LCF and Diaghilev's Ballet Russes (Part Two)

To coincide with the major retrospective at the V&A and the centenary of the Ballets Russes, London College of Fashion and English National Ballet have spent the past year working together on a unique project which examines the Ballet Russes and the incredible legacy of artistic director Diaghilev on dance, art and, of course, fashion. To mark the culmination of this exciting collaboration we decided to talk to Rob Phillips, the Creative Director of the School of Fashion Design and Technology to learn more about the project. In the first part below we set the scene and learn how the project evolved over the course of the year. Here, we learn about the creative and design processes displayed by the students throughout the course of this very special project.

Tailored trousers and jersey drape T-shirt by Deema Abi-Chahine

SS: The project began in 2009 with LCF students having the chance to explore the Ballets Russes through English National Ballet’s performances, rehearsals, set design and importantly, giving students a unique insight into costume design for dance. I'm really intrigued to hear more about the creative processes that the students explored and demonstrated. Could you talk us through some of the processes displayed?

Rob Phillips: The project gave the students amazing opportunities to explore the rich heritage of English National Ballet. The students were given access to Marden in Kent where ENB have their storage facility of costumes and sets. It is a treasure trove of all the performances past and present that ENB have been involved with. We were lucky enough to be given a guided by Head of Costume Wizzy Shawyer. Marden is also where new costumes and sets are made so it really was an unique visit.

Students also visited the rehearsals at the ENB studios in London Kensington where they were preparing for the Ballet Russes season in June 2009 at Sadlers Wells. Some of the students that went along sketched and recorded what they saw.

Fleur Derbyshire-Fox Director of Learning at the ENB gave the students a lecture about the history of Ballet Russes and the ENB which helped the students start to put into context what they were seeing. It also provided them with inspiration for what the ENB was all about. During June 2009 students were able to see performances at Sadlers Wells – for some of them this was the first time they had seen a ballet performance and was a great inspiration for them. So the students really had many experiences to draw upon when they set out on their design process whether this was through drawing or watching and listening to what was around them.

Despite the fact that it was a very creative brief – it was important the outcome was relevant to fashion. One particular menswear student was very inspired by the set, colours and lights and how all of this goes in motion with the movement of the ballet dancers - so her garment was designed to have movement in it, rather than a garment that can be danced in – in fact although the garment looks as though there is movement in it is actually quite restrictive!

The whole process for students is to create and negotiate their own path to answer the brief. The process from there is all about the individual student and the world they create from their own view point. The brief is there to give structure but the outcome is like a jigsaw, it can be played with and essentially it is all about the autonomy of each student and how they decide to interpret the brief.

Ivy printed multi-layered Vest and trousers by Tomi (Wai Yee Ho)

SS: Ultimately, the project has brought together three cultural powerhouses with spectacular results. Looking back over the finished designs and the project as a whole, how proud are you that the students have managed to the incredible legacy of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes and the significant impact the company continues to have, not only on dance but also on art, design and fashion? I know this must be difficult but do you have any particular highlights?

Rob Phillips: The highlight for me has been watching how each student has developed their ideas. Through this process the students come to realise, that through people such as Diaghilev, elements such as fashion, art, costume, theatre ballet and dance all intermingle – they all affect each other and lend themselves to each other.

This project has opened up the mindset of the students that fashion is not just about wearing clothes and that in the design process other factors come into play – they have seen that fashion designing can be more fulfilling by using different approaches. They have become enriched when given an opportunity which isn’t just about producing designs which are for the everyday – this project showed them about creating an impact and pushing the imagination to be inspired by other practices, such as Diaghilev was. It is great that the students will now take this experience and new ways of working into their final collections – so watch this space!

Appliqué Cotton Top and shorts by Tristan Lahoz

Full Credit list for the shoot is as follows: Creative Director - Rob Phillips. Photography - Sean Michael. Assisted by - James Finnigan. Hair & Make Up -Dora Veronica Simson & Marina Kerecsanyi using M.A.C. Models - Jay, Abella and Jodie all at Nevs. Location - English National Ballet - Marden.

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The finished designs will be displayed at the V&A for one night during the landmark exhibition ‘Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes, 1909-1929’. The display is part of a special evening entitled Ballets Russes Design Perspectives – which takes place at the V&A at 8pm on Friday 19 November and is free (hurray!) to the public.

LCF and Diaghilev's Ballet Russes (Part One)

To coincide with the major retrospective at the V&A and the centenary of the Ballets Russes, London College of Fashion and English National Ballet have spent the past year working together on a unique project which examines the Ballet Russes and the incredible legacy of artistic director Diaghilev on dance, art and, of course, fashion. Diaghilev imaginatively combined dance, music and art to create 'total theatre'. A consummate collaborator himself, he worked with Stravinsky, Chanel, Picasso, Matisse and Nijinsky, there's no doubt that Diaghilev would have approved of this celebratory collaboration.

The students have been able to immerse themselves in the fantasy and couture world of Diaghilev and let their imaginations and creativity take over. To showcase the results of this hugely successful collaboration, twenty five students have been asked to take their designs, including garments, footwear and accessories, into production. These finished designs will be displayed at the V&A for one night during the landmark exhibition ‘Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes, 1909-1929’. The display is part of a special evening entitled Ballets Russes Design Perspectives – which takes place at the V&A at 8pm on Friday 19 November and is free (hurray!) to the public.

To mark the culmination of this exciting collaboration we decided to talk to Rob Phillips, the Creative Director of the School of Fashion Design and Technology to learn more about the project. Our chat is supplemented with an exclusive look at the students' work with a fantastic look book shot by photography Sean Michael on location at English National Ballet. As we have bombarded you with lengthy, text heavy posts in recent weeks we have decided to split our discussion in two. In the first part below we set the scene and learn how the project evolved over the course of the year...

Jacket, shirt and external front pocket trousers by Sungkyun Yuk

SS: You have spent the past year working closely with the English National Ballet on this wonderfully unique project which examines the Ballet Russes and the incredible legacy of Diaghilev on dance, art and of course fashion. How did the collaboration arise?

Rob: Phillips: The collaboration was formed over a year and half ago when the ENB first approached London College of Fashion through the Fashion Business Resource Studio (FBRS - regarded as a one stop shop for the fashion industry, sharing the creative, business and technical expertise of London College of Fashion with the fashion and lifestyle industries).

ENB essentially came to the table with the idea of the collaboration to partner on a project to celebrate the centenary of Diaghilev. They were keen to work with an educational body with fashion expertise, LCF as the country’s only college to specialise in fashion education, was a natural fit.

Exaggerated contour fit, jersey marl stirrup trousers By Mishaal Mansoor

SS: How did the project evolve throughout the year

Rob Phillips: The aim of the brief was to inspire students through the work of Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes and celebrate the centenary and create a project that fused dance and fashion. The brief was tailored by me to ensure the collections that were produced were not ballet costumes made to dance in – but garments that reflected the beauty, movement and excitement of a Ballet Russes performance.

The brief allowed the students the freedom and autonomy to be creative – a key component of a brief of this kind. The project began back in Autumn 2009, it was a complex process which involved multiple pathways and courses – it is one of the rare projects that was a real cross school collaboration, and involved designers, photographers and illustrators which really enriched the whole process. Initially over 150 students took part and submitted work before Christmas 2009. The final stage of the process was the difficult task of shortlisting – which was undertaken by LCF and ENB staff to decide on which students work would be taken forward for production.

In the true spirit of Diaghilev, we prepared the shortlisted students to present their work in a number of ways including: static exhibition, photoshoot, a live salon show and documentary film. This cross genre execution also echoed the cross course collaboration. The whole project was scheduled to finish with an event at the V&A which would showcase these various outputs.

Devore striped vest and trousers – by Ng Chun Bong Julio

SS: Rarely do students have the ability to immerse themselves in such an exciting world. What was the reaction of the students to the task?

Rob Phillips: The students were really inspired by the rich history of art, music and image that they had access to. The whole Diaghilev scene was so imaginative and ‘out there’, the students celebrated the fact they could just indulge themselves in their designs which were not about being worn or designed for the high street – this project was actually about designing something to honour Diaghilev rather than a practical, wearable garments.

Circle cut sleeve shirt and hook'n'eye shorts by Tomi (Wai Yee Hoo)

Full Credit list for the shoot is as follows: Creative Director - Rob Phillips. Photography - Sean Michael. Assisted by - James Finnigan. Hair & Make Up -Dora Veronica Simson & Marina Kerecsanyi using M.A.C. Models - Jay, Abella and Jodie all at Nevs. Location - English National Ballet - Marden.

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Please do come back later on today for the second part of our discussion where we hear about the creative and design processes displayed by the students throughout the course of this very special project.

Sir Hardy Amies - A Century of Couture

He was Britain's most renowned couturier and dressmaker to the Queen for over thirty five years, not to mention a leading Savile Row tailor. Now the life and work of Sir Hardy Amies is to be celebrated with an exhibition on Saville Row. His career offered him an unrivaled insight into the world of the rich and famous. Now the nosy and the aspirational amongst us will also be able to peer into his world. His vast archive will be on show containing unseen photographs of the royal family, letters from Cecil Beaton and Margaret Thatcher, intimate diaries, sketches of his film costumes for 2001: A Space Odyssey and of course clothes will all be unveiled. Timed to coincide with the one hundredth anniversary of his birth, the exhibition, Sir Hardy Amies: A Century of Couture, opened this week and will run throughout November.

Amies' rule that "a man should look as if he has bought his clothes with intelligence, put them on with care—and then forgotten all about them" is one of his gems of sartorial wisdom which is timeless.

GQ recently declared that 'if there were ever a patron saint of menswear it would have to be the late great Sir Hardy Amies. He is most fondly remembered as the author of the perennials of English style, ABC Of Men's Fashion and The Englishmen's Suit. There are very few books about men’s style worth reading, but Hardy Amies managed to write two of them. Back in 1945, Hardy Amies restored the Blitz hit derelict husk of a Regency house at No 14 Savile Row and opened his doors. Amies was widely admired for his fine tailoring, attention to detail and upper crust style. Throughout the course of his life he became a true Savile Row legend and one of its greatest patrons. It is the first time a British couture house has opened its archive to the public and those who can, should take advantage of it.

Past. Present. Future

Faced with a weekend without my good friend the Internet, not to mention two tiresome train journeys I made sure I packed a few magazines for my recent trip back home to Kent. As I waited for my train to arrive at the platform, I doubted whether the latest issues of Monocle and Man About Town would provide enough printed entertainment so went on a last minute publication dash to the poorly stocked WH Smith at Victoria Station. After a few minutes of indecision perusing the sorry excuse for a newsagent I plumped for the Inside/Outside issue of i-D. Aside from the odd flick through at Borders or whilst I'm waiting for my turn to sit on the hairdressers chair, I've not read an issue for months. I'm glad I did though because this issue is packed full of features which kept my mind occupied throughout the journey. Highlights include chats with JW Anderson, Patrick Ervell and Thomas Engel-Hart, a Tao editorial and an up close and personal with Karl Lagerfeld. However, it is the feature on Aitor Throup which really captured my imagination and in particular the below image...

Image from Aitor Throup, used in i-D Fall 09. Concept and Styling by Aitor Throup, Photography by Neil Bedford with Styling Assistant Stephen Mann.

The feature focuses on the designers technically advanced reinterpretation of C.P Company's most iconic jackets. Of course, I've already posted about this collaboration (twice in fact) so I won;t rehash the details again but I just wanted to share the image with you. The above image, dreamt up and styled by the designer himself wonderfully illustrates how he approached the collaboration. The image was accompanied by an insightful interview with the publications Deputy Editor, Holly Shackleton and provided the highlight of my train journey. I could quite happily post the interview in its entirety but it might be best to just pick out my favourite question and answer.

What type of man do you envisage wearing the jacket?
I hope that the big followers and collectors of this iconic piece will embrace it and appreciate its integrity. I would love for the rich narrative, which is part of the design, to help introduce C.P. Company to people who perhaps didn't realise just how much integrity and heritage there is in this brand. Stylistically it's a really accessible piece. It can be seen as a really directional statement on one person, whilst on another it can look quite normal. I'd love to see a variety of completely different people wearing it in different ways.

At the exhibition launch on Thursday, I noted the variety of people in attendance. There were C.P Company representatives, next to brand enthusiasts and collectors (a few wearing releases of the iconic jacket) sandwiched between the fashion crowd and frequent exhibition opening attendees. I am quite certain that most people in attendance took something different away with them but all were united in agreement that the exciting design talent had bought the goggle jacket firmly in the twenty first century.

Goggle Jacket: Past and Future

Back in May we featured the most exciting collaboration of the year. Style Salvage favourite Aitor Throup was asked to design the anniversary edition of C.P. Company's most iconic jackets, the 1000m Goggle Jacket. Last night, I was able to examine it up close and I've still got a smile on my face today. Ever since I encountered his mind blowingly good graduate collection back in 2006 my heart races every time I see or hear his name mentioned. Since graduating, Aitor continues to push the boundaries of technically advanced clothing and utilitarian menswear in to fresh and exciting directions. Back in April, the exciting design talent curated an exhibition to showcase the Goggle Jacket's past and present at the International Furniture Fair in Milan way back in April. Of course I was able to see much of the exhibition virtually, thanks to the wonders of the Internet , but I longed to see the showcase of design innovation up close. Thankfully an even stronger and more impressive exhibition has opened up at the RCA and I was fortunate enough to see it last night. The exhibition is now open to the public for a limited period of two days (today and Saturday, 10am until 4pm both days) so you'll have to be quick!

Exhibition folk enjoying two of the twenty iconic designs on show...

The Mille Miglia Car race, was a one thousand miles open-road endurance race that started in 1927. From 1977 until nowadays, the name was revised in 'Mille Miglia Storica', with all competing cars being pre-1957. In 1988 C.P. Company sponsored the race and for this special occasion Massimo Osti exclusively designed and produced, as a promotional piece for the Mille Miglia competitors, the very first Goggle Jacket. The Past and Future exhibition features twenty archive designs including this very first jacket. A way to celebrate C.P. Company's route through the different steps of this iconic item which, season after season, has been subject to continuous experimentation and evolution. This marvellous exhibition is a story of materials, special treatments and shape research.

One of the exhibition highlights, the evolution of Aitor's designs...

As mentioned every time I jot down the designer's name, I was fortunate enough to listen in to his conversation with Sarah Mower at the V&A last Summer and during this chat Throup's face lit up and his passion took over as soon as he started talking about this iconic jacket. Growing up in Burnley in the 90s, Aitor first became aware of the jacket adorning the backs of the football casuals. Anything connected to Massimo Osti had the most aspirational value for the terraces. As a long term fan and collaborator with C.P Company, Aitor was the natural choice for the brand to approach to redesign the anniversary edition of their cult jacket. For his own innovative design, Throup has analysed all of the original elements of the first Goggle Jacket and has looked deep into the aspects of postural anatomy. He has gone deeper than the aesthetics and functional approaches of previous designs and has created a garment even more focused on the concept of driving. Aitor Throup had this to say on the 1000m Goggle Jacket: "I have taken a literal approach to driving ergonomics and functionality, with the aim of creating a piece which is even further informed by its driving concept than the original." The most distinguishing features are goggles, watch viewer window and detachable driving pouch. Aitor truly has pushed function and ergonomics and this is evident as much in the design process as it is in the finished design. I'm certainly not aware of any other driving jacket whose shape shifts in to a driving position when required!

The look of the past and the future. Two looks used in the recent issue of i-D.

For Aitor Throup the brand has not had the respect and attention that it's iconic designs deserve. This exhibition will surely change a few people's perceptions and understanding of C.P. Company. If you are unable to make it down to the RCA in the next couple of days, hopefully my excited ramblings combined with the below video help. Thanks to James Yeomans, Aitor Throup and the whole crew at C.P. Company, Being Hunted were able to provide us with this great time-lapse video that will show you how the installation was set-up...

C.P. Company Past and Future. from James Yeomans on Vimeo.

Unpicking the seams... My Coat, My Gift

Taking part in Wooyoungmi's My Coat, My Gift

Wooyoungmi began showing in Paris in July 2002 with her eponymous line. With an eye for advanced sartorial details, the designer has since established herself as a must-see show on Paris' packed Sunday schedule. From the very beginning, the designer has been fond of straight and clean graphic cuts and has constructed a design signature of simple, modern and carefully crafted pieces. Each season, her garments are streamlined and enriched with details and styled finishes that reinvent the wardrobe for men without frightening them. Wooyoungmi offers a quiet revolution. Back in June I was fully woo'd by Wooyoungmi. Now, I have long been a member of this party but it wasn't until my trip to Tokyo that I was able to be outfitted for my own covetable uniform. Shortly after I was sent one of the most exciting emails that I've ever received. It was an invitation to take part in the London edition of a Wooyoungmi collaborative project. My Coat, My Gift is a celebration of both the classic Wooyoungmi coat 'No. 51' and the rising creative talent of the world's principal cities. With its slim cut, the No. 51 has become a best seller and is a key component of the brand's offering. Joining forces with Selfridges, My Coat, My Gift offers a selection of creatives the opportunity to re-imagine this classic all for charity. Supporting Art Against Knives, Wooyoungmi are holding an online auction of coats that have been re-imagined jewellery designer Jordan Askill, set designer Gary Card, Selfridges menswear buyer Reece Crisp, Dazed Digital editor David Hellqvist and...me. Now, I'm not ashamed to admit that I let out a little squeal as I read the email because who wouldn't want to collaborate with one of your favourite designers whilst supporting a great charity in the process. However, my initial excitement was then replaced with a feeling of 'why me?!' and a realisation that aside from Crisp, we all could have been related!

With absolutely no background in design and little talent with a pencil it feels extremely odd to think that I've played some part in creating two items. In this instance I was intrigued by a particular Wooyougmi quote. As a menswear designer Wooyoungmi's work is always objective. She sees a real danger of beginning to design what she herself wants to wear, and this she sees as "the worst crime a designer can commit; selfish design." As a menswear designer she can continuously design for her ideal, fresh and ageless man. However, I'm not a menswear designer, I'm just an enthusiast. So, I decided to do the opposite and design for myself whilst hopefully making the most money I possibly could for Art Against Knives.  So, as with my approach to the sixbysixbloggers project, I thought about what I'm obsessed with during this season. When I'm not kicking my way through Autumn leaves, I confirm my love of layers and fabric combinations. For me, one of the real highlights of Autumn is getting dressed on those chilly mornings. I can layer, wrap and protect myself in an assortment of comfortable and practical fabrics.

Given that I was already a huge fan of the No. 51 coat and new its streamlined nature well, my first task was to create a mood board. Once again as a starting point, I turned to Fantastic Man's October Look from 2009 because this layered harvest festival celebration of an Autumn outfit is forever imprinted on to my tiny mind. Then my thoughts bounced from Celine's minimal mastery to Casely-Hayford's protective armour showcased in recent Autumn/Winter collections. Once accumulated these images were accompanied with the key words...texture, layers, protection, fabric play (leather, tweed, wool, waxed cotton) With the help of Wooyoungmi's talented design team, the task to transform my excited ramblings in to a cohesive garment was a surprisingly simple one...

The first sketch of My Coat, My Gift.

The talented bunch at Wooyoungmi managed to accumulate and make sense of my wants and wishes in their very first sketch. It was full of texture, layers and fabric play. They had even included arm tubes for added protection! What could be more perfect? All that was needed on my part was a few tweaks. These minor alterations included greater leather detailing on the cuffs and collar whilst making the wooly arm tubes detachable. Alongside the sketch I was given a choice of six tweed swatches that were to be used on the body. After some umming and arghing, I made my decision and then that was pretty much that. Two weeks later and the design elves had been hard at work to realise my coat.

My coat!

The resulting collaborations are currently being showcased in a special pop up event inside Selfridges men's contemporary section on the 1st floor. The launch event was a couple of weeks ago now so apologies for the delay in this write up (the lovely Anastasia Duck has already offered his) but I wanted to give it the thought it really deserved. The space is quite something so if you can please do pop in to have a closer look at the finished coats... 

Of course, it was amazing to have the opportunity to rework one of my favourite designer's most recognised pieces (not to mention meet the lovely sister's themselves) but the real reason for this whole collaboration is to raise money for Art Against Knives, a charity using creativity to tackle knife crime in the capital. One of these Wooyoungmi collaborator coats can be yours...

Our first boy band photocall.

I believe that the live auction will run on Wooyoungmi's twitter space from midday November 1st and will close at midnight November 6th but to be on the safe side please do register beforehand. Once bidding opens you can make yours by @woo_youngmi @stevewooyoungmi 'amount bid'… happy bidding!

Albam's Factories

You all know how much I enjoy a spot of factory porn. I love little more than visiting my favourite factories in nooks and crannies across the country. In a collaboration with photographer John Spinks, Albam have opened up the doors to their craftsmen and workspaces with Factories. I first learned about the project during my visit to Albam's Islington store back in May. My factory porn appetite was whet by two framed images which were hung on the downstairs wall. Ever since that sighting I had been keen to get my hands on the fruits of countless factory visits, picture taking, numerous sittings, conversations, lighting adjustments and the occassional loss of cameras. Last Thursday was the launch event in collaboration with Esquire but as the well turned out masses descended on their Beak Street store I was unable to get my excited hands on a copy. Damn Albam's popularity. On Saturday afternoon I returned and finally picked a copy up for myself.

Albam are of course involved in the entire manufacturing process and their factories are obviously a fundamental facet of the brand. This book is about the making process, the people and the places behind the products. When James Shaw and Alastair Rae started Albam, people told them that you could not make anything in England anymore. Of course Albam proved these naysayers wrong but the small workforce that exists are just a rumour of what existed before. If they decide to retire tomorrow, then the industry's gone. Factories celebrates the craftsmen of the label and British industry as a whole while making consumers consider how their wardrobe favourites have been made. To mark the launch, I had a quick chat with James Shaw and alongside our resulting discussion I can share a selection of my favourite pages...  

SS: One facet of the brand is to bring as much product back to Britain and you've spent the last few years building a business which is enabling your British factories to grow and develop with you. 'Factories' feels like a celebration of all of this work and acts as a real showcase for the people, the unsung craftsmen who help make Albam what it is. Was this the driving catalyst for the project?

James Shaw: FACTORIES has been the culmination of two years worth of picture taking. It started with a conversation about what happens if they factories/industry was to stop tomorrow and had it been recently documented. As there doesn't seem to have been a document of the factories we use for a number of years it seemed like a great idea to capture the people that we work with and have done since we started. The conversation between John and myself in the front of the book gives the most detail but I am so excited by the people we work with because there is so much more to them than just making clothes. The way they interact with their tools and surroundings, they just make you want to be in the spaces they work in and get making great products.

SS: When we last spoke to you back in November of last year, you mentioned that the British manufacturing industry is a close knit community which relies heavily on word of mouth discovery. The book offers a welcome insight. How conscious were you of the sense of opening the doors of a seemingly hidden world?

James Shaw: It doesn't feel like opening a hidden world really as it is all around us in each city and it is the world that Albam operates in alongside having stores in London. Our studio in Nottingham is the centre of the garment making district that is sadly minute and it feels quite poignant for the book to be released just as we open our studio up here. Where clothes come from is becoming important as it is in other industries, food for example. The people that go into making Albam what it is are not just in the stores the customers see, but they go back through people in the book and those that didn't make it in the final edit.

SS: How has the relationship with your factories evolved in recent years?

James Shaw: The relationship has just got stronger, they are very important to us as we are to them. There is a sense of doing something in the right way and the results are hopefully worth it for those who wear our clothes and other products. Long may it continue on all fronts!

SS: The images are stunning, how did come to work with John Spinks for this project?

James Shaw: John came into the store in our second week of opening our first store and sent us an email on the Saturday evening he came in the store. I seem to remember details like that! He liked our approach and we liked his approach to image making and then we worked on our AW08 shoot and the relationship started. As we are all from the Midlands we maybe share a certain approach and affinity to our respective professions.

SS: Ultimately, what do you hope the project will achieve?

James Shaw: Apart from selling the book, we would like to think that it will cause people to think about what they are buying, where it is made and also for some they may see that there is something very satisfying about getting involved in this industry. It is hard work, but we wouldn't change it for the world and if people can get the satisfaction we get then that would be worthwhile.

SS: What's next for Albam?

James Shaw: There is so much to do, behind the scenes, in the stores, with the range that there would be too much to list. The future is certainly looking very exciting and this goes from a business perspective to getting the wash perfect on garments. Imminently we have a new website that will launch and should give a clearer insight into what we are doing with the brand and bring out the personality more without it becoming cliche. In short there is lots happening so watch this space!

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Even if you are not in to your factory porn as much as I am, I do hope you can see that it is a beautiful book. The 'Made in England' label has been discussed in length throughout the blogosphere. What does it actually mean? Factories helps to answer this very question. A compilation of stunning imagery depicting the people, spaces, materials, machinery and tools that make up Albam. Factories is currently available at three store locations but will no doubt be available on their website shortly. 

Delving in to Antwerp with Delvaux

I saw so much during my weekend jaunt to Antwerp and apologise for not being able to blog about my experiences as fast as I wanted to but it was a hectic few days with limited blogging time (I know...excuses, excuses). Though the city might be be small in size, there is just so much to see in this beautiful city. As I am back in London now, it makes more sense to start at the end of my travels and work my way back, discussing the real highlights of a trip which was packed full of them. First up...a real suprise for me!

One of the last places we visited was the city's fashion museum, MoMu. Susie was desperate to see the Delvaux exhibition but I have to confess that I was less than keen. I thought the exhibition would be a showcase of luxurious handbags and little else but I'm so pleased we went because I was enthralled by the stylistic evolution of the house's output whilst seeing the often unseen side of the business, the skills of the designers and the artisans that represent the core of the company's values. A year older than the Belgian nation itself, Delvaux can claim to be the most Belgian of all luxury houses. The exhibition follows Delvaux from the maunfacture of travel goods for the local nobility in the nineteenth century, through the rise of the modern handbag in the twentieth century, to the company's vision of a new kind of elegance under its artistic director Veronique Branquinho. The creative process behind each bag has changed very little in the last sixty years, all products are still made by hand, the conpany is still in th family hands and Delvaux's output remains small but exclusive.

The travelling by train space...

Each mode of transport brought its own requirements for the baggage manufacture. founded in an era of when travel was largely horse drawn the company has survived through the revolutions and wars, and adapted to the requirements of ocean liners and railways, to bicycles, cars and jets. It is how the luxury house adapted its offering to the changing world around it which interested most whilst walking through the well curated exhibition space. Train travel assisted the rise of the modern business traveller, for whom Delvaux produced not just attache cases and document wallets, but overnight bags, equipment cases and even bespoke display trunks for travelling salesman.

The Newspaper Bag. Bruno Pieters for Delvaux, AW09-09.

I recently read about Monocle’s latest collaborative effort involves Belgian luxury brand Delvaux. Known for their leather goods, the Newspaper Bag features a woven Toile de Cuir exterior and a Basane Leather liner. The bag is sized appropriately for A4-sized documents and a laptop and I want one!

Monocle x Delvaux Newspaper Bag, available from Monocle

Besides leather-clad maps and holders for the driver's licence and Michelin guides, Delvaux provided the 1950s tourist motorist with gentleman's bags. This bags were capable of holding everything required for that perfect Kodak moment, with of course compartments for camera, pipe, postcards and even a handheld cine camera.

The cruise luggage of my dreams.

For those travelling in grand style on the ocean liners leaving Antwerp, luggage had to be capacious and extremely resistant both to impact and to damp. Delvaux certainly offered beautiful luggage which protected the cruise-wear finery of those first class travellers aboard. This selection of cases inspired the inner traveller in me, oh to travel the seas for months on end...oh, I can but dream.

Celebrating the great Surrealist, Magritte.

In Belgium, surrealism is not part of some wild, exotic dream scape but rather it infuses the everyday. This selection of bags celebrated Belgium's most famous and my favourite surrealist, Rene Magritte's 100rd Birthday and were released in 1998.

Leather working tools belonging to Bernard Gombert.

Delvaux bags are produced by a team of forty five craftsman in the atelier in Brussels and a further sixty working from a dedicated atelier in France. Each bag is immensely complex and such craft goes in to each one. One of the exhibition spaces evokes the atmosphere of the atelier and the leather store room at the Arsenal and focuses on the production of the Brilliant. The leather working tools in the exhibition belong to Bernard Gombert, head of Delvaux's technical department and I spent a good ten minutes staring at them, imagining how each instrument is used to create one of the famous bags. The exhibition was a great way to spend the final hour of my time in Antwerp. The exhibition runs until 21st February 2010 and is well worth the visit even if you aren't the worlds biggest handbag enthusiast like me!

Fashion East's Menswear Installations

Oh what a day! Yesterday was truly a celebration of menswear design talent in the capital. The eclectic bunch of designers came together beautifully to showcase how diverse menswear can really be. Yesterday, saw the exciting launch of NEW GEN Men with James Long and Carolyn Massey kicking off proceedings and then of course there was MAN later in the day which continues to be a great vehicle for launching and nurturing new talent. I've written show reports for Topman's blog (which are now live) for all of the designers involved in these shows so I don't want to speak about them again just yet. For me, nothing represented the diversity of menswear more than Fashion East's Menswear installations.

Just a few of the many highlights on show as part of Fashion East's Installations

To walk around the East Wing of Somerset House and the Vaults uncovering the beautiful alongside the weird and wonderful made me feel like a rotund little kid in a sweet shop once again. Instead of ordering quarters of Toffee Crumble and bottles of Panda Pops to wash it at down, I was salivating over Mr. Hare's hot steppers, HbyHarris' H Jacket, the Afropunk of Casely-Hayford, the spiked fetishwear of Jaiden rVa James, Sibling's skull print Breton jumpers and the list goes on and on...Here are just a few of my favourite installations...

The above slip on hot steppers are on my Spring/Summer want/need list. From left to right, Sir Jablonsky and my current favourite, the Victor Boa.

After my first mad dash round armed with my camera and notepad I decided to take a breather and headed to Mr. Hare's room where I could talk shoes and listen to to his dancehall mixtape. For his showcase room, Mr Hare created a little jungle and those inside were certainly getting a little primal over the soft leathers and cutaways...

The King Tubbys! These suede numbers are certainly going to cause a stir on the blogosphere...

As mentioned previously each shoe is named after one of his favourite dancehall generals, Cachao, King Tubby, J.Dilla, Jerry Lee Lewis and even Phil Spector all feature. As well as the introduction of these new models, Mr Hare reworked a number of highlight models from his debut collection. The below tanned version of the Kerouac's are just beautiful.

The Levan and the reworked Kerouac.

We got an exclusive look of Casely-Hayford's SS10 collection yesterday with their leading look book image but this taste only intensified my hunger to see the collection in full. Regular readers will know just how much I loved their AW09 collection and I was eager to see what they had in store for us next.

Casely-Hayford's Kings of the Kings Land.

For SS10 the design duo took inspiration from the Kingland Road area of London, a seemingly unique and uncoventional corner of the city where original EastEnders co-exist with the more recently landed public school boys. For me, when I think of the area my stomach begins to rumble as I think about the abundance of tasty yet cheap Vietnamese restaurants. For the Casely-Hayford's the incongruous social mix conjures up a rich sartorial vocabulary. The area is home to more artists than any other part of London and these creators have spawned a plethora of contemporary visual statements which have collectively forged a template for a new English style.

The pattered trousers of 80s style body builders originate from King's Gym. Chic, streamlined sportswear of the area has become something of a uniform of the modern day Rude Boys. As embroidered brogues and printed garments fuse elements of traditional English tailoring with the ornate embellishment of Turkish handwork and craft.

The palette is understated and somewhat subdued using their signature colours of mushroom, navy and cream but vibrant colours burst through the collection with accessories inspired by African textiles.

The emphasis is on lightweight tailoring, super light outerwear, transparency and print. For Casely-Hayford SS10 is about a dangerous elegance and I'm not frightened of a little danger now and then.

The last area which I'd like to quickly mention before I bore you all is H by Harris's padded cell which was located deep in the vaults and showed off his quilted accessories. We interviewed former stylist Harris Elliott back in August but this was the first real chance I had to inspect the collection up close. As mentioned previously, the debut H by Harris collection comprises of two lines, the Q hand quilted nappa leather and the SH wax hide leather collection. Styles include rucksacks, totes, weekend bags, satchels and laptop skins and of course the H jacket which I've been drooling over for some time and even more so now I've seen it.

H by Harris' H Jacket.