nicci writes

a little writing from my own perspective about things i have seen or places i have been also a few blog posts from various places

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Another blog take over for FredButlerStyle - Bright Young Things.

Thursday 5th September: BLOG TAKE OVER - Ciara and Nicci on Bright Young Things 2013

For the third year running, Selfridges have handed over their famous Oxford Street Windows and concept store to 15 emerging talents as part of their Bright Young Things initiative. Running until the 10th of October BYT is a showcase of fresh British talent across art, design, fashion and food. 

Each window, curated by the designer, is a snapshot of their aesthetic guaranteed to make you stop to look. They provide a great visual representation of the diversity of British talent coming into the public sphere right now. As well as their own collections, each creative has also designed a T-Shirt for BYT. These t-shirts, alongside the rest of their collections, are available to purchase inside the concept store. 

  Included in this year's showcase is Anna Lomax, a maker and collector currently generating a huge impact in the field of Art Direction and Set Design. Lomax will be hosting a workshop at Selfridges on the 18th September, inviting you to interact with a prop and be in for a chance to win some special prizes.

Also featured is Milliner Keely Hunter who you will remember for the fabulous hat collaboration she did for the Fred Butler AW 13 collection. You can see archive posts with and about Keely here and here and here. If you are a hat lover too and would like to have a go at making your own then get down to Selfridges on the 2nd of October to get involved with Keely's Hat party where Fred will be doing a special DJ set. To find out more and see the rest of the Bright Young Things, head to the Concept Store on G at Selfridges, London. You can also find full listings of the workshops on the website or if you're really keen you could email [email protected]. This has been a blog take over from Ciara and Nicci at Fred Butler HQ.

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Blog Post for FredButlerStyle. Sunday 1st September: Alex Noble - Creatures From The Kaleidoscope

The Londonnewcastle Project Space on Redchurch street, Shoreditch is currently playing host to a solo exhibition from Alex Noble. Curated by Ryan Lanji, Creatures from the Kaleidoscope showcases Noble’s talent across a variety of media including sculpture, film, installation, sound and beautiful fine art.

  Pieces on display included sculptures from the Mannequink series as well as his most recent film collaboration COLOUR THERAPY with Joost Vandebrug. The female body is a recurrent theme within his work not only as the subject but as the canvas for the kaleidoscopic colours and shapes present throughout this exhibition. 

  One section of the exhibition was installed as a recreation of Noble’s studio space complete with work in progress, rough sketches and illustrations tacked up over the desk. It was a great opportunity to get an insight into the way his work is developed.

  Creatures from the Kaleidoscope is showing until the 8th of September. High recommendations from Fred Butler HQ.

  Pictures by Fred Butler. 

Words by Ciara Clark and Nicci James

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Another blog take over for FredButlerStyle, this time with Patternity & Yr Store

Friday 30th August: BLOG TAKEOVER Ciara and Nicci @ PATTERNITY X YrStore.

Yesterday evening we headed over to YrStore at Boxpark in Shoreditch for the Patternity take over. An innovative collaboration between pattern pioneers Patternity and Yr, a concept from interactive digital specialists Luma.

The installation at Boxpark includes some mega high tech touch pods which allow you to create your own t-shirts and totes. Patternity have hijacked the system with their award winning patterns and signture mono designs. Visitors are encouraged to play around with the Patternity graphics and rework them into bespoke products created by you.

A perfect meeting between technology and design. We really enjoyed how fun and interactive the idea was. The Yr Store is a great opportunity for anyone with an interest in design to get involved in the process and see 'Yr' creation materialise 'hot off the press' in a matter of minutes.

Patternity will be hitting up the Yr Store until this weekend so be sure to head over to Boxpark to get your print on before its too late. This has been a blog takeover from Ciara and Nicci from Fred Butler HQ.

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Another blog takeover for FredButlerStyle plus photography

Saturday 3rd August: BLOG TAKEOVER Ciara and Nicci - Saatchi Gallery in association with HUGO BOSS present 'Red Never Fol20ws'  -click through- (it's a long one!)

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Another blog post for FredButlerStyle plus photography

Friday 2nd August: BLOG TAKEOVER Ciara and Nicci meet Mr. Quiffy.

If you've more of an eye for fun fashion than a sweet tooth then the new 'Mr Quiffy' van on King Street, Covent Garden may just have a treat for you. House of Holland's ice cream van pop up shop are selling T-Shirts, sunglasses, hats, clothes and accessories from their latest capsule collection 'Mr Quiffy'. We had a really warm welcome to the shop from Tahmida who was happy to chat to us about the merchandise and was joking with us about their lack of actual ice cream! You can see her in the photos wearing one of the 'Mrs Quiffy' graphic T-Shirts. Whilst we were chatting, a definite Henry Holland's superfan came over wearing one of the 'Lick Me' T-shirts, so we took a cheeky snap of him with the van as well. The merchandise itself was really fun and cheeky, the whole aesthetic really lending itself to being sold in such a quirky way. We were super keen on the slogan sunglasses 'stick a needle in my eye' and 'eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth', they really made us smile. The whole atmosphere surrounding the van was fun, bringing a POP(UP) of eyecatching colour to Covent Garden.  Mr Quiffy will be around on King Street for one more day before the HOH roving store goes off on its travels around the UK. So, get it before its gone; look for the Ice Cream van emblazoned with spots and stripes, you can't miss it!  This has been a blog takeover by Ciara and Nicci from Fred Butler HQ (with an icecream!)

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Blogpost for FredButlerStyle plus my own illustration :) Wednesday 31st July: BLOG TAKEOVER Ciara and Nicci do DALSTON HOUSE. -click through-

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The Meadham Kirchoff SS14 collection explores ritual undressing, Soviet Russia and male vulnerability. Alexander Ingham Brooke documents the show from backstage with his exclusive film for Dazed and Confused entitled “I Dream of Nothing”.

 The concept of male vulnerability comes through strongly in the film. Throughout, the audience become voyeurs, gazing at the models through the haze of Ingham-Brooke’s camera filter.

 A lack of full body shots in forces the camera to continually pan over the bodies in order to show the clothes. The intimacy of the camera angles seems to suggest the models are being examined, up for the viewers’ appraisal. Small, natural actions are focused upon, purposefully breaking their pre-show private moments. Fastenings are fussed over as the models are made up and dressed before being sent out to the applauding hands. This intense focus seems to put the emphasis on the bodies rather than the clothes, objectifying them.

 The clothes themselves have a childlike innocence to them: Matryoshka doll painted toes on shoes, smiling tiger stripe wellies and playfully embroidered accessories. Different textures and lengths are styled together in an almost careless way, as if picked up and thoughtlessly put on.  White is constantly present throughout the colour palette, mixed with neutrals and splashed with accents of primary colour. There is a rawness to this collection which, in its softness, is perhaps different to what is expected from menswear. It is this unexpected rawness and innocence which brings out the concept of vulnerability; portraying the models wearing the clothes as grown up boys rather than MEN.

The soundtrack, a mix of a track created by Paul Antony mashed with Sonnerie De Saint Geneviève, highlights this sense of vulnerability by being anything but soft. The melancholy authority of this track seems to dictate the narrative of the film: the boys will be dressed and made ready, the boys will parade. Within the dictatorship of the soundtrack the models are submissive to their task. There is no real difference between this and any other fashion show as this is simply how they work. What is interesting is how this video approaches it.

‘Voyeuristic’ shots in soft light, the expectant audience, soft imagery juxtaposed against the controlling music; the pressure is continually building throughout the video, reaching a crescendo which falls flat of a climax at the end, as if it’s not over… just beginning. Altogether, this makes for a viewing experience that is a little uncomfortable, but leaves you wanting more.

  Delicious.

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SS 14 Mens Collections : Paris : KENZO

“Surfer Boy attempts Gentleman Chic and gets it right”

The concept behind the latest Kenzo show is pretty hard to miss. WAVE defines everything about the latest collection from Humberto Leon and Carol Lim and, like waves the strength of the concept varies across the garments.

Abstract blocks of print and waves of colour add strength and a sense of assertive youth to this collection. Bombers and longer jackets are swathed in print: bringing a sense of movement and fluidity to clean silhouettes.

Natural blues directly reference the sea whilst more vibrant blue and reds hint at youth angst, adding a hint of boyish charm to the collection. Print is both textural and graphic. Various scales and colour ways of a dry-brushstroke sea are pitted against comic strip-esque repeat prints of a ‘Hokusai Wave’ and scrawled writing.

The ‘rough around the edges’ surfer muse has been taken as literal in many of the details: jackets and shirt collars sport purposefully frayed edges and seemingly haphazard stitching. Generally the attention to detail is immaculate: slivers of print accenting collar stands and hems; jumpers, beneath their standard rib necklines, boasting a tiny wave to frame the shoulders. The feeling of water is present again in fluidity of movement in the more casual trousers and the slubbed texture of sweats.

Swathed in either ‘New Wave’ text print or the Hokusai ‘comic strip’, bags wave in their folded-over shape. Tucked casually under arms, they fit into the collection as easily as a newspaper in the city.

Generally, Kenzo’s SS 14 is a very wearable and desirable collection, particularly for casual-wear. Fashion forward whilst ingeniously subtle, these clothes shouting sophisticated gent whilst retaining that cool, laid-back California vibe.

Radical.