Phoebe English at London Fashion Week AW13 | A sight for sore eyes

Phoebe English? I feel like I know that name. Pat yourself on the back if you do, English is a sickeningly talented Central Saint Martins graduate whose MA collection was sold at Dover Street Market back in 2011. Phoebe English Ltd is ran by the designer’s business partner (and ex-The Shop at Bluebird buyer) Rose Easton. Check out the Crane.tv interview snippet where Phoebe talks about her creative process.

Enough about the talent, tell me about the clothes. For AW13, Phoebe showed her collection at the Freemason’s Hall as part of Vauxhall Fashion Scout. Shunning the traditional catwalk space downstairs, her AW13 efforts were presented to a packed house in the dark, moody and grand Vestibule. It was one of the more focused and cohesive collections of this season’s London Fashion Week with a largely muted colour palette (apart from some royal blue) and in the materials, gauze, raw cotton and taupe getting their moment to shine.

I spy some latex too? Well the invite was a clue but yes, models wore strips of it as skirts and all over the heels – just about the only movement as the looks stayed just-so hovering against the models’ bodies as they stiffly navigated the wooden structure, created by set designer Robert Storey, in the middle of the space. We say navigated as they were blindfolded by black fabric masks.

Blindfolded? Sounds saucy. Far from it. The collection is said to be an investigation into sightlessness so it’s a little more serious than plain old bedroom shenanigans. And there was something about the raw edges, seams and threads that made us think the garments on show had been manipulated into being by the designer rather than sketched out in all their precise detail first.

I take it the models didn’t look like they’d got dressed in the dark, then?
Hell no. English isn’t the most obviously commercial of designers but there’s a simplicity and elegance to this stripped back take on AW13 that we really think will stand her in good stead to enchant a sizeable proportion of the fashion pack. Most of the shapes perhaps wouldn’t look any good on anyone with curves (i.e. lumps and bumps) but they’re ideal for those slim, louche kind of girls who care more about lovingly crafted clothes than being on trend.

More images, videos and stockists at Phoebe English.

Photos credits
in story: Faraz Pourreza-Jorshari, in gallery: Christopher Dadey (thanks to Purple PR)

Nostalgia for high school – why the EBacc just won’t do

I have never been – and might never be – as well rounded a person as I was at high school. Considering that I’ve had eight years since of more education, holidays, part time jobs, travelling and a first ‘proper’ job that might seem a bit of an exaggeration.

But think about it: anyone with a full time job spends 40 hours a week largely specialising in one or two skillsets or subject areas. In a normal high school week I was throwing javelins, mentoring younger pupils, making cushions, playing the keyboard, drawing still lives, helping out with the school play and conjugating French verbs. And that’s all at a pretty mediocre state school in North Manchester which was only managing to get half its Year 11 students passing with five A* to C grades at the time. Not to mention the fact that I was a complete geek who did much better at traditionally academic subjects than anything else.

So why am I getting nostalgic about high school? There’s an article on the Guardian this week about how horrified a group of artists, directors, choreographers and architects are at Michael Gove’s proposals (announced in September) to scrap GCSEs and replace them with an EBacc examination which includes the compulsory subjects of only English, maths, the sciences, geography, history and a language.

Apart from the obvious disadvantage, noted in the Guardian, that if schools only need to shift pupils through these subjects included in the English baccalaureate they will probably drop subjects like food, music, design, I.T and drama completely, there’s also the question of where many children will be able to learn these skills if this happens: from the self confidence you get from collaborating in P.E or performing arts to the basics of Excel or a smattering of art history.

Now I’m not saying I had a particularly fine education in any of these arts subjects – being able to use a sewing machine in textiles was probably the pinnacle of my achievement in non-academic subjects – but for teenagers with talent in art, design, dance or even cooking there should be a platform for them to begin exploring their craft rather than their parents paying for outside lessons or leaping blindly into studying something at university or looking for work without the hours to show for it.

These non-core subjects should be getting more time and effort, not less – let’s see coding classes with Raspberry Pi computers, music lessons that use modern artists to stop kids getting bored to death and food lessons that will actually come in handy during a first term in halls.

Teachers, too, are worried – Aisling Lavelle, a French teacher and musician, thinks the EBacc is a “fantastic idea that should help pupils to maintain a broad skill set for longer” but “at the cost of enriching subjects like music and drama it may turn out to be a false economy.” She says: “The main thing that sticks out as a major design flaw of the EBacc is the fact that schools will still be slaves to the league table system, meaning that certain subjects will be dropped in favour of channeling resources towards the subjects that ‘count’. This was the case when languages were dropped from ‘compulsory’ status to ‘optional’ status at GCSE.”

And studying these non-core subjects could actually improve how teenagers perform in English, maths and sciences. Aisling also points out that teachers can use examples from other subjects to help explain the best ways to study: “Finding a skill in one area helps boost pupils’ attainment across other subjects, as they learn the study skills to improve. For example, when pupils ask me why they can’t remember their verb tables I compare it to learning scales; they would never expect to be able to play a scale at high speed without fault on their second attempt but would perhaps spend 10 minutes a day on it and build up their confidence that way.”

Gove, leave GSCEs alone please – they didn’t do my friends and I any harm and if anything, I would have liked to have left high school knowing more about art, design, music and drama not less. Moving from state high school and sixth form to big, bad London that’s exactly the kind of chit-chat that comes in handy and most teenagers have to discover for themselves already.

Image credit: Faraz Pourreza-Jorshari

Boris vs Ken (and the rest) | The London Mayoral elections 2012

City Hall, Tower Bridge

This is a post for everyone who cares a tiny bit but not too much about the election of the new London Mayor on May 3rd.

Maybe you’ve not lived in London that long and aren’t planning to stick around. Or you’re in your mid-twenties and haven’t been able to shake that allergy to politics.

WHY BOTHER
These are the people who set tube, train and bus fares (groan), how much council tax you pay (run away and hide) and whether in a few years’ time we’ll be able to say that Peckham used to be pretty rough but not so much any more.

It’d also be pretty nice to justify the wince-inducing rent we pay by making sure London is still one of the most interesting cities in the world to live in. The next mayor will have to create jobs, sort out housing problems and stop those riots happening again.

Boris Johnson, current Mayor of London

WHO TO VOTE FOR
Take 45 minutes out to watch the Newsnight hustings, presented by Jeremy Paxman, before you do anything.

Boris gets attacked by the three other main candidates, Ken comes across as more than a little untrustworthy, Brian Paddick seems obsessed with crime and policing (that’s his background) and Jenny Jones barely gets to speak – I don’t think she’s got a chance.

Yes Boris is a Tory and Ken’s Labour but unlike in a general election, this is less about parties and more about who you reckon is going to spend the capital’s money most wisely.

Ken Livingstone, former Mayor of London

Transport
Ken’s promises to use a TFL surplus to save people who live in Zones 1 and 2 £1000 over four years and people in Zone 6 £1700 sound lovely – I pay £150-£180 a month in travel – but also a bit unbelievable. If there’s money sitting around to cut fares, it seems TFL would have done this already.

I liked Jenny Jones’ idea to increase the congestion charge – central London would feel much more cosmopolitan with less cars around and it’s a great way of raising money and “saving the environment”.

Brian Paddick’s One Hour Bus Ticket is also a winner – if you don’t have a travelcard, it’s annoying that you can change tube for one journey, but not buses.

Jenny Jones, Green Party Mayoral candidate

Housing and Jobs
In March, Boris announced a £41m London Growth Fund that is supposed to create jobs and housing and which businesses can apply for. So whoever becomes Mayor this year will no doubt see some positive stories come out of this investment.

Many of the candidates are promising the same thing for housing – creating more of it (11,000 from Boris’ count) and tackling rogue landlords.

Ken reckons he can save people £600 a year through an all-London not for profit lettings agency – but again this seems too good to be true, no Mayor will be able to curb the rises in rent when people will pay thousands of pounds a week for a flat. I do like the sound of Ken’s bulk energy buying scheme to save us money on electricity bills though, if he can pull it off.

Brian Paddick, Lib Dem Mayoral candidate

Crime
Crime is down 9% now from when Boris was elected and there’s 1000 more police on London streets – which looks pretty good until you remember how many people decided to go out and loot last summer.

Brian Paddick, a former deputy Commissioner in the Metropolitan Police would most likely be the best man for the job here but I’m worried he’s a bit of a one trick pony and, in (an admittedly naive) theory, if the next Mayor improves jobs and housing for Londoners, crime will go down.

Find out more at Brian Paddick’s campaign website, Back Boris 2012, Ken’s Better Off with Ken site and Jenny Jones for London.

HOW TO VOTE
Register to vote with the Electoral Commission here. Once you’ve done that sit back till May 3rd.

Everything you need to know about voting for the Mayor and the London Assembly on the day, you can find on the London Elects how to vote page. It’s pretty simple stuff, I’m sure we can all manage.

City Hall image credit: Faraz Pourreza-Jorshari (Boom Son).

You are invited to Common People – a charity exhibition of new London artists – Friday 9th Dec

All you lovely Style & Then Some readers are invited to Common People – a charity art exhibition, curated and organised by Sophie Charara with desserts by our own culinary goddess Sophie Caldecott and featuring work from Style & Then Some photographers Helene Charara and Faraz Pourreza-Jorshari.

The rest of the Style & Then Some team will be out in force next Friday, 9th December at The Studio, 55 Leroy Street SE1 4SR. The nearest tube stations are Borough (10 mins) Elephant and Castle (15 mins) and London Bridge (20 mins) or get a bus to Old Kent Road and get off at the Bricklayer’s Arms stop.

Other young artists, photographers and designers showing their work on the night include: Samantha Meachin, Lily Dunlop, Tom Peet, Emma Goodman, Ismahan Rashid, Doug Stewart, Andy Shrubsole, Scott Taylor, Rosie Caldecott and Frances Ives.

The £4 entry donation gets you a free drink, gorgeous canapes and dessert plus music all night. All profits will go to Amnesty International and the Disaster Emergency Committee and most of the work will be for sale if you want to start your collections early.

COME AND BRING YOUR FRIENDS

Poster credit: Samantha Meachin

#TodayImWearing: Sophie and Faraz Day Two of LFW

Perfect the art of the fashion blag, dressed in this – as we did all day at Vauxhall Fashion Scout and the BFC Showspace..

J Lindeberg shirt, Folk jacket, Uniqlo trousers and don't forget the Canon 5D

 

Oasis dress, Topshop pumps and bag from Afflecks Palace, Manchester

Look up – the London scenes you’ve never noticed

Shoegazers, prepare to see some shots of London you wouldn’t believe have escaped your attention – they’re from the Boom Son blog by photographer Faraz Pourreza Jorshari.

And we’ve thrown in some of his holiday snaps for good measure.

Notting Hill Carnival, 2010

 

Southbank Centre, 4am

 

Design Museum (and a plant next door)

 

Gaudi's Casa Battlo, Barcelona

 

Cuba