Amelia’s Magazine | University of Westminster: Photography Ba Hons Graduate Show 2011 Review

University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 review-Zara Ilic
Detail of photograph by Zara Ilic.

University of Westminster had the lion’s share of the Free Range showspace last weekend, store taking up the entirety of the huge hangar like space, symptoms which has lately been suffering a lot of roof leaks. Within those walls was a plethora of different photographic styles. I picked up on just a few in the show.

Tomas Hein Artefact
Tomas Hein porcelain figure
Tomas Hein looked into contemporary archaeological finds – from the former inhabitants of 43 Gerrard Road, Islington. After eviction only the porcelain statues of this Chinese family remained alongside some black and white informal family photos. Huge prints emphasised the pathos of his finds. His accompanying zine was featured on It’s Nice That. Find Tomas Hein on twitter here.

University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Louise Smith de Vasconcelos
University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Louise Smith de Vasconcelos
Louise Smith de Vasconcelos looked into Awareness and Perception in a series of close up still lives, some of which were more discernibly objects that I knew and recognised than others.

Genevieve Rudd dementia
I was most taken by Genevieve Rudd‘s collaborative project with her grandfather James Pettigrew, named 64 Althea Green. Together they documented her grandmother’s decline into dementia, with slabs of paint overlaid on conventional photography in a semi crazed manner.

University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Samantha Cawson
University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Samantha Cawson
University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Samantha Cawson
Samantha Cawson also chose to create an installation with the bastardised photographs of the Victorian and Edwardian era – faces sewn over with coloured cotton threads. Weirdly, I had the idea to do this with some of my old magazine tearsheets only yesterday, when I was considering how I could have contributed original art to the Art Car Boot Fair. Though maybe not over their faces…




Beth Vieira calls herself a ‘lens-based artist’ and is interested in cinematic and narrative photography. ‘Coming from an academic environment, my work tends to demonstrate a conceptual reflection onto psychoanalytical and sociological dramas‘. Her three video loop installation was called Scouting for Boys and featured staged tableaux that called to mind the kind of generic imagery that is familiar to us from films and television. At first glance these appeared to be static photos but then eyes, breath, wisps of emotion revealed them to be alive and moving people. Subtley clever.

Ed Hannan rowley_way
Ed Hannan tackled that favourite photographic subject, the weird beauty of council estates – mounds of curvaceous and angular weathered concrete rendered beautiful in the loving detail. It’s a shame there’s nowt more to be seen online yet.

Shanna Taylor Hoarding the Garage
Shanna Taylor Hoarding the Garage
Shanna Taylor Hoarding the Garage
University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Shanna Taylor Hoarding the Garage
The Garage struck a resonant note with me – Shanna Taylor‘s documentation of her father’s incredible hoarding showed how it has threatened to engulf his family (he’s built an extra garage where everything is getting mouldy and moth eaten). Rather uncomfortably it reminds me of my own tendency to hang on to absolutely everything… just in case it’s needed somewhere down the line, and also because I hate to create any kind of waste that might end up in landfill. ‘Much of what he has accumulated is junk…. However for him each item has such a high degree of perceived value that he cannot bear to part with it.’ Yup, I know that feeling only too well.

University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Jorge Anthony Stride
University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Jorge Anthony Stride
Uncertain States by Jorge Anthony Stride featured a series of ethereal landscapes, quite similar in fact to Lydia Anna Stott’s work at Nottingham Trent. Even his written explanation was eerily similar too. I must say I am very drawn to this kind of photography – something about the dreamlike state of it is very appealing. There must be something zeitgeisty going on here.

Zara Ilic Plitvika Jezera
Zara Ilic Plitvika Jezera
Zara Ilic Plitvika Jezera
I loved Zara Ilic‘s Plitvika Jezera – a colour saturated documentation of the waterfall in a national park on the borders between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. The waters change colour constantly according to the mineral deposits and angle of the sun, something which she has captured extremely evocatively. And to my excitement I was able to tweet her immediately to say how much I liked her work because she included her twitter profile on her business card. Yay!

Aniela Michalec-Perriam Pur-spi-kas-i-tee
Aniela Michalec-Perriam Pur-spi-kas-i-tee
University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Aniela Michalec-Perriam Pur-spi-kas-i-tee
Aniela Michalec-Perriam worked with children to complete her final project – Pur-spi-kas-i-tee tackled the plight of kids with communication difficulties, saddled with trying to make themselves understood in a society that negatively stereotypes them. The children were all given the opportunity to contribute to their portrait in any way they liked. The blurring of faces and simple brightness of the resulting photos was very evocative.

University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Jason Pierce-Williams
University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Jason Pierce-Williams
Lastly, Jason Pierce-Williams visited the studios of artists who are driven to make art despite the lack of commercial success. His candid portraits portrayed the stoicism of those artists who are determined to keep producing art regardless. ‘None of the artists portrayed are household names.’

All in all there was a very high quality of photography amongst Westminster students, but too many have rested on their laurels when it comes to promoting their work online – it was a massive struggle to find degree show images. Some students hadn’t even bothered to upload their images to the Free Range showcase pages, hence the reason that this blog features my relatively crappy photos of photos. Trawling the web in search of images I have also come to realise just how much help creatives need with learning Search Engine Optimisation – they really don’t make the most of it. I can’t stress how important it is to graduate with a strong online presence so that interested parties can track you down. Is it any surprise that Tomas Hein, with his great website, blog and twitter feed, has received such notable accolades already? If not now, then when?

Categories ,2011, ,43 Gerrard Road, ,64 Althea Green, ,Aniela Michalec-Perriam, ,Art Car Boot Fair, ,Awareness and Perception, ,Beth Vieira, ,Bosnia and Herzegovina, ,Council Estates, ,Croatia, ,Dementia, ,Ed Hannan, ,Eviction, ,Free Range, ,Genevieve Rudd, ,Graduate Shows, ,Hoarding, ,Islington, ,It’s Nice That, ,James Pettigrew, ,Jason Pierce-Williams, ,Jorge Anthony Stride, ,Lens-based artist, ,Louise Smith de Vasconcelos, ,Lydia Anne Stott, ,Nottingham Trent University, ,photography, ,Plitvika Jezera, ,Pur-spi-kas-i-tee, ,Samantha Cawson, ,Scouting for Boys, ,Search Engine Optimisation, ,Shanna Taylor, ,The Garage, ,Tomas Hein, ,Uncertain States, ,University of Westminster, ,video, ,Zara Ilic, ,Zeitgeist, ,zine

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Amelia’s Magazine | University of Westminster: Photography Ba Hons Graduate Show 2011 Review

University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 review-Zara Ilic
Detail of photograph by Zara Ilic.

University of Westminster had the lion’s share of the Free Range showspace last weekend, store taking up the entirety of the huge hangar like space, symptoms which has lately been suffering a lot of roof leaks. Within those walls was a plethora of different photographic styles. I picked up on just a few in the show.

Tomas Hein Artefact
Tomas Hein porcelain figure
Tomas Hein looked into contemporary archaeological finds – from the former inhabitants of 43 Gerrard Road, Islington. After eviction only the porcelain statues of this Chinese family remained alongside some black and white informal family photos. Huge prints emphasised the pathos of his finds. His accompanying zine was featured on It’s Nice That. Find Tomas Hein on twitter here.

University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Louise Smith de Vasconcelos
University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Louise Smith de Vasconcelos
Louise Smith de Vasconcelos looked into Awareness and Perception in a series of close up still lives, some of which were more discernibly objects that I knew and recognised than others.

Genevieve Rudd dementia
I was most taken by Genevieve Rudd‘s collaborative project with her grandfather James Pettigrew, named 64 Althea Green. Together they documented her grandmother’s decline into dementia, with slabs of paint overlaid on conventional photography in a semi crazed manner.

University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Samantha Cawson
University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Samantha Cawson
University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Samantha Cawson
Samantha Cawson also chose to create an installation with the bastardised photographs of the Victorian and Edwardian era – faces sewn over with coloured cotton threads. Weirdly, I had the idea to do this with some of my old magazine tearsheets only yesterday, when I was considering how I could have contributed original art to the Art Car Boot Fair. Though maybe not over their faces…




Beth Vieira calls herself a ‘lens-based artist’ and is interested in cinematic and narrative photography. ‘Coming from an academic environment, my work tends to demonstrate a conceptual reflection onto psychoanalytical and sociological dramas‘. Her three video loop installation was called Scouting for Boys and featured staged tableaux that called to mind the kind of generic imagery that is familiar to us from films and television. At first glance these appeared to be static photos but then eyes, breath, wisps of emotion revealed them to be alive and moving people. Subtley clever.

Ed Hannan rowley_way
Ed Hannan tackled that favourite photographic subject, the weird beauty of council estates – mounds of curvaceous and angular weathered concrete rendered beautiful in the loving detail. It’s a shame there’s nowt more to be seen online yet.

Shanna Taylor Hoarding the Garage
Shanna Taylor Hoarding the Garage
Shanna Taylor Hoarding the Garage
University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Shanna Taylor Hoarding the Garage
The Garage struck a resonant note with me – Shanna Taylor‘s documentation of her father’s incredible hoarding showed how it has threatened to engulf his family (he’s built an extra garage where everything is getting mouldy and moth eaten). Rather uncomfortably it reminds me of my own tendency to hang on to absolutely everything… just in case it’s needed somewhere down the line, and also because I hate to create any kind of waste that might end up in landfill. ‘Much of what he has accumulated is junk…. However for him each item has such a high degree of perceived value that he cannot bear to part with it.’ Yup, I know that feeling only too well.

University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Jorge Anthony Stride
University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Jorge Anthony Stride
Uncertain States by Jorge Anthony Stride featured a series of ethereal landscapes, quite similar in fact to Lydia Anna Stott’s work at Nottingham Trent. Even his written explanation was eerily similar too. I must say I am very drawn to this kind of photography – something about the dreamlike state of it is very appealing. There must be something zeitgeisty going on here.

Zara Ilic Plitvika Jezera
Zara Ilic Plitvika Jezera
Zara Ilic Plitvika Jezera
I loved Zara Ilic‘s Plitvika Jezera – a colour saturated documentation of the waterfall in a national park on the borders between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. The waters change colour constantly according to the mineral deposits and angle of the sun, something which she has captured extremely evocatively. And to my excitement I was able to tweet her immediately to say how much I liked her work because she included her twitter profile on her business card. Yay!

Aniela Michalec-Perriam Pur-spi-kas-i-tee
Aniela Michalec-Perriam Pur-spi-kas-i-tee
University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Aniela Michalec-Perriam Pur-spi-kas-i-tee
Aniela Michalec-Perriam worked with children to complete her final project – Pur-spi-kas-i-tee tackled the plight of kids with communication difficulties, saddled with trying to make themselves understood in a society that negatively stereotypes them. The children were all given the opportunity to contribute to their portrait in any way they liked. The blurring of faces and simple brightness of the resulting photos was very evocative.

University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Jason Pierce-Williams
University of Westminster photography graduate exhibition 2011 Jason Pierce-Williams
Lastly, Jason Pierce-Williams visited the studios of artists who are driven to make art despite the lack of commercial success. His candid portraits portrayed the stoicism of those artists who are determined to keep producing art regardless. ‘None of the artists portrayed are household names.’

All in all there was a very high quality of photography amongst Westminster students, but too many have rested on their laurels when it comes to promoting their work online – it was a massive struggle to find degree show images. Some students hadn’t even bothered to upload their images to the Free Range showcase pages, hence the reason that this blog features my relatively crappy photos of photos. Trawling the web in search of images I have also come to realise just how much help creatives need with learning Search Engine Optimisation – they really don’t make the most of it. I can’t stress how important it is to graduate with a strong online presence so that interested parties can track you down. Is it any surprise that Tomas Hein, with his great website, blog and twitter feed, has received such notable accolades already? If not now, then when?

Categories ,2011, ,43 Gerrard Road, ,64 Althea Green, ,Aniela Michalec-Perriam, ,Art Car Boot Fair, ,Awareness and Perception, ,Beth Vieira, ,Bosnia and Herzegovina, ,Council Estates, ,Croatia, ,Dementia, ,Ed Hannan, ,Eviction, ,Free Range, ,Genevieve Rudd, ,Graduate Shows, ,Hoarding, ,Islington, ,It’s Nice That, ,James Pettigrew, ,Jason Pierce-Williams, ,Jorge Anthony Stride, ,Lens-based artist, ,Louise Smith de Vasconcelos, ,Lydia Anne Stott, ,Nottingham Trent University, ,photography, ,Plitvika Jezera, ,Pur-spi-kas-i-tee, ,Samantha Cawson, ,Scouting for Boys, ,Search Engine Optimisation, ,Shanna Taylor, ,The Garage, ,Tomas Hein, ,Uncertain States, ,University of Westminster, ,video, ,Zara Ilic, ,Zeitgeist, ,zine

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Amelia’s Magazine | Pick Me Up 2011 at Somerset House: a review

title - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Most illustrations by Jenny Robins.

I got photographed on my way in to Somerset House (in my jumble sale Sheepskin coat belonging to my sister and waistcoat from H&M Kids circa 1999) – expect to see me in Vogue. Not really. The reason I wore the waistcoat was to hide the fact that the little charity shop top I had on underneath with the peter pan collar was missing several buttons up the back which continued to pop off as I rushed around London.

sketchbook -Jordan Azkill - Felicity Brown - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Jordan Askill and Felicity Brown in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

After sketching away at the Charlotte Eskildsen exhibition (leather gloves, no rx exciting shapes, more about draw string leg warmers, see the write up by Jemma Crow and my sketches here) and drawing like a mad thing from a sideways view at Jasper Conran’s catwalk show (see my write up and illustrations ), I took a wonder through the New Gen, BFC/Elle talent launch pad and Vauxhall Fashion Scout galleries to take in some static displays and meet some nice publicists and designers. Please see here for your viewing pleasure my sketchbook pages from the day and some additional pictures and commentary.

sketchbook - Holly Fulton - Christopher Raeburn - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Holly Fulton & Christopher Raeburn in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

It’s a funny thing to go to on the Saturday (as I did) because half the stuff on show at New Gen is Spring/Summer as the new things are off to be catwalked as it were, or a secret till then, and they don’t really want you to write about their Spring/Summer stuff so sometimes they talk it down. This didn’t stop me from falling in love with the hand perforated yellow leather cocktail dress and skirt by Holly Fulton which were some of the first things I saw. I’ve had a look at her new collection and it isn’t quite as joyful as these two pieces for me but still typically beautiful with her geometric patterns and increasingly incorporating more sinuous art nouveauesque prints too.

Jordan Askill Ceramic Bird Necklace by Madi
Jordan Askill Ceramic Bird Necklace by Madi.

Jordan Askill by Jenny Robins
Jordan Askill by Jenny Robins.

The next thing to really catch my eye was the stunning sculptural jewellery work of Jordan Askill. Anything with a lot of birds in, or lets face it, a bird, is a joy for me and Askill’s white resin and nylon swallows en mass formation is perfection itself.

sketchbook - Yang Du - Mary Katrantzou - Fannie Schiavoni - Piers Atkinson - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
sketchbook – Yang Du – Mary Katrantzou – Fannie Schiavoni – Piers Atkinson – lfw aw11 – jenny robins
Image courtesy of Selfridges

Opposite was Yang Du’s stall with her fabulously kitsch and chic cashmere dolly dresses and capes. These I love, but Yang Du‘s additional arrangement of knitted toy scarves and finger puppet gloves confused me quite a lot. It’s not that I don’t like them, I just don’t see what about them is different from the crafty equivalent you could pick up in a village jumble for probably a fiver, or from a hobbyist on etsy for a bit more, but they are retailing at Selfridges for hundreds of pounds. This is the paradox of lo-fi high fashion.

IMAGE sketchbook – Yang Du – Mary Katrantzou – Fannie Schiavoni – Piers Atkinson – lfw aw11 – jenny robins
I didn’t see any of Mary Katrantzou’s amazing collection as it was out on show – the pieces from spring/summer on show in the gallery still caught my eye with high colour interior prints and tasselled house lamp skirts – I highly recommend taking a look at the review of her collection here.

Piers Atkinson - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Piers Atkinson by Jenny Robins.

In the riverside lobby downstairs where the cake is, a display of various hats under the title headonism (get it) was sure to catch my attention with Piers Atkinson’s awesome giant cherry headband – he has a wide array of other more and less absurd head accessories including a beanie with giant mickey mouse ear style pompoms, a glittery and 24 carrot gold aubergine head band and various exuberant ostrich feathered creations. Read a longer review of this here.

Image courtesy of Yunus & Eliza
At the Talent Launchpad exhibition space the first thing to pique my curiosity were the jewel=like gold plated enamel face crucifixes made by Yunus & Eliza – I say crucifixes, looking at the website it seems like they are possibly not meant to be Christian symbols at all – the ambiguity probably plays to their favour though, while Eliza was wonderfully eloquent about some of their other pieces based on child genius and bird heads (yay birds) she didn’t say a lot about what seems to be their signature piece – saying people have found a lot of meaning in them. Good for them I say, spiritual ambiguity should be shiny and beautiful. I was also very impressed by the description the pair gave of their collaborative working – the metamorphosis of their ideas mirroring the themes they play with. I don’t play very well with others so I’m always impressed by successful collaboration.

sketchbook - Lublu Kira Plastina - George Angelopoulos - Yunus & Eliza - Les Nereides - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
sketchbook – Lublu Kira Plastina – George Angelopoulos – Yunus & Eliza – Les Nereides – lfw aw11 – jenny robins.

I was struck by Lublu Kira Plastinina’s novelty oversize zips, as well as her classic mac with giant fur sleeves (boo fur), I drew this to scale diagram to demonstrate the size of the zips.

les nereides - n2 aw11 - lfw
Images courtesy of N2

I then spent a good amount of time looking at the beautiful and quirky N2 jewellery collection by Les Nereides and chatting to the lovely Rose and Melissa about fashion week snobbery. The work is gorgeous, a cheaper, kitscher spin off from the intricate work of the main label (although still retailing from £30 – cheaper is high end cheaper of course) featuring designer collaborations, fairytales, French patisserie and large characterful animal necklaces. N2 recently opened their own spin off special store in Monmouth Street. I love it all though similarly to with Yang Du I feel the conflict brought on by the posh cute dynamic – I’m just not born to be bothered by quality as much as some, if it’s going to look cheerful and basic, why gold plate it?

sketchbook - Teatum Jones - N2 llama - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Teatum Jones – N2 llama – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

Upstairs I was struck by Teatum Jones’ amazing printed silk Eva Moore Shirt Dress – super delicate and all lilacs and pinks against the utilitarian shapes of the shirt design. Catherine Teatum (who was wearing an amazing silver leather jacket), shared with me how the piece is inspired by two women who worked on the front line in the first world war – there was no female uniform for their position so they wore oversized men’s uniform and the floral looking pattern reflects their mud and blood soaked attire. You would not guess this from looking at the dress. But there is that sense of strength and melancholy in the collection, which also includes high wasted trench trousers and a heavy caped trench coat cut short as well as more delicate items, that chimes well at the moment. Here is Teatum Jones featured in our emerging talent preview. Let us be stoic and feminine, and pull together. I drew the two designers here with their iconic dress.

Nuerotica - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Nuerotica – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

My next love affair was with Neurotica’s A/W collection Bright Eyes based on Watership Down. Even though the animated film did give me nightmares with that bit with the gas in the tunnels, got to love the foresty, rabbity vibe on show here. I want almost everything in this collection, from the chunky quilted collars to the amazing strapless jumpsuit all sporting some kind of atmospheric winter branch print. A little bit gothic in sentiment, but so clean and feminine in the shapes. Yeah I super love it actually. There S/S stuff is pretty brilliant too. Look out for it.

sketchbook - Little Glass Clementine - Neurotica - ethical - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Little Glass Clementine – Neurotica – ethical – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

I strayed up again into the ethical part of the exhibition and initially met Little Glass Clementine (as featured in ACOFI!) who puts together all sorts of oddments and icons in her maximalist jewellery, not so much of a collection as each piece is a one off, but there are emerging themes, I especially enjoyed the stop-watch elements and the pieces of blue and white tiles incorporated into some of the pieces.

Pachacuti - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Pachacuti – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

I was also impressed by Pachacuti’s array of colourful ethical panama hats made by women’s collectives in Ecuador. Apparently they were doing it before it was all trendy.

sketchbook - Ginta - Anthony Peto - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Ginta – Anthony Peto – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

Tatty Devine - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Tatty Devine – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

I also enjoyed sneak peeking Tatty Devine’s forthcoming new collections with pieces inspired by owls, ivy, foxes, sycamore seeds and chunky oldschool brogues. All very fun with the organic subtlety of some of these new designs blending softly with their Perspex shapes – perfect in the new matt frosted Perspex used for some of these. I like the foxes and ivy especially, mature yet whimsical showing that Tatty Devine is growing from strength to strength. Also featured were an upcoming footwear collaboration with the Old Curiosity Shop – adding Perspex moustaches to their shoes.

Ginta Siceva Masks by Madi
Ginta Siceva Masks by Madi.

Ginta - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Ginta by jenny robins

Ginta’s lovely lazer cut intricate accessories layering leather flowers were almost as stunning as the designer herself.

Ginta - aw11 - lfw
Image courtesy of Ginta

sketchbook - Vauxhall Fashion Scout - Erika Trotzig - Una Burke - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Vauxhall Fashion Scout – Erika Trotzig – Una Burke – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

As extensively covered elsewhere on Amelia’s Magazine, I also found myself struck by Una Burke’s work on entering the Vauxhall Fashion Scout exhibition at Freemasons Hall, we talked about prosthetics and wet plate photography. High concept bondage, beautifully put together – all by hand as apparently the riveter has not been made that can rivet so many layers of leather, so more art than fashion really. Exploring how people with prosthetics (like disfigurements) find they often lose their identity when all people see is their unusual limbs, the work is successful I think – you certainly would notice the Una Burke outfit more than the person inside it.

In the small amount of time left before I headed into the Fashion Mode show, I drew 2 stunning dresses and the designers who created them:

sketchbook - Nicole Murray - Edward Finney - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
sketchbook – Nicole Murray – Edward Finney – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

Edward Finney’s work here is amazingly fluid yet sculptural, the silhouette is so long and sumptuous, and I love the matter of fact shapes of the bodice. Classy yet daring. All that stuff.

Nicole Murray’s dress by comparison is an absolute delight of softness and intricacy. The classic long gown underneath the gorgeous lace shift covers the wearer almost completely, yet seems very naked and unearthly. She was also beautiful.

Nicole Murray - lfw aw11 - dress
Nicole Murray. Photo courtesy of h.prlondon

Of the three shows I enjoyed the vibe at Freemasons Hall the most… it may have been the venue but it just felt far more relaxed and refined. The toilets were also very nice.

sketchbook - Fashion Mode crowd - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
The Fashion Mode crowd.
title - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Most illustrations by Jenny Robins.

I got photographed on my way in to Somerset House (in my jumble sale Sheepskin coat belonging to my sister and waistcoat from H&M Kids circa 1999) – expect to see me in Vogue. Not really. The reason I wore the waistcoat was to hide the fact that the little charity shop top I had on underneath with the peter pan collar was missing several buttons up the back which continued to pop off as I rushed around London.

sketchbook -Jordan Azkill - Felicity Brown - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Jordan Askill and Felicity Brown in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

After sketching away at the Charlotte Eskildsen exhibition (leather gloves, buy more about exciting shapes, purchase draw string leg warmers, see the write up by Jemma Crow and my sketches here) and drawing like a mad thing from a sideways view at Jasper Conran’s catwalk show (see my write up and illustrations ), I took a wonder through the New Gen, BFC/Elle talent launch pad and Vauxhall Fashion Scout galleries to take in some static displays and meet some nice publicists and designers. Please see here for your viewing pleasure my sketchbook pages from the day and some additional pictures and commentary.

sketchbook - Holly Fulton - Christopher Raeburn - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Holly Fulton & Christopher Raeburn in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

It’s a funny thing to go to on the Saturday (as I did) because half the stuff on show at New Gen is Spring/Summer as the new things are off to be catwalked as it were, or a secret till then, and they don’t really want you to write about their Spring/Summer stuff so sometimes they talk it down. This didn’t stop me from falling in love with the hand perforated yellow leather cocktail dress and skirt by Holly Fulton which were some of the first things I saw. I’ve had a look at her new collection and it isn’t quite as joyful as these two pieces for me but still typically beautiful with her geometric patterns and increasingly incorporating more sinuous art nouveauesque prints too.

Jordan Askill Ceramic Bird Necklace by Madi
Jordan Askill Ceramic Bird Necklace by Madi.

Jordan Askill by Jenny Robins
Jordan Askill by Jenny Robins.

The next thing to really catch my eye was the stunning sculptural jewellery work of Jordan Askill. Anything with a lot of birds in, or lets face it, a bird, is a joy for me and Askill’s white resin and nylon swallows en mass formation is perfection itself.

sketchbook - Yang Du - Mary Katrantzou - Fannie Schiavoni - Piers Atkinson - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
sketchbook – Yang Du – Mary Katrantzou – Fannie Schiavoni – Piers Atkinson – lfw aw11 – jenny robins
Image courtesy of Selfridges

Opposite was Yang Du’s stall with her fabulously kitsch and chic cashmere dolly dresses and capes. These I love, but Yang Du‘s additional arrangement of knitted toy scarves and finger puppet gloves confused me quite a lot. It’s not that I don’t like them, I just don’t see what about them is different from the crafty equivalent you could pick up in a village jumble for probably a fiver, or from a hobbyist on etsy for a bit more, but they are retailing at Selfridges for hundreds of pounds. This is the paradox of lo-fi high fashion.

IMAGE sketchbook – Yang Du – Mary Katrantzou – Fannie Schiavoni – Piers Atkinson – lfw aw11 – jenny robins
I didn’t see any of Mary Katrantzou’s amazing collection as it was out on show – the pieces from spring/summer on show in the gallery still caught my eye with high colour interior prints and tasselled house lamp skirts – I highly recommend taking a look at the review of her collection here.

Piers Atkinson - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Piers Atkinson by Jenny Robins.

In the riverside lobby downstairs where the cake is, a display of various hats under the title headonism (get it) was sure to catch my attention with Piers Atkinson’s awesome giant cherry headband – he has a wide array of other more and less absurd head accessories including a beanie with giant mickey mouse ear style pompoms, a glittery and 24 carrot gold aubergine head band and various exuberant ostrich feathered creations. Read a longer review of this here.

Image courtesy of Yunus & Eliza
At the Talent Launchpad exhibition space the first thing to pique my curiosity were the jewel=like gold plated enamel face crucifixes made by Yunus & Eliza – I say crucifixes, looking at the website it seems like they are possibly not meant to be Christian symbols at all – the ambiguity probably plays to their favour though, while Eliza was wonderfully eloquent about some of their other pieces based on child genius and bird heads (yay birds) she didn’t say a lot about what seems to be their signature piece – saying people have found a lot of meaning in them. Good for them I say, spiritual ambiguity should be shiny and beautiful. I was also very impressed by the description the pair gave of their collaborative working – the metamorphosis of their ideas mirroring the themes they play with. I don’t play very well with others so I’m always impressed by successful collaboration.

sketchbook - Lublu Kira Plastina - George Angelopoulos - Yunus & Eliza - Les Nereides - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
sketchbook – Lublu Kira Plastina – George Angelopoulos – Yunus & Eliza – Les Nereides – lfw aw11 – jenny robins.

I was struck by Lublu Kira Plastinina’s novelty oversize zips, as well as her classic mac with giant fur sleeves (boo fur), I drew this to scale diagram to demonstrate the size of the zips.

les nereides - n2 aw11 - lfw
Images courtesy of N2

I then spent a good amount of time looking at the beautiful and quirky N2 jewellery collection by Les Nereides and chatting to the lovely Rose and Melissa about fashion week snobbery. The work is gorgeous, a cheaper, kitscher spin off from the intricate work of the main label (although still retailing from £30 – cheaper is high end cheaper of course) featuring designer collaborations, fairytales, French patisserie and large characterful animal necklaces. N2 recently opened their own spin off special store in Monmouth Street. I love it all though similarly to with Yang Du I feel the conflict brought on by the posh cute dynamic – I’m just not born to be bothered by quality as much as some, if it’s going to look cheerful and basic, why gold plate it?

sketchbook - Teatum Jones - N2 llama - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Teatum Jones – N2 llama – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

Upstairs I was struck by Teatum Jones’ amazing printed silk Eva Moore Shirt Dress – super delicate and all lilacs and pinks against the utilitarian shapes of the shirt design. Catherine Teatum (who was wearing an amazing silver leather jacket), shared with me how the piece is inspired by two women who worked on the front line in the first world war – there was no female uniform for their position so they wore oversized men’s uniform and the floral looking pattern reflects their mud and blood soaked attire. You would not guess this from looking at the dress. But there is that sense of strength and melancholy in the collection, which also includes high wasted trench trousers and a heavy caped trench coat cut short as well as more delicate items, that chimes well at the moment. Here is Teatum Jones featured in our emerging talent preview. Let us be stoic and feminine, and pull together. I drew the two designers here with their iconic dress.

Nuerotica - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Nuerotica – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

My next love affair was with Neurotica’s A/W collection Bright Eyes based on Watership Down. Even though the animated film did give me nightmares with that bit with the gas in the tunnels, got to love the foresty, rabbity vibe on show here. I want almost everything in this collection, from the chunky quilted collars to the amazing strapless jumpsuit all sporting some kind of atmospheric winter branch print. A little bit gothic in sentiment, but so clean and feminine in the shapes. Yeah I super love it actually. There S/S stuff is pretty brilliant too. Look out for it.

sketchbook - Little Glass Clementine - Neurotica - ethical - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Little Glass Clementine – Neurotica – ethical – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

I strayed up again into the ethical part of the exhibition and initially met Little Glass Clementine (as featured in ACOFI!) who puts together all sorts of oddments and icons in her maximalist jewellery, not so much of a collection as each piece is a one off, but there are emerging themes, I especially enjoyed the stop-watch elements and the pieces of blue and white tiles incorporated into some of the pieces.

Pachacuti - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Pachacuti – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

I was also impressed by Pachacuti’s array of colourful ethical panama hats made by women’s collectives in Ecuador. Apparently they were doing it before it was all trendy.

sketchbook - Ginta - Anthony Peto - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Ginta – Anthony Peto – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

Tatty Devine - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Tatty Devine – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

I also enjoyed sneak peeking Tatty Devine’s forthcoming new collections with pieces inspired by owls, ivy, foxes, sycamore seeds and chunky oldschool brogues. All very fun with the organic subtlety of some of these new designs blending softly with their Perspex shapes – perfect in the new matt frosted Perspex used for some of these. I like the foxes and ivy especially, mature yet whimsical showing that Tatty Devine is growing from strength to strength. Also featured were an upcoming footwear collaboration with the Old Curiosity Shop – adding Perspex moustaches to their shoes.

Ginta Siceva Masks by Madi
Ginta Siceva Masks by Madi.

Ginta - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Ginta by jenny robins

Ginta’s lovely lazer cut intricate accessories layering leather flowers were almost as stunning as the designer herself.

Ginta - aw11 - lfw
Image courtesy of Ginta

sketchbook - Vauxhall Fashion Scout - Erika Trotzig - Una Burke - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Vauxhall Fashion Scout – Erika Trotzig – Una Burke – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

As extensively covered elsewhere on Amelia’s Magazine, I also found myself struck by Una Burke’s work on entering the Vauxhall Fashion Scout exhibition at Freemasons Hall, we talked about prosthetics and wet plate photography. High concept bondage, beautifully put together – all by hand as apparently the riveter has not been made that can rivet so many layers of leather, so more art than fashion really. Exploring how people with prosthetics (like disfigurements) find they often lose their identity when all people see is their unusual limbs, the work is successful I think – you certainly would notice the Una Burke outfit more than the person inside it.

In the small amount of time left before I headed into the Fashion Mode show, I drew 2 stunning dresses and the designers who created them:

sketchbook - Nicole Murray - Edward Finney - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
sketchbook – Nicole Murray – Edward Finney – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

Edward Finney’s work here is amazingly fluid yet sculptural, the silhouette is so long and sumptuous, and I love the matter of fact shapes of the bodice. Classy yet daring. All that stuff.

Nicole Murray’s dress by comparison is an absolute delight of softness and intricacy. The classic long gown underneath the gorgeous lace shift covers the wearer almost completely, yet seems very naked and unearthly. She was also beautiful.

Nicole Murray - lfw aw11 - dress
Nicole Murray. Photo courtesy of h.prlondon

Of the three shows I enjoyed the vibe at Freemasons Hall the most… it may have been the venue but it just felt far more relaxed and refined. The toilets were also very nice.

sketchbook - Fashion Mode crowd - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
The Fashion Mode crowd.
title - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Most illustrations by Jenny Robins.

I got photographed on my way in to Somerset House (in my jumble sale Sheepskin coat belonging to my sister and waistcoat from H&M Kids circa 1999) – expect to see me in Vogue. Not really. The reason I wore the waistcoat was to hide the fact that the little charity shop top I had on underneath with the peter pan collar was missing several buttons up the back which continued to pop off as I rushed around London.

sketchbook -Jordan Azkill - Felicity Brown - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Jordan Askill and Felicity Brown in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

After sketching away at the Charlotte Eskildsen exhibition (leather gloves, buy exciting shapes, link draw string leg warmers, drugs see the write up by Jemma Crow and my sketches here) and drawing like a mad thing from a sideways view at Jasper Conran’s catwalk show (see my write up and illustrations ), I took a wonder through the New Gen, BFC/Elle talent launch pad and Vauxhall Fashion Scout galleries to take in some static displays and meet some nice publicists and designers. Please see here for your viewing pleasure my sketchbook pages from the day and some additional pictures and commentary.

sketchbook - Holly Fulton - Christopher Raeburn - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Holly Fulton & Christopher Raeburn in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

It’s a funny thing to go to on the Saturday (as I did) because half the stuff on show at New Gen is Spring/Summer as the new things are off to be catwalked as it were, or a secret till then, and they don’t really want you to write about their Spring/Summer stuff so sometimes they talk it down. This didn’t stop me from falling in love with the hand perforated yellow leather cocktail dress and skirt by Holly Fulton which were some of the first things I saw. I’ve had a look at her new collection and it isn’t quite as joyful as these two pieces for me but still typically beautiful with her geometric patterns and increasingly incorporating more sinuous art nouveauesque prints too.

Jordan Askill Ceramic Bird Necklace by Madi
Jordan Askill Ceramic Bird Necklace by Madi.

Jordan Askill by Jenny Robins
Jordan Askill by Jenny Robins.

The next thing to really catch my eye was the stunning sculptural jewellery work of Jordan Askill. Anything with a lot of birds in, or lets face it, a bird, is a joy for me and Askill’s white resin and nylon swallows en mass formation is perfection itself.

sketchbook - Yang Du - Mary Katrantzou - Fannie Schiavoni - Piers Atkinson - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
sketchbook – Yang Du – Mary Katrantzou – Fannie Schiavoni – Piers Atkinson – lfw aw11 – jenny robins
Image courtesy of Selfridges

Opposite was Yang Du’s stall with her fabulously kitsch and chic cashmere dolly dresses and capes. These I love, but Yang Du‘s additional arrangement of knitted toy scarves and finger puppet gloves confused me quite a lot. It’s not that I don’t like them, I just don’t see what about them is different from the crafty equivalent you could pick up in a village jumble for probably a fiver, or from a hobbyist on etsy for a bit more, but they are retailing at Selfridges for hundreds of pounds. This is the paradox of lo-fi high fashion.

IMAGE sketchbook – Yang Du – Mary Katrantzou – Fannie Schiavoni – Piers Atkinson – lfw aw11 – jenny robins
I didn’t see any of Mary Katrantzou’s amazing collection as it was out on show – the pieces from spring/summer on show in the gallery still caught my eye with high colour interior prints and tasselled house lamp skirts – I highly recommend taking a look at the review of her collection here.

Piers Atkinson - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Piers Atkinson by Jenny Robins.

In the riverside lobby downstairs where the cake is, a display of various hats under the title headonism (get it) was sure to catch my attention with Piers Atkinson’s awesome giant cherry headband – he has a wide array of other more and less absurd head accessories including a beanie with giant mickey mouse ear style pompoms, a glittery and 24 carrot gold aubergine head band and various exuberant ostrich feathered creations. Read a longer review of this here.

Image courtesy of Yunus & Eliza
At the Talent Launchpad exhibition space the first thing to pique my curiosity were the jewel=like gold plated enamel face crucifixes made by Yunus & Eliza – I say crucifixes, looking at the website it seems like they are possibly not meant to be Christian symbols at all – the ambiguity probably plays to their favour though, while Eliza was wonderfully eloquent about some of their other pieces based on child genius and bird heads (yay birds) she didn’t say a lot about what seems to be their signature piece – saying people have found a lot of meaning in them. Good for them I say, spiritual ambiguity should be shiny and beautiful. I was also very impressed by the description the pair gave of their collaborative working – the metamorphosis of their ideas mirroring the themes they play with. I don’t play very well with others so I’m always impressed by successful collaboration.

sketchbook - Lublu Kira Plastina - George Angelopoulos - Yunus & Eliza - Les Nereides - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
sketchbook – Lublu Kira Plastina – George Angelopoulos – Yunus & Eliza – Les Nereides – lfw aw11 – jenny robins.

I was struck by Lublu Kira Plastinina’s novelty oversize zips, as well as her classic mac with giant fur sleeves (boo fur), I drew this to scale diagram to demonstrate the size of the zips.

les nereides - n2 aw11 - lfw
Images courtesy of N2

I then spent a good amount of time looking at the beautiful and quirky N2 jewellery collection by Les Nereides and chatting to the lovely Rose and Melissa about fashion week snobbery. The work is gorgeous, a cheaper, kitscher spin off from the intricate work of the main label (although still retailing from £30 – cheaper is high end cheaper of course) featuring designer collaborations, fairytales, French patisserie and large characterful animal necklaces. N2 recently opened their own spin off special store in Monmouth Street. I love it all though similarly to with Yang Du I feel the conflict brought on by the posh cute dynamic – I’m just not born to be bothered by quality as much as some, if it’s going to look cheerful and basic, why gold plate it?

sketchbook - Teatum Jones - N2 llama - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Teatum Jones – N2 llama – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

Upstairs I was struck by Teatum Jones’ amazing printed silk Eva Moore Shirt Dress – super delicate and all lilacs and pinks against the utilitarian shapes of the shirt design. Catherine Teatum (who was wearing an amazing silver leather jacket), shared with me how the piece is inspired by two women who worked on the front line in the first world war – there was no female uniform for their position so they wore oversized men’s uniform and the floral looking pattern reflects their mud and blood soaked attire. You would not guess this from looking at the dress. But there is that sense of strength and melancholy in the collection, which also includes high wasted trench trousers and a heavy caped trench coat cut short as well as more delicate items, that chimes well at the moment. Here is Teatum Jones featured in our emerging talent preview. Let us be stoic and feminine, and pull together. I drew the two designers here with their iconic dress.

Nuerotica - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Nuerotica – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

My next love affair was with Neurotica’s A/W collection Bright Eyes based on Watership Down. Even though the animated film did give me nightmares with that bit with the gas in the tunnels, got to love the foresty, rabbity vibe on show here. I want almost everything in this collection, from the chunky quilted collars to the amazing strapless jumpsuit all sporting some kind of atmospheric winter branch print. A little bit gothic in sentiment, but so clean and feminine in the shapes. Yeah I super love it actually. There S/S stuff is pretty brilliant too. Look out for it.

sketchbook - Little Glass Clementine - Neurotica - ethical - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Little Glass Clementine – Neurotica – ethical – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

I strayed up again into the ethical part of the exhibition and initially met Little Glass Clementine (as featured in ACOFI!) who puts together all sorts of oddments and icons in her maximalist jewellery, not so much of a collection as each piece is a one off, but there are emerging themes, I especially enjoyed the stop-watch elements and the pieces of blue and white tiles incorporated into some of the pieces.

Pachacuti - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Pachacuti – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

I was also impressed by Pachacuti’s array of colourful ethical panama hats made by women’s collectives in Ecuador. Apparently they were doing it before it was all trendy.

sketchbook - Ginta - Anthony Peto - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Ginta – Anthony Peto – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

Tatty Devine - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Tatty Devine – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

I also enjoyed sneak peeking Tatty Devine’s forthcoming new collections with pieces inspired by owls, ivy, foxes, sycamore seeds and chunky oldschool brogues. All very fun with the organic subtlety of some of these new designs blending softly with their Perspex shapes – perfect in the new matt frosted Perspex used for some of these. I like the foxes and ivy especially, mature yet whimsical showing that Tatty Devine is growing from strength to strength. Also featured were an upcoming footwear collaboration with the Old Curiosity Shop – adding Perspex moustaches to their shoes.

Ginta Siceva Masks by Madi
Ginta Siceva Masks by Madi.

Ginta - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Ginta by jenny robins

Ginta’s lovely lazer cut intricate accessories layering leather flowers were almost as stunning as the designer herself.

Ginta - aw11 - lfw
Image courtesy of Ginta

sketchbook - Vauxhall Fashion Scout - Erika Trotzig - Una Burke - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Vauxhall Fashion Scout – Erika Trotzig – Una Burke – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

As extensively covered elsewhere on Amelia’s Magazine, I also found myself struck by Una Burke’s work on entering the Vauxhall Fashion Scout exhibition at Freemasons Hall, we talked about prosthetics and wet plate photography. High concept bondage, beautifully put together – all by hand as apparently the riveter has not been made that can rivet so many layers of leather, so more art than fashion really. Exploring how people with prosthetics (like disfigurements) find they often lose their identity when all people see is their unusual limbs, the work is successful I think – you certainly would notice the Una Burke outfit more than the person inside it.

In the small amount of time left before I headed into the Fashion Mode show, I drew 2 stunning dresses and the designers who created them:

sketchbook - Nicole Murray - Edward Finney - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
sketchbook – Nicole Murray – Edward Finney – lfw aw11 – jenny robins

Edward Finney’s work here is amazingly fluid yet sculptural, the silhouette is so long and sumptuous, and I love the matter of fact shapes of the bodice. Classy yet daring. All that stuff.

Nicole Murray’s dress by comparison is an absolute delight of softness and intricacy. The classic long gown underneath the gorgeous lace shift covers the wearer almost completely, yet seems very naked and unearthly. She was also beautiful.

Nicole Murray - lfw aw11 - dress
Nicole Murray. Photo courtesy of h.prlondon

Of the three shows I enjoyed the vibe at Freemasons Hall the most… it may have been the venue but it just felt far more relaxed and refined. The toilets were also very nice.

sketchbook - Fashion Mode crowd - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
The Fashion Mode crowd.
title - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Most illustrations by Jenny Robins.

I got photographed on my way in to Somerset House (in my jumble sale sheepskin coat belonging to my sister and waistcoat from H&M Kids circa 1999) – expect to see me in Vogue. Not really. The reason I wore the waistcoat was to hide the fact that the little charity shop top I had on underneath with the Peter Pan collar was missing several buttons up the back which continued to pop off as I rushed around London.

sketchbook -Jordan Azkill - Felicity Brown - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Jordan Askill and Felicity Brown in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

After sketching away at the Charlotte Eskildsen exhibition (leather gloves, remedy exciting shapes, what is ed draw string leg warmers, see the write up by Jemma Crow which includes my sketches here) and drawing like a mad thing from a sideways view at Jasper Conran’s catwalk show (see my write up and illustrations here) I went for a wander through the New Gen, BFC/Elle talent launch pad and Vauxhall Fashion Scout galleries to take in some static displays and meet some nice publicists and designers. Please see here for your viewing pleasure my sketchbook pages from the day and some additional pictures and commentary.

sketchbook - Holly Fulton - Christopher Raeburn - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Holly Fulton & Christopher Raeburn in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

It’s a funny thing to visit these exhibitions on the Saturday (as I did) because half the stuff on show at New Gen is Spring/Summer as the new things are off being catwalked – as it were – or are secret till they have been, and the designers don’t really want you to write about their Spring/Summer stuff yet so sometimes they talk it down. This didn’t stop me from falling in love with the hand perforated yellow leather cocktail dress and skirt by Holly Fulton which were some of the first things I saw. I’ve had a look at her new collection and it isn’t quite as joyful as these two pieces for me but still typically beautiful with her geometric patterns and increasingly incorporating more sinuous art nouveauesque prints too.

Jordan Askill Ceramic Bird Necklace by Madi
Jordan Askill Ceramic Bird Necklace by Madi.

The next thing to really catch my eye was the stunning sculptural jewellery work of Jordan Askill. Anything with a lot of birds in, or let’s face it, just one bird, is a joy for me and Askill’s white resin and nylon swallows *en masse* was perfection itself.

Jordan Askill by Jenny Robins
Jordan Askill by Jenny Robins.

Opposite was Yang Du’s stall with her fabulously kitsch and chic cashmere dolly dresses and capes. These I love, but Yang Du‘s additional arrangement of knitted toy scarves and finger puppet gloves confused me quite a lot. It’s not that I don’t like them, I just don’t see what about them is different from the crafty equivalent you could pick up in a village jumble for probably a fiver, or from a hobbyist on etsy for a bit more, but they are retailing at Selfridges for hundreds of pounds. This is the paradox of lo-fi high fashion.

sketchbook - Yang Du - Mary Katrantzou - Fannie Schiavoni - Piers Atkinson - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Yang Du, Mary Katrantzou, Fannie Schiavoni & Piers Atkinson in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

I didn’t see any of Mary Katrantzou’s amazing collection as it was out on show, but the pieces on show from S/S 2011 still caught my eye: high colour interior prints and tasselled house lamp skirts – I highly recommend taking a look at the review of her A/W 2011 collection here.

Piers Atkinson - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Piers Atkinson by Jenny Robins.

In the riverside lobby downstairs where the cake is, a display of various hats under the title headonism (get it) was sure to catch my attention with Piers Atkinson’s awesome giant cherry headband – he has a wide array of other more and less absurd head accessories including a beanie with giant mickey mouse ear style pompoms, a glittery and 24 carrot gold aubergine head band and various exuberant ostrich feathered creations. Read a longer review of this here.

sketchbook - Lublu Kira Plastina - George Angelopoulos - Yunus & Eliza - Les Nereides - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Lublu Kira Plastina, George Angelopoulos, Yunus & Eliza & Les Nereides in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

At the Talent Launchpad exhibition space the first thing to pique my curiosity were the jewel=like gold plated enamel face crucifixes made by Yunus & Eliza – I say crucifixes, looking at the website it seems like they are possibly not meant to be Christian symbols at all – the ambiguity probably plays to their favour though, while Eliza was wonderfully eloquent about some of their other pieces based on child genius and bird heads (yay birds) she didn’t say a lot about what seems to be their signature piece – saying people have found a lot of meaning in them. Good for them I say, spiritual ambiguity should be shiny and beautiful. I was also very impressed by the description the pair gave of their collaborative working – the metamorphosis of their ideas mirroring the themes they play with. I don’t play very well with others so I’m always impressed by successful collaboration. I was also struck by Lublu Kira Plastinina’s novelty oversize zips, as well as her classic mac with giant fur sleeves (boo fur), I drew this to scale diagram to demonstrate the size of the zips.

les nereides - n2 aw11 - lfw
Les Nereides, image courtesy of N2

I then spent a good amount of time looking at the beautiful and quirky N2 jewellery collection by Les Nereides and chatting to the lovely Rose and Melissa about fashion week snobbery. The work is gorgeous, a cheaper, kitscher spin off from the intricate work of the main label (although still retailing from £30 – cheaper is high end cheaper of course) featuring designer collaborations, fairytales, French patisserie and large characterful animal necklaces. N2 recently opened their own spin off special store in Monmouth Street. I love it all though similarly to with Yang Du I feel the conflict brought on by the posh cute dynamic – I’m just not born to be bothered by quality as much as some, if it’s going to look cheerful and basic, why gold plate it?

sketchbook - Teatum Jones - N2 llama - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Teatum Jones and N2 llama in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

Upstairs I was struck by Teatum Jones’ amazing printed silk Eva Moore Shirt Dress – super delicate and all lilacs and pinks against the utilitarian shapes of the shirt design. Catherine Teatum (who was wearing an amazing silver leather jacket), shared with me how the piece is inspired by two women who worked on the front line in the first world war – there was no female uniform for their position so they wore oversized men’s uniform and the floral looking pattern reflects their mud and blood soaked attire. You would not guess this from looking at the dress. But there is that sense of strength and melancholy in the collection, which also includes high wasted trench trousers and a heavy caped trench coat cut short as well as more delicate items, that chimes well at the moment. Here is Teatum Jones featured in our emerging talent preview. Let us be stoic and feminine, and pull together. I drew the two designers here with their iconic dress.

Nuerotica - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Nuerotica by Jenny Robins.

My next love affair was with Neurotica’s A/W collection Bright Eyes based on Watership Down. Even though the animated film did give me nightmares with that bit with the gas in the tunnels, got to love the foresty, rabbity vibe on show here. I want almost everything in this collection, from the chunky quilted collars to the amazing strapless jumpsuit all sporting some kind of atmospheric winter branch print. A little bit gothic in sentiment, but so clean and feminine in the shapes. Yeah I super love it actually. There S/S stuff is pretty brilliant too. Look out for it.

sketchbook - Little Glass Clementine - Neurotica - ethical - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Little Glass Clementine & Neurotica in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

I strayed up again into the ethical part of the exhibition and initially met Little Glass Clementine (as featured in ACOFI!) who puts together all sorts of oddments and icons in her maximalist jewellery, not so much of a collection as each piece is a one off, but there are emerging themes, I especially enjoyed the stop-watch elements and the pieces of blue and white tiles incorporated into some of the pieces.

Pachacuti - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Pachacuti by Jenny Robins.

I was also impressed by Pachacuti’s array of colourful ethical panama hats made by women’s collectives in Ecuador. Apparently they were doing it before it was all trendy.

sketchbook - Ginta - Anthony Peto - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Ginta & Anthony Peto in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

Tatty Devine - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Tatty Devine by Jenny Robins.

I also enjoyed sneak peeking Tatty Devine’s forthcoming new collections with pieces inspired by owls, ivy, foxes, sycamore seeds and chunky oldschool brogues. All very fun with the organic subtlety of some of these new designs blending softly with their Perspex shapes – perfect in the new matt frosted Perspex used for some of these. I like the foxes and ivy especially, mature yet whimsical showing that Tatty Devine is growing from strength to strength. Also featured were an upcoming footwear collaboration with the Old Curiosity Shop – adding Perspex moustaches to their shoes.

Ginta Siceva Masks by Madi
Ginta Siceva Masks by Madi.

Ginta - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Ginta by Jenny Robins

Ginta’s lovely lazer cut intricate accessories layering leather flowers were almost as stunning as the designer herself.

Ginta - aw11 - lfw
Image courtesy of Ginta

sketchbook - Vauxhall Fashion Scout - Erika Trotzig - Una Burke - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Erika Trotzig & Una Burke in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

As extensively covered elsewhere on Amelia’s Magazine, I also found myself struck by Una Burke’s work on entering the Vauxhall Fashion Scout exhibition at Freemasons Hall, we talked about prosthetics and wet plate photography. High concept bondage, beautifully put together – all by hand as apparently the riveter has not been made that can rivet so many layers of leather, so more art than fashion really. Exploring how people with prosthetics (like disfigurements) find they often lose their identity when all people see is their unusual limbs, the work is successful I think – you certainly would notice the Una Burke outfit more than the person inside it.

In the small amount of time left before I headed into the Fashion Mode show, I drew 2 stunning dresses and the designers who created them:

sketchbook - Nicole Murray - Edward Finney - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Nicole Murray & Edward Finney in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

Edward Finney’s work here is amazingly fluid yet sculptural, the silhouette is so long and sumptuous, and I love the matter of fact shapes of the bodice. Classy yet daring. All that stuff.

Nicole Murray’s dress by comparison is an absolute delight of softness and intricacy. The classic long gown underneath the gorgeous lace shift covers the wearer almost completely, yet seems very naked and unearthly. She was also beautiful.

Nicole Murray - lfw aw11 - dress
Nicole Murray. Photo courtesy of h.prlondon

Of the three shows I enjoyed the vibe at Freemasons Hall the most… it may have been the venue but it just felt far more relaxed and refined. The toilets were also very nice.

sketchbook - Fashion Mode crowd - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
The Fashion Mode crowd in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.
title - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Most illustrations by Jenny Robins.

I got photographed on my way in to Somerset House (in my jumble sale sheepskin coat belonging to my sister and waistcoat from H&M Kids circa 1999) – expect to see me in Vogue. Not really. The reason I wore the waistcoat was to hide the fact that the little charity shop top I had on underneath with the Peter Pan collar was missing several buttons up the back which continued to pop off as I rushed around London.

sketchbook -Jordan Azkill - Felicity Brown - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Jordan Askill and Felicity Brown in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

After sketching away at the Charlotte Eskildsen exhibition (leather gloves, what is ed exciting shapes, approved draw string leg warmers, search see the write up by Jemma Crow which includes my sketches here) and drawing like a mad thing from a sideways view at Jasper Conran’s catwalk show (see my write up and illustrations here) I went for a wander through the New Gen, BFC/Elle talent launch pad and Vauxhall Fashion Scout galleries to take in some static displays and meet some nice publicists and designers. Please see here for your viewing pleasure my sketchbook pages from the day and some additional pictures and commentary.

sketchbook - Holly Fulton - Christopher Raeburn - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Holly Fulton & Christopher Raeburn in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

It’s a funny thing to visit these exhibitions on the Saturday (as I did) because half the stuff on show at New Gen is Spring/Summer as the new things are off being catwalked – as it were – or are secret till they have been, and the designers don’t really want you to write about their Spring/Summer stuff yet so sometimes they talk it down. This didn’t stop me from falling in love with the hand perforated yellow leather cocktail dress and skirt by Holly Fulton which were some of the first things I saw. I’ve had a look at her new collection and it isn’t quite as joyful as these two pieces for me but still typically beautiful with her geometric patterns and increasingly incorporating more sinuous art nouveauesque prints too.

Jordan Askill Ceramic Bird Necklace by Madi
Jordan Askill Ceramic Bird Necklace by Madi.

The next thing to really catch my eye was the stunning sculptural jewellery work of Jordan Askill. Anything with a lot of birds in, or let’s face it, just one bird, is a joy for me and Askill’s white resin and nylon swallows *en masse* was perfection itself.

Jordan Askill by Jenny Robins
Jordan Askill by Jenny Robins.

Opposite was Yang Du’s stall with her fabulously kitsch and chic cashmere dolly dresses and capes. These I love, but Yang Du‘s additional arrangement of knitted toy scarves and finger puppet gloves confused me quite a lot. It’s not that I don’t like them, I just don’t see what about them is different from the crafty equivalent you could pick up in a village jumble for probably a fiver, or from a hobbyist on etsy for a bit more, but they are retailing at Selfridges for hundreds of pounds. This is the paradox of lo-fi high fashion.

sketchbook - Yang Du - Mary Katrantzou - Fannie Schiavoni - Piers Atkinson - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Yang Du, Mary Katrantzou, Fannie Schiavoni & Piers Atkinson in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

I didn’t see any of Mary Katrantzou’s amazing collection as it was out on show, but the pieces on show from S/S 2011 still caught my eye: high colour interior prints and tasselled house lamp skirts – I highly recommend taking a look at the review of her A/W 2011 collection here.

Piers Atkinson - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Piers Atkinson by Jenny Robins.

In the riverside lobby downstairs where the cake is, a display of various hats under the title headonism (get it) was sure to catch my attention with Piers Atkinson’s awesome giant cherry headband – he has a wide array of other more and less absurd head accessories including a beanie with giant mickey mouse ear style pompoms, a glittery and 24 carrot gold aubergine head band and various exuberant ostrich feathered creations. Read a longer review of this here.

sketchbook - Lublu Kira Plastina - George Angelopoulos - Yunus & Eliza - Les Nereides - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Lublu Kira Plastina, George Angelopoulos, Yunus & Eliza & Les Nereides in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

At the BFC/Elle Talent Launchpad exhibition space the first thing to pique my curiosity were the jewel like gold plated enamel face crucifixes made by Yunus & Eliza – I say crucifixes, but looking at the website it seems maybe they are not meant to be Christian symbols at all – the ambiguity probably plays to their favour though. While Eliza was wonderfully eloquent about some of their other pieces – which are based on child genius and bird heads (yay, birds) – she didn’t say a lot about what seems to be their signature idea. Good for them I say, spiritual ambiguity should be shiny and beautiful. I was also very impressed by the description the pair gave of their collaborative working – the metamorphosis of their ideas mirroring the themes they play with. I don’t play very well with others so I’m always impressed by successful collaboration. I was also struck by Lublu Kira Plastinina’s novelty oversize zips, as well as her classic mac with giant fur sleeves (boo fur), I drew this to scale (above) to demonstrate the size of the zips.

les nereides - n2 aw11 - lfw
Les Nereides, image courtesy of N2

I then spent a good amount of time looking at the beautiful and quirky N2 jewellery collection by Les Nereides and chatting to the lovely Rose and Melissa about fashion week snobbery. The work is gorgeous, a cheaper, kitscher spin off from the intricate work of the main label (although still retailing from £30 – cheaper is high end cheaper of course) featuring designer collaborations, fairytales, French patisserie and large characterful animal necklaces. N2 recently opened their own spin off special store in Monmouth Street. I love it all though similarly to with Yang Du I feel the same conflict brought on by the posh/cute dynamic – I’m just not born to be bothered by quality as much as some, if it’s going to look cheerful and basic, why gold plate it?

sketchbook - Teatum Jones - N2 llama - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Teatum Jones and N2 llama in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

Upstairs I was struck by Teatum Jones’ amazing printed silk Eva Moore Shirt Dress – super delicate and all lilacs and pinks against the utilitarian shapes of the shirt design. Catherine Teatum (who was wearing an amazing silver leather jacket), shared with me how the piece is inspired by two women who worked on the front line during World War I – there was no female uniform for their position so they wore oversized men’s uniform and the floral looking pattern reflects their mud and blood soaked attire. You would not guess this from looking at the dress. But there is that sense of strength and melancholy in the collection – which also includes high waist trench trousers and a heavy caped trench coat cut short as well as more delicate items – that chimes well at the moment. Let us be stoic and feminine, and pull together. I drew the two designers above with their iconic dress. Read more about Teatum Jones in our emerging talent preview.

Nuerotica - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Nuerotica by Jenny Robins.

My next love affair was with Neurotica’s A/W 2011 Bright Eyes collection based on Watership Down. Even though the animated film did give me nightmares, especially that bit with the gas in the tunnels, you’ve got to love the foresty, rabbity vibe on show here. I want almost everything in this collection, from the chunky quilted collars to the amazing strapless jumpsuit – all sporting some kind of atmospheric winter branch print. A little bit gothic in sentiment, but so clean and feminine in the shapes. Yeah I super love it actually. Their S/S 2011 stuff is pretty brilliant too. Look out for it.

sketchbook - Little Glass Clementine - Neurotica - ethical - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Little Glass Clementine & Neurotica in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

Then I strayed into Estethica and met Little Glass Clementine (as featured in ACOFI!) who puts together all sorts of oddments and icons in her maximalist jewellery, not so much of a collection because each piece is a one off, but there are emerging themes. I especially enjoyed the stop-watch elements and the pieces of blue and white tiles incorporated into some of the necklaces.

Pachacuti - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Pachacuti by Jenny Robins.

I was also impressed by Pachacuti’s array of colourful ethical panama hats made by women’s collectives in Ecuador. Apparently they were doing it before it was all trendy.

sketchbook - Ginta - Anthony Peto - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Ginta & Anthony Peto in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

Tatty Devine - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Tatty Devine by Jenny Robins.

I also enjoyed a sneak peek at Tatty Devine’s forthcoming new collections, which feature pieces inspired by owls, ivy, foxes, sycamore seeds and chunky oldschool brogues. All very fun, with the organic subtlety of some of these new designs blending softly with their Perspex shapes – perfect in the new matt frosted Perspex used for some of these. I like the foxes and ivy especially, mature yet whimsical showing that Tatty Devine is growing from strength to strength. Also featured were an upcoming footwear collaboration with the Old Curiosity Shop – adding Perspex moustaches to their shoes.

Ginta Siceva Masks by Madi
Ginta Siceva Masks by Madi.

Ginta - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Ginta by Jenny Robins

Ginta’s lovely lazer cut intricate accessories layer leather flowers, and were almost as stunning as the designer herself.

Ginta - aw11 - lfw
Image courtesy of Ginta

sketchbook - Vauxhall Fashion Scout - Erika Trotzig - Una Burke - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Erika Trotzig & Una Burke in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

As extensively covered elsewhere on Amelia’s Magazine, I also found myself struck by Una Burke’s prosthetics inspired pieces and wet plate photography at Vauxhall Fashion Scout. High concept bondage, beautifully put together – all by hand because apparently the riveter has not been made that can rivet so many layers of leather, so more art than fashion really. Exploring how people with prosthetics (like disfigurements) find they often lose their identity when all people see is their unusual limbs, the work is successful I think – you certainly would notice a Una Burke outfit more than the person inside it.

In the small amount of time left before I headed into the Vauxhall Fashion Scout exhibition, where I drew two stunning dresses and the designers who created them:

sketchbook - Nicole Murray - Edward Finney - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
Nicole Murray & Edward Finney in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.

Edward Finney’s work here is amazingly fluid yet sculptural, the silhouette is so long and sumptuous, and I love the matter of fact shapes of the bodice. Classy yet daring. All that stuff.

Nicole Murray’s dress by comparison is an absolute delight of softness and intricacy. The classic long gown underneath the gorgeous lace shift covers the wearer almost completely, yet seems very naked and unearthly. She was also beautiful.

Nicole Murray - lfw aw11 - dress
Nicole Murray. Photo courtesy of h.prlondon

Of the three shows I enjoyed the vibe at Freemasons Hall the most… it may have been the venue but it just felt far more relaxed and refined. The toilets were also very nice.

sketchbook - Fashion Mode crowd - lfw aw11 - jenny robins
The Fashion Mode crowd in Jenny Robins’ sketchbook.
Pick Me Up Paul Blow
Tiger Feet by Paul Blow.

Yesterday 2011′s Pick Me Up once again kicked off in the Embankment Galleries at Somerset House. I went along to the opening night to check out this years talent.

Like last year, pharm the lower galleries are once again devoted to the young rising stars of graphic design and illustration. This is the section for which I was asked to nominate a selection of Up and Coming illustrators many months ago. None of my suggestions were picked, and on the basis of some artists who were chosen I would question the description. Tom Gauld – an old acquaintance of mine – has surely been at the top of the illustrative game for many years, as have some of the others. At 47 years old American artist Polly Becker is hardly young. Although it’s great to be feted at any time in your career it’s a bit of an oversight to champion well established artists as Ones to Watch. But nonetheless let’s continue with the review: there was much to enjoy in this gallery.

Pick Me Up 2011-Kate Moross
London based designer Kate Moross has quickly established a glowing reputation for her bold psychedelic style.

Pick Me Up NIght & Day by McBess
Pick Me Up NIght & Day by McBess
Matthieu Bessudo, aka McBess, favours a cartoonagraphic style with a surreal edge. Expect naked ladies with ninja faces. I liked the intricate stories in the large scale Night & Day artwork best.

Pick Me Up Seiko Kato
Seiko Kato was a real discovery – this Japanese artist lives in Brighton and produces amazingly detailed collages, filled with colourful flora and fauna. The Funeral is a beautifully surreal large scale work.

Pick Me Up 2011-Andy Rementer
I loved the bold colours and shapes of Andy Rementer.

Pick Me Up 2011-Jules Julien
Jules Julien makes macabre fine line work influenced by the surrealist drawing game Exquisite Corpse.

Pick Me Up 2011-Jessica Hische
Typography is Jessica Hische‘s speciality. Another American, she was a senior designer for Louise Fili Ltd. Beautifully rendered, if a little polished.

Pick Me Up 2011-Clara TernePick Me Up 2011-Clara Terne
Swedish designer Clara Terne is inspired by the deep oceans and outer space, both equally other worldly. Kaleido did pretty much what it said on the tin. Nebuloso was a beautiful piece of digital art.

Pick Me Up 2011-MVM
MVM is a Norwegian and co founder of the Grandpeople design studio. He employs a fluid minimalist form and exhibits huge silk banners – almost Japanese in appearance.

Pick Me Up 2011-Eda Akaltun
Eda Akaltun is a founding member of Nobrow – evident in her distinctive colour palette – and favours a collagey painted approach that is instantly recognisable.

Pick Me Up 2011-Victo Ngai
From Hong Kong but working in London, Victo Ngai graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design. I loved her Japanese influenced drawings, which recall the fine detailing of woodblocks combined with a whimsical touch.

Pick Me Up 2011-James Graham
James Graham favours a simple graphic aesthetic.

Pick Me Up 2011-Revenge is Sweet
Revenge is Sweet shows bold 80s art deco artwork that has obvious advertising applications.

Pick Me Up 2011-Sarah ArnettPick Me Up 2011-Sarah ArnettPick Me Up 2011-Sarah Arnett
Sarah Arnett shows some beautiful digitally created flower artwork, densely created in curious colourways. Her original training as a textile designer is evident in these botanically inspired pieces.

Pick Me Up 2011-Gwenola Carrere
From Belgium, Gwenola Carrere shows some fabulous screenprints. She has published three children’s books to date. I loved her bold playful style.

Nigel Peake, from Ireland, makes lovely delicate abstract work. He has exhibited globally and I’ve always considered him more of a fine artist.

Pick Me Up 2011-Takeru Toyokura
Another Japanese artist, Takeru Toyokura shows amazing felt collages that depict weird faceless figures in surreal situations. Blonde haired children float against grandiose architecture. Strangely wonderful.

Pick Me Up 2011-Otecki
Polish artist Otecki creates black block prints inspired by both traditional iconography and graffitti. Loved his owl.

Pick Me Up 2011-Yoh Nagao
Another Japanese artist: Yoh Nagao is another surrealist collagist (do you sense a bit of a theme yet?)

Annelie Carlstrom uses a propelling pencil to fashion detailed pictures of girls with huge faces and extravagant hair. Quite unsettling.

Pick Me Up 2011-Paul BlowPick Me Up 2011-Paul BlowPick Me Up 2011-Paul Blow
Paul Blow‘s work really caught my eye for it’s strong colours and amusing narratives.

Pick Me Up 2011-Tom Gauld
Tom Gauld creates a weekly cartoon for the Guardian newspaper and you will no doubt be familiar with his unique drawings and quirky ideas – he used to run an independent publishing house with my bessie mate, the super talented Simone Lia.

Pick Me Up 2011-Polly Becker
Polly Becker‘s surrealist illustrations are created through the assemblage of ephemera.

Pick Me Up 2011-Stefanie Posavec
My boyfriend was most taken with the work of Stefanie Posavec, a graduate of Colorado State University who has an MA in Communication Design from Central Saint Martins. Her data visualisation is almost autistic in it’s detail.

I would love to see more emphasis on really new talent in this section, or perhaps in another bespoke section. Not to mention more variety in style (surreal, collage…) and a real nod to all the amazing home bred talent that is so prevalent on the blogosphere, in the zine world and elsewhere in the UK. The work shown is of an undoubtedly high standard but I think it’s an opportunity missed.

Pick Me Up 2011-Print Club London
Print Club London.

Nobrow and Ditto Press showcase their innovative independent publishing work on this floor, then above and below this gallery are stationed the collectives who pitched to take part in Pick Me Up. Print Club London is once again holding live screen-printing workshops.

Pick Me Up 2011-Sister Arrow
I particularly liked the print (for sale) by Sister Arrow, who has created an imaginary pygmy super-race simply called Sumo Babies of which I presume Crystal String Dance is one.

Pick Me Up 2011-Margaux Carpentier
I also liked Margaux Carpentier‘s work. Her print is inspired by an Eskimo legend where the first woman meets the wolf-god Amarok.

Pick Me Up 2011-Jaguar Shoes
The JaguarShoes Collective is showing for the first time, with lots of work for sale from a wide variety of loosely associated artists. For Pick Me Up they have created a Campfire wall – featuring over sized marshmallows and flickering tissue flames.

Pick Me Up 2011-Nous Vous
Next door is the minimalist Nous Vous set up.

Pick Me Up 2011-Samuel EsquirePick Me Up 2011-Samuel Esquire
Puck Collective are hosting a busy room that resembles a working studio. I particularly liked the strong graphic work of Samuel Esquire.

Pick Me Up 2011-Evening TweedPick Me Up 2011-Evening Tweed
Evening Tweed‘s exhibition space looks like a trendy aspirational shop in Brick Lane, with artfully arranged mementos lined around the walls. I wish my studio space looked like this!

Pick Me Up 2011-Anthony Burrill
Anthony Burrill is hosting the big central space – he may be an interesting graphic artist but he’s no Rob Ryan when it come to production techniques: expect photocopied collage opportunities and DJ-ing.

Pick Me Up 2011-Anthony Burrill
Pick Me Up Anthony Burrill area.

Suddenly it was closing time so I missed the It’s Nice That section and what looked like an interesting 3D concept from Them Lot – make sure you drop in to be filmed as one of the characters in their cardboard city. Leaving, visitors pass through the Concrete Hermit bookstore, which is much better placed than it was last year. From tomorrow (a bit late in the day I will concede) the shop will stock copies of both my books.

ACOFI Concrete Hermit
UPDATE: ACOFI and AAOI are now available at Concrete Hermit shop!

Make sure you take a moment to peruse through Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration and Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration – both of which are choc-a-bloc with *brand* new illustration talent.

Pick Me Up 2011-Nous Vous uke
Pick Me Up 2011-Nous Vous uke.

It’s exciting that an event like Pick Me Up exists, but disheartening that it isn’t more wide ranging and ambitious in the scope of its activities. What about the practical use of illustration and graphic art? Evening Tweed features some fabulous gilded Russian dolls, Nous Vous show a bespoke illustrated ukelele and the JaguarShoes Collective offers illustrated objects to buy, but there is very little consideration of how illustration can be applied to products within the exhibition as a whole or in the workshop schedule.

And what about the many different commercial aspects of working as an illustrator today? Where are the children’s book illustrators, the fashion illustrators, the illustrators who tackle sustainability within their work? Where is the discussion of the many many ways in which illustration is utilised within the online world, in animation and in editorial? Aspects of this will hopefully be brought up in workshops but I feel very strongly that there are only so many prints that people can buy for their walls, and an applied context is what differentiates illustration and graphic design from fine art so it really should be talked about in an exhibition such as this.

Pick Me Up 2011-Evening Tweed Russian Dolls
Evening Tweed Russian Dolls.

I also think it would be nice if different collectives and publishing houses were invited to take part in Pick Me Up every year, rather than many of the same ones returning again – I had a strong feeling of Deja Vu. And of course, lastly, I’d like to see more work from TRULY up and coming illustrators. There are so many very great ones out there….

You can read my full listing for Pick Me Up, including recommended events, right here. My review of last year’s Pick Me Up event can be read here. And in case you were wondering I feel it’s only right that I admit that I was actually asked to contribute this year. But we couldn’t agree on the best Amelia’s Magazine presence, which is a shame.

There’s always next year…

Categories ,Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Illustration, ,American, ,Andy Rementer, ,Annelie Carlstrom, ,Anthony Burrill, ,Central Saint Martins, ,collage, ,Colorado State University, ,Concrete Hermit, ,Crystal String Dance, ,Ditto Press, ,Evening Tweed, ,Exquisite Corpse, ,Grandpeople, ,Gwenola Carrere, ,illustration, ,It’s Nice That, ,JaguarShoes Collective, ,James Graham, ,japanese, ,Jessica Hische, ,Jules Julien, ,Kate Moross, ,Margaux Carpentier, ,Matthieu Bessudo, ,McBess, ,MVM, ,Nigel Peake, ,Nobrow, ,Norwegian, ,Nous Vous, ,Otecki, ,Pick Me Up, ,Polly Becker, ,Print Club London, ,Revenge is Sweet, ,review, ,Samuel Esquire, ,Sarah Arnett, ,Seiko Kato, ,Simone Lia, ,Sister Arrow, ,Somerset House, ,Stefanie Posavec, ,surrealist, ,Swedish, ,Takeru Toyokura, ,Them Lot, ,Tom Gauld, ,typography, ,Yoh Nagao

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Amelia’s Magazine | Pick Me Up 2011 at Somerset House: a review

Pick Me Up Paul Blow
Tiger Feet by Paul Blow.

Yesterday 2011’s Pick Me Up once again kicked off in the Embankment Galleries at Somerset House. I went along to the opening night to check out this years talent.

Like last year, the lower galleries are once again devoted to the young rising stars of graphic design and illustration. This is the section for which I was asked to nominate a selection of Up and Coming illustrators many months ago. None of my suggestions were picked, and on the basis of some artists who were chosen I would question the description. Tom Gauld – an old acquaintance of mine – has surely been at the top of the illustrative game for many years, as have some of the others. At 48 years old American artist Polly Becker is hardly young. Although it’s great to be feted at any time in your career it’s a bit of an oversight to champion well established artists as Ones to Watch. But nonetheless let’s continue with the review: there was much to enjoy in this gallery.

Pick Me Up 2011-Kate Moross
London based designer Kate Moross has quickly established a glowing reputation for her bold psychedelic style.

Pick Me Up NIght & Day by McBess
Pick Me Up NIght & Day by McBess
Matthieu Bessudo, aka McBess, favours a cartoonagraphic style with a surreal edge. Expect naked ladies with ninja faces. I liked the intricate stories in the large scale Night & Day artwork best.

Pick Me Up Seiko Kato
Seiko Kato was a real discovery – this Japanese artist lives in Brighton and produces amazingly detailed collages, filled with colourful flora and fauna. The Funeral is a beautifully surreal large scale work.

Pick Me Up 2011-Andy Rementer
I loved the bold colours and shapes of Andy Rementer.

Pick Me Up 2011-Jules Julien
Jules Julien makes macabre fine line work influenced by the surrealist drawing game Exquisite Corpse.

Pick Me Up 2011-Jessica Hische
Typography is Jessica Hische’s speciality. Another American, she was a senior designer for Louise Fili Ltd. Beautifully rendered, if a little polished.

Pick Me Up 2011-Clara TernePick Me Up 2011-Clara Terne
Swedish designer Clara Terne is inspired by the deep oceans and outer space, both equally other worldly. Kaleido did pretty much what it said on the tin. Nebuloso was a beautiful piece of digital art.

Pick Me Up 2011-MVM
MVM is a Norwegian and co founder of the Grandpeople design studio. He employs a fluid minimalist form and exhibits huge silk banners – almost Japanese in appearance.

Pick Me Up 2011-Eda Akaltun
Eda Akaltun is a founding member of Nobrow – evident in her distinctive colour palette – and favours a collagey painted approach that is instantly recognisable.

Pick Me Up 2011-Victo Ngai
From Hong Kong but working in London, Victo Ngai graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design. I loved her Japanese influenced drawings, which recall the fine detailing of woodblocks combined with a whimsical touch.

Pick Me Up 2011-James Graham
James Graham favours a simple graphic aesthetic.

Pick Me Up 2011-Revenge is Sweet
Revenge is Sweet shows bold 80s art deco artwork that has obvious advertising applications.

Pick Me Up 2011-Sarah ArnettPick Me Up 2011-Sarah ArnettPick Me Up 2011-Sarah Arnett
Sarah Arnett shows some beautiful digitally created flower artwork, densely created in curious colourways. Her original training as a textile designer is evident in these botanically inspired pieces.

Pick Me Up 2011-Gwenola Carrere
From Belgium, Gwenola Carrere shows some fabulous screenprints. She has published three children’s books to date. I loved her bold playful style.

Nigel Peake, from Ireland, makes lovely delicate abstract work. He has exhibited globally and I’ve always considered him more of a fine artist.

Pick Me Up 2011-Takeru Toyokura
Another Japanese artist, Takeru Toyokura shows amazing felt collages that depict weird faceless figures in surreal situations. Blonde haired children float against grandiose architecture. Strangely wonderful.

Pick Me Up 2011-Otecki
Polish artist Otecki creates black block prints inspired by both traditional iconography and graffitti. Loved his owl.

Pick Me Up 2011-Yoh Nagao
Another Japanese artist: Yoh Nagao is another surrealist collagist (do you sense a bit of a theme yet?)

Annelie Carlstrom uses a propelling pencil to fashion detailed pictures of girls with huge faces and extravagant hair. Quite unsettling.

Pick Me Up 2011-Paul BlowPick Me Up 2011-Paul BlowPick Me Up 2011-Paul Blow
Paul Blow’s work really caught my eye for it’s strong colours and amusing narratives.

Pick Me Up 2011-Tom Gauld
Tom Gauld creates a weekly cartoon for the Guardian newspaper and you will no doubt be familiar with his unique drawings and quirky ideas – he used to run an independent publishing house with my bessie mate, the super talented Simone Lia.

Pick Me Up 2011-Polly Becker
Polly Becker’s surrealist illustrations are created through the assemblage of ephemera.

Pick Me Up 2011-Stefanie Posavec
My boyfriend was most taken with the work of Stefanie Posavec, a graduate of Colorado State University who has an MA in Communication Design from Central Saint Martins. Her data visualisation is almost autistic in it’s detail.

I would love to see more emphasis on really new talent in this section, or perhaps in another bespoke section. Not to mention more variety in style (surreal, collage…) and a real nod to all the amazing home bred talent that is so prevalent on the blogosphere, in the zine world and elsewhere in the UK. The work shown is of an undoubtedly high standard but I think it’s an opportunity missed.

Pick Me Up 2011-Print Club London
Print Club London.

Nobrow and Ditto Press showcase their innovative independent publishing work on this floor, then above and below this gallery are stationed the collectives who pitched to take part in Pick Me Up. Print Club London is once again holding live screen-printing workshops.

Pick Me Up 2011-Sister Arrow
I particularly liked the print (for sale) by Sister Arrow, who has created an imaginary pygmy super-race simply called Sumo Babies of which I presume Crystal String Dance is one.

Pick Me Up 2011-Margaux Carpentier
I also liked Margaux Carpentier’s work. Her print is inspired by an Eskimo legend where the first woman meets the wolf-god Amarok.

Pick Me Up 2011-Jaguar Shoes
The JaguarShoes Collective is showing for the first time, with lots of work for sale from a wide variety of loosely associated artists. For Pick Me Up they have created a Campfire wall – featuring over sized marshmallows and flickering tissue flames.

Pick Me Up 2011-Nous Vous
Next door is the minimalist Nous Vous set up.

Pick Me Up 2011-Samuel EsquirePick Me Up 2011-Samuel Esquire
Puck Collective are hosting a busy room that resembles a working studio. I particularly liked the strong graphic work of Samuel Esquire.

Pick Me Up 2011-Evening TweedPick Me Up 2011-Evening Tweed
Evening Tweed’s exhibition space looks like a trendy aspirational shop in Brick Lane, with artfully arranged mementos lined around the walls. I wish my studio space looked like this!

Pick Me Up 2011-Anthony Burrill
Anthony Burrill is hosting the big central space – he may be an interesting graphic artist but he’s no Rob Ryan when it come to production techniques: expect photocopied collage opportunities and DJ-ing.

Pick Me Up 2011-Anthony Burrill
Pick Me Up Anthony Burrill area.

Suddenly it was closing time so I missed the It’s Nice That section and what looked like an interesting 3D concept from Them Lot – make sure you drop in to be filmed as one of the characters in their cardboard city. Leaving, visitors pass through the Concrete Hermit bookstore, which is much better placed than it was last year. From tomorrow (a bit late in the day I will concede) the shop will stock copies of both my books.

ACOFI Concrete Hermit
UPDATE: ACOFI and AAOI are now available at Concrete Hermit shop!

Make sure you take a moment to peruse through Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration and Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration – both of which are choc-a-bloc with *brand* new illustration talent.

Pick Me Up 2011-Nous Vous uke
Pick Me Up 2011-Nous Vous uke.

It’s exciting that an event like Pick Me Up exists, but disheartening that it isn’t more wide ranging and ambitious in the scope of its activities. What about the practical use of illustration and graphic art? Evening Tweed features some fabulous gilded Russian dolls, Nous Vous show a bespoke illustrated ukelele and the JaguarShoes Collective offers illustrated objects to buy, but there is very little consideration of how illustration can be applied to products within the exhibition as a whole or in the workshop schedule.

And what about the many different commercial aspects of working as an illustrator today? Where are the children’s book illustrators, the fashion illustrators, the illustrators who tackle sustainability within their work? Where is the discussion of the many many ways in which illustration is utilised within the online world, in animation and in editorial? Aspects of this will hopefully be brought up in workshops but I feel very strongly that there are only so many prints that people can buy for their walls, and an applied context is what differentiates illustration and graphic design from fine art so it really should be talked about in an exhibition such as this.

Pick Me Up 2011-Evening Tweed Russian Dolls
Evening Tweed Russian Dolls.

I also think it would be nice if different collectives and publishing houses were invited to take part in Pick Me Up every year, rather than many of the same ones returning again – I had a strong feeling of Deja Vu. And of course, lastly, I’d like to see more work from TRULY up and coming illustrators. There are so many very great ones out there….

You can read my full listing for Pick Me Up, including recommended events, right here. My review of last year’s Pick Me Up event can be read here. And in case you were wondering I feel it’s only right that I admit that I was actually asked to contribute this year. But we couldn’t agree on the best Amelia’s Magazine presence, which is a shame.

There’s always next year…

Categories ,Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Illustration, ,American, ,Andy Rementer, ,Annelie Carlstrom, ,Anthony Burrill, ,Central Saint Martins, ,collage, ,Colorado State University, ,Concrete Hermit, ,Crystal String Dance, ,Ditto Press, ,Evening Tweed, ,Exquisite Corpse, ,Grandpeople, ,Gwenola Carrere, ,illustration, ,It’s Nice That, ,JaguarShoes Collective, ,James Graham, ,japanese, ,Jessica Hische, ,Jules Julien, ,Kate Moross, ,Margaux Carpentier, ,Matthieu Bessudo, ,McBess, ,MVM, ,Nigel Peake, ,Nobrow, ,Norwegian, ,Nous Vous, ,Otecki, ,Pick Me Up, ,Polly Becker, ,Print Club London, ,Revenge is Sweet, ,review, ,Samuel Esquire, ,Sarah Arnett, ,Seiko Kato, ,Simone Lia, ,Sister Arrow, ,Somerset House, ,Stefanie Posavec, ,surrealist, ,Swedish, ,Takeru Toyokura, ,Them Lot, ,Tom Gauld, ,typography, ,Yoh Nagao

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Amelia’s Magazine | Pick Me Up Contemporary Graphic Art Fair at Somerset House: Review

Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Karen Boyd
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

Now, advice I don’t normally write blogs about high street clothes shops. But I’m gonna break my rule this time. Earlier this week I went along to the Hobbs press day in their flagship store in Covent Garden – basically just because I was invited and I’ve never been to one of their press days before. I had absolutely no expectations of it, side effects since I’ve rarely set foot inside a Hobbs store since I developed a bit of a Bertie shoe fetish in my teen years (the late 80s if you must know). Bertie was once associated with the Hobbs brand, capsule but I’m not sure if it is anymore.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I managed to sashay confidently past the girl on the door girl, “where did you say you were from?” said she, eyeing up my haphazard approach to dressing with curiosity. Then I manoeuvred myself away from what promised to be a lengthy guided tour through each garment in the collection, nearly sending a mannequin crashing in my eagerness to reach the back of the room. And, I was how shall we say it… pleasantly surprised. Straight away I made a beeline for a lovely gold pine cone necklace, taking in the general fruity folk colours of the N.W.3 collection. Accessories are one of Hobbs strongpoints and there was a nice display of cute jewellery and coloured patent bags.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

But I was anxious not to waste too much time, so when one of the immaculate PR ladies glided over (I always feel like a bedraggled mess by comparison) I quickly explained that I was only looking for either designer led collaborations or ethical ranges. AHA! She led me towards a young man, standing in front of a rail and eager to pounce on journalists. I was introduced; this was Dean Thomas, designer of the high end Artisan collection, which sources all materials and is manufactured within the UK.

Dean was chosen straight out of Central Saint Martins precisely because he found all the materials for his final collection from within a 50 mile radius of his home town in Somerset. He held up a few pieces from the AW10 collection for me and I have to say, it was absolutely gorgeous. He’s created a stunning evening dress out of the most unlikely of materials: a waxed cotton similar to the type that gets used in Barbour jackets. Then there’s a lovely stripy mohair coat and a super long evening dress with an elegant train. All the wool comes from Jacobs sheep in Scotland and a pretty digital print was manipulated from a posy of virulent purple Scotts thistles. I was pretty impressed I tells thee. Apparently in 2008 Hobbs was given a good shake up with the appointment of Sandy Vernon as creative director (she used to work at Next and Jaeger), and if this is what she’s doing then she’s onto a winner.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I then got pulled over to meet Karen Boyd, formerly of Boyd & Storey, and shown through her domain; the Limited Edition collection. She too has moved over from Jaeger, and her elegant tailoring mixed with feminine details such as faux embroidered prints and little lace collars is a dead giveaway of her past employment. This collection is beautiful too, but sadly only the goat skins in the long haired cape are sourced locally. “They’re a by-product of the meat industry, we don’t use fur.” Most of the clothes are of course made in the far east. As, no doubt, is the pine cone necklace that I had so admired earlier, but I was nevertheless a super happy bunny to discover the very same necklace in my press goodie bag. Comfortingly heavy, it’s been living around my neck ever since, a rare accolade.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

All in all I left pleasantly surprised. I think it is to be applauded when a large high street retailer such as Hobbs is confident enough to produce a whole range of beautifully made clothes in the UK, at a price point that will still be affordable to many (if not me). Now if only more retailers were to sit up and take note.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

Now, buy information pills I don’t normally write blogs about high street clothes shops. But I’m gonna break my rule this time. Earlier this week I went along to the Hobbs press day in their flagship store in Covent Garden – basically just because I was invited and I’ve never been to one of their press days before. I had absolutely no expectations of it, more about since I’ve rarely set foot inside a Hobbs store since I developed a bit of a Bertie shoe fetish in my teen years (the late 80s if you must know). Bertie was once associated with the Hobbs brand, approved but I’m not sure if it is anymore.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I managed to sashay confidently past the girl on the door girl, “where did you say you were from?” said she, eyeing up my haphazard approach to dressing with curiosity. Then I manoeuvred myself away from what promised to be a lengthy guided tour through each garment in the collection, nearly sending a mannequin crashing in my eagerness to reach the back of the room. And, I was how shall we say it… pleasantly surprised. Straight away I made a beeline for a lovely gold pine cone necklace, taking in the general fruity folk colours of the N.W.3 collection. Accessories are one of Hobbs strongpoints and there was a nice display of cute jewellery and coloured patent bags.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

But I was anxious not to waste too much time, so when one of the immaculate PR ladies glided over (I always feel like a bedraggled mess by comparison) I quickly explained that I was only looking for either designer led collaborations or ethical ranges. AHA! She led me towards a young man, standing in front of a rail and eager to pounce on journalists. I was introduced; this was Dean Thomas, designer of the high end Artisan collection, which sources all materials and is manufactured within the UK.

Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Dean Thomas describes the Artisan collection.

Dean was chosen straight out of Central Saint Martins precisely because he found all the materials for his final collection from within a 50 mile radius of his home town in Somerset. He held up a few pieces from the AW10 collection for me and I have to say, it was absolutely gorgeous. He’s created a stunning evening dress out of the most unlikely of materials: a waxed cotton similar to the type that gets used in Barbour jackets. Then there’s a lovely stripy mohair coat and a super long evening dress with an elegant train. All the wool comes from Jacobs sheep in Scotland and a pretty digital print was manipulated from a posy of virulent purple Scotts thistles. I was pretty impressed I tells thee. Apparently in 2008 Hobbs was given a good shake up with the appointment of Sandy Vernon as creative director (she used to work at Next and Jaeger), and if this is what she’s doing then she’s onto a winner.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I then got pulled over to meet Karen Boyd, formerly of Boyd & Storey, and shown through her domain; the Limited Edition collection. She too has moved over from Jaeger, and her elegant tailoring mixed with feminine details such as faux embroidered prints and little lace collars is a dead giveaway of her past employment. This collection is beautiful too, but sadly only the goat skins in the long haired cape are sourced locally. “They’re a by-product of the meat industry, we don’t use fur.” Most of the clothes are of course made in the far east. As, no doubt, is the pine cone necklace that I had so admired earlier, but I was nevertheless a super happy bunny to discover the very same necklace in my press goodie bag. Comfortingly heavy, it’s been living around my neck ever since, a rare accolade.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Karen Boyd
Karen Boyd talks me through the Limited Edition collection.

All in all I left pleasantly surprised. I think it is to be applauded when a large high street retailer such as Hobbs is confident enough to produce a whole range of beautifully made clothes in the UK, at a price point that will still be affordable to many (if not me). Now if only more retailers were to sit up and take note.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

Now, buy information pills I don’t normally write blogs about high street clothes shops. But I’m gonna break my rule this time. Earlier this week I went along to the Hobbs press day in their flagship store in Covent Garden – basically just because I was invited and I’ve never been to one of their press days before. I had absolutely no expectations of it, since I’ve rarely set foot inside a Hobbs store since I developed a bit of a Bertie shoe fetish in my teen years (the late 80s if you must know). Bertie was once associated with the Hobbs brand, but I’m not sure if it is anymore.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I managed to sashay confidently past the girl on the door girl, “where did you say you were from?” said she, eyeing up my haphazard approach to dressing with curiosity. Then I manoeuvred myself away from what promised to be a lengthy guided tour through each garment in the collection, nearly sending a mannequin crashing in my eagerness to reach the back of the room. And, I was how shall we say it… pleasantly surprised. Straight away I made a beeline for a lovely gold pine cone necklace, taking in the general fruity folk colours of the NW3 collection. Accessories are one of Hobbs’ strongpoints and there was a nice display of cute jewellery and coloured patent bags.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

But I was anxious not to waste too much time, so when one of the immaculate PR ladies glided over (I always feel like a bedraggled mess by comparison) I quickly explained that I was only looking for either designer led collaborations or ethical ranges. AHA! She led me towards a young man, standing in front of a rail and eager to pounce on journalists. I was introduced; this was Dean Thomas, designer of the high end Artisan collection, which sources all materials and is manufactured within the UK.

Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Dean Thomas describes the Artisan collection.

Dean was chosen straight out of Central Saint Martins precisely because he found all the materials for his final collection from within a 50 mile radius of his home town in Somerset. He held up a few pieces from the AW10 collection for me and I have to say, it was absolutely gorgeous. He’s created a stunning evening dress out of the most unlikely of materials: a waxed cotton similar to the type that gets used in Barbour jackets. Then there’s a lovely stripy mohair coat and a super long evening dress with an elegant train. All the wool comes from Jacob sheep in Scotland and a pretty digital print was manipulated from a posy of virulent purple Scotts thistles. I was pretty impressed I tells thee. Apparently in 2008 Hobbs was given a good shake up with the appointment of Sandy Vernon as creative director (she used to work at Next and Jaeger), and if this is what she’s doing then she’s onto a winner.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I then got pulled over to meet Karen Boyd, formerly of Boyd & Storey, and shown through her domain; the Limited Edition collection. She too has moved over from Jaeger, and her elegant tailoring mixed with feminine details such as faux embroidered prints and little lace collars is a dead giveaway of her past employment. This collection is beautiful too, but sadly only the goat skins in the long haired cape are sourced locally. “They’re a by-product of the meat industry, we don’t use fur.” Most of the clothes are of course made in the far east. As, no doubt, is the pine cone necklace that I had so admired earlier, but I was nevertheless a super happy bunny to discover the very same necklace in my press goodie bag. Comfortingly heavy, it’s been living around my neck ever since, a rare accolade.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Karen Boyd
Karen Boyd talks me through the Limited Edition collection.

All in all I left pleasantly surprised. I think it is to be applauded when a large high street retailer such as Hobbs is confident enough to produce a whole range of beautifully made clothes in the UK, at a price point that will still be affordable to many (if not me). Now if only more retailers were to sit up and take note.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

Now, view I don’t normally write blogs about high street clothes shops. But I’m gonna break my rule this time. Earlier this week I went along to the Hobbs press day in their flagship store in Covent Garden – basically just because I was invited and I’ve never been to one of their press days before. I had absolutely no expectations of it, stuff since I’ve rarely set foot inside a Hobbs store since I developed a bit of a Bertie shoe fetish in my teen years (the late 80s if you must know). Bertie was once associated with the Hobbs brand, but I’m not sure if it is anymore.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I managed to sashay confidently past the girl on the door girl, “where did you say you were from?” said she, eyeing up my haphazard approach to dressing with curiosity. Then I manoeuvred myself away from what promised to be a lengthy guided tour through each garment in the collection, nearly sending a mannequin crashing in my eagerness to reach the back of the room. And, I was how shall we say it… pleasantly surprised. Straight away I made a beeline for a lovely gold pine cone necklace, taking in the general fruity folk colours of the NW3 collection. Accessories are one of Hobbs’ strongpoints and there was a nice display of cute jewellery and coloured patent bags.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

But I was anxious not to waste too much time, so when one of the immaculate PR ladies glided over (I always feel like a bedraggled mess by comparison) I quickly explained that I was only looking for either designer led collaborations or ethical ranges. AHA! She led me towards a young man, standing in front of a rail and eager to pounce on journalists. I was introduced; this was Dean Thomas, designer of the high end Artisan collection, which sources all materials and is manufactured within the UK.

Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Dean Thomas describes the Artisan collection.

Dean was chosen straight out of Central Saint Martins precisely because he found all the materials for his final collection from within a 50 mile radius of his home town in Somerset. He held up a few pieces from the AW10 collection for me and I have to say, it was absolutely gorgeous. He’s created a stunning evening dress out of the most unlikely of materials: a waxed cotton similar to the type that gets used in Barbour jackets. Then there’s a lovely stripy mohair coat and a super long evening dress with an elegant train. All the wool comes from Jacob sheep in Scotland and a pretty digital print was manipulated from a posy of virulent purple Scotts thistles. I was pretty impressed I tells thee. Apparently in 2008 Hobbs was given a good shake up with the appointment of Sandy Vernon as creative director (she used to work at Next and Jaeger), and if this is what she’s doing then she’s onto a winner.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I then got pulled over to meet Karen Boyd, formerly of Boyd & Storey, and shown through her domain; the Limited Edition collection. She too has moved over from Jaeger, where her trademark style – elegant tailoring mixed with feminine details such as faux embroidered prints and little lace collars – was given credit for turning around the once fusty label. This collection is beautiful too, but sadly only the goat skins in the long haired cape are sourced locally. “They’re a by-product of the meat industry, we don’t use fur.” Most of the clothes are of course made in the far east. As, no doubt, is the pine cone necklace that I had so admired earlier, but I was nevertheless a super happy bunny to discover the very same necklace in my press goodie bag. Comfortingly heavy, it’s been living around my neck ever since, a rare accolade.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Karen Boyd
Karen Boyd talks me through the Limited Edition collection.

All in all I left pleasantly surprised. I think it is to be applauded when a large high street retailer such as Hobbs is confident enough to produce a whole range of beautifully made clothes in the UK, at a price point that will still be affordable to many (if not me). Now if only more retailers were to sit up and take note.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

Now, help I don’t normally write blogs about high street clothes shops. But I’m gonna break my rule this time. Earlier this week I went along to the Hobbs press day in their flagship store in Covent Garden – basically just because I was invited and I’ve never been to one of their press days before. I had absolutely no expectations of it, cialis 40mg since I’ve rarely set foot inside a Hobbs store since I developed a bit of a Bertie shoe fetish in my teen years (the late 80s if you must know). Bertie was once associated with the Hobbs brand, but I’m not sure if it is anymore.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I managed to sashay confidently past the girl on the door girl, “where did you say you were from?” said she, eyeing up my haphazard approach to dressing with curiosity. Then I manoeuvred myself away from what promised to be a lengthy guided tour through each garment in the collection, nearly sending a mannequin crashing in my eagerness to reach the back of the room. And, I was how shall we say it… pleasantly surprised. Straight away I made a beeline for a lovely gold pine cone necklace, taking in the general fruity folk colours of the NW3 collection. Accessories are one of Hobbs’ strongpoints and there was a nice display of cute jewellery and coloured patent bags.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

But I was anxious not to waste too much time, so when one of the immaculate PR ladies glided over (I always feel like a bedraggled mess by comparison) I quickly explained that I was only looking for either designer led collaborations or ethical ranges. AHA! She led me towards a young man, standing in front of a rail and eager to pounce on journalists. I was introduced; this was Dean Thomas, designer of the high end Artisan collection, which sources all materials and is manufactured within the UK.

Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Dean Thomas describes the Artisan collection.

Dean was chosen straight out of Central Saint Martins precisely because he found all the materials for his final collection from within a 50 mile radius of his home town in Somerset. He held up a few pieces from the AW10 collection for me and I have to say, it was absolutely gorgeous. He’s created a stunning evening dress out of the most unlikely of materials: a waxed cotton similar to the type that gets used in Barbour jackets. Then there’s a lovely stripy mohair coat and a super long evening dress with an elegant train. All the wool comes from Jacob sheep in Scotland and a pretty digital print was manipulated from a posy of virulent purple Scotts thistles. I was pretty impressed I tells thee. Apparently in 2008 Hobbs was given a good shake up with the appointment of Sandy Vernon as creative director (she used to work at Next and Jaeger), and if this is what she’s doing then she’s onto a winner.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I then got pulled over to meet Karen Boyd, formerly of Boyd & Storey, and shown through her domain; the Limited Edition collection. She too has moved over from Jaeger, where her trademark style – elegant tailoring mixed with feminine details such as faux embroidered prints and little lace collars – was given credit for turning around the once fusty label. This collection is beautiful too, but sadly only the goat skins in the long haired cape are sourced locally. “They’re a by-product of the meat industry, we don’t use fur.” Most of the clothes are of course made in the far east. As, no doubt, is the pine cone necklace that I had so admired earlier, but I was nevertheless a super happy bunny to discover the very same necklace in my press goodie bag. Comfortingly heavy, it’s been living around my neck ever since, a rare accolade.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Karen Boyd
Karen Boyd talks me through the Limited Edition collection.

All in all I left pleasantly surprised. I think it is to be applauded when a large high street retailer such as Hobbs is confident enough to produce a whole range of beautifully made clothes in the UK, at a price point that will still be affordable to many (if not me). Now if only more retailers were to sit up and take note.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

Now, approved I don’t normally write blogs about high street clothes shops. But I’m gonna break my rule this time. Earlier this week I went along to the Hobbs press day in their flagship store in Covent Garden – basically just because I was invited and I’ve never been to one of their press days before. I had absolutely no expectations of it, viagra 100mg since I’ve rarely set foot inside a Hobbs store since I developed a bit of a Bertie shoe fetish in my teen years (the late 80s if you must know). Bertie was once associated with the Hobbs brand, sildenafil but I’m not sure if it is anymore.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I managed to sashay confidently past the girl on the door girl, “where did you say you were from?” said she, eyeing up my haphazard approach to dressing with curiosity. Then I manoeuvred myself away from what promised to be a lengthy guided tour through each garment in the collection, nearly sending a mannequin crashing in my eagerness to reach the back of the room. And, I was how shall we say it… pleasantly surprised. Straight away I made a beeline for a lovely gold pine cone necklace, taking in the general fruity folk colours of the NW3 collection. Accessories are one of Hobbs’ strongpoints and there was a nice display of cute jewellery and coloured patent bags.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

But I was anxious not to waste too much time, so when one of the immaculate PR ladies glided over (I always feel like a bedraggled mess by comparison) I quickly explained that I was only looking for either designer led collaborations or ethical ranges. AHA! She led me towards a young man, standing in front of a rail and eager to pounce on journalists. I was introduced; this was Dean Thomas, designer of the high end Artisan collection, which sources all materials and is manufactured within the UK.

Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Dean Thomas describes the Artisan collection.

Dean was chosen straight out of Central Saint Martins precisely because he found all the materials for his final collection from within a 50 mile radius of his home town in Somerset. He held up a few pieces from the AW10 collection for me and I have to say, it was absolutely gorgeous. He’s created a stunning evening dress out of the most unlikely of materials: a waxed cotton similar to the type that gets used in Barbour jackets. Then there’s a lovely stripy mohair coat and a super long evening dress with an elegant train. All the wool comes from Jacob sheep in Scotland and a pretty print was manipulated digitally from a photo of a posy of virulent purple Scotts thistles. I was pretty impressed I tells thee. Apparently in 2008 Hobbs was given a good shake up with the appointment of Sandy Vernon as creative director (she used to work at Next and Jaeger), and if this is what she’s doing then she’s onto a winner.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I then got pulled over to meet Karen Boyd, formerly of Boyd & Storey, and shown through her domain; the Limited Edition collection. She too has moved over from Jaeger, where her trademark style – elegant tailoring mixed with feminine details such as faux embroidered prints and little lace collars – was given credit for turning around the once fusty label. This collection is beautiful too, but sadly only the goat skins in the long haired cape are sourced locally. “They’re a by-product of the meat industry, we don’t use fur.” Most of the clothes are of course made in the far east. As, no doubt, is the pine cone necklace that I had so admired earlier, but I was nevertheless a super happy bunny to discover the very same necklace in my press goodie bag. Comfortingly heavy, it’s been living around my neck ever since, a rare accolade.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Karen Boyd
Karen Boyd talks me through the Limited Edition collection.

All in all I left pleasantly surprised. I think it is to be applauded when a large high street retailer such as Hobbs is confident enough to produce a whole range of beautifully made clothes in the UK, at a price point that will still be affordable to many (if not me). Now if only more retailers were to sit up and take note.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

Now, no rx I don’t normally write blogs about high street clothes shops. But I’m gonna break my rule this time. Earlier this week I went along to the Hobbs press day in their flagship store in Covent Garden – basically just because I was invited and I’ve never been to one of their press days before. I had absolutely no expectations of it, symptoms since I’ve rarely set foot inside a Hobbs store since I developed a bit of a Bertie shoe fetish in my teen years (the late 80s if you must know). Bertie was once associated with the Hobbs brand, website but I’m not sure if it is anymore.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I managed to sashay confidently past the girl on the door girl, “where did you say you were from?” said she, eyeing up my haphazard approach to dressing with curiosity. Then I manoeuvred myself away from what promised to be a lengthy guided tour through each garment in the collection, nearly sending a mannequin crashing in my eagerness to reach the back of the room. And, I was how shall we say it… pleasantly surprised. Straight away I made a beeline for a lovely gold pine cone necklace, taking in the general fruity folk colours of the NW3 collection. Accessories are one of Hobbs’ strongpoints and there was a nice display of cute jewellery and coloured patent bags.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

But I was anxious not to waste too much time, so when one of the immaculate PR ladies glided over (I always feel like a bedraggled mess by comparison) I quickly explained that I was only looking for either designer led collaborations or ethical ranges. AHA! She led me towards a young man, standing in front of a rail and eager to pounce on journalists. I was introduced; this was Dean Thomas, designer of the high end Artisan collection, which sources all materials and is manufactured within the UK.

Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Dean Thomas describes the Artisan collection.

Dean was chosen straight out of Central Saint Martins precisely because he found all the materials for his final collection from within a 50 mile radius of his home town in Somerset. He held up a few pieces from the AW10 collection for me and I have to say, it was absolutely gorgeous. He’s created a stunning pleated evening dress out of the most unlikely of materials: a waxed cotton similar to the type that gets used in Barbour jackets. Then there’s a lovely stripy mohair coat and a super long evening dress with an elegant train. All the wool comes from Jacob sheep in Scotland and a pretty print was manipulated digitally from a photo of virulent purple Scotts thistles. I was pretty impressed I tells thee. Apparently in 2008 Hobbs was given a good shake up with the appointment of Sandy Vernon as creative director (she used to work at Next and Jaeger), and if this is what she’s doing then she’s onto a winner.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I then got pulled over to meet Karen Boyd, formerly of Boyd & Storey, and shown through her domain; the Limited Edition collection. She too has moved over from Jaeger, where her trademark style – elegant tailoring mixed with feminine details such as faux embroidered prints and little lace collars – was given credit for turning around the once fusty label. This collection is beautiful too, but sadly only the goat skins used in the long haired cape are sourced locally. “They’re a by-product of the meat industry, we don’t use fur.” Most of the clothes are of course made in the far east. As, no doubt, is the pine cone necklace that I had so admired earlier, but I was nevertheless a super happy bunny to discover the very same necklace in my press goodie bag. Comfortingly heavy, it’s been living around my neck ever since, a rare accolade.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Karen Boyd
Karen Boyd talks me through the Limited Edition collection.

All in all I left pleasantly surprised. I think it is to be applauded when a large high street retailer such as Hobbs is confident enough to produce a whole range of beautifully made clothes in the UK, at a price point that will still be affordable to many (if not me). Now if only more retailers were to sit up and take note.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

Now, buy more about I don’t normally write blogs about high street clothes shops. But I’m gonna break my rule this time. Earlier this week I went along to the Hobbs press day in their flagship store in Covent Garden – basically just because I was invited and I’ve never been to one of their press days before. I had absolutely no expectations of it, price since I’ve rarely set foot inside a Hobbs store since I developed a bit of a Bertie shoe fetish in my teen years (the late 80s if you must know). Bertie was once associated with the Hobbs brand, clinic but I’m not sure if it is anymore.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I managed to sashay confidently past the girl on the door girl, “where did you say you were from?” said she, eyeing up my haphazard approach to dressing with curiosity. Then I manoeuvred myself away from what promised to be a lengthy guided tour through each garment in the collection, nearly sending a mannequin crashing in my eagerness to reach the back of the room. And, I was how shall we say it… pleasantly surprised. Straight away I made a beeline for a lovely gold pine cone necklace, taking in the general fruity folk colours of the NW3 collection. Accessories are one of Hobbs’ strongpoints and there was a nice display of cute jewellery and coloured patent bags.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

But I was anxious not to waste too much time, so when one of the immaculate PR ladies glided over (I always feel like a bedraggled mess by comparison) I quickly explained that I was only looking for either designer led collaborations or ethical ranges. AHA! She led me towards a young man, standing in front of a rail and eager to pounce on journalists. I was introduced; this was Dean Thomas, designer of the high end Artisan collection, which sources all materials and is manufactured within the UK.

Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Dean Thomas describes the Artisan collection.

Dean was chosen straight out of Central Saint Martins precisely because he found all the materials for his final collection from within a 50 mile radius of his home town in Somerset. He held up a few pieces from the AW10 collection for me and I have to say, it was absolutely gorgeous. He’s created a stunning pleated evening dress out of the most unlikely of materials: a waxed cotton similar to the type that gets used in Barbour jackets. Then there’s a lovely stripy mohair coat and a super long evening dress with an elegant train. All the wool comes from Jacob sheep in Scotland and a pretty print was manipulated digitally from a photo of virulent purple Scotts thistles. I was pretty impressed I tells thee. Apparently in 2008 Hobbs was given a good shake up with the appointment of Sandy Vernon as creative director (she used to work at Next and Jaeger), and if this is what she’s doing then she’s onto a winner.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I then got pulled over to meet Karen Boyd, formerly of Boyd & Storey, and shown through her domain; the Limited Edition collection. She too has moved over from Jaeger, where her trademark style – elegant tailoring mixed with feminine details such as faux embroidered prints and little lace collars – was given credit for turning around the once fusty label. This collection is beautiful too, but sadly only the goat skins used in the long haired cape are sourced locally. “They’re a by-product of the meat industry, we don’t use fur.” Most of the clothes are of course made in the far east. As, no doubt, is the pine cone necklace that I had so admired earlier, but I was nevertheless a super happy bunny to discover the very same necklace in my press goodie bag. Comfortingly heavy, it’s been living around my neck ever since, a rare accolade.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Karen Boyd
Karen Boyd talks me through the Limited Edition collection.

All in all I left pleasantly surprised. I think it is to be applauded when a large high street retailer such as Hobbs is confident enough to produce a whole range of beautifully made clothes in the UK, at a price point that will still be affordable to many (if not me). Now if only more retailers were to sit up and take note.

Pick Me Up- 2010 Ville Savimaa
Detail from illustration by Ville Savimaa.

Have you been to see the Pick Me Up show at Somerset House yet? If not why not? if you’re in London get your skates on and get down there before it finishes on Monday (that’s tomorrow): there’s no better way to perk up a rainy Bank Holiday.

Pick Me Up 2010

If you work in illustration or the graphic arts, generic this place will really get your juices going: part exhibition, part shop and part working studio space, all the people involved are superbly talented – not for nothing have about a dozen featured in my magazine over the years. Many have now become firmly established illustrators and their work a familiar part of the contemporary visual landscape.

I visited Pick Me Up last week thanks to the prompting of Thereza Rowe, who organised a twitter meetup with some other illustrators. It was an excellent chance for me to meet Kate Slater, who created some wonderful work for issue 10 of Amelia’s Magazine, and Jo Cheung and June Chanpoomidole, who contribute regularly to Amelia’s Magazine online. The lovely Simon Wild came along to meet Thereza, with whom he has helped to launch the Happy Journey Collective.

Pick Me Up 2010 Jo Cheung, June Chanpoomidole, Kate Slater, Simon Wild, Thereza Rowe
Jo Cheung, June Chanpoomidole, Kate Slater, Simon Wild and Thereza Rowe outside Pick Me Up 2010.

Pick Me Up- 2010 Thereza Rowe Poketo
Thereza Rowe shows us her designs for Poketo.

In the blazing heat we gathered in the courtyard of Somerset House, where Thereza gleefully showed us the new purse she has just designed for the papercut series by Poketo.

Pick Me Up- 2010 Hellovon
Pick Me Up- 2010 Hellovon
Illustrations by Hellovon.

The exhibition is entered via the lower level, and the first gallery was devoted to the artwork of up and coming illustrators as picked out by a bunch of “industry insiders.” I was very pleased to see on display the idiosyncratic work of Jess Wilson, who has worked for me many times over the years and appears in Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration. Hvass&Hannibal were also given space; you can read more about the design duo here.

Pick Me Up- 2010 Jess Wilson
Pick Me Up- 2010 Jess Wilson
Pick Me Up- 2010 Jess Wilson
Illusrations by Jess Wilson.

Also included was a Peepshow stand and a large space devoted to the publications of the Nobrow collective, who have created a huge amount of work in the blink of an eye, and are due to launch a shop in Shoreditch later in May. Issue 3 of the Nobrow magazine was launched for the Pick Me Up exhibition, and I can confirm that Topsy Turvy features another beautiful selection of illustration, printed in another unique colour range.

Pick Me Up 2010 Peepshow
Pick Me Up 2010 Peepshow Luke Best
Peepshow artist Luke Best has appeared in Amelia’s Magazine.

It is clear that Nobrow are sticking to a very specific aesthetic, which is driven by the process of screen-printing and is thus very different to that of Amelia’s Magazine: back in May I posted a blog about the Nobrow open brief for People I’ve Never Met & Conversations I’ve Never Had, but sadly none of the illustrators I recommended to take part were chosen for selection in the book. I look forward to interviewing Alex Spiro and Sam Arthur to find out more about how they work.

Pick Me Up-2010 Nobrow
Pick Me Up-2010 Nobrow
Pick Me Up-2010 Nobrow
The Nobrow stand.

On the upper level each room was given over to a different collective, with the biggest room reserved for a Rob Ryan pop-up studio, the walls lined haphazardly with imagery from Rob’s huge back catalogue. There was a girl beavering away in the midst of it all but I didn’t see Rob, and wonder how much time he will have had to spend at the Pick Me Up exhibition.

Pick Me Up-2010 Rob Ryan
Pick Me Up-2010 Rob Ryan
Pick Me Up-2010 Rob Ryan
Pick Me Up-2010 Rob Ryan
This last piece by Rob Ryan is a version of the front cover that he originally designed for issue 02 of Amelia’s Magazine.

In the other rooms there was live screen printing from the Print Club London, a pop up Concrete Hermit shop featuring my very own Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration (I had my launch party at their shop in Hoxton), and work from various other collectives, including Nous Vous, It’s Nice That, Le Gun, Evening Tweed and a live project with Landfill Editions.

Pick Me Up-2010 Print Club London
Pick Me Up-2010 Print Club London
Print Club London in effect.

Pick Me Up 2010 Concrete Hermit
Artwork in the Concrete Hermit space.

Pick Me Up 2010 Concrete Hermit
Someone flicking through Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration at Concrete Hermit.

Pick Me Up-2010 Nous Vous
Members of the Nous Vous Collective.

Printing live on an old Risograph printing machine Landfill Editions were inviting a series of illustrators to interpret the collection of trinkets previously held in these galleries in Somerset House. The Risograph is an interesting beast, which can be used to overlay separate colours, thus producing a final outcome much like that of traditional screenprinting.

Pick Me Up-2010 Landfill Editions
The Risograph.

Pick Me Up-2010 Landfill Editions Colin Henderson
Landfill Editions booklet by Colin Henderson.

Pick Me Up-2010 Landfill Editions Jim Soten
Landfill Editions print by Jim Stoten.

Pick Me Up-2010 Landfill Editions Adrian Fleet
Landfill Editions print by Adrian Fleet.

Work on the walls included illustrations by Colin Henderson, who appeared in issue 04 of Amelia’s Magazine, Jim Stoten, who created the front cover of issue 06, Mike Perry, who did the back cover of issue 05 and Adrian Fleet, who produced work for issue 10. Dan Has Potential, who we wrote about here, was working on a piece whilst we were given a tour of the Risograph, and Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration contributor Karolin Schnoor arrived to start on her contribution as we were leaving.

Pick Me Up 2010 Landfill Editions Dan Has Potential
Dan Has Potential gets stuck in to his artwork.

Pick Me Up 2010 Landfill Editions Karolin Schnoor
Karolin Schnoor comes pre-prepared.

The illustration and design work at Pick Me Up is fabulous, and there’s a great line up of workshops and visiting artists… but I wish they’d asked me to contribute as well. Not just for purely selfish reasons of ego, but because I can’t help feeling that a certain type of illustration was missing. Maybe something a bit less graphic, a bit more feminine, a bit less obviously of the moment. There were glimpses of this sort of work, particularly in the form of talks from the lovely Anorak Magazine, but not enough. There was also absolutely no consideration of sustainability in design, which I feel is unforgiveable: some of the artists who contribute so readily to Amelia’s Magazine could have filled these gaps and provided some welcome diversity.

Pick Me Up 2010 Ville Savimaa
Pick Me Up 2010 Ville Savimaa
Pick Me Up 2010 Ville Savimaa
Pick Me Up 2010 Ville Savimaa
I loved this work by Finish artist Ville Savimaa.

In the meantime read on for a few more tasters of the fabulous artwork on offer at Pick Me Up and make sure you get down there whilst you can: not least because of the limited edition prints available exclusively at the shop for the duration of the exhibition only.

Pick Me Up-2010 Mathis Rekowski
Pick Me Up-2010 Mathis Rekowski
Pick Me Up 2010 Mathis Rekowski
Pick Me Up-2010 Mathis Rekowski
Illustrations by Mathis Rekowski.

Pick Me Up-2010 Siggi Eggertsson
A huge quilt by Siggi Eggertsson.

Pick Me Up-2010 Andy Gilmore
Detail from Andy Gilmore.

Pick Me Up 2010 Peepshow
Part of Peepshow.

Pick Me Up 2010 patrick gildersleeves
Pick Me Up 2010 patrick gildersleeves
Pick Me Up 2010 patrick gildersleeves
Pick Me Up 2010 patrick gildersleeves
Wonderful work from Patrick Gildersleeves.

Pick Me Up 2010 Natsko Seki
Pick Me Up 2010 Natsko Seki
Pick Me Up 2010 Natsko Seki
Pick Me Up 2010 Natsko Seki
Wonderful details from work by Natsko Seki.

Pick Me Up2010 Natsko seki

Pick Me Up 2010 Alex Trochut
Fabulous fonts from Alex Trochut.

Pick Me Up 2010 Claire Scully
Wolf poster from Claire Scully.

Pick Me Up 2010 Job Wouters
Typography by Job Wouters.

Pick Me Up2010
Prints for sale in the Pick Me Up shop: get on down there quick.

You can see a fab set of Flickr images courtesy of Jo Cheung here and she blogs about her visit to Pick Me Up with reference to this article here.

Categories ,Adrian Fleet, ,Alex Trochut, ,Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration, ,Andy Gilmore, ,Anorak Magazine, ,Claire Scully, ,Colin Henderson, ,Concrete Hermit, ,Dan Has Potential, ,Evening Tweed, ,exhibition, ,Hvass&Hannibal, ,illustration, ,It’s Nice That, ,Jess Wilson, ,Jim Stoten, ,Jo Cheung, ,Job Wouters, ,June Chanpoomidole, ,Karolin Schnoor, ,Landfill Editions, ,Le Gun, ,Luke Best, ,Mathis Rekowski, ,Mike Perry, ,Natsko Seki, ,Nobrow Press, ,Nous Vous, ,Patrick Gildersleeves, ,Peepshow, ,Pick Me Up, ,Print Club London, ,review, ,Risograph, ,rob ryan, ,screenprinting, ,Siggi Eggertsson, ,Simon Wild, ,Somerset House, ,Thereza Rowe, ,typography, ,Ville Savimaa

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Amelia’s Magazine | Pick Me Up Contemporary Graphic Art Fair at Somerset House: Review

Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Karen Boyd
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

Now, advice I don’t normally write blogs about high street clothes shops. But I’m gonna break my rule this time. Earlier this week I went along to the Hobbs press day in their flagship store in Covent Garden – basically just because I was invited and I’ve never been to one of their press days before. I had absolutely no expectations of it, side effects since I’ve rarely set foot inside a Hobbs store since I developed a bit of a Bertie shoe fetish in my teen years (the late 80s if you must know). Bertie was once associated with the Hobbs brand, capsule but I’m not sure if it is anymore.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I managed to sashay confidently past the girl on the door girl, “where did you say you were from?” said she, eyeing up my haphazard approach to dressing with curiosity. Then I manoeuvred myself away from what promised to be a lengthy guided tour through each garment in the collection, nearly sending a mannequin crashing in my eagerness to reach the back of the room. And, I was how shall we say it… pleasantly surprised. Straight away I made a beeline for a lovely gold pine cone necklace, taking in the general fruity folk colours of the N.W.3 collection. Accessories are one of Hobbs strongpoints and there was a nice display of cute jewellery and coloured patent bags.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

But I was anxious not to waste too much time, so when one of the immaculate PR ladies glided over (I always feel like a bedraggled mess by comparison) I quickly explained that I was only looking for either designer led collaborations or ethical ranges. AHA! She led me towards a young man, standing in front of a rail and eager to pounce on journalists. I was introduced; this was Dean Thomas, designer of the high end Artisan collection, which sources all materials and is manufactured within the UK.

Dean was chosen straight out of Central Saint Martins precisely because he found all the materials for his final collection from within a 50 mile radius of his home town in Somerset. He held up a few pieces from the AW10 collection for me and I have to say, it was absolutely gorgeous. He’s created a stunning evening dress out of the most unlikely of materials: a waxed cotton similar to the type that gets used in Barbour jackets. Then there’s a lovely stripy mohair coat and a super long evening dress with an elegant train. All the wool comes from Jacobs sheep in Scotland and a pretty digital print was manipulated from a posy of virulent purple Scotts thistles. I was pretty impressed I tells thee. Apparently in 2008 Hobbs was given a good shake up with the appointment of Sandy Vernon as creative director (she used to work at Next and Jaeger), and if this is what she’s doing then she’s onto a winner.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I then got pulled over to meet Karen Boyd, formerly of Boyd & Storey, and shown through her domain; the Limited Edition collection. She too has moved over from Jaeger, and her elegant tailoring mixed with feminine details such as faux embroidered prints and little lace collars is a dead giveaway of her past employment. This collection is beautiful too, but sadly only the goat skins in the long haired cape are sourced locally. “They’re a by-product of the meat industry, we don’t use fur.” Most of the clothes are of course made in the far east. As, no doubt, is the pine cone necklace that I had so admired earlier, but I was nevertheless a super happy bunny to discover the very same necklace in my press goodie bag. Comfortingly heavy, it’s been living around my neck ever since, a rare accolade.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

All in all I left pleasantly surprised. I think it is to be applauded when a large high street retailer such as Hobbs is confident enough to produce a whole range of beautifully made clothes in the UK, at a price point that will still be affordable to many (if not me). Now if only more retailers were to sit up and take note.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

Now, buy information pills I don’t normally write blogs about high street clothes shops. But I’m gonna break my rule this time. Earlier this week I went along to the Hobbs press day in their flagship store in Covent Garden – basically just because I was invited and I’ve never been to one of their press days before. I had absolutely no expectations of it, more about since I’ve rarely set foot inside a Hobbs store since I developed a bit of a Bertie shoe fetish in my teen years (the late 80s if you must know). Bertie was once associated with the Hobbs brand, approved but I’m not sure if it is anymore.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I managed to sashay confidently past the girl on the door girl, “where did you say you were from?” said she, eyeing up my haphazard approach to dressing with curiosity. Then I manoeuvred myself away from what promised to be a lengthy guided tour through each garment in the collection, nearly sending a mannequin crashing in my eagerness to reach the back of the room. And, I was how shall we say it… pleasantly surprised. Straight away I made a beeline for a lovely gold pine cone necklace, taking in the general fruity folk colours of the N.W.3 collection. Accessories are one of Hobbs strongpoints and there was a nice display of cute jewellery and coloured patent bags.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

But I was anxious not to waste too much time, so when one of the immaculate PR ladies glided over (I always feel like a bedraggled mess by comparison) I quickly explained that I was only looking for either designer led collaborations or ethical ranges. AHA! She led me towards a young man, standing in front of a rail and eager to pounce on journalists. I was introduced; this was Dean Thomas, designer of the high end Artisan collection, which sources all materials and is manufactured within the UK.

Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Dean Thomas describes the Artisan collection.

Dean was chosen straight out of Central Saint Martins precisely because he found all the materials for his final collection from within a 50 mile radius of his home town in Somerset. He held up a few pieces from the AW10 collection for me and I have to say, it was absolutely gorgeous. He’s created a stunning evening dress out of the most unlikely of materials: a waxed cotton similar to the type that gets used in Barbour jackets. Then there’s a lovely stripy mohair coat and a super long evening dress with an elegant train. All the wool comes from Jacobs sheep in Scotland and a pretty digital print was manipulated from a posy of virulent purple Scotts thistles. I was pretty impressed I tells thee. Apparently in 2008 Hobbs was given a good shake up with the appointment of Sandy Vernon as creative director (she used to work at Next and Jaeger), and if this is what she’s doing then she’s onto a winner.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I then got pulled over to meet Karen Boyd, formerly of Boyd & Storey, and shown through her domain; the Limited Edition collection. She too has moved over from Jaeger, and her elegant tailoring mixed with feminine details such as faux embroidered prints and little lace collars is a dead giveaway of her past employment. This collection is beautiful too, but sadly only the goat skins in the long haired cape are sourced locally. “They’re a by-product of the meat industry, we don’t use fur.” Most of the clothes are of course made in the far east. As, no doubt, is the pine cone necklace that I had so admired earlier, but I was nevertheless a super happy bunny to discover the very same necklace in my press goodie bag. Comfortingly heavy, it’s been living around my neck ever since, a rare accolade.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Karen Boyd
Karen Boyd talks me through the Limited Edition collection.

All in all I left pleasantly surprised. I think it is to be applauded when a large high street retailer such as Hobbs is confident enough to produce a whole range of beautifully made clothes in the UK, at a price point that will still be affordable to many (if not me). Now if only more retailers were to sit up and take note.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

Now, buy information pills I don’t normally write blogs about high street clothes shops. But I’m gonna break my rule this time. Earlier this week I went along to the Hobbs press day in their flagship store in Covent Garden – basically just because I was invited and I’ve never been to one of their press days before. I had absolutely no expectations of it, since I’ve rarely set foot inside a Hobbs store since I developed a bit of a Bertie shoe fetish in my teen years (the late 80s if you must know). Bertie was once associated with the Hobbs brand, but I’m not sure if it is anymore.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I managed to sashay confidently past the girl on the door girl, “where did you say you were from?” said she, eyeing up my haphazard approach to dressing with curiosity. Then I manoeuvred myself away from what promised to be a lengthy guided tour through each garment in the collection, nearly sending a mannequin crashing in my eagerness to reach the back of the room. And, I was how shall we say it… pleasantly surprised. Straight away I made a beeline for a lovely gold pine cone necklace, taking in the general fruity folk colours of the NW3 collection. Accessories are one of Hobbs’ strongpoints and there was a nice display of cute jewellery and coloured patent bags.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

But I was anxious not to waste too much time, so when one of the immaculate PR ladies glided over (I always feel like a bedraggled mess by comparison) I quickly explained that I was only looking for either designer led collaborations or ethical ranges. AHA! She led me towards a young man, standing in front of a rail and eager to pounce on journalists. I was introduced; this was Dean Thomas, designer of the high end Artisan collection, which sources all materials and is manufactured within the UK.

Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Dean Thomas describes the Artisan collection.

Dean was chosen straight out of Central Saint Martins precisely because he found all the materials for his final collection from within a 50 mile radius of his home town in Somerset. He held up a few pieces from the AW10 collection for me and I have to say, it was absolutely gorgeous. He’s created a stunning evening dress out of the most unlikely of materials: a waxed cotton similar to the type that gets used in Barbour jackets. Then there’s a lovely stripy mohair coat and a super long evening dress with an elegant train. All the wool comes from Jacob sheep in Scotland and a pretty digital print was manipulated from a posy of virulent purple Scotts thistles. I was pretty impressed I tells thee. Apparently in 2008 Hobbs was given a good shake up with the appointment of Sandy Vernon as creative director (she used to work at Next and Jaeger), and if this is what she’s doing then she’s onto a winner.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I then got pulled over to meet Karen Boyd, formerly of Boyd & Storey, and shown through her domain; the Limited Edition collection. She too has moved over from Jaeger, and her elegant tailoring mixed with feminine details such as faux embroidered prints and little lace collars is a dead giveaway of her past employment. This collection is beautiful too, but sadly only the goat skins in the long haired cape are sourced locally. “They’re a by-product of the meat industry, we don’t use fur.” Most of the clothes are of course made in the far east. As, no doubt, is the pine cone necklace that I had so admired earlier, but I was nevertheless a super happy bunny to discover the very same necklace in my press goodie bag. Comfortingly heavy, it’s been living around my neck ever since, a rare accolade.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Karen Boyd
Karen Boyd talks me through the Limited Edition collection.

All in all I left pleasantly surprised. I think it is to be applauded when a large high street retailer such as Hobbs is confident enough to produce a whole range of beautifully made clothes in the UK, at a price point that will still be affordable to many (if not me). Now if only more retailers were to sit up and take note.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

Now, view I don’t normally write blogs about high street clothes shops. But I’m gonna break my rule this time. Earlier this week I went along to the Hobbs press day in their flagship store in Covent Garden – basically just because I was invited and I’ve never been to one of their press days before. I had absolutely no expectations of it, stuff since I’ve rarely set foot inside a Hobbs store since I developed a bit of a Bertie shoe fetish in my teen years (the late 80s if you must know). Bertie was once associated with the Hobbs brand, but I’m not sure if it is anymore.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I managed to sashay confidently past the girl on the door girl, “where did you say you were from?” said she, eyeing up my haphazard approach to dressing with curiosity. Then I manoeuvred myself away from what promised to be a lengthy guided tour through each garment in the collection, nearly sending a mannequin crashing in my eagerness to reach the back of the room. And, I was how shall we say it… pleasantly surprised. Straight away I made a beeline for a lovely gold pine cone necklace, taking in the general fruity folk colours of the NW3 collection. Accessories are one of Hobbs’ strongpoints and there was a nice display of cute jewellery and coloured patent bags.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

But I was anxious not to waste too much time, so when one of the immaculate PR ladies glided over (I always feel like a bedraggled mess by comparison) I quickly explained that I was only looking for either designer led collaborations or ethical ranges. AHA! She led me towards a young man, standing in front of a rail and eager to pounce on journalists. I was introduced; this was Dean Thomas, designer of the high end Artisan collection, which sources all materials and is manufactured within the UK.

Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Dean Thomas describes the Artisan collection.

Dean was chosen straight out of Central Saint Martins precisely because he found all the materials for his final collection from within a 50 mile radius of his home town in Somerset. He held up a few pieces from the AW10 collection for me and I have to say, it was absolutely gorgeous. He’s created a stunning evening dress out of the most unlikely of materials: a waxed cotton similar to the type that gets used in Barbour jackets. Then there’s a lovely stripy mohair coat and a super long evening dress with an elegant train. All the wool comes from Jacob sheep in Scotland and a pretty digital print was manipulated from a posy of virulent purple Scotts thistles. I was pretty impressed I tells thee. Apparently in 2008 Hobbs was given a good shake up with the appointment of Sandy Vernon as creative director (she used to work at Next and Jaeger), and if this is what she’s doing then she’s onto a winner.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I then got pulled over to meet Karen Boyd, formerly of Boyd & Storey, and shown through her domain; the Limited Edition collection. She too has moved over from Jaeger, where her trademark style – elegant tailoring mixed with feminine details such as faux embroidered prints and little lace collars – was given credit for turning around the once fusty label. This collection is beautiful too, but sadly only the goat skins in the long haired cape are sourced locally. “They’re a by-product of the meat industry, we don’t use fur.” Most of the clothes are of course made in the far east. As, no doubt, is the pine cone necklace that I had so admired earlier, but I was nevertheless a super happy bunny to discover the very same necklace in my press goodie bag. Comfortingly heavy, it’s been living around my neck ever since, a rare accolade.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Karen Boyd
Karen Boyd talks me through the Limited Edition collection.

All in all I left pleasantly surprised. I think it is to be applauded when a large high street retailer such as Hobbs is confident enough to produce a whole range of beautifully made clothes in the UK, at a price point that will still be affordable to many (if not me). Now if only more retailers were to sit up and take note.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

Now, help I don’t normally write blogs about high street clothes shops. But I’m gonna break my rule this time. Earlier this week I went along to the Hobbs press day in their flagship store in Covent Garden – basically just because I was invited and I’ve never been to one of their press days before. I had absolutely no expectations of it, cialis 40mg since I’ve rarely set foot inside a Hobbs store since I developed a bit of a Bertie shoe fetish in my teen years (the late 80s if you must know). Bertie was once associated with the Hobbs brand, but I’m not sure if it is anymore.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I managed to sashay confidently past the girl on the door girl, “where did you say you were from?” said she, eyeing up my haphazard approach to dressing with curiosity. Then I manoeuvred myself away from what promised to be a lengthy guided tour through each garment in the collection, nearly sending a mannequin crashing in my eagerness to reach the back of the room. And, I was how shall we say it… pleasantly surprised. Straight away I made a beeline for a lovely gold pine cone necklace, taking in the general fruity folk colours of the NW3 collection. Accessories are one of Hobbs’ strongpoints and there was a nice display of cute jewellery and coloured patent bags.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

But I was anxious not to waste too much time, so when one of the immaculate PR ladies glided over (I always feel like a bedraggled mess by comparison) I quickly explained that I was only looking for either designer led collaborations or ethical ranges. AHA! She led me towards a young man, standing in front of a rail and eager to pounce on journalists. I was introduced; this was Dean Thomas, designer of the high end Artisan collection, which sources all materials and is manufactured within the UK.

Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Dean Thomas describes the Artisan collection.

Dean was chosen straight out of Central Saint Martins precisely because he found all the materials for his final collection from within a 50 mile radius of his home town in Somerset. He held up a few pieces from the AW10 collection for me and I have to say, it was absolutely gorgeous. He’s created a stunning evening dress out of the most unlikely of materials: a waxed cotton similar to the type that gets used in Barbour jackets. Then there’s a lovely stripy mohair coat and a super long evening dress with an elegant train. All the wool comes from Jacob sheep in Scotland and a pretty digital print was manipulated from a posy of virulent purple Scotts thistles. I was pretty impressed I tells thee. Apparently in 2008 Hobbs was given a good shake up with the appointment of Sandy Vernon as creative director (she used to work at Next and Jaeger), and if this is what she’s doing then she’s onto a winner.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I then got pulled over to meet Karen Boyd, formerly of Boyd & Storey, and shown through her domain; the Limited Edition collection. She too has moved over from Jaeger, where her trademark style – elegant tailoring mixed with feminine details such as faux embroidered prints and little lace collars – was given credit for turning around the once fusty label. This collection is beautiful too, but sadly only the goat skins in the long haired cape are sourced locally. “They’re a by-product of the meat industry, we don’t use fur.” Most of the clothes are of course made in the far east. As, no doubt, is the pine cone necklace that I had so admired earlier, but I was nevertheless a super happy bunny to discover the very same necklace in my press goodie bag. Comfortingly heavy, it’s been living around my neck ever since, a rare accolade.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Karen Boyd
Karen Boyd talks me through the Limited Edition collection.

All in all I left pleasantly surprised. I think it is to be applauded when a large high street retailer such as Hobbs is confident enough to produce a whole range of beautifully made clothes in the UK, at a price point that will still be affordable to many (if not me). Now if only more retailers were to sit up and take note.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

Now, approved I don’t normally write blogs about high street clothes shops. But I’m gonna break my rule this time. Earlier this week I went along to the Hobbs press day in their flagship store in Covent Garden – basically just because I was invited and I’ve never been to one of their press days before. I had absolutely no expectations of it, viagra 100mg since I’ve rarely set foot inside a Hobbs store since I developed a bit of a Bertie shoe fetish in my teen years (the late 80s if you must know). Bertie was once associated with the Hobbs brand, sildenafil but I’m not sure if it is anymore.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I managed to sashay confidently past the girl on the door girl, “where did you say you were from?” said she, eyeing up my haphazard approach to dressing with curiosity. Then I manoeuvred myself away from what promised to be a lengthy guided tour through each garment in the collection, nearly sending a mannequin crashing in my eagerness to reach the back of the room. And, I was how shall we say it… pleasantly surprised. Straight away I made a beeline for a lovely gold pine cone necklace, taking in the general fruity folk colours of the NW3 collection. Accessories are one of Hobbs’ strongpoints and there was a nice display of cute jewellery and coloured patent bags.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

But I was anxious not to waste too much time, so when one of the immaculate PR ladies glided over (I always feel like a bedraggled mess by comparison) I quickly explained that I was only looking for either designer led collaborations or ethical ranges. AHA! She led me towards a young man, standing in front of a rail and eager to pounce on journalists. I was introduced; this was Dean Thomas, designer of the high end Artisan collection, which sources all materials and is manufactured within the UK.

Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Dean Thomas describes the Artisan collection.

Dean was chosen straight out of Central Saint Martins precisely because he found all the materials for his final collection from within a 50 mile radius of his home town in Somerset. He held up a few pieces from the AW10 collection for me and I have to say, it was absolutely gorgeous. He’s created a stunning evening dress out of the most unlikely of materials: a waxed cotton similar to the type that gets used in Barbour jackets. Then there’s a lovely stripy mohair coat and a super long evening dress with an elegant train. All the wool comes from Jacob sheep in Scotland and a pretty print was manipulated digitally from a photo of a posy of virulent purple Scotts thistles. I was pretty impressed I tells thee. Apparently in 2008 Hobbs was given a good shake up with the appointment of Sandy Vernon as creative director (she used to work at Next and Jaeger), and if this is what she’s doing then she’s onto a winner.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I then got pulled over to meet Karen Boyd, formerly of Boyd & Storey, and shown through her domain; the Limited Edition collection. She too has moved over from Jaeger, where her trademark style – elegant tailoring mixed with feminine details such as faux embroidered prints and little lace collars – was given credit for turning around the once fusty label. This collection is beautiful too, but sadly only the goat skins in the long haired cape are sourced locally. “They’re a by-product of the meat industry, we don’t use fur.” Most of the clothes are of course made in the far east. As, no doubt, is the pine cone necklace that I had so admired earlier, but I was nevertheless a super happy bunny to discover the very same necklace in my press goodie bag. Comfortingly heavy, it’s been living around my neck ever since, a rare accolade.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Karen Boyd
Karen Boyd talks me through the Limited Edition collection.

All in all I left pleasantly surprised. I think it is to be applauded when a large high street retailer such as Hobbs is confident enough to produce a whole range of beautifully made clothes in the UK, at a price point that will still be affordable to many (if not me). Now if only more retailers were to sit up and take note.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

Now, no rx I don’t normally write blogs about high street clothes shops. But I’m gonna break my rule this time. Earlier this week I went along to the Hobbs press day in their flagship store in Covent Garden – basically just because I was invited and I’ve never been to one of their press days before. I had absolutely no expectations of it, symptoms since I’ve rarely set foot inside a Hobbs store since I developed a bit of a Bertie shoe fetish in my teen years (the late 80s if you must know). Bertie was once associated with the Hobbs brand, website but I’m not sure if it is anymore.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I managed to sashay confidently past the girl on the door girl, “where did you say you were from?” said she, eyeing up my haphazard approach to dressing with curiosity. Then I manoeuvred myself away from what promised to be a lengthy guided tour through each garment in the collection, nearly sending a mannequin crashing in my eagerness to reach the back of the room. And, I was how shall we say it… pleasantly surprised. Straight away I made a beeline for a lovely gold pine cone necklace, taking in the general fruity folk colours of the NW3 collection. Accessories are one of Hobbs’ strongpoints and there was a nice display of cute jewellery and coloured patent bags.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

But I was anxious not to waste too much time, so when one of the immaculate PR ladies glided over (I always feel like a bedraggled mess by comparison) I quickly explained that I was only looking for either designer led collaborations or ethical ranges. AHA! She led me towards a young man, standing in front of a rail and eager to pounce on journalists. I was introduced; this was Dean Thomas, designer of the high end Artisan collection, which sources all materials and is manufactured within the UK.

Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Dean Thomas describes the Artisan collection.

Dean was chosen straight out of Central Saint Martins precisely because he found all the materials for his final collection from within a 50 mile radius of his home town in Somerset. He held up a few pieces from the AW10 collection for me and I have to say, it was absolutely gorgeous. He’s created a stunning pleated evening dress out of the most unlikely of materials: a waxed cotton similar to the type that gets used in Barbour jackets. Then there’s a lovely stripy mohair coat and a super long evening dress with an elegant train. All the wool comes from Jacob sheep in Scotland and a pretty print was manipulated digitally from a photo of virulent purple Scotts thistles. I was pretty impressed I tells thee. Apparently in 2008 Hobbs was given a good shake up with the appointment of Sandy Vernon as creative director (she used to work at Next and Jaeger), and if this is what she’s doing then she’s onto a winner.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I then got pulled over to meet Karen Boyd, formerly of Boyd & Storey, and shown through her domain; the Limited Edition collection. She too has moved over from Jaeger, where her trademark style – elegant tailoring mixed with feminine details such as faux embroidered prints and little lace collars – was given credit for turning around the once fusty label. This collection is beautiful too, but sadly only the goat skins used in the long haired cape are sourced locally. “They’re a by-product of the meat industry, we don’t use fur.” Most of the clothes are of course made in the far east. As, no doubt, is the pine cone necklace that I had so admired earlier, but I was nevertheless a super happy bunny to discover the very same necklace in my press goodie bag. Comfortingly heavy, it’s been living around my neck ever since, a rare accolade.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Karen Boyd
Karen Boyd talks me through the Limited Edition collection.

All in all I left pleasantly surprised. I think it is to be applauded when a large high street retailer such as Hobbs is confident enough to produce a whole range of beautifully made clothes in the UK, at a price point that will still be affordable to many (if not me). Now if only more retailers were to sit up and take note.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

Now, buy more about I don’t normally write blogs about high street clothes shops. But I’m gonna break my rule this time. Earlier this week I went along to the Hobbs press day in their flagship store in Covent Garden – basically just because I was invited and I’ve never been to one of their press days before. I had absolutely no expectations of it, price since I’ve rarely set foot inside a Hobbs store since I developed a bit of a Bertie shoe fetish in my teen years (the late 80s if you must know). Bertie was once associated with the Hobbs brand, clinic but I’m not sure if it is anymore.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I managed to sashay confidently past the girl on the door girl, “where did you say you were from?” said she, eyeing up my haphazard approach to dressing with curiosity. Then I manoeuvred myself away from what promised to be a lengthy guided tour through each garment in the collection, nearly sending a mannequin crashing in my eagerness to reach the back of the room. And, I was how shall we say it… pleasantly surprised. Straight away I made a beeline for a lovely gold pine cone necklace, taking in the general fruity folk colours of the NW3 collection. Accessories are one of Hobbs’ strongpoints and there was a nice display of cute jewellery and coloured patent bags.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

But I was anxious not to waste too much time, so when one of the immaculate PR ladies glided over (I always feel like a bedraggled mess by comparison) I quickly explained that I was only looking for either designer led collaborations or ethical ranges. AHA! She led me towards a young man, standing in front of a rail and eager to pounce on journalists. I was introduced; this was Dean Thomas, designer of the high end Artisan collection, which sources all materials and is manufactured within the UK.

Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Dean Thomas
Dean Thomas describes the Artisan collection.

Dean was chosen straight out of Central Saint Martins precisely because he found all the materials for his final collection from within a 50 mile radius of his home town in Somerset. He held up a few pieces from the AW10 collection for me and I have to say, it was absolutely gorgeous. He’s created a stunning pleated evening dress out of the most unlikely of materials: a waxed cotton similar to the type that gets used in Barbour jackets. Then there’s a lovely stripy mohair coat and a super long evening dress with an elegant train. All the wool comes from Jacob sheep in Scotland and a pretty print was manipulated digitally from a photo of virulent purple Scotts thistles. I was pretty impressed I tells thee. Apparently in 2008 Hobbs was given a good shake up with the appointment of Sandy Vernon as creative director (she used to work at Next and Jaeger), and if this is what she’s doing then she’s onto a winner.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day AW2010

I then got pulled over to meet Karen Boyd, formerly of Boyd & Storey, and shown through her domain; the Limited Edition collection. She too has moved over from Jaeger, where her trademark style – elegant tailoring mixed with feminine details such as faux embroidered prints and little lace collars – was given credit for turning around the once fusty label. This collection is beautiful too, but sadly only the goat skins used in the long haired cape are sourced locally. “They’re a by-product of the meat industry, we don’t use fur.” Most of the clothes are of course made in the far east. As, no doubt, is the pine cone necklace that I had so admired earlier, but I was nevertheless a super happy bunny to discover the very same necklace in my press goodie bag. Comfortingly heavy, it’s been living around my neck ever since, a rare accolade.

Hobbs-Press Day AW2010
Hobbs-Press Day 2010-Karen Boyd
Karen Boyd talks me through the Limited Edition collection.

All in all I left pleasantly surprised. I think it is to be applauded when a large high street retailer such as Hobbs is confident enough to produce a whole range of beautifully made clothes in the UK, at a price point that will still be affordable to many (if not me). Now if only more retailers were to sit up and take note.

Pick Me Up- 2010 Ville Savimaa
Detail from illustration by Ville Savimaa.

Have you been to see the Pick Me Up show at Somerset House yet? If not why not? if you’re in London get your skates on and get down there before it finishes on Monday (that’s tomorrow): there’s no better way to perk up a rainy Bank Holiday.

Pick Me Up 2010

If you work in illustration or the graphic arts, generic this place will really get your juices going: part exhibition, part shop and part working studio space, all the people involved are superbly talented – not for nothing have about a dozen featured in my magazine over the years. Many have now become firmly established illustrators and their work a familiar part of the contemporary visual landscape.

I visited Pick Me Up last week thanks to the prompting of Thereza Rowe, who organised a twitter meetup with some other illustrators. It was an excellent chance for me to meet Kate Slater, who created some wonderful work for issue 10 of Amelia’s Magazine, and Jo Cheung and June Chanpoomidole, who contribute regularly to Amelia’s Magazine online. The lovely Simon Wild came along to meet Thereza, with whom he has helped to launch the Happy Journey Collective.

Pick Me Up 2010 Jo Cheung, June Chanpoomidole, Kate Slater, Simon Wild, Thereza Rowe
Jo Cheung, June Chanpoomidole, Kate Slater, Simon Wild and Thereza Rowe outside Pick Me Up 2010.

Pick Me Up- 2010 Thereza Rowe Poketo
Thereza Rowe shows us her designs for Poketo.

In the blazing heat we gathered in the courtyard of Somerset House, where Thereza gleefully showed us the new purse she has just designed for the papercut series by Poketo.

Pick Me Up- 2010 Hellovon
Pick Me Up- 2010 Hellovon
Illustrations by Hellovon.

The exhibition is entered via the lower level, and the first gallery was devoted to the artwork of up and coming illustrators as picked out by a bunch of “industry insiders.” I was very pleased to see on display the idiosyncratic work of Jess Wilson, who has worked for me many times over the years and appears in Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration. Hvass&Hannibal were also given space; you can read more about the design duo here.

Pick Me Up- 2010 Jess Wilson
Pick Me Up- 2010 Jess Wilson
Pick Me Up- 2010 Jess Wilson
Illusrations by Jess Wilson.

Also included was a Peepshow stand and a large space devoted to the publications of the Nobrow collective, who have created a huge amount of work in the blink of an eye, and are due to launch a shop in Shoreditch later in May. Issue 3 of the Nobrow magazine was launched for the Pick Me Up exhibition, and I can confirm that Topsy Turvy features another beautiful selection of illustration, printed in another unique colour range.

Pick Me Up 2010 Peepshow
Pick Me Up 2010 Peepshow Luke Best
Peepshow artist Luke Best has appeared in Amelia’s Magazine.

It is clear that Nobrow are sticking to a very specific aesthetic, which is driven by the process of screen-printing and is thus very different to that of Amelia’s Magazine: back in May I posted a blog about the Nobrow open brief for People I’ve Never Met & Conversations I’ve Never Had, but sadly none of the illustrators I recommended to take part were chosen for selection in the book. I look forward to interviewing Alex Spiro and Sam Arthur to find out more about how they work.

Pick Me Up-2010 Nobrow
Pick Me Up-2010 Nobrow
Pick Me Up-2010 Nobrow
The Nobrow stand.

On the upper level each room was given over to a different collective, with the biggest room reserved for a Rob Ryan pop-up studio, the walls lined haphazardly with imagery from Rob’s huge back catalogue. There was a girl beavering away in the midst of it all but I didn’t see Rob, and wonder how much time he will have had to spend at the Pick Me Up exhibition.

Pick Me Up-2010 Rob Ryan
Pick Me Up-2010 Rob Ryan
Pick Me Up-2010 Rob Ryan
Pick Me Up-2010 Rob Ryan
This last piece by Rob Ryan is a version of the front cover that he originally designed for issue 02 of Amelia’s Magazine.

In the other rooms there was live screen printing from the Print Club London, a pop up Concrete Hermit shop featuring my very own Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration (I had my launch party at their shop in Hoxton), and work from various other collectives, including Nous Vous, It’s Nice That, Le Gun, Evening Tweed and a live project with Landfill Editions.

Pick Me Up-2010 Print Club London
Pick Me Up-2010 Print Club London
Print Club London in effect.

Pick Me Up 2010 Concrete Hermit
Artwork in the Concrete Hermit space.

Pick Me Up 2010 Concrete Hermit
Someone flicking through Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration at Concrete Hermit.

Pick Me Up-2010 Nous Vous
Members of the Nous Vous Collective.

Printing live on an old Risograph printing machine Landfill Editions were inviting a series of illustrators to interpret the collection of trinkets previously held in these galleries in Somerset House. The Risograph is an interesting beast, which can be used to overlay separate colours, thus producing a final outcome much like that of traditional screenprinting.

Pick Me Up-2010 Landfill Editions
The Risograph.

Pick Me Up-2010 Landfill Editions Colin Henderson
Landfill Editions booklet by Colin Henderson.

Pick Me Up-2010 Landfill Editions Jim Soten
Landfill Editions print by Jim Stoten.

Pick Me Up-2010 Landfill Editions Adrian Fleet
Landfill Editions print by Adrian Fleet.

Work on the walls included illustrations by Colin Henderson, who appeared in issue 04 of Amelia’s Magazine, Jim Stoten, who created the front cover of issue 06, Mike Perry, who did the back cover of issue 05 and Adrian Fleet, who produced work for issue 10. Dan Has Potential, who we wrote about here, was working on a piece whilst we were given a tour of the Risograph, and Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration contributor Karolin Schnoor arrived to start on her contribution as we were leaving.

Pick Me Up 2010 Landfill Editions Dan Has Potential
Dan Has Potential gets stuck in to his artwork.

Pick Me Up 2010 Landfill Editions Karolin Schnoor
Karolin Schnoor comes pre-prepared.

The illustration and design work at Pick Me Up is fabulous, and there’s a great line up of workshops and visiting artists… but I wish they’d asked me to contribute as well. Not just for purely selfish reasons of ego, but because I can’t help feeling that a certain type of illustration was missing. Maybe something a bit less graphic, a bit more feminine, a bit less obviously of the moment. There were glimpses of this sort of work, particularly in the form of talks from the lovely Anorak Magazine, but not enough. There was also absolutely no consideration of sustainability in design, which I feel is unforgiveable: some of the artists who contribute so readily to Amelia’s Magazine could have filled these gaps and provided some welcome diversity.

Pick Me Up 2010 Ville Savimaa
Pick Me Up 2010 Ville Savimaa
Pick Me Up 2010 Ville Savimaa
Pick Me Up 2010 Ville Savimaa
I loved this work by Finish artist Ville Savimaa.

In the meantime read on for a few more tasters of the fabulous artwork on offer at Pick Me Up and make sure you get down there whilst you can: not least because of the limited edition prints available exclusively at the shop for the duration of the exhibition only.

Pick Me Up-2010 Mathis Rekowski
Pick Me Up-2010 Mathis Rekowski
Pick Me Up 2010 Mathis Rekowski
Pick Me Up-2010 Mathis Rekowski
Illustrations by Mathis Rekowski.

Pick Me Up-2010 Siggi Eggertsson
A huge quilt by Siggi Eggertsson.

Pick Me Up-2010 Andy Gilmore
Detail from Andy Gilmore.

Pick Me Up 2010 Peepshow
Part of Peepshow.

Pick Me Up 2010 patrick gildersleeves
Pick Me Up 2010 patrick gildersleeves
Pick Me Up 2010 patrick gildersleeves
Pick Me Up 2010 patrick gildersleeves
Wonderful work from Patrick Gildersleeves.

Pick Me Up 2010 Natsko Seki
Pick Me Up 2010 Natsko Seki
Pick Me Up 2010 Natsko Seki
Pick Me Up 2010 Natsko Seki
Wonderful details from work by Natsko Seki.

Pick Me Up2010 Natsko seki

Pick Me Up 2010 Alex Trochut
Fabulous fonts from Alex Trochut.

Pick Me Up 2010 Claire Scully
Wolf poster from Claire Scully.

Pick Me Up 2010 Job Wouters
Typography by Job Wouters.

Pick Me Up2010
Prints for sale in the Pick Me Up shop: get on down there quick.

You can see a fab set of Flickr images courtesy of Jo Cheung here and she blogs about her visit to Pick Me Up with reference to this article here.

Categories ,Adrian Fleet, ,Alex Trochut, ,Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration, ,Andy Gilmore, ,Anorak Magazine, ,Claire Scully, ,Colin Henderson, ,Concrete Hermit, ,Dan Has Potential, ,Evening Tweed, ,exhibition, ,Hvass&Hannibal, ,illustration, ,It’s Nice That, ,Jess Wilson, ,Jim Stoten, ,Jo Cheung, ,Job Wouters, ,June Chanpoomidole, ,Karolin Schnoor, ,Landfill Editions, ,Le Gun, ,Luke Best, ,Mathis Rekowski, ,Mike Perry, ,Natsko Seki, ,Nobrow Press, ,Nous Vous, ,Patrick Gildersleeves, ,Peepshow, ,Pick Me Up, ,Print Club London, ,review, ,Risograph, ,rob ryan, ,screenprinting, ,Siggi Eggertsson, ,Simon Wild, ,Somerset House, ,Thereza Rowe, ,typography, ,Ville Savimaa

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Amelia’s Magazine | Made You Look Kickstarter Campaign

Made you Look-Work by Anthony Burrill 5
Made You Look is a documentary about the contemporary DIY graphic arts scene in the UK, lovingly put together by Anthony Peters of Imeus Design. Via candid interviews with top British creatives, publishers and agency owners the film explores how people are turning towards analogue means of creating things, even though we are living at the height of the digital era. The film is due for limited theatrical release in 2015 and will be premiered at a major UK Arts festival. I asked Anthony to write me an exclusive piece about his project, so read on, be inspired, and back the project here: this is a film that deserves to do well.

Made You Look is a documentary that began life in mid 2013 as a film about the DIY scene in UK graphic design and illustration. We take the rich graphic arts scene for-granted now but back in the early 2000’s there were very few key figures, and many of those people are now held in high regard.

Made you Look-Work by Ben The Illustrator 2
Ben The Illustrator.

Made you Look-Work by Anthony Burrill4
Made you Look-Work by Anthony Burrill stickers
Anthony Burrill.

Made you Look-Work by Nobrow Books
Nobrow Books.

Along the way a different story began to emerge, there seemed to be an unusually large amount of artists using traditional methods of making things. Letterpress, linocuts, screenprinting, live drawing, riso, papercraft… all these methods and many more were now increasingly popular.

Made you Look-Work by Helen Musselwhite
Helen Musselwhite.

Made you Look-Work by Ed Cheverton
Ed Cheverton.

Made you Look-Work by Brecht Vandenbroucke print for Nobrow
Brecht Vandenbroucke print for Nobrow.

So our subtext became our core story, and using candid interviews with artists such as Anthony Burrill, Hattie Stewart, Helen Musselwhite, members of Peepshow collective, Ian Stevenson, Ben O’ Brien and Kate Moross we managed to create a story which discusses the perils and pitfalls of creativity in the digital age.

Made you Look-Work by Andrew Rae
Made you Look-Andrew Rae
Andrew Rae.

Made you Look-Print Club London 2
Print Club London.

So many of us are living our lives skipping from screen to screen, viewing the world through a pixelated filter, creating things that only ever exist on hard drives. It’s the height of the digital era, yet many cultural movements are taking things back to basics, we have slow culture movements and craft based movements popping up all over the place. These movements aren’t really about nostalgia, rather a way to stay connected to the tactile, real world that exists beyond the screen.

Made you Look-Will Hudson It's Nice That
Will Hudson, It’s Nice That.

Made you Look-Pete Fowler
Pete Fowler.

We do live in an incredible age. Regardless of what medium an artist uses, its fair to say that very few contemporary creatives could have a career without the trappings of the internet, and this is where the tension lies in the film.

Made you Look-L&Y 2004
Look & Yes 2004.

Made you Look-kate Moross
Kate Moross.

Its beautiful to hear the surprising responses from some artists when asked seemingly naïve questions such as ‘how would you feel if the internet was switched off forever tomorrow?

But of course we won’t spoil the film by sharing any of these answers yet!

Made you Look-Hattie Stewart
Hattie Stewart.

Made you Look-Ben The Illustrator
Ben The Illustrator.

We have had an incredible response to our trailer, with over 30,000 views, and have had invitations to film festivals and to educational Q&A screenings across the globe.

We are now running a Kickstarter campaign to be able to find the resources to finish the film. We have a few final bits of filming to do, plus post production tasks like Grading and audio post work. We would also love to be able to license music from artists like Bibio, CFCF, ISAN & Zoon Van Snook as well as having a score composed by Mathieu Karsenti.

Look us up if you would like to be part of the film!

Made you Look-Anthony Burrill _ Adams of Rye 2
Anthony Burrill, Adams of Rye.

Made you Look-Adrian-Johnson
Adrian Johnson.

So what are you waiting for? Get involved and help make Anthony’s film a great one.

Categories ,Adrian Johnson, ,Andrew Rae, ,Anthony Burrill, ,Anthony Peters, ,Ben O’ Brien, ,Ben the Illustrator, ,Bibio, ,Brecht Vandenbroucke, ,CFCF, ,Creativity, ,diy, ,documentary, ,Ed Cheverton, ,film, ,Hattie Stewart, ,Helen Musselwhite, ,Ian Stevenson, ,Imeus Design, ,ISAN, ,It’s Nice That, ,Kate Moross, ,Kickstarter, ,Kickstarter Campaign, ,Look & Yes, ,Made You Look, ,Mathieu Karsenti, ,Nobrow Books, ,Peepshow, ,Pete Fowler, ,Print Club London, ,Will Hudson, ,Zoon Van Snook

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Amelia’s Magazine | If You Could Collaborate exhibition at A Foundation Gallery, Rochelle School

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010134

approved Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;”>If You Could Collaborate is the latest event in a series of high profile shindigs put on by designers Alex Bec and Will Hudson, wunderkids of the current graphic arts scene. I first met these ambitious young men when we were both invited to do something or other at LCP, I forget what. It was but a few years ago but they were already something of a phenomenon, having started their first venture whilst still at college. Perhaps now best known currently for their popular blog It’s Nice That, they are now creating a commotion as art directors. Which is probably why they were incredibly busy showing some Very Important People around their latest exhibition when I popped down on Thursday. I would have gone to the opening night, but unfortunately I am learning to sing Mozart at evening classes. As you do. (Quite fun actually, I’m learning pop singing in my other class. Yes I really am taking two singing classes a week.) The exhibition features a variety of artists and designers who have been encouraged to collaborate outside of their disciplines without the aid of a brief – in the hope that some unexpected outcomes might be reached. As might be expected this has led to a variety in quality…

Held in the wonderful space at Rochelle School near Arnold Circus, the first thing you encounter when you arrive at the exhibition is a tall skinny booth which you are encouraged to enter via a string curtain. Inside a laptop sits behind a large red button. Oooh push me push me it seems to say. So I did. What what? A number seemed to be encouraging me to do something but I knew there was a man sat outside and I felt shy, so I missed the first number and whispered the second one. I’m not normally a mouse. Outside I could see my face massed with others, all shouting and yelling their numbers, a montage of shouts. Why hadn’t I noticed this before I went in? Fun, there was no obvious point to this piece, but then I discovered that it was delivered by a “digital agency”. Does this encapsulate the kind of vapid interactivity that clever advertisers are so fond of, but which is essentially meaningless? I don’t know…

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010137Artwork by With Associates & Anthony Dickens. I’m on the left in the montage.

Turning the corner I was met by Alex and Will’s guided tour of important people, nodding sagely over a computer screen. Me? I was instantly attracted to the huge neon perspex sculpture. The pictures that is. The actual artpiece was a miniature model, a tiny bright town. Ooooohh, if I were a child I’d love to play with this piece. But it’s art, so must be ogled inside a protective case in a look but don’t touch kind of way. Above a neon sign flashes all the colours of the rainbow. Now do you really wonder why I wouldn’t be attracted to this piece? Underneath some more perspex cut outs showcased a new font, called Avec, (downloadable here for free type fans) which looks a bit like a letterset font. Made by Praline and the Model Shop, these pieces are designed to work together – the buildings a 3D reflection of the shapes made by the letters.

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010076

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010077

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010081

And then I turned a corner and artfully fell over one of the artworks.

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010084A bench by Max Lamb and Gemma Holt.

Yup, I just stepped back and it went tumbling like a stack of dominoes. Like a shot Will was next to me (didn’t recognise me? not sure but he wasn’t giving any signs of recognition away) hastily rectifying the situation.

“What did you do?”

“Oh I dunno, it just fell over. That must have happened on opening night right? Surely? I mean, it’s not exactly stable!”

“No.”

Hmmm.

I have no idea what this piece was meant to be, but a quick hunt online tells me that it is a bench by furniture designer Max Lamb and girlfriend Gemma Holt (can’t tell you what she does I’m afraid, her website don’t say much.) Nice work if you can get it, but I wouldn’t recommend sitting on it.

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010082Embroidered tabloid headlines re-imagined by Sandy Suffield and Fiona Woodcock.

In front of this was a far more interesting prospect to a type and colour junky like myself. Designers Sandy Suffield and Fiona Woodcock have crafted a series of beautifully stitched tabloid headlines, taking lead from the content. We like a lot. In fact I used to do a similar thing with the fonts we created for Amelia’s Magazine.

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010124

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010119

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010123

Fonts by Sandy Suffield and Fiona Woodcock.

Also in this room was a mirrored ironing table with lots of plasticky junk glued onto it and a weird golden helmet next to it that appeared to be constructed of the kind of junky tat you find in a Christmas cracker. I got really into taking pictures of these but I’m going to have to refer to the If You Could website to see if they represent some kind of meaningful commentary on junk. Nope! All I can decipher is that it’s by commercial designer Ian Wright (inspired by playfulness) and Riitta Ikonen (who is described as an “ex-student” – come on, everyone’s an ex-student of some description. Help, copy editor needed!) I still have no idea what it means, if indeed it means anything. My analysing tentacles are beginning to decipher a bit of a theme here – treading the fine line between design and art can be a tricky job. But then I like pretty things so s’pose I mustn’t grumble.

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010104

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010113

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010110

By Ian Wright and Riitta Ikonen.

In a cabinet a series of objects were presented as alternative currency by design consultancy BCMH and designers Smith&WIghtman – now this commentary on the meaning and intrinsic worth of money interests me. Inscribed on the counter surface are the words “The objects have accrued their value through the amount of time invested in them. Time embedded in the material (through harvesting/extracting and processing) and then time spent in fabrication.” It goes on to ask “Why do certain forms or materials look more expensive than others? What is the value of an object with no apparent function?” Above it a ticker tape flashed red.

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010116Mint, by design consultancy BCMH and designers Smith&WIghtman.

Mint instantly stands out for making a statement, so it’s such a shame that this is not described or transcribed on the website, which I am now going to have to flag up for it’s utter blandness in describing the works of art in this exhibition. “Relevant in tone and execution, with a crisp sensibility that is very easy on the eye.” This is as good as it gets for this artwork. Utter guff.

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010085

Opposite there was a large painting by artist Sam Messenger and carpenter Bart Long which reminded me of many other artists – taking it’s cue from the abstract works of Bridget Riley et al. Very pretty.

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010086

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010087

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010088

Lazer wall cuts by typographer Craig Ward with Sean Freeman and Alison Carmichael.

What I did really like was the lazer cut panels further along the wall. I just love the way that the edge of the wood retains the burn marks from the machine used to cut it out. Scho sexy that. Termed “Calligraffiti” these beautiful wall pieces were dreamt up by hardcore typographer Craig Ward with cohorts Sean Freeman and Alison Carmichael. I have no idea what the phrases mean but who cares? See, always the typography. Always.

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010095

On the floor lay an obscenely long flag, described as “new world” by creators Karl Grandin and And Beyond. What does this new world mean? Maybe we’re all joined together now. That would be nice. In a big snuggle under the flag. Or maybe not.

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010093

Oliver Jeffers and Aaron Ruff have re-purposed a suitcase as part of a mad story about four dimensional control. I love illustrators – they always make things so playful. And it doesn’t have to mean anything, it can just be for fun. Beautiful.

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010090Wall hanging by Hvass&Hannibal with Anne Werner.

Next to this was the Hvass&Hannibal wall hanging that I spoke of in my interview with them here. I have to say that I don’t think this is their strongest work – as we know  over the past few weeks they were really super busy with putting together their solo exhibition and I suspect that they didn’t devote a huge amount of time to this. When I spoke to them they expressed an urge to branch out of their comfort zone when it comes to colour, but actually I don’t think that they should – their use of colour is a big part of what makes their work so special. And the meagreness of colour in this piece lets it down. Just a thought girls, if you’re reading.

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010131

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010130By Sara Fanelli, George Hardie and Leonardo Sonnoli.

Now, don’t get me started on Sara Fanelli, or I might be forced into a confession…. When I was fresh out of college, trying to be an illustrator (yeah, it didn’t work out, alright) I wanted to be just like her…. you can see her influence heavily in my work of this period – lots of mashed up type, weird animals created out of collage, etc. Anyway, she has teamed up with George Hardie and Leonardo Sonnoli to produce some delicate numerals (which they describe as the bargain version of the alphabet as there are only 10).

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010091

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010092Jim Stoten with Andy Rementer.

Oh, and there’s Jim Stoten, collaborating with Andy Rementer (I’m not sure which is which – they seem to have merged successfully). And he STILL hasn’t learned how to produce artwork for digital output (unless he has decided to embrace this particular ‘look’ intentionally). Yes, as the blurb on the website states, Jim can really draw – I absolutely love his work (he’s appeared in my magazine several times and did the cover for issue 6) but boy is he hard to work with – and I remember one of the biggest problems was that he could never produce work at a high enough resolution for decent print reproduction. He scans his drawings at one resolution and then blows them up to fill them in at another. It’s such a shame that once again, his lines look so fuzzy and just a bit, well, crappy. This image has also been printed on low quality gloss paper. It just could have all been so much more beautifully executed.

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010097

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010098Artwork by Jesse Auersalo and Jesse Pietila.

The low quality of this production was highlighted by the wonderful execution of the huge hanging by Jesse Auersalo and Jesse Pietila in the next room. Here a surreal juxtaposition of outsize everyday objects; top hat and band aid, were printed in fine monochrome detail on what looked like carpet tile. Just wonderful, and a perfect example of how an exhibition like this should be approached when attempting to merge the disciplines of art and illustration.

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010099

Next to this (not sure they were best suited to such proximity) was a brightly coloured piece by the lovely Fred Butler (championed in issue 10), jewellery designer extraordinaire. And now I am being visited by the green eyed monster because I’ve seen on the website that THERE WERE BADGES. But not when I got there. Hurumph. Together with No Days Off she has created a wall piece jokingly based around a campaign to get more days in the week. Offbeat and fun. Love it.

Then onto the darkened room, where an animation, Black Lake, by fabulous American illustrator Jon Klassen and video director David OReilly was showing in a loop. Ducks swim away from the viewer towards high rounded mountains and a lone house, then appear to swim back at you upside down and back to front. Coupled with a hypnotic soundtrack this was a really beautiful piece and you can view it here.

Another lovely video came courtesy of Michael Maloney and photographer John Hopper – taken by standing on a peak in the Lake District for 24 hours and rotating a camera 360 degrees to watch the sun rise then set over the hikers who come to stand and have their picture taken in front of the wonderful view. Mesmerising.

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010126

If-You-Could-Collaborate-2010127Rob Ryan’s decorated chair.

Rob Ryan gets everywhere these days – and for this exhibition he has created a decorated flat pack rocking chair with Michael Marriott which I paused to look at on my way out. Very cute but unfortunately the recipient of another dreadful bit of description on the website: “There are a thousand words we could use to describe Rob Ryan’s work, and all of them are superlatives.” Folks, next time hire a decent writer!

I left the Rochelle School with a lot to mull over in my mind, which can only be a good thing when viewing art. Alex and Will have pulled together a really interesting exhibition, even if at times it felt as if there was something missing – decent explanations of the artworks for example. But I am not really sure how successful an idea it is to shoehorn the work of such obviously commercial designers into an artistic space like this – it felt a little vapid in places. Some of the work obviously considered deeper content but much of it was just pretty for it’s own sake, with an obvious eye to a lucrative advertising contract not far down the line. Of course I really enjoy pattern and type and I absolutely believe there is a place to produce art for beauty’s sake, but I don’t think it works so well to try and be all things to all people. I suppose I also think that if you have the chance to create something more meaningful you should grab it with everything you’ve got (this exhibition had prominent Arts Council funding) instead of adding to the vast canon of superficiality that many contributors to the exhibition must surely work with on a daily basis. To be honest I would like to unremittingly champion Alex and Will but with their eye so clearly set on their own commercial future I felt their choice of collaborators too often produced work that felt a bit empty and soulless. I also think you’ve got to decide what audience you’re aiming for, and this wasn’t obvious.

Having said that there was much to enjoy in this exhibition and I do really admire the zeal with which Alex and Will are are able to pull together such a large project. I was just about to tell you the good news that If You Could Collaborate is on for another week, but I’ve checked the website and instead have discovered that it closed at the weekend, which is a real shame because if you have any kind of interest in the murky ground where art meets design this is a must see exhibition. What a shame it wasn’t given a longer run.

Categories ,A Foundation Gallery, ,Alex Bec, ,art blog, ,Bridget Riley, ,Fred Butler, ,Hvass&Hannibal, ,If You Could, ,If You Could Collaborate, ,It’s Nice That, ,rob ryan, ,Rochelle School, ,shoreditch, ,Will Hudson

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Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with Illustrator Andy Rementer

Andy Rementer PENCIL
I discovered the colourful and imaginative work of US based Andy Rementer at the Pick Me Up show last year. Since then he’s stayed in touch with me about new projects, and I’ve been delighted to receive the occasional surprise package in the post: sometimes good old snail mail really is the best possible way to keep in touch. After all, printed matter is my first love and there’s nothing like a gorgeous postcard, poster or zine. From window displays and animations for Kiehls to comic strips for Nobrow and duck t-shirts for Lazy Oaf, this innovative illustrator is engaged in loads of interesting projects that are bringing him to a wider audience in the UK.

Andy Rementer BANANA
What kind of feedback did you get from exhibiting at Pick Me Up last year?
The feedback and response from Pick Me Up was huge. I got a lot of positive words of support from other creatives and fans. After the show, Gavin Lucas from Creative Review wrote a nice piece about my work. Also, I have started a relationship with Nobrow, who invited me to be in their 6th issue, and am working on more projects with them as we speak. As another positive note, my work on display sold out, which hopefully means people liked it.

Andy Rementer SKITSCH_01
Andy Rementer SKITSCH_02
Andy Rementer SKITSCH_03
Andy Rementer SKITSCH_04
Tell us more about your illustrated Skitsch catalogue, how did that come about and where did your Mr. Bello character come from?
The Skitsch catalog was a project made in collaboration with Apartamento magazine. I worked with them previously on a coloring book for their 4th issue, so they were familiar with my work. Skitsch approached them to create a character and narrative around their products and designers. I think they liked my style and color palette, so they chose me to illustrate a small booklet. The Apartamento team along with Skitsch developed the idea and character traits of Mr. Bello, and I worked on the look, feel and development of him and his world. There was a lot of back and forth concerning the way everything looked, but it was worth it and I’m very happy with this project that had a lot of exposure in Milan and London.

Andy Rementer KIEHLS_01
Andy Rementer KIEHLS_02
I love Kiehl’s – but I wouldn’t necessarily put your drawing style together with the cosmetics brand. And are you a Keihls man? tell the truth now… what’s your favourite guy beauty tip?

Yes I am a Kiehl’s man! Love the shaving cream and hand cream—important to keep the drawing hand moisturized. Kiehl’s incorporates a lot of illustration actually, so while my work may be surprising at first, I feel it fits in well. The campaign had a very big response worldwide, and I received a lot of fan photos from Malaysia to Berlin. It was really exciting to collaborate with a brand that I admire so much like Kiehl’s, and I was amazed at how respectful and supportive they were with my work.
 
Andy Rementer NY TIMES_02
Andy Rementer NY TIMES_01
Work for the New York Times.

What were your favourite projects of 2011 and what are you looking forward to in 2012?
Participating in Pick Me Up was a major highlight of 2011 and for my career in general. Being part of something so big, and along with so many talented people was insanely awesome. I met some heroes there like Tom Gauld, NoBrow and the It’s Nice That crew to mention a few. Rob Ryan even picked up a piece of mine!

Andy Rementer MADAMA_01
Andy Rementer MADAMA_02
Another great project I enjoyed doing was a comic interpretation of Madama Butterfly. It was made for the Bavarian State Opera House‘s magazine Max Joseph, which is the coolest opera publication imaginable. They gave me four spreads and free reign to interpret Puccini‘s classic play in my own style and visual world. The project entailed quite a bit of research and translating as the final story was in German, and even if I can’t read it, I’m very happy with the final result.

Andy Rementer BLOOMBERG
Andy Rementer BALLIN
This year, I am really looking forward to participating in Pictoplasma Berlin. I will be giving a talk and showing some work as well. I was a part of the NYC version last year and it was a blast.

Andy Rementer GET_REAL
How would you describe your drawing style?
Fun on the outside, slightly dark on the inside.

Andy Rementer EAT
What are the bonuses of working pastel colours? 
I am naturally prone to using brighter colors in my work. I am technically color blind and have a difficult time distinguishing between muted tones. However in certain cases, I really like the contrast of my clear line style paired with pastel colors, and it’s a nice way to break out of my color comfort zone.

Andy Rementer CITY
What are the good and bad things about living in Philadelphia?
Good thing is the location, with an International Airport. There are plenty of good art stores too, so that is a major plus. Bad thing is it’s a bit of an anachronistic city.

Andy Rementer NIEVES_01
Andy Rementer NIEVES_02
Why are books so good?
Books are the best. They smell good and the tactile quality is irreplaceable.

Andy Rementer NIEVES_03
Andy Rementer NIEVES_04
Where can folks in the UK find your work, other than online?
Good Press in Glasgow sells my latest zine with Nieves (above). Nobrow features my work in issue #6. I have a full page in the first issue of Cagoule published by Present Joys.

Andy Rementer LAZY_01
Andy Rementer LAZY_02
And Lazy Oaf sells some T-shirts I made.

In the future I hope to have an even bigger presence in the UK! *so do we!* Check in with the latest work by Andy Rementer on his website.

Categories ,Andy Rementer, ,Apartamento, ,Bavarian State Opera House, ,Cagoule, ,Creative Review, ,Good Press, ,It’s Nice That, ,Kiehls, ,Lazy Oaf, ,Madama Butterfly, ,Max Joseph, ,Mr. Bello, ,New York Times, ,Nieves, ,Nobrow, ,Pick Me Up, ,Pictoplasma Berlin, ,Present Joys, ,Puccini, ,rob ryan, ,Skitsch

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Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with Illustrator Andy Rementer

Andy Rementer PENCIL
I discovered the colourful and imaginative work of US based Andy Rementer at the Pick Me Up show last year. Since then he’s stayed in touch with me about new projects, and I’ve been delighted to receive the occasional surprise package in the post: sometimes good old snail mail really is the best possible way to keep in touch. After all, printed matter is my first love and there’s nothing like a gorgeous postcard, poster or zine. From window displays and animations for Kiehls to comic strips for Nobrow and duck t-shirts for Lazy Oaf, this innovative illustrator is engaged in loads of interesting projects that are bringing him to a wider audience in the UK.

Andy Rementer BANANA
What kind of feedback did you get from exhibiting at Pick Me Up last year?
The feedback and response from Pick Me Up was huge. I got a lot of positive words of support from other creatives and fans. After the show, Gavin Lucas from Creative Review wrote a nice piece about my work. Also, I have started a relationship with Nobrow, who invited me to be in their 6th issue, and am working on more projects with them as we speak. As another positive note, my work on display sold out, which hopefully means people liked it.

Andy Rementer SKITSCH_01
Andy Rementer SKITSCH_02
Andy Rementer SKITSCH_03
Andy Rementer SKITSCH_04
Tell us more about your illustrated Skitsch catalogue, how did that come about and where did your Mr. Bello character come from?
The Skitsch catalog was a project made in collaboration with Apartamento magazine. I worked with them previously on a coloring book for their 4th issue, so they were familiar with my work. Skitsch approached them to create a character and narrative around their products and designers. I think they liked my style and color palette, so they chose me to illustrate a small booklet. The Apartamento team along with Skitsch developed the idea and character traits of Mr. Bello, and I worked on the look, feel and development of him and his world. There was a lot of back and forth concerning the way everything looked, but it was worth it and I’m very happy with this project that had a lot of exposure in Milan and London.

Andy Rementer KIEHLS_01
Andy Rementer KIEHLS_02
I love Kiehl’s – but I wouldn’t necessarily put your drawing style together with the cosmetics brand. And are you a Keihls man? tell the truth now… what’s your favourite guy beauty tip?

Yes I am a Kiehl’s man! Love the shaving cream and hand cream—important to keep the drawing hand moisturized. Kiehl’s incorporates a lot of illustration actually, so while my work may be surprising at first, I feel it fits in well. The campaign had a very big response worldwide, and I received a lot of fan photos from Malaysia to Berlin. It was really exciting to collaborate with a brand that I admire so much like Kiehl’s, and I was amazed at how respectful and supportive they were with my work.
 
Andy Rementer NY TIMES_02
Andy Rementer NY TIMES_01
Work for the New York Times.

What were your favourite projects of 2011 and what are you looking forward to in 2012?
Participating in Pick Me Up was a major highlight of 2011 and for my career in general. Being part of something so big, and along with so many talented people was insanely awesome. I met some heroes there like Tom Gauld, NoBrow and the It’s Nice That crew to mention a few. Rob Ryan even picked up a piece of mine!

Andy Rementer MADAMA_01
Andy Rementer MADAMA_02
Another great project I enjoyed doing was a comic interpretation of Madama Butterfly. It was made for the Bavarian State Opera House‘s magazine Max Joseph, which is the coolest opera publication imaginable. They gave me four spreads and free reign to interpret Puccini‘s classic play in my own style and visual world. The project entailed quite a bit of research and translating as the final story was in German, and even if I can’t read it, I’m very happy with the final result.

Andy Rementer BLOOMBERG
Andy Rementer BALLIN
This year, I am really looking forward to participating in Pictoplasma Berlin. I will be giving a talk and showing some work as well. I was a part of the NYC version last year and it was a blast.

Andy Rementer GET_REAL
How would you describe your drawing style?
Fun on the outside, slightly dark on the inside.

Andy Rementer EAT
What are the bonuses of working pastel colours? 
I am naturally prone to using brighter colors in my work. I am technically color blind and have a difficult time distinguishing between muted tones. However in certain cases, I really like the contrast of my clear line style paired with pastel colors, and it’s a nice way to break out of my color comfort zone.

Andy Rementer CITY
What are the good and bad things about living in Philadelphia?
Good thing is the location, with an International Airport. There are plenty of good art stores too, so that is a major plus. Bad thing is it’s a bit of an anachronistic city.

Andy Rementer NIEVES_01
Andy Rementer NIEVES_02
Why are books so good?
Books are the best. They smell good and the tactile quality is irreplaceable.

Andy Rementer NIEVES_03
Andy Rementer NIEVES_04
Where can folks in the UK find your work, other than online?
Good Press in Glasgow sells my latest zine with Nieves (above). Nobrow features my work in issue #6. I have a full page in the first issue of Cagoule published by Present Joys.

Andy Rementer LAZY_01
Andy Rementer LAZY_02
And Lazy Oaf sells some T-shirts I made.

In the future I hope to have an even bigger presence in the UK! *so do we!* Check in with the latest work by Andy Rementer on his website.

Categories ,Andy Rementer, ,Apartamento, ,Bavarian State Opera House, ,Cagoule, ,Creative Review, ,Good Press, ,It’s Nice That, ,Kiehls, ,Lazy Oaf, ,Madama Butterfly, ,Max Joseph, ,Mr. Bello, ,New York Times, ,Nieves, ,Nobrow, ,Pick Me Up, ,Pictoplasma Berlin, ,Present Joys, ,Puccini, ,rob ryan, ,Skitsch

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