“No fool can be silent at a feast” Solon, Greek lawmaker and philosopher 630-560 BC
West London antiques dealer James Jackson is inaugurating his newly refurbished premises with Fête des Imbéciles, an exhibition of works by the British artist Robert Rubbish.
Continue reading James Jackson presents Fête des Imbéciles: An exhibition of works by Robert Rubbish
My biography of the late Malcolm McLaren will now be published in April 2020, exactly 10 years after his premature death at the age of 64.
In my twin capacities as “biographer” of The Face and curator of last year’s British independent magazine exhibition PRINT!, I’ve been asked publicly and privately for my thoughts on the imminent online relaunch of the title (the plan is that the quarterly physical edition will follow in August, carrying a September dateline).
So here they are:
It’s interesting that the greatest anticipation for the magazine’s return is being generated for and by the fashion community. The PRs, writers, stylists and students who kept the flame alive after the publication’s 2004 demise are now busily banging the drum in response to the relaunch’s oddly one-note Instagram branding exercise, filling their feeds with excited content.
Two decades apart, the editors of the American and British editions of Condé Nast’s Vogue began their respective careers with modest contributions to prominent independent youth culture publications of their day.
This blog has inspired the creation of yet another t-shirt series.
Continue reading The Bad Seed Collection Lives! A new t-shirt range inspired by this blog
Arriving in a kinky sealed purple polythene envelope, If I Was Your Girlfriend: A Jam is the new publication which has been issued as a companion piece to last spring’s exhibition at London’s leading edge art space Belmacz.
I’m grateful to Peter Stanfield, media and arts professor at the University of Kent, for alerting me to these great images of members of Shakin’ Stevens’ backing band The Sunsets sporting T-shirts designed by the late Malcolm McLaren for sale in his shop Let It Rock at 430 King’s Road in the early 70s.
On February 5 I’ll be taking part in a conversation about the significance of the late art dealer Robert Fraser at Gazelli Art House, the London gallery currently hosting Robert Fraser’s Groovy Arts Club Band, the exhibition of works by 13 of the cutting edge artists he represented between the 1960s and 1980s.
What Men Wear is the self-explanatory title of a slim volume from the Fantastic Man gang which punches well above its weight.
Containing questionnaires with 50 men on their favourite garments, the book also presents long-form interviews with three of the fashion world’s leading figures: Italian designer Stefano Pilati, British designer Charles Jeffrey and retailer Paul Smith.
Continue reading What Men Wear (and why): Anecdotal, funny, revealing and surprisingly tender
I’m indebted to reader Dave Shaw, who has sent me the photograph above left of himself wearing a very rare rock fashion garment: one of the canvas and leather jackets made famous by Rod Stewart, who sported his on the sleeve of 1970 solo album Gasoline Alley.
The cream jackets with heraldic-style brown trim were made by the maverick British tailor and leatherworker Colin Bennett and co-designed with Lloyd Johnson for sale in Kensington Market in the early 70s.
“When I bought it the guy told me it was the last of three; the others had gone to Rod Stewart and Allan Clarke of The Hollies,” says Shaw. In fact, as Johnson reveals in the comment below, Bennett made around 20 (and Stewart’s has survived in a collector’s archive).