MAX VOLUME PLEASE…

Two Weeks label came about this AW10 in order to represent both our design aesthetics, my background in jewellery/accessories and Kath’s in clothing design. We’re loving menswear just as much as womens and both our own styles are kind of sporty(occasionally slutty but our remade label serves that purpose well) so we decided to do a Unisex collection – we also just wanted a pair of tracksuit bottoms we could throw on and still look cool(guess it’s a bit lifestyle).

I met Gabriel Gettman several months ago and we had a brief chat about fashion and film. I’d brushed shoulders with him a few times since and hadn’t really followed it up until we decided to shoot a film with 2 days to pull it all together. I don’t really see our film as a lookbook and I don’t think a film can replace a lookbook as it serves a different purpose. We wanted to cross-over art and fashion, to create something dynamic, slightly sinister, a mood, a texture as a backdrop to our collection. I approached Gabriel to make our film with ideas on opposites black/white, male/female, light/dark and I knew there was going to be paint bubble or splatter involved – I just didn’t realised quite how much(80 litres in total).

We love a good challenge and work best under a stupid deadline – it’s just not exciting unless someone’s rolling their eyes and exhaling heavily(but smiling a little bit too)!

We managed to pull together a whole cast of  models, hair and make-up, cameraman, studio manager, art director in two days and shot a film that we’ve watched time and time again.

Big thanks to everyone involved and especially to our models Miguel Dare and Jade Mc Sorely(who you might recognise from Britain’s Next Top Model) for letting us cover them in paint in a freezing cold studio on Valentine’s Day. Super big thanks to Gabriel who realised our vision to perfection.

We’ve already got SS11 ideas and we’re stepping it up again – possibly not with a 2 day lead – how about Two Weeks?

]]> http://blog.bitchingandjunkfood.com/2010/05/two-weeks-our-new-uni-sex-label-and-film/feed/ 3 http://blog.bitchingandjunkfood.com/2010/02/must-watch-video-rhianna-references-basquiat-and-haring/ http://blog.bitchingandjunkfood.com/2010/02/must-watch-video-rhianna-references-basquiat-and-haring/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:46:59 +0000 M http://blog.bitchingandjunkfood.com/?p=2903

Right, I know it’s fashion week and I should be writing about same but I’m not. We will but probably not till it’s over and we have a chance to sit back and digest what we really dig and what we don’t. I am having a video obsession since we shot our first fashion video last weekend and as you probably already know I’m really interested in it’s capabilities as a medium to communicate fashion. We’re excited about what we’ve done for AW10 and we’re going to push it as far as possible for SS11- brain already ticking over.

I don’t know it it’s becuase I’m temporarily living in Brixton(where I laid my roots when I first moved to London) but I’m suddenly gone a bit rude-girl obsessed despite my generally gothic exterior. Style schizo strikes again. I guess it started when some of our 90’s vintage was shot recently in Nenah Cherry’s new video.

Haring and Grace Jones

As most of my mates know I’ve always had a ghetto nails obsession – bigger and bolder the better however like a dog that bites a nextdoor neighbour they “had to go” as I started to design more. To compensate for the big gaping ghetto hole I hot-footed it to the local afro-caribbean hair salon to have some cornrows down the side or my curly mop – I call it the Brixton facelift, does wonders for the delicate eye area when they’re yoinked out either side of your head. I haven’t got pictures of it yet but will post same in a few days. Also loving string vests…. think I need a proper inspiration day fuelled by Jerk Chicken and guinness punch(any excuse for a drink)

I didn’t intentionally copy Rhianna as I’ve been banging on about this one since last March – ask Kath she was like “can you just go and get the fkn cornrows and shut up about it!” I discovered the Rhianna video today – also after we’d just done a Haring tribute for our installation off Carnaby st. Our AW10 collection references Haring in a very subtle way and is kind of tribal meets sports. I’d love to say our people have been talking but unfortunately we haven’t got people and if we did they’d be too busy to talk to Rhianna’s people

For the record I think the songs hurrendous and the lyrics embarassing so please turn down volume when listening to same and soak up the video in all it’s Pop-art glory. 

The video was created by YC based agency Click3, will be spending a lot more time on their site. 

This dress will change your life

I’ve started this post maybe seven times now because I struggle to put into words the giddy excitement myself and Kath felt when we layed eyes on THE DRESS. I guess that’s where my grasp of language falls short becuase this dress deserves a high-brow blog post that I, unfortunately, am insufficiently eloquent to write so dress I’m sorry but I will give it my best shot, go easy on me and don’t look down on my humble ramblings.

It’s now 12.30am and this is my second night spent trying to write THE DRESS post. My new business partner Kath and I first laid eyes on it a month ago and since we found it this DRESS  has hyptnotised us into getting  lost in North London with no sat nav 11.00pm having been on the road for eleven hours(long story), commanded a whole day’s worth of shooting from a team of six people and drawn countless oohs and ahhs from everyone who crosses it’s path. It’s pretty special and it’s a bit of a diva. It’s into white lillies and Jo Malone candles and always demands the red M&M’s are picked out of the bowl.

Images cannot begin to describe the wonder that is this dress. Made from acetate it has a concealed belt inside that sucks in the waist and rigid pockets that stand out at the front to create an exaggerated Geisha hourglass figure. It also has this season’s on-trend power shoulders curved to perfection. It’s so sculpted that it pretty much retains it’s form when not on the body. It’s what’s known as dead-stock in the world of vintage so it’s never been worn and is dying to be taken to a party this Christmas.

When we found it we new it deserved a whole cover shoot of it’s own and we also knew NickIDM was the photographer to do it justice – we beckoned him to see it first and knew he’d be just a seduced by it as we were.  He was assisted by Liz Warmisham. We also knew it needed a pretty special model and we found her in Nell Nabarro who you may recognise from Britains Next Top Model 5. We went for Christian Bale American Psyho styling on the hair for a 90’s yuppie feel – Roxanne Attard realised our hair vision. I thought it would be interesting to include the moodboard I pulled together for styling on the shoot. I was totally in love with the masked-ball style make-up from a recent Courtney Love shoot in Sunday Times style magazine – my Sunday fashion bible. Jeni Davis recreated the look on Nell. How rockin was Tilda Swinton in Another Magazine?

90's Power Geisha

The concept behind the shoot is the power of clothing to elevate you from the banality of daily life making you a super-being, much like I feel about my Christian Dior fur coat – this dress possesses a similar kind of power. I worked very closely with Nick on the concept who photoshop wizard that he is, created an image that matched the picture in my head to perfection.

I edited a little BITCHY video for you to see the shoot in action. Thanks to Becky Cope, intern extraordinaire for being on camera duty. I also had a long think about what music to use as I wanted something epic – which means different things to various people. I got Micheal Jackson, Barbara Streisand, Pink  Floyd. I pondered Angie by the Rolling Stones, Pyramid song by Radio Head and Colette no 4 by too Many DJs(a song about Colette in Paris, actually not Epic at all) but wasn’t feeling it for this dress so I settled on Papua New Guinea by Future Sound of London, a tune that never fails to give me goosebumps, much like the way we feel about THE DRESS.

  
We shot on the milennium bridge at 4pm as the winter sun was setting. It was freezing on the day and Nell was a real trooper. Despite the cold we had a ball and I’m sure you’ll agree that the team knocked out another stellar shoot for Bitching and Junkfood. Thanks everyone.

NOW YOU’VE SEEN IT WIN IT:

We know our Bitchy Girls and Boys like to get creative so we’d like you to come up with imaginative ways to get our logo out there and pave the way for www.bitchingandjunkfood.com and all the designers/creators with whom we are expanding with for SS10(and there’s a lot of them).

So shave our logo onto the side of your head or drop it from the eiffel tower and you might be in with a chance – send pictures to WANT THE DRESS NOW! and we’ll post the most imaginative entries to the blog. Winner will be decided 15.12.09  and the dress will be send to you completely free of charge to change your life this Christmas.

Detail of concealed corset belt and bow which buttons across the tush.

Size as follows:

Shoulder: 19″ from edge of shoulder pad to edge of shoulder pad – capped sleeves extend beyond this.

Bust: 34″(36″ could squeeze in too)

Waist: 27″

Hips: 35-37″

Length: 48″(taken from the waist to the floor)