It's been a couple of weeks since my last post - I was procrastinating a bit so apologies for this late entry.
London has been quite the whirlwind recently - starting my new job at Woman & Home magazine, getting outdoors and making the most of every weekend, travelling, spending money and not saving any, etc. I told one of my friends on Facebook that I felt like a 'drifter' - seriously I do! I don't quite belong anywhere, do what I please, wear what I want...I feel so free and independent :)
I had a few highlights though that I wanted to share with you. I recently went to the Hussein Chalayan exhibition at the Design Museum. It was a bit of a trek getting there...walked all the way from London Bridge station to Bermondsey in my much loved H&M brogue platform things. They attract a lot of attention! That's besides the point...I had made a note to check out all the fashion related exhibitions while in London. I had never really focused on Hussein Chalayan's work, although I had always known it to be quirky, innovative and not exactly wearable. I was really amazed by the exhibition and reading about Chalayan's influences and creative process. At the entrance of the exhibtion are three manneqins, each wearing dresses in the picture below. I had no idea what they were supposed to be until I read that this particular collection was inspired by displacement. He wanted to simulate the effects of a crash onto garments, hence the odd shaped 'daggers' that were moulded from the clothing. I noticed that Tilda Swinton (V&R's muse) featured in a couple of videos...some of them a bit trippy, due to the way a scene was simulated on different screens, one after the other in an almost fan-like motion.
The last part of the exhibition features one of Chalayan's famous collections, I forgot from which year but I was completely fixated on the mechanics of the dresses that were sent down the runway. I'm not sure how he did it but the dresses had a life of their own - they would crease, fold up, hell, the final model was wearing a small hat the happened to contain a whole dress in it and ended up naked at the end! All in all, the exhibition gave me a better understanding on Chalayan and the concepts that he adopts in his work - anything from migration, space and time, and nomadic travellers...he has really brought a fresh and innovative approach to design.A week later, I decided to check out the East London Festival which - you guessed it - has all sorts of fun activities to celebrate the diversity of East London. People usually associate it with its grittiness and melting pot of cultures, it's also notorious for being 'dodgy' and I guess it is, but look beyond that and you realise how much it has to offer. On the Saturday I went to a Swishing event which was a clothes swap. My God...this was just as bad as going to one of those Sass and Bide warehouse sales back in 2004 when it was all the rage with girls clawing at one another and groups 'strategising' so they hoarded all the good stuff while everyone else swoops around them like vultures picking the leftovers! I had my eye on this funky fedora and a distressed blue denim bomber jacket but they had disappeared by the time I got in there. Managed to snap up a brown knitted waistcoat from H&M and a vintage cream/lilac shirt dress which I need to get shortened. All in good fun I s'pose!
I also spent the WHOLE of Saturday after the Swishing event, at The Barbican, where they had a Do Something Different Weekend as part of the festival. A series of free (and ticketed) workshops, theatrical shows, performances and social games ran throughout the weekend. I stayed until 11pm - where they had adult social games (named The Sandpit) kicking off in the evening. It was really fun and I felt like an 8 year old playing chasey at school! Spoke to some random people and just enjoyed myself really :)
Last Tuesday I went to the Design Debate at Shoreditch Town Hall to listen to key design reps around the city from the areas of design, architecture, fashion and theatre to discuss how London, more specifically East London, has influenced their work. Hussein Chalayan was one of the speakers and he was saying how the poverty and grittiness (sorry to slightly overuse this word), the struggle really forced people to think outside the box and be more creative. People are always interested in the struggle from 'rags to riches' - they're not interested by that rich kid with a silver spoon in his/her mouth who snapped up a job in fashion without really trying (thanks to dad's connections maybe!). The struggle is what people really admire and look up to. It really motivated me in a way and helped me think more positive about my experience in London. I mean, sure, it's had its ups and downs...I'm poor as well it has been a learning experience that money can't buy.
With East London festival over, it's time to explore East London at my own pace, starting with (if all goes to plan) Hoxton Street and Broadway Market this weekend!
With Love,
M xo
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