Amelia’s Magazine | Gavin Bond: Music 21st Century Rock n’ Royalty

Ramon Gurillo by Katie Harnett

In this blog I’m going to kill two fashionable birds with one stone. Mainly because they were designers I’ve never heard of before and also because I didn’t go too crazy for them.

Over in Victoria House I bumped into ex intern Sarah Barnes at Ramon Gurillo: turns out that she’s interning now with Fashion156 (who you will remember that I met in the front row over at Charlie Le Mindu), malady small world that it is. Apparently they’ve got money from the Fashion Council over yonder so it’s all straight reportage, ambulance as quick as possible. NOT SO HERE FOLKS. You’ll hear my views exactly as they are, look undiluted – some of the time – even by good common sense. And complete with rambling interludes aplenty. That’s just how we roll I’m afraid. Ain’t no one giving us money.

Ramon Gurillo by Katie Harnett

Ramon was all about the yarn and I found myself wondering (not for the first time it has to be said) if, finally, knitwear has come of age. Maybe I should resurrect my knitwear business after all. Yes, I designed a range of 80s influenced handknits made from mohair and vegetable dyed British rare sheep wool at about the same time as I launched Amelia’s Magazine, fact fans. It was called avb (a nickname from my parents). But I just couldn’t do both. Madness it was. In fact big bags of unused wool are at this very moment languishing in my parent’s attic, no doubt being decimated by moths as we speak.

Ramon had some very sexy metallic glittery lips but I’m afraid the same glamourous intent had not been applied to his collection – which was far too tasteful for me. I did very much like the bold concertina (metallic, again) necklaces. Sorry, back to the knitwear. There were lots of lacy knit tights and leggings (possibly belonging to the stylist) which I quite liked, although I have to say that at the rate I put holes in my own leggings choosing to buy ones with pre-made holes would seem foolhardy at best. The best piece was a wonderful holey sweater dress, and I liked all the dangly bulbous bits and ruched details that appeared on other items.

Ramon Gurillo by Katie Harnett

After the show Sarah and I went to the tiny press room in the On/Off building, where I proceeded to stylishly tip nuts all over the bottom of my bag and then all over the blow-up sofa whilst Sarah attempted to upload a hasty blog. When she failed to make an internet connection we headed off to the Bodyamr show over at the gorgeous Freemasons’ Hall. We were herded into yet another staggeringly beautiful hall – featuring heavily ornate ceilings and shuttered wooden divisions between two antechambers. I sat tapping my feet and wondering how likely it was that I would make it to the next show (Bora Aksu), as rumours began to circulate on twitter that Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud was in the front row. Well, not where I was she weren’t, but she could have been the other side of the division. Dammit. I do find it ever so amusing that Nicola, once the most pitied and derided member of the band, is now the coolest fashionista of the lot. Oh how those tangerine days of yore must haunt her now!

Bodyamr by Saroj Patel

In the end I decided to lurk at the back so I could make a hasty exit, and only got to see the first few looks of the Bodyamr collection. Usually enough to make a thorough and precise analysis of a show I find. The show was opened by a model of staggering non-beauty and I registered with amusement a few confused smirks in the front row opposite me. A very odd choice indeed. It was then straight into “sports luxe” of the type we’ve seen many times before. Looking back at the catwalk pictures of the outfits I missed my favourites were definitely the ruche print dresses. But then you can always win me over with a bit of splashy coloured print.

Fortunately I managed to make it over to Bora Aksu in time….
All photographs courtesy of Gavin Bond. The Killers

The latest retrospective exhibition by acclaimed photographer Gavin Bond celebrates the best of his music work. Acting as a visual encyclopaedia of 21st Century rock icons, click the exhibition features magazine front covers and live shots of U2, ampoule The Killers, nurse Kings of Leon, Katy Perry, Green Day and Grace Jones amongst others.
Bond is not unaccustomed to staging intricately and strategically arranged shoots and one of the most difficult shots to capture was the image of kings of Leon bursting through shards of glass.
Kings of Leon

“We blew up sheets of glass with explosives in a warehouse and had to build a hide for me and the camera as thousands of pieces of exploded glass flew across the room,” says Bond. “It took a few attempts to get the explosion right, I’m sure we were heard right across London.”

U2
Bond doesn’t just shoot musical artists; he is also a renowned portrait and fashion photographer. One common theme, which runs throughout his work, is his skill for capturing not only beautiful images but also tangible characters.

Katy Perry

“I love shooting people; I don’t see them as musical artists but as characters. I love to tell stories and capture moments whether it’s with an actor, model or musician. The approach is the same and there are many different approaches. I like shooting a variety of subjects.”

Razorlight

Curator Camilla Jones says that this show is important because, “Gavin has been the lead photographer for Q magazine for some time, with 11 of the last 12 covers being his work. All the photographs in the exhibition have been taken over a very short period of time. As a body of work they exemplify the output a leading photographer can amass from an extremely busy schedule”.

The exhibition opens at The Idea Generation Gallery on February 23rd and runs until March 21st.

Written by Laura Havlin on Monday February 22nd, 2010 7:22 pm

Categories ,exhibition, ,Exhibition Review, ,Gallery, ,Grace Jones, ,Idea Generation, ,Katy Perry, ,Kings of Leon, ,music, ,musician, ,photography, ,portrait, ,Razorlight, ,restrospective, ,The Killers, ,U2

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