This Friday, District MTV is taking over the Design Museum to showcase 80’s and 90’s style revolutions for one night only. The late night celebration is hosted by Harvey Nichols’ former Fashion Director, Paula Reed and co-curated by Double Decker, an independent curating agency specialising in design and applied arts. Rewind The Tape set out to explore the sub-cultures we grew to love, from Goth to New Romantic and Acid Rave to Pop – it will display the leading and emerging contemporary talent, including DJs, directors, photographers and designers, all of which were influenced by the 80s and 90s. Paula Reed will also be launching her new books, Fashion in the 80’s and Fashion in the 90’s, as well as head up a number of talks with with young fashion talent. The night’s other activities include 80’s and 90’s themed make-over sessions by London College of Fashion, exclusive film screenings by new directors including MVA and ASVOFF awarded Zaiba Jabber and upcoming DJ’s such as Edifeye and Siobhan Bell will take to the decks. It’s a night full of nostalgia, poping with entertainment and it’s not to be missed.

To be part of the experience, send images of your style during the decades and your pose could be featured during the evening. Send to: rewindthetape@designmuseum.org

Rewind The Tape – Friday 6 December, 6:30 – 10pm

designmuseum.org

Tags: 80s, 90s, design museum

Opening today, the Design Museum’s Extraordinary Stories About Ordinary Things is a love letter to the often overlooked design details of everyday life.

Thanks to its exploration of contemporary design and architecture, the exhibition not only examines furniture objects, but also fashion designs from the 1970s to the 1990s — in specific the Issey Miyake 132 5. collection, constructed out of a single piece of recycled plastic, which acts as both a folded two-dimensional object and a three-dimensional garment.

“Issey Miyake’s work tries to find a balance between the practical and the beautiful, a concept that is as relevant today as it was when he started the fashion house. His constant experimentation with both forms and also production has kept him at the peak of international fashion and design,” comments the presentation’s curator Gemma Curtain.

Getting a new perspective on the seemingly ordinary is always a visual delight, and this exhibition does its task more than justice.

Extraordinary Stories About Ordinary Things is on display at the Design Museum, 28 Shad Thames, London, SE1 2YD.

designmuseum.org

Tags: design museum, Extraordinary Stories About Ordinary Things, Issey Miyake

Twin is green with lust for Veja’s new Gisèle bag. The French ecological brand, known for their fair-trade sneakers, have designed a range of suede bags that have style and ethical substance. While the modern tanning industry uses chromium or another heavy metal that is bad for the environment, Veja has used vegetable-tanned suede, which is dyed using natural pigments. The leather used is tanned with acacia extract, so no fluocarbons are applied. Helping the environment has never looked and felt so good.

The Gisèle is available from the Design Museum Shop and Darkroom in London.
veja.fr
designmuseumshop.com

Tags: Darkroom, design museum, Fair-trade, Gisele, Veja

Last year, Anglo-Brazilian design duo Basso & Brooke embarked on an unusual research trip. The print obsessed pair set off along the great and ancient Silk Road in Uzbekistan. Along the way, they drew inspiration from the landscape, history and fabrics they encountered. Now, their silk route trail inspired collection is on show at the Design Museum.

With them for the ride was film-maker and regular Basso & Brooke collaborator Chloe de Carvalho who, as well as documenting the trip, made a 10 minute film full of folk-dancing, catwalk shows and ornate architecture that accompanies the exhibition.

Twin spoke to Chloe, who has collaborated with Basso & Brooke since 2003, about her enduring relationship with the duo – and the weird and wonderful sights of Uzbekistan.

What is it that you enjoy about working with Basso & Brooke?
Most of all because I love their work. I also love how when they call me up to invite me to work on something it’ll always be something completely unexpected and unpredictable: Uzbekistan?!

What was the most inspiring aspect of being in Uzbekistan?
The light in Uzbekistan is amazing. It’s this beautiful crisp, white light. And the country’s landscape is so vast it’s just asking to be shot with anamorphic lenses. It really inspired me to go back and shoot a fiction film there one day.

The other thing is the traditional dress sense: they do not shy away from prints and colours, actually, the more the better. And the layering is a brilliant: you can see a mixture of traditional Uzbek cloth with made-in-china prints with fluorescent detailing or velvety textures.

What was the most unexpected thing that happened while you were there?
Well, I gave an interview during the Uzbek fashion week only to realize by the last question that the journalist thought I was “Basso & Brooke”. That cracked us up quite a bit.

Oh, and I went down for breakfast on the first morning in Tashkent to find Luiz Felipe Scolari (ex-brazil football coach) and Rivaldo (football player) having breakfast. As a Brazilian, in Uzbekistan, I have to say that was pretty unexpected.

What’s up next?
There are a couple of different things I’ve been talking about with Basso and Brooke and I’m always looking forward to see what unexpected project will pop up next.

I’m also working on the script of my first feature film, a mystical road movie to be shot in Brazil.

Basso & Brooke – Adventures on the Silk Road is at The Design Museum until the 21st August.
www.designmuseum.org

Basso & Brooke’s research tour to Uzbekistan:

Image above and below: Basso & Brooke, Design Museum by Ashley Woodfield.

Tags: basso & brooke, chloe de carvalho, design museum, silk route trail, uzbekistan