GARMSVILLE: October 2011

Archive for October 2011

Orange...!

Wednesday, 26 October 2011 Comments Off

I'm guessing that what makes orange so attractive to designers and brands right 
now is not only that men are becoming less and less afraid of colour.

It might also have something to do with the fact that it's almost pointless trying to 
co-ordinate the colour orange with any other dominant hue.

This makes it easier to add to an already substantial winter wardrobe; it 
doesn't match with anything, so it can be worn with everything.

It works like an unexpected exclamation mark bringing an otherwise considered and well

balanced statement to a bold, if not a little incongruous end!

These great images are courtesy of Sergei from Close Up and Private. He shot 
them in collaboration with Gant Rugger for the Denmark store's official 
lookbook. The first image is previously unpublished..!

 facebook - gant rugger dk & close up and private collab

Nine Targets: Styles Will Vary

Wednesday, 19 October 2011 Comments Off

With a handmade product comes the possibility for variation. This is one of the surprising qualities of the new collection of key fobs and wallets by British brand Nine Targets.

Each piece is the result of the craftsman’s singular response to the raw material.

A feel thing, a mood thing, it's these subtle differences - produced by using traditional techniques predating mass production and industrialization - which gives each product its uniqueness.

In that sense, altho’ Nine Targets is a new brand, its true linage is centuries old.

Go see: available at Present, 140 Shoreditch High Street London E1 6JE

Everyone's talking about: Justin Deakin

Tuesday, 18 October 2011 Comments Off

Next time you walk down Hanbury Street, pop into Justin Deakin's new store. You can't miss it: it's the one with scaffolding outside. There's still a few things need doing upstairs, but since we were ready to open, we figured we wouldn't let the scaffolding put us off, he explains. They opened on Saturday.

Right now Deakin and his wife are running the shop. We wanted to get a feel of the place, of the area and see how people responded to the shoes first-hand before we got any staff in.

The shop's interior is both opulent and understated: kinda like the shoes themselves, there's a lot going on but not in an obvious way. I've been consulting for shoe brands for years, he explains, spent a lot of time working in Italy. About three years ago I decided I wanted to do something that was really about my vision, about why I got into making shoes in the first place. So, I went back to Northampton and started designing my own collection.

You can tell why Deakin is regarded as one of the countries top shoe designers. The shape of the last, the materials, the detailing; his work is both original and classic. I've been working with the same last-maker for twenty-five years, he says, and all the shoes are made in England.

Even the silk trim featured on the boots and tasselled loafers is sourced in England. I drive up to a textiles specilaist I know; I prefer to buy the remnants rather than a whole roll of silk; it's up-cycling in a way, and it also means that each shoe becomes even more individual.

With a wealth of considered details like this, in contrast to many brands currently on the market, what's refreshing about Deakin's design is that it isn't all about the facade. And for the time being at least, it's a principle which also applies to the new shop.

Go see; Justin Deakin .. 22 Hanbury Street, London E1 6QR

That's Lester Bowie baby.

Tuesday, 11 October 2011 Comments Off

Gotta love Lester; playful, challenging, always restless Lester. Ever see The Art Ensemble Of Chicago? A complete assault on the senses - all six of them. The musicians would come on stage and take you on a crazy journey thro' the past, the present and onto the future of music - Great Black Music, as they'd announce at the end of the show. So extreme; from the verge of collapse, the music would magically become something beautiful and mesmeric, and yet with the threat, (or promise, maybe) of anarchy never far away.

And there in the middle would be Lester, mad professor Bowie in his lab coat, two-pronged goatee beard and a mischievous smile on his face.

Here's the epic, classic piece from the film soundtrack Les Stances A Sophie, featuring Lester's wife Fontella Bass on vocal.

Lester Bowie was born on this day in 1941. He died in 1999. His music is still avant-garde.

Little Roy on Later with Jools Holland

Saturday, 8 October 2011 Comments Off

Spent some of the week working with Little Roy and his crew prepping for the Jools Holland Show. What's amazing is how it's steadily grown from those late nights in Prince Fatty's Brighton studio to yesterdays epic broadcast. At its core, this is a versions project. And yet it's become more than that; it's now a thing all its own.

Miles Kane - who also performed that night - seemed totally shocked when Roy's band broke into Lithium. Given that they probably know the original inside-out, it must have been a revelation to see Roy and co. step up and claim this incredibly familiar song in that way.

We can talk for days about the similarities between the original Grunge scene and the world of Reggae which Roy inhabits and has helped pioneer. Alternatively we can simply check out this band and witness those parallels played out in style.

battleforseattle.com

What's wrong with this picture?

Sunday, 2 October 2011 Comments Off

Maybe this is one for the trade descriptions board; here's a guy in a hi tech wheel chair, all lightweight, flexible and super-fast and we're meant to pretend that it's either invisible or, equally absurd, that those amazing stats were achievable without it.

State of the art technology helps all top athletes, be it while they compete or while they train and it's always been surrounded by various levels of controversy or fascination - think Jimmy Connors' steel tennis racket, Michael Phelps' swimsuit or Wayne Rooney's T90s.

Is it the Shoes? asked Spike Lee of Michael Jordan's Air sneakers and people all over the world, many of whom knew nothing about the NBA or the Chicago Bulls waited eagerly for the answer.

This ad denies our almost universal obsession with technology, our fascination for the relationship between ourselves and machines and the idea of infinite potential. Nul points, as the French would say.