Storm In a Teacup

As my daily commute begins from my house to what seems like the rest of world, I hop on any bus that takes me down Kingsland Rd. A few weeks ago I spotted a new store being done up and wondered what it was going to be! A few days later I received an invite to a launch party for a new vintage store and yes yes yes it turned out to be that same little store I spotted. I was so upset that I wasn't able to attend as I was on a lovely shoot for Urban Species but I did receive messages from friends letting me know that the Hendricks Gin drinks were absolutely amazing which made me fume even more. Not to mention my talented friend Steve Smyth who has just finished his European tour with the brother/sister duo Angus and Julia Stone was blessing everyone there with his incredible voice and capturing charm.

So I paid them a little visit on Sunday and all I can say is ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! For starters I was blown away by the beauty of not only the store but the wonderful owners Claudia and Joe. I felt quite humbled at how hospitable they were and how much they wanted to show me. I felt such a sense of pride and love from both of them towards Storm In a Teacup. This shop is as they would like to call it  the 'twisted child' of Claudia Raba, International Model and Joe Miller, artist, stylist and self proclaimed philanthropist. Indeed, a little kid in a candy store is the way any person would feel as this shop is part vintage and designer boutique, part Willy Wonka fantasy and part Wild-West saloon. One of the first things that I asked Claudia was 'Where did you find all these amazing pieces?' and she simply smiled and said 'We have been collecting these pieces for years'... Personally, I wouldn't be able to let go of such wonderful garments if I had been collecting for years - perhaps you could call it selfishness on my behalf. I have great admiration for both of them for holding onto their dreams and producing a original and one of a kind concept for a store. 

Each piece in the store is pretty much in flawless condition, unique and quite breath taking. With Claudia working first hand with high-end designers and photographers such as Bettina Rheims and Martin Margiela during her modelling career, it has given her a unique and sophisticated eye for detail. Combined with Joe's styling work for clients such as Vivienne Westwood, Agent Provocateur and C.P. Company, they have pretty much the ideal credentials for selecting unique and original items not easily found elsewhere.

The Wild-West saloon look and feel of the store reminded me of  a friends little tiny bar that I used to go to called Shady Pines Saloon in Sydney, Australia. Where you would sit in the midst of old wooden counters, peanut shells, buckets of ice and fantastic music in an old fashioned style. All the sweets in the store pop a massive smile on my face. Storm In a Teacup is about what make Claudia and Joe happy, sweets, clothes and impeccable styling - what more could anyone wish for? Their "kid in a candy store" view of fashion led them to the inevitable introduction of the Victorian sweet shop style counter, which they lovingly crafted themselves from 150-year-old oak sleepers. Within it lie glass jars of sweets and confectionery, which are hand made and supplied by a 100-year-old factory in a small East Yorkshire village. Every little corner in this store is well thought of and the one song that came into my mind while I was admiring all the garments was Hank William Sr- Ramblin' Man ...

Their immaculate collection includes pieces from Comme des Garcons, Martin Margiela, Issey Miyake, Vivienne Westwood, Alaia, Jean Paul Gaultier (sigh) ... along side individually selected vintage, antique items.  

This is definitely one of my absolute favourite pieces in the store. I actually completely missed it until I asked Joe what was his most liked piece and he pulled this Vivenne Westwood   bag. Soft leather, striking, silver claws and lined with fur...

You should pay them a visit.. 

366 Kingsland Road E8 4DA 

Howitzweissbach - High Class Robbery

Aerosol Amoeba from Pahnl on Vimeo.

I find myself always attracted to colour, weather it's in furniture, accessories, clothes or food, I seem to always gravitate towards something that has a bit or explosions of colour. When I saw Howitzweissbach's winter collection Tarta which is filled with colour, texture and flawless cuts, I couldn't help but think of large amounts of paint drizzled and sprayed over fabric just like the explosions of paint in this video Aerosol Amoeba by Pahnal-Breathing Life Into Spray Paint. 
I am quite amazed at the poetic ways that Howitzweissbach explain their collections to the public and I can't help but add a little snippet of their words 'Follow the yellow marks then follow red. Down in the valley snow, children, sledges, smoking chimneys. White is everywhere. A short rest in the robbers den'. That is exactly how their collections feel, each piece has its unique identity with a touch of playfulness that brings it to life and connects it to the rest of the collection. When I read their own interpretation of Tarta I felt transported into their own world of curiosity and creativity and wished for a second I could be immersed in a pool filled with colour and their innovative designs...

Howitzweissbach a young, international fashion label from Leipzig/Germany. The “two entangled birds” depicted on the label resemble Eva Howitz and Frieder Weissbach. They work conceptionally and, through their distinct approach to cut, material and colour, seek to create an unmistakably individual and independent style. Their inspirations mostly come from art, music, architecture and social events. Contacts to the internationally acclaimed art and graphics scene in Leipzig, memories of life in the German Democratic Republic and Eastern- European imagery are their main influences.The materials used by Howitzweissbach are of the highest quality, drawn from around the world. In their collections finest Merino wool from Austria harmonises with the best German leather or light English silk with soft Italian cotton.
They take fair and social production as serious as their unique language and the high quality of their materials. Hence all pieces are produced in Germany with most places of production situated locally in the Ore Mountains of Saxony. Besides offering high quality workmanship this area has a long-standing tradition of textile manufacture with companies that look back at centuries of experience in producing small scale sets of clothing, shoes and accessories.

Their new collection (which I am extremely happy and excited about) High Class Robbery again has not  failed with the enormous colour explosions, fabric cuts and design of each garment. The idea of fashion for Howitzweissbach goes beyond a collection as I am always looking at their garments trying to find the story behind it or how they came up with the concept of their collection.

The rules for High Class Robbery according to Eva Howitz and Frieder Weissbach are Arrive late! Go early, because rarity heightens appreciation! Speak little or incoherently, as it suggests depth of thought. Scintillate without letting the effort show - no one needs to know you work nights in a bar! A slight stiffness in your neck can be a great advantage for your posture! There is no such things as heel that are too high. Stop your drama! Go on! Keep on training! It is so true, if it is a pair of heels that you are madly, truly in love with, you will make sure to walk in them around the house for days on end (train) until you can finally walk out the door content that you can show them off! I am a bit fan of transparency and when it is teamed up with bold colours and great designs, then you have got yourself one great High Class Robbery collection by one Howitzweissbach. 

I adore the red dress in these photos, it reminds me of Little Red Riding Hood and how she was known around her village for her red cape. The transparency, the way you can see the stitching and the large pockets, makes it all seem more real. It gives a sense that there is nothing for you to hide! 

Why would you want to hide anything when you are wearing wonderful garments made with high quality workmanship?

 

To find them head to http://www.howitzweissbach.com/  or you can find their collection at http://www.notjustalabel.com/

GLAMOUR OF THE GODS: HOLLYWOOD PORTRAITS

I was on the bus sometime last week heading home after a long days work and I began to think about all the free time I have coming up. I thought about the last 6 months working with children all around Tower Hamlets and what a humbling experience it has been meeting so many families and their children. Not to mention all the other fashion and lifestyle related work I have been doing for the blog. So I picked up my phone and clicked onto "New Memo" and began to type all the different projects I will be working on this summer.. Children's book, that other book, blog features and just then I got to thinking about a film I saw recently with a very good friend of mine on a night out called Brief Encounter a 1945 British film which was directed by David Lean staring Celia Johnson who is a suburban housewife that seems to be a little bit bored with her life and her daily routine. So having the ever so handsome Trevor Howard appear in her life and shake it to the core seemed like exactly what she needed. We were quite mesmerised not only by the plot which was incredible and pretty much shot in two locations, the train station and the cafe, but by the elegance and fashion sense that made me wonder if that classic beauty, grace and fashion would ever return? Gloves, hats, bags, perfectly fitted dresses, shoes, add to that charming boys with perfect hair do's and a great sense of fashion style seemed like heaven!  I began to think about classic Hollywood glamour and how umm AHHHH-MAZING It would be to do a feature on classic Hollywood! Two minutes later I receive an email from the National Portrait Gallery inviting me to their new exhibition called GLAMOUR OF THE GODS: HOLLYWOOD PORTRAITS... All I can say is Genius!

Clark Gable and Joan Crawford for Dancing Lady, 1933 by George Hurrell © John Kobal Foundation, 2011

You can view nearly 70 vintage photographs spanning 40 years of Hollywood history including portraits of Clark Gable, Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford, Vivien Leigh, Loretta Young and Joan Collins previously unexhibited in the UK is pretty much a big dream come true. 

This new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery examines the importance of photography in creating the stars of Hollywood from 1920 to 1960. Glamour of the Gods: Hollywood Portraits, Photographs from the John Kobal Foundation includes portraits of Marlene Dietrich, James Dean, Joan Collins, Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe by nearly 40 photographers including George Hurrell, Clarence Sinclair Bull, Laszlo Willinger, Bob Coburn and Ruth Harriet Louise.

Nearly all of the photographs in the exhibition are vintage prints drawn from the archive of the John Kobal Foundation. This is a rare opportunity to view these important artifacts of a now extinct Hollywood studio system. The exhibition shows both iconic and previously unseen studio portraits of Clark Gable, Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford, Vivien Leigh, Loretta Young, and Carole Lombard among others. These portraits are shown alongside film scene stills including Lillian Gish for The Wind, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers for Swing Time and James Dean for Rebel without a Cause. Stills photographs which were used for lobby cards and posters and had to encapsulate the film plot, or be powerful and dramatic enough to attract film-goers in just one image.

Marlene Dietrich on the set of Manpower, 1941 by Laszlo Willinger © John Kobal Foundation, 2011

I dragged myself after work to Hackney Library to find books about classic Hollywood and immerse myself in classic beauty and grace. I did 'sigh' a few times and kinda wished I lived somewhere between the 40's and 60's where buying silk stockings was a wonderful powerful experience.

The film studios in Hollywood between 1920 and 1960 exercised an extraordinary level of control over the image of the stars they represented. The portraits they released to the public and press depicted the actors as glamorous and inaccessible, imbuing them with mystique. The photographers in this exhibition were the leading photographers employed by the studios to shoot and oversee the star portraits. The exhibition includes portraits by Davis Boulton, one of the few British photographers working for the Hollywood studios, and Ruth Harriet Louise, the only woman to run a studio photo gallery. Often stars would build up a relationship with a photographer as was the case with Greta Garbo and Clarence Sinclair Bull, and Joan Crawford and George Hurrell. This was a time before paparazzi, and these photographs distributed by the studios were the only vehicle of connection between stars and fans. Thousands of photographs would be sent out worldwide by the studios both to fans and to publications. To enable the photographs to be reproduced as widely as possible for publicity they were stamped ‘copyright free’, which resulted in the names of many pivotal studio photographers remaining uncredited for creating timeless and career-defining portraits.

Marlon Brando for Streetcar Named Desire, 1950 by John Engstead © John Kobal Foundation, 2011

John Kobal (1940-1991) was a collector and author who methodically sought to understand the role of photography in the Hollywood legend. He began collecting film photographs in the 1950s, visiting Los Angeles frequently when many of the major studios were being bought by corporations who cared little for the history of the film industry. At first his interest was solely in the stars and their films but his interest began to shift to the photographers behind the portraits, many of whom were still alive and accessible at this time. Kobal tracked down the surviving members of the circle of great Hollywood photographers and through a series of major exhibitions and books sought to gain them the recognition they deserved. As a result, the significance of the Hollywood photographers is now widely acknowledged for their contribution to both the film industry and twentieth century photographic portraiture. http://www.johnkobal.org/

The exhibition runs from 7 July until 23 October 2011 at the National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place WC2H 0HE, it is definitely one NOT to be missed.

Plusthirtynine Sample Sale - Can't Wait!

Music Makes Me Lose Control

So somehow last week ended up being a total music filled week and I could honestly say that every band delivered far beyond my expectations.  Especially Arcade Fire who I felt quite disappointed the last time I saw them at Coachella 2011, had the crowds on an absolute high the whole way through. Also to add to my happy music high, the wonderful London had its sunny side up with blue skies and warm weather.  For one of the gigs at Hyde Park I was just too short to see anything! I tried at first to go to the front to take a few snaps but ended up getting lost, so I didn't attempt that and went back to my friends. Luckily our location was perfect as it was right next to the big big screen So to sum it up what I saw from a screen might have been completely different to what the majority of music lovers saw live on stage but it's got to be said.. I STILL LOVED IT!  Bands I saw were Momford and sons, Beirut, Arcade Fire, Soul II Soul, Norman Jay, Roots Manuva and for those of your who are wondering, YES Roots Manuva's new music is ummmmmm MIND BLOWING.