Saw Michael Clark’s Company perform the Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed et all  last night at the Barbican, absolutely fantastic! The dancers, costumes by Body Map’s Stevie Stewart and sets totally mesmerising, Michael Clark is an iconic artisan and so inspiring.

I love his mix of punk with classical, it has an anarchical pulse to it. Memories of 1988 I am Kurious Oranj, Leigh Bowery and The Fall. It reminded me of the 80’s just left Camberwell and set up my print studio in Rotherhithe, a time in London that was full of negative influences on art and design beset by the Thatcher government. There was a growing movement of rebellion, art students holding sit ins at the Tate Britain in dispute with the forming of the London Institute which was to bastardise the London art colleges as we knew them, Nicholas Serota informing us that although he sympathised with our goal we would be carried out of the building by the police one by one, which we were!

It was a time when designers were challenging the craft aesthetic, following on from Punk, designers such as Stevie Stewart of Body Map the Hemmingway’s ‘Red or Dead’ at Camden market, John Moore’s inspirational shop ‘The House of Beauty and Culture’ in Hackney, Pam Hogg, with Tom Dixon, Judy Blame and Fric and Frack at the pivotal 1987 Crafts Council show ‘The Makers Eye’ that pushed the conceptual boundaries of craft and production methods.

“we were rebelling against the conservative, the bland….. We are striving for excitement” says Stevie Stewart of that time (Vogue UK, March 2003).

So seeing Michael Clark again reminded me of the movement – expressional, confrontational and non-conformist times which feels so different to the mass-production tribe of fashion of today. There may not have been much money around but there was the mentality of Do It Yourself which was much more inventive and personal.

Michael Clark mixes Punk with classical, creating a tantalising explosion in sound and colour especial in ‘COME, BEEN, GONE’ – stripy jackets over bright red body suits, against brilliant blue and orange backdrops with Jean Genie and Heroes blasting out loud from gigantic speakers… jaw dropping dance movements – it had a similarity to the Anish Kapoor I saw last week, the feeling of being immersed in to the deep rhythms of colour – pure genius! Thank You Michael Clark and team!

Go see at the Barbican till end of this week.

PS … forgot to mention great programme in the shape of a record sleeve designed by Malcolm Garrett.

Posted in colour, design, fashion, review

That’s how Suzy Menkes once described Missoni in the International Herald Tribune. Italy has a strong tradition of craftsmanship in small, family run companies that started off in fabric-making and combined this with their interest in colour and pattern: Etro, Zegna and Ratti are other good examples.

The other day, I went to see the exhibition ‘Missoni: Daring to be Different’ at the Esoterick in Islington and listened to a talk by Luca Missoni, son of the founders Ottavio and Rosita Missoni. What impresses me about Missoni is the intimacy and creativity that the company has maintained even now, over 50 years later and such a big, global success.

For me, the other key to Missoni’s special identity lies in its meaningful and ongoing relationship with art. Missoni takes a genuine interest in the work of artists – people like Giacomo Balla, Sonia Delaunay and Gino Severini whose use of colour have been so influential on the company are truly valued and embraced by Missoni. This goes well beyond tie-ins such as Louis Vuitton with Stephen Sprouse and Takashi Murakami, deeper than Jurgen Teller photographing Cindy Sherman for Marc Jacobs’ adverts. And whilst the Missonis do collect they seem to draw this into their own work more than Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge who gathered objects and paintings for their home.

Posted in colour, design, fashion, pattern, review, textiles

I feel that when larger companies link up with artists and designers it becomes more about PR opportunities and boosting sales. Whether Debenhams or Topshop, Habitat or John Lewis, they’re all doing it. A few years ago when Graham & Brown undertook a project in conjunction with the Royal College of Art the results were really interesting and, I think, improved Graham and Brown’s status but I can’t help wondering whether it became yet another case of a marketing team jumping at the chance to use the word ‘designer’ and up the perception of creativity.

Of course, ‘designer’ ranges and products are so popular that they aren’t going to go away. But, there is a danger that we may suffer a designer overdose, especially in the case of particular names.

It seems that the same handful of designers, people like Marcel Wanders, Patricia Urquoia and Hella Jongerius are producing a wide range of products for the same four or five companies. It’s completely understandable for manufacturers to stick to these names as they’re a safe bet and will sell well but there is a downside – the resulting feeling of familiarity and homogeneity. The upside is that it becomes even easier for individuals and smaller companies to really stand out.

Posted in design, fashion, interior design, product design, trends

Yesterday I was having a trawl through our library and my hard drive, searching for something or other and whilst doing so, found so many objects, images and names that have inspired me I thought I’d jot some down for fun. In no particular order, here’s what I love…

Photography, Cyan types, William Henry Fox Talbot, pattern, Karl Blossfeldt, colour, Peter Fischli and David Weiss, fashion, pastels, black houses, Sonia Delaunay, wallpaper, gold, Josef & Anni Albers, Henri Matisee, Georgia O’ Keefe, Stella Ross–Craig, silver, Brick Lane and the Hugenot houses of Spitafields, paper-making, Paul Smith, black, Zika Ascher, Missoni, purple, Vitra, Ratti, blue, William Morris, Karel Martens, Lucienne Day, felt-making, The Albergs, The Eames, bronze, Rothko, Barbara Hepworth, Frida Khalo, Tracey Emin, Rachel Whiteread, yellow, Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, grey, weaving, Roger Hilton, Gary Hume, Howard Hodgkin, David Hockney, brown, Pierre-Joseph Redoute, neon, Palladio textile range, Terence Conran, Rogers House – Wimbledon, copper, Josef Frank, lino cut, the South Downs, Li Edelkoort, Jaime Hayon, Raoul Dufy, paper art, Katsuyo Kamo for Karl Lagerfeld, print-making, pink, Miuccia Prada, blossom, Tokyo, Brancusi, Wysteria

Posted in architecture, art, colour, design, fashion, pattern, textiles