crofting – AmeliasMagazine

Amelia’s Magazine | Lu Flux introduces Sea and Be Seen A/W 2011 and A-Lu-Ha S/S 2012 collections

Lu-Flux-SS-2012-by-Antonia-Parker
Lu Flux S/S 2012 by Antonia Parker.

This year Lu Flux decided to show in the main exhibition area of London Fashion Week, away from Estethica for the first time. I was delighted to see that her stand was the usual riot of colour, a return to the mix and match patchwork aesthetic from which she strayed a tiny bit last season. Under the desk was a giant cookie, created by Millie’s Cookies as a winning design for their Cookie Couture Collection. It was inspired by her new S/S 2012 A-Lu-Ha collection, with bold swirls based on the design of a Tiki mask. It’s been awhile since I checked in with ACOFI featured eco designer Lu Flux, so it’s definitely time to catch up on the past two seasons.

Lu Flux AW 2011 sea and be seen

Lu Flux A/W 2011 by Estelle Morris.

For your A/W 2011 collection you worked with Shetland wool producers Jamieson & Smith – how did this come about and did you learn anything interesting about wool production on your recent trip to the Shetland isles?
I have always appreciated and supported British manufacturers and the use of local produce; I believe that Jamieson & Smith represent the essence of this very well. I am also drawn to the Shetland Islands and was very intrigued to understand the natural and careful processing of the wool, which uses the crofters’ traditional and precious methods from start to finish.

Lu Flux AW 2011 sea and be seen

Lu Flux A/W 2011 by SarahJayneDraws
Lu Flux A/W 2011 by Sarah Jayne Morris.

The collection was inspired by creatures of the deep sea – how did this translate into the full collection, which features some opulent velvets and beautiful bold prints?
The collection takes moments from the deep dark depths of the sea and exaggerates their textures and forms, the embroidery for example references the bioluminescent creatures and the fabric was manipulatated to resemble giant clams and anemones.

Lu Flux AW 2011 sea and be seen

Lu Flux Sea & Be Seen Autumn Winter 2011 by Sam Parr
Lu Flux Sea & Be Seen A/W 2011 by Sam Parr.

Sea & Be Seen is in the shops now – where can fans of Lu Flux find a piece in the UK?
You can find the new collection in Labour of Love in Islington, London, 69b Broadway Market, East London and Wolf & Badger in West London.

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.vimeo.com/20664446" rel="noopener">http://www.vimeo.com/20664446</a>
Your videos are always truly wonderful – what were your storyboard ideas for A/W 2011? It has a very decadent esoteric and otherworldly feel.
The A/W 2011 Sea & Be Seen video portrays a group of pleasure seekers tired of each other’s company and so to entice a change of mood the hostess offers a mysterious and magical gift. The gift unleashes the dreamy aquatic motifs of the collection which whirl around the velvet-draped den, sending spirits rocketing. Neil O’Driscoll (the director that I work with) wanted to introduce more animation following on from the S/S 2011 film and so we used the illustrations from the prints (drawn by Dan Arnold) and brought them to life.

Lu Flux SS 2012 A-Lu-Ha

Lu Flux S/S 2012 by Amber Grayson.

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.vimeo.com/28971398" rel="noopener">http://www.vimeo.com/28971398</a>
You have given the S/S 2012 A-Lu-Ha video a retro feel thanks to the soundtrack and camera work, was this a deliberate attempt to get away from a too heavily Hawaiian feel, and what inspired it? Food also features heavily – what dictated your choice of food?
There was quite a prominent sense of the 60’s in the Hawaiian imagery and research that I looked at during the initial stages of the collection, so the soundtrack for Barbarella seemed quite complimentary. British car boot sales and village fetes combined with an English tea party were the influences for the elements of food in the video, which is why we used things like blancmange, jelly, tea, hundreds and thousands, and even a Victoria sponge cake covered in sand. Blancmange is quite simply disgusting if you haven’t tried it by the way!

Lu Flux SS 2012 A-Lu-Ha

Lu Flux S/S 2012 by Antonia Parker.

This season sees a return to your colourful patchwork best… what is it that you love most about creating fashion and which processes can you not live without?
I love that I am able to create fashion every day and I like to think about my garments being found in all four corners of the world, seen by a worldwide audience. I would say patchworking is my inherent process, as it is my signature technique and I include it in all of my collections.

Lu Flux SS 2012 A-Lu-Ha

Lu Flux Tiki face by Amber Grayson.

What do you think it is in your DNA that makes you so attracted to colourful whimsy? Can you directly relate it back to anything you grew up with or fell in love with as a child?
Ha! I must have been born on a patchwork rug! Well I have learnt a lot from my mum in terms of the methods I use. My first making memory I have is of myself, my mum and my cousin making ragdolls together -mine had long black plaited wool hair in bunches but we never got around to creating the facial features. I still have her, but I have never put a face on her.

Lu Flux SS 2012 by Megan Turner-Jones
Lu Flux S/S 2012 by Megan Turner-Jones.

Do you ever take notice of wider fashion trends, or indeed other trends in life and do these ever effect the way you design?
I don’t really take any notice of the trends going on around me; I just design and build in my own world.

Lu Flux S/S 2012 by Estelle Morris.

What started on you the path of design for the current collection – eg tiki masks and aloha style – A-Lu-Ha!
It was a day in the depths of winter and I was listening to Hawaii Hour on Angel radio (an Isle of Wight radio station with the tag line Music for the Mature Listener) and it played brilliant non-stop vintage Hawaii songs. I think that was the seed of inspiration which led me to this collection.

Lu Flux S/S 2012 by Lesley T Spencer.

I really love the way your champion other designers on your own blog. For example you have friends all over the world such as Judi of Vanguard Works and Studio Tipi – where do you meet these people and will you collaborate with any of them?
Well Judi actually found me; she has a couple of my dresses. I love discovering new artists and illustrators, it opens more doors and by collaborating with them it adds other dynamic elements to my work.

Lu Flux S/S 2012 by Estelle Morris.

How do you find out about Lu Flux fans such as the Japanese blogger Chiaki, and who would your ideal Lu Flux wearer be?
I found out about Chiaki through my Japanese agents who are constantly updating me on the goings on in Japanese fashion and press. I like it when people wear outfits which match their character, like Brie Larson for example. She is an American actress who stars in a show called The United States of Tara and she wore my Boo Boo Bear dress. After meeting her I thought they went hand in hand.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Tuesday October 25th, 2011 4:59 pm

Categories ,69b Broadway Market, ,A-Lu-Ha, ,A/W 2011, ,ACOFI, ,Amber Grayson, ,Antonia Parker, ,Barbarella, ,Boo Boo Bear, ,Brie Larson, ,Chiaki, ,crofting, ,Dan Arnold, ,Eco fashion, ,Estelle Morris, ,Hawaii Hour, ,Hawaiian, ,isle of wight, ,Jamieson & Smith, ,japanese, ,Labour of Love, ,Lesley T Spencer, ,London Fashion Week, ,Lu Flux, ,Megan Turner-Jones, ,Millie’s Cookies, ,S/S 2012, ,Sam Parr, ,Sarah Jayne Morris, ,Sea & Be Seen, ,Shetland Islands, ,Shetland Wool, ,Studio Tipi, ,Tiki, ,United States of Tara, ,Vanguard Works, ,Wolf & Badger

Amelia’s Magazine | EJF Eco-Chic Pop-Up Store

I popped along to take a sneak peek at the Environmental Justice Foundation’s Pop-up store on Carnaby Street yesterday. It’s the latest in a series of pop-ups by the EJF, and and it’s fabulous.

Nestled at the end of London’s most swinging street, online the store spreads over two floors, treatment and has been kitted out by Honest Entertainment, who have used only recycled merchandising pieces and props to create a wonderfully whacky space. Huge hand-painted tea-cups swing from the ceiling and the sets are loud and vibrant, the perfect setting for the clothes on offer.

The EJF’s t-shirt project has run for a few years now, with designers getting on board slowly but surely, and it’s these pieces that form the central focus of the downstairs space. The fashionable roster of designers includes GIles Deacon, Luella and Zandra Rhodes, to name a few – all creating their own design in their own style. They’re available for ladies and gentlemen.

I spoke to Larissa from the EJF about the project, who was happy to regale the hilarious story of how the project started. On her first day with the charity, she was asked to market a box of Katherine Hamnett t-shirts. (Hamnett, by the way, is a huge supporter of the EJF). ‘I was photographed wearing the t-shirt to post on an e-newsletter,’ Larissa told me. ‘Me and a colleague, usually found scaling ships in Sierra Leone and arresting pirates, were begrudgingly photographed wearing them.’ Was it a success? ‘No! We didn’t sell one!’

The answer was to photograph Lily Cole wearing the t-shirt – after which, they flew off the shelves, and the t-shirt project was born. I’ve seen a few of the designs in the past, but there were a few I didn’t recognise. I mentioned this to Larissa. ‘We don’t work in seasons,’ she informed me. ‘We don’t encourage throwaway fashion, so we add to the collection rather than replacing it.’

Devon Aoki photographed by Eric Guillemain

Max Rogers photographed by Matthew Eades

On the second floor of the space, there’s a host of eco and environmentally conscious brands, a lot of which we’ve covered in the past. Eco-chic fashion has really come a long way in the past few years, and thank heavens the days of hemp sacks are oh-verrr. You wouldn’t have a clue that these clothes are any different to what you’d find on the high street ,visually; the only differences are that they’re not produced by children forced to work in sweatshops, and the clothing uses totally environmentally friendly fabrics. It’s fashion with a conscience.

Some of the brands up for grabs include our mates at Veja trainers who continue to produce high quality, eco-friendly footwear…

..Beyond Skin, who produce 100% vegan vintage-inspired stilettos, using only the highest quality faux leathers and suedes…

…Worn Again, who work with the big corporate companies and make creative products from decommissioned Eurostar uniforms and retired Virgin hot air balloons, for instance:

…and many, many more. Make sure you pop along to the pop-up shop – it’s great destination for all fashion fans. Keep an eye on the listings section where we’ll feature the EJF’s upcoming events, too.

Written by Matt Bramford on Thursday April 15th, 2010 2:35 pm

Categories ,Beyond Skin, ,Carnaby Street, ,EJF, ,Environmental Justice Foundation, ,Giles Deacon, ,Honest Entertainments, ,Katherine Hamnett, ,Lily Cole, ,Luella, ,Save The Future, ,T-shirts, ,Veja trainers, ,Worn Again, ,Zandra Rhodes

Amelia’s Magazine | Uncivilisation 2011, The Dark Mountain Festival: Saturday Review

telling stories to the trees - rima staines
Telling Stories to the Trees by Rima Staines.

Last weekend I went to Hampshire for my first experience of Uncivilisation, approved the Dark Mountain gathering of like minded folks interested in discussing our future.

Uncivilisation Dark Mountain 2011 photo by Amelia Gregory

Uncivilisation 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Dark Mountain is a manifesto put together by Dougald Hine and Paul Kingsnorth, pharmacy who met in that grand new fashioned way – through reading, admiring and commenting on each other’s blogs. This means that the process of getting to know each other has happened alongside the production of two Dark Mountain anthologies and two festivals – all of which has been hard work, both financially and emotionally.

Abi Daker Dark Mountain Graph
Dark Mountain by Abi Daker.

I am interested in the space that Dark Mountain occupies because I have been involved in direct action for change through both Climate Camp and Transition Towns. Climate Camp stops the source of problems whilst creating an alternate vision of a sustainable future. Transition Towns tackles sustainability with local community action. In both there are attempts to talk about the crisis we face and the emotions that this elicits, but Dark Mountain is more explicitly about facing some kind of imminent collapse, facing up to and talking through it on an intellectual level. The Dark Mountain Project is also rooted in Deep Ecology, a recognition that humanity is just one part of the wildness that makes up planet Earth. It touches on the kind of emotional work that Joanna Macy teaches: the Work that Reconnects which gives a voice to our deepest fears.

Baba Yaga by Rima Staines.

So it was no surprise to find many familiar faces at the Sustainability Centre when I arrived late on Friday night, though the deep Hampshire darkness prevented me from doing much seeing and socialising. Instead I instinctively felt my way towards the fireside to join Tom Hirons‘ wonderful Baba Yaga storytelling session. It was so lovely to find a group of adults enthralled by stories, and a salient reminder that we need to have our imagination stimulated every bit as much as children do.

Uncivilisation 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

On Saturday morning Uncivilisation officially opened with an introduction from co-founders Dougald Hine and Paul Kingsnorth. Paul, ever the more downbeat of the two, presented lost property of an iphone and a penknife. ‘One will be useful after the apocalypse.‘ We then went straight into the major panel discussion: Collapsonomics. This was due to be presented by Paul Mason, but he had to bow out, currently busy covering the actual collapse that we are experiencing right now.

Uncivilisation 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

‘Recovering banker‘ Arthur Doohan echoed Nicole Foss of The Automatic Earth, who spoke at the Transition Towns conference last year. She spoke about how we are currently forestalling the collapse – which will make the eventual complete financial collapse even worse when it does arrive. He predicted it to be 9mths away which almost exactly chimes in with Nicole’s prediction of 2 years in June 2010. This is not the first time that we have headed towards collapse – it happened in the last century and it will happen again but unfortunately humans have short memories and each time we must relearn how to react. Arthur reminded us that proper banking should be the servant of the people, and somehow we have allowed this concept to be reversed. By propping up the banks we have poisoned sovereign cash, which, coupled with ongoing denial about our situation, puts us in a precarious state of affairs. We have to learn that ‘banking without bankruptcy is the same as Catholicism without Hell.’

Collapse by Aliyahgator.

Smari McCarthy spoke about his attempts to deal with the Icelandic collapse. In Iceland if something is considered too fancy or luxurious it is common parlance to say ‘Oh, that’s so 2007.’ He noted how in the early stages of failure the state will offload services to the public, who concurrently have been so stripped of any power that they are unable to manage the infrastructure. Chillingly he predicts that whilst basic services are dropped the state will retain a monopoly on strategies of force. He finished with the chilling words, ‘You’re next.’ We are like Roadrunner, feet spinning wildly in the air before we plunge to the ground.

Uncivilisation 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Eleanor Saitta is a specialist in how complex systems work and fail. She explained the need to fight the current structures that have been built in the name of stability, and of ways to manage the wild swings between despair and hope. Anton Shelupanov is a penal reformer from Russia who is now based in Tottenham and he told us that when the tools of civilisation are no longer fit for purpose then there is a tendency to go into overdrive – as seen in the state reaction to the riots with hyper incarceration. He did a chilling demonstration with bodies (including mine) of how tightly packed prisoners became in the Russian prisons after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This mania happens in all sorts of primary systems when there is a collapse.

Uncivilisation 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

It was most intriguing to hear ways in which collapse has affected various countries and systems but the conversation stopped short just as things were about to get interesting. It was a shame that more of the weekend could not have been devoted to this specific subject, for the collapse that may have seemed far away when the programme for Uncivilisation was put together suddenly seems very much in the present, and having heard about the effects of collapsing systems I would have liked more discussion on how we manage a collapse, from all kinds of different aspects.

Crofting by Christina Demetriou.

Over in the beautiful Woodland space it was time to go back to the wild with crofter Sharon Blackie, who spoke eloquently of her new life in the outer Hebrides. Yearning to be in closer contact with nature she left a corporate life to learn how to farm and weave and spin; she believes that stepping out of the system can help to bring it down because if enough people chose a different way of life then the current system will crumble at the edges.

Uncivilisation 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

By witnessing, really being, in a different way of life, in a place of wildness, Sharon hopes to show a more authentic way of living. The post talk discussion was particularly interesting, as many city dwellers addressed the importance of a connection with nature in urban spaces. Sharon Blackie also publishes books that inspire change via Two Ravens Press.

Uncivilisation 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

The 200th anniversary of the Luddites is gaining ground everywhere. At Uncivilisation a panel discussion retrod territory that I heard covered by Theo Simon at Wilderness Festival. It was yet another reminder to consider how the structures and technologies we build to better our lives may not, in fact, be good for us.

The Sacred by Elizabeth Hudson.

The discussion ‘We can no longer afford to ignore the sacred‘ was opened with a very moving introduction by Dougald’s own mother but from then onwards it was unfortunately convoluted and confusing, offering little in the way of concrete opinions or ideas, the format wrong for the subject matter. But it did cause me to ponder on the idea that Western religions do not accord as much power and importance to the act of birth (ie sex) as they do to death. Vinay Gupta questioned why the most creative act of life is hidden and the most destructive one is revered?

Uncivilisation 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Once the sun had set it was time once more to evoke the spaces beyond the intellect. I particularly enjoyed heartfelt acoustic folk music from A.P. Clarke. Liminal by Dougie Strang was staged in the woods with naked creatures, eerily glowing artwork and plenty of trance like chanting. The interactive performance was a highlight for many, confirming the need for physical release after the heady discussions of daytime.

Uncivilisation 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Why not read my Sunday review too?

Written by Amelia Gregory on Friday August 26th, 2011 6:59 pm

Categories ,A.P.Clarke, ,Abigail Daker, ,Aliyah Owen, ,Aliyahgator, ,Anton Shelupanov, ,art, ,Arthur Doohan, ,Automatic Earth, ,Baba Yaga, ,Banker, ,Christina Demetriou, ,Climate Camp, ,Collapse, ,Collapsonomics, ,crofting, ,Dark Mountain, ,Dougald Hine, ,Dougie Strang, ,Eleanor Saitta, ,Elizabeth Hudson, ,Hampshire, ,Hebrides, ,iceland, ,Joanna Macy, ,Liminal, ,Luddites, ,Nicole Foss, ,Paul Kingsnorth, ,Paul Mason, ,performance, ,Rima Staines, ,Riots, ,Roadrunner, ,Russia!, ,Sharon Blackie, ,sheep, ,Smari McCarthy, ,storytelling, ,Sustainability Centre, ,Theo Simon, ,Tom Hirons, ,Tottenham, ,transition towns, ,Two Ravens Press, ,Uncivilisation Festival, ,Vinay Gupta, ,Work that Reconnects

Amelia’s Magazine | Uncivilisation 2011, The Dark Mountain Festival: Saturday Review

telling stories to the trees - rima staines
Telling Stories to the Trees by Rima Staines.

Last weekend I went to Hampshire for my first experience of Uncivilisation, approved the Dark Mountain gathering of like minded folks interested in discussing our future.

Uncivilisation Dark Mountain 2011 photo by Amelia Gregory

Uncivilisation 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Abi Daker Dark Mountain Graph
Dark Mountain by Abi Daker.

Baba Yaga by Rima Staines.

Uncivilisation 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Collapse by Aliyahgator.

Uncivilisation 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Crofting by Christina Demetriou.

Uncivilisation 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

The Sacred by Elizabeth Hudson.

Uncivilisation 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Why not read my Sunday review too?

Written by Amelia Gregory on Friday August 26th, 2011 6:59 pm

Amelia’s Magazine | Lu Flux introduces Sea and Be Seen A/W 2011 and A-Lu-Ha S/S 2012 collections

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