VIVIENNE WESTWOOD X SELFRIDGES

Selfridges is poised to launch the first comprehensive presentation of Vivienne Westwood’s shoe collections. The department store has teamed up with the fiery British designer and is showcasing an extensive collection of her footwear. The presentation will span the majority of Westwood’s career to date, with pieces from across the past few decades, more specifically, between the years 1973 and 2010. Though similar exhibitions have taken place in Italy and Brazil, Selfridges is providing us all with a world exclusive of the most extensive collection of Vivienne Westwood’s footwear ever to be displayed. Despite the fact that Westwood herself would have you believe that being a designer is the currently the last thing that she wants, this showcase of her pieces is a sure proof of her worth as a woman at the helm of British avant-garde design.

Kerin Rose

Throw practicality, sensibility and intelligence out of the window and indulge yourself in the delights that the raw side of fashion has to offer.


Behind the orange hair and sensually quirky style, Kerin Rose, the brains of A-Morir Kerin Rose sits in her bright and entrancing Manhattan studio. This is the head quarters for the stunningly assembled pieces of fashion art that are to be propped on the end of any celebs noses wishing to add that wicked side to their image.

These hand crafted and unique pieces of eye candy stream from one lady's accidental explosion into the fashion world. In 2009 Kerin found herself accompanying a friend to the Patricia Field runway show. Dipped in her hand made accessories she was soon spotted from the crowd by the consignment buyer for the designer and she was asked to work part time at the boutique. Wearing her creations into work, Kerin soon found that they would be sitting on the shelf ready to be sold onto clients as the doors opened the following day.As people started to take notice of her designs, Kerin worked harder at perfecting her craft: bedazzling.

You need only to look at Lady GaGa, Rihanna, Tyra Banks, Amber Rose and Snoop dog (naming a select few) to understand what I am talking about. These celebrities are sharing with Kerin the delights of playing with fashion and exposing the fun, theatrical and glamorous side that this world offers.

The outrageous need only buy.

Words by Holly Smith

South West Four 2010

With a matter of days to go before South West Four 2010 kicks off, it would be a complete understatement to say the IDOL office wasn’t a hive of excitement. The August bank holiday is for most the official end to the summer, with a long weekend thrown in for good measure, what better way to spend it than down at a hopefully sunny Clapham Common for an aural explosion courtesy of SW4.

Originally dedicated to trance and hard house SW4 has evolved into the festival of choice for music lovers of all persuasions. Saturdays now sold out line up includes Armin Van Buuren’s only London show of 2010, Erick Morillo, Judge Jules and Paul Oakenfold. If you didn’t get a Saturday ticket not to worry there is still a limited amount available for Sunday which sees another stellar line up take over. SW4 staple and DJ extraordinaire Carl Cox takes the reigns alongside Dubfire, Layo and Bushwacka! Fatboy Slim headlines with another SW4 exclusive plays his only London show of the year, no doubt. Salt-N-Peppa are sure to take us back with their first London show in 15 years. Together returns after a hiatus to bring us the best names in dubstep, Plastician, Caspa and Rod Azlan. Underground sensation Katy B joins dubstep pioneers Skream and Benga for what is certain to be a talked about performance. Unfortunately there’s a time limit on the mayhem at the Common but, be sure to check out the plethora of SW4 after parties on offer. It’s a bank holiday; it would be a sin not to.

Corrine Leonce

*SW4 2010 HAS NOW SOLD OUT!!*

VINTAGE AMOUR

Still combating your guilty conscience while shopping?

*Vintage Amour*, the freshly launched online vintage store, offers you their first ever City Garden Party in Clapham which will be held on the 28 August (next Saturday). They aim to make it an annual event supporting a different cause each year. This year, they choose to hold the party in aid of AGE UK, a charity which seeks to help those in later life who are dependant, unsupported and alone.

Through this event they hope to raise much needed funds to help older and wiser British Generations. It’s going to be FUN with a live band, food stalls and a bouncy castle (just in case your kids at home want to come along). We are definitely popping in to this meaningful party, so drop by too if you are on your way to SW4! And what’s so bad about donating to charity while shopping with a freshly squeezed lemonade in one hand and a vintage Hermès bag in another anyway?

They also need people to support and sponsor the event in any forms from stall holders to face painters. Contact Vintage Amours at vintage_amours@hotmail.fr

Check out their website at www.vintage-amours.com if you want to know more about their collection or the party, or follow their blog at www.vintageamours.tumblr.com for the latest news.

Vintage Amour City Garden Party for Age UK
28th of August
The Methodist church
Clapham High street
SW4 7JR::

By Helen Lo

Festibelly

Parties in the woods aren’t anything new. Previously a feature of the underground and a refuge for psy-trance lovers, they’ve taken an altogether more sophisticated turn. As of late, they’ve morphed into a rather more spectacular affair than the secretive assemblies of old boasting a more diverse gathering of souls, congregating for music and atmosphere alike because everyone loves the woods.

Festibelly is one of the latest generation of woodland gatherings, enticing revellers with an assorted selection of music in addition to its enchanting New Forest surroundings. There are genre spanning offerings from a whole host of acts including headliners The Big Pink whose ‘Dominoes’ has been ubiquitous over the past year to the lesser known but equally impressive King Charles as well as DJ sets from Bestival bigwig Rob Da Bank and the Reggae Roast boys whose monthly parties have given London Sundays an altogether more mellow tone. Throw into the mix the Festibelly folk off (a music battle where the winner wins a Festibelly set), the friendly and organic vibes as well as the overall magical ambience of an adventure in the forest, Festibelly 2010 looks set to be laid back and hectic all at once and this is definitely one forest adventure not to be missed.

Sara Gad

NOEL'S HOUSE PARTY

Wednesday nights see the launch of the weekly Noel's House Party at Bungalow 8, hosted by Noel Watson.

Slightly different from your usual Bungalow night, Noels House Party starts at 9pm with ‘Disc Jock Off’, which involves guests bringing along their favourite tunes and playing DJ for 10 minutes. The biggest crowd pleaser get’s put into the choice of the *bungalow 8 dessert island selection pool *for a compilation disc for later in the season. 11pm see’s the professionals taking over with slots from various renowned DJ’s including Benji Boko.

Giving that Bungalow and Noel have a reputation for holding a good party, we’re pretty sure this will be no exception.

BLISTERS BLACKOUT

Print Club London's annual BLISTERS poster show is now confirmed for 3rd December and they have just opened thier submissions call!
The show will feature 40 artists, bringing together a mixture of established and emerging illustrators for BLISTERS BLACKOUT a winter feast of hand pulled, screen printed posters.

This year they are asking every one to add a ‘glow in the dark’ element to their poster design. The venue will be blacked out during points in the opening night so the posters can really GLOW!

There's more info on the website about the company, the show, and the previous shows.

When I Am Big

When milliner Mary Jane Baxter was little, she wanted to be Maria from The Sound of Music. So her portrait for 'When I Am Big,' a new exhibition at Material gallery, shows her perched upon a ladder, surrounded by hats and shoes and dressed as a nun. A collaboration between photographer Emilie Fjola Sandy and designer Kamilla Weinhardt, 'When I Am Big' takes on the wildest dreams (President of Iceland, anyone?) of some of Britain's most notable creatives, translating them into portraits that are imbued with all the originality and spirit of childhood aspirations.

Other shots portray a dancer, an astronaut, 'Venger' from Dungeons and Dragons, a sweet shop owner and a brain surgeon. All are arranged with an air of optimism, creativity and fun, serving up the idea that "no matter what the profession, there are always hidden depths waiting to be expressed." Although none of the dreams captured in this exhibition came true, seeing them reenacted for a moment feels remarkably personal for a show that is, superficially at least, entirely about profession. "You see them and think "me too!" and then of course you wonder how those dreams led you to where you are today," summed up one guest at the exhibition's launch.

IDOL's favourite? It's a toss-up between Nick Roberts' transformation from artist to sailor, or musician Jagga's turn as a robed priest, both bringing a real swagger to their uniforms. We left feeling very much in touch with our inner child, and a little jealous of fashion writer Kristen Knox, who got to dress up as Victoria from Cats.

By Caitlin Leslie

'When I Am Big,' showing 12th August- 27th August 2010

: : 5 market street, ludlow, shropshire sy8 1bp : :

opening times : mon / wed / fri / sat 10AM - 5.30PM / sun 12- 4PM

:: kingly court, carnaby street, london w1b 5pw ::

opening times: mon- sat 11AM - 7PM / sun 12 - 6PM

For more information, see:

info@materialmaterial.com • www.materialmaterial.com • materialgallery.blogspot.com

The Locals At Work

Did you know Deptford was home to more artists than East London? IDOL didn’t either. The Goldsmith’s university is within 15 minutes walking distance, meaning artists have dispersed into the surrounding neighborhood for some time and stayed there to produce a hub of creativity. And this wasn’t the only discovery made when we embarked upon the journey to the other side of the River.

The ARCH gallery plays host to several of the local Deptford artists. The gallery’s summer offering entitled ‘I know what you did last summer’ opened last week. With the aim of creating a dark alternative to the more colourful seasonal shows, gallery owner Paul Marks wanted the conflicting idea of a dark summer performance. With the ‘post apoplectic’ piece from Andrew Hladky’s and Jo Wilmot’s Ferrari crashes, the theme hits you instantly. Similarly Wayne Lucas draws your attention as you walk through the door, a mixed media piece with antlers and a protruding fury head will have you talking.

Marks wanted a controversial exhibition, which is why he chose to showcase two of his sado-masochism pieces. Taken from a website, the images are exploded on Photoshop and subsequently painted in squares of colour. A segment of the picture is only revealed when looked through either a phone or digital camera; giving you a taster of what the full image entails.

Charlie Pi is another photographer turned artist, exhibiting work at the ARCH. A Deptford resident for over 35 years, his pieces play on male stereotypes. Jokingly saying that mythology is the “only way to paint male nudes,” Pi has moved on to the archetypes of man. He does use the male nude in all his pictures and in particular the black male nude to really highlight his messages. Tales from the crypt/drop the pineapple is a play on a John Singer Sargent painting of a white woman in a dress sitting with a fan in one hand. Pi has used this and contrasted with a nude black man, interestingly covering himself with a pineapple.

The gallery is intimate with the exhibition containing only 22 pieces; yet there is a huge sense of community. Whether it is the owner of the local hardware shop popping down or the friends from the art committee, the feedback from the show was: “Yeah, I love it.” It is definitely a return to the original paint on canvas, but sometimes it feels good to hark back. It is interesting to see what can be achieved and portrayed with such simple tools.

There is a piece for everyone, and don’t be put off by the thought of taking a Southeastern train out of central London, but instead travel comfortably with the new East London Line to New Cross and enjoy a stroll through the area from there. Deptford will be hosting Deptford X, a 10 day celebration of contemporary visual art, commencing on the 24 September to draw in all you fine young things. It is a chance to see the locals at work, a chance that should be taken.

Marie McManamon