Meet the original New York crew whose gothic style is one part fierce, two parts fly.
In the Jeans
06.11.2012 | Blog | BY: Sarah Barlow
When Portuguese designers, Paulo Almeida and Marta Marques joined forces to create their collaborative womenswear label, Marques’Almeida in 2011, the result was electric: deconstructed acid wash denim with a Nineties youth code aesthetic composed a collection which was undoubtedly the utmost inventive use of denim the fashion world had seen in a long while.
Now, 18 months and four collections later, Marta and Paulo are still redefining the boundaries of denim-ware design whilst effectively introducing other fabrics along the way: Most recently for S/S ‘13 the pair presented us with traces of light weight cottons and linens which too were given the label’s signature fabric-distressing treatment.
Following a successful showcase at London Fashion Week in September (their first season as celebrated NewGen winners), Twin caught up with the design-duo to find out more…
Your work is inspired by Nineties youth culture – what is so special about this era for you?
We have been obsessed with it since we started our MA when we began exploring youth code dressing and what it means. We’ve been drawn to teenagers and how they dress with a particular focus on the late Nineties and early Noughties. It’s a very instinctive way of researching as we were growing up as teenagers ourselves during that period so we’ve been looking back to all of our own personal references, which hopefully makes it really authentic and really fun too!
Why did you initially decide to focus on denim as the foundation of your label’s signature?
It stemmed from our initial exploration into young sub-cultural style. We researched all we could and there were always a couple common elements – denim and t-shirts. We couldn’t run away from it.
If your design aesthetic were a song what would it sound like?
‘Drinking in LA’ by Bran van 3000 or Fiona Apple’s ‘Fast As You Can’
Who are your heroes?
Rei Kawakubo and Helmut Lang
How does working as duo affect the creative process?
It’s hard and insanely fun at the same time! It’s hard because there’s really no compromise as neither of us are really capable of that, so there’s a lot of back and forth and lots of discussions about things, but then there are really instinctive moments where we’re both on the same page and don’t need to say a word! It’s so much more fun than doing it alone and it is also what we think makes our product really new; it’s the combination of two really different uncompromising aesthetics into one strong point of view.
You have worked closely with Opening Ceremony in the past – are there any other exciting collaborations coming up in the near future?
There might be… 🙂 Let’s hope so – we love collaborations!
Eva Forever
05.11.2012 | Blog , Twin Video | BY: admin
Celebrated Czech supermodel Eva Hertzigovaw falls for France’s rural romance in crispest cotton and outdoorsy denim.
Funny Face
05.11.2012 | Blog , Twin Video | BY: admin
Fashion’s feeling frisky. A playful approach to dressing puts a youthful spin on wardrobe classics.
Biker Grove
05.11.2012 | Blog , Twin Video | BY: admin
Looking for adventure? Hit the open road in hot layered leather (note the new voluminous shapes). It’s a crazy ride.
Twin Playlist X Lissy Trullie
Just days after Hurricane Sandy and New Yorkers are bravely picking up the pieces following the long dark days that emptied the streets and threatened the very fabric of the city. Who better for Twin”s next playlist than Lissy Trullie, a girl who is New York style through and through. We asked the musician for share some of her favourite tracks…
1/ Koudlam by Sunny Day
This is my wake up song to greet a new day. Although Koudlam was born on the Ivory Coast, and I, on the East Coast, and he is male and I am female, and he speaks French and I speak French badly, I’d like to think we are related. He happens to be a fellow art historian/musician which could be proof of our blood relation… Anyways, this song slays me.2/ Before My Voice Fails by Gang Gang Dance
Many people tell me that my music sounds very “New York”, but in my opinion this song and this band encompass the infinitely evolving and mutating pockets of unorthodoxy constantly churning out new ideas that give New York its singularity. In my imagination the lyric “Before my voice fails…” means I have to produce and create as much as possible until my body literally give out.3/ Everything by Micachu & the Shapes
I chose this track by Micachu & the Shapes because I’m absolutely obsessed with EVERYTHING this band does. My introduction to Micachu was through the album Jewellery, which warped my head into shapes unknown. This song is off of their following album Chopped & Screwed, again the music astonished and amazed me. Their new album, Never, will be out at the end of July. I expect to be headless for the rest of my life as they will most definitely continue to blow my mind.4/ Sulk by Trust
I saw Trust play live without knowing anything about their music and it was so intoxicating I went to see them two more times within one week. When making this playlist I knew I wanted to include their music but having to pick just one track has been an agonizing process. I feel like I’m betraying the rest of the album… But a playlist is a game of favorites, so I had no choice. But please, listen to the entire album, Candy Walls.5/ The Clarke Sisters by The Go-Betweens
I am still searching for the Clarke sisters. I have so much I want to share with them. I have so much I need to ask them. But I bet if I ever do find these sisters they would probably just ignore me.6/ Vienna by Ultravox
I’m a sucker for a good ballad but this goes above and beyond. Minimoog, Yamaha SS30, and a Roland CR-78 drum machine. Nuff said.7/ Believer by John Maus
If you search songs on iTunes using the word “believer” over 100 pages show up, 12 songs to a page, but out of all that mutter John Maus is the voice of my preacher. I love this track, it’s the water that washes away my grit and grime. (Btw, I honestly don’t know exactly how many pages of believer songs there are, it seemed endless. I stopped scrolling at 102 out of boredom.)8/ Magic Dance by David Bowie
“Slime and snails, or puppy dog tails, thunder or lightning, something frightening…” David Bowie singing with bunch of wily muppets? Epic bass synth, gnarly tricked out guitar solo, and a dash of Bauhaus? (…Perhaps Bowie was inspired by his prior outstanding cinematic masterpiece, The Hunger.) Whats not to love?!9/ After Laughter (Comes Tears) by Wendy Rene
I wish I could have grown up to be just like Wendy Rene. After Laughter should be a mandatory part of adolescent life everywhere. Rene co-wrote this song with Johnnie Frierson when she was in her early teens. Her voice is a true validation of pain, and not just adolescent pain, but pain of all ages.
Listen to Lissy”s playlist
And listen to Lissy here.
Twin Issue VII
01.11.2012 | Blog , Twin Book | BY: admin
The Autumn/Winter edition of Twin stars supermodels Eva Herzigova and Frankie Rayder (photographed by Cass Bird with her daughter Sunny). Meet music newcomers Miranda and Elektra Kilbey, the twin sisters behind the irresistible, sultry pop of Saint Lou Lou.
Elsewhere, enter the dark world of Paul McCarthy via a vivid collection of artworks created exclusively for Twin, and photographer Danielle Levitt introduces the wild and wicked New York gang who invented their own ghetto brand of goth.
You’ll also find lively chats with the author Hanna Rosen, who talks about her controversial book, The End of Men, feminist photographer Cynthia MacAdams and the bounteous duo behind the Opening Ceremony brand.
BUY
BUY
She’s the Man
01.11.2012 | Blog | BY: Sarah Barlow
Agape Mdumulla and Sam Cotton, the masterminds behind London based label Agi and Sam, have been on our radars for quite some time. For the past four seasons they’ve provided guys with a slightly more laid back yet considered approach to fashion, injecting humour into their menswear with the help of playful prints and bold colourways… Now, with the launch of a debut womenswear line, the fun finally extends to us girls too. Sharing a similar aesthetic as the menswear offering the duo have borrowed recognisable patterned prints from their acclaimed AW’12 collection and placed onto a series of silk twill shirts. Agi and Sam’s skill for creative construction and tailoring effortlessly translates into this womenswear capsule collection.
Agi & Sam Women’s is available now, exclusively at Harvey Nichols.
All Hallows’ Eve
If you didn’t have one already, October 31st is a singular excuse for embracing your dark side; whether you’ve kohled your eyes up to the nines or simply put on your favourite moody stare. And no other label has the haute goth look all tied up more than Alexander McQueen.
Tonight the Dover Street McQ store is opening its doors to all spirits to enter and celebrate Halloween McQ style. For those who preregister before the event, there’s a treat of 20 per cent discount. Not a bad trick eh?
McQ Dover Street flagship store 5pm – 8pm. Sign up here.
Brora X Michael Van Der Ham
30.10.2012 | Blog | BY: Sarah Barlow
When the clocks turned back last weekend, marking the end of British Summer time, it became official – the new season had finally arrived bringing along with it a chilly autumnal atmosphere creating the perfect timing for Brora to launch their latest designer range of cosy cashmere knits.
For AW’12, the British heritage brand has teamed up with the celebrated womenswear designer, Michael van der Ham, to produce a capsule collection consisting of twelve luxuriously chic yet contemporary cashmere pieces. Vivid pattern and colour combinations are featured on a variety of cropped cardigans, sweater dresses, fitted jumpers and knitted accessories, echoing van der Ham’s signature aesthetic of creative collage through the use of advanced intarsia knitting techniques.
The Michael van der Ham for Brora collection launches today exclusively at Brora boutiques and online at brora.co.uk
English Rose
29.10.2012 | Blog | BY: Lily Silverton
Phoebe English’s S/S13 collection stood out for its painstaking attention to detail, the impeccable cut, and her ability to create something so simple, yet so very beautiful.
Twin spoke to Phoebe and her business partner Rose Easton…
How did you two meet?
Rose: I saw a picture of one of Phoebe’s MA pieces in Dazed & Confused and emailed her relentlessly asking her to make me one. Phoebe wasn’t really answering emails at that point but finally she responded and made me the dress. I ended up totally trashing it at a party in a forest!
Phoebe: Soon after that Rose announced that she was going to quit her job and that we should go into business together, and I was like, oh okay, yes. It was very straightforward. That was the beginning of July 2011… we put S/S12 together in six weeks and then Dover St picked it up. We set up the business that day – it sounds really weird when I tell the story now, but at the time it felt so right it actually felt like a complete non-event.
So one year on, tell us about your S/S13 collection…
Rose: This season we worked with a jewelry designer called Reid Peppard, which was wonderful.
Phoebe: Because this was the first show we actually put on ourselves, rather than with Vauxhall Fashion Scout, we had more options as to how we showed the collection. It was less regimented and that had a big impact on the work that was made. The space in which we showed – The Freemasons Hall – greatly informed the design of the collection.
Rose: It was so exciting to be able to choreograph our own show. Phoebe lives with Caroline Evans and we had these long, amazing conversations with her about the history of the fashion show. People tend to think back about 10 years – as if nothing ever came before then – so we went right back to how people used to show in the early Twentieth Century. We added a bit of drama!
Have you started thinking about next show?
Phoebe: Yes, I actually start thinking about it the day after I show the last collection. The music and the styling for A/W13 is all ready to go. It’s just the collection now! That’s how I always work; I see the whole thing and then fill in the actual collection as I go.
What’s inspiring you at present?
Phoebe: I’m really looking forward to working more with knit, I think we can explore more with that. I’m really interested in how things are made and their engineering, and knit is a totally engineered surface. I find all the loops and knots so fascinating.
Do you have a particular favourite loop or knot?
Phoebe: I used to be a really big fan of crochet, but then I did too much of it and damaged my wrists. I really liked moss stitch; I’m a bit geeky with knit…
Geeky seems to work, the result is couture standard pieces for Ready To Wear…
Phoebe: That’s an interesting thing to hear someone say as I find the word couture quite challenging. Couture itself is a very specific event, with a very rigid set of rules and I think the word gets thrown around a bit too much. However, the ethos behind what we’re doing definitely comes from that.
Rose: It’s that laboured, painstaking construction. Ss13 is the first season for which we will, in any way, export some of what we’re doing outside the studio – although everything will come back through here and will be finished by hand. Up until now it’s been (predominantly) Phoebe, creating the whole collection by hand from start to finish, here in this studio. This is something we are incredibly proud of and something we continue to strive towards. Not everything needs to be mass-produced – maybe we only want to be a small label, and continue to stand by what we say and who we are. At the end of the day it is what we go home feeling like, rather than all the money in the world. It’s nice to still have faith and be proud of what you’re producing.
I see a lot of similarities between your work and that of early Comme…
Phoebe: That’s interesting… Maybe that makes sense in terms of Dover St being our first stockiest: it definitely aligns in terms of aesthetic.
Rose: We are interested in the approach Rei takes – deconstruction, reconstruction, recycling, anti-IT bag etc – although we come at it from a slightly different angle. We are a small label: we started out with nothing, we have never taken a cash injection and we have always worked within our means. As a result we have often had to work with the question: how you can make something that people would normally throw away, completely beautiful?
Phoebe: I think it’s really important that the work reflects what you’re doing and who you are at the time. We’re working with fabrics we can afford and that’s not an apologetic thing, we’re very proud of that because that is who we are right now in our business.
How is it working as women in the fashion industry?
Rose: We are a bit ‘girl power’; we both come from families with strong female role models. And fashion really is a very male dominated industry. Most of the people we work with are men, although we’ve just started working with a factory in North London with an all female workforce, and Purple (our PR agency) is quite female orientated. It’s actually really nice to have those strong female role models to look up to in the industry.
Phoebe: I think it’s so ridiculous that it’s like that and that that question even exists – women can do just as amazing things as men. There are so many layers to the modern woman and so many roles she has to play, regardless of age – must be sexy but serious, function as a strong individual in the workspace, but also be a good mother, a good sister. There are so many roles that women have to play between morning and night, clothes are like a costume for that play.
Do you have a specific woman in mind when you’re designing your collections?
Phoebe: It’s always a combination of who I am and who I’d like to be.
What makes you happy?
Rose: Phoebe likes trees 🙂
Phoebe: Rose likes a tidy house 🙂 … But really, when I feel that someone has actually got it, and understood it. That’s why I like working with Rose as she always, always gets it, she always knows.
Twin Playlist X Haim
Twin asked the three lovely Haim sisters whose lo-fi LA sounds we dig for their must have Friday tracks…
1/ Young Americans by David Bowie
Hearing this song is the best to wake up in the morning. It”s our alarm clock.2/ Straight to Hell by The Clash
One of our favorite clash songs. Their production on this song is a huge inspiration.3/ Brand New Key by Melanie
The tongue in cheek lyrics in this song always make us smile. It”s fun to put on when we’re getting ready to go out.4/ Don’t do me like that By Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Our favourite era of Petty. Every time this song comes on on the radio, we can’t help but air-drum to it.5/ Eine Symphonie Des Grauens by The Monochrome Set
My favorite songs from one of our favourite bands. Love the way he delivers his lyrics.6/ Changes by 2Pac
The use of the sample by Bruce Hornsby is epic. Love the original, but this song trumps it ten fold.7/ The Next Episode by Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg
This song reminds us of how much we love Los Angeles.8/ Ruin by Cat Power
Been a fan of Cat Power’s for a long time, and have been excitedly waiting for her new songs to come out. This one is our favourite so far.9/ Warm Heart of Africa By The Very Best ft. Ezra Koenig
We just played a show with The Very Best and had the best time dancing with them on stage. This is one of our favourite songs of theirs.
Listen to Haim”s playlist
The Long Look
25.10.2012 | Blog | BY: Lily Silverton
When James Long finally branched out into womenswear, with his critically acclaimed debut show at Fashion East A/W11, the fashion world was ready. We spend a lot of our time coveting the wardrobes of our male relatives and friends. We envy the clean, sharp tailoring, the perfect shirt, the imitable jackets. We steal their clothes on a near regular basis – I’m still wearing my younger brother’s barmitzvah suit, eight years on.
So when a menswear designer makes the move into womenswear, we find ourselves unrestrainedly happy. Smiles replace pouts all round. Under the watchful, expert eye of the Lulu Kennedy, Long’s womenswear collections have gone from strength to strength. This season, he flew the nest, with his first ever non-sponsored, independent, magnificent collection.
Twin spoke to James about monochrome, minimalism and female icons past and present…
What was your inspiration for S/S13?
The monochrome colour palate really came from something that was happening in the menswear show ten weeks earlier – where we’d be looking at Joseph Albez, the Kung Fu Cowboy and David Shrigley. Another inspiration, or element, was that this was our first non-sponsored BFC show.
In terms of design, it is a more simple collection…
Yes, this season we consciously stripped the collection back to something very basic, yet very beautiful. If you’ve seen a lot of one style you, obviously, get a bit sick of it and need a change. So that’s how I work – alternating seasons between elaborate and basic. However there are a lot of design elements I’ve always loved and relied on: polka dots, lines etc.
Do you have a favourite shape?
I guess I’m a hypocrite as I think I’m linear but then I do love a dot as well! To be honest what I really love is to mix everything up so that I have a bit of everything, and more. This collection was always going to be monochrome, but it also had to have my maximalist-type knitwear, which was worked in with the contradictory minimalist colour palate. I think that’s why I love it so much. It simply made sense. It was definitely my most personal womenswear collection.
So who is the woman behind this very personal collection?
PJ Harvey meets Beattlejuice!
Who are some of your favourite women, past and present?
There are inspirational, historical women who come up at the embryonic stages of design – Leer, Stevie Nicks & Nancy Spungen – but the physical collection itself is far more based on women who are around me – Virginia Bates, Lulu [Kennedy], Louise Grey, my sister Charlotte, Sam in the studio to name a few [some of whom featured on Princess Julia’s watercolour shirt]. Once the collection is ready we often think about people it would be for. We’ll say ‘that is a Lulu shirt’ or, and this sounds funny (because this is for twin) but ‘Celestine might wear that’. These are women who we envisage wearing our clothes – not muses but the icons to come!
Are your men’s and women’s collections conceived in tandem?
For me, the two are very much the same thing – they are conceived and created here [at studio] by the same team, using the same principles and the same elements. Only the mood, colours or cut differ. There is 50% cross over and then we also share techniques – the belted box pleat for our skirts we took from the menswear, with great success!
What are you currently listening to in the studio?
We’ve turned into a radio only station; absolute 90s; radio 6; Jarvis’ Sunday service. At show time we have Hanna Hanra sending through a barrage of music. Or we’ll play one album over and over again; this season it was PJ Harvey, obviously. I also really like Rose Blake’s work.
And what are you currently reading?
The Empress of Ireland – it’s a really nice bedtime read.
What will you be dressing as for Halloween?
I’ll actually be in Ibiza staying with Virginia Bates, no plans yet but we’re always dressing up!
What’s next for you?
Teaching menswear at the Royal Collage of Art which I love. I’m continuously amazed and impressed by the quality of work. We have our menswear show on the 7th january, and then it’s womenswear again! We also have a collection for Topman coming out in two weeks. We’re making, showing, delivering: just keeping it going really!
Gotta have faith
NYC’s sweetheart Annabelle Dexter Jones has collaborated with French label, FAITH CONNEXTION PARIS for her debut fashion foray. A part of the fashion/music crew of a family – she’s the daughter of Ann Dexter Jones and Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones, and sister to Mark and Charlotte Ronson, creativity runs in the family.
Her capsule collection for the French fashion house mixes the super cute retro, a hint of rock n roll with an o-so Parisen vibe. Lace tops with contrasting peter pan collars, vintage inspired leopard print fur coats, classic leather bombers and A-line skirts make up the line. Notice the scarfs featuring custom André Saraiva artwork, you can’t get any more Paris cool than that.
Pick it up at Harrods, Net-a-Porter and Browns.
What Dreams Are Made Of
23.10.2012 | Blog | BY: Sarah Barlow
Walk into the East Wing galleries of Somerset House this autumn and you’ll feel like you’ve fallen into the pages of a child’s storybook. A cracked humpty dumpty, a double-bass-playing bumblebee and a giant china doll line the galleries’ walls and floors as part of a brand new exhibition entitled Story Teller, celebrating the enchanting and whimsical work of fashion photographer, Tim Walker.
Renowned for his extraordinary imagination that truly knows no bounds, Walker transforms a fashion shoot into a world of make-believe. His pictures that have featured within the pages of leading publications such as Vogue,Vanity Fair and W present the same element of child-like fantasy you would expect from a fairytale. Displayed amid these fantastical fashion photographs from Walkers back catalogue is a series of portraiture that are a slightly more stripped back and fuss-free although equally as captivating. Alber Elbaz, the late Lee McQueen and Tilda Swinton are just a few of the inspirational famous faces that Walker has captured during his time behind the lens to date.
Tim Walker: Story Teller is on until 27th January 2013 at Somerset House, London.
Mother Love
Who are you? Without getting too metaphysical, chances are that the things that define you are your interests, your career, being creative and your relationship with your loved ones. The challenge for generations of women who have children is to assert their identity over the act of being a mother.
While undeniably motherhood grows into the spaces of your time that you previously thought were wholly filled, there”s a tension between being a mum and being an individual. Photographers Jenny Lewis and Tara Darby have sought to show just that in their exhibition More than just a Mum – a collection of portraits of 22 creative mums in London.
Spawned from Jenny Scott”s parenting collective Mothers Meeting, it”s a celebration of modern motherhood embodied by the slot machines likes of make up artist Alex Box, set designer Anna Burns, photographer Clare Shilland and stylist Thais Mendes. Tara says: “It is easy for mothers to lose their sense of self and we wanted to celebrate these women and modern motherhood.”
More than Just a Mum is at Exposure Gallery until Nov 6th.
Coralie
C
Thais
Clare
Kim
Top Image: Anna
The Eyes in the Heat X Twin Playlist
The Eyes in the Heat“s debut album Program Me was released this month on Kill The DJ records – an all-female, Paris based label. Already named album of the week on Juno, Twin caught up with vocalist Zizi Kanaan to talk music, women and representation…
Where did the name The Eyes in the Heat come from?
It came from a Jackson Pollock painting – but I think we choose it mainly because we liked the suggestive quality of the phrase. I remember when I was a kid I would get severely stricken, almost painfully so, by shyness, and what I remember most about the feeling was this extreme pressure and heat behind my eyes. I felt like I was being watched from all directions, and this sort of extreme projection had the effect of sort of freezing my gaze.
Who are The Eyes in the Heat?
We are Lebanese/American, Zizi Kanaan (artist/vocalist), British musician/DJ Oliver Ho (aka Raudive) (machines and guitar), and Marseille born Jerome Tcherneyan (percussion).
Is it important for you to identify as a female musician?
Yes – but only in the sense that the female musician is still under-represented and far too frequently categorized. I like exploring the point of view of both sexes. I believe firmly that both sexes can strongly identify with the idea of the other. Identity is a construction, there is no one-way to be or see – and this can be as difficult for men as it is for women, constantly feeling they have to uphold a certain accepted role.
What ideas inspire your music?
I am really into the idea of the Freudian slip. I think sometimes that most of my lyrics are one long slip of the unconscious. I also love mistakes. Losing control is so healthy sometimes! I love it when you trip, on the street or someplace, and for that one, brief moment, you lose yourself, you lose your sense of control, the sense of ‘you’ becomes dislodged, and for one small second, you are free from all your self-demands…
Do you have any opinions on the difficulties of women building a career in the music industry and the difficulties in doing so?
I think things are still pretty backwards and reactionary. It’s always noteworthy for instance that whenever there is a new all-female rock-group it’s still seen as striking and out of the ordinary, in a way that an all-male band isn’t.
This is an issue that just keeps going in circles, without much progression. In the Seventies and Eighties we had a lot of all-female punk-rock bands, riot grrrl feminist movements, all female post-punk groups etc. whereas we seemed to have moved backwards from that position now.
Wouldn”t it be interesting if the majority of all industries was run by women. Wouldn”t that be strange? Can you imagine it? I often wonder how different things would be if society were run by a mostly female workforce. I think a lot of people still have a difficulty with entrusting the qualities of intelligence and competence to women, and the mere fact that we have to imagine what it would be like for women to be in the majority shows how behind we still are. Why are women still in the position of having to prove themselves…
That’s why it’s fascinating to work with the label we’re on, Kill the DJ. Not only are they the only surviving, truly independent label left in France, but it’s also founded and still run by two women. This gives them a very different take on the whole techno, DJ, post-rock culture, which can often be quite male dominated and very much into ideas of traditional masculine hero-worship. As a band we’re very much working to try and dismantle those sorts of ideas, and so it’s a perfect home for us.
Do you feel like you are part of a particular scene? If so, what is it?
We are now part of the Kill The DJ family, which is very energizing. It’s very exciting considering their historical relevance in terms of the feminist/gay/lesbian scene in Paris, and what they have accomplished with an all women outfit. France still feels like a very politically driven place, so it’s great to be involved in that network, that history!
Twin asked Eyes in the Heat for their top nine tracks…
1/ B-52″s – Private Idaho
They have this post-punk meets 60″s garage style – amazing organs and grooves. The vocals are great in this too. This group really rocks!2/ Talking Heads – Cross Eyed and Painless
The best line of all time “lost my shape, trying to act casual” which is pretty much how we feel a lot of the time.3/ Frank Zappa – What”s the ugliest part of your body?
We absolutely love this track – short, sweet and desperately to the point. Identity as a social construction, physical beauty, ugliness – it”s all in the mind!4/ Laurie Anderson – Language is a Virus
She has a huge talent for creating a free narrative that floats through the music, using words like musical notes. She has such an ironic, wry, sharp wit and an interesting take on gender identity.5/ The Flying Lizards – Get up (Sex Machine)
This band is very unique, somewhere between avant-garde music and post-punk pop. Discordant sounds mixed with sparse beats. Her vocals are beautiful too, very English and satirical. I love this song, and the way they have managed to dismantle and anaesthetize such a “sexually – driven” song.6/ Jean Shepard – The Root of All Evil is a Man
I love the whimsical melody of this song, it”s so floaty and sweet it almost passes you by how dry and vengeful the lyrics are.7/ The Watts Prophets – Prostitute
This group were a forerunner to contemporary hip-hop. You can still feel the dark, dripping New York streets in this atmospheric social take on the city”s underbelly life.8/ Planning to Rock – Doorway
What an excellent, unusual performer – exactly what the music industry needs more of…9/ Lydia Lunch – Mechanical Flattery
She reminds me of a female Tom Waits – a very sinister, scary song…yikes! what a song to end on… I hope you”re not reading this in the morning. Definitely a song for sleazy, dark venues…
Listen to their playlist
New York I Love You
For better or worse, the Noughties belonged to New York. Whether it was the bands pumping out post punk cool across the Atlantic and beyond or the tragic events surrounding the 2001 terrorist attacks, the city on the edge of America held our attention in a vice like grip. Nest week sees the release of Shut Up and Play the Hits, a documentary about LCD Soundsystem, or more simply one man, James Murphy, whose tracks were responsible for reviving that party spirit that first kicked off the Seventies Downtown scene. As Murphy took their party on the road, the moments of champagne soaked revelry were faithfully recorded. Twin love a good party and as we’re set to hit New York at the end of the month, we thought these pics showed the kinda good time we like to have.
School’s Out
The new fashion term is in and who better to give a lesson than stylist Katie Grand, whose fashion film for DSquared shot by Mert & Marcus stars the most fash-tastic students ever spotted inside a classroom’s four walls. Languishing in DSquared’s fabulous Fifties reboot berets, cat’s eyes sunnies and badboy leathers, the models are saved by an impromptu catwalk class from blackboard boredom – leaving them drooling over jewelled stilettos rather than exercise books. Cher Horowitz eat your heart out.
SCHOTT NYC X HOUSE OF HOLLAND
12.10.2012 | Blog | BY: Sarah Barlow
Over the last century Schott NYC has become a staple in the wardrobes of many a rock-star, Hollywood pin up and style icon, so much so that the label’s handcrafted outerwear has rapidly become just as iconic as the wearers themselves. Perhaps James Dean wouldn’t have been much of a Rebel Without a Cause without his Schott Perfecto® biker… Similarly, Joan Jett’s hit record Black Leather may have been a little less inspired without hers…
With an impressive true-blue American heritage dating all the way back to 1913, Schott’s 100th birthday is soon approaching. To celebrate, the New York based label has teamed up with British designer Henry Holland, to create a capsule collection that is scheduled to launch next month. Henry adorns the distinguished Perfecto® biker with butterscotch and peach candy stripes and creates a playful version of the signature American college varsity jacket, combining Schott’s celebrated history with a youthful and contemporary aesthetic.
The Schott NYC X House of Holland anniversary collection will be available to purchase at Selfridges, London from November 2012.
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