Leonard Street

Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week Menswear Day A/W 2011 Presentation Review: SIBLING

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Fair+True and Reluxe by Andrea Kearney

The EcoLuxe exhibition was held at the ultra chic One Aldwych Hotel, viagra healing just across the road from Somerset House. Fresh from Esthetica, viagra I wondered if the designers holed up over at One Aldwych would be able to compete with the level of talent I’d witnessed over at Somerset House, but my questions were quickly forgotten as I descended the staircase at the hotel and saw what waited for me.

Inevitably, there were a few brands and designers showcasing work that didn’t really float my boat, but I also saw some beautifully crafted clothes that really excited me. Here are just a few of my favourites.

I was excited to see that Fashion Conscience, my favourite ethical online retailer, had a stand. I quickly got chatting to their PR rep about how to encourage more mainstream use of ethical design principals and how to close the gap between the high end ethical and the affordable everyday ethical. Fashion Conscience, in my humble opinion, are beginning to fill this gap, but there is still some way to go. The Fashion Conscience stall was showcasing the work of two of my favourite labels, ReLuxe and Fair+True:

Reluxe oozes cool. The designs are fresh, colourful, relaxed and crucially AFFORDABLE. They use recycled fabrics which means many garments are completely unique, or in limited supply due to the limitations of the fabric. I have fallen in love with this slightly bonkers neon striped skirt and am just waiting for pay day to purchase it (don’t beat me to it!) Brands like Reluxe and Fair+True (below) make me excited and hopeful that ethical businesses CAN make it in to the middle market mainstream, can be affordable and can have mass appeal. YES.

Knitted Skirt by Reluxe. Photo via Fashion Conscience.

Fair+True are a brand new Fairtrade company that also make lovely, brightly coloured sporty brights that I would love to wear. All pieces are fairly made in the UK or Africa or created from sustainable and organic fabrics. LOVE.

Fair + True by Fritha Strickland

I hadn’t ever heard of Lowie and I’m most disappointed by this because I utterly loved their stuff. The AW 2011 pieces were gorgeous, brightly coloured, hand knitted accessories and clothing. I adored their Turkish socks, ear muffs, cloche hats and cardigans. Their Spring 2011 collection was also beautiful with some really interesting shapes and details.


Turkish socks by Lowie. Illustration by Faye West

I liked the moody colours, tailoring and detailing of HEMYCA‘s clothes. Their focus is on fine tailoring, with an emphasis on the waist, which I always love. Ethically, HEMYCA has an ‘Organic Tailoring’ range and manufactures all their garments in London, promoting local businesses and cutting down on carbon dioxide emissions.

Hemyca Dress. Photo via Not Just A Label.

I was also introduced to Sanyukta Shrestha’s wedding accessories and dresses. It wasn’t until I saw models wearing the dresses online after the event that I truly appreciated their beauty. In fact I had a mouth a-gape, heart a-flutter moment when I saw this floor length, pleated dress with low cut back. It’s made from 100% organic silk and organic fair traded cotton sateen. If I could get married again (to the same man, I hasten to add!) it would be in this dress. Oh my. Head. Over. Heels.

Sanyukta Shrestha Wedding Dress by Fritha Strickland

I expected to be impressed by the show rooms, but I didn’t expect to be blown away. I left both the Esthetica and Eco Luxe exhibits with my brain whirring, my bag stuffed full of promo material, a camera full of more images than I knew what to do with and having talked at a million miles an hour to so many interesting and inspiring people. Eco Luxe has doubled in size since last year in what I assume  is a reflection of the increasing acceptance and awareness of ethical design. I hope that as ethical design and shopping with conscience become more mainstream,  that one day ethical clothing designers wont be sectioned off in their own separate rooms, but showcasing alongside all the other designers; proving that fashion with a conscience is the norm, not the exception. One day indeed.

Fair+True and Reluxe by Andrea Kearney

The EcoLuxe exhibition was held at the ultra chic One Aldwych Hotel, illness just across the road from Somerset House. Fresh from Esthetica, sales I wondered if the designers holed up over at One Aldwych would be able to compete with the level of talent I’d witnessed over at Somerset House, website but my questions were quickly forgotten as I descended the staircase at the hotel and saw what waited for me.

Inevitably, there were a few brands and designers showcasing work that didn’t really float my boat, but I also saw some beautifully crafted clothes that really excited me. Here are just a few of my favourites.

I was excited to see that Fashion Conscience, my favourite ethical online retailer, had a stand. I quickly got chatting to their PR rep about how to encourage more mainstream use of ethical design principals and how to close the gap between the high end ethical and the affordable everyday ethical. Fashion Conscience, in my humble opinion, are beginning to fill this gap, but there is still some way to go. The Fashion Conscience stall was showcasing the work of two of my favourite labels, ReLuxe and Fair+True:

Reluxe oozes cool. The designs are fresh, colourful, relaxed and crucially AFFORDABLE. They use recycled fabrics which means many garments are completely unique, or in limited supply due to the limitations of the fabric. I have fallen in love with this slightly bonkers neon striped skirt and am just waiting for pay day to purchase it (don’t beat me to it!) Brands like Reluxe and Fair+True (below) make me excited and hopeful that ethical businesses CAN make it in to the middle market mainstream, can be affordable and can have mass appeal. YES.

Knitted Skirt by Reluxe. Photo via Fashion Conscience.

Fair+True are a brand new Fairtrade company that also make lovely, brightly coloured sporty brights that I would love to wear. All pieces are fairly made in the UK or Africa or created from sustainable and organic fabrics. LOVE.

Fair + True by Fritha Strickland

I hadn’t ever heard of Lowie and I’m most disappointed by this because I utterly loved their stuff. The AW 2011 pieces were gorgeous, brightly coloured, hand knitted accessories and clothing. I adored their Turkish socks, ear muffs, cloche hats and cardigans. Their Spring 2011 collection was also beautiful with some really interesting shapes and details.


Turkish socks by Lowie. Illustration by Faye West

I liked the moody colours, tailoring and detailing of HEMYCA‘s clothes. Their focus is on fine tailoring, with an emphasis on the waist, which I always love. Ethically, HEMYCA has an ‘Organic Tailoring’ range and manufactures all their garments in London, promoting local businesses and cutting down on carbon dioxide emissions.

Hemyca Dress. Photo via Not Just A Label.

I was also introduced to Sanyukta Shrestha’s wedding accessories and dresses. It wasn’t until I saw models wearing the dresses online after the event that I truly appreciated their beauty. In fact I had a mouth a-gape, heart a-flutter moment when I saw this floor length, pleated dress with low cut back. It’s made from 100% organic silk and organic fair traded cotton sateen. If I could get married again (to the same man, I hasten to add!) it would be in this dress. Oh my. Head. Over. Heels.

Sanyukta Shrestha Wedding Dress by Fritha Strickland

I expected to be impressed by the show rooms, but I didn’t expect to be blown away. I left both the Esthetica and Eco Luxe exhibits with my brain whirring, my bag stuffed full of promo material, a camera full of more images than I knew what to do with and having talked at a million miles an hour to so many interesting and inspiring people. Eco Luxe has doubled in size since last year in what I assume  is a reflection of the increasing acceptance and awareness of ethical design. I hope that as ethical design and shopping with conscience become more mainstream,  that one day ethical clothing designers wont be sectioned off in their own separate rooms, but showcasing alongside all the other designers; proving that fashion with a conscience is the norm, not the exception. One day indeed.

Illustration by Rachel Liddington

After a very early start Frowing at JW Anderson on menswear day, approved it was time to head to the Sibling presentation – one of my most anticipated shows during fashion week. Taking place in the Portico Rooms again, by the time myself, illustrator Gareth and contributor Nick got there the room was already heaving. It was a similar set up to last time – mannequins formed a circle around the room with a film showing on loop in the centre.

It was fab. This season’s collection is absolutely inspired. Whimsically titled ‘Darn The Boozer,’ A/W 2011 takes us on a pub-crawl of the East End, stopping off at my favourite drinkeries. From the Golden Heart to the George & Dragon, the collection is a whistle-stop tour around local boozers, with different pieces for different places. The Golden Heart describes itself as ‘a real British pub’ and that pretty much sums up this collection – the best of British boozer motifs embroidered onto sweaters in Sibling’s staple style.


Illustration by Abi Daker

The Golden Heart gets the Sibling treatment to kick things off, with embroidered hearts in a tattoo motif as well as emblems knitted into sweaters with spider-web elbows. The Red Lion gets a look in on the way, in the form of a crew neck sweater with an enormous embroidered lion design, featuring different textures and tones of red. The Bricklayer’s Arms is represented through an insignia zip jacket with pockets. My favourite boozer – The George & Dragon – is our last stop. A Fair Isle knit features typical geometric patterns, spiced up with Saint George on horseback woven into the mix.

George, the knight, further inspires my favourite piece in the collection – a bright red knitted sweater with added shoulder details and tan leather buckles, and I’m already working out how I’ll be able to buy it when it hits the shops. This quirky detail is also used on grey scarf which looks a bit like a neck brace, in the best possible sense.

Accessories this season include Kiss Panda knitted masks – completely unwearable but another fab artist collaboration following on from last season’s marriage with Tim Noble and Sue Webster. They’re the conception of Pure Evil, and a jumper also features this playful design – far more wearable and definitely one for the wish list.

The film, by Willem Jaspert & Stephen Langmanis, showed chavvy boys having a pint and a fag outside The George & Dragon itself. I’m not sure these ruffians are Sibling’s target audience, but the aesthetic really worked.

Other bits and pieces include lust-worthy ‘love’ and ‘hate’ gloves. Really should start saving…

Look out for illustrator Gareth’s take on this and more coming soon!

All photography by Matt Bramford

Written by Matt Bramford on Tuesday March 8th, 2011 1:04 pm

Categories ,A/W 2011, ,Darn The Boozer, ,East End, ,embroidery, ,Kiss, ,knitwear, ,Leonard Street, ,London Fashion Week, ,menswear, ,Pandas, ,Portico Rooms, ,Pubs, ,Pure Evil, ,Sibling, ,Somerset House, ,The Bricklayer’s Arms, ,The George & Dragon, ,The Golden Heart, ,The Red Lion

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Amelia’s Magazine | EB&Flow

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see dosage _Another_Level, visit this site buy _4x4x3m, illness _mixed_media_including_reclaimed_wood,_glass_flowers,_taxidermied_bird,_flower_pots,_2009_courtesy_the_artist_and_EB&Flow” width=”480″ height=”320″ class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-38966″ />
Katie Louise Surridge, Another Level. Mixed media including reclaimed wood, glass flowers, taxidermied bird, flower pots.

Amidst the renovations and general detritus that inevitably comes when you do a top to toe renovation of a two floored building, Nathan Englebrecht and Margherita Berloni are guiding me around the former print works in Leonard Street, EC2 which will soon form the light-filled gallery space for EB&Flow. In the run up to the April 2nd opening, the gallery founders – both twenty somethings who met on an art business course – seem as cool as proverbial cucumbers and in good spirits as we tour the premises, chatting all the while about their vision for the space and how it will serve and suit their artists in residence. While art galleries are certainly not hard to come by in this neck of the woods, there is something very noteworthy about this particular endeavor, and that is the galleries extensive level of support to the artists who will exhibit in their gallery. Their aim is to cultivate long term relationships with the artists in residency, and share an ethos that they will try to make anything happen for them; advising them on their careers, placing them in collections, even paying for material costs if necessary.


A selection of works by some of the 10 artists who will be exhibiting at the group show Since Tomorrow
Gemma Anderson
Albemarlensis, Pahoehoe Lava


Ketil by Shannah Bupp.


Silent Are The Echoes by Nicholas Mcleod

During the time that their work is exhibited at EB&Flow, they are also given studio space within the gallery. (After a period, the walls will be removed and the studio becomes an exhibition in itself). It soon becomes clear that Nathan and Margherita feel passionately about this, discussing at length something which is somewhat of a current hot topic – the sense that artists are not provided with enough support and advice during their time at art school with regards to the business of art; (a subject that was recently discussed in Jessica Furseth’s article here). “We never felt that artists had the right platform in which to exhibit and the support that was needed to develop their careers”, Nathan explains. Born out of this is an additional feature of the gallery; an educational programme kicking off at the end of April that will discuss issues such as collecting, curatorial practice and artist professional development. They list a few of the topics that will be covered, such as the legality issues of selling art, re-sell rights, how to store art, how to do art fairs…..all things relevant and vital to a burgeoning artists career. It’s worth mentioning that these courses and lectures will be open to all. Check the EB&Flow website for further details.


Margeherita and Nathan, EB & Flow.

I ask Margherita and Nathan what they are looking for in an artist, and what type of work will feature at EB&Flow. “There is a certain aesthetic line going through our choice of artists”, Nathan explains, with Margherita adding “we steer away from very conceptual stuff and minimalist art; we want something rich and interesting to look at”. Their first collection is entitled Since Tomorrow, curated by Attilia Fattori Franchini and features work (using disciplines such as installation, painting, sculpture and photography) from ten emerging artists exploring the dynamics of space and providing responses to the question ‘ what is the space we are living at the moment and how do we represent it?’. Work will be shown by Briony Anderson, Gemma Anderson, Neil Ayling, Ross M. Brown, Shannah Bupp, Sue Corke, Dylan Culhane, Alessandro Librio, Nicholas McLeod, Katie Louise Surridge and Cristian Zuzunaga.


So Over by Katie Louise Surridge

Amongst the core group of artists whose work will be opening the gallery is Katie Louise Surridge, a Slade School of Fine Art graduate. (She will also go on to have a residency at the EB&Flow gallery). Her work will particularly resonate with anyone who lives in grimy, rubbish strewn London because Katie has the ability to make something beautiful out of the underbelly of the city. Her installations use found objects which she sources during scavenging missions done mainly along the Thames, creating a utopia out of what has been left behind and discarded. While I was talking with Nathan and Margherita, Katie was busy getting a sense of the space that will feature her (very big) installation. She works mostly with natural materials, such as aged wood and metal; “natural materials that have been used in this urban scheme, and then reverted back to being natural again”. “I have this fascination with what’s left behind”, she continues, “I like the aesthetic of what the river washes up – it’s been there for a long time and it’s aged and it feels like its got a bit of history behind it”. It’s impossible not to warm to Katie, especially after discovering the following facts about her:
– She once found an S+M style gag washed up in the river and took it to the pub, thinking that it was a dog collar.
– She was in the Boy Scouts as a child (not the Brownies)
– She is a self confessed obsessive hoarder
– Her beloved dog is going to be featured on a ‘Dog Borstal’ style TV show
– She is saving up to buy a metal detector to assist her scavenging expeditions.

Discovering Katie’s work makes me realise how little I know about what gets discarded in big cities, and how much waste washes up around us.


Dylan Culhane, and his work Mechanotron which will feature in Since Tomorrow.

Since Tomorrow: Exhibition Dates, 2 April – 26 May.

Written by Cari Steel on Wednesday March 30th, 2011 12:54 pm

Categories ,Alessandro Librio, ,art, ,artists, ,Attilia Fattori Franchini, ,Briony Anderson, ,Cristian Zuzunaga, ,Dylan Culhane, ,EB&Flow, ,Gallery, ,Gemma Anderson, ,interview, ,Katie Louise Surridge, ,Leonard Street, ,Neil Ayling, ,Nicholas McLeod, ,Ross M. Brown, ,Shannah Bupp, ,Slade Scool, ,Sue Corke

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