mainly so Alun has been having a fantastic time learning the tricks of the trade in another city.
He has also been making connections with a LIVE aspect to Art Direction, thanks to Beck Rainford - Theatre Set Designer. He has been involved with productions from Edinburgh Fringe festival such as the Collector, recently transferred to London. Future projects include, launching his newly re-designed website, installations for Act Art 6 and Emergency Festival and future Art Direction and costumes for Singer and DJ, Rod Thomas.

Thanks to Alun for sending these great pics from his records

Mon 22nd Sept: The Beautiful and the Damned

Here is Aimee Grundell who runs a night at the infamous North London rock'n'roll hotspot "The Boogaloo". I came across the wondrous beauty at SHOWstudio where I inadvertently siren sung her to join my team last summer. She soon flew the nest to dabble in her own ventures and "The Beautiful And Damned" is her latest scheme. It is a timezone-jumping decadent disco curated (as opposed to ‘DJ’d’) and the dress code is "timelessly stylish". Last Thurs took a Circus theme and Aimee was lucky enough to be lent a new hat by prop's maestro Helen Macintyre . It is a carousel that is wired to a motor and literally spins around whilst causing a stir from its impressive intricacy.
For more info on this delightful new destination check out their myspace for upcoming listings and events.....