http://www.dazeddigital.com/ArtsAndCulture/article/7276/1/Pharrell_Williams_Tank_Furniture

PHARRELL WILLIAMS' TANK FURNITURE
US rapper and producer takes on furniture design in chair collaboration with the Emmanuel Perrotin Gallery in Paris
Text by David Hellqvist | Published 16 April 2010
Photo by Guillaume Ziccarelli Courtesy Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris & Miami


When super producer and big time rapper Pharrell Williams suddenly got an urge to design furniture, there was no stopping him. Thanks to his friendship with Parisian gallery owner Emmanuel Perrotin, Williams has been able to see his design ambitions come true. The chairs presented at the Emmanuel Perrotin Gallery are actually Williams' second batch. They were preceded by a chair inspired by Love and a sculpture in collaboration with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. This time around, Williams looked towards War for inspiration. Dazed Digital spoke to the multi-talented creative....


Dazed Digital: Is the War theme a natural progression on from Love, which was the theme for your last furniture project, or were you just influenced by the state of the world we live in?
Pharrell Williams: I don't think that it's a natural progression, the series is called Perspective and they were both based on the way I felt at the moment I designed them. My inspiration and ideas are often based on curiosity stemming from things that I don't know about, or things I like to explore.


DD: Is it an 'angry' chair then?
Pharrell Williams: No, not at all. I'm not angry about anything. The Tank Chair follows the first design concept of me putting myself in someone else's shoes to understand what and how they are feeling. Here I focused on young men and women who join the military and put themselves in a position that can not be reversed, and end up in wars far from home, often not understanding why. The chairs are also in baby colours which clearly steers away from anger on purpose.


DD: How does the War theme show itself in the chair?
Pharrell Williams: Hmmm, the tank tracks?


DD: Are you moving on to other interior design ventures?
Pharrell Williams: Yes, I'm willing to accept any challenge that I'm curious about, especially artistically. I have been blessed to be introduced to people who believe in me and give me the opportunity to challenge myself.


DD: How did this project come about in the first place?
Pharrell Williams: A good friend of mine, Sabina Belli, introduced me to Emmanuel Perrotin. When I explained to him the ideas I had, he was very supportive and after teaming up with Domeau & Pérès, we created the first Perspective chair which was shown at Emmanuel's Paris gallery. The rest is history, as they say...


DD: Your 'main job' as a musician is creative as it is - does your creativity know no bounds?
Pharrell Williams: I don't believe that there should be any boundaries to creativity. If that was true, I would not be where I am today.


DD: Any new music coming our way?
Pharrell Williams: Sure, I'm basically in the studio everyday. I recently switched over to Logic which allows me to keep working while I'm on the road or at home so I'm never away from creating music. Besides working with other artists, we are putting the finishing touched on the new N*E*R*D album "Nothing" which will be out late spring. I'm really excited about the album: Shae, Chad and I are ready to take N*E*R*D to the next level!


Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin
76 rue de Turenne, Paris, 75003

Charlie Casely-Hayford interview in Dazed & Confused's May Issue

http://www.anothermag.com/current/view/211/David_Cameron_Fashion_Face_Off

The Spin | David Cameron: Fashion Face Off
— April 13, 2010—
David Hellqvist tries to make sense of the sartorial choices of World Leaders in his fortnightly column The Spin


Three things come to mind when thinking of David Cameron and his style: a bicycle helmet; the rolled-up sleeves of a tie-less white shirt; and his puffed-up baby face. Two of these are manufactured elements and part ofthe current election campaign: the third is just the way he is. What you see is what you get.


No one can have missed the General Election campaign in the UK. Since last week, and until May 6, Britain’s roads and doorsteps will be crowded with politicians, and Dave’s one of them. More than likely, you’ll see him without a suit jacket or tie and with rolled-up sleeves. If you didn’t know, that’s because he is one of us: Dave isn’t afraid of getting his Thomas Pink shirt dirty. With the collar unbuttoned, Dave is able to relax with the common people.


The bicycle helmet is obvious. The Tories used to be Blue, now they’re Green. The helmet shows how engaged Dave is with environmental issues. He really cares about global warming, even enough to catch a flight to the Norwegian archipelago to see the icebergs melt for himself. Dave rides his bike to work, at least before it got stolen because Dave failed to grasp the elementary function of a bike lock. This way Dave gets his exercise AND helps reducing carbon monoxide. It’s just a shame that his PA was caught driving behind him with his briefcase…


The baby face, lastly. How can we have missed it? For a while it was plastered on every single wall and billboard throughout the country. At least that’s how it felt. Had he been airbrushed or not? That was the question on everyone’s lips. But if he had been polished, it only made his baby cheeks even more pinchable. But that makes sense because, in political terms at least, Dave is just a puppy. At 43 we would be one of Britain’s youngest Prime Ministers ever.


I’m just waiting for Gordon Brown to walk up to Dave during PMQ one day, put a bicycle helmet on him, roll up his sleeves, and pinch those cheeks, so that Dave can go out and play with the other kids.






David Hellqvist is a freelance journalist for AnOther Man, Dazed & Confused, i-D,ZOO and a Contributing Editor to American website JC Report

Duggie Fields interview for Dazed Digital

http://www.dazeddigital.com/ArtsAndCulture/article/7204/1/Duggie_Fields_in_Broken_Hearts_Appeal

DUGGIE FIELDS IN BROKEN HEARTS APPEAL
Colourful and quirky artist joins impressive art line up for British Heart Foundation gala
Text by David Hellqvist | Published 12 April 2010


To raise some well-deserved money for a great cause, the British Heart Foundation is holding an art auction at The Dorchester hotel in association with Christie's auction house on Wednesday the 14th of April. The event, entitled The Mending Broken Hearts Appeal, hopes to raise £50 million by selling off donated artwork by the likes of Damien Hirst, Sir Peter Blake, Gavin Turk, Jonathan Yeo and Duggie Fields, who Dazed Digital stole a quick chat with...


Dazed Digital: How did you get involved?
Duggie Fields: Brad Faine asked if I would. I have worked with him over many yers and happened to bump in to him when he was on his way to a meeting about the project.


DD: Tell us about your art piece?
Duggie Fields: It's a digital work drawn with a mouse, but using the computer to produce a virtual image in as close a way as I would make something with a paintbrush on a canvas.


DD: Did you produce several pieces?
Duggie Fields: I worked on three or four other ideas first that got quite over complicated before I decided something simpler would be more effective. I came up with the concept of this combination as I was going to bed one night, tired and frustrated with way the earlier ideas were going.


DD: You're in fine company. who's art piece would you buy and why?
Duggie Fields: I haven't seen most of them yet, but indeed it is quite an impressive array of artists. There are quite a few that I am looking forward to discovering when I get to see them.


DD: Who's the lady in the image?
Duggie Fields: She is possibly based on Raphael Madonna, but I have forgetten! I have been working on a series of Madonnas for some years now. I started this version a couple of years ago, she was originally looking at the child. I did a version first without it, and then this one with the anatomic heart where the child's head would have been.


DD: What are you up to otherwise?
Duggie Fields: I'm currently working on a landscape canvas based on views along the road the castle of Sezzate, an area in Tuscany, Italy, that I have been visiting and painting over the last few years.

Hedi Slimane x Rolls Royce on Dazed Digital

http://www.dazeddigital.com/Photography/article/7214/1/Hedi_Slimane_x_Rolls_Royce

HEDI SLIMANE X ROLLS ROYCE
Photographer Slimane turns his eye and camera lens towards Rolls Royce, while Beck records the car engine for a Dazed Digital Exclusive
Text by David Hellqvist | Published 09 April 2010


He might have been far too young to drive one, but Hedi Slimane's obsession with the affluent car make Rolls Royce started when the photographer was only six years old. Sketching the car over and over in his note pad, little did young Slimane know that the car epitomises everything he would later on in life be known for, both as a fashion designer and as a photographer; pure luxury, explicit shapes and superior quality. Whether documenting London's rock scene for a photo book, or rewriting the the rules of menswear as Creative Director of Dior Homme, Slimane has always brought those exact qualities to his work. Add to that his adolescent Rolls Royce fascination - which resulted in the purchase of two 'Triple Black' RR models - and the photographic collaboration between the two was just a question of time. Here, and on Nowness, we bring you the evidence of Hedi Slimane's life long love affair with Rolls Royce. His attention to detail and way of transforming ordinary car details into objects of desire is not only a testament to his skills as a photographer, but also shows that it is difficult to make a Rolls Royce car look bad...

Sang Bleu Issue 5 interview on Dazed Digital

http://www.dazeddigital.com/ArtsAndCulture/article/7196/1/Sang_Bleu_Issue_5

SANG BLEU ISSUE 5
Tattoo slash fashion magazine launches new issue with European tour of parties
Text by David Hellqvist | Published 08 April 2010


New magazines hit the shelves every other week, it seems like. Most of them are gone by the next. Sang Bleu was founded in 2004 so it isn't exactly new (although still young), but it proves that a good idea and hard work will get you through a tough financial climate and an equally difficult publishing business. The magazine was launched as a tattoo magazine, but Sang Bleu will aesthetically please whether you believe in the power of ink or not. Founder and editor-in-chief Maxime Buchi is just about to drop issue 5 of Sang Bleu on his faithfull readership. The content ranges from features on "contemporary art, fashion, and humanities to tattooing, body modification, fetish and BDSM" and totals an impressive 308 pages. As always, the Sang Bleu style has attracted not only the finest photo subjects and text topics, but also excellent contributors. As a massive Thank You to the readers, Maxime will not have just one launch party, but four. Check out the Sang Bleu Facebook page for details on the London edition.


Dazed Digital: Sang Bleu started out as a tattoo/fashion publication - was there a gap in the market?
Maxime Büchi: I wouldn't speak in terms of market. I didn't have a notion of what the market was, really. I just catalyzed a certain spirit I could experience on a daily basis at that time. There turned out to be a relevant market though.


DD: Do you still have a strong tattoo angle?
Maxime Büchi: Of course. Though I wouldn't say the tattoos are an angle; they're a necessity. From my point of view, it simply has to be addressed if I want to continue to depict what is the most advanced and experimental in today's artistic culture.


DD: Is the new issue also a double issue?
Maxime Büchi: In one sense it is. This time, literally. It is only issue 5, but separated in 2 volumes, wrapped together.


DD: Who's on the cover?
Maxime Büchi: Cedric.


DD: What else is good in this issue?
Maxime Büchi: Haha, what a tough question. If it is inside, it has to be good! Really, what is good is the general spirit, the overall quality of the material and the organisation of it all as an editorial object. There has been a long road between issue 3/4 and issue 5. The editorial team is getting more coherent, I don't always have to explain what I am trying to do, which saves me a lot of time that I can instead dedicate to creative aspects & reflection.


DD: You are doing launch parties all over Europe - Are you turning into a touring party organiser?
Maxime Büchi: Haha. Really, what we're doing is closer to gypsies endlessly roaming the world than some kind of Rock tour. I couldn't care less about filling clubs, what I like is to meet the contributors, the followers, have a chat if I can, create bounds, exchange smiles. That's what I feed myself on.


DD: Do you have many tattoos yourself?
Maxime Büchi: I do. Many. Some big ones, some small ones.


DD: A particular favourite ?
Maxime Büchi: Not really. They all relate to different times and events. They are me, my past, my present.


DD: What's next for Sang Bleu?
Maxime Büchi: We are developing the publishing house with Jeanne-Salomé Rochat. It is called "Sang Bleu éditeurs" (pretty straight-forward innit?). Under this label, we have started to publish art books, essays. There are many things we want to do. Sang Bleu magazine also has to evolve, because for now, we are still investing in it, and we would like to find a way to make it financially self-sufficient so that we can start to invest in these other projects. Among others, I am also working on one called 'Monographies' which consists of a series of experimental "sex-movies", uniquely published on internet. We just finished the first one in collaboration with Emmanuelle Antille.


Want to get hold of a copy? It's available at Oki-Ni


London Launch Party:
Saturday 10th of April
8pm - 3am
The Alibi, 91 Kingsland Road High Street
London E8 2PB

Friedrich Gray film and interview on Dazed Digital

http://www.dazeddigital.com/Fashion/article/7133/1/Friedrich_Gray_Spring_Summer_2010_Film

FRIEDRICH GRAY SPRING SUMMER 2010 FILM
Designer Ben Pollitt collaborates with photographer Tim Richardson on an atmospheric fashion film
Text by David Hellqvist | Published 23 March 2010


The Australian label Friedrich Gray, AKA designer Ben Pollitt, tells the sartorial story of an atypical neo-gothic hero. Silhouettes are slim and dark, often in leather and denim. Now based in the southern hemisphere, Pollitt has spent time in New York and his travelling experiences shine through his tough and moody designs. At the same time, the local and native influences are equally important. That's all obvious when looking at the film Pollitt has produced in collaboration with film maker and photographer Tim Richardson. The result is an eerie but beautiful art piece, boosted by Richardson's cinematography and Pollitt's sharp tailoring. Dazed Digital spoke to both...


Dazed Digital: Why use an alias, and where did Friedrich Gray come from?
Ben Pollitt: I figured the label shouldn't be based around my name, but that of a character who's story becomes the enigma of the brand. The literal references were Caspar David Friedrich and the experimental band "Gray".


DD: You mostly use dark and monochrome colours - is that why you don’t ‘believe’ in seasons?
Ben Pollitt: I use that palette to provide continuity amongst collections, the garments can then be mixed and layered. I feel the darker colours are easier to wear and add an anonymous element. So yes, the palette compliments the longevity of a garment's relevance.


DD: Often we see you using tight bottoms and loose tops – do you like playing around with proportions?
Ben Pollitt: I like the idea of distorting the silhouettes. Framing the contours of the legs, letting the upper body float on it its plinth.


DD: There is menswear in the film as well – where do you feel most at home?
Ben Pollitt: I move through both in a natural way, what's happening around me shapes where I want to be, it shifts daily. They have different meanings to me. Menswear is a little more self indulgent as I can wear the garments, where as women's its more conceptual.


DD: A favourite piece in the collection?
Ben Pollitt: The full length digital printed Merino wool dress with the leather arms. Emma wears this while traversing the rocks.


DD: Is leather, which you call "the second skin", your preferred fabric?
Ben Pollitt: It is the real skin in our garments. I like to experiment with washes, finishes, mixing it with contrasting weights and textures, and using it tightly and draping it off the body.


DD: There are some haunting and eerie nature shots in the film – is nature a big influence on you?
Ben Pollitt: It was for this collection. I visited an Edward Burtynsky photo exhibition and I was moved by the natural composition forms in his rock quarry series. We used the ridge lines to create interesting shapes and contours. The film was shot on the location of an old quarry by the coast, a truly mystical and voluminous place.


DD: What else inspired the collection?
Ben Pollitt: Leading up to the filming of the collection, we played the DJ Hell album Teufelswerk on high rotation to keep us moving. It has some really great tracks that helped drive the creative and allowed for a journey under pressure. I always have an album for a collection.


Tim Richardson is a New York-based photographer and film director. His work have been seen in, among others, V Magazine, Interview and Dazed & Confused. Of late, Richardson has also published several books, including the recent Physical Frequencies. His second film, Procession, was shown at the Strasbourg Film Festival.


Dazed Digital: You both photograph and shoot film – where are you creatively at home?
Tim Richardson: Recent projects like my Augmented Reality shoot with Katie Shillingford have become about integrating both mediums - sometimes simultaneously. The beauty of film is that it allows a more flowing connection to the model. It's more like visual choreography and has evolved to influence the way I shoot stills. So my way of working - my creative home - has really shifted to cover both mediums.


DD: Do you often work with fashion designers, such as Friedrich Gray?
Tim Richardson: I've worked with several fashion brands in the past. My relationship with Friedrich Gray is unique in that the project evolved from a my long term friendship with Ben. Knowing one another for several years meant that the project was a free creative exchange and that Ben trusted me that much more to interpret Friedrich Gray on to film.


DD: What’s the Pros with such a collaboration, compared to the bigger Nike and YSL jobs you also have done?
Tim Richardson: A young label like Friedrich Gray is a far more personal kind of project - both for Ben and myself. The smaller scale of the brand means that Ben and I worked very closely on the film from beginning to end. Also by nature of having a smaller budget the creative process is focused more on innovation and experimental approaches to achieve a clear aesthetic statement.


DD: Any Cons?
Tim Richardson: The budget is usually the biggest Con, which is no surprise. It just forces you to be more resourceful.


DD: Do you have any formal photo/film training?
Tim Richardson: I was an art director for four years, working with both photographers and film makers. So my training was 'on the job'.


DD: Where did you shoot this film?
Tim Richardson: We were looking for a location with an epic, almost 'science fiction' terrain. The extreme 'geology' and sun blasted coastline of Kiama, just outside Sydney, was perfect. To me, the location is really the third character in the film.


DD: Was there any obstacles during the filming?
Tim Richardson: The main obstacle was the landscape. Our shot list was very ambitious - which meant constant movement - a lot of climbing and heavy lifting to get around the terrain. The blasting sun also took its toll on the crew, giving most of us a tan of the very red variety...


DD: How does working with fashion aesthetics compare to commercial and art work?
Tim Richardson: I've always felt like fashion is an aesthetic collision point. Historical and contemporary cultural references meet within the creative process of designers and image makers in a way that is unlike any other medium. By its very nature fashion photography and film demand a kind of constant visual innovation. Other fields like art and commercial work require a progressive aesthetics - but not at the same heightened speed.


DD: Can you give any examples?
Tim Richardson: I just finished a film for installation at the Venice Biennale - a collaboration with UK choreographer Rafael Bonachela. We started work in August 2009 and the work is showing in Venice in June 2010. For me art means I stay with a project for so much longer, its demands a different kind of attention. What attracts me to fashion is a sense of constant evolution.

Evisu / Scott Morrison interview for Dazed Digital

http://www.dazeddigital.com/Fashion/article/7174/1/Scott_Morrison_at_Evisu

SCOTT MORRISON AT EVISU
Paper Denim founder takes job at Japanse jeans giant Evisu to regain denim supremacy
Text by David Hellqvist | Published 30 March 2010


In terms of cultural importance and geographical retail spread, Levi’s jeans are petty far ahead. Ironically, though, one of the labels chasing the American denim giant's tail is a brand that started out making jeans that obsessively referenced the 1944 Levi’s 501 XX jean. Japanese Evisu, with its new CEO Scott Morrison, acknowledges the impact of Levi’s (even Evisu’s name is a wordplay on Levi’s) but makes a valid point about Evisu being a denim and fashion brand on its own merits with kudos, history and heritage. Today, the worldwide focus is on the seagull branded denim and its new found denim expert designer. Morrison, who you will know as the founder and of Paper Denim & Cloth and Earnest Sewn, took up his design residence with Evisu last year, tasked with breathing new life into a label that have of late struggled to regain its original influence.


Now, with its Autumn Winter 2010 collection hanging in an East London showroom, Scott Morrison has flown over from his New York studio for a quick visit. Dazed Digital met up with him to talk about the re-branding, an Americana inspired collection and Evisu’s 20th anniversary next year. With the hiring of Morrison, Evisu and its founder Hidehiko Yamane has truly tracked down an equal denim connoisseur. With Paper and Earnest Sewn, Morrison revolutionised how denim was conceived and bought. Both Evisu and Morrison’s previous fashion ventures pay homage to Levi’s, and Yamane built his professional career on just that. So who could be more suitable than Scott Morrison to continue Evisu’s legacy?


Dazed Digital: How did the collaboration between you and Evisu come about?
Scott Morrison: After having started and worked with both Paper Denim and Earnest Sewn since 1997, I felt I wanted to do something a bit different. It didn’t have to be denim related, but the day I left Earnest Sewn I got the call from Evisu. At first I wasn’t sure, but we had some great meetings and I agreed to come on board. It’s certainly been a challenging eight, nine months but it has worked out beautifully so far.


DD: What would you say are the biggest differences between running your own company and working for a giant such as Evisu?
Scott Morrison: Well, this is a unique opportunity for me to work with a global brand. Like it or not, everyone knows of it and has an opinion on it. I mean, Paper Denim was sold throughout the world, but Evisu is one of the best denim brands in the world. I suppose the biggest difference is that I now have to balance my personal views with that of Evisu’s commercial needs.


DD: How does consumers view the brand?
Scott Morrison: Interestingly enough, people see the brand very differently depending on where they live. The US, for example, is very focused on the Evisu product, whereas Asia looks more to the logo. The Europe is a mixture of the two.


DD: And you personally, what’s your Evisu relationship like?
Scott Morrison: I recently found a picture of myself from 1997, wearing an Evisu raw denim jacket. I was obsessed, you couldn’t get in the States at the time, but I bought it when I was travelling. I must have had dozens of Evisu jeans at the time!


DD: Does the production take place in Japan?
Scott Morrison: No, we do a lot of fabric sourcing in Japan and manufacture mostly in the US and Italy. But in time for our 20th anniversary next year, we will produce 20 special items per season, each one a replica from every year of Evisu’s history, and a few of those will probably come from Japan.


DD: What was the main inspiration for the Autumn Winter collection?
Scott Morrison: We used the word ‘reference’ as a starting point. It’s obviously a broad term, but the idea was to go back to Evisu’s love affair with Levi’s, Americana and especially the 1944 Levi’s 501 XX. The history is that during the war, the US government forbade all use of unnecessary fabrics. So Levi’s had to stop sew on the thread on the back of each jeans back pocket, and they painted them on instead. Hence the Evisu painted on seagull logo! There’s a great 'reference' tradition within Evisu and we took that thought process and applied to key items from history. We wanted to start re-telling the origins of how Evisu came into being.


DD: Yes, there’s a strong sense of work wear in the collection…
Scott Morrison: Yeah, but that was Yamane’s original vision, so most Evisu clothes were work wear inspired classics done with his twist.


DD: Speaking of Yamane, what’s he like?
Scott Morrison: He’s a wild and crazy guy! He still runs Evisu Japan, and he’s quite a character. He has lots of views and opinions on all sorts of matters, but I think what’s most important about him is his great sense of humour.


DD: What sort of silhouettes are you working around?
Scott Morrison: There are a lot more slim jeans now than what Evisu used to make, especially on the European market. Short and boxy is still popular in Japan, they like the over sized look. The women’s wear can be quite loose because of how it’s draped.


DD: The logo is toned down a bit, isn’t it?
Scott Morrison: Yes, we have streamlined the seagull, it’s smaller now and we just it in a tonal way – it’s about more than contrasts now! I don’t feel it needs to be shown four times on a t-shirt because it shouldn’t be our selling point.


DD: What’s Private Stock?
Scott Morrison: It’s about retelling the history of jeans. We release three styles of denim each season that pays homage to how it used to be done or specific items we have found in the archives.


DD: What would you say is the USP of Evisu today?
Scott Morrison: We have an amazing product with a great history, and one that represents quality!


DD: Do you have a favourite piece from the AW collection?
Scott Morrison: Well, of course I’m very happy with the denim, but I also really like the deck jacket. It’s a replica a US Navy jacket from 1941 in khaki corded cotton.

Tamsin Omond & The Commons interview on Dazed Digital

http://www.dazeddigital.com/ArtsAndCulture/article/7221/1/Tamsin_Omond_for_Prime_Minister

TAMSIN OMOND FOR PRIME MINISTER!
New party The Commons is fed up with politicians and campaign to get 25-year-old Tamsin elected in the general election
Text by David Hellqvist | Published 06 April 2010


The UK's next general election is only weeks away, and the three main parties have launched their election campaigns. Or was it smear campaigns they started? The Blame Game is effective as repetitive propaganda but it bores the voters since it's not very constructive. Politicians, tell us what you will do, not what you wouldn't do! Some people, like Tamsin Omond, has taken offence to the state of modern politics, but instead of just talking about it, she started new political party The Commons. Together with like minded people, Omond and her party is campaigning to get her elected MP for Hampstead and Kilburn. On the 6th of May this year, people throughout the UK go to the polls, and here Tamsin Omond explains to Dazed Digital why people in this North London constituency should vote for her and The Commons.


Dazed Digital: Have you always been interested in politics?
Tamsin Omond: No. Really - not at all! I think that to most young people, politics seems irrelevant and boring. But when I found out about climate change, I suddenly realised that the decisions these suits are making in Westminster will have a big impact on all of our futures, and that inspired me to get involved.


DD: I'm guessing you lean towards left, so what's wrong with Labour?
Tamsin Omond: Is that a serious question? Try spending a day on the street asking people what they think of politics. Labour, Lib Dem, Tories - they're all fighting over the same middle ground. If there was a clear choice between left and right, I'd probably vote left. But what we've got is people who think they know best, think that they can sit removed from society and shove policy on us. Then there's the people who know that the solutions come from the grass roots and up - and that's The Commons!


DD: Do you have enough political experience to work effectively in Parliament?
Tamsin Omond: I'm not sure what you mean by 'political'. For the past four years, I've acted as a representative for the environmental movement. I've spoken to thousands of people. I've written a book. I've even been on women's hour. I've lived in this area all my life, know its problems and its potential - I'm more than ready to represent Hampstead and Kilburn.


DD: How old are you and what did you do before starting The Commons?
Tamsin Omond: I'm 25 years old, and since leaving university in 2007, everything I've done has been to draw attention to climate change. For a year, I was co-ordinator of the activist group Plane Stupid, before launching my own group - Climate Rush. Both of these drew a lot of media to climate activism. I guess you could say I'm a protest entrepreneur.


DD: Can you explain the name?
Tamsin Omond: The Commons is you and me. It's our high street. It's the water that comes out of our tap. It's the air we breathe. It's all of us, and it's everything. That's why we're going to win!


DD: What's the first thing you would do if you were elected?
Tamsin Omond: If I were to be elected, the first thing I would do is to hold a big party for my constituency to thank them for voting me in.


DD: What upsets you the most with politics and politicians today?
Tamsin Omond: I don't think politics represents the people they're supposed to serve. The MP from my constituency, Glenda Jackson, has spoken in Parliament only 40 times over the past four years, whereas most London MP's will speak 1000 times. She's not around in the constituency, she's not working hard for us. Politics isn't about democracy any more - it's about climbing a career path, being in the pocket of lobby groups and big business'. I want to renew politics and make it about people again.


DD: Tony Blair once had three words for us (Education! Education! Education!) - what are yours?
Tamsin Omond: 'Enough meaningless slogans!'...or, 'People not politics'.


DD: What's the biggest danger we face today in Britain and what's the biggest thing we have going for us?
Tamsin Omond: The biggest danger we have facing us, is a lack of community. The best thing about us is our multi-culturilsm, if we could only make the most of it.


DD: You will "stand your principles" and "won't be whipped", but isn't politics a lot about compromising?
Tamsin Omond: Politics, like life, involves compromise. What's important is that when we make a compromise, everyone involved understands why we're making it, that they feel involved in the discussion and that 'compromising' doesn't mean selling out to whichever special interest group pays us the most.


DD: Fancy going for the PM's job?
Tamsin Omond: Let's see how I do with Hampstead and Kilburn - but yes, I believe a young, energetic and honest Prime Minister is better than the options traditional politics gives us.




To find out more about the Commons, contact Tamsin Omond through the website, or visit one their Reclaim The Night marches through Hampstead. More info on the next event, The Big Gay Flashmob, here.

Lina Scheynius interview on Dazed Digital

http://www.dazeddigital.com/Photography/article/7134/1/Lina_Scheynius_Solo_Show

LINA SCHEYNIUS SOLO SHOW
Swedish former top model show cases photography with first London solo exhibition
Text by David Hellqvist | Published 24 March 2010


It's easy to be cynical when models become actresses or musicians start up an acting career. Mostly this is because there is no real talent, just celebrity, behind the swap. That's why it's so refreshing with people such as artist Lina Scheynius, a former Swedish top model who's now equally respected for her photography. With fashion shoots in AnOther Magazine, to mention just one publication, and several published photo books, Scheynius has already proven her skills with the camera. But to really hammer it home, Scheynius launched her first ever solo exhibition in London town.


In the back room of a shop on Hackney's Mare Street that sell jars with snakes and decorated monkey skulls, Scheynius' highly personal photography stands out. The store, Viktor Wynd's The Last Tuesday Society, provides a sheltered home for Lina's honest and humble work. But the show, which previewed last week but continues on to the 25th of April, has already provoked high emotions in the community. Lina, who started taking photos at an early aged, shot her undressed little sister who was eight at the time. This upset a gallery visitor who notified the police. The photo has since been taken down, leaving an empty hole in Lina Scheynuis wall collage. Both the artist and proprietor Wynd - plus all other guests - were left surprised and dumbfounded. But, as they say, the show must go on. Before the preview, Dazed Digital sat down with Scheynius.


DD: Was there a general theme behind the exhibition?
Lina Scheynius: The main part of the exhibition is a collage of prints - most of them i had kept in shoeboxes in my wardrobe in my parents house. the oldest picture is a photo of my little sister posing half naked with teddies in sweden that i took 16 years ago the newest one i took from a plane flying over america a couple of weeks ago.
my wish was to make an exhibition that people could return to a couple of times and always find something new.


DD: It was your first solo show. How did it feel, were you nervous?
Lina Scheynius: I didn't actually have any time to be nervous before the opening started. but as soon as people arrived and I had to stop working the nervousness arrived along with them. I had fun though.


DD: The work is exhibited as a series of pages from an open diary – tell us about that concept?
Lina Scheynius: It's not a specific concept just for this exhibition. Documenting my own life and presenting it as a diary is something I have been doing since I started my website in 2007. And documenting my life without presenting it at all and just keeping it for myself is something I've done since I was 10. It's what I love working on the most.


DD: How long have you taken photographs?
Lina Scheynius: I started when i was 10, when my dad bought me a second-hand automatic Kodak camera.


DD: Did your years as a model put you off or interest you in fashion photography?
Lina Scheynius: A bit of both. I think I probably wouldn't have had the idea to work with fashion unless I was familiar with the fashion world. But at the same time I developed a very critical eye to how fashion photography is structured in general, and I didn't want to work the way I saw that most photographers did.


DD: Has there ever been a downside to having a ‘past’ in the industry?
Lina Scheynius: No, I don't think so…


DD: You call he photos ‘Truth as fantasy’ – would you say your photos are honest about reality?
Lina Scheynius: I would say that they are honest about my reality.


DD: You have shot for Another Magazine – any other dream jobs?
Lina Scheynius: Well, I don't know if it can be called a job, but I had so much fun pinning these pictures on the walls for the exhibition that my dream now is to pin even more of them on even bigger walls!


DD: You have done a ‘Polaroid project’ – do you feel comfortable using that type of photography?
Lina Scheynius: I love using this type of photography! I love anything where the result can surprise you. I just wish it wasn't so bloody expensive and hard to hunt down the Polaroids.


DD: Are you more of a documentary photographer of life, rather than fashion stills?
Lina Scheynius: I like doing both, and i like mixing them up to the point where not even I remember what was what.


DD: Any exciting plans for the future?
Lina Scheynius: I'm releasing a book about Sarajevo in Paris this week through these guys: www.be-poles.com/en/magasin.php


The Last Tuesday Society, 11 Mare Street, London E8 4RP

ZOO MAGAZINE #26 - Onitsuka Tiger article

The Spin/Hugo Chavez column for Anothermag.com

The Spin | Hugo Chávez

— March 30, 2010—

David Hellqvist tries to make sense of the sartorial choices of 

World Leaders in his fortnightly column The Spin

There can be no doubt that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has friends in high places. Actor Sean Penn seems to be constantly defending Chavez, American film director Olive Stone has made a documentary about him, and – to top it off – British Super model Naomi Campbell once interviewed President Chávez for GQ Magazine. Not bad for a man most people struggle to label a dictator or a socialist hero.


Chávez, a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Venezuelan army, divides opinion wherever he goes. We know for sure that the US doesn’t like him – and vice versa. Of course Chávez is more friendly towards Obama than he was with Bush, and Chávez has even claimed that POTUS Obama is more left wing than himself; a statement Obama probably wasn’t too happy with.


Hugo Chávez might be on fairly good terms with Obama, but his real political and fashion hero is Cuba’s Fidel Castro. The socialist regime of Castro’s island and the length of Fidel’s presidential tenure are both major sources of inspiration for Chávez. The Venezuelan president has been in power for more than 10 years, and it’s safe to say that he wouldn’t mind doubling that.


The strongest sartorial point to Chávez’s political wardrobe is his consistent colour coding. On that point he even outdoes Castro, who always wore a khaki uniform. But Chávez and his stylist have gone for a more Communist approach through ALWAYS making sure the colour red is part of his outfit. Be it a beret, a tie, a t-shirt, or several of them at the same time, blood red is his constant fashion friend.


As we all know, red is a difficult colour to pull off. Its strength and connotations threatens to out manoeuvre the wearer. Therefore it’s a testament to Hugo Chávez’s political charisma and fashion courage that he pulls it off. And who am I to tell Venezuela’s President that blue is actually his colour…




David Hellqvist is a freelance journalist for AnOther Man, Dazed & Confused, i-D,ZOO and a Contributing Editor to American website JC Report

Dazed & Confused Issue with Rachael Barrett article

The Spin/Barack Obama column for Anothermag.com

http://www.anothermag.com/current/view/184/POTUS_Style

The Spin | POTUS Style
David Hellqvist tries to make sense of the sartorial choices of World Leaders in his fortnightly column The Spin


Like many powerful men on the international political stage, President of the United States, Barack Obama is often upstaged by his wife. This is in no condemnation of the President’s personal style, more a testament to Michelle Obama’s glowing personality, colourful wardrobe and sartorial freedom. Quite often the American leader is even pushed out of the fashion limelight by his two daughters, Malia and Sasha.


Nevertheless, we have a high and mighty POTUS: his slender 6”1 frame makes him stick out in a crowd, and simplifies the process of making him look fashionably presidential. Consider the facts: tall and slim is ALWAYS better than short and stubby. Of course, POTUS also has facial advantages, and there is no doubt that – if there ever were to be one – Obama would score highly in a US Presidential beauty pageant.


Certainly, Obama is better known for his rhetorical skills than his personal style – the compulsory suit offers harsh boundaries in terms of imaginative sartorial adventures. But in his spare time, Obama has both impressed and let down his dedicated following. Recent holiday snaps revealed the president sporting beige slacks and a simple yet stylish navy polo shirt. Less is more, and this guy knows it. Simple colour combinations; easy on the details: let the authority of the office do the talking!


On the other hand, we have seen Obama on stylistic crash courses. Especially in his far too modern wraparound Ray Ban sunglasses, and last year when he pitched the obligatory first baseball throw in the NBA league: he stepped up to the plate in ill-fitting and stonewashed jeans, teamed up with the wrong kind of Nike trainer. Not a good a look for anyone, let alone the Leader of the Free World.




David Hellqvist is a freelance journalist for AnOther Man, Dazed & Confused, i-D,ZOO and a Contributing Editor to American website JC Report

Dharma Taylor interview for Dazed Digital AW10

http://www.dazeddigital.com/Fashion/article/6902/1/Dharma_Taylor_AW_10-11

DHARMA TAYLOR AW 10-11
The London designer stays true to the city's quirkyness with her 'Knock Out' collection


All major fashon cities throughout the world have their own style identity; it’s almost like designers flock to different countries in order to fit in with what’s genreally perceived as the common aesthetic idea of either London, Paris, New York or Milan. The UK capital has always been the avant garde and forward pushing little sister to the bigger, more grown up cities, and even though the recent edition of LFW was applauded for its maturity, there are thankfully plenty of up-and-coming designers in London ready to question any widespread notion of ‘settling down’.


Dharma Taylor, for example, has since graduating from Rochester University in 2007 kept to her vision of a dark – yet surpsringly colourful – vision of the future. Through previous collections such as Purple Haze and the current AW10 Knock Out, Taylor has pushed her charecterostic style of graphic prints and loud colour schemes.


This exactly why London continues to breed the next generation of fashion super stars; a never ending ambition to pursue dreams and not giving up. If we’re lucky, they will take after Taylor and cite literary heroes – like Kafka in this case – rather than Banksy, glow sticks or Snow Patrol. With imaginative videos and breath taking head pieces, Dharma Taylor challenges our prepackaged of what a modern day fashion collection should look like. Just the way we like it in London.


Dazed Digital: What inspired Knock Out? You mention the author Franz Kafka - anything else?
Dharma Taylor: I looked at how Franz Kafka, in ‘Metamorphosis’, illuminated the state of captivity of creative artists in society was the ultimate inspiration for the Knock Out collection. Knockout goes with the times. I’ve been also been reading a lot of Carlos Castenada and have been influenced by his writings and the notion that a separate reality can be created, a brand new world, but is probably already there.


DD: You’ve talked about “Subwoofing elements of Hyperreality” - are your clothes part of those elements?
Dharma Taylor: Of course they are. They definatly play a part in trying to communicate with the nation. In communicating, a subwoofing language is creating a new and subversive one. This language can be coded and can be found in the garments themselves, but also in the supporting graphic animations and sound.


DD: There is something quite Bernhard Willhelm-esque about your collections – has he been an influence on you?
Dharma Taylor: It’s more like an admiration I have for his early work than it is an influence. My favourite was his AW 07-08 collection - it was the head pieces that did it! I havnt really looked to his stuff of late.


DD: How come you ended up designing menswear, and would you consider trying out womenswear?
Dharma Taylor: Menswear is where I feel most comfortable, I’ve always designed for the boys in mind. I think I’ve always seized that style like a bit boyish since I was little. The pieces do have a unisex quality though, girls can wear it too. I haven’t yet considered designing womenswear simply because I have a lot of respect for the aesthetics in menswear. But never say never!


DD: You use many graphic prints. Do you do them all yourself?
Dharma Taylor: Yeah, all the graphics you see associated with Dharma Taylor are designed and produced by myself. Lately I’ve been using 3D design softwares such as 3D studio max, Maya and Zbrush.


DD: When do they come to you – in dreams?
Dharma Taylor: Unfortunatly not - if they did I’d be on to an easy winner!


DD: You graduated in 2007, did you set up Dharma Taylor straight away? Would you have done it differently today?
Dharma Taylor: After graduating in July 2007 I sort of rested for six months then showed my Purple Haze AW 08 collection at London Fashion Week via SuperSuper. This led to the ilil guerilla boutique in Tokyo showing interest in my work. I can’t think of any other way I would have done it... The only thing that I keep coming back to is the idea that perhaps I could have a different name to represent the brand.


DD: What are the Pros and Cons with setting up your own label?
Dharma Taylor: Starting a label with empty pockets has been a struggle. Nevertheless that gives you a drive and determination to develop it further.


DD: What do you say to people who automatically assume you are part of a New Rave design genre?
Dharma Taylor: People really don’t assume I’m a part of that New Rave design genre. I think their broadminded enough to know it’s not that. New rave’s been dead in the ground a long time, it died even before I’d finished my BA. But it did have a little influence on some of my early work. Right now Dharma Taylor is a part of a new void in time, a new genre. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. It’s definatley digital though, and dark.


DD: You studied at Rochester University – was it a good or bad thing to learn fashion outside the insular London fashion world?
Dharma Taylor: I was definately a good thing - simply because all of us there knew no different and we created our own world of insulation, a good environment for bouncing ideas... some of us branched out occasionally to go see what the city was saying. Despite that I’ve just completed my Masters in Digital Fashion through the menswear pathway at the London College of Fashion. And even though the faculty was in the centre of London, I felt I lost touch with the London fashion scene. I’m back now.