Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2012 Presentation Review: Christopher Raeburn

Christopher Raeburn S/S 2012 by Alison Day
Christopher Raeburn S/S 2012 by Alison Day.

On arrival at the beautiful newly renovated Museum of London we were greeted by a phalanx of inflatable squirrels – a typical Christopher Raeburn touch.

Christopher Raeburn SS 2011 review-photography by Amelia Gregory
Christopher Raeburn SS 2011 review-photography by Amelia Gregory
Christopher Raeburn S/S 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Downstairs the presentation was split between the Sackler Hall and the Linbury Gallery, abortion with a presentation cum catwalk show in one exhibition space and a musical garment installation in the other. Christopher Raeburn has never done things traditionally and his first major London Fashion Week presentation was no exception.

Christopher Raeburn SS 2011 review-photography by Amelia Gregory
Christopher Raeburn SS 2011 review-photography by Amelia Gregory
Christopher Raeburn SS 2011 review-photography by Amelia Gregory
Christopher Raeburn_by_Natalie Horsman
Christopher Raeburn S/S 2012 by Natalie Horsman.

Using colourful parachute material the space had been divided into colourful strips against which the models, sickness both male and female, information pills posed in a series of outfits from the new collection. Although he has branched out into ready-to-wear, his mainstay remains the outerwear for which he is famed and the overall feel was definitively outdoorsy but luxe. The audience were given just enough time to photograph models before they returned backstage and changed into different outfits.

Christopher Raeburn SS 2011 review-photography by Amelia Gregory
Christopher Raeburn SS 2011 review-photography by Amelia Gregory
Christopher Raeburn SS 2011 review-photography by Amelia Gregory
Christopher Raeburn SS 2011 review-photography by Amelia Gregory
Christopher Raeburn SS 2011 review-photography by Amelia Gregory
Christopher Raeburn SS 2011 review-photography by Amelia Gregory
Back in the installation area we were able to create intriguing sounds by touching the garments that were hanging in colour coded areas. Christopher Raeburn has once again managed to capture the attention of fashion lovers with his clever use of environmentally friendly materials and tactile presentation skills.

Christopher Raeburn SS 2011 review-photography by Amelia Gregory

Categories ,ACOFI, ,Alison Day, ,Christopher Raeburn, ,Ecofashion, ,ethical, ,lfw, ,Linbury Gallery, ,London Fashion Week, ,museum of london, ,Natalie Horsman, ,Outerwear, ,Parachute, ,Sackler Hall, ,Squirrels

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2011: best of Somerset House & New Gen stands.

Romina Karamanea skirt by Joana Faria
Romina Karamanea by Joana Faria.

For the past two seasons the good PRs for Romina Karamanea have ensured that there has been a ridiculously long queue of baying fashionistas gathered outside the venue before they will let anyone inside. And so it was that I found myself being battered around on the steps of the Freemasons’ Hall on Tuesday evening: it was late in the week and it wasn’t really what I wanted to deal with. My ex flatmate, physician a stylist that I used to work for at The Face – we fell out – elbowed her way through with a bit of a hissy fit. I was seriously considering just calling it a day and going right home. But then security announced that it was “too late for stars” meaning that the complex sticker system on invites was about to be ditched, visit this site and the PRs next to me agreed that the most important people were at the front anyway – that would include me! love it when I feel less of a pleb – and it all looked good to go.

Romina Karamanea pants by Joana Faria
Romina Karamanea by Joana Faria
Romina Karamanea by Joana Faria.

Ushered into one of the gorgeous upper halls I was seated only three chairs down from my nemesis, who of course refused to acknowledge me. Which is just fine, our relationship never recovered after she moved out of my house and refused to pay her outstanding rent. But it did make me smile. Oh happy days. A funny little girl in latex stockings was placed between us and quickly presented me with her card and a badge. I had to spend the whole show trying to take photos around her as she leaned into the catwalk to take hers, but in the grand tradition of fashion week poseurs she sure was good at attracting attention.

Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina-Karamanea-by-Lisa-Stannard
Romina Karamanea by Lisa Stannard.

For this season Greek born, Central Saint Martins trained Romina looked to abstract expressionism for inspiration, though as her press release cheekily says, basically “the designer had popped to see her artist friend Hermes for a glass of wine.” Three colour stories of white, bluey green and red explored passionate brush strokes and the patterns of natural phenomena and geology. Opposing structures morphed into one garment, voluminous swathes of chiffon colliding with cleanly structured tailoring. It was a big collection that included a smattering of menswear but my favourite pieces were undoubtedly the final ones, glorious rich red undergarments topped with sweeping patterned dresses. Utterly divine.

Romina Karamanea by Joana Faria
Romina Karamanea by Joana Faria
Romina Karamanea by Joana Faria.

I wasn’t aware that Romina Karamanea was an advocate of sustainable design until I found a leaflet featuring her work in the basement at Esthetica, where the Centre for Sustainable Fashion had a corner stand showcasing some of the designers they work with. This organisation was set up by the London College of Fashion, with the aim of “challenging and provoking the established fashion system to work towards the goals of promoting human well being and respecting nature’s limits, whilst creating beauty and style.” Fashion designers are invited to attend workshops and one to one mentoring sessions about how to implement sustainable design practices and apparently Romina is one of their ambassadors, which is very exciting news.

Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina-Karamanea-by-Lisa-Stannard
Romina Karamanea by Lisa Stannard.

But a line in the first paragraph of her blurb immediately made my heart sink just a tiny bit. And not just because of the bad grammar. “Each piece is designed to be loved and kept forever getting better over-time, hopefully like the wearer.” Along with the notion of upcycling (now a far trendier way to say recycling in fashion circles) and making the most of factory waste – both of which I hasten to add are admirable choices when it comes to making fashion – creating clothes to be worn for a long time has become a bit of a get out quick clause for designers. It’s an easy statement to trot out because high fashion is invariably all about luxury and has a price tag to match. Not many people who invest in designer pieces are likely to throw away their purchases every season.

Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

But let’s just stop and think a bit more here. The reality is that these designers continue to show new collections, and we are inevitably urged to delve deep and create ourselves a new wardrobe each time a new season comes around. I only very rarely buy new clothes myself but I can’t claim to be completely removed from the process because I also get really excited about new creativity on the catwalks. It’s an innate human excitement that you can’t take away, but it’s how we deal with that feeling that counts. Of course I am against throwaway mass produced fashion, but sustainability cannot be achieved merely by saying that people should treasure clothes forever, not whilst producing a new collection twice a year with no deeper links to sustainable practice.

Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory

Reading on, I applaud Romina Karamanea‘s efforts. She is careful to fully research her supply chain, reduce fabric waste, utilise low impact digital printing techniques and organic cottons. She’s an edgy designer with a big following who can really affect people’s perception of working in a sustainable way. But it’s interesting that none of this information was on the press release for the catwalk show, or on her website: after all, who wants to be pigeonholed? It says a lot about how we still perceive an ethical imperative in design.

Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory
Romina Karamanea SS2011 photo by Amelia Gregory

LFW-Cecilia Mary Robson-Andrea-Peterson
Cecilia Mary Robson by Andrea Peterson.

As well as all the shows there are of course a huge number of static stands to visit during LFW. Generally I manage to whip around them in something of a frenzy, there making mental notes of what to cover over the the ensuing months and accepting business cards but never with the intention of a proper write up on this ‘ere blog. This time though, I determined to do it properly. Because I want to support new designers that I like. Despite the fact that I myself (and this website) is deemed so unworthy of encouragement from the BFC that I made a staggering £19 from a Mercedes sponsored BFC advert over the course of LFW. It would be nice if I myself was to receive some support. Just a little bit. You know, enough to keep this darn blog rolling… because right now it’s in severe danger of death: I need to eat you know.

Somerset House SS2011 Tata Naka shoes
Tata Naka shoes. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

That bit of moaning done and dusted, here’s the low down of the best bits that I saw at Somerset House, both in New Gen and on the main stands. Some of it will have appeared on the catwalk, but if we didn’t make it to the show for whatever reason or didn’t get tickets I’ll cover it here instead. Note to designers: we’d prefer to see your catwalk show wherever possible. I’ll cover jewellery and Esthetica in other blogs.

Somerset House SS2011 Grazia helium dogs
Grazia helium dogs.

Tata Naka
This Georgian sister duo is one of my favourites – I used to style with their clothing a lot, most memorably in a shoot I did in the first ever issue of Amelia’s Magazine. They used to have quite a high profile but that has taken a bit of a nosedive in recent years – probably due to their decision to place more emphasis on creating a solid commercial business. But over the last few seasons they have been slowly creeping back into the centre of the fashion storm and I was very sad to have missed their presentation this year. My own error entirely. This season, like fellow independents Tatty Devine and Drowned in Sound (a very good music website) they were celebrating their 10th anniversary. Whilst perusing the gorgeous printed and embroidered kaftans and playsuits I got thoroughly distracted by a mad buyer who was trying on all the clothes and demanding fabric and colour changes. She was no doubt very important but downright scary: she watched over me whilst I deleted a photo of her (only wanted to get the outfit on someone to be illustrated, honest guv)

tata naka by genie espinosa
Tata Naka by Genie Espinosa.

DavidDavid
Two brothers, one who designs, the other with the business brains *oh why wasn’t I born with a business minded sister? sigh* DavidDavid have been on my radar since I first spotted their unique geometric designs in Mandi Lennard‘s press office many a moon ago. Back then I presumed some feisty young club kid was responsible – but I was clearly wrong: at least one of these designers was seen carrying his kid through the courtyard at Somerset House. Upstarts they ain’t.

Somerset House SS2011 DavidDavid
Somerset House SS2011 DavidDavid

This season’s collection was fetchingly presented against the light beaming through the window… pastel blocks marched against white and grey backgrounds on signature simple tees. But I think what I’d really like most this season is a chair covered in their fabric.

Somerset House SS2011 DavidDavid
DavidDavid.

Felicity Brown
Felicity Brown was discovered in one of the funny little New Gen huts: all froufrou dip dyed cascades of silk ruffled fabric, it reminded me of some much loved 70s dresses that I own. Inspiration was found in the shameless females in paintings of Toulouse-Lautrec. Since graduating from the Royal College of Art Felicity has worked with loads of top designers including Mulberry and Lanvin. Utterly fabulous.

Somerset House SS2011 Felicity Brown
Somerset House SS2011 Felicity Brown
Felicity Brown by Monique Anderson
Felicity Brown by Monique Anderson
Felicity Brown by Monique Anderson.

Mary Katrantzou
I was intrigued by Mary Katrantzou last season but sadly we were not to be recipients of a catwalk ticket – and thus missed the lampshade skirts in action. I nevertheless enjoyed a close up view of her digitally reworked prints of classic 70s glamour photography from Newton and Bourdin.

Somerset House SS2011 Mary Katrantzou
Somerset House SS2011 Mary Katrantzou
LFWSS11 Mary Katrantzou_KitLee
Mary Katrantzou by Kit Lee.

Yang Du
Yang Du was another designer that grabbed my attention last season. She creates huge surrealist sweater dresses in playful designs, and I was particularly taken by the crocodile top. But full marks also have to go for her display, which was really quite special – huge blow up eyeballs, lion finger puppets and masks… and not forgetting the helium dogs (see above for a picture). Oh hang on, they were a freebie from some magazine… still great though.

Somerset House SS2011 Yang Du
Somerset House SS2011 Yang Du
Somerset House SS2011 Yang Du
Somerset House SS2011 Yang Du
Yang Du by Genie Espinosa.
Yang Du by Genie Espinosa.

Klavers Van Engelen
Klavers Van Engelen were spotted in the Eastern Block room. Beautiful relaxed European design from these Dutch designers.

Somerset House SS2011 Klavers Van Engelen
Somerset House SS2011 Klavers Van Engelen
Klavers Van Engelen by Fiona M Chapelle
Klavers Van Engelen by Fiona M Chapelle
Klavers Van Engelen by Fiona M Chapelle.

Cecilia Mary Robson
The Cecilia Mary Robson collection was absolutely adorable and right up my street – watch a movie of these cute brightly coloured patch work dresses and skirts here.

Cecilia Mary Robson by Andrea Peterson
Cecilia Mary Robson by Andrea Peterson
Cecilia Mary Robson by Andrea Peterson.

Bebaroque
I only spotted the fabulous Bebaroque beaded tights as they were packing up to go home, and so didn’t get much of a chance to check out what they were made from and how well they might stand up to some heavy wear. But they sure looked bloody brilliant. Scottish designers Mhairi McNicol and Chloe Patience studied at the Glasgow School of Art before hooking up to start their hosiery business. If you fancy sending me a pair to test drive I’d sure like to give them a go ladies.

LFW SS2011 Bebaroque

Christopher Raeburn
Where to start with Christopher Raeburn? He appears to have made that tricky transition from Esthetica to the loftier climes of New Gen. Which is a good thing. Since we first started to champion his environmentally friendly designs he has expanded his anorak making repertoire – I really loved all the new bright colourways with giant spot prints. But I’m still smarting over the fact that he declined to give me a leftover rabbit, despite my very vocal appreciation of these cleverly designed little buggers and despite the continued support this blog has given him. And having seen lots of other apparently more *emminent* fashionistas carrying said rabbits around tucked smugly under their arms. Hurumph.

Somerset House SS2011 Christopher Raeburn
Somerset House SS2011 Christopher Raeburn
Somerset House SS2011 Christopher Raeburn
LFW SS2011 Menswear Andrew davis
Andrew Davis with his rabbit.

Categories ,Andrea Peterson, ,Bebaroque, ,BFC, ,Cecilia Mary Robson, ,Chloe Patience, ,Christopher Raeburn, ,daviddavid, ,Eastern Block, ,esthetica, ,Felicity Brown, ,Fiona M Chapelle, ,Genie Espinosa, ,Hosiery, ,Kit Lee, ,Klavers Van Engelen, ,lfw, ,London Fashion Week, ,Mandi Lennard, ,Mary Katrantzou, ,Mhairi McNicol, ,Monique Anderson, ,New Gen, ,Royal College of Art, ,Somerset House, ,Tata Naka, ,Tatty Devine, ,Yang Du

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2011: Best of the Fashion East Menswear Installations

Lupen Crook Interview
By Rob Harris

As I approach the North London pub where I’ve agreed to meet Lupen Crook, troche I’m surprised to find that he’s already there, rx sitting quietly at a table outside. He greets me politely and offers to buy me a drink. Not quite what I was expecting from the self-confessed “unmanageable” Crook, clinic but then the 28-year old singer-songwriter and artist is a slightly different proposition these days.

Having spent a couple of years out in the cold after an acrimonious split with his record company, Crook has returned with easily his best work to date, entirely self funded and released on his own Beast Reality Records.

And whereas he used to stalk the unlovely streets of the Medway Towns in Kent, Crook has now moved to London and developed a muscular sound to match.

Recorded with his band, the Murderbirds, Crook’s eagerly awaited third album, The Pros and Cons of Eating Out, is a vaudevillian trip through the dark recesses of his vision of the “Dysunited Kingdom”. But the melodrama of old has been replaced by real drama, and instead of lyrics about toilet abortions and shaken baby syndrome comes beautifully crafted wordplay, with beguiling references to Enoch Powell and Schrödinger’s Cat.

From the Love Cats-esque Lest We Connect through the Russian Cossack stomp of How to Murder Birds to the sub-low synth powered Scissor Kick, the genre-confounding album is the band’s most fully realised and accessible work to date.

But in case anyone’s thinking that Lupen Crook has gone all mature on us, one look at the harlot-embarrassing hand painted album cover should reassure fans that the band shows no signs of pandering to the mainstream just yet.

Over the summer you played to big crowds at the Latitude and Wireless festivals and your new album is more accessible than some of your past releases. Do you think the band has the potential to cross over to mass audiences?

There’s been no conscious effort to make our music more acceptable to people at all – in fact we’re celebrating the freedom to do exactly what we want more than ever. But we’re not shutting ourselves off to the possibility of reaching wider audiences. We’re more comfortable in our own skin now and stronger for it, and with that maybe comes a wider appreciation.

I feel like people generally are treated like idiots – like they’re not intelligent enough or emotionally deep enough to be able to understand anything further than just really crap music. And I think, well, if you actually give people the chance, there’s a whole wealth of brilliant music that would actually make them feel a hell of a lot better about themselves and that they’d enjoy.

Having released your first two albums on the independent Tap n Tin Records, you’re now setting an example for how bands can function as the industry changes, by being completely self funded and releasing your new album on your own label, Beast Reality.

Back when we were recording our second album Iscariot the Ladder, I’d always had this idea of Beast Reality Records – it’s always the daydream that you can release off your own record label. After our contract ended we recorded this album and thought “Right, how are we going to release this?” We had interest from labels and we considered it, but, as everyone knows, the industry’s fucked at the moment and, no disrespect to any of the labels, when we actually got through the door and started talking with them, we thought, well what are we actually getting from a record company? We’d financed and produced the album ourselves, so all we’d be getting from them would be manufacture and distribution.

Do you feel like musicians are, in a sense, starting to get their revenge on the more exploitative elements of the industry?

The music industry’s being returned back to the people who are actually creating the music, and now it’s up to them how they want to do it.

One of the good things about the self-release aspect is that it can keep up with the amount of material we want to release. Industry people have this thing of “you can’t release too much”, but the whole thing with Beast Reality will be to get material out as much as possible – I’d like to be looking at two to three EPs and an album a year.

In the early days you were courted by the NME and were in the NME Cool List in 2005, but this always seemed to be at odds with what you were about.

It completely threw me – it made me retreat hugely. For one thing, the song on that CD [First single Lucky 6 was included on a free CD with the NME] opened my music up to so many people. But I was a far more insecure person back then and I didn’t have my gang and my band around me. I’m never sure how much I suffered from all that – I think to a certain extent it was good, but on the other hand it was a bit of a diversion. But I’ve got no regrets, it was just something that happened and was, quite frankly, out of my control.

Your music is often described in the press as alt-folk, and you describe it as “fight folk”. What does the work “folk” mean to you in terms of music?

Folk means people – it’s peasant music. I don’t think folk music is anything to do with “the fox ran over the moon in the pale night sky” and all of that traditional stuff – I don’t really care about tradition. It’s storytelling – but then at the same time I think we’re a punk rock band really. I like fight folk because it’s got that storytelling aspect to it but also it’s sort of aggressive and I think that’s kind of who we are as individuals.

In recent times the Medway Towns have become known as a kind of hotbed of creative talent, and you’ve often been portrayed as being very much rooted in the area, in the same way that Billy Childish is. Why did you recently choose to move to London?

I’d been in Medway for too long and needed to get out. I feel there’s always the potential for something brilliant to happen there but everyone and everything, and this is why I love it, has turned really feral. To say there’s a scene there is bollocks but to say it’s got the potential for loads of great bands is definitely true. It comes in fits and bursts. There are occasions when everyone decides to get their shit together and not sit in their bedsits drinking and smoking, and when they do actually make the effort, it’s great – there’s something really thriving and exciting, but it never maintains itself because there isn’t really the opportunity for it to go anywhere outside of Medway. I moved to London because I’d walked down every alleyway, I’d drunk in every bar and I’d kind of done it all. Medway will trap you – it’s in a valley – but you can really lose yourself in London.

Your music has lots of references to Catholicism and religion – the song Scissor Kick from the new album talks about “a sprained cath-aholic”. In light of the controversy over the Pope’s recent visit to Britain, what does Catholicism mean to you and how does it feed into your music?

I was brought up with it and it’s in me. I’m very much a Catholic but I absolutely detest Catholicism quite frankly. I just think it’s really outdated and so irrelevant to anything. I think you should have faith – but faith in yourself, almost like individualism – you don’t need a God. I don’t reject everything to do with Catholicism, but I don’t see the point in an organised religion. There’s so many people of a certain generation who still sort of feel this guilt for certain things – I’m completely stricken with catholic guilt and it’s terrible.

Your music has always been hard to categorise and it’s sometimes difficult to detect your immediate influences. What bands or artists have had an influence on you musically?

Someone told me there’s a theory that the interests and experiences you have when you’re around eight years old go on to form the core of the person that you become. When I was eight I used to make little recordings, multi-tracking my Dad’s guitar and my Casio keyboard, and I started a band with the kids down the road, and in a weird way I haven’t actually progressed since I was eight years old – I’m doing the same thing, which actually makes me happy. At that age I was listening to AC/DC, Bon Scott era, and my school uniform, with the shorts, was the same as what Angus Young wore on stage. And Bon Scott was singing songs about sex and fighting and everything that my teachers and parents would detest, which is why my band was called Devil’s Disciples – completely like “I’m gonna piss you lot off”. Then when I was about nine my babysitter brought a compilation tape round with Carter USM on and I just fell in love with it. I think they influenced my lyrics quite a lot – Carter USM’s really down-to-earth wordplay with Bon Scott’s love of the three basics – sex, drugs and rock and roll.

You mention you’ve been playing in bands from a very early age. Has this always been what you’ve wanted to do?

It’s not even a case of that I wanted to do it from an early age – it’s what I decided to do. There’s only been one time in my life when I seriously considered giving up music and just leading a normal life. It was after I broke up my last band and I just packed it in and had a job delivering parcels in a van. I still used to bring my guitar with me in the van so I could play it when I was waiting for deliveries or whatever, and then one day my boss saw it and said, “What’s that?” He said “Look, you make your choice now. You can dick about on the guitar or you can be a parcel delivery man” and I just had this moment of clarity and quit. Then on my way home I got a phone call from my girlfriend saying that Tap n Tin Records wanted to sign me and that was that.

You’ve spoken in the past about having schizoaffective disorder, and last year you released The Curse of the Mirror Wicked EP to help publicise the YoungMinds mental health charity. Does this feed into your creativity?

It’s hard to tell. The way I’ve learnt to understand it, in a crude way, is that it’s somewhere between bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. I got told by a doctor when I was 19 that my obsession with music was actually making me more ill, and at certain moments in the past I’ve thought maybe they’re right, that it is a weird obsession. It’s kind of like a chicken and egg situation. But generally I think; I’ve made my bed and I’m lying in it. I have the occasional wonky period, but I feel lucky that I’m in a position where it’s kind of easier to live with than it might be for other people – because I don’t do a nine-to-five job and I get to write songs and paint pictures.

You make music, and also artwork, under the name Lupen Crook. Is this a character or is this really you?

I’ve always played around with names and I’ve always needed that. All my friends call me Mosh – that’s what I’ve been called since I was eight years old and I refused to be called anything other than that, even by teachers and my parents. I even called myself Jilted Jack Cann for a few years when I was in my last band, Bonzai Reservoir. Lupen Crook started off as a character idea, and now I kind of am that person. Names are almost nothing and everything, aren’t they? I’ve always liked the idea that you can set aside what you were before and, not invent a new persona, but find other perspectives within yourself to say “I’m not that person anymore, I’m this person now”, and that’s what I did with Lupen Crook.

“Right, home time”, says Crook, and with that, he disappears into the night. As I’m leaving, I’m struck by something he said: “I was a writer before I was a father and I was a writer before I was a husband. If I lost everything in the world, I’d still be a writer, because that’s the most important thing – to communicate, even if it’s just to myself.”

The Pros and Cons of Eating Out is released on October 4th on Beast Reality

Illustrations by Faye West

As I approach the North London pub where I’ve agreed to meet Lupen Crook, cure I’m surprised to find that he’s already there, remedy sitting quietly at a table outside. He greets me politely and offers to buy me a drink. Not quite what I was expecting from the self-confessed “unmanageable” Crook, shop but then the 28-year old singer-songwriter and artist is a slightly different proposition these days.

Having spent a couple of years out in the cold after an acrimonious split with his record company, Crook has returned with easily his best work to date, entirely self funded and released on his own Beast Reality Records.

And whereas he used to stalk the unlovely streets of the Medway Towns in Kent, Crook has now moved to London and developed a muscular sound to match.

Recorded with his band, the Murderbirds, Crook’s eagerly awaited third album, The Pros and Cons of Eating Out, is a vaudevillian trip through the dark recesses of his vision of the “Dysunited Kingdom”. But the melodrama of old has been replaced by real drama, and instead of lyrics about toilet abortions and shaken baby syndrome comes beautifully crafted wordplay, with beguiling references to Enoch Powell and Schrödinger’s Cat.

From the Love Cats-esque Lest We Connect through the Russian Cossack stomp of How to Murder Birds to the sub-low synth powered Scissor Kick, the genre-confounding album is the band’s most fully realised and accessible work to date.

But in case anyone’s thinking that Lupen Crook has gone all mature on us, one look at the harlot-embarrassing hand painted album cover should reassure fans that the band shows no signs of pandering to the mainstream just yet.

Over the summer you played to big crowds at the Latitude and Wireless festivals and your new album is more accessible than some of your past releases. Do you think the band has the potential to cross over to mass audiences?

There’s been no conscious effort to make our music more acceptable to people at all – in fact we’re celebrating the freedom to do exactly what we want more than ever. But we’re not shutting ourselves off to the possibility of reaching wider audiences. We’re more comfortable in our own skin now and stronger for it, and with that maybe comes a wider appreciation.

I feel like people generally are treated like idiots – like they’re not intelligent enough or emotionally deep enough to be able to understand anything further than just really crap music. And I think, well, if you actually give people the chance, there’s a whole wealth of brilliant music that would actually make them feel a hell of a lot better about themselves and that they’d enjoy.

Having released your first two albums on the independent Tap n Tin Records, you’re now setting an example for how bands can function as the industry changes, by being completely self funded and releasing your new album on your own label, Beast Reality.

Back when we were recording our second album Iscariot the Ladder, I’d always had this idea of Beast Reality Records – it’s always the daydream that you can release off your own record label. After our contract ended we recorded this album and thought “Right, how are we going to release this?” We had interest from labels and we considered it, but, as everyone knows, the industry’s fucked at the moment and, no disrespect to any of the labels, when we actually got through the door and started talking with them, we thought, well what are we actually getting from a record company? We’d financed and produced the album ourselves, so all we’d be getting from them would be manufacture and distribution.

Do you feel like musicians are, in a sense, starting to get their revenge on the more exploitative elements of the industry?

The music industry’s being returned back to the people who are actually creating the music, and now it’s up to them how they want to do it.

One of the good things about the self-release aspect is that it can keep up with the amount of material we want to release. Industry people have this thing of “you can’t release too much”, but the whole thing with Beast Reality will be to get material out as much as possible – I’d like to be looking at two to three EPs and an album a year.

In the early days you were courted by the NME and were in the NME Cool List in 2005, but this always seemed to be at odds with what you were about.

It completely threw me – it made me retreat hugely. For one thing, the song on that CD [First single Lucky 6 was included on a free CD with the NME] opened my music up to so many people. But I was a far more insecure person back then and I didn’t have my gang and my band around me. I’m never sure how much I suffered from all that – I think to a certain extent it was good, but on the other hand it was a bit of a diversion. But I’ve got no regrets, it was just something that happened and was, quite frankly, out of my control.

Your music is often described in the press as alt-folk, and you describe it as “fight folk”. What does the work “folk” mean to you in terms of music?

Folk means people – it’s peasant music. I don’t think folk music is anything to do with “the fox ran over the moon in the pale night sky” and all of that traditional stuff – I don’t really care about tradition. It’s storytelling – but then at the same time I think we’re a punk rock band really. I like fight folk because it’s got that storytelling aspect to it but also it’s sort of aggressive and I think that’s kind of who we are as individuals.

In recent times the Medway Towns have become known as a kind of hotbed of creative talent, and you’ve often been portrayed as being very much rooted in the area, in the same way that Billy Childish is. Why did you recently choose to move to London?

I’d been in Medway for too long and needed to get out. I feel there’s always the potential for something brilliant to happen there but everyone and everything, and this is why I love it, has turned really feral. To say there’s a scene there is bollocks but to say it’s got the potential for loads of great bands is definitely true. It comes in fits and bursts. There are occasions when everyone decides to get their shit together and not sit in their bedsits drinking and smoking, and when they do actually make the effort, it’s great – there’s something really thriving and exciting, but it never maintains itself because there isn’t really the opportunity for it to go anywhere outside of Medway. I moved to London because I’d walked down every alleyway, I’d drunk in every bar and I’d kind of done it all. Medway will trap you – it’s in a valley – but you can really lose yourself in London.

Your music has lots of references to Catholicism and religion – the song Scissor Kick from the new album talks about “a sprained cath-aholic”. In light of the controversy over the Pope’s recent visit to Britain, what does Catholicism mean to you and how does it feed into your music?

I was brought up with it and it’s in me. I’m very much a Catholic but I absolutely detest Catholicism quite frankly. I just think it’s really outdated and so irrelevant to anything. I think you should have faith – but faith in yourself, almost like individualism – you don’t need a God. I don’t reject everything to do with Catholicism, but I don’t see the point in an organised religion. There’s so many people of a certain generation who still sort of feel this guilt for certain things – I’m completely stricken with catholic guilt and it’s terrible.

Your music has always been hard to categorise and it’s sometimes difficult to detect your immediate influences. What bands or artists have had an influence on you musically?

Someone told me there’s a theory that the interests and experiences you have when you’re around eight years old go on to form the core of the person that you become. When I was eight I used to make little recordings, multi-tracking my Dad’s guitar and my Casio keyboard, and I started a band with the kids down the road, and in a weird way I haven’t actually progressed since I was eight years old – I’m doing the same thing, which actually makes me happy. At that age I was listening to AC/DC, Bon Scott era, and my school uniform, with the shorts, was the same as what Angus Young wore on stage. And Bon Scott was singing songs about sex and fighting and everything that my teachers and parents would detest, which is why my band was called Devil’s Disciples – completely like “I’m gonna piss you lot off”. Then when I was about nine my babysitter brought a compilation tape round with Carter USM on and I just fell in love with it. I think they influenced my lyrics quite a lot – Carter USM’s really down-to-earth wordplay with Bon Scott’s love of the three basics – sex, drugs and rock and roll.

You mention you’ve been playing in bands from a very early age. Has this always been what you’ve wanted to do?

It’s not even a case of that I wanted to do it from an early age – it’s what I decided to do. There’s only been one time in my life when I seriously considered giving up music and just leading a normal life. It was after I broke up my last band and I just packed it in and had a job delivering parcels in a van. I still used to bring my guitar with me in the van so I could play it when I was waiting for deliveries or whatever, and then one day my boss saw it and said, “What’s that?” He said “Look, you make your choice now. You can dick about on the guitar or you can be a parcel delivery man” and I just had this moment of clarity and quit. Then on my way home I got a phone call from my girlfriend saying that Tap n Tin Records wanted to sign me and that was that.

You’ve spoken in the past about having schizoaffective disorder, and last year you released The Curse of the Mirror Wicked EP to help publicise the YoungMinds mental health charity. Does this feed into your creativity?

It’s hard to tell. The way I’ve learnt to understand it, in a crude way, is that it’s somewhere between bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. I got told by a doctor when I was 19 that my obsession with music was actually making me more ill, and at certain moments in the past I’ve thought maybe they’re right, that it is a weird obsession. It’s kind of like a chicken and egg situation. But generally I think; I’ve made my bed and I’m lying in it. I have the occasional wonky period, but I feel lucky that I’m in a position where it’s kind of easier to live with than it might be for other people – because I don’t do a nine-to-five job and I get to write songs and paint pictures.

You make music, and also artwork, under the name Lupen Crook. Is this a character or is this really you?

I’ve always played around with names and I’ve always needed that. All my friends call me Mosh – that’s what I’ve been called since I was eight years old and I refused to be called anything other than that, even by teachers and my parents. I even called myself Jilted Jack Cann for a few years when I was in my last band, Bonzai Reservoir. Lupen Crook started off as a character idea, and now I kind of am that person. Names are almost nothing and everything, aren’t they? I’ve always liked the idea that you can set aside what you were before and, not invent a new persona, but find other perspectives within yourself to say “I’m not that person anymore, I’m this person now”, and that’s what I did with Lupen Crook.

“Right, home time”, says Crook, and with that, he disappears into the night. As I’m leaving, I’m struck by something he said: “I was a writer before I was a father and I was a writer before I was a husband. If I lost everything in the world, I’d still be a writer, because that’s the most important thing – to communicate, even if it’s just to myself.”

The Pros and Cons of Eating Out is released on October 4th on Beast Reality

Illustrations by Faye West

As I approach the North London pub where I’ve agreed to meet Lupen Crook, sick I’m surprised to find that he’s already there, more about sitting quietly at a table outside. He greets me politely and offers to buy me a drink. Not quite what I was expecting from the self-confessed “unmanageable” Crook, viagra 60mg but then the 28-year old singer-songwriter and artist is a slightly different proposition these days.

Having spent a couple of years out in the cold after an acrimonious split with his record company, Crook has returned with easily his best work to date, entirely self funded and released on his own Beast Reality Records.

And whereas he used to stalk the unlovely streets of the Medway Towns in Kent, Crook has now moved to London and developed a muscular sound to match.

Recorded with his band, the Murderbirds, Crook’s eagerly awaited third album, The Pros and Cons of Eating Out, is a vaudevillian trip through the dark recesses of his vision of the “Dysunited Kingdom”. But the melodrama of old has been replaced by real drama, and instead of lyrics about toilet abortions and shaken baby syndrome comes beautifully crafted wordplay, with beguiling references to Enoch Powell and Schrödinger’s Cat.

From the Love Cats-esque Lest We Connect through the Russian Cossack stomp of How to Murder Birds to the sub-low synth powered Scissor Kick, the genre-confounding album is the band’s most fully realised and accessible work to date.

But in case anyone’s thinking that Lupen Crook has gone all mature on us, one look at the harlot-embarrassing hand painted album cover should reassure fans that the band shows no signs of pandering to the mainstream just yet.

Over the summer you played to big crowds at the Latitude and Wireless festivals and your new album is more accessible than some of your past releases. Do you think the band has the potential to cross over to mass audiences?

There’s been no conscious effort to make our music more acceptable to people at all – in fact we’re celebrating the freedom to do exactly what we want more than ever. But we’re not shutting ourselves off to the possibility of reaching wider audiences. We’re more comfortable in our own skin now and stronger for it, and with that maybe comes a wider appreciation.

I feel like people generally are treated like idiots – like they’re not intelligent enough or emotionally deep enough to be able to understand anything further than just really crap music. And I think, well, if you actually give people the chance, there’s a whole wealth of brilliant music that would actually make them feel a hell of a lot better about themselves and that they’d enjoy.

Having released your first two albums on the independent Tap n Tin Records, you’re now setting an example for how bands can function as the industry changes, by being completely self funded and releasing your new album on your own label, Beast Reality.

Back when we were recording our second album Iscariot the Ladder, I’d always had this idea of Beast Reality Records – it’s always the daydream that you can release off your own record label. After our contract ended we recorded this album and thought “Right, how are we going to release this?” We had interest from labels and we considered it, but, as everyone knows, the industry’s fucked at the moment and, no disrespect to any of the labels, when we actually got through the door and started talking with them, we thought, well what are we actually getting from a record company? We’d financed and produced the album ourselves, so all we’d be getting from them would be manufacture and distribution.

Do you feel like musicians are, in a sense, starting to get their revenge on the more exploitative elements of the industry?

The music industry’s being returned back to the people who are actually creating the music, and now it’s up to them how they want to do it.

One of the good things about the self-release aspect is that it can keep up with the amount of material we want to release. Industry people have this thing of “you can’t release too much”, but the whole thing with Beast Reality will be to get material out as much as possible – I’d like to be looking at two to three EPs and an album a year.

In the early days you were courted by the NME and were in the NME Cool List in 2005, but this always seemed to be at odds with what you were about.

It completely threw me – it made me retreat hugely. For one thing, the song on that CD [First single Lucky 6 was included on a free CD with the NME] opened my music up to so many people. But I was a far more insecure person back then and I didn’t have my gang and my band around me. I’m never sure how much I suffered from all that – I think to a certain extent it was good, but on the other hand it was a bit of a diversion. But I’ve got no regrets, it was just something that happened and was, quite frankly, out of my control.

Your music is often described in the press as alt-folk, and you describe it as “fight folk”. What does the work “folk” mean to you in terms of music?

Folk means people – it’s peasant music. I don’t think folk music is anything to do with “the fox ran over the moon in the pale night sky” and all of that traditional stuff – I don’t really care about tradition. It’s storytelling – but then at the same time I think we’re a punk rock band really. I like fight folk because it’s got that storytelling aspect to it but also it’s sort of aggressive and I think that’s kind of who we are as individuals.

In recent times the Medway Towns have become known as a kind of hotbed of creative talent, and you’ve often been portrayed as being very much rooted in the area, in the same way that Billy Childish is. Why did you recently choose to move to London?

I’d been in Medway for too long and needed to get out. I feel there’s always the potential for something brilliant to happen there but everyone and everything, and this is why I love it, has turned really feral. To say there’s a scene there is bollocks but to say it’s got the potential for loads of great bands is definitely true. It comes in fits and bursts. There are occasions when everyone decides to get their shit together and not sit in their bedsits drinking and smoking, and when they do actually make the effort, it’s great – there’s something really thriving and exciting, but it never maintains itself because there isn’t really the opportunity for it to go anywhere outside of Medway. I moved to London because I’d walked down every alleyway, I’d drunk in every bar and I’d kind of done it all. Medway will trap you – it’s in a valley – but you can really lose yourself in London.

Your music has lots of references to Catholicism and religion – the song Scissor Kick from the new album talks about “a sprained cath-aholic”. In light of the controversy over the Pope’s recent visit to Britain, what does Catholicism mean to you and how does it feed into your music?

I was brought up with it and it’s in me. I’m very much a Catholic but I absolutely detest Catholicism quite frankly. I just think it’s really outdated and so irrelevant to anything. I think you should have faith – but faith in yourself, almost like individualism – you don’t need a God. I don’t reject everything to do with Catholicism, but I don’t see the point in an organised religion. There’s so many people of a certain generation who still sort of feel this guilt for certain things – I’m completely stricken with catholic guilt and it’s terrible.

Your music has always been hard to categorise and it’s sometimes difficult to detect your immediate influences. What bands or artists have had an influence on you musically?

Someone told me there’s a theory that the interests and experiences you have when you’re around eight years old go on to form the core of the person that you become. When I was eight I used to make little recordings, multi-tracking my Dad’s guitar and my Casio keyboard, and I started a band with the kids down the road, and in a weird way I haven’t actually progressed since I was eight years old – I’m doing the same thing, which actually makes me happy. At that age I was listening to AC/DC, Bon Scott era, and my school uniform, with the shorts, was the same as what Angus Young wore on stage. And Bon Scott was singing songs about sex and fighting and everything that my teachers and parents would detest, which is why my band was called Devil’s Disciples – completely like “I’m gonna piss you lot off”. Then when I was about nine my babysitter brought a compilation tape round with Carter USM on and I just fell in love with it. I think they influenced my lyrics quite a lot – Carter USM’s really down-to-earth wordplay with Bon Scott’s love of the three basics – sex, drugs and rock and roll.

You mention you’ve been playing in bands from a very early age. Has this always been what you’ve wanted to do?

It’s not even a case of that I wanted to do it from an early age – it’s what I decided to do. There’s only been one time in my life when I seriously considered giving up music and just leading a normal life. It was after I broke up my last band and I just packed it in and had a job delivering parcels in a van. I still used to bring my guitar with me in the van so I could play it when I was waiting for deliveries or whatever, and then one day my boss saw it and said, “What’s that?” He said “Look, you make your choice now. You can dick about on the guitar or you can be a parcel delivery man” and I just had this moment of clarity and quit. Then on my way home I got a phone call from my girlfriend saying that Tap n Tin Records wanted to sign me and that was that.

You’ve spoken in the past about having schizoaffective disorder, and last year you released The Curse of the Mirror Wicked EP to help publicise the YoungMinds mental health charity. Does this feed into your creativity?

It’s hard to tell. The way I’ve learnt to understand it, in a crude way, is that it’s somewhere between bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. I got told by a doctor when I was 19 that my obsession with music was actually making me more ill, and at certain moments in the past I’ve thought maybe they’re right, that it is a weird obsession. It’s kind of like a chicken and egg situation. But generally I think; I’ve made my bed and I’m lying in it. I have the occasional wonky period, but I feel lucky that I’m in a position where it’s kind of easier to live with than it might be for other people – because I don’t do a nine-to-five job and I get to write songs and paint pictures.

You make music, and also artwork, under the name Lupen Crook. Is this a character or is this really you?

I’ve always played around with names and I’ve always needed that. All my friends call me Mosh – that’s what I’ve been called since I was eight years old and I refused to be called anything other than that, even by teachers and my parents. I even called myself Jilted Jack Cann for a few years when I was in my last band, Bonzai Reservoir. Lupen Crook started off as a character idea, and now I kind of am that person. Names are almost nothing and everything, aren’t they? I’ve always liked the idea that you can set aside what you were before and, not invent a new persona, but find other perspectives within yourself to say “I’m not that person anymore, I’m this person now”, and that’s what I did with Lupen Crook.

“Right, home time”, says Crook, and with that, he disappears into the night. As I’m leaving, I’m struck by something he said: “I was a writer before I was a father and I was a writer before I was a husband. If I lost everything in the world, I’d still be a writer, because that’s the most important thing – to communicate, even if it’s just to myself.”

The Pros and Cons of Eating Out is released on October 4th on Beast Reality


Illustration by Antonia Parker

Well, pills they’d really gone to town with this season’s menswear installations. Menswear Day is great, but it’s bloody hard work – you get five days to absorb what’s on offer for women, but only one for the guys – even though the quality and breadth of talent is just as vast.

So in between shows I managed to leg it around the installations, taking photographs, collecting press releases, bumping into people I knew and desperately tried not to steal Mr Hare shoes, all at the same time. It was hard work, I tell ya.

Katie Eary



I LOVE Katie Eary‘s work and this year was no exception. Moving away from skeletal masks and those joke glasses that have me in stitches whenever I see a pair, this season saw Katie collaborate with Lonsdale to create a 1950s boxing scene. It was GREAT – genuine boxers in Katie’s leopard-skin silk shorts, jewel-encrusted boxing helmets and embellished gloves fought on one side of the space behind traditional boxing ring ropes. A genuine coach jeered in his East End accent and Katie, resplendent in a leopard-skin number herself, styled the models/boxers like a glamorous ringside moll.



Tartans featured as boxers rested in the other half of the installation, surrounded by red roses and walls covered in the same fabric. Despite being mesmerised by the shirtless boxers I did also notice some neat tailoring, studded trousers and yet more leopard skin numbers. Amazing.

Mr Hare



Delicious shoes. Again. What else to say? It’s hard to stand out designing shoes exclusively for men, I’m sure, unless you design panto clown shoes – but Mr Hare managed it again – this season presenting an entirely black collection (strange, I thought, for S/S). Suede, patent leather and reptile skin all featured.

Matthew Miller

I am seriously excited about interviewing Matthew Miller in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for that. His unique fusing of modern tailoring with a sport-luxe aesthetic really gets me going. A model stood looking a little perplexed outside his little hut, wearing a double-breasted blazer in rich cotton with a banded white stripe straight through the middle. It seems this theme ran through his entire collection, giving well-tailored clothing a contemporary twist. Crisp white shirts with stripes are teamed with tailored shirts to achieve the MM look.

Omar Kashoura

Illustration by Antonia Parker

It’s no secret that I loved what Omar Kashoura had to offer last season, and it’s no surprise that he’d been awarded NEWGEN sponsorship this time around. Moving on from formal tailoring, this season he presented a more playful collection packed full of wit, humour and great checks.



A jazz band modelled the clothes, but every time I went in they were hanging around posing and not actually playing instruments (that modelling opportunity had obviously gone to their heads) but I’m told they were very good. Twill double-breasted blazers, some with piped lapels, toyed with the idea of English dressing, and whimsical handkerchiefs were placed in pockets. A general colour palette of tones of blue was enhanced with flashes of red and some pastel colours, while the models wore Edward Green shoes (HOT).

The rest of the room featured look-book shots (above) with hilarious catalogue-style captions – ‘Andreas looks comfortable in a viscose and cotton knitted vest with a zipper front…’

Christopher Raeburn


Christopher Raeburn fits into many categories, and his collection this year was his best outing yet. Spots were the key theme, as were coats of many colours. Read a little bit more about him in Amelia’s review here.

Baartmans and Siegel


Great colours up for grabs here, with pastel blue tapered trousers and silk scarves and navy trenches, teamed with pastel blue suede shoes. Ones to watch, I’d say, with their mix of European influences and luxurious fabrics.

Mattio Bigliardi

…wins the award for biggest jacket. Love this colour…

Christopher Shannon

Another season brings another collaboration with Eastpak, and even more silly bags, that I actually really like. The colours echoed his catwalk collection, featuring lemon, aqua and grey.

Morgan Allen Oliver


Illustrations by Aniela Murphy
Last, but by no means least, Morgan delighted again this season with fabulous knitwear and polka dot shorts. As much as I loved his offerings in February, this time around he seems to have grown in sophistication and his collection seemed smarter and infinitely more wearable, while still maintaining that contemporary, humorous wit that we’re steadily gettting used to. Muted colours featured, along with luxurious-knit cardigans, spotted jumpers and said polka-dot shorts, modelled by previous fashion editor Jonno Ovans!



Categories ,Aniela Murphy, ,Antonia Parker, ,Baartmans and Siegel, ,Boxing, ,Christopher Raeburn, ,Christopher Shannon, ,Fashion East, ,jazz, ,Katie Eary, ,London Fashion Week, ,Mattio Bigliardi, ,menswear, ,Morgan Allen Oliver, ,Mr Hare, ,Newgen, ,Omar Kashoura, ,pastels, ,S/S 2011, ,Sheds, ,Somerset House, ,tailoring

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2011 Presentation Review: Ada Zanditon

Illustration by Kellie Black

Illustration of Little Shilpa by Yelena Bryksenkova

Illustration of J Smith Esquire by Kellie Black

Illustration by Kellie Black

The Headonsim exhibition is hidden in the Embankment Galleries on the lower ground floor of Somerset house, medicine behind the BFC tent. I’ve been down there twice, once on Thursday and once yesterday – and both times it seemed very under attended. Actually, all the exhibitions around the scrum of the registration area seem very quiet but they are all well worth a look, even if it is just to take a closer look at some of the collections as I did upstairs for Louise Amstrup.

Curated by milliner extraordinaire Stephen Jones, the Headonism exhibition is all about the hats and is the only section of London Fashion Week to do so. There are only five exhibitors: J Smith, Little Shilpa, Noel Stewart, Piers Atkinson and Soren Bach, but the difference between the stands is remarkable. The xxxxx has no one manning it, nor does Little Shilpa – merely a book to leave details in and the only exhibitor to have put any real effort into their display is Piers Atkinson but more on him later. The importance of showcasing your wares appropriately at London Fashion Week is shockingly something that many have left to the last minute. Read xxx post on the displays upstairs to find out who did it well.

We were lucky enough to interview two of the exhibitors prior to the show, the first was J Smith Esquire. His exhibit is immediately to your right as you enter the exhibition, displaying his most recent foray into the high street market with a Mister Smith display of flat pack hats in colourful cut out leather. He told us about the collection: ‘Mister Smith is designed to be robust, accessible, affordable millinery with high design values, so everyone can have a J Smith Esquire hat’.

Illustration of J Smith Esquire by Kellie Black

Mixing together the ready-to-wear and couture, J Smiths talent shines with his main collections. Illuminated promises to be VERY eclectic, ‘(it’s) inspired by vintage Italian fashion papers to create a modern-day Edwardian couture, and yes, expect a very colourful collection!’

Illustration of Little Shilpa by Yelena Bryksenkova

Illustrations by Paolo Caravello

Monday saw the fourth day dawn on London Fashion Week and delightfully my first day of intriguing ethical fashion presentations. First up on No. 1 Greek Street was the delightful Lu Flux, try followed in the afternoon by – congratulations! – the Ethical Fashion Forum’s Innovation Award winner Ada Zanditon. –

All photographs by Sally Mumby-Croft

In the run up to London Fashion Week, stomach Katie Antoniou interviewed Ada Zanditon about the trials, tribulations and positive rewards of producing innovative ethical fashion. Often the problem lies in the assumption that ethical fashion is boring and unfashionable – that most heinous of sins! – a situation being speedily rectified with the continuing presence of Estethica’s exhibition and support of young designers exploring the possibility of sustainable fashion at London Fashion Week Exhibition.

Illustrations by Paolo Caravello

Starting at 2pm, Ada Zanditon’s presentation – which in the grand scheme of things was more of catwalk – displayed the designer’s incredible 3D textiles used to embellish the collection of pretty dresses. Utilising her presence at On|Off, Ada showcased the delectability of clothes made through using up-cycled materials. The outcome of which had the group of ladies behind me swooning.

Christopher Raeburn and Lu Flux, (whose review will be appearing later on today…) are but two of Ada Zanditon’s trailblazing contemporaries in the field of ethical fashion. All three designers are successfully proving there need be no distinction between ‘fashion’ and ‘ethical fashion.’

Surely it is time for all designers to take the ethics of their production lines into consideration: namely where the fabrics originate and who is physically making the clothes for commercial consumption.

Illustrations by Paolo Caravello

When answering Amelia’s Magazine’s final question , Zanditon touched upon the difficult reality of encouraging people to achieve not only sustainable fashion, but sustainable lives; “I only think the planet can truly convince people of the importance of sustainability. I’m sure most people living on the coast of Bangladesh are highly convinced that we need to live in a more sustainable way as they are effected daily by climate change.”

A common fault in humanities mentality is our failure to project successfully beyond today, nurtured as we are on natural resources being infinite. It is incredibly hard to convince worldwide populations’ materials are and will become finite, whilst items still appear in their thousands on shop floors. Perhaps it will take empty shelves to convince us of the perils of fast fashion.

Intriguingly Ada Zanditon uses geometric cutting to produce zero waste. Tell us how you do it Ada!

Categories ,Ada Zanditon, ,Alexander McQueen, ,Amelia Gregory, ,Amelia’s Magazine, ,Bloomsbury, ,Christopher Raeburn, ,Ecover, ,estethica, ,Ethical Fashion, ,Ethical Fashion Forum, ,Gareth Pugh, ,Innovative Design Awards, ,Katie Antoniou, ,London Fashion Week, ,Lu Flux, ,onoff, ,Somerset House, ,SS11, ,Upcycling

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week A/W 2011 Preview: Ada Zanditon on Sustainability

Oscars – Georgia Coote thumb
Oscars - Georgia Coote
Illustration by Georgia Coote

So Colin and Helena have already won their BAFTA awards. Now all eyes are on them for the Oscars. Particularly Colin Firth, approved who has been vigorously doing the rounds as it were, cialis 40mg on chat shows such as Ellen. I believe in the aforementioned show, abortion Colin was given some Oscar worthy tuxedo pants. Personally I think Colin should have got an Oscar for A Single Man, one of my favourite films…in the world ever. This article is a small run down of 13 films nominated in the Oscars. Lucky 13…

Abby_Wright_Oscars_Natalie_Portman
Natalie Portman Illustration by Abby Wright

Black Swan revolves around Nataliie Portman’s character winning the lead to Swan Lake, leading to madness and obsession. Driven by perfection, she loses grip of reality entirely as you are taken on a heady journey. I accept it is a genre piece, thus obvious and over the top for a reason, but controversially I didn’t love it. Natalie Portman has been nominated for Best Actress, among five other nominations for the film.

Inception is a fantasy thriller with Leo at the forefront. Christopher Nolan produced some incedible scenes for our eyes to devour and the twists and turns were a thrill to behold. It has eight nominations, including Leonardo DiCaprio for Best Actor.

Helena Bonham Carter by Matilde Sazio
Helena Bonham Carter Illustration by Matilde Sazio

The King’s Speech had people applauding in the cinemas. Everyone has gone mad for this film. And what with Will and Kate getting hitched this year, the Royal family are enjoying a thrust of positive publicity. Colin Firth’s character is a George VI and Helena Bonham Carter, his wife, the Queen Mother have both been nominated for their performances. The film has been nominated for 12 in total.

Colin Firth by Karina Yarv
Colin Firth Illustration by Karina Yarv

Rabbit Hole is about a couple’s life is affected after their young son dies in an accident. Nicole Kidman has been nominated for Best Actress for her role.

The Social Network
David Fincher’s account on the origins of Facebook…

The Kids Are All Right is the story of a lesbian couple whose sperm donor returns into their lives, has four nominations and stars Annette Bening and Julianne Moore.

Toy Story 3 was a sad film in many ways, because it reflected time’s passing and the end of childhood. But Toy Story (1) brings back wonderful memories and has been overplayed to death without inducing even the remotest hatred. Same with Toy Story 2. Toy Story 3 was held in high hopes and it delivered. The film has five nominations, including Best Picture.

Gemma Milly-True Grit
True Grit Illustration by Gemma Milly

True Grit
Joel and Ethan Coen make quite scary, but brilliant films. This remake of the 1969 John Wayne western has received ten nominations in total, these include Jeff Bridges for Best Actor and Hailee Steinfeld for Best Supporting Actress.

Alice In Wonderland sees Alice return to the world of magic and chattering objects, as a 19 year old. She learns of her destiny and meets her old chums. The film, which stars Johnny Depp, has been nominated for three Oscars.

Exit Through the Gift Shop saw Bristol’s Banksy nominated for Best Documenary Feature. The story is about an eccentric French amateur film maker and shop owner trying to befriend Banksy.

127 Hours
Ewww. But also amazing story of overcoming the odds, directed by Danny Boyle. This is a real life story about a climber forced to take extreme action to survive. You all know what I’m talking about I’m sure. James Franco has been nominated for his role as the protagonist and indeed, only character in the film. The film has also been nominated for Best Picture.

Michelle Williams by Russty Brazil
Michelle Williams Illustration by Russty Brazil

Blue Valentine is a stunning and devastating film about falling out of love. Michelle Williams has become numb to her life and husband, whilst Ryan Gosling flails around, trying to save the marriage. Making it all worse. The flashbacks to their falling in love are touching, and the soundtrack by Grizzly Bear made me cry. Michelle Williams has been nominated for Best Actress.

Winter’s Bone
An independent film, Debra Granik’s tale is about a young woman living in a rural community, trying to find her missing father. The film has been nominated for three awards.

Now bring on the pizazz and dresses, quaff, quaff!
Ada Zanditon A/W 2011 Preview by Rebecca Strickson
Ada Zanditon A/W 2011 Preview by Rebecca Strickson.

For Ada process is everything. “I don’t want to sit at a desk using Illustrator to design clothes that will be made many miles away. I love the hands on process of choosing the fabrics and creating the clothes.” But she does want to conquer the luxury goods market. “I want to make clothes that are desirable and exciting but also ecological.” The luxury goods market is one that is saturated with leathers and furs, ed but Ada will only use leather by products that have been vegetable tanned. “It’s very hard to find good enough quality fake leather and the biggest crime is waste, approved so it is better that skin is used. Things are getting better but we still have a long way to go.” She describes a trip to the Wastesavers deep in Huddersfield as part of an initiative with Jane Shepherdson and Oxfam. There was such a huge amount of waste that it boggled her mind. She dreads to think how much more goes into landfill every day.

Ada Zanditon comission by The Lovely Wars
Ada Zanditon (commission) by The Lovely Wars.

We ponder the ethics of sustainably produced fur where the animals are treated well, but she’s not really interested in fur from a aesthetic point of view, and worries too much about the air miles and poor conditions of most farmed animals.

Ada Zanditon SS 2011 by The Lovely Wars
Ada Zanditon S/S 2011 by The Lovely Wars.

Ada tries to fly as little as possible – preferring instead to find inspiration in the English countryside when she goes on holiday. “My favourite way to travel is by Eurostar!” She is not interested in the idea of being against things, and would rather look at the relevant alternatives and ways in which to do things with purpose.

Ada Zanditon by Avril Kelly
Ada Zanditon by Avril Kelly.

She is analytical in her approach to sustainable practise. “A lot of the environmental debate comes from an emotional place,” she says. “I used to be both veggie and vegan but now I just try to buy local, organic and free range… I find that meat answers my needs as an adult who needs a lot of energy.” But then her decision to stop eating meat was never based on the killing of animals in itself – she ponders the irony of vegetarians who wear non organic cotton – the pesticides from which have no doubt adversely affected local wildlife.

Ada Zanditon S/S 2011 by Dee Andrews
Ada Zanditon S/S 2011 by Dee Andrews.

She thinks that there is a lot of fluffy thinking in western culture and much prefers to take a scientific perspective. “It takes emotion out of the equation. Emotion is good when it comes to fashion, but sustainable design needs a common sense approach to see ideas with clarity.” With her analytical mind she looks for ways to reduce environmental impacts and ensure positive outcomes within resource management and production.

Ada Zanditon by Dee Andrews
Ada Zanditon by Dee Andrews.

Even though she is a designer of high fashion she concedes that how to make affordable sustainable clothing is one of the biggest problems that needs tackling. “I have my own part in the wheel, but it would be false for me to design differently than what comes naturally.” Despite the possibility of an adverse “trickle-down effect” whereby her high fashion designs could easily be copied at a cheaper price level without using sustainable materials Ada is hopeful that her values of using sustainable materials and local production will inspire others if she can communicate them strongly and excitingly enough. I am inclined to agree.

Ada Zanditon by Maria del Carmen Smith
Ada Zanditon by Maria del Carmen Smith.

Ada occasionally lectures students, and is about to embark on a project in fashion and sustainability at La Cambre in Brussels. “To teach fashion you have to put a lot in. I love giving one off lectures and working on specific projects but I don’t have time for more.” One of the things she finds most inspiring in ethical fashion is that there are more people who are now coming to ethical fashion from a fashion perspective. “In the past ethical fashion companies were set up by environmentalists, but nowadays designers who come from a fashion background are able to bring a distinct handwriting to their designs.” She classifies herself amongst this new wave of designers, alongside names such as Beautiful Soul, Christopher Raeburn, Goodone, The North Circular and Henrietta Ludgate (all of whom feature in my new book). “We feel supportive of each other and it’s really good to see a relevant aesthetic growing and gaining momentum.”

Ada Zanditon A/W 2010 Pre-Collection by Sarah Matthews
Ada Zanditon A/W 2010 Pre-Collection by Sarah Matthews.

Most recently Ada has been commissioned for a couple of exciting fair-trade projects: a collective collaboration with ASOS, for which she designed a scarf to coincide with the launch of Fairtrade Fortnight and a project in conjunction with Vogue Magazine to celebrate the release of fair-trade gold. “They rang on Thursday wanting a substantial geometric piece that spoke of luxury: the perfect project for me. And by Saturday it was sorted!” Ada rightly feels that it is really important to show that fine jewellery can be made sustainably and with awareness for the impact of manufacture on human lives.

Ada Zanditon A/W 2010 Pre-Collection by Sarah Matthews
Ada Zanditon A/W 2010 Pre-Collection by Sarah Matthews.

Her business partner is entrepreneur Philip Levine, who is good at networking and looking out for opportunities. “There is so much pressure on young brands to build a successful business at the same time as being creative,” she says, “but people spread themselves too thinly and can’t always see the best choices in business. Many fashion brands come and go but I want longevity.” She loves evolving illustrations into prints and hopes to expand her prints onto a wide range of products in the future.

At just 28 years old it looks as though Ada Zanditon is already building a brand to remember, and most importantly of all, it is a fashion brand that has ethics at the very heart of it. I look forward to her LFW presentation this Friday with much anticipation. Read our taster of what to expect right here.

Ada Zanditon features in my new book: Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration.

Categories ,ACOFI, ,Ada Zanditon, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Ani Saunders, ,ASOS, ,Avril Kelly, ,Beautiful Soul, ,Brussels, ,Christopher Raeburn, ,Dee Andrews, ,Eurostar, ,Fairtrade Fortnight, ,Fur, ,goodone, ,Henrietta Ludgate, ,Jane Shepherdson, ,jewellery, ,La Cambre, ,leather, ,Maria del Carmen Smith, ,oxfam, ,Philip Levine, ,Rebecca Strickson, ,Sarah Matthews, ,Stylist Magazine, ,sustainability, ,The Lovely Wars, ,The North Circular, ,vegan, ,vegetarian, ,vogue, ,Wastesavers

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week A/W 2011 Preview: Rachel Freire

Nick25
Gemma Milly_Nicholas Stevenson
Illustration by Gemma Milly

Nicholas sent me his CD and tape, approved accompanied by a lovely letter about living and musing about in Bristol. One of my favourite pastimes – we may have been staring into the same middle distance…! Like a quill pen into my heart, recipe I am a sucker for a personal letter. Especially on such nice paper. After reading his scribe, I listened to Nicholas’s album: Phantom Sweetheart, available now on Hilldrop Records.

phantom sweetheart cover by nicholas stevenson
Album Cover, Phantom Sweetheart, Illustration by Nicholas Stevenson

It’s a splendid listen. Thoughtful and wistful. It’s like a less brash (blah). It has a Californian, surf sound, mixed with a smattering of New York – and the mighty UK. This mixture of locations is perhaps a reflection of Nicholas’s various home locations from birth. Since my initial listen, I now enjoy playing the album when I’m in my own little zone, cleaning. Because you could be anywhere. And if you don’t overly want to be where you are right now, there’s your ride. This interesting, sentimental man will take you away. Or indeed in my present case, scrub that flat ‘til in shines like the summer sun reflecting in my – prematurely purchased, cat eyed – sunnies. I miss you sun. I’d like to meet him to discuss travel, home, love and art. Oh yes, he’s an illustrator too. As Nicholas was so eloquent in his letter, I thought an interview would be perfect. So here it follows:

Nicholas Stevenson with phantom

Could you introduce yourself for us Nicholas…?
Hi there, my name is Nicholas Stevenson and I’m a songwriter and illustrator.

Where are you from originally and where do you reside now?
I currently reside in Cambridgeshire, but I was born in Scotland, lived on an island in the Seychelles for a while, and then moved back to England. I’m also half American so I sometimes have a confusing accent; it’s all a bit confusing actually. I usually give people fake biographies about growing up in the North Pole or being found in the wilderness to avoid explaining the complicated truth…

The Aeroplane Darling cover by Nicholas Stevenson
EP Cover, The Aeroplane Darling, Illustration by Nicholas Stevenson

How long have you been playing music? Could you describe it?
It would be hard to say when I started making music, but I found a tape of myself shouting a song I made about giraffes aged four the other day. The music in the shape it is now probably started about three years ago when I moved away to go to Art College. I had a band in high school that made fuzzy alt rock like the Smashing Pumpkins, but when we went our separate ways I started recording songs on my own in my room. It’s a sort of alt folk sound, with lots of layers, and a big emphasis on melodies.

How long have you been illustrating? Could you describe your style?
I’ve been drawing a lot longer than I’ve been making music, but I don’t think I could ever have considered myself an illustrator up until the last couple of years. I try to make work that’s fun, mysterious and occasionally a bit unsettling where possible.

chase in a sketchbook by Nicholas Stevenson
Chase In A Sketchbook, Illustration by Nicholas Stevenson

Do you use your illustration and music to compliment/influence each other?
Most definitely. I think both of these activities really boil down to an urge for me to be story telling. Both my music and illustration usually revolves around some sort of implied narrative and it’s pretty common for a drawing to influence a lyric or vice versa.

What inspires your creativity, both re: music and illustration?
Cosmography, polar exploration, time travel, childhood, memory, feral children, miniature painting, amateurs and outsiders; a lot of things that I read about or places I visit. I try not to rule anything out as potential fodder for making stories and art about.

bayonets album sleeve
Bayonets Album Sleeve, Illustration by Nicholas Stevenson

Have you ever had a ‘phantom’ sweetheart?
Well not a sweetheart per-se, but in the Seychelles I had two childhood ghost friends called Coco and Silent. Coco lived in a palm tree, and Silent lived on an abandoned ship. They were both only a foot tall, and wore white sheets with eyeholes, although I think Silent wore a baseball cap. The name ‘Phantom Sweetheart’ came about partly because all of my records have had terms of endearment in the name (Dearest Monstrous, The Aeroplane Darling) and I wanted this album to be really ghostly and spectral. Phantom Sweetheart just seemed to be the perfect title.

And what do you think about love and ‘being in love’ ? 
I think it’s a really nice special thing, I’m probably a bit of a softy and a romantic. It might seem like I’ve written a few songs from an anti-love position, but as Harvey Danger once said: “Happiness writes white”.

Have you been in love?
Oh yes mam.

hilldrop business card blank small
Hilldrop Business Cards, Illustration by Nicholas Stevenson

Who else is in your band?
Dan Lewis plays the drums, Tom Harrington plays the bass guitar and glockenspiel whilst Oliver Wilde plays lead guitar.

When/how did you get together?
I met Dan and Tom in Hereford where I was studying at Art College. My manager Joe introduced us and we started arranging my songs and got performing almost straight away as a three piece. Oliver joined the band just last autumn. He not only signed me to his label Hilldrop Records, but he also produced and recorded the album with me in his house in Bristol. We worked really closely together on Phantom Sweetheart and Oliver had a big impact on the way those songs turned out. Of course by the end he knew how to play them all back to front and it seemed like a no-brainer that he should come out on tour with us.

And who is your record label, and how did you get signed?
Hilldrop Records are my label. I think they requested I send them some of my demos in the mail over a year ago. They liked what they heard and I played some gigs for them and we hit it off pretty fast, I started making posters for their shows too. We were all coming from a similar direction and they were interested in promoting art and building it in to the performances. We’d got to know each other reasonably well by the time we decided to sign a contract and make the album.

hilldrop cult 1300_1300
Illustration by Nicholas Stevenson

What was it like going on tour? Did you get inspired?
It was a blast, definitely not glamorous, but great fun. Our car broke down on the way to a sold out show in Bakewell and we had to jettison half the gear and get a taxi. We arrived just in the nick of time with no drums or drummer, and played entirely unplugged to a wonderfully attentive packed room. We spent the night in a big old house; there were teddy bears in the beds. Bakewell is such an old fashioned and charming town (home to the bakewell tart) everyone was so kind and interesting there, it sort of inspired us to play more small places on tour. It doesn’t seem fair that the big cities get all the tour dates, where people can sometimes be so jaded towards the barrage of live music anyway.

Nick25

Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Hopefully doing the same things I’m doing now, but more masterfully. I’m fully aware I have a long way to go and lots of room to grow before I’m satisfied… I just hope I’m fortunate enough to find time for it all.

What about now, what is coming up for you?
At the moment I’m working on a sort of audio zine project called ‘Dead Arm’. It’s going to be a series of cassette tapes, each with a different set of new songs and sounds. Its quite fun telling myself to sit down and make a continuous twenty-minute tape, rather than getting too hung up on individual songs; it makes me less precious and hopefully more inventive. I’m quite excited to see where it goes… 
You can buy Phantom Sweetheart, on Hilldrop Records, here.

Gemma Milly_Nicholas Stevenson
Illustration by Gemma Milly

Nicholas sent me his CD and tape, ailment accompanied by a lovely letter about living and musing about in Bristol. One of my favourite pastimes – we may have been staring into the same middle distance…! Like a quill pen into my heart, buy more about I am a sucker for a personal letter. Especially on such nice paper. After reading his scribe, I listened to Nicholas’s album: Phantom Sweetheart, available now on Hilldrop Records.

phantom sweetheart cover by nicholas stevenson
Album Cover, Phantom Sweetheart, Illustration by Nicholas Stevenson

It’s a splendid listen. Thoughtful and wistful. It’s like a less brash (blah). It has a Californian, surf sound, mixed with a smattering of New York – and the mighty UK. This mixture of locations is perhaps a reflection of Nicholas’s various home locations from birth. Since my initial listen, I now enjoy playing the album when I’m in my own little zone, cleaning. Because you could be anywhere. And if you don’t overly want to be where you are right now, there’s your ride. This interesting, sentimental man will take you away. Or indeed in my present case, scrub that flat ‘til in shines like the summer sun reflecting in my – prematurely purchased, cat eyed – sunnies. I miss you sun. I’d like to meet him to discuss travel, home, love and art. Oh yes, he’s an illustrator too. As Nicholas was so eloquent in his letter, I thought an interview would be perfect. So here it follows:

Nicholas Stevenson with phantom

Could you introduce yourself for us Nicholas…?
Hi there, my name is Nicholas Stevenson and I’m a songwriter and illustrator.

Where are you from originally and where do you reside now?
I currently reside in Cambridgeshire, but I was born in Scotland, lived on an island in the Seychelles for a while, and then moved back to England. I’m also half American so I sometimes have a confusing accent; it’s all a bit confusing actually. I usually give people fake biographies about growing up in the North Pole or being found in the wilderness to avoid explaining the complicated truth…

The Aeroplane Darling cover by Nicholas Stevenson
EP Cover, The Aeroplane Darling, Illustration by Nicholas Stevenson

How long have you been playing music? Could you describe it?
It would be hard to say when I started making music, but I found a tape of myself shouting a song I made about giraffes aged four the other day. The music in the shape it is now probably started about three years ago when I moved away to go to Art College. I had a band in high school that made fuzzy alt rock like the Smashing Pumpkins, but when we went our separate ways I started recording songs on my own in my room. It’s a sort of alt folk sound, with lots of layers, and a big emphasis on melodies.

How long have you been illustrating? Could you describe your style?
I’ve been drawing a lot longer than I’ve been making music, but I don’t think I could ever have considered myself an illustrator up until the last couple of years. I try to make work that’s fun, mysterious and occasionally a bit unsettling where possible.

chase in a sketchbook by Nicholas Stevenson
Chase In A Sketchbook, Illustration by Nicholas Stevenson

Do you use your illustration and music to compliment/influence each other?
Most definitely. I think both of these activities really boil down to an urge for me to be story telling. Both my music and illustration usually revolves around some sort of implied narrative and it’s pretty common for a drawing to influence a lyric or vice versa.

What inspires your creativity, both re: music and illustration?
Cosmography, polar exploration, time travel, childhood, memory, feral children, miniature painting, amateurs and outsiders; a lot of things that I read about or places I visit. I try not to rule anything out as potential fodder for making stories and art about.

bayonets album sleeve
Bayonets Album Sleeve, Illustration by Nicholas Stevenson

Have you ever had a ‘phantom’ sweetheart?
Well not a sweetheart per-se, but in the Seychelles I had two childhood ghost friends called Coco and Silent. Coco lived in a palm tree, and Silent lived on an abandoned ship. They were both only a foot tall, and wore white sheets with eyeholes, although I think Silent wore a baseball cap. The name ‘Phantom Sweetheart’ came about partly because all of my records have had terms of endearment in the name (Dearest Monstrous, The Aeroplane Darling) and I wanted this album to be really ghostly and spectral. Phantom Sweetheart just seemed to be the perfect title.

And what do you think about love and ‘being in love’ ? 
I think it’s a really nice special thing, I’m probably a bit of a softy and a romantic. It might seem like I’ve written a few songs from an anti-love position, but as Harvey Danger once said: “Happiness writes white”.

Have you been in love?
Oh yes mam.

hilldrop business card blank small
Hilldrop Business Cards, Illustration by Nicholas Stevenson

Who else is in your band?
Dan Lewis plays the drums, Tom Harrington plays the bass guitar and glockenspiel whilst Oliver Wilde plays lead guitar.

When/how did you get together?
I met Dan and Tom in Hereford where I was studying at Art College. My manager Joe introduced us and we started arranging my songs and got performing almost straight away as a three piece. Oliver joined the band just last autumn. He not only signed me to his label Hilldrop Records, but he also produced and recorded the album with me in his house in Bristol. We worked really closely together on Phantom Sweetheart and Oliver had a big impact on the way those songs turned out. Of course by the end he knew how to play them all back to front and it seemed like a no-brainer that he should come out on tour with us.

And who is your record label, and how did you get signed?
Hilldrop Records are my label. I think they requested I send them some of my demos in the mail over a year ago. They liked what they heard and I played some gigs for them and we hit it off pretty fast, I started making posters for their shows too. We were all coming from a similar direction and they were interested in promoting art and building it in to the performances. We’d got to know each other reasonably well by the time we decided to sign a contract and make the album.

hilldrop cult 1300_1300
Illustration by Nicholas Stevenson

What was it like going on tour? Did you get inspired?
It was a blast, definitely not glamorous, but great fun. Our car broke down on the way to a sold out show in Bakewell and we had to jettison half the gear and get a taxi. We arrived just in the nick of time with no drums or drummer, and played entirely unplugged to a wonderfully attentive packed room. We spent the night in a big old house; there were teddy bears in the beds. Bakewell is such an old fashioned and charming town (home to the bakewell tart) everyone was so kind and interesting there, it sort of inspired us to play more small places on tour. It doesn’t seem fair that the big cities get all the tour dates, where people can sometimes be so jaded towards the barrage of live music anyway.

Nick25

Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Hopefully doing the same things I’m doing now, but more masterfully. I’m fully aware I have a long way to go and lots of room to grow before I’m satisfied… I just hope I’m fortunate enough to find time for it all.

What about now, what is coming up for you?
At the moment I’m working on a sort of audio zine project called ‘Dead Arm’. It’s going to be a series of cassette tapes, each with a different set of new songs and sounds. Its quite fun telling myself to sit down and make a continuous twenty-minute tape, rather than getting too hung up on individual songs; it makes me less precious and hopefully more inventive. I’m quite excited to see where it goes… 
You can buy Phantom Sweetheart, on Hilldrop Records, here.


Rachel Freire S/S 2011, site illustrated by Krister Selin

‘I’m terrible at interviews’ I announce shortly after arriving at Rachel Freire‘s East London studio. A bit of a melodramatic introduction, viagra 60mg maybe; but as I now sit staring at my notes which resemble the scribbles of a toddler I now know why I said it.

My trouble is that I just like to listen to people. I get lost in conversation and forget to write anything down. I refuse to record interviews because I hate the sound of my own voice and I find it a bit of a distraction, viagra sale so my erratic notes are all I have to record our meeting. Sometimes, if I meet up with somebody and they don’t say much, I can manage it; when I meet people like Rachel Freire – gorgeous, mesmerising, opinionated, articulate – I’m left with nothing.


A/W 2010, illustrated by Abby Wright

Rachel is based at the Dace Road studios, home also to the likes of Christopher Raeburn (featured in ACOFI) and Rui Leonardes. Ex-tennants include Mark Fast and Mary Kantrantzou who’ve now moved to Shacklewell Studios, aka hipster central, but despite her successes, Rachel’s staying put. I meet her on a grey Saturday afternoon, she’s been up for most of the night, but you wouldn’t notice despite her protests.

”Whoever says January is a dead month is LYING!’ Rachel exclaims as she makes the tea. I do find that I get on better with people who drink lots of tea. I just don’t trust people who don’t like it. I know, as she gives them a stir, that we’re going to get along. We sit at a big oak desk in the centre of the studio, Rachel lights a cigarette and we begin our conversation. I ask Rachel how it’s going, and she seems pretty positive. She has an army of interns and creates ‘a sense of family’ in her studio, which is adorned with all sorts of interesting antiquities like skulls and baseball paraphernalia. A sign above the door, Rachel’s mantra, reads ‘IF IN DOUBT, SPRAYPAINT IT GOLD,’ a statement I wholeheartedly agree with.


A/W 2010, illustrated by Naomi Law

Rachel brands herself as a ‘costumier’ who happened to fall into fashion, which explains her unique and innovative approach to dressing. ‘I’ll never lose track of my costumier routes,’ she tells me, ‘I’m pretty anti-fashion. It dictates what we wear and how we feel, and I’ve never subscribed to that.’ Her models ‘need to have an arse’ and she’s conscious of the responsibility a fashion designer must adopt, whether that be ethical or environmental. ‘I am the cheapest person!’ Rachel admits, ‘but I will never shop in Primark. I look at the clothes and think ‘somebody suffered for this’. I want customers to hold things knowing somebody’s crafted it – that something is special.’


S/S 2011, illustrated by Gemma Milly

Rachel won’t compromise. She’s staying true to herself and won’t put her name on anything that she hasn’t rigourously vetted and knows exactly where everything has come from. Rachel is as much an ethical designer as any of the Estethica designers – if not more so. She values the work of other people and believes that you ‘have to be ethical in so many different ways’. How you treat your interns, where you source your fabrics, how you communicate with suppliers – all these things, Rachel believes, are necessary for good business, not just opting for ethical fabrics.


S/S 2011, illustrated by Bex Glover

Rachel’s previous collections provide sculptural, architectural pieces with innovative techniques (read all about her glow-in-the-dark S/S 2011 collection here) and it seems A/W 2011 will be even more exciting. As we chat about the boy Rachel’s texting and get mixed up with whose tea is whose (easy mistake – Rachel’s recently got a new mug but the Queen of Fucking Everything option she’s given me still has sentimental value) we’re surrounded by leather nipples. REAL nipples.

Rachel and her team of merry men (and women) have been hard at work in the previous weeks to marry them together to make roses. They’re absolutely beautiful to touch and look at but there’s something rather unsettling about them. ‘That’s my aesthetic!’ Rachel declares.

A sneak peek at some of the fabrics, techniques and colours Rachel’s preparing to show this week:


A/W 2010, illustrated by Joana Faria

Rachel’s also working with Ecco, who are developing processes for leather manufacturing for couture houses. Rachel has devoted a lot of her time visiting the Netherlands tannery working alongside them in their quest to transform how we produce and approach leather goods. ‘I’m obsessed with materials!’ Rachel tells me. ‘It’s much nicer to make a jacket out of something that you’ve had an input in from the start.’ She shows me a new process she’s working on (damned if I can remember the name) which gives leather an ethereal ripple-like pattern that looks as if it’s been photoshopped. I’m speechless, and we both sit caressing it for a while until I can think of something to say.


S/S 2011, illustrated by Yelena Bryksenkova

So what’s up next for Rachel? Well, A/W 2011 looks set to be her bravest collection yet, and I had a sneak peek at some of the fabrics, textures, techniques and cuts she’s working on. On a grander scale, she ‘loves to teach’ and wants to establish a system where the efforts of designers to instil good practises and skills into their army of interns is recognised. She describes mainstay teaching as ‘box ticking’ and, as someone whose never done what she was told to do, feels there’s more to give in a studio-based environment than anything in the classroom. I hear ya, love.

Rachel’s excited about the future. She plans to dazzle once a year at the A/W 2011 shows while maintaining commissions with an ever-expanding roster of clients and other projects during the rest of the year. She also wants to live on a boat and explore costume design in cinema. She references Jean Paul Gaultier‘s work on flicks like The Fifth Element and is excited by the prospect of applying her unique aesthetic to film. It all comes down to financing. ‘Money dictates and creates a standard,’ Rachel tells me. ‘The system to support new designers is very small, but I won’t compromise my values. I’m here to stay.’

I should bloody hope so.

Rachel’s original draqing for her collaboration with Neurotica:

All photography by Matt Bramford

Categories ,A/W 2011, ,Abby Wright, ,Bloody Gray, ,Christopher Raeburn, ,Dace Road studios, ,East London, ,Ecco, ,estethica, ,Fifth Element, ,Gemma Milly, ,Gold, ,Jean Paul Gaultier, ,Joana Faria, ,Krister Selin, ,London Fashion Week, ,Mark Fast, ,Mary Kantrantzou, ,Naomi Law, ,Netherlands, ,Nipples, ,Rachel Freire, ,Rui Leonardes, ,Yelena Bryksenkova

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week A/W 2011 Womenswear Preview


Illustration by Maria Papadimitriou

I’ll never say a bad word about Mr Paul Costelloe. His was the first on-schedule show I ever saw, drug visit this back in 2008. It was a disaster – you can read my review here (my have we come a long way with our fashion week reviews). Despite that particular experience being pretty traumatic, viagra 40mg I always look forward to what he’ll present us each season, and I genuinely believe he’s the most underrated designer on the schedule – AND he always gets that hideous graveyard 9.30am opening slot. Anyway, enough of the pity, I’m sure he gets along just fine.


Paul Costelloe chatting outside the tent, post-show. All photography by Matt Bramford

Of course, this wouldn’t be fashion week without a cycling trauma, and it was on Friday morning that my back brake completely went so I was left only with the front one, guaranteed to send me flying over the handlebars should I actually need to stop. A quick trip into miserable Evans Cycles soon sorted this but meant I had to dash like a lunatic to Somerset House and just managed to leg it inside before the show started.


Illustration by Lesley Barnes

I was disappointed not to be saddled up against those two lovely old dears I met last time – this time I endured a rather unforgiving fashion blogger. I tend to stand at the top of one of the aisles to secure good pictures, but said fashion blogger deemed it acceptable to stand in front of me. I politely explained that I had chosen that spot on purpose, and I would really appreciate it if she’d take her enormous Mulberry bag and ridiculously large coat somewhere else. She moved an inch to the left. Cheers, then!

God I’m going on a bit, aren’t I? Well, the show itself was brilliant. This season saw Costelloe move in a more sophisticated direction. The catwalk was awash with luxurious tweeds and tartans in vibrant colours. Structured twin-sets with a contemporary edge stood side-by-side a-line dresses in unusual materials; delicious floral prints were teamed with cropped blazers, while hints of military on more a-line dresses were complimented with a roaring forties/fabulous fifties soundtrack of Bobby Darin and The Andrews Sisters (maybe). Poker-straight red wigs added a sexy, playful edge to what is a more mature range of womenswear.

Last season I wasn’t that struck on the menswear, but this year I am ALL OVER IT. Again, taking a more sophisticated direction, sharp suits (in similar tartans and tweeds to those seen on the girls) were aplenty. Floor length coats and double-breasted blazers really complimented the womenswear. Contrasting trousers in really bright colours were paired with tame blazers, allowing Costelloe’s men to be quirky but smart at the same time.


Illustration by Maria Papadimitriou

It was a massive collection – the biggest I saw during the day – but each piece had been carefully selected to compliment the next and never was it boring. The only way I could have enjoyed the show more was if Unforgiving Fashion Blogger hadn’t been such a knob. Hilariously she was fighting for my prime photographer’s spot to take pictures with her Blackberry! Well, I ask you.

Another great outing for PC, though. Long may he reign – in a sea of often miserable A/W 2011 dark collections, his whimsical approach and playful colours are a ray of sunshine.

All photography by Matt Bramford

Jena Theo Matilde SazioJena.Theo LFW A/W 2011, viagra 60mg Illustration by Matilde Sazio

I was ushered in through the door by a geezer of a Londoner chap, symptoms straight through to a high heeled officious lady, then again to the very highest heels clinking their way to the front row to show me my seat. There were bags on my seat. Bags filled with goodies. Splendid. The lady next to me was bouncing her baby on her knee, as said baby was knawing on a pain au chocolat. “Nice earmuffs” I said to her, pointing towards her penguin earmuffs on her head. “To protect her from the sound. It can get very loud. But she does love it here. Loves the shows.” How much do I want a chilled out, cute baby like her. Also, cool mother! I know mothers who wouldn’t take their child to Tescos for fear of its screaming the flourescently lit shed down. To the left, was a mad, bright white, highly lit, flashing, mini bulb, sensation. Magic eyes, transfixing, blinding… The lady next to me shields her eyes for a bit, because of the intensity! Then it all went dark and we were treated to intro music as the anticipation built. Dum, dum, dum….dum… dum. EXCITED.

Karina Yarv
Jena.Theo LFW A/W 2011, Illustration by Karina Yarv

The show began. I was pleased to see that what was being presented was completely wearable. Definitely in London. Perhaps less so in Bristol – it was slightly ‘too’ urban for the West Country. However, if I had a choice (and el cash), some of those pieces would be getting worn in Falfael King and that secret bar we’ve been meaning to go to for a while… at least supper club. Or – ah see, I kind of want to move to London- again. Don’t get the wrong impression of Briz, I beg you. Anyway, the show was very charcoal, black and cream orientated. The models all had black stripes across their eyes and otherwise bare faces. This made them look like mysterious, moody superheros. I liked it, as it really set of the simple coloured, pieces; the models all expressionless (course), their masks and the movement of the light or dark pieces worked together perfectly. It felt like we were on the sea, with norwegian heroines. Swishing slowly about, their heels never falter, their gaze exact, the path has been set and the grey skies are dappled with stars, as the storm takes hold. These strong warriors will take us with their capes flowing behind them, their hair dancing in the wind.

Jena.Theo Valkyrie by Matilde SazioJena.Theo LFW A/W 2011, Illustration by Matilde Sazio

My favourite piece was one with an almost bustling at the back, flowing down to the ground, in one swipe. The front was a mini, the back was the drama, the fantasy. I would love to wear this one standing at the front of a ship. Not a ferry, a ship. Jena.Theo designs were indeed simple, but they are deserving of their sparkling lights.

Les Chiffoniers by Abby Wright

Slinky t-shirts, viagra order seriously sprayed on leggings and rocky accessories have defined Les Chiffoniers for the last four years. With a winning formula, sildenafil they like to stick to a very tight remit when it comes to their designs and style. Famed for their perfect fit leather leggings, they exploded into fashion consciousness when icon Kate Moss was snapped stumbling round Glastonbury in a shiny PVC pair. Their SS11 collection features the classic black version with double air zippers in PVC and matte, as well as new stone washed suede versions which had a softer appeal. The label, owned by Leena Similu tend to produce a core collection of beautiful leggings, together with chiffon tops and dresses so expect more variations on this selection this season.

Holly Fulton by Avril Kelly

I have loved Holly Fulton’s designs for years and for me, she seems to get it right every time. This year, once again, she is part of the Newgen showcase for LFW. Her SS11 was an absolute triumph: a collection referencing decadent and luxury cruise lining days, it hinted at a myriad of exotic, far flung locations yet her signature geometric, stylised pattering was still key to the look. Over the last four collections she has produced, Fulton has referenced a vast range of inspirations: from Joan Collins to New York skyscrapers, she cleverly transforms each idea into a consistent, and wearable style. A recent collaboration with online retail giant Asos has cemented her status as one of Britain’s top young designers.

David Koma by Gareth Hopkins

I don’t even need to write that David Koma is one to watch. Since his debut, his status has risen so much so that celebrities including Lady Gaga and Rihanna are clamouring to get into his dresses. At the astonishingly young age of 24, he has already achieved the holy grail of young designer aspirations – a collaboration with Topshop, and was also awarded NEWGEN sponsorship last season. Koma’s style is bold, blocky and futuristic. Using interesting adornments such as bent or tubular pieces of metal and reflective pieces of Perspex, his body conscious designs are edgy and confident.

Last season we enjoyed his refined show of grown up and elegant pieces, but were surprised at the use of python skin in a number of the dresses – Amelia had the chance to ask him about it and you can read the interview here. It will be interesting to see which materials he uses for AW, watch this space (until Monday, that is!)

Eudon Choi by Karolina Burdon

Eudon Choi started his eponymous label 2 years ago after stints at Twenty8Twelve and All Saints. With clothes that reflect these experiences, his pieces are utilitarian in character, featuring masculine detailing and reworked vintage garments. Last year he received both the VFS Merit Award and the BFC/Elle Talent Pad. His collection will show on Friday, the first day of LFW; read our review of his SS11 collection here.

One of our faves, knit fanatic Craig Lawrence will be showing his new collection in the Portico rooms this February, the same as last season – read Matt’s review of his SS11 collection here.

Craig Lawrence by Rukmunal Hakim

Simplistic and assured, Lawrence is a pro when it comes to seeking out and appropriately using the best wool yarns (my sister is a textile designer and I know how hard this actually is). The movement within the pieces sets him apart as having an in-depth knowledge of the materials he’s working with and the ability to use them in an ethically minded way. We Like. A Lot.

MariaFrancescaPepe by Sandra Contreras

‘The underworld, amulets and Salvador Dali’ provide inspiration for MariaFrancescaPepe’s new collection. Pioneering the concept that jewellery should be the focal point of an outfit, Jewellery-Wear is her brainchild and has produced the iconic MFP tubular – a signature necklace which appears in every collection in different variations.

Christopher Raeburn by Gemma Smith

Christopher Raeburn’s designs differed from the majority of SS11’s collections, gone were floaty dresses in florals and pastel, and not a chino in sight. Instead he produced a number of festival-worthy parkers and jackets made from old parachutes and featuring cute dotty patterns. The effect was visually impressive as the lightweight material was slightly transparent so all the seams and joins were exposed. As an exciting and inventive designer, I am looking forward to see how he uses these qualities to create a warmer, AW collection.

Categories ,AW11, ,Christopher Raeburn, ,Craig Lawrence, ,David Koma, ,Eudon Choi, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Holly Fulton, ,Les Chiffoniers, ,london, ,London Fashion Week, ,MariaFrancescaPepe

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Amelia’s Magazine | LFW 09 – Tim Soar S/S 2010- Last Man Showing

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Tim Soar is one of the hardest working men in fashion. Not only is his clothing label belting out innovative fashion, view he also spends his time working as graphic designer, generic finding the time to squeeze in being a DJ too.

I managed a sneak press peek of Tim’s A/W 09/10 collection at his new pop-up store in Selfridges, and I wasn’t surprised to find beautifully tailored clothes with hints of design quirks. His background as a graphic designer is evident through graphic prints, linear tailoring and a passion for aesthetic materials.

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There was a latex suit to behold, which might give the appearance of being a giant elastic band, and if that’s the ideal you’re planning to work in 2010, I’d suggest hitting Selfridges soon. Silliness aside, the piece is visually stunning.

Soar has also collaborate with man-of-the-moment (Christopher) Raeburn, whose statement ensembles are crafted from recycled parachutes (recycling = thumbs up from Amelia’s Magazine). I hereby predict that this technical and very wearable fabric, to be the look for next year.

I had the chance to chat with Tim at the event, who was beaming with excitement at having his AW09/10 range bought up by Selfridges. I asked him what kind of a customer was a Tim Soar man. “I think, luckily, that concept is rather outdated,” he told me and I agree. “The great thing about menswear is that you can create a look using lots of different sources – I might buy something by Margiela, and something at Nike, for example.” Soar did, however, describe who he thought was his target customer: 30+, with a “fashion-forward” mindset.

We also discussed the redux or indeed the transformation of men into fashion-forward creatures. “I think that work changes have had the biggest effect,” Soar decides, “and through the balance of the sexes and equality of power, men are becoming incredibly fashion concious.”

His Spring/Summer 2010 show continues to impress, delivering on the idea of men as fashion-forward.

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The collection was a fusion of sports-lux pieces married with tiptop tailoring that we’re beginning to become accustomed to from Tim Soar.

Menswear staples such as wide-legged trousers and smart suit jackets were given the Tim Soar directional treatment. Whilst an origami influence was evident in the construction of pale blazers with folds aplenty.

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Materials chosen for their visual qualities were abundant, such as silver leather, while the treatment of fabrics such as creped linens followed this visual textural theme.

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A collaboration with Christopher Raeburn on a white trench was a real winner, and I hope their creative partnership continues. Continuing to draw attention the possibilities of creating high fashion out of found or recycled materials.

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Shorts and trousers were high-waisted with unfinished hems, the deconstructed look presented well sleeker pieces.

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Oxford shoes were not excluded from the Soar treatment, featuring cutaway rears that payed homage to the lady’s sling-back. Furthermore, the shoes maintained masculinity when teamed with angular jackets and tapered trousers.

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Tim’s background as a graphic designer shone through again, with sophisticated prints and a devotion to high-contrast, extremely aesthetic materials. His collections really are a feast for the eyes and the final show – the ending to six glorious days of diverse London fashion – could not have been any better.

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Lead the way, Tim.

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All photographs by Matt Bramford

Categories ,Christopher Raeburn, ,London Fashion Council, ,London Fashion Week, ,Menswear Day, ,Somerset House, ,Tim Soar

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Amelia’s Magazine | Christopher Raeburn: the fashion designer who is working wonders with old fabrics

Design by Ruth Hill, physician rx Illustration by Dee Andrews

This week’s wet Monday was brightened up considerably by a trip to the Royal Collage of Art’s first work-in-progress show of 2011 – and before you ask, seek no, online I was not suffering from “Blue Monday” or the notion that yesterday was the most depressing day of the year. As Ben Goldacre (Bad Science) discussed over on his blog yesterday, the concept of Blue Monday was made up by a PR company, with the aim to sell more holidays in the months after Christmas and is being perpetuated by journalists reconfiguring press releases into actual articles, without through fact-checking, a type of writing describe by Goldacre aschurnalism.

Finishing on Wednesday, 19th January, the Work-In-Progress show is a great opportunity for current BA Students, graduates and the public to see the developing ideas in the fields of Fashion, Textiles, Metalwork and Jewellery, Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, and Photography. Whilst the photography and the filmmaking are breathtaking, warranting a trip to the RCA by themselves, I will mainly be focusing on the Menswear and Womenswear Year Two students.

Tariq Mahmoud

Tariq Mahmoud’s shoe was inspired by watching the penguins at the penguin pool of London Zoo. The unique presentation of his shoe within a fish bowl with a couple of toy penguins for company, was certainly eye catching, drawing your attention to the similarities between flipper and shoe.

This wonderful jacket half-suspended within the cloth, from it was cut, calls to mind Issey Miyake’s A Piece of Cloth or A-Poc (see Fashion Editor Matt Bramford’s wonderful article on Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion at the Barbican). Unfortunately I could not find a name to accredit the design too…

Aleksandra Domanerskaya

The RCA Interim show is a fantastic opportunity to see how ideas circulating within contemporary fashion are being dissected by students studying the craft. Aleksandra Domanerskaya’s oversized mac in a traditional plaid is a great example of how classic shapes are constantly being reinvented.

Orshel-Read

It was amazing to discover that one of Amelia’s Magazine favourite London Fashion Week designers Orschel-Read is still a student!
Design by Orschel-Read, Illustration by Gareth A Hopkins

Cherie Newing

In recent seasons, knitwear has exploded across the menswalk catwalks, from James Long’s to Morgan Allen Oliver via Sibling, designer after designer have reinvented a fabric which was once solely associated with 1970′s knitwear patterns. I loved Cherie Newing’s take on the ubiquitous fisherman’s jumper.

Sol Ahn

Menswear Year 2 student and intriguing illustrator, Sol Ahn displayed this breathtaking combination of a triomphe d’oeil shirt and cardigan with fabrics to match the illustrations!

Samuel Membey

Samuel Membery’s overcoat revisits the skinhead movement of the 1970′s, as captured in Gavin Watson’s collection of photographs: Skins.

Ruth Hill

In Womenswear Knit, Ruth Hill’s simple orange block print dress in an incredibly fine knit, was beautifully reminiscent of the artist Paul Klee.

Lily Kamber

Lily Kamber’s fantastic mixed media pieces used found objects to create pieces of jewellery more at home in the art deco settings of William Morris…

In the M.Phil research section, I came across the wonderful work of Jungeun Lee. Lee’s experiments with synthetic fabrics – creating garments without the need for pattern cutting, sowing, knitting or weaving – reminded me again of the ground breaking A-Poc (A piece of Cloth) and Issey Miyake’s latest venture, 132 5, an “experiment in steam pressed polygons of material” (thanks Fashion Ed, Matt Bramford!). Lee created her pieces by molding hot synthetic fibres into a 3D Structure.

Hurry up! What are you waiting for? Head down to the Royal College of Art before 5.30pm Wendesday 19th January.

Visit the Royal College of Art’s website for full updates on their upcoming in-progress shows and public lectures. I’m particularly looking forward to the collaboration between RCA MA Curating Contemporary Art and Goldsmiths MFA Curating students, Testing Ground: Time Scale.

Christopher Raeburn studied at Middlesex University in London, treat where a really good technical tutor made him keen to attend the hallowed Royal College of Art, order from which he graduated in 2006. He has become well known for his upcycling of military fabrics, although he has worked with everything from Eurostar uniforms to hot air balloon material. He sources parachutes, leather jackets, tents and ponchos from military surplus warehouses around England, but has increasingly started to import pieces from Europe so that he can make bigger runs. The military inherently overproduces so there are huge volumes of fabric and garments that will never be used – dead stock that Christopher is happy to make the most of. In fact most production processes are inefficient so there is always likely to be pre-consumer waste; for example, 10% of the parachute fabric that is made fails opacity tests. Christopher is able to give that fabric a new lease of life. Most recently he worked with windproof cotton from some forty year old Swedish snow parkas. Occasionally a company will contact him about a specific material they think he might like to use, which has been a great way to keep his collections fresh and innovative.
Gemma Milly Christopher Raeburn A/W 2010
Christopher Raeburn A/W 2010 by Gemma Milly.

Christopher Raeburn studied at Middlesex University in London, sildenafil where a really good technical tutor made him keen to attend the hallowed Royal College of Art, from which he graduated in 2006. He has become well known for his upcycling of military fabrics, although he has worked with everything from Eurostar uniforms to hot air balloon material. He sources parachutes, leather jackets, tents and ponchos from military surplus warehouses around England, but has increasingly started to import pieces from Europe so that he can make bigger runs.

Christopher Raeburn by Lesley Barnes
Christopher Raeburn by Lesley Barnes.

The military inherently overproduces so there are huge volumes of fabric and garments that will never be used – dead stock that Christopher is happy to make the most of. In fact most production processes are inefficient so there is always likely to be pre-consumer waste; for example, 10% of the parachute fabric that is made fails opacity tests. Christopher is able to give that fabric a new lease of life. Most recently he worked with windproof cotton from some forty year old Swedish snow parkas. Occasionally a company will contact him about a specific material they think he might like to use, which has been a great way to keep his collections fresh and innovative…

Read the rest of this interview and see more illustrations of Christopher Raeburn’s clothing in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, alongside interviews with 44 other ethical fashion designers and 30 fabulous fashion illustrators. You can buy the book here.

Categories ,ACOFI, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Christopher Raeburn, ,Eco fashion, ,Ethical Fashion, ,Eurostar uniforms, ,fabric, ,Gemma Milly, ,Lesley Barnes, ,middlesex university, ,military, ,New Gen, ,Parachutes, ,recycled, ,Royal College of Art, ,Swedish snow parkas, ,Upcycled

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Amelia’s Magazine | Ciel: meet ethical fashion designer Sarah Ratty

Ciel S/S 2011 by Jo Cheung
Ciel S/S 2011 by Jo Cheung.

Sarah Ratty set up the label Conscious Earthwear in the early 90’s before creating the Ciel brand in 2005, website like this no rx which we profiled in the print version of Amelia’s Magazine. She currently also works as a design consultant and advises the Soil Association on sustainable issues.

How do you design your garments?
Each collection has its roots in the way I have developed as an eco fashion designer over the last twenty years. I usually start with fabrics, ambulance then I think about what garment shapes will best fit into the current zeitgeist and I combine these with my own influences from contemporary art, order travel, history and nature. I use as many innovative approaches as I can in fabrication and cutting techniques, as well as using the naturally diverse fabrics from a range of indigenous locations, which are made and developed in situ.

What is the best way to design ethically?
Within eco design there is inevitably some compromise but I always do my best to find the best materials to achieve the desired outcome. I use fairtrade materials and organic fabrics from factories in Europe and South America, all of which comply with fair labour laws as set out by Labour Behind the Label. We use azo-free dyes, which do not use harmful metal mordants to fix the colour. Heavy metals are highly polluting and contribute to toxic soil runoff if not treated correctly. We have recently started to bring some production back to the UK and we conduct a lot of our work via Skype to reduce our carbon footprint…

Read the rest of this interview with Ciel in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, alongside interviews with 44 other ethical fashion designers and 30 fabulous fashion illustrators. You can buy the book here.

Categories ,ACOFI, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,azo-free dyes, ,Carbon footprint, ,ciel, ,Conscious Earthwear, ,Design Consultant, ,Eco fashion, ,Ethical Fashion, ,fairtrade, ,Jo Cheung, ,Labour behind the Label, ,organic, ,Sarah Ratty, ,Skype, ,Soil Association

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