Hasbeens for H&M

Idol is super excited about H&M’s newest collaboration! Hasbeens the cult Swedish clog label is bringing its ‘70s cool to H&M this spring.

Famed for their wooden-sole beauties, Hasbeens H&M collection will feature three styles. And, if it couldn’t get better, Hasbeens will continue using their environmentally friendly and sustainable methods.
Pair to perfection with flares – kick or floor-grazing, or a denim a-line number. Also, these cutting edge clogs look cute with pop socks and summer dresses. All we need now is the weather to behave.

Available from 20th April in 150 stores worldwide

By Lucy Morris

Eugene Lin

It is his attention to detail and urban refinement that sets Singapore-born London-based designer Eugene Lin apart. Having studied at Central Saint Martin’s and interned for Rosanda Illincic and worked with Vivienne Westwood, it is understandable that Lin is able to straddle the tricky precipice of sophistication and edginess.

Spending time, like all Singaporean men, in the army, then being launched into the most prestigious fashion school in Europe must have been quite the culture shock, seemingly, this has only informed Lin’s designs further. As has, his stint as pattern cutter. Working as a pattern cutter limits ones creative output, ultimately the cutter is just producing someone else’s dream design - as Lin alluded to this in previous interviews, saying “the creativity is strictly limited to a purely technical process”.  No wonder, Lin set up his eponymous label two years ago.

Taking inspiration from unusual places -, Eugene Lin constantly turns out intelligent designs with as much focus on quality and craftsmanship as design – a rarity in our over saturated fashion market. Lin’s SS11 collection takes its cue from Stephen King’s horror classic ‘The Dark Half’ while his AW11 takes heed from Greek siren, ‘Medusa’. Varied, sure, but Lin’s collections always keep up their high level of quality and feminine allure, be it with horror inspired tailoring or Medusa snake-inspired digitalised prints.

Shot by Paolo Zerbini, of GQ and Volt, and styled by Nobuko Tannawa, of Another and Dazed and Confused, the AW11 lookbook is directional. Striking silhouettes, shadow play and layered prints reflect the collections detailed touches and structured shapes.

By Lucy Morris

The Parklife Weekender

Parklife is without a doubt going to be massive. With immense names in music, like Kelis for all the pop fanatics, Mystery Jets for the Indie lovers and Chase ‘n’ Status’ DnB beats for you jungle fans; and those are only the headliners. The rest of the line up is just as electrifying with plenty of alluring music that thousands are eagerly waiting in anticipation for.

The two day festival will be held on the weekend of the 11^th and 12^th of June, the perfect kick start to those long summers months. What would be better than celebrating the end of those dreaded Uni exams with two much booze and a weekend of flawless music. With a little help from friends and partners of the event, seven arenas will hold some of the biggest names in music just for your entertainment.

On the main stage, the likes of the previously stated Kelis, Mystery Jets and Chase ‘n’ Status will be performing over the duration of the weekend. Katy B will be making an appearance also, as will partners in crime Skream and Benga. Mark Ronson will be performing, after his warm welcome in Manchester’s Warehouse Project at New Year's Eve. Annie Mac will be preparing the audience to get messy with her party set; something not to be missed. Boyz Noise will be tearing down the walls of the ‘Chibuku presents’ arena, as will Fake Blood, who set the bar last year with their impeccable performance. Simian Mobile Disco will be performing a DJ set, in their very own ‘Simian Mobile Disco Delicatessen’ arena. Adam Beyer, Andy C, High Contrast, London Elektrcity and many more will all be making a show down in the Hospitality arena with their hypnotic tunes.

The whole weekend is understandably going to be absolute carnage with epic names in music spread out over the now two day event. Tickets are now on sale so don’t hesitate in getting yours because if they sell out you’re going to be missing out on what’s definitely going to be one of Manchester’s biggest events of the year, gutted won’t even be the start of it.

Get your tickets here http://www.skiddle.com/festivals/Parklife/tickets.html

Words by Alyss Bowen

Shop Spot



Credit: http://www.trendhunter.com/

  

Viktor & Rolf

I’m a sucker for packaging. The allure of a shiny rapper and eye-catching graphics gets me hook, line and sinker every time. Like a magpie, a little bit of nothing can become a big bit of debt just because it had a pretty bow on it. To be honest, the packaging is meaningless if the shopping experience aint up to par. They go hand in hand you see. I like good service, I like pretty packaging, I like the shop to be clean and the décor to be in keeping.  Not too much to ask.

Viktor & Rolf, in keeping with their reputation for eccentric conceptual design, bring out my inner magpie.  Throwing out all consider ideas about a shops layout, the Dutch design duo introduced the shopper to a topsy-turvy upside-down world. 

Famed for turning the considered and the expected on its head with an avant-garde flair, the Dutch designers opened their first store in Milan in 2005 using the same mantra. Furnishing the space in a surreal fashion – everything was quite literally turned on its head.

Credit: http://www.trendhunter.com/

Designed by architect Siebe Tettero.

Credit: http://www.trendhunter.com/

The oak parquet and the welcome mat line the ceiling and the neo-classical columns and archways line the floor, along with the chandeliers. The only thing in its correct situ was the clothes. As always, they were breath taking. But, when immersed in a design world where aesthetic and experience is key, the shopping experience becomes as fascinating as the clothes.

Sadly the shop closed in 2009, but hopefully, Viktor & Rolf can redefine the shopping experience again with future stores.

By Lucy Morris

IDOL Reviews: Submarine

Director: Richard Ayoade; Cast: Craig Roberts, Yasmin Paige, Sally Hawkins, Noah Taylor and Paddy Considine.

Oliver and Jordana

The debut feature from Richard Ayode of IT Crowd fame has been gathering up hype ever since it first surfaced at the London Film Festival last October. Having since shown at both Sundance and Toronto, murmurs of its greatness have formed into hot anticipation for the release – and there’s a reason for it.

Based on Joe Dunthorne’s novel, set in a small Welsh seaside town, it follows Oliver Tate (Roberts), a 15-year-old boy with two objectives - to lose his virginity before his next birthday and save his parents’ crumbling marriage. This mission is further complicated with the return of his mother’s old flame - self-styled, New-Age guru Graham T. Purvis (Paddy Considine).

Through Oliver's narration we are fully engrossed in his thoughts. Navigating through life, imagining a film crew documenting his every move with elaborate daydreams of candlelit vigils as Wales mourns his death. Both delusional and insightful, Oliver’s running commentary reveals a self centred, spiteful fantasist that - against all odds - you can’t help but love. The girl he plans to lose his virginity to is equally intriguing, Jordana Bevan (Yasmin Paige) the refreshingly blunt, pyromaniac, who take pleasure in moderate bullying and setting fire to leg hair.

While Oliver is having his first relationship experience, he is also attempting to resurrect his parents depleting marriage. His father, is a marine biologist battling with deep depression, while Oliver’s mother is becoming frustrated by the passionless marriage, toying with thoughts of an affair.

Graham T. Purvis

Each role is played out perfectly. Newcomers Craig and Yasmin are - against all their characters’ faults - completely lovable. Paddy Considine is indescribably hilarious as mullet-haired new age mystic. While Sally Hawkins and Noah Taylor are painfully sad as the repressed, awkward married couple.

Richard Ayoade has not just made a great debut but great film, smartly adapted from the novel and beautifully shot by Erik Alexander Wilson - the strangely ordinary setting, becomes wonderfully cinematic and demands a big screen.

It could have been full of melancholy and pity, but the comic timing and pitch-perfect performances make it one of the most genuinely funny, touching and beautiful films to have come out in years. No exaggeration. 

Released: 18 March at selected cinemas nationwide

Check out our interview with the stars HERE. 

Words: Emma Hurwitz

Images courtesy of Dean Rogers and Optimum Releasing

art KARLSRUHE 2011- Germany

art KARLSRUHE is one of the biggest art fairs in Germany for Classical, Modern and Contemporary art. It takes place in Karlsruhe, a city in the south west of Germany in a region famous for its wealth and production of Mercedes and Porsche! Consequently, art KARLSRUHE 2011 was packed with the Hermes carrying middle aged to the Chanel draped OAP's who wanted to top up their intake of culture and possibly find something pleasantly conservative to decorate the dinning room.

And as for the art itself it was not much different. However there were a few galleries that stood out and made the fair worth the trip. The exhibition by Alexandra Rockelmann was inspiring (Galerie OPEN). The gallery itself, based in Berlin, specialises in young, contemporary artists and had selected works by the American artist, Kathleen Vance, for their solo-show for the fair.

Vance grew up in the countryside and moved to New York to study art. Missing her family farm she decided to take a bit of 'home' with her, and made her 'Travelling Landscapes'. Sitting on a pedestal lies an old vanity case with the lid held open just enough to reveal a miniature landscape, complete with a trickling stream. A miniature natural world that you can take with you wherever you go. The gentle sound of the running water and its reflection in the mirror in the lid of the case causes you to double take and move closer to investigate this small, contained package of surrealism.

Filling the space behind the small case is a vast, twisting, coiled loop of wood. Fallen branches gathered from the floor of a wood are connected together with natural twine so tightly that the immense structure is completely self-supported. With no beginning and no end, the installation holds your curiosity as you try to work out and understand its movement through the space and around itself.

On the wall of the booth are delicate ink drawings showing intricate detailed snapshots from the woods where the branches were collected. The selection of drawings show Vance’s technical capability and supported by the installation and the ‘Travelling Landscape’ one is able to appreciate her imagination, creativity and diversity that makes her an artist to keep an eye on in the future.

Looking back at art KARLSRUHE 2011 it is an art fair with a huge amount to see, yet with only a few selected galleries that really show themselves to be a little more daring and interesting enough to explore further than a mere minute of appreciation. 

Words by Leen Horsford

'Mad in England' by CARRIE REICHARDT (aka THE BARONESS)

Subversive, anarchic and satirical, Carrie Reichardt’s (aka The Baroness) exhibition at the Ink_d Gallery, Brighton, seeks to subvert, satirise and anarchize traditional ceramics. Aptly named ‘Mad in England’, Reichardt’s show twists the quaint and twee of Britain with a rebellious aesthetic.

Reichardt is famed for her ability to radicalise heritage arts & craft techniques, mosaics and ceramics. Sourcing the rare and the chintzy, Reichardt attacked a series of Coronation-celebratory plates with transfers of cartoon characters and animal imagery. Replacing Monarch’s heads with an Ape is not what one might call subtle, but it’s eye-catching and persuasive. Playing with the Chapman brother’s concept of genteel-meets-dystopia, Reichardt’s bizarre and comical insight into ‘Cruel Britannia’ is eccentric and perfectly timed with the hysteria of the Royal Wedding.

Reichardt is a member of the Craftivist Movement. Inspired by William Morris and his development in the Arts & Craft tradition, Reichardt too uses her skills to voice social injustice and the requisite of human rights. Driving around in her ‘Tiki Love Truck’ – a mosaicked and tiled mobile mausoleum – a homage to her dear friend, John Joe ‘Ash’ Amador, Reichardt’s work is personal with an honest voice.

Stamping her ideology on mosaic ensembles, tiles and graffiti cans, Reichardt’s work is definitely controversial. Undermining religion, mocking the graffiti-fine-art debate and the genteel air of porcelain plates with burlesque transfers and provocative wording, the show is enthralling and provocative.

The gallery is open to the public from Monday to Saturday, 10am – 6pm. Sundays 12 – 4pm (during exhibition dates).

From 11 March to 10 April, 2011

Ink-dGallery

96 North Road, Brighton, BN1 6YE 

www.ink-d.co.uk

Words by Lucy Morris 

Affordable Art Fair 2011

Who said art should be expensive?

This weekend IDOL attended Affordable Art Fair (AAF), a innovative initiative that started 13 years ago focusing on exhibiting paintings, prints, sculpture and photography from emergent and established artists from £100 to £4,000 (that's more affordable right?)

A total of 120 galleries from all over Europe took part in this weekend's art fair in Battersea Park. AAF is one of the leading and most popular art fairs in the UK. WHY? Because it is a lot of fun! HAve a look at some of the pieces we felt in love with...

AAF is becoming an global phenomenon with fairs all over the world (Amsterdam, Brussels, NYC, Melbourne, Singapore and Sydney - And launching in Milan in February 2011).

Don't miss the next AAF in Bristol 13–15 May 2011 at the Passenger Shed, Temple Meads!

For info go to:

www.affordableartfair.co.uk


Bianca Spada

“Coming In From The Outside” by Michael De Feo @ Orange Dot Gallery

Current street art scene is diverse and exciting, plunged in immediacy. Characteristic to artist Michael De Feo is the simple flower, which adds sparkle to bustling urban city streets.  This solo exhibition is his first in UK showcasing works in collaboration with already legendary printmaker Gary Lichtenstein at Orange Dot Gallery.

The exhibition is called ‘Coming in From The Outside’ showcasing  De Feo’s flower screen prints and recent portraits against graphic and lively surroundings. However, the current show draws emphasis on the use of colour, which is very much a key embedded in Lichtenstein’s artwork. Michael De Feo has worked with Lichtenstein before, previously in 2008 on a project Artists’ Editions series to benefit Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum as part of it. Currently Lichtenstein is working with Robert Indiana on his HOPE series.

   

De Feo’s iconic flower is represented on illustrative surfaces with a pop art touch. His style is very down-to-earth and even childlike, but the concept has been positive and spontaneous since early 90s. His portraits are unique the continuous line makes the profile even more figurative and sensational. A self-portrait against silk-screen inked geographical map stands out for its style and spider web structure.

His artwork reminds me my experiences as a child in art school. Creativity does not have boundaries. De Feo has let it go and followed the thread.  His paintings, street art and drawings might seem primitive in technique but the vision embedded in them is noble and minimal as his style. De Feo’s agenda on streets is set on liveliness, a positive and aspiring message. 

De Feo is also well known for his prominent children book Alphabet City. Currently he is in town, rather than keeping up with newsletters watch out on streets, for the iconic flower. 

Michael De Feo

8th - 15th of March 2011

Orange Dot Gallery

54 Tavistock Place, London WC1H

Words by Katre Laan

BEHIND THE SCENES - COVER SHOOT IDOL MAGAZINE ISSUE #1

View and download IDOL Magazine ISSUE #1; The Fearless Issue by going to
www.idolmagazine.co.uk and clicking on the cover of your choice.