Sat 5th Nov: Patrick Wolf for Jo Whiley Part 2

When I was at school I used to come home every day and religiously listen to the Evening Session on Radio 1 presented by Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley. The only days I would miss it were the times I was actually out at gigs of bands they would have had in session. At Christmas the station used to programme the best excerpts of the year into one continuous stream which I would record onto CASSETTE!!! using a timer to go back to the stereo and turn it over every 45mins! So as you may detect I was a bit of a Whiley/Lamo fan - which got particularly exciting when she started to co-host the Glastonbury coverage on Channel 4. 18 years later she now has her own stand alone show on Sky Arts which I visited with Patrick Wolf when he performed for the 3rd episode. It was surreal spending all day looking at this set being there in person, and then going home that night to watch the same set from my sofa when it aired on TV! Here are snaps of the camera crew shooting thru crystals, Patrick in sound check, signing the guest book and with one of the other guests Mel C - which was a massive highlight of the day for him! Its funny that this was filmed in a studio on the parallel street to where the original Buffalo shoe shop was where both of us bought our platform sneakers when we were teenagers ......... and the Spice Girls themselves!
To see highlights from the show go to the site here.

Sat 5th Nov: Patrick Wolf for Jo Whiley Part 1

Two weeks ago Patrick Wolf asked me to make him something special to wear for the new Jo Whiley music show on Sky Arts. He wanted it to be black and white to fit to the look of the UK tour outfits coupled with info from the producer that it would be shot thru crystals I decided to blend the two ideas. I had one day so I ran around 2nd hand shops finding fur to replicate Patrick's current penchant for taxidermy and wearing animals .......... disassembling a chandelier and collecting up crystals from my own hoards. Here is the finished piece which is intended to hang as a decoration on his microphone stand and then double up as a neckpiece.......... I think it looks really nice on the head too!

Fri Nov 4th: 20 years of Dazed & Confused "Making It Up As We Go Along" at Somerset House

A great majority of my life story in entering the fashion industry comes down to the revolving door at Dazed & Confused magazine. I first interned there in 2001 which was exactly slap bang in the middle of the 20 year history they are currently celebrating with a retrospective exhibition. I ran the gauntlet of the intimidating office - in the days when smoking at your desk was still a given! My favourite thing was to get lost in the library, looking thru the back catalog of issues I remembered from my earlier teens. I was gutted when they stopped the double reverse cover idea so to look back at all of these profiles was brilliant.......... which is exactly what you can do when you visit this show. Tear sheets of stories and spreads have been displayed in boxes that take over the parquet floor galleries with individual shots blown up hanging on the adjacent walls. All the classics are there to discover in a format as if you are at an adventure playground, darting in and out of enclaves to find hidden gems. Its a map of imagery that Ive assisted on, made things for and freinds have likewise ....... for example a Nicola Formichetti shoot with a necklace from my very first collection ....... I had no idea when I was a runner picking up his negatives from Metro studios that one day he would be giving me credits on the very same pages.
This is a great show for any magazine obsessives / collectors who will really enjoy iconic works revisted, including the awesome Rankin shoot with Aimee Mullins which rotates in a slide show.

Visit Somerset House to check out the show and buy the book at 20 Years of Dazed & Confused

Fri Nov 4th: Happy Birthday Dazed & Confused Magazine

Last night Dazed & Confused celebrated their 20th birthday with a massive party spanning floors of the W Hotel in Leicester Square, complete with a flashing dancefloor. Obviously there were a ridiculous amount of people there who have worked for or contributed to the magazine over the last two decades - but I only managed to snap Anna Trevelyan who is becoming my most blogged mascot because she always looks so good!

Fri Nov 4th: Peroni Collaborazioni

Last evening was the unveliing on the Peroni Collaborazioni collaboration project with a stellar line up of talent combining bloggers and fashion designers:
Disneyrollergirl & Shaun Samson
Fashion Foie Gras & Jessica de Lotz
Stylebubble & Maarten van der Horst
The duos teamed up to create a new work inspired by Italian style such as jeweller Jessica De Lotz seen here with the bicycle bell that she made detachable to slot into a ring to be wearable! Jessica's attention to detail follows thru from her work to her own style from head to toe - and a particular fondness for latex with this blue bow! Shaun Sampson sampled a tailored suit with panels of fine hair which needed a final comb to detangle when setting up the exhibition. Here he is with both Navaz and Lulu Kennedy who champions the designer alongside Maarten, who's shirt she was sporting for the occasion. Maarten made a dress in his signature jungle print and tulle cloud volume silhouette which Susie is very excited about trying on! I can't imagine anyone else more perfectly fitting to style out such a cosmic garm so I look forward to seeing that! Here are intro film clips to explain more ...........

Thurs 3rd Nov: Ted Baker x Bompas and Parr Sweet Shoppe by Emily Beard

Ted Baker's Sweet Shoppe that launched in Selfridges Oxford Street yesterday allowed visitors to pick and mix from a sweet cart stocked with watermelon scented shoes and a selection of accessories.
Bompas and Parr provided the culinary delights, with a selection of unusual drinks including fusions of bubblegum, vodka, ginger, gin and green tea. They also delighted shoppers with mini watermelon slices that had a zesty kick.

The Ted Baker sweet shop will be at Selfridge's Oxford Street, Manchester Trafford Centre, Manchester Exchange Square and Birmingham Bullring.

Emily Beard

Weds 2nd Nov: Gary Card & Jacob Sutton

Gary Card and collaborator Jacob Sutton took it upon themselves to deck out the communal space in their studio to host an evening event of a sit down meal for friends to congregate and view their latest work. This was no cobbled together "Come Dine With Me" affair but a beautiful four course feast of genuine Istanbul cuisine cooked with consideration and care. To start proceedings Jacob dimmed the lights and showed a reel of recent films, projected onto the scoop (built by Gary's set builder father Chris Card). To illuminate the open plan site, Gary had made these glowing busts specially for the showcase. But the ultimate work on display were the sets he had constructed for Jacob's films including a chalk wall of white cubes that exploded on impact of an athlete captured in slow motion. The next short of Angelo Sorrenti striking sheets of sugar glass, break into tiny shiny shards that spin and fly thru close depth of field with macro focus. Each clip is an example of exquisite execution and production which sets the bench mark for other "fashion" film makers at the moment - I suddenly have a new appreciation for the facilities needed to pull off such major feats. See here a two part promo Jacob made with Simon Foxton for new iPAD exclusive periodical "POST" where the model is floating in mid air, convincingly gravity defying.
Not only did I learn more about the moving-image work of Jacob and Gary but also experienced a new type of format for bringing people together. This intimate and relaxed environment has triggered a taste for something I would like to experience more of in the future .......... especially the home made ice-cream and baklava pudding!!! Congratulations to the duo for having the initiative to put on such an all encompassing event in their own domain! As it turns out the space is now for hire as a studio for freelance photographers and shoots........ for more info see here. I can recommend it purely on the basis of the catering!

The Partisan - New York Times from Jacob Sutton on Vimeo.

The Man Who Fell To Earth from Jacob Sutton on Vimeo.

The Man Who Fell To Earth (Part II) from Jacob Sutton on Vimeo.