howies

Amelia’s Magazine | LCF MA Fashion and the Environment graduate exhibition

by

mime-festival-ockhams-razor
Ockham’s Razor by Rosalie Hoskins

I’ll admit it. I’ve never been to much performance art or modern dance before. But let’s just say that my circumstances have somewhat changed of late and at the moment I am enjoying being introduced to new types of creativity.

So, prostate cheapest what’s with this Mime Festival stuff? Well, information pills if you thought that mime was all men in black pretending to grope a wall be ready to have your definition of mime challenged. It seems that mime nowadays is more a combination of contemporary dance and circus. It’s about story telling from an abstracted and expressionistic perspective. In a play you’ve got the constraints of character and storyline – well this modern form of mime is much more like creating a painting over time and space.

I went to my first mime festival performance with a completely open mind, but entirely unsure of what to expect. It’s good to be challenged! Staged in the sadly blighted ICA (threats of closure have been bandied about in the press) this was a truly bizarre tale from Russian troupe BlackSkyWhite – USSR Was Here. In what was to prove a staple the pre-show explanatory notes made absolutely no sense at all, so I just about managed to glean the idea that the ‘storyline’ was based on the brutal history of Russia.

mime-festival-blackskywhite
Blackskywhite by Rosalie Hoskins

The murky blackness of the stage was pierced by the coloured forms of two strange characters who occasionally merged and then separated, interacting in dysfunctional ways. The music and lighting (lighting, I was to learn, is THE key element in mime. God knows how these performers would survive without coloured gels) evoked the kind of freakshow mania I imagine you might have encountered in fairgrounds of yore, the type that could slowly induce madness, in me at least. I really couldn’t figure out how many people were performing, but thought that I counted at least three. Not until the end of the show did I discover that there were actually only two performers, so able to radically change their demeanour as to convince me of their multitude. Double headed? Wherein I presumed the dummy head was the one hanging sideways? Why yes. I was fooled. Clever puppetry such as a curiously adult head on a baby left me wondering where the full person was hidden. With the aid of cunning wide legged pants the two performers were able to mutate, wibbling into shortened gnome figures. Features so altered by elastic bands and hairnets completed my confusion. Despite this discombobulation I have to confess that half way through I was starting to think “When will this nightmare end?” It was not without some relief that an hour later the swirling red and green lights finally came to a halt. Clever for sure, but for a performance artist novice like me watching Blackskywhite was at times more of an arduous task to finish than an enjoyable experience. I think I may have started in at the deep end.

Ockhams Razor-The-Mill-2
Ockhams Razor-The-Mill-3
Ockhams Razor-The-Mill-4

Next up on my Mime Festival week smorgasbord was a trip to the Linbury Studio Theatre at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden (get me), where it appears that there is an even split between people who dress up to the nines for their every operatastic outing, and those who slump along in their civvies. A background in circus was immediately obvious as the wonderfully named Ockham’s Razor performers sat perched deathly still atop giant bobbins as the audience filed in and dry ice swirled around. The centrepiece of this imaginative set was a vast wheel suspended centre stage and this excellent video put together by the troupe describes how the set informed the subsequent narrative of the performance. The five nimble performers scrambled with undue ease (and superb upper body strength) up ladders and along ropes in elegant procession, all the while making sure the wheel was turned. Until it all went intentionally wrong and the rapidly unwinding spools caused a dramatic panic. Yes, the premise of the ‘story’ was slim – the wheel of work goes round and round – but it was a great deal of fun to watch (one of the blokes was well fit which is always nice) and I grinned through the whole show. Plus I felt very pleased with myself for taking sneaky iphone pics which I then put together with my favourite panorama stitch application. Love that thing.

Ockhams Razor-The-Mill-1

Last up was possibly the most interesting piece of mime – a piece called Rankefod performed by a single lady, of indeterminate age, but certainly not in the first flush of youth. (I’ve since discovered that she is in fact over 50. Quite staggering considering what she is able to achieve physically.)

mime-festival-kitt-johnson
Kitt Johnson by Rosalie Hoskins

Kitt Johnson is apparently an ex athlete and her command of her body was quite enthralling: an hour spent in her company at the ICA went a lot faster than the first time around. Starting alone in the centre of the spartan stage for many moments she made use of just a few jutting back muscles and flicks of her legs to evoke the early stages of evolution, as interpreted through her body. At first I thought she was wearing just a pair of hotpants, but I then deduced that her plaited hair was actually conjoined with some cave woman-esque shorts. Despite her naked breasts there was nothing remotely sexual about her presence, which through sometimes barely perceptible movements gradually became more animalistic. Described as a “loner” on her website, Kitt Johnson was something of a revelation. I might yet be a convert to this performance art marlarkey.

mime-festival-ockhams-razor
Ockham’s Razor by Rosalie Hoskins

I’ll admit it. I’ve never been to much performance art or modern dance before. But let’s just say that my circumstances have somewhat changed of late and at the moment I am enjoying being introduced to new types of creativity.

So, order what’s with this Mime Festival stuff? Well, viagra 40mg if you thought that mime was all men in black pretending to grope a wall be ready to have your definition of mime challenged. It seems that mime nowadays is more a combination of contemporary dance and circus. It’s about story telling from an abstracted and expressionistic perspective. In a play you’ve got the constraints of character and storyline – well this modern form of mime is much more like creating a painting over time and space.

I went to my first mime festival performance with a completely open mind, store but entirely unsure of what to expect. It’s good to be challenged! Staged in the sadly blighted ICA (threats of closure have been bandied about in the press) this was a truly bizarre tale from Russian troupe BlackSkyWhite – USSR Was Here. In what was to prove a staple the pre-show explanatory notes made absolutely no sense at all, so I just about managed to glean the idea that the ‘storyline’ was based on the brutal history of Russia.

mime-festival-blackskywhite
Blackskywhite by Rosalie Hoskins

The murky blackness of the stage was pierced by the coloured forms of two strange characters who occasionally merged and then separated, interacting in dysfunctional ways. The music and lighting (lighting, I was to learn, is THE key element in mime. God knows how these performers would survive without coloured gels) evoked the kind of freakshow mania I imagine you might have encountered in fairgrounds of yore, the type that could slowly induce madness, in me at least. I really couldn’t figure out how many people were performing, but thought that I counted at least three. Not until the end of the show did I discover that there were actually only two performers, so able to radically change their demeanour as to convince me of their multitude. Double headed? Wherein I presumed the dummy head was the one hanging sideways? Why yes. I was fooled. Clever puppetry such as a curiously adult head on a baby left me wondering where the full person was hidden. With the aid of cunning wide legged pants the two performers were able to mutate, wibbling into shortened gnome figures. Features so altered by elastic bands and hairnets completed my confusion. Despite this discombobulation I have to confess that half way through I was starting to think “When will this nightmare end?” It was not without some relief that an hour later the swirling red and green lights finally came to a halt. Clever for sure, but for a performance artist novice like me watching Blackskywhite was at times more of an arduous task to finish than an enjoyable experience. I think I may have started in at the deep end.

Ockhams Razor-The-Mill-2
Ockhams Razor-The-Mill-3
Ockhams Razor-The-Mill-4

Next up on my Mime Festival week smorgasbord was a trip to the Linbury Studio Theatre at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden (get me), where it appears that there is an even split between people who dress up to the nines for their every operatastic outing, and those who slump along in their civvies. A background in circus was immediately obvious as the wonderfully named Ockham’s Razor performers sat perched deathly still atop giant bobbins as the audience filed in and dry ice swirled around. The centrepiece of this imaginative set was a vast wheel suspended centre stage and this excellent video put together by the troupe describes how the set informed the subsequent narrative of the performance. The five nimble performers scrambled with undue ease (and superb upper body strength) up ladders and along ropes in elegant procession, all the while making sure the wheel was turned. Until it all went intentionally wrong and the rapidly unwinding spools caused a dramatic panic. Yes, the premise of the ‘story’ was slim – the wheel of work goes round and round – but it was a great deal of fun to watch (one of the blokes was well fit which is always nice) and I grinned through the whole show. Plus I felt very pleased with myself for taking sneaky iphone pics which I then put together with my favourite panorama stitch application. Love that thing.

Ockhams Razor-The-Mill-1

Last up was possibly the most interesting piece of mime – a piece called Rankefod performed by a single lady, of indeterminate age, but certainly not in the first flush of youth. (I’ve since discovered that she is in fact over 50. Quite staggering considering what she is able to achieve physically.)

mime-festival-kitt-johnson
Kitt Johnson by Rosalie Hoskins

Kitt Johnson is apparently an ex athlete and her command of her body was quite enthralling: an hour spent in her company at the ICA went a lot faster than the first time around. Starting alone in the centre of the spartan stage for many moments she made use of just a few jutting back muscles and flicks of her legs to evoke the early stages of evolution, as interpreted through her body. At first I thought she was wearing just a pair of hotpants, but I then deduced that her plaited hair was actually conjoined with some cave woman-esque shorts. Despite her naked breasts there was nothing remotely sexual about her presence, which through sometimes barely perceptible movements gradually became more animalistic. Described as a “loner” on her website, Kitt Johnson was something of a revelation. I might yet be a convert to this performance art marlarkey.

mime-festival-ockhams-razor
Ockham’s Razor by Rosalie Hoskins

I’ll admit it. I’ve never been to much performance art or modern dance before. But let’s just say that my circumstances have somewhat changed of late and at the moment I am enjoying being introduced to new types of creativity.

So, pills what’s with this Mime Festival stuff? Well, about it if you thought that mime was all men in black pretending to grope a wall be ready to have your definition of mime challenged. It seems that mime nowadays is more a combination of contemporary dance and circus. It’s about story telling from an abstracted and expressionistic perspective. In a play you’ve got the constraints of character and storyline – well this modern form of mime is much more like creating a painting over time and space.

I went to my first mime festival performance with a completely open mind, healing but entirely unsure of what to expect. It’s good to be challenged! Staged in the sadly blighted ICA (threats of closure have been bandied about in the press) this was a truly bizarre tale from Russian troupe BlackSkyWhite – USSR Was Here. In what was to prove a staple the pre-show explanatory notes made absolutely no sense at all, so I just about managed to glean the idea that the ‘storyline’ was based on the brutal history of Russia.

mime-festival-blackskywhite
Blackskywhite by Rosalie Hoskins

The murky blackness of the stage was pierced by the coloured forms of two strange characters who occasionally merged and then separated, interacting in dysfunctional ways. The music and lighting (lighting, I was to learn, is THE key element in mime. God knows how these performers would survive without coloured gels) evoked the kind of freakshow mania I imagine you might have encountered in fairgrounds of yore, the type that could slowly induce madness, in me at least. I really couldn’t figure out how many people were performing, but thought that I counted at least three. Not until the end of the show did I discover that there were actually only two performers, so able to radically change their demeanour as to convince me of their multitude. Double headed? Wherein I presumed the dummy head was the one hanging sideways? Why yes. I was fooled. Clever puppetry such as a curiously adult head on a baby left me wondering where the full person was hidden. With the aid of cunning wide legged pants the two performers were able to mutate, wibbling into shortened gnome figures. Features so altered by elastic bands and hairnets completed my confusion. Despite this discombobulation I have to confess that half way through I was starting to think “When will this nightmare end?” It was not without some relief that an hour later the swirling red and green lights finally came to a halt. Clever for sure, but for a performance artist novice like me watching Blackskywhite was at times more of an arduous task to finish than an enjoyable experience. I think I may have started in at the deep end.

Ockhams Razor-The-Mill-2
Ockhams Razor-The-Mill-3
Ockhams Razor-The-Mill-4

Next up on my Mime Festival week smorgasbord was a trip to the Linbury Studio Theatre at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden (get me), where it appears that there is an even split between people who dress up to the nines for their every operatastic outing, and those who slump along in their civvies. A background in circus was immediately obvious as the wonderfully named Ockham’s Razor performers sat perched deathly still atop giant bobbins as the audience filed in and dry ice swirled around. The centrepiece of this imaginative set was a vast wheel suspended centre stage and this excellent video put together by the troupe describes how the set informed the subsequent narrative of the performance. The five nimble performers scrambled with undue ease (and superb upper body strength) up ladders and along ropes in elegant procession, all the while making sure the wheel was turned. Until it all went intentionally wrong and the rapidly unwinding spools caused a dramatic panic. Yes, the premise of the ‘story’ was slim – the wheel of work goes round and round – but it was a great deal of fun to watch (one of the blokes was well fit which is always nice) and I grinned through the whole show. Plus I felt very pleased with myself for taking sneaky iphone pics which I then put together with my favourite panorama stitch application. Love that thing.

Ockhams Razor-The-Mill-1

Last up was possibly the most interesting piece of mime – a piece called Rankefod performed by a single lady, of indeterminate age, but certainly not in the first flush of youth. (I’ve since discovered that she is in fact over 50. Quite staggering considering what she is able to achieve physically.)

mime-festival-kitt-johnson
Kitt Johnson by Rosalie Hoskins

Kitt Johnson is apparently an ex athlete and her command of her body was quite enthralling: an hour spent in her company at the ICA went a lot faster than the first time around. Starting alone in the centre of the spartan stage for many moments she made use of just a few jutting back muscles and flicks of her legs to evoke the early stages of evolution, as interpreted through her body. At first I thought she was wearing just a pair of hotpants, but I then deduced that her plaited hair was actually conjoined with some cave woman-esque shorts. Despite her naked breasts there was nothing remotely sexual about her presence, which through sometimes barely perceptible movements gradually became more animalistic. Described as a “loner” on her website, Kitt Johnson was something of a revelation. I might yet be a convert to this performance art marlarkey.

The inaugural round of graduates from London College of Fashion’s new MA course entitled Fashion and the Environment, sildenafil exhibited their findings this weekend within the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.

P2012400Image courtesy of Rachael Oku depicting the work of Shibin Vasudevan.

The students have taken a variety of approaches to tackle their environmental concerns with the fashion industry, some more successful than others. I wasn’t totally convinced by the practicality and wearability of Shibin Vasudevan’s shirts made from the contents of a hoover bag, though they were very visually stimulating. I was really excited by a number of projects including Shibin’s as his idea was highly innovative.

handheadheartHandheadheart collection image, courtesy of Anna Maria Hesse.

Anna Maria Hesse utilised her background in knitwear and deep interest in sustainable fashion to produce a collection entitled ‘handheadheart’ that discourages consumerism. Her beautifully subtle, draped garments are made to be worn in a variety of ways – so a top is a dress is a skirt. Her thinking is thus: the more ways you can wear one garment, the less garments you need to buy, and they are timeless, the opposite of disposable fashion. Both the traceability and sourcing of the raw materials used are important to Hesse, who uses only pure alpaca wool farmed sustainably within the UK – resulting in luxuriously soft and hardwearing fibres. The resulting garments are beautiful and wearable, and most importantly have been created to last a lifetime.

handheadheart2Handheadheart collection image, courtesy of Anna Maria Hesse.

I was impressed with both the concept and design behind Julia Crew’s collection of man bags labelled i.did.nee.ken (taken from the Scottish colloquialism meaning ‘I didn’t know’). Taking a threefold approach to the design process, Julia has ensured each product fits the criteria of a) durable design b) responsible sourcing and c) sustainable lifestyle. Essentially the bags are made to last, they have a low environmental impact and they can be used as part of a sustainable lifestyle. Designed with the concerns and requirements of a cyclist in mind, the i.did.nee.ken accessories are urban, utilitarian, and feature beautiful soft leather combined with waxed canvas, with graphical touches such as the reflective material around zips – ticking every box a cyclist could ask for.

backpackBackpack courtesy of Julia Crew, photographer Sally Cole.

Another project that interested me was that of Energy Water Fashion. With an aim to create directional garments made from lovely fabrics such as Lamb’s wool and Merino, Energy Water Fashion creates garments that are naturally odour resistant therefore requiring less washing and general maintenance. The designer, Emma Rigby’s environmental concerns relate to the exorbitant figures regarding how much water we use in laundering our clothes (mentioned at length in Amelia’s magazines coverage of the LCF Centre for Sustainable Fashion’s Fashioning The Future Awards, where Emma Won the prestigious award in the Water category). Successfully designing a capsule wardrobe that offers real solutions in reducing our water consumption, there seems no end to Emma’s talents.

P2012385Emma Rigby presentation, photographed by Rachael Oku.

By staging exhibitions like this for the public, it’s good to know that Fashion colleges and indeed designers alike are addressing the need to develop more sustainable, less environmentally impacting methods. There are now a growing number of fashion labels devoted to seeking out cleaner, greener processes, which is great to see. I am continually impressed by two companies in particular whose truly sustainable approach and great designs mean consumers don’t have to choose between looking good and staying true to their environmental conscience and ethics.

Outdoor lifestyle brand Howies produce simple, functional pieces and pay attention to the little details. They use only the best in organic cotton, hemp and sustainable materials such as Merino and Lamb’s wool. The second brand is fair-trade fashion label People Tree, who offer a wide range of affordable fashion forward garments with a continual offering of designer collaborations including Richard Nicholl, Jessica Ogden and Bora Aksu to name but a few. This season, to appeal to a younger audience Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame has collaborated on a range, of which I have my eye on the organic cotton blue and white stripe Breton top (only £25!).

breton-stripe-topBreton stripe top by People Tree, image courtesy of PR shots.

So, until these talented, forward thinking MA graduates gain backing and start producing their collections for real, there are options – getting less limited by the day.

Written by Hannah Poole on Wednesday February 3rd, 2010 3:05 pm

Categories ,Anna Maria Hesse, ,Bora Aksu, ,Emma Rigby, ,Emma Watson, ,Energy Water Fashion, ,Fashioning The Future Awards, ,Hannah Poole, ,Harry Potter, ,howies, ,i.did.nee.ken, ,Jessica Ogden, ,Julia Crew, ,LCF, ,LCF Centre for Sustainable Fashion, ,MA Fashion & the Environment, ,People Tree, ,Queen Elizabeth Hall, ,Richard Nicholl, ,Shibin Vasudevan, ,Southbank centre

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Amelia’s Magazine | Howies: Ethical active clothing pioneers in Wales

by

Tania Kowalski was a workshop manager at a well-known contemporary jewellery gallery in London when Synnove Saelthun arrived from New York to join the design team. They soon discovered that they had similar views on design and business ethics, more about cialis 40mg and became good friends. Several years later they started the Oria brand, prescription using Synnove’s design skills and Tania’s production expertise. Synnove is a technically brilliant goldsmith with a passion for design and an eye for detail. Tania is a trained jeweller, viagra with a wide range of experience in the jewellery industry, from design creation through to production. Her expertise includes sourcing ethical materials and ensuring fair business practice.

Tania’s passion for other cultures has led her to visit remote tribes in the Amazon of Brazil, hill tribes in Nepal and the Dogon people of Mali. It was during these travels that she became fascinated with the cultural importance and symbolic meaning of tribal adornment. When designing a new collection, the couple sit down together to discuss what the new collection will symbolise. They research and refine story boards, and after ensuring that the designs are technically feasible Synnove makes an initial prototype, the best of which will go into production.

The use of the phoenix is a symbol of honesty and justice in Chinese mythology, and is one of the inspirations for the Nina collection. The lotus symbolises purity and beauty in many different cultures, and it inspired their silver lotus collection.

Working in Nepal Tania discovered that the safe working conditions and fair living wages which we take for granted in the West are not necessarily the norm in other parts of the world. This early experience was important in persuading Tania to commit to fairtrade sourcing as a founding principle of Oria.

Vintage fashion, about it illustrated by Matilde Sazio

Kim Sklinar, viagra sale aka Preloved Reloved, cheap has set herself an interesting New Year’s challenge. For the duration of 2011, Kim isn’t going to buy any new clothes. No more high-street bargains, no more feeding corporate giants, no more fast-fashion waste, no siree. ‘Another one?’ I hear you cry – and you’d be right. But this one is a little different.

While Kim hopes to raise awareness about the amount of cheap clothing we purchase and what effects that has on the environment and people’s lives, there’s also a bigger reason closer to home. Kim’s father was diagnosed with cancer over 18 months ago, and she decided to set up the project to raise funds for Macmillan, the cancer care and support charity. Unfortunately, as of only last week, Kim’s dad won’t see the project through its fruition. But Kim will dedicate the project to his memory.

So, how do you do it? Well, Kim’s vowed to buy only vintage and from outlets like eBay, and she’ll spend more time in charity shops which also benefits all of the organisations that run them. I had a chat with her about the project and how she thinks she’ll manage it all…


Vintage shop, illustrated by Karolina Burdon

What gave you the idea for Preloved, Reloved in the first place?
Well I always like to dress a little differently. My style is mainstream with a retro edge, I suppose. I always seem to end up with a daft New Year’s resolution – last year I cycled from London to Paris for The Institute of Cancer Research. I like using my time to help others and spread awareness.

Were you a fan of vintage and upcycling before you started the project?
Yes! I always admire my friends’ outfits; well, those who wear vintage and second-hand fashion. Upcycling is something I have experimented with for ages at home and now is the time to make sure I actually finish some projects!

Where will you source your outfits?
Charity shops, vintage stores, eBay, my mum’s wardrobe…! I made a lined cape last night from linen and satin for balmy summer nights (booking a holiday soon!).


Charity shops, illustrated by Rukmunal Hakim

What does the project hope to achieve?
I want to raise awareness of numerous charities related to my Dad’s illnesses. I want my friends to know that too much of an unhealthy lifestyle is probably going to lead to an early demise. I also want to raise the profile of vintage and second-hand fashion; I remember as a kid we use to take the mick out of anyone who dressed from a charity shop. I myself as a student had a stigma against them. Now it’s become kitsch, cool and quirky. It’s good for the environment.

How much do you hope to raise and what are the funds likely to be used for?
£2500 is my Just Giving target – it goes directly to Macmillan. However, with my shopping at many different charity shops, my cash goes straight to them – win win all round! I have my thinking cap on about how to expand the project though.


eBay! Illustration by Avril Kelly

Why did you choose Macmillan?
My dad (and his dad) had cancer – he died last week unfortunately. And it wasn’t the cancer that killed him, it was his heart and his adult-onset diabetes. A poor lifestyle in his twenties and thirties caused it and he was only 57 when he passed. So as I said before, this project benefits other charities focussing on these causes too through me spending money at their outlets.

Not that far in, but have you come accross any problems so far? Has anything that happened that you weren’t expecting?
Avoiding shops is quite hard as I realised I can’t just pop into the Topshop sale and treat myself – which I suppose is good for my wallet and I’m going to do less impulse-buying on the way home from work.
With my Dad passing, I haven’t had as much time to go browsing shops as much as I’d like. This weekend, however, I’m going to the Girls of Guildford vintage fair and gig – for some serious retail therapy, cupcake-nomming and also to check out some great live music away from the bustle of London.


Vintage, illustrated by Jess Holt

What are you wearing today? Where’s it all from?
Dark blue skinny jeans, leather knee boots that I already owned with black and cream patterned blouse from River Island that I bought from Cancer Research UK. I’m also wearing red rose earrings from Magnolia Jewellery.

Do you plan to make or alter any of your clothes? If so, how?
Yes – I love sewing and making jewellery too – I made a cape last week and have upcycled a pair of old, torn jeans from my uni days into a denim mini. I have a small collection of retro patterns including a lovely dress with a pussy bow. I love being able to create something out of fabric I love: last year I went to a lovely Indian wedding and couldn’t find The Outfit – so I made a purple maxi-dress with a halterneck and glammed it up with ribbons dangling down my back. Saved myself a fortune too!


Illustration by Gilly Rochester

What else do you get up to?
I run Never Enough Notes – a music e-zine, and I’m cycling the London-Brighton this summer with my brother and friends to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.

What would be your perfect Preloved, Reloved outfit?
For daytime it would easily be vintage jeans, brown boots that look a bit worn-out, a floaty shirt or cheeky tee, a tweed jacket and a battered satchel.
For evening, I love ball gowns and retro dresses so would be something glam that I could wear with a pair of 1970s heels! Oh there’s way too much choice, I love it!


Photographs by Kim Sklinar

You can follow Kim’s efforts at the Preloved, Reloved blog; donate online here.
Junky Styling S/S 2010 by Aniela Murphy
Junky Styling S/S 2010 by Aniela Murphy.

Annika Sanders and Kerry Seager are self-taught fashion designers. They started up Junky Styling after they received lots of compliments for their deconstructed and restyled secondhand suits made to go out clubbing in during the 1990’s.

What prompted your approach to dressmaking?
Our approach was initially borne out of a lack of money but it soon became a necessity for individuality and quality. At first Annika’s mother did most of the sewing so our designs were heavily directed by her.

Have you seen many changes over the years?
Aside from all the wrinkles on our faces? We have seen the tangible development of a marketplace that never existed before. Education has enabled the sustainable movement to become more widely accepted and understood, approved and now many new brands think about sustainability before they even start designing.

Where did you go out in the past and do you still go clubbing?
We went to a wide mixture of venues that hosted a similar dressy scene. It was such a brilliant time, and we still enjoy socialising and a bit of a shuffle. But we always try to ensure that we are not the oldest at the bar…

Read the rest of this interview and see more illustrations of Junky Styling’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.
You’ve been going for a very long time. Have attitudes to ethical fashion started to change yet?
Consumers are starting to question the huge exploitation of people and the environment that permits their clothing to be so cheap, treat because it doesn’t add up. There is still a long way to go but the fashion industry is slowly changing the way it does business.

What has the People Tree brand achieved?
We support 5, website like this 000 farmers, case artisans and their families in developing countries by producing well designed fairtrade and sustainable products. For us it’s about creating sustainable livelihoods that put food on the table at the end of the day.

You’ve collaborated with both Bora Aksu and Karen Nichol. What have they brought to People Tree?
We’ve worked with Bora for four years because we share the view that good fashion design should last for years. He is a master of beautiful, feminine draped designs that we produce in organic and fairtrade cotton, and we’ve already started designing an exciting new collection for S/S 2012. Like me Karen is passionate about handicrafts and she loves traditional Japanese textiles and designs. She works with our hand knitters in Nepal to create beautiful appliquéd and hand embroidered embellishments
You’ve been going for a very long time. Have attitudes to ethical fashion started to change yet?
Consumers are starting to question the huge exploitation of people and the environment that permits their clothing to be so cheap, see because it doesn’t add up. There is still a long way to go but the fashion industry is slowly changing the way it does business.

What has the People Tree brand achieved?
We support 5, try 000 farmers, artisans and their families in developing countries by producing well designed fairtrade and sustainable products. For us it’s about creating sustainable livelihoods that put food on the table at the end of the day.

You’ve collaborated with both Bora Aksu and Karen Nichol. What have they brought to People Tree?
We’ve worked with Bora for four years because we share the view that good fashion design should last for years. He is a master of beautiful, feminine draped designs that we produce in organic and fairtrade cotton, and we’ve already started designing an exciting new collection for S/S 2012. Like me Karen is passionate about handicrafts and she loves traditional Japanese textiles and designs. She works with our hand knitters in Nepal to create beautiful appliquéd and hand embroidered embellishments
How did the idea of working with old porcelain come about? 
I was tired of producing other peoples’ ideas (as a stage producer) so in 2007 I decided to start working on my own project, dosage which soon developed into my rapidly growing label, stomach Sägen. I go to flea markets as often as I can for inspiration and to collect source material; I have amassed a huge collection of vintage buttons as well as piles of chipped and damaged porcelain that is no longer wanted. I like to work with my hands and I love turning items from the past into modern accessories. 

Sägen means Old Saga in Swedish – why did you chose this name for your brand?
I come from a small island called Gotland in the middle of the Baltic Sea and I have wonderful memories of listening to all the old myths when I was a kid. I came up with the idea for Sägen when I was there and the name reflects my interest in recycling a little bit of history into new treasures, so I find the name very suitable.

How do you cut the porcelain and set it in silver?
I cut and grind the porcelain with machines, which is a very dirty, dusty and dangerous job: I have been close to losing my fingers many times. When I am working in my basement studio I forget about everything else, instead focusing on the patterns that I am obsessed with. I decide what shapes to make up depending on the motifs in the porcelain, then I set the porcelain in silver (which is 98% recycled) so that it curves, bends and stretches around the shape I have cut out.
Ivana Basilotta S/S 2011 by Bex Glover
Ivana Basilotta S/S 2011 by Bex Glover.

Ivana Basilotta is Italian but has lived in Germany as well as the UK. She channels her observations of different cultures into her work, treatment sometimes the ideas flowing so fast that her pen can’t keep up and her scissors can’t cut the fabric fast enough. Quite often she only realises she was inspired by a certain idea once the collection has been finished. Having previously studied business Ivana is well placed to run her label, prostate and feels that a good business knowledge is as important as the creative force of a design house.

A committed vegetarian, she designs with peace silk, which is made in India without the killing of the silk moth. Because peace silk is spun as a fibre rather than reeled as a thread it is warmer and softer than ordinary silk. “I cannot imagine eating meat,” she says. “I find it strange that people eat dead animals.” She feels that being a vegetarian brings a great sense of freedom and well being, and it is an easy way to lead a greener life. “Farm land that could directly produce food for humans is used to farm and feed animals for slaughter, which uses up far more resources.” She does not like to imagine the stress and sorrow that farmed animals must experience, and wants no part in it…

Read the rest of this interview with Ivana Basilotta 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.
bex_glover_howies_collection
Howies by Bex Glover.

Howies has since 1995 pioneered the creation of ethical active clothing with a strong design aesthetic. Based in Cardigan Bay, case Wales, remedy the company has built up a devoted fan base via its affiliation with outdoor sports such as surfing, order mountain biking and skateboarding. Products are made from high performing sustainable fabrics that will last, with a proportion of profits ploughed back into grassroots social and environmental projects via the Earth Tax. Although some clothes are made in China and Turkey they ensure best practice by employing the same factories as other companies they trust, such as M&S…

Read the rest of this interview and see more illustrations of Howie’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.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Monday January 24th, 2011 1:26 pm

Categories ,ACOFI, ,Active Wear, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Bex Glover, ,Cardigan, ,Cardigan Bay, ,China, ,Do Lectures, ,Earth Tax, ,Eco fashion, ,Ethical Fashion, ,howies, ,M&S, ,Merino, ,Severn Studios, ,sustainability, ,Turkey, ,wales

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Amelia’s Magazine | Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration is OUT NOW!

by

Willow candle by daria hlazatova
Willow Organic Gold Frankincense and Myrrh candle by Daria Hlazatova.

I don’t know what it is about candles that gets me so excited. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I love beautiful smells. My house may be a mess but I quite often spritz my office with a sweetly scented room spray or light a candle to imbue a relaxing mood. I think that this is the nub of what is so brilliant about candles, generic link especially the really high quality ones that contain high quantities of essential oils – they are the simplest way to create a delightfully relaxing and cosy feeling within a space.

willow organics candle

And of course Christmas is all about candles. Since I lived in Sweden as a little girl my family has had a tradition of lighting advent candles during the month of December – and whilst I don’t spend much time at my parent’s home anymore, look I always look forward to candlelit dinners when I return for Christmas. Candles impart a certain cosiness which the Danish call “hygge” – and during these bitterly cold dark winter months is most sorely appreciated.

Gold Frankincense and Myrrh candle by Daria Hlazatova
Gold Frankincense and Myrrh candle by Daria Hlazatova.

This year my favourite discovery is the Willow Organic Gold Frankincense and Myrrh candle. It comes beautifully presented in a beribboned fold out box and utilises the naturally healing and calming effects of precious oils that have been synonymous with Christmas since biblical times.

Willow candle box
willow candle box open

From the wonderful scents to the gold leaf that floats glittering in the top of the wax, information pills it doesn’t get more christmassy than this. The Willow Organic shop in Kings Road, Chelsea is open until the 23rd December, so there’s still time to grab a fabulous Christmas candle before the big day.

Cire_Trudon_by_Megan_Piontkowski
Cire Trudon by Megan Piontkowski.

Earlier this year I discovered the French Cire Trudon brand, which has been in operation in various guises since 1643. Alongside very high quality candles presented in beautiful glass pots with heraldic shields, they also produce stunning room sprays in statement bottles and a boxed set containing a room spray, candle and illustrated fairy tale – the idea being to encourage children to enjoy evocative scents from a very young age. Not for the hard up these boxed sets don’t come cheap, but I love the idea and the illustrated booklets are a delight.

Sinbad the Sailor - Fairy Tale Box - Cire Trudon

Recently discovered: the Albam independent menswear clothing store in Spitalfields stocks three yummy varieties of candle, my favourite being the figgy one. When I went in they were also testing out a new scent called Library, which was suitably masculine. Unfortunately I don’t think you can buy these online but it’s definitely worth taking a trip down to this great little store.

Spitalfields Candle Co by ellie sutton
Spitalfields Candle Co and Tocca candles by Ellie Sutton.

There is also the Spitalfields Candle Co. which uses sustainably sourced soya wax in all candles. It was hard to choose my favourite from such a yummy range only briefly sniffed in the Inspitalfields gift store, but I think it has to be Lemon Verbena – I just love that clean bright scent.

Diptyque Candle - The Cloud Commission
Diptyque Candle by The Cloud Commission.

Tocca are a high end scent company that stock in Liberty – I particularly like the sound of the Bianca candle which contains Green Tea and Lemon. Each year the Parisian brand Diptyque creates a special Christmas range, in beautifully decorated coloured glass jars. The Orange Epicee sounds yummy, as does the Canelle.

Jo Malone by Gareth A Hopkins
Jo Malone by Gareth A Hopkins.

Lastly but no means least Jo Malone offers incredibly classy scents, all tastefully presented in cream boxes with crisp branding. The limited edition Pine & Eucalyptus Collection sounds glorious, and how about a giant candle with not one but four wicks to make a major statement?

Right, I’m off to get on with my present wrapping by the scent of my Willow Organic candle. Have a glorious Christmas everyone.

Amelia's Compendium of Fashion-cover

So, pills the book is finally here! You can find it at Tate Modern, about it Magma, Design Museum, Serpentine Gallery, Tatty Devine, Cornerhouse, Arnolfini and many other good independent book stores across the UK and by early 2011 around the world.

Tatty Devine Amelia's Compendium
Harriet of Tatty Devine takes receipt of her copies of Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration.

Amelia's Compendium Magma
On the shelves of Magma.

Or you can buy it online here for a reduced price and receive 12 unique Amelia’s Magazine postcards, plus a selection of bookmarks. This offer is EXCLUSIVE to my website. You can’t get these postcards anywhere else!

Amelia's Compendium postcards
Postcards come free with all orders of Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration made through this website.

The following up and coming fashion illustrators feature in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration:
Abigail Daker, Abby Wright, Amy Martino, Andrea Peterson, Aniela Murphy, Antonia Parker, Bex Glover, Emma Block, Erica Sharp, Faye West, Gemma Milly, Jennifer Costello, Jenny Robins, Jo Cheung, Joana Faria, June Chanpoomidole, Katherine Tromans, Katie Harnett, Kellie Black, Krister Selin, Lesley Barnes, Lisa Stannard, Michelle Urvall Nyren, Naomi Law, Natasha Thompson, Natsuki Otani, Rachel de Ste Croix, Yelena Bryksenkova, Zarina Liew & Gareth A Hopkins.

And…. the book features interviews with the following ethical fashion designers:
123 Bethnal Green Road, Ada Zanditon, Andrea Crews, Anja Hynynen, Beautiful Soul, By Stamo, Camilla Norrback, Christopher Raeburn, Ciel, Dem Collective, Edun, Emesha, Emma Ware, Fifi Bijoux, From Somewhere, Goodone, Gossypium, Henrietta Ludgate, Hetty Rose, Howies, Ivana Basilotta, Izzy Lane, Joanna Cave, Junky Styling, Little Glass Clementine, Lu Flux, Martina Spetlova, Maxjenny, Michelle Lowe-Holder, Minna, Nancy Dee, Nina Dolcetti, Noir, Noki, Oria, Partimi, People Tree, Pia Anjou, Prophetik, Romina Karamanea, Sägen, Satoshi Date, Tara Starlet, Ute Decker & Wilfried Pletzinger

Below are some pages from inside the book – which is the usual riot of colour and pattern for which I have become known. You can also watch a flick video of the book on the website of my international distributor Idea Books here.

Amelia's Compendium of Fashion-sm-From Somewhere
From Somewhere illustrated by Rachel de Ste Croix.

Amelia's Compendium of Fashion-sm-By Stamo
By Stamo illustrated by Krister Selin.

Amelia's Compendium of Fashion-sm-Christopher Raeburn
Christopher Raeburn illustrated by Gemma Milly.

Amelia's Compendium of Fashion-sm-Edun
Edun illustrated by Katherine Tromans.

Amelia's Compendium of Fashion-sm-Dem Collective
Dem Collective illustrated by Michelle Urvall Nyren.

Amelia's Compendium Aniela Murphy
Aniela Murphy’s pages in the content proofs.

Amelia's Compendium Antonia Parker
Antonia Parker’s pages in the content proofs.

Please note that I will not be posting any orders out until the 4th January 2011. Have a very merry Christmas!

Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday December 23rd, 2010 7:26 pm

Categories ,123, ,123 Bethnal Green Road, ,Abby Wright, ,Abigail Daker, ,Ada Zanditon, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Amy Martino, ,Andrea Crews, ,Andrea Peterson, ,Aniela Murphy, ,Anja Hynynen, ,Antonia Parker, ,arnolfini, ,Beautiful Soul, ,Bex Glover, ,book, ,Book shop, ,Bookstores, ,By Stamo, ,Camilla Norrback, ,Christopher Raeburn, ,ciel, ,Cornerhouse, ,Dem Collective, ,Design Museum, ,Eco fashion, ,Edun, ,Emesha, ,Emma Block, ,Emma Ware, ,Erica Sharp, ,Ethical Fashion Design, ,Fashion Illustration, ,Faye West, ,Fifi Bijoux, ,From Somewhere, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Gemma Milly, ,goodone, ,gossypium, ,Henrietta Ludgate, ,Hetty Rose, ,howies, ,Idea Books, ,illustration, ,Ivana Basilotta, ,Izzy Lane, ,Jennifer Costello, ,Jenny Robins, ,Jo Cheung, ,Joana Faria, ,Joanna Cave, ,June Chanpoomidole, ,Junky Styling, ,Katherine Tromans, ,Katie Harnett, ,Kellie Black, ,Krister Selin, ,Lesley Barnes, ,Lisa Stannard, ,Little Glass Clementine, ,Lu Flux, ,Magma, ,Martina Spetlova, ,Maxjenny, ,Michelle Lowe-Holder, ,Michelle Urvall Nyrén, ,Minna, ,Nancy Dee, ,Naomi Law, ,Natasha Thompson, ,Natsuki Otani, ,Nina Dolcetti, ,noir, ,Noki, ,Oria, ,Partimi, ,People Tree, ,Pia Anjou, ,Prophetik, ,Rachel De Ste. Croix, ,Romina Karamanea, ,Sägen, ,Satoshi Date, ,Serpentine Gallery, ,Tara Starlet, ,Tate Modern, ,Tatty Devine, ,Ute Decker, ,Wilfried Pletzinger, ,Yelena Bryksenkova, ,Zarina Liew

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Amelia’s Magazine | Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration is OUT NOW!

by

Willow candle by daria hlazatova
Willow Organic Gold Frankincense and Myrrh candle by Daria Hlazatova.

I don’t know what it is about candles that gets me so excited. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I love beautiful smells. My house may be a mess but I quite often spritz my office with a sweetly scented room spray or light a candle to imbue a relaxing mood. I think that this is the nub of what is so brilliant about candles, generic link especially the really high quality ones that contain high quantities of essential oils – they are the simplest way to create a delightfully relaxing and cosy feeling within a space.

willow organics candle

And of course Christmas is all about candles. Since I lived in Sweden as a little girl my family has had a tradition of lighting advent candles during the month of December – and whilst I don’t spend much time at my parent’s home anymore, look I always look forward to candlelit dinners when I return for Christmas. Candles impart a certain cosiness which the Danish call “hygge” – and during these bitterly cold dark winter months is most sorely appreciated.

Gold Frankincense and Myrrh candle by Daria Hlazatova
Gold Frankincense and Myrrh candle by Daria Hlazatova.

This year my favourite discovery is the Willow Organic Gold Frankincense and Myrrh candle. It comes beautifully presented in a beribboned fold out box and utilises the naturally healing and calming effects of precious oils that have been synonymous with Christmas since biblical times.

Willow candle box
willow candle box open

From the wonderful scents to the gold leaf that floats glittering in the top of the wax, information pills it doesn’t get more christmassy than this. The Willow Organic shop in Kings Road, Chelsea is open until the 23rd December, so there’s still time to grab a fabulous Christmas candle before the big day.

Cire_Trudon_by_Megan_Piontkowski
Cire Trudon by Megan Piontkowski.

Earlier this year I discovered the French Cire Trudon brand, which has been in operation in various guises since 1643. Alongside very high quality candles presented in beautiful glass pots with heraldic shields, they also produce stunning room sprays in statement bottles and a boxed set containing a room spray, candle and illustrated fairy tale – the idea being to encourage children to enjoy evocative scents from a very young age. Not for the hard up these boxed sets don’t come cheap, but I love the idea and the illustrated booklets are a delight.

Sinbad the Sailor - Fairy Tale Box - Cire Trudon

Recently discovered: the Albam independent menswear clothing store in Spitalfields stocks three yummy varieties of candle, my favourite being the figgy one. When I went in they were also testing out a new scent called Library, which was suitably masculine. Unfortunately I don’t think you can buy these online but it’s definitely worth taking a trip down to this great little store.

Spitalfields Candle Co by ellie sutton
Spitalfields Candle Co and Tocca candles by Ellie Sutton.

There is also the Spitalfields Candle Co. which uses sustainably sourced soya wax in all candles. It was hard to choose my favourite from such a yummy range only briefly sniffed in the Inspitalfields gift store, but I think it has to be Lemon Verbena – I just love that clean bright scent.

Diptyque Candle - The Cloud Commission
Diptyque Candle by The Cloud Commission.

Tocca are a high end scent company that stock in Liberty – I particularly like the sound of the Bianca candle which contains Green Tea and Lemon. Each year the Parisian brand Diptyque creates a special Christmas range, in beautifully decorated coloured glass jars. The Orange Epicee sounds yummy, as does the Canelle.

Jo Malone by Gareth A Hopkins
Jo Malone by Gareth A Hopkins.

Lastly but no means least Jo Malone offers incredibly classy scents, all tastefully presented in cream boxes with crisp branding. The limited edition Pine & Eucalyptus Collection sounds glorious, and how about a giant candle with not one but four wicks to make a major statement?

Right, I’m off to get on with my present wrapping by the scent of my Willow Organic candle. Have a glorious Christmas everyone.

Amelia's Compendium of Fashion-cover

So, pills the book is finally here! You can find it at Tate Modern, about it Magma, Design Museum, Serpentine Gallery, Tatty Devine, Cornerhouse, Arnolfini and many other good independent book stores across the UK and by early 2011 around the world.

Tatty Devine Amelia's Compendium
Harriet of Tatty Devine takes receipt of her copies of Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration.

Amelia's Compendium Magma
On the shelves of Magma.

Or you can buy it online here for a reduced price and receive 12 unique Amelia’s Magazine postcards, plus a selection of bookmarks. This offer is EXCLUSIVE to my website. You can’t get these postcards anywhere else!

Amelia's Compendium postcards
Postcards come free with all orders of Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration made through this website.

The following up and coming fashion illustrators feature in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration:
Abigail Daker, Abby Wright, Amy Martino, Andrea Peterson, Aniela Murphy, Antonia Parker, Bex Glover, Emma Block, Erica Sharp, Faye West, Gemma Milly, Jennifer Costello, Jenny Robins, Jo Cheung, Joana Faria, June Chanpoomidole, Katherine Tromans, Katie Harnett, Kellie Black, Krister Selin, Lesley Barnes, Lisa Stannard, Michelle Urvall Nyren, Naomi Law, Natasha Thompson, Natsuki Otani, Rachel de Ste Croix, Yelena Bryksenkova, Zarina Liew & Gareth A Hopkins.

And…. the book features interviews with the following ethical fashion designers:
123 Bethnal Green Road, Ada Zanditon, Andrea Crews, Anja Hynynen, Beautiful Soul, By Stamo, Camilla Norrback, Christopher Raeburn, Ciel, Dem Collective, Edun, Emesha, Emma Ware, Fifi Bijoux, From Somewhere, Goodone, Gossypium, Henrietta Ludgate, Hetty Rose, Howies, Ivana Basilotta, Izzy Lane, Joanna Cave, Junky Styling, Little Glass Clementine, Lu Flux, Martina Spetlova, Maxjenny, Michelle Lowe-Holder, Minna, Nancy Dee, Nina Dolcetti, Noir, Noki, Oria, Partimi, People Tree, Pia Anjou, Prophetik, Romina Karamanea, Sägen, Satoshi Date, Tara Starlet, Ute Decker & Wilfried Pletzinger

Below are some pages from inside the book – which is the usual riot of colour and pattern for which I have become known. You can also watch a flick video of the book on the website of my international distributor Idea Books here.

Amelia's Compendium of Fashion-sm-From Somewhere
From Somewhere illustrated by Rachel de Ste Croix.

Amelia's Compendium of Fashion-sm-By Stamo
By Stamo illustrated by Krister Selin.

Amelia's Compendium of Fashion-sm-Christopher Raeburn
Christopher Raeburn illustrated by Gemma Milly.

Amelia's Compendium of Fashion-sm-Edun
Edun illustrated by Katherine Tromans.

Amelia's Compendium of Fashion-sm-Dem Collective
Dem Collective illustrated by Michelle Urvall Nyren.

Amelia's Compendium Aniela Murphy
Aniela Murphy’s pages in the content proofs.

Amelia's Compendium Antonia Parker
Antonia Parker’s pages in the content proofs.

Please note that I will not be posting any orders out until the 4th January 2011. Have a very merry Christmas!

Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday December 23rd, 2010 7:26 pm

Categories ,123, ,123 Bethnal Green Road, ,Abby Wright, ,Abigail Daker, ,Ada Zanditon, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Amy Martino, ,Andrea Crews, ,Andrea Peterson, ,Aniela Murphy, ,Anja Hynynen, ,Antonia Parker, ,arnolfini, ,Beautiful Soul, ,Bex Glover, ,book, ,Book shop, ,Bookstores, ,By Stamo, ,Camilla Norrback, ,Christopher Raeburn, ,ciel, ,Cornerhouse, ,Dem Collective, ,Design Museum, ,Eco fashion, ,Edun, ,Emesha, ,Emma Block, ,Emma Ware, ,Erica Sharp, ,Ethical Fashion Design, ,Fashion Illustration, ,Faye West, ,Fifi Bijoux, ,From Somewhere, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Gemma Milly, ,goodone, ,gossypium, ,Henrietta Ludgate, ,Hetty Rose, ,howies, ,Idea Books, ,illustration, ,Ivana Basilotta, ,Izzy Lane, ,Jennifer Costello, ,Jenny Robins, ,Jo Cheung, ,Joana Faria, ,Joanna Cave, ,June Chanpoomidole, ,Junky Styling, ,Katherine Tromans, ,Katie Harnett, ,Kellie Black, ,Krister Selin, ,Lesley Barnes, ,Lisa Stannard, ,Little Glass Clementine, ,Lu Flux, ,Magma, ,Martina Spetlova, ,Maxjenny, ,Michelle Lowe-Holder, ,Michelle Urvall Nyrén, ,Minna, ,Nancy Dee, ,Naomi Law, ,Natasha Thompson, ,Natsuki Otani, ,Nina Dolcetti, ,noir, ,Noki, ,Oria, ,Partimi, ,People Tree, ,Pia Anjou, ,Prophetik, ,Rachel De Ste. Croix, ,Romina Karamanea, ,Sägen, ,Satoshi Date, ,Serpentine Gallery, ,Tara Starlet, ,Tate Modern, ,Tatty Devine, ,Ute Decker, ,Wilfried Pletzinger, ,Yelena Bryksenkova, ,Zarina Liew

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Amelia’s Magazine | Shared Interest: Lending with a difference

by

FAK 2

Since hearing First Aid Kits debut album The Big Black and The Blue we’ve been incredibly impressed with the sibling duo. The album is full of lush harmonies, this moody melodies and lyrical narratives which tell a story. I was able to catch up with Klara and Johanna before their gig at Rough Trade East. The girls were eating dinner at a curry house on Brick Lane with their father Benkt before the gig and I dropped in afterwards to ask them a few questions.
FAK 2

Since hearing First Aid Kits debut album The Big Black and The Blue we’ve been incredibly impressed with the sibling duo. The album is full of lush harmonies, what is ed moody melodies and lyrical narratives which tell a story. I was able to catch up with Klara and Johanna before their gig at Rough Trade East. The girls were eating dinner at a curry house on Brick Lane with their father Benkt before the gig and I dropped in afterwards to ask them a few questions.

Andy Devine. How’re you finding England?

Klara. Oh we just got here but we’re already enjoying it. It’s like coming home because we spent so much time here last year when we were on tour.

AD. You have a three month tour coming up. Is that something you ever imagined doing when you first started recording songs?

Klara. I guess, we imagined it, but not so soon. It was definitely in the plan, but we thought it’d be in about five year’s time. It’s happened really fast, but we’ve always wanted to make music.

AD. On the Whichita site it says that you were finishing school while you were recording your debut album. How did you manage to find the time to do both.

Johanna. We recorded it during weekends and holidays and at night when we were finished with homework.  It was really stressful.

hardbelieverpackshot

AD. How long did it take you to finish recording it?

Klara. From November 2008 to the summer 2009. It was because we were at school that we couldn’t do it quickly.

Johanna. Yeah we didn’t have all the songs; they were finished gradually.

Klara. Yeah, along the way.

AD. How do you approach your song writing?

Joanna. Well they all just pop out eventually

Klara. Yeah

AD. You’re both from Sweden but all of your songs are sung in English. Is there any particular reason why?

K. We both went to English school

J. Yeah, for four years

K. So it made sense. We’re also really into American and English culture and almost all the music we listen to is in English so when we make songs that’s the way they come out.

firstaidkitsinglepackshot
Banks, approved bonuses, buy unethical investment…it’s all so sickening and frustrating!  But yesterday evening I went to a talk by a lending society with a difference.  While a lot of the focus of my research recently has been on community groups and organisations, it is also good to hear about initiatives working to change our current economic system from within.    The talk was at the Howies Carnaby Street shop, as part of their regular programme of their Wee-do talks on sustainability.
alice
(Alice Mwelu shows off a bag that the women at Bega Kwa Bega have weaved. Korogocho slum, Nairobi.  All photos courtesy of Shared Interest)

Shared Interest, Sally explained, work along strict ethical principles, lending money to community-based businesses that have attained fair trade certification, allowing them to purchase raw materials, tools, develop their businesses and work their way out of poverty.  The businesses they are approached by for finance range from design and printing companies to tea-growers and arts and craft cooperatives, like the Nairobi-based handicraft cooperative Bega Kwa Bega whose photos are included here.

sewing

Individuals, businesses or organisations (at the moment only from the UK) can invest money into Shared Interest.  They currently have 8,700 members who have invested more than £24million in total.  A member can withdraw his or her investment at any time, meaning it is almost like a bank account, but there is no interest paid on your investment.  “The huge returns on your investment are social, rather than financial”, Sally said, and this is what most drove her to work for the cooperative.  Sally explained that it is almost a no-brainer for companies’ Corporate Social Responsibility programmes, as all they have to do is invest money (that they are actually free to withdraw at any time if they wish).  Most investors at the moment are individuals however. 
women weaving

(Women weave baskets at Bega Kwa Bega in Korogocho slum, Nairobi)

Shared Interest works through fair trade offices around the world, allowing them to get more immediate contact with people who apply for a loan.  They also have their own offices in Kenya, Costa Rica and one recently opened in Lima, Peru.  They have found a huge rise in the number of people applying for loans since they opened their international offices.
 
sisal

(Women weave baskets while freshly dyed sisal dries in the sun (which will be weaved into baskets) at Bega Kwa Bega, in Korogocho slum, Nairobi.  Photo courtesy of Shared Interest)

I asked Sally what the criteria for receiving a loan were and she explained “Shared interest isn’t a microfinance company, so we do actually lend to business that have existed for three years and have gained the fair trade certification.  Once they have applied for a loan we work out a business plan with them.  Once this is done, we work out together what interest rate the business can afford in their repayments.”  Sally stressed that this part of Shared Interest is important to her personally.  They work in partnership with the people they lend money to.  If there is difficulty or delay with repayments, the people from Shared Interest will work with the business to see what they can do to help. 

material

(Lucy Nyambura measures out material with which to make a bag at Bega Kwa Bega, in Korogocho slum, Nairobi)

As for future plans, Sally hopes more people will find out about Shared Interest, and that they can build up more partnerships with schools, thus teaching children more about trade, economics and Fair Trade.  Some schools have already participated in Shared Interest by investing the profit they make from their Fair Trade tuck shops.
bags

(A display of the bags and dolls that are made by the women at Bega Kwa Bega)

The Shared Interest Foundation also funds training and education on Fair Trade and many community-led schemes.  I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more about them this year….and also seeing Sally in her banana costume as she promotes Fair Trade throughout the UK…!

Written by Zofia Walczak on Wednesday January 27th, 2010 5:25 pm

Categories ,Bega Kwa Bega, ,Brainfood, ,Carnaby Street, ,Fair Trade, ,howies, ,Howies Wee-do, ,Sally Reith, ,Shared Interest, ,Wee-do

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Amelia’s Magazine | Do You Want To?

by

When did you last hear an amazing story? A tale of derring-do, help medical or grand ambition, shop heights scaled, ambulance depths plumbed – simple stand-up human decency or quiet unassuming endurance or some quirky ingenuity fit to inspire generations to come. The kind of stuff they used to sing songs about, and still do.

0805%20tent%20guitar.jpg

Sat around their dining table one evening, David and Clare Hieatt pondered. They were rubbing their chins over what they could really do about the things they cared about. They’d started howies back in 1995, something of an awesome inspirational-type clothes company in itself, but this was clearly not enough. From that evening of reflection, they figured that the world’s Doers are the best people to inspire people to go Do something. In David’s words, ‘They show us what is possible. They leave a trail that we can follow. Knowing how they did it helps us to connect the dots about how we can do it. They give us the inspiration, the final push we need to go and do our thing. Whatever that might be. From starting a new business, to inventing something that hasn’t been done before to fighting for your cause, doers seek.’

And so the Do Lectures were born – a series of talks by people who have Done stuff, and might well Do more, if we let them up and at it – a few days gathering each year to share ideas and stories, to meet other fantastic Doers, and thereby get these stories out and about in the world. Here are a few Qs – the As courtesy of David Hieatt – that might give you more of an idea.

Why do people get involved with the Do Lectures?

There isn’t a set of talks like it in Britain. The talks have sustainability at its heart. Their reason to exist is to make a positive change. The speakers do not get paid but we do cover their expenses. Speakers come from all over the world to tell their story. They want to share their learning, they want to share their new ideas, they want to share their journey. They want to tell the world about the change they have made or are seeking to make. It might be a small tent but there are some big ideas being shared. They have a story to tell. People remember stories. They forget facts.

0805%20speaker.jpg

How do you choose your speakers for the Do Lectures?

We spend the year researching the speakers. We find out who has written the most interesting books, written the most thought provoking articles, who is doing the bravest thinking in their field, and then we pull from that research and start to compile a short list. We already have some of the speakers booked for next year. We also have a number of Do mentors throughout the world. They report back to us from time to time. They tell us who their doers are in their part of the world. They we literally get on the phone to the people we are going to invite. Even in the second year, an invite is starting to carry some kudos.

What is the most unusual topic for this year’s Do Lectures?

Maybe, Mount Everests binman. Or a school that aims to create chaos and not order. Maybe the man wants to change how concrete is made. Or maybe the man who’s doodles have ended up on the big screen for what could be the biggest film of the year: Where the Wild Things Are.

Where do you see the Do lectures in 5, 10, 20 years’ time?

In 5 years – There will be a series of How to Do books. That cover the subjects that the talks cover from clean tech to inventing to climate change. Global talks. The talks will take place all over the world. From Sydney, to Bangalore, to Stockholm, to Tokyo, to San Francisco, to Beijing. The talks will over time become an important set of talks, respected throughout the world. In 10 years – The aim for the Do Lectures over the next decade is to build a world resource for Doers and to supply that knowledge for Free for the world to use. To make a positive change. In 20 years – To build A Do school. There will be a physical and a virtual library available free to the world.

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So here’s a gathering with a difference. At one thousand pounds a place, you’re less buying a ticket, more contributing to the speakers’ expenses and the future free distribution of the lectures. David and Clare are thinking big – what is fast becoming a respected annual event should attract over a million people across the world this time around to get inspired for free. If you can go, I most humbly and slightly jealously urge you, go. And if a back seat is the order of the day – well, don’t make a habit of sitting there. Once this year’s stories are out and available, I think there’ll be more than enough get-up to go. Yes, I surely Do.

Written by Tom Russell on Wednesday August 5th, 2009 6:31 pm

Categories ,activism, ,adventure, ,do, ,earth, ,everest, ,howies

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Amelia’s Magazine | Do You Want To?

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When did you last hear an amazing story? A tale of derring-do, help medical or grand ambition, shop heights scaled, ambulance depths plumbed – simple stand-up human decency or quiet unassuming endurance or some quirky ingenuity fit to inspire generations to come. The kind of stuff they used to sing songs about, and still do.

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Sat around their dining table one evening, David and Clare Hieatt pondered. They were rubbing their chins over what they could really do about the things they cared about. They’d started howies back in 1995, something of an awesome inspirational-type clothes company in itself, but this was clearly not enough. From that evening of reflection, they figured that the world’s Doers are the best people to inspire people to go Do something. In David’s words, ‘They show us what is possible. They leave a trail that we can follow. Knowing how they did it helps us to connect the dots about how we can do it. They give us the inspiration, the final push we need to go and do our thing. Whatever that might be. From starting a new business, to inventing something that hasn’t been done before to fighting for your cause, doers seek.’

And so the Do Lectures were born – a series of talks by people who have Done stuff, and might well Do more, if we let them up and at it – a few days gathering each year to share ideas and stories, to meet other fantastic Doers, and thereby get these stories out and about in the world. Here are a few Qs – the As courtesy of David Hieatt – that might give you more of an idea.

Why do people get involved with the Do Lectures?

There isn’t a set of talks like it in Britain. The talks have sustainability at its heart. Their reason to exist is to make a positive change. The speakers do not get paid but we do cover their expenses. Speakers come from all over the world to tell their story. They want to share their learning, they want to share their new ideas, they want to share their journey. They want to tell the world about the change they have made or are seeking to make. It might be a small tent but there are some big ideas being shared. They have a story to tell. People remember stories. They forget facts.

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How do you choose your speakers for the Do Lectures?

We spend the year researching the speakers. We find out who has written the most interesting books, written the most thought provoking articles, who is doing the bravest thinking in their field, and then we pull from that research and start to compile a short list. We already have some of the speakers booked for next year. We also have a number of Do mentors throughout the world. They report back to us from time to time. They tell us who their doers are in their part of the world. They we literally get on the phone to the people we are going to invite. Even in the second year, an invite is starting to carry some kudos.

What is the most unusual topic for this year’s Do Lectures?

Maybe, Mount Everests binman. Or a school that aims to create chaos and not order. Maybe the man wants to change how concrete is made. Or maybe the man who’s doodles have ended up on the big screen for what could be the biggest film of the year: Where the Wild Things Are.

Where do you see the Do lectures in 5, 10, 20 years’ time?

In 5 years – There will be a series of How to Do books. That cover the subjects that the talks cover from clean tech to inventing to climate change. Global talks. The talks will take place all over the world. From Sydney, to Bangalore, to Stockholm, to Tokyo, to San Francisco, to Beijing. The talks will over time become an important set of talks, respected throughout the world. In 10 years – The aim for the Do Lectures over the next decade is to build a world resource for Doers and to supply that knowledge for Free for the world to use. To make a positive change. In 20 years – To build A Do school. There will be a physical and a virtual library available free to the world.

0805%20wide%20tent.jpg

So here’s a gathering with a difference. At one thousand pounds a place, you’re less buying a ticket, more contributing to the speakers’ expenses and the future free distribution of the lectures. David and Clare are thinking big – what is fast becoming a respected annual event should attract over a million people across the world this time around to get inspired for free. If you can go, I most humbly and slightly jealously urge you, go. And if a back seat is the order of the day – well, don’t make a habit of sitting there. Once this year’s stories are out and available, I think there’ll be more than enough get-up to go. Yes, I surely Do.

Written by Tom Russell on Wednesday August 5th, 2009 6:31 pm

Categories ,activism, ,adventure, ,do, ,earth, ,everest, ,howies

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Amelia’s Magazine | Prick Your Finger knitting talk at Howies

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Putting the words Sustainable Fashion together can appear to produce an oxymoron, malady doctor how can an industry synonymous with the fast free consumerism mimicked in high fashion magazines pages that helped herald the economic crash become sustainable? Its very structure relies on the twin polluters of shipping and flying to deliver clothes across the world. Furthermore, tadalafil how can fashion be sustainable considering the volume of water and cotton required to make a single t-shirt, buy information pills a subject Amelia’s Magazine broached when reporting on the London School of Fashion Centre for Sustainability competition. Whilst the majority of the fashion industry has a long way to go with regards to production being ethically and sustainable, the recent collaboration between Fashion-Conscious and TRAIDremade is one example of the possibilities open to commerce. Continuing along the vein of Junky Styling TRAIDremade produces new clothes out of the old with beautiful results, proving it is more than possible to create fashionable items with your own hands. Amelia’s Magazine spoke to the director of Fashion Conscious.

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What do you think are the most important concerns for the fashion world at the moment?

For me, sustainability is key. The Fairtrade message seems to be getting through to a lot of people already but the vast amount of waste we produce which is being dumped into landfill is frightening. The rise of fast-fashion culture has increased the rate and amount of discarded clothes in landfill too. I think sustainability needs to be pushed to the forefront of eco-fashion now and I am hoping some projects we have coming up in the near future will do just that. The idea of being able to utilise what most would consider rubbish, literally turn waste in something new, fun and most of all fashionable is so exciting. Fashion recycles styles and trends so why shouldn’t the actual act of producing those clothes reflect that? It’s the future of fashion.
Vegan fashion is also a hot topic at the moment and controversy surrounding the use of leather from the Amazon has appeared in the press recently. We have an incredibly stylish collection of shoes by Olsenhaus on the site at the moment. Finding the most ethical materials and production processes is their paramount philosophy.

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What’s in store for Fashion Conscience in the future?

So much! We are currently preparing to launch TRAIDremade Boutique, a project we are incredibly excited about. Fashion-conscience has collaborated with the charity TRAID to come up with a new concept for sustainable fast and affordable fashion. The mini-collections will be much more trend focused than TRAID’s typical pieces and be made up of just a few of each design. New lines will be added every few weeks and as creative director, I’ll be keeping a close eye on the catwalk trends to really keep in touch with high-end fashion. The collection will be available exclusively for fashion-conscience customers. We are also launching an exclusive line of printed tees in the near future- they’re being designed and produced as we speak!

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How successful has the store been so far? Were you surprised by its success?

Surprised? Yes and no! I’m ambitious and I always hoped the site would be successful so in a way I wasn’t surprised that the site has seen a success. We started trading as the recession began so keeping in mind the tough trading conditions we’ve seen in the last year we’re growing rapidly. But where we’ve made real impact is within the industry itself. In terms of the fact that most people in ethical fashion industry see us as the number one site for style and new talent. We’ve showcased some fantastic new labels on fashion-conscience and I am always on the look out for more. We have attracted good press, and more than larger companies in the same arena as us. Good exposure is essential and we will always attract attention if we continue pushing boundaries.?

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Who are your favourite designers on the site? Which would you particularly like recommend?

Camilla Norrbeck sells her beautiful and timeless pieces exclusively on fashion-conscience. She’s a Swedish designer and uses almost entirely ecological or environmentally certified, natural fabrics

We will soon be stocking a little label called Betty Bridge. Born in Paris then studied in London, the designer sources vintage fabric to transform into gorgeous modern pieces. She brings practical, wearable and femininity to her clothes, mixing French chic with London flair.

Fin is a Norwegian label. Its very elegant, luxurios and sophisticated. I’m looking forward to receiving the AW collection. They use organic and environmentally friendly fabrics.

And vegan label Olsenhaus.

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Are there any other sites or shops like yours that you would recommend or that have inspired you?

For pure professionalism and selling good fashion, net-a-porter is great. They’ve managed to expand the designer market and made it more accessible to the general public. Eco blog ‘style will save us‘ has won design awards and simply picks the best of eco, we’re often featured on there too which is obviously always good! BeingContent is an excellent eco beauty and wellbeing site. They have everything from skincare to haircare and men’s beauty too

The possibilities are endless.

See Fashion-Conscious for links to other ethical design initiatives including the designer Rani Jones whose collection is made entirely in London and Fin, a Norwegian company who describe themselves as 100% carbon neutral.

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Only on their second single, pharm London-based indie fourtet, Your Twenties have been described as ‘possibly the best group ever formed by a member of another act who wasn’t the frontman.’ The ‘other act’ is Metronomy and ‘the member who wasn’t the frontman’ is Gabriel Stebbing. The delightful fellow chats to Amelia’s Magazine in Brick Lane about what it means to be in Your Twenties.

AM: So your new single, ‘Billionaires,’ I take it you don’t want to be a billionaire….

GS: It was one of the first songs I wrote for Your Twenties ages ago. When I was still in Metronomy. I guess it was me at my dreamiest and most ideological. I basically write music that makes you feel a particular way because of the sound. But with Billionaires, it’s not some big anti-corruption message, but in the music industry you can always see when people are motivated by money or where there is too much money thrown at something. I don’t think the song is 100% about that. It was just my little flag waving stand, the last of my idealism that was then crushed by the actual experience of touring with Metronomy. You can absolutely do everything you need to do on a shoestring. I was thinking about the xx record. They must have started 2 or 3 years ago. Now they’ve just released their album on a tiny label, produced it themselves and it’s brilliant! That’s what we’re trying to do with this band as well. I don’t think the old model really works.

AM: You’ve alluded to the pop sound of Your Twenties, was that a conscious move away from Metronomy?

GS: I just got to the point with Metronomy that I didn’t have the time to do both. They’re still touring that record non stop. Metronomy is completely Joe [Mount]‘s music. Me and him had been in each others bands for ages. He’d been the drummer in one of mine for 3 years, where he drummed and I wrote the songs. Then we swapped and I played bass and he wrote the music. Now it just seemed like the right time. I think he always knew I was going to push off at some point.

AM: Your pop aesthetic seems to be nostalgic of the genre before “that word” became a bad thing….

GS: I was brought up in Devon, we didn’t really have cool music. I sort of learnt everything about the early days, as much as you can learn about music, listening to my parents record collections and other people’s parents’ record collections. That idea of how records from the 60s and 70s could sound really weird and really pop at the same time, like The Kinks – I don’t think we’re a retro band or a throw back band – but what I like about records from that time and the post-punk era and in the 80s, they could make three minute long records that were really memorable and they always had something in the middle of them that twisted it all around somehow. ‘Billionaires’ is quite a classic, straight sound, but in ‘Caught Wheel’, our first single and ‘Gold’, which will probably be our next, I think they have that something a little bit strange. That’s what I’m going for.

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AM: How far off an album are you?

GS: I think it’s going to be a 10 or 12 track record. We’ve finished two tracks definitely. It’s pretty much all written, we have two thirds of it demo-ed and I say we’re gonna finish by November.

AM: So Joe is producing tracks on the album? And any more by Stephen Street [producer – Blur, The Smiths]?

GS: Stephen Street did Billionaires, the single, and it was really, really amazing to work with him. I think he did the best thing he could with what we brought to the table. It’s like he did the perfect production of that song. It harks back to all our favourite songs of the 90s. It was like a dream come true. Growing up listening to Blur and The Smiths it really was amazing. At the moment, we’re doing more tracks with Joe. He’s done stuff with us in the past and that kind of opened the sound for us – right but odd. On the couple of tracks we’ve done with him so far, it really works. We’re even gonna do a new version of ‘Billionaires’ for the record which will be Joe’s take on it. It sounds pretty amazing, it’s got a guitar solo in the middle that sounds like an American sitcom, like when Kramer walks in on Seinfeld and there’s that little bit of guitar, it kinda like that.

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AM: Your first two singles have been pretty summery. Will there be a darker element to any of the tracks in Your Twenties?

GS: I think it’s going to be quite a varied record. We’ve decided that we’re not going to have any tracks that are really down tempo or ballady. And it’s not that I don’t write those. But on your first album, I kinda want it to be, bam, bam, bam. There are a couple of songs that are shaping up to be, I guess, “bittersweet.” That’s a terribly, pretentious sounding word but it’s not all summer, sunshine. A lot of stuff is nostalgic sounding. You know the calm you get after a crazy night, that’s not necessarily down and depressed but reflective. There are a couple of tracks like that, which should fit nicely within the record so it’s not too gormless.

AM: So by the sounds of it the name Your Twenties is reflective of your music….

GS: In Metronomy, we played quite a few gigs with The Teenagers. That sort of gave me the name. I thought what comes next. I feel like that band really encapsulate what it’s like to be a teenager, you know, snogs behind the bike shed. They hit it on the head. With my twenties so far, everything has been a bit more complicated. I want the music and the lyrics to sum that up. I know that’s a massive statement but I want it to sort of fit that idea. There have been so many amazing points in my twenties and so many dead ends, feelings of exasperation and so many points of elation. The album is going to incorporate all of that. I don’t meet that many people that have been super successful in their twenties but when I do, I’m just like, ‘how do you manage that?’ My twenties have been anything but. It’s an album for people in their twenties that didn’t go into a career in banking.

AM: What else would you like to achieve in your twenties?

GS: I’d just like to get the record out. I’ve always been writing and thinking about the kind of music that I’d make if it was just me. I’ve spent the last few years with Metronomy and then before that in other bands that never really made it. And all the people I’ve been in bands with, have put out albums. So I just want to do that now. When I was 18 I made a pact with the lead singer of the band I was in, that we’d be as big as the Beatles. I remember it now, drinking cider… And gradually my sights have lowered and I just wanna get the record out, tour it, maybe play abroad and travel.

AM: You haven’t toured much yet, have you thought about how a tour would work?

GS: At the moment, because of the equipment we have, which isn’t very much, we’re playing it as a straight four piece indie format. But I guess we’re gonna bring in drum pads and electronic sounds. I suppose it’s a little bit early to start thinking about production but [with encouragement] why not? Video screens… why not one of those gang ways? I’ll run along it. Then there’ll be an acoustic set in the middle, like in the round. Then we ride an elephant like Take That. Ha ha ha.

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AM: Tell me about the video to Billionaires.

GS: It was case of timing and a case of something falling apart at the last minute. When you’ve got a band of four people and a video director who is going to work for little money outside of his normal production company. A lot of planets have to align. I was really deflated about it. I was on my own in the flat and it needed something. I am quite pleased with the product but I felt terribly unwell afterwards.

AM: It’s appropriate to what we were saying earlier with the powers of distribution….

GS: Yeah I didn’t really understand the Internet before I did that. I just stuck it up on the myspace and suddenly the next day… it was heartening. You don’t have to spend any money.

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Howies in Carnaby Street hosted a very cosy and exclusive “lecture” this week on the joys of knitting. The event was part of the Do lectures project – or a “Wee Do”, page a free event held in the shop where the audience were free to contribute their own thoughts and anecdotes about the topic.

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The crowd gathered on wooden stools to drink Eco Warrior beer and have a go at knitting a few mangled rows while Rachael Matthews and Louise Harries discussed their knitting vision, drug a blend of keeping the “make do and mend” spirit alive whilst finding new ways to source wool ethically and use it to make everything possible, from socks and gloves to building insulation. As it says in their newly-printed manifesto: “we believe in making old skills and new technologies work together in harmony”.

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As well as running Prick Your Finger, a haberdashery and knitting shop in Bethnal Green, Matthews and Harries are dedicated to helping people start, continue and finish their knitting, with classes and tuition available to help people finish projects they have begun but feel unable to complete. Common problems include endeavours which ended abruptly when the intended recipient died, or a relationship broke up.

Matthews mentioned something that rang very true: that knitting and crafts in general have a lot to do with love. After all, we no longer need to knit or sew clothes to wear, we can buy them ready-made from shops for sometimes ridiculously small amounts of money. When someone makes something for you, you know it’s because they care about you and they want to give you a gift that takes time and effort. If you’re making something for yourself, you know how much work went into it and you will never, ever throw it away! Handmade clothes are “slow fashion”; they take time to form and they end up being much better value because of how long they’ll last and how attached you’ll feel to them.

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According to the pair, knitting clubs have popped up all over the place since they first began their public knitting crusade in the 90s, gaining publicity by knitting in nightclubs and on the Circle Line. The craft has become popular again after a bleak few years and the audience for the lecture was a good mix of ages and genders. The lecture eventually turned into a general conversation and it emerged that everyone had a story to tell about knitting from within their family: which relative had taught them to knit, or made them something from scratch.

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Sadly, the years that have passed since my last knitting effort have not magically improved my abilities but I was very impressed with others’ attempts. I also thought about the many members of my family who knit, some of them to quite amazingly high standards, and how much they would like the wares of Prick Your Finger, which include painstakingly sourced wool including cashmere and the super-tough fibre used to make their shop sign.

Currently on show at the shop is a knitting venture that has travelled the world: a bench with a knitted cover, which was begun after a bench where older women congregated was replaced with bins by a local council.

There will be more in the Howies Wee Do series, so check their Brainfood feed for further events.

Written by Satu Fox on Wednesday September 9th, 2009 2:38 pm

Categories ,craft, ,howies, ,knitting, ,Prick your Finger, ,wool

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Amelia’s Magazine | Illustrator Zöe Barker: Blimey, That is Nice !

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Zoe-barker1All illustrations courtesy of Zöe Barker

Louisa Lee:  I’ve noticed that you’ve got a fine art background, health how did this develop into illustration?

Zöe Barker: Since I was a kid I wanted to be an artist. I loved drawing the most so it seemed an obvious choice. I headed straight to University onto a Fine Art degree after school. I hadn’t considered anything other than being a painter. University was interesting; realism and portrait painting were not trendy and I struggled for a while with explaining my thoughts and concepts. The ideas that were getting great reactions – dark, patient crude or shocking, information pills whacko performance art – were a bit frustrating and I didn’t know where I fit. I came close to transferring onto an Illustration degree, but decided that Fine Art was a great platform to work out my ideas and style. I began to understand how I wanted to communicate. I am really pleased that I stuck with that decision; during the last year of Art School ideas started forming that are still very much key in my work now. I started drawing in a way that achieved the right balance between craft and concept. When I left University I felt a bit stuck because I hadn’t received the advice or direction that a young illustrator could feed off, and my portfolio was essentially that of a fine artist. I kept getting told that my work wasn’t illustration but ‘real’ art, and I didn’t understand why illustration had to be so dumbed down, or why I had to be one or the other. I then started producing more drawings, giving them more of a purpose. I still felt like I was totally “blagging” it when I went for interviews, and was terrified to show my portfolio. I now have a better awareness of the sort of projects suited to me. It’s really important to not change the core of my art to get more work, but striving at refining and specialising.

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LL: Does your fine art background affect how you respond to commissions?

ZB: I hope so. I don’t like the idea that illustration is seen as a commercial cop out, and Fine Art as airy-fairy business. When I was studying fine art I found it so demoralising walking around galleries and studios seeing stuff that didn’t mean anything. People explained their ‘work’ with sweeping intellectual breakdowns. I only really discovered illustration at Uni. I thought illustration was people doing cute little watercolours for kids books, or people who could draw pretending they couldn’t. Then my housemate showed me Charles Anastase fashion illustrations and it changed the way I looked at drawing.

I don’t see why illustration can’t be as weighty and thought provoking as fine art – I wonder whether we aren’t thinking enough of the reader when we use illustration merely to decorate a text. Fine art taught me to think about how I wanted to communicate most efficiently. I am not limited by ways to approach an idea, which helps in handling wider ranges of projects. I prefer to call myself an illustrator because it sounds like a proper job!

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LL: Which artists or illustrators influence you?

ZB: Dryden Goodwin has been a huge influence. When I was in university he had produced a portrait of Sir Steve Redgrave. He’d meticulously drawn the same photograph 25 times and then animated it and looped it. All of the images are practically identical, but when animated the variations in the shading become apparent and suggest changes in the light. It’s beautiful; so simple but says so much about the nature of drawing and photography. When I first saw it I was having one of those days of cramming as many exhibitions into one day as I could, getting pretty demoralised by the work that I was seeing. Then I saw Sustained Endeavour and was blown away. I went to see that drawing so many times; when I had been having a bad day, when I need inspiration or reassuring. That sounds so cheesy, but I think that’s what art should be able to do. I have spent hours staring at his drawings, analysing his mark-making, literally breaking down how he uses a pencil. I’m pretty sure the Gallery staff thought I was mental. Justin Mortimer is also a massive influence on me. He’s done everything with paint that I wanted to do but didn’t come close to. Also Gerhard Richter, Chuck Close, Hellovon, and Billie Jean.

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LL: Your work manages to make the ordinary e.g. old cars, Tesco, Brylcream funny and interesting. What else inspires or influences your work?

ZB: I think I have a weird sense of humour! I get inspired to draw by lame things that everyone loves, like Coronation Street, or things totally unnecessary or ugly. I like looking at everyday objects/adverts and taking them out of context to show how bizarre they are. Especially stuff from when I was younger that I thought was super cool and then grew up and was like, really? Like Old Spice. You know that men’s fragrance? I’d buy my Grandad that every Christmas and think it was swanky as. I love seeing how time changes your perception. What I choose to draw is just funny, odd, awkward or outdated. I have a large collection of old National Geographics, suitcases of family photographs and other books and magazines from the 60s-80s. I love how excited everyone got about things like Thermos flasks. The sense of wonder you can see in people discovering these crazy ‘modern’ inventions. It seemed way more exciting back then; none of this Iphone, plasma TV, Playstation stuff. I found this advert in my book of modern day marvels describing the “new” ticket machine in the London Underground. It was describing how it ‘thought’ like some modern crazy robot, making sure it gave you the right change every time you used it. All of these things that we make out to be the best thing yet, and then the following year they get trashed for some slightly better update, and before you know it we’re laughing at our massive ‘brick’ phones. It just shows how fickle we are.

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I’m probably most inspired by past ideologies; my Parents and Grandparents talk about how they lived when they were kids, and I think we’re missing out! I grew up in Suffolk, and going back there feels like a different time zone. Up until a couple of years ago the beer from the local brewery was still being delivered to the local pubs by a horse and cart. The contrast between the countryside and London living is fascinating; taking old-fashioned ideals of family, community and the local, and then mashing that up against power-dressing and corporate empires. That’s where the Tesco Values drawing came from. Tesco opened in my tiny, sleepy little town where you know every shopkeeper and where Woolworths had once been the peak of the high street shopping experience. It made me angry. And then I laughed at the obscurity of it and made a drawing. I think my drawings are kind of a nostalgic bid to hold onto outlooks on life that seem to be fading. That’s where my fascination with Volvos comes from. The family car encompasses an ideal of a family unit; safety and practicality over shiny good looks. What does life in England look like when these ideals have disappeared, and have been replaced with slick corporate efficiency and independent living?

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LL: Most of your work seems to be in 3H pencil, why is this? Do you ever work in different colours or mediums?

ZB: I think pencils are underrated. I usually use 3H pencils. It’s just such a beautifully simple, honest process and it’s so delicate. I’ve done many drawings where I’ve obsessed over a particular area, and then realised the drawing has got over-worked. I usually bin it. If you start bombarding a pencil drawing with stacks of colour and different texture it loses its gentle and fragile charm. Drawing shouldn’t try to be high tech, showy, glossy, perfect thing, because it goes against everything that’s great about it. I like that it’s a process that everyone can get in on. There’s no mystery to it. You can say so much with a pencil mark because it’s so direct and undiluted. I like things simple and the idea of my equipment costing £3!

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LL:  I like your pixellated work on graph paper, how did this come about?

ZB: During my degree I lost interest in painting portraits. I wanted to produce intricate paintings. The whole idea of re-mediation and reproduction fascinated me. I was getting really interested in photography and truth of representation theories. In my third year of my degree ahead of my final show, I stayed late in the studio and was sat in front of some painting I had done of a fisherman from an old National Geographic. I had loved the process and the realism of the painting, but was totally unimpressed with the concept of the finished piece. I hated the composition and was in a real state of frustration. So, I pulled it off the stretcher and started cutting it into little squares. I think my friends thought I’d gone a bit mad. But I was on some quest. I had to find a purpose for the work, a question I was trying to answer. That was the last painting I made. I started making drawings from photographs but using abstraction and pixilation, using different layers and materials, trying to understand photography through drawing. The pixel drawings came from the idea that photography had this privileged link with truth and representing the ‘real’, yet was totally flawed – taking old imagery and cropping it awkwardly and distorting it, then locking it behind an envelope window or a piece of tracing paper to show some kind of finality or impenetrable surface. I enjoy trying to push what drawing can do.
Zoe-Barker6 LL: What would be your ideal brief?

ZB: A hand-drawn billboard campaign for Volvo! My favourite jobs come from working with people who are passionate about what they’re trying to achieve. If I really believe in a project or a vision I’m sold. I’ve loved working for Howies and Bobbin Bicycles because they are clear about what they’re about and won’t compromise. People going against the flow get me excited. Obviously I’d also like to do the artwork for my favourite bands’ new albums and stuff like that, but then I sound like a 16 year old. That’s ok though. I’d love to collaborate with a musician or a band and produce artwork that is as important as the music it’s encasing.

LL: Where will we see your work next?

ZB: I have a couple of collaborations coming up. I’ll be contributing to each of Patrick Fry’s next set of No.Zines. The last three were ace! I’m also starting work for an exhibition with a photographer friend, focussing on ‘Tesco Values’, exploring how technological and cultural advances are affecting rural areas.

Written by Louisa Lee on Wednesday January 27th, 2010 3:35 pm

Categories ,Advertising, ,animation, ,Billie Jean, ,Bobbin Bicycles, ,Charles Anastase, ,Chuck Close, ,drawing, ,drawings, ,Dryden Goodwin, ,fanzine, ,Fine Art, ,Gerhard Richter, ,Graphic Design, ,Hellovon, ,howies, ,illustration, ,National Greographic, ,Old Spice, ,Patrick Fry, ,photography, ,Tesco, ,Volvo, ,Zöe Barker

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Amelia’s Magazine | Illustrator Zöe Barker: Blimey, That is Nice !

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Zoe-barker1All illustrations courtesy of Zöe Barker

Louisa Lee:  I’ve noticed that you’ve got a fine art background, health how did this develop into illustration?

Zöe Barker: Since I was a kid I wanted to be an artist. I loved drawing the most so it seemed an obvious choice. I headed straight to University onto a Fine Art degree after school. I hadn’t considered anything other than being a painter. University was interesting; realism and portrait painting were not trendy and I struggled for a while with explaining my thoughts and concepts. The ideas that were getting great reactions – dark, patient crude or shocking, information pills whacko performance art – were a bit frustrating and I didn’t know where I fit. I came close to transferring onto an Illustration degree, but decided that Fine Art was a great platform to work out my ideas and style. I began to understand how I wanted to communicate. I am really pleased that I stuck with that decision; during the last year of Art School ideas started forming that are still very much key in my work now. I started drawing in a way that achieved the right balance between craft and concept. When I left University I felt a bit stuck because I hadn’t received the advice or direction that a young illustrator could feed off, and my portfolio was essentially that of a fine artist. I kept getting told that my work wasn’t illustration but ‘real’ art, and I didn’t understand why illustration had to be so dumbed down, or why I had to be one or the other. I then started producing more drawings, giving them more of a purpose. I still felt like I was totally “blagging” it when I went for interviews, and was terrified to show my portfolio. I now have a better awareness of the sort of projects suited to me. It’s really important to not change the core of my art to get more work, but striving at refining and specialising.

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LL: Does your fine art background affect how you respond to commissions?

ZB: I hope so. I don’t like the idea that illustration is seen as a commercial cop out, and Fine Art as airy-fairy business. When I was studying fine art I found it so demoralising walking around galleries and studios seeing stuff that didn’t mean anything. People explained their ‘work’ with sweeping intellectual breakdowns. I only really discovered illustration at Uni. I thought illustration was people doing cute little watercolours for kids books, or people who could draw pretending they couldn’t. Then my housemate showed me Charles Anastase fashion illustrations and it changed the way I looked at drawing.

I don’t see why illustration can’t be as weighty and thought provoking as fine art – I wonder whether we aren’t thinking enough of the reader when we use illustration merely to decorate a text. Fine art taught me to think about how I wanted to communicate most efficiently. I am not limited by ways to approach an idea, which helps in handling wider ranges of projects. I prefer to call myself an illustrator because it sounds like a proper job!

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LL: Which artists or illustrators influence you?

ZB: Dryden Goodwin has been a huge influence. When I was in university he had produced a portrait of Sir Steve Redgrave. He’d meticulously drawn the same photograph 25 times and then animated it and looped it. All of the images are practically identical, but when animated the variations in the shading become apparent and suggest changes in the light. It’s beautiful; so simple but says so much about the nature of drawing and photography. When I first saw it I was having one of those days of cramming as many exhibitions into one day as I could, getting pretty demoralised by the work that I was seeing. Then I saw Sustained Endeavour and was blown away. I went to see that drawing so many times; when I had been having a bad day, when I need inspiration or reassuring. That sounds so cheesy, but I think that’s what art should be able to do. I have spent hours staring at his drawings, analysing his mark-making, literally breaking down how he uses a pencil. I’m pretty sure the Gallery staff thought I was mental. Justin Mortimer is also a massive influence on me. He’s done everything with paint that I wanted to do but didn’t come close to. Also Gerhard Richter, Chuck Close, Hellovon, and Billie Jean.

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LL: Your work manages to make the ordinary e.g. old cars, Tesco, Brylcream funny and interesting. What else inspires or influences your work?

ZB: I think I have a weird sense of humour! I get inspired to draw by lame things that everyone loves, like Coronation Street, or things totally unnecessary or ugly. I like looking at everyday objects/adverts and taking them out of context to show how bizarre they are. Especially stuff from when I was younger that I thought was super cool and then grew up and was like, really? Like Old Spice. You know that men’s fragrance? I’d buy my Grandad that every Christmas and think it was swanky as. I love seeing how time changes your perception. What I choose to draw is just funny, odd, awkward or outdated. I have a large collection of old National Geographics, suitcases of family photographs and other books and magazines from the 60s-80s. I love how excited everyone got about things like Thermos flasks. The sense of wonder you can see in people discovering these crazy ‘modern’ inventions. It seemed way more exciting back then; none of this Iphone, plasma TV, Playstation stuff. I found this advert in my book of modern day marvels describing the “new” ticket machine in the London Underground. It was describing how it ‘thought’ like some modern crazy robot, making sure it gave you the right change every time you used it. All of these things that we make out to be the best thing yet, and then the following year they get trashed for some slightly better update, and before you know it we’re laughing at our massive ‘brick’ phones. It just shows how fickle we are.

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I’m probably most inspired by past ideologies; my Parents and Grandparents talk about how they lived when they were kids, and I think we’re missing out! I grew up in Suffolk, and going back there feels like a different time zone. Up until a couple of years ago the beer from the local brewery was still being delivered to the local pubs by a horse and cart. The contrast between the countryside and London living is fascinating; taking old-fashioned ideals of family, community and the local, and then mashing that up against power-dressing and corporate empires. That’s where the Tesco Values drawing came from. Tesco opened in my tiny, sleepy little town where you know every shopkeeper and where Woolworths had once been the peak of the high street shopping experience. It made me angry. And then I laughed at the obscurity of it and made a drawing. I think my drawings are kind of a nostalgic bid to hold onto outlooks on life that seem to be fading. That’s where my fascination with Volvos comes from. The family car encompasses an ideal of a family unit; safety and practicality over shiny good looks. What does life in England look like when these ideals have disappeared, and have been replaced with slick corporate efficiency and independent living?

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LL: Most of your work seems to be in 3H pencil, why is this? Do you ever work in different colours or mediums?

ZB: I think pencils are underrated. I usually use 3H pencils. It’s just such a beautifully simple, honest process and it’s so delicate. I’ve done many drawings where I’ve obsessed over a particular area, and then realised the drawing has got over-worked. I usually bin it. If you start bombarding a pencil drawing with stacks of colour and different texture it loses its gentle and fragile charm. Drawing shouldn’t try to be high tech, showy, glossy, perfect thing, because it goes against everything that’s great about it. I like that it’s a process that everyone can get in on. There’s no mystery to it. You can say so much with a pencil mark because it’s so direct and undiluted. I like things simple and the idea of my equipment costing £3!

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LL:  I like your pixellated work on graph paper, how did this come about?

ZB: During my degree I lost interest in painting portraits. I wanted to produce intricate paintings. The whole idea of re-mediation and reproduction fascinated me. I was getting really interested in photography and truth of representation theories. In my third year of my degree ahead of my final show, I stayed late in the studio and was sat in front of some painting I had done of a fisherman from an old National Geographic. I had loved the process and the realism of the painting, but was totally unimpressed with the concept of the finished piece. I hated the composition and was in a real state of frustration. So, I pulled it off the stretcher and started cutting it into little squares. I think my friends thought I’d gone a bit mad. But I was on some quest. I had to find a purpose for the work, a question I was trying to answer. That was the last painting I made. I started making drawings from photographs but using abstraction and pixilation, using different layers and materials, trying to understand photography through drawing. The pixel drawings came from the idea that photography had this privileged link with truth and representing the ‘real’, yet was totally flawed – taking old imagery and cropping it awkwardly and distorting it, then locking it behind an envelope window or a piece of tracing paper to show some kind of finality or impenetrable surface. I enjoy trying to push what drawing can do.
Zoe-Barker6 LL: What would be your ideal brief?

ZB: A hand-drawn billboard campaign for Volvo! My favourite jobs come from working with people who are passionate about what they’re trying to achieve. If I really believe in a project or a vision I’m sold. I’ve loved working for Howies and Bobbin Bicycles because they are clear about what they’re about and won’t compromise. People going against the flow get me excited. Obviously I’d also like to do the artwork for my favourite bands’ new albums and stuff like that, but then I sound like a 16 year old. That’s ok though. I’d love to collaborate with a musician or a band and produce artwork that is as important as the music it’s encasing.

LL: Where will we see your work next?

ZB: I have a couple of collaborations coming up. I’ll be contributing to each of Patrick Fry’s next set of No.Zines. The last three were ace! I’m also starting work for an exhibition with a photographer friend, focussing on ‘Tesco Values’, exploring how technological and cultural advances are affecting rural areas.

Written by Louisa Lee on Wednesday January 27th, 2010 3:35 pm

Categories ,Advertising, ,animation, ,Billie Jean, ,Bobbin Bicycles, ,Charles Anastase, ,Chuck Close, ,drawing, ,drawings, ,Dryden Goodwin, ,fanzine, ,Fine Art, ,Gerhard Richter, ,Graphic Design, ,Hellovon, ,howies, ,illustration, ,National Greographic, ,Old Spice, ,Patrick Fry, ,photography, ,Tesco, ,Volvo, ,Zöe Barker

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