'Making Connections' E/P Project

Thursday 8 May 2008

Home Sweet Home (with the forever-lasting pine to shortly return to New York)

New York as a fashion capital can clearly be a financially rewarding city to launch in, as a designer. Having to respond to Fifth Avenue expectations, restraint is put on many design students. However, the cost of dumbing down your concepts as an up and coming designer seems a small sacrifice to make for the meantime.
After graduating, the prospects of holding a concession in one of the big department stores is clearly one of the ultimate financial goals of many. This is all but evident in the minds of the next graduates, hoping to attract a key player in New York's business focused industry.

Walking around the streets of New York however, I was reasonably surprised. Many youths of New York were evidently able to adopt the street style that London is so notorious for holding. Eighties inspired Reebok high-top workouts were seen on the feet of many youths, along with slogan Jacobs t-shirts- each youth expressing unique styles that look as naturally formed as many Londoners manage.

Participating on the Parsons project helped me to gain an insight into how business driven New York is compared to London and how this attitude is even passed down right through to the teaching.
With the diversity that New York holds, and the numerous avenues that are readily available to explore, I learnt that it is a market that could appeal to most.

The project was an excellent opportunity for the capitals to interweave and represent the industry market from opposite ends of the Atlantic. It gave students from London the opportunity to gain an insight into the history of New York and why exactly New York is driven from a business concept. It also gave us the opportunity to see if it is a market that we would feel more comfortable working in.

However I feel that the project would have worked better if we had more of an opportunity to develop more of an idea behind each of the designers concepts and their aims as a future designer. This would have given us all more of an opportunity to gain information and contacts for our future.

Tuesday 8 April 2008

London's Mish-Mash

Shop:

Portobello Market, Ladbroke Grove W11
Off the cuff up-and-coming designers, vintage, accessories, arts and trinkets.

One Of a Kind, Portobello Road W11
A haven for Vintage clothing located on Portobello Road

Bathing Ape, W1F
Japanese company, offering global street style. This is the only London store.

Brick Lane, E1
Whether you are there on a day when The Old Truman Brewery is hosting a fashion show, or whether you are there to trawl the vintage stores. Brick Lane is the place to find edgy street wear and unique boutiques.

Spitalfields Market E1
In the trendy East-End, specialising in vintage fashion and furniture

Selfridges & co. W1A
From cutting-edge fashion to finest furniture and just about everything else, London's famous department store is situated on oxford Street

Topshop W1D
The U.K's famous flagship store on Oxford Street holds the latest trends and even diffusion lines from London Fashion Week's newest designers.

Party:
Yoyo, Notting Hill Arts Club, W11
Block party mix of 80's boogie, upfront hip hop, hard funky mash-ups and RnB rarities. YOYO is one of the best hip hop parties around.

Twisted Disco, Pacha, Victoria, SW1V
Big DJ's and live acts

Dirty Canvas, E1
Dirty Canvas is London’s most exciting and forward thinking club night, specialising in London's most recent urban grime and dubstep scene.
The Dirty Canvas residents also bring the dance to various other parties, but are commonly at The Rhythm Factory.

Audio Damage, Essence, Mile End, E3
A whole new level to East London's club scene and a state of the art sound system.

Paper, Soho, W1
One of London's high profile celebrity clubs with big parties held by big names

Bungalow 8, WC2
Bungalow 8 is the sister venue to Amy Sacco's notorious New York hangout of the same name.
It's a members club that attempts to be as unashamedly exclusive as the original, courting celebrities and setting itself out as a party hotspot, not for the C-listers attempting the fame game.

Eat:
XO Restaurant, Belsize Park NW3
Great Eastern Dining

Cottons Restaurant, Camden NW1
Traditional Caribbean cuisine with a soulful vibe

Bea's of Bloomsbury, WC1X
Boutique Bakery serving worldwide inspired cupcakes and teas

Clarke's Pie and Mash Shop, EC1R
Traditional pie and mash in the heart of the East-End

Sunday 9 March 2008

New York's Blind Eye

The specific route - London, New York, Milan and finally Paris. Each playing a defined role in the creation of a fashion label.

But cutting to the chase, it is all about the money and the money is in New York. Slicker than the average and predictable, this is where the financial backing, big accounts and the big influential stores reside. This city is where the clothes evolve into something wearable. Playing it's distinct role, money- making has become priority.

In terms of innovation and determining trends, this has been left to London and Paris. The British tailoring, eccentricity and street style is celebrated in London, but not so in New York.
Designers in New York have the ability to celebrate the inspirations surrounding them, like Jean Paul Gaultier and Ralph Lauren being inspired by the tribal vibe surrounding hip hop, Asian underground and funk clubs. But you wouldn't catch Ralph playing out his experiences of the Brixton sweatbox on a jungle night in his collections.

Fashion is a form of self-expression that allows people to try on many roles in life. Whether you prefer hip-hop or Chanel-chic, fashion celebrates the chameleon in all of us. It's a way of accommodating the diversity and variety of the world in which we live. Fashion is about change which is necessary to keep life interesting. New York has the potential to deliver this, but chooses not to.
New York has been a breeding ground for many genres of music and the New York streets is a barometer of style. It has the ability to wipe the street styles of any other capital off the map, but holds back, in exchange for safe designs that capture the eye from the big cats.

Wednesday 5 March 2008

London as I know it

Do you get that feeling? I do. You know the feeling-that feeling, the feeling you get when you are surrounded by all that matters. The feeling of culture, the feeling of fashion and the feeling of the swinging history of London. This feeling is felt in Ladbroke Grove. Saturday afternoon- Portobello Market. The sounds of the funk soul blazing from the boombox's, the smell of the fritters from the food stores and the smell of the dusty vintage clothing from the back of the market. The community of fashionistas combined with the old skool Caribbean community, combined with Notting hill's rich-it all adds to the feeling, the energy, the vibe.

Venture East to the quirky Brick Lane and get the 'feeling' again, just with an East-end vibe. Trod the cobbled pavements along the gently curving mile, past the Bangladeshi restaurants, past the secret studios and into the vast warehouse-like vintage stores for the same eclectic vibe.

These are just two of the strong locations in London that really bring my spirits up. But don't think that's all we have. You see, London as we know it, is full of vast cultures and classes that have created these offbeat hot-spots. In each of these communities, a handful of trend setters emerge. This is what creates London's unique style. Innovative styles and ideas have emerged from our vast community and Fashion East is one company that has their finger on London's true un-describable style. Recognising designers who understand the industry on an international level, Fashion East represents London and the diverse communities we hold.
Showcasing the work of three young designers each season, the designers add a breath of fresh relevant air to London Fashion Week. From the customised and recycled collections of the eco-label Noki House of Sustainability, to the cheeky slogan loving Henry Holland, each of their designs are created simply to make way for the next cool kid to come through and follow.

As London Fashion Week shows move away from the Grand locations to warehouses, each year London shows it's true colours. Because let's face it, it isn't the glitz and glamour of the West End that the tourists seem to veer towards, it's the jewels in each of the compass directions where the true flavour is felt.

Thursday 7 February 2008

Me

Hi there ...

My name is Linsey.

I am told I'm Miss Versatile. I can fit anywhere, and I can represent most things, probably because of my varied background. Give me an assistant job in a mainstream newspaper or an assistant job in a music/youth culture magazine - I'll adjust to both. This is another reason I am eager to get to New York. To see if I can adjust to the way of life there and to see the other side to what we have - some more extreme, some watered down, all interesting. I've made it to the fabulously glamorous (some say outlandish) Miami, now I am ready to venture to the Big Apple.

To date I have had quite a ‘normal’ life. I haven’t had any crazy mishaps, or any major challenges to face. I have my mother to thank for that, she is the mother of all mother’s. She still manages to fuss over me, the same way she used to when I was at the age of needed nurturing.

I'm from a town just outside of London, but saying that I am most definitely a city chick. I used to live in West London's Ladbroke Grove, but the East End is where my heart is.
With this is mind, I am very influenced by the whole East London fashion scene, in particular the whole nu-rave/ preppy hip-hop scene- what a crossover! East London has a diverse community and the way that everyone has interwoven with one another has resulted in a great urban look. Therefore I regularly read magazines like i-D, Trace and Dazed and Confused, as I feel these magazines really have their finger on today's youth and fashion scene. Who knows, this is where I may end up- working in an ultra street magazine, that oozes utter fashion- it would definitely be most appropriate.

Edward Enninful, the Fashion Director and stylist of i-D magazine is a prime example of someone who represents this combined scene and I am deeply inspired by his work. He is a representation of the crossover culture that encourages me to become more involved in alternative fashion.

On a serious, fair note, the perfect career environment for me would be working in a diverse environment, alongside the music and fashion industry.

As far as future progression goes, I am told by my spiritual mother, who has visited a medium several times, that career wise, I am going to be (their words) ‘flying by the seat of my pants,’ with strong links to the States. I can only hope and pray that this woman didn’t con my mother and it is completely 100% true. So there you have it, look out for me, as the nation’s favourite bin woman or the nation’s P.R Guru- the latter has so much more of a ring to it, don’t you think?

Linsey Bholah

www.myspace.com/BULKmagazine
Facebook: Linzi Linzi

Tuesday 22 January 2008

Other E/P Project Members' Blogs

'Making Connections' E/P Project - Linsey Bholah