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The Store; a carefully curated blend of retail, dining, broadcasting and creative space is making its way to London from its first space at Soho House Berlin – and to no lesser building than 180 The Strand, the forboding brutalist structure which stands in close proximity to Somerset House and The West End. To coincide with its opening, the space will play host to a new exhibition titled ‘The Infinite Mix’ in collaboration with The Hayward Gallery and music and arts enterprise The Vinyl Factory, showcasing audiovisual work from the likes of Martin Creed and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster. ‘The Infinite Mix’ will explore the relationship between art and sound, combining thought-provoking documentary, entertaining theatrics and immersive composition.

Ahead of the opening on September 9, we talked to Alex Eagle, creative director of The Store about the upcoming installation and what we can expect.

The Store currently occupies the ground floor of Soho House in Berlin: what motivated you to start The Store and why did you choose that space in Berlin?

The ground floor and basement space in the Soho House Berlin building had incredible ceiling height and light and it wasn’t being used. We took the opportunity to bring something that reflected the creativity and vibrancy of the city to this space – the whole world comes through the Berlin Soho House at some point and therefore it was the perfect place for us to launch The Store. For us, Berlin was the ideal city to begin to incubate our concept because it’s so fluid – driven by creativity with no boundaries between how you live and work.

Now you’re coming to 180 Strand for The Infinite Mix. What attracted you to the project and how did your approach differ for this project?

We are very excited to be hosting a collaboration between The Hayward and The Vinyl Factory for the launch of The Store at our incredible new space in central London. We’ve long been inspired by Ralph Rugoff’s incredible curatorial skills and ideas and of course The Vinyl Factory is known for premiering immersive audio visual experiences by artists such as Ragnar Kjartansson, Carsten Nicolai and Richard Mosse in large scale off-site spaces such as Brewer Street Car Park, so the pair were perfect partners to create this unique experience within The Store. The artworks in The Infinite Mix in every way showcase the fusion of art, music, style and creativity that is the very DNA of The Store.

What can we expect from The Store at 180 The Strand?

The Store at 180 The Strand is the launch of our network of studio spaces in the building called The Store Studios. The Store Studios will also have its hangout and work spaces, books, magazines records to enjoy and The Store Kitchen. All of these elements have their own unique contribution and at this stage this combination of creativity, the kitchen, a social space and places to find inspiration are what drives The Store at 180. Alongside this social space, we’ll offer a handful of curated items inspired by the exhibition – including books, records, t-shirts and some special collaborations to come – working with some great designers and presenting their work in a new way, as an installation and experience.

Pick a few of your favourite pieces from the upcoming ‘The Infinite Mix’ pop-up and tell us why?

We have some unique collaborations underway, all of which reflect the concept behind ‘The Infinite Mix’ – including these top 3 pieces:

A hardback book co-published with The Hayward
T-shirts created in collaboration with Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Stan Douglas, Cameron Jamie, Jeremy Deller
Vinyl editions by The Vinyl Factory with Cameron Jamie (music by Sonic Youth), Stan Douglas (music by Jason Moran) and Jeremy Deller

Whose work are you most excited about hearing/seeing at ‘The Infinite Mix’?

The exhibition as a whole is going to be a pretty incredible experience, with such a variety of artworks on display, but some of the pieces I’m most looking forward to include:

The premiere of Jeremy Deller and Cecilia Bengolea’s first collaboration – they’ve been working with a Japanese dancehall artist in Kingston, Jamaica over the summer and the piece sounds really exciting!
I’m looking forward to seeing Rachel Rose’s film ‘Everything and More’ which samples vocals from Arethra Franklin with hypnotic imagery shot in a NASA astronaut test centre among other spots!
French artist Dominique Gonzales-Foerster’s holographic work is really haunting – she’s presenting a ghostly hologram of opera legend Maria Callas which floats in mid-air.
Cyprien Gaillard’ s piece ‘N ightlife’ will be projected in 3D into the underground car park of 180 The Strand – it’s a perfect example of a work that combines mesmerising imagery, soulful music and a politically charged concept – I can’t wait to see it all in the space itself!

‘The Infinite Mix’ is interesting as it combines not only art and music but also retail and dining in a way that’s very sophisticated and seamless. Do you see this as the future of temporary installations and art events?

I do see this as the future for the use of space, whether it is for work, retail, leisure, dining or inspiration it all merges in to one experience or event. The fact the experience might change in a space for whatever its use is definitely the future.
The Store is not a conventional retail or pop up space. The new future of retail in our opinion is about broadcast and community. You communicate whatever you want to talk about whether it’s fashion or music or culture by inviting people in to experience and hang out or by directly broadcasting to them via all the channels now available. The main aim of The Store is to hang out in it and come and see what’s going on or to provide a platform for people to broadcast from. The first phase of Berlin was to create a place to come and hang out and see what’s going on and the second phase will be the creation of studios to broadcast, communicate and work from.

I love your previous work in both Berlin and the Alex Eagle stores with some really classic British brands usually renowned for their menswear. What drew you to old-world makers like New & Lingwood and Swaine, Adeney and Brigg?

We’ve been lucky enough to collaborate with some fantastic brands over the years – all stemming from the fact that we value craft in contemporary design, and try to bring a new perspective on traditional brands. We’re passionate about the longevity and tradition of these brands, which only exists because of the skill, quality and craft behind them. The items are beautiful, not throwaway. I believe in well made products made to last – from the food to the artwork, furniture – whether they’re past classics of future classics – we have a really exciting future working with artists such as ceramicist Luke Edward Hall, or Romy Northover. New & Lingwood – classic tailors who are known for creating the Eton uniform have collaborated with us on some great unisex luxury items that have a timeless quality. Swaine Adeney and Brigg have been inspiring to work with – creating some beautifully made luggage which can be an everyday item, a design object for the house and something to keep for a lifetime.

The aesthetic of The Store is unique and precise. Talk to us about your main influences for that and how you decided on that distinctive look?

Conventional retail and gallery spaces sometimes seem to be too narrow in what they offer compared to how we live our lives these days. By limiting the offer in a space, you can run the risk of limiting opportunities for communal experiences and an exchange of ideas between creatives, designers, artists and chefs. This is something we wanted to change – to create a unique experience for visitors.
180 The Strand is a unique and special place in London overlooking the Thames, just moments from Somerset House. I’m inspired to create this space in one of London’s most exciting new cultural hubs. The raw industrial look of the space has been a really exciting challenge to bring something new and fresh to – we’re looking forward to it developing in the future with more collaborations.

Martin Creed

Cyprien Gaillard

Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster 

www.theinfinitemix.com

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Camille Rearden, independent promoter

Britain’s music scene has always been spearheaded by independent promoters, bookers and organisers, aka the unsung heroes that make all those gigs, singles and festivals actually happen. For the inaugural INDIE50 Awards, a new award celebrating the talent that lies in the independent music community, an open, public nomination phase was followed up by the Award’s judging panel (which included the likes of BBC 6 Music’s Tom Ravenscroft and Pitchfork’s Laura Snapes) to pick the final 50. The result is a group of diverse music industry heroes; 50 people that keep the cogs of the British independent music industry turning.

The Award doesn’t just cover bookers and promoters, artist managers, journalists, festival organisers and even a Bristol local celebrity named Big Jeff (famed for his superhuman commitment to gig-going) made the INDIE50. Among those honoured is Camille Rearden, an independent promoter, Craig Johnston, booker at King Tuts in Glasgow, Julian Deacon, founder of Raygun Management and Kate Hewett, booker at both The Harley and Tramlines Festival. Dave Newton, co-founder at WeGotTickets, the company behind the award said, “we started out in 2000 as a small ticketing company working on local gigs in Oxford. We now work with thousands of venues and promoters across the UK, and we’ve seen first hand, time and time again, the effect that certain individuals can have on a local scene. INDIE50 is all about celebrating those people and giving them some recognition on a national level.”

Along with the INDIE50 Awards, 1st September will see the INDIE50 photographic exhibition launch. Commissioned to shoot each of the INDIE50, music photographer Dan Wilton travelled the country with journalist Josh Jones to photograph the people that make up the core of Britain’s wonderful independent music industry. All shot on 35mm film, the images capture the energy and passion of the INDIE50. The exhibition will also be accompanied by a limited edition zine produced by journalist Josh Jones, featuring interviews with the INDIE50. 

Jamal Edwards – Founder, SBTV

Jeff Horton – Owner, The 100 Club

The exhibition will run 1st-8th September at 71a Gallery in London.

Words: Annabel Lunnon

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Taken from the Summer Issue of Wonderland.

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If you’re looking for a bit of a culture fix this weekend and you’re lucky enough to be up North, then make sure you head to the Manchester Art Gallery: they’re staging an exhilarating exhibition which draws together a mixture of work by British female designers, both emerging and established, inspired by the groundbreaking historical roles that women played during the First World War. Serving as a part of the centenary commemorating the war, the exhibition presents designs by greats including Dame Vivienne Westwood, Holly Fulton and Sadie Williams, together with work by fashion graduates from colleges across the U.K. A range of fashion films have also been created for the presentation, underscoring the impact of the First World War on women’s roles in society that transformed the way in which they dressed.

The exhibition is keen to spotlight the fact that, while thousands of men went off to fight in the trenches, women stayed at home taking on new responsibilities in the work place, helping them define themselves through brand new styles of dress. These roles empowered women with new ways of dressing as they discarded previously restrictive items of clothing such as the corset; many of the silhouettes and wardrobe staples favoured by women today are rooted in that era, from the trench coat and trousersuit to current clubland faves like the jumpsuit.

The queen of punk Ms. Vivienne Westwood is the show’s indisputable highlight, and has restructured a multi-coloured jumpsuit shown in her Gold Label autumn-winter 2006/7 collection, endorsing the inmunition factory workwear piece with a touch of disco allure. Holly Fulton, meanwhile, fashions a yellow dress with appliques indicative of weaponry shells, and 2013 Wonder-fave Sadie Williams pays homage to the courageous nurses in the war with a floor-length gown in blue and silver with a large red cross across the bust. As if that wasn’t enough, the designs are accompanied by films commissioned by Nick Knight’s SHOWstudio. Heavy hitters Gareth Pugh, Craig Green and Phoebe English work alongside filmmakers Marie Schuller, George Harvey and Rei Nadal for this beautiful and intelligent series.

Wonderland caught up with the exhibition’s creative director, Darrell Vydelingum, who talked us through some of the themes of the exhibition, evoking a sense of significant historal change for women in Britain in the early twentieth century.

Can you tell us a bit about the themes of the exhibition?

The exhibition sees leading female fashion designers explore the profound effect the First World War had on women, and the impact this in turn had on women’s fashion. It is part of 14-18 NOW, the UK-wide arts programme that marks the centenary of the First World War. I wanted to achieve a mix of new commissions by leading designers alongside emerging talent from fashion colleges, animated by fashion films.

How about the films being presented alongside the exhibition?

The exhibition features original films that are contemporary reflections on the experience of women before, during and after the First World War. These include shorts by emerging directors commissioned by Nick Knight’s award-winning fashion film platform SHOWstudio, and first by Luke Snellin, with a cast wearing specially designed uniforms by Manchester fashion label Private White.

What were the main roles women played during the Great War?

As men left home to fight on the frontline, women had to fill in the gaps in the workforce, and over a million women went to work for the first time.  They took on a variety of jobs – as bus conductors, ambulance drivers and window cleaners, as well as in offices and factories.

Can you talk us through the ways in which women’s fashion contributed to their roles at this time?

The new responsibility and freedom women experienced through working led to new ways of dressing, as the social codes started to change.

What was liberating about the styles adopted by women in the First World War?

Silhouettes started to change as women started to work, becoming much free flowing and boyish in style.  It was during this period that the corset gave way to the bra. The exhibition shows how the silhouettes that emerged a hundred years ago  – the jumpsuit, trousers, shorter hemlines, elasticated underwear, the tailored suit – are still the bedrock of our catwalks and high streets today.

Why is Fashion and Freedom important in the 21st century?

Fashion is often seen as a frivolous thing, but this exhibition shows the key role it plays in examining our social and political history. The exhibition tells an epic story about women’s rights and freedoms.

Fashion & Freedom is at Manchester Art Gallery as part of 14-18 NOW until 27 November 2016.

Words: Ray Kinsella

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McQ know a thing or two about an innovative collaboration, and the brand’s irreverent, rebellious nature never fails to make campaigns, presentations and collections that are thoroughly on point yet full of surprises. From their Nan Goldin shot SS16 campaign to Harley Weir’s AW15 McQ campaign posters defaced by Belgian artist Ermias Kifleyesus and displayed in the Spitalfields McQ flagship’s basement-cum-art-gallery space, McQ have become known for working with some of the most exciting creatives around.

Today, McQ are presenting their AW16 collection in a digital presentation documented by Caroline Sodergen, making it readily available for all to see online (we did say they were innovative, how very 2016 of them!). Not only do you get to see the full collection online right now, McQ are making the AW16 experience 360 with a series of character studies by Jack Davison, short films by Wonder-fave Sharna Osborne and the full collection looks shot by Brianna Capozzi.

WOMEN’S AW16

In true McQueenian style, McQ’s AW16 collection draws inspiration from rebellious youth. This season this means the rebellious club kids inhabiting the dance and strip clubs of late 1970s and 80s Shinjuku, Tokyo. It is, naturally, a collection of contrasts – think sweet meets sadistic; black leather meets traditional Japanese Kimono floral print. There’s black leather capes, rompers and flashback bat-wing silhouettes – a nod to fetishism.

It’s not all so far away from home though, the brand have nodded back to their Scottish heritage, updating the kilt into trousers and making us all fall in love with cardigan knits all over again. Sitting comfortably in the space they’ve always ruled McQ remains the wilder, hedonistic little sibling of McQueen, playing on it’s youthfulness with sweeter-than-sugar pure white Mary-Janes for footwear along with the eternal staple of the rebellious teen: Creepers.

MEN’S AW16

Still in a nostalgic mood, menswear peered back at the brand’s ancestral history too. Taking on Fair Isle knits for AW16. None of this so-subtle-you-don’t-even-notice fuss either, full blown head to toe clashing colours were spattered all over the turtlenecks and trousers. Kilts got a look in too in the form of long, ballooning culottes. Nan Goldin’s SS16 campaign for McQ portrayed clubbing creatures in their underworld, although AW16 has a more stay-at-home vibe, the kids are still itching to go out. Thigh high lace up boots, leather pants and matching gilets are perfect Soho Saturday night attire. You might be cosy at home in the week but McQ are ready to dress you for the weekend. “The McQ man lives two lives” the collection notes state, one is the grown up, the realist, the sensible one. The other life is his adolescent side that never grew up. Peter Pan in patent leather, what a sight to behold

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In one of the photos on his Instagram account, Isaiah Barr is wearing sunglasses and playing two saxophones simultaneously. A few squares down, the letters O, N, Y, and X have been shaped out of mown grass, with a caption that reads Ladies And Gentleman, I Would Like To Announce Onyx Collective’s Show This Week At Magic Gallery!!. The show they played was an evening of classical jazz.

Chances are if you’ve picked out this interview to read, you’ll have been listening to the collective’s sessions on the art-music online radio station, Know Wave (and if you haven’t, we thoroughly urge you to go find them). Every week, founding members Isaiah, Austin Williamson and Joshua Benitez pool from their tight network of musicians, emcees and visual artists and jam together at the Know Wave store front studio in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The results are old school free jazz which meets the new school New York art scene, running against the grain of what is expected from both sides. On 12th January, the Onyx Collective will be releasing Second Avenue Rundown, their first album; an archive of selected works from the store front sets – cementing their place at the forefront of New York’s perpetually shifting underground.

It’s hard to find any music online that isn’t a radio rip or footage recorded from a gig – there are no MP3 singles to share around, which is pretty unusual for a group with an imminent album release. However, the collective have gained a sizeable following from their live shows. Perhaps because after what feels like a decades-long reign of DJ-producers, you can put Onyx Collective on stage with hip-hop group Ratking and get the charisma of 1990s New York back for the evening.

Jazz is the sweetheart of serious record collectors who understand the weight it carries around with it; along with blues, jazz laid the foundations for the empire that is urban music today. Blood Orange recently posted a picture on his Tumblr of deceased trumpet player Louis Armstrong, with the caption POPS: THE MAN, THE LEGEND, WE OWE IT ALL TO YOU. It is the music for music producers.

Wonderland caught up with frontman Isaiah Barr to chat about vibes, New York City and the infamous store front spot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycsYZou2Mg0

So, Isaiah, you’re a native New Yorker. How important is Jazz in New York’s culture, what’s the vibe over there like?

Well, growing up in New York is the best place for a kid who wants to become a jazz musician, the jazz culture is so deeply rooted here. Because New York has been the Mecca of Jazz forever, the city completely embodies the vibe of the music.

It sounds serious.

It’s pretty serious. There’s more jam sessions here than any other place in the world, so the community of musicians is super diverse. There is a place to find jazz in the city every night.

How did you get involved with Know Wave radio, was your show a pretty big catalyst for the album?

Yeah, it was. So, I had been hanging out there playing on Letter Racer’s radio hour with these guys in a band called Ratking. We’d jam to hip-hop instrumentals and I’d play piano and saxophone, it was fun y’know, just a thing I did once in a while. Then I met Aaron Bondaroff [Know Wave’s founder] and he asked me if I wanted to have a jazz show. The doors were open for everyone and there were no rules, so this prompted me to start inviting on all of the talented musicians that I knew and played with. The regulars were Jack Gulielmetti, Austin Williamson, Joshua Benitez, Julian Soto, Malik McLaurine and Paul Johnson.

I also began including special guests who were our mentors; Roy Nathanson, John Benitez, and Dave Glasser all did radio shows with us – we played and then talked about music. This was a weekly thing, so in a couple of months we had a lot of stuff recorded and archived. Me and Aaron both thought it would be a great idea to make a record out of the material from the Know Wave recordings.

Tell us more about the store front. It sounds fun.

The store front was crazy, it was a clubhouse. I went there all the time, not just for my show. I met Dev Hynes [Blood Orange] and jammed out with him for the first time at the store front. The place was always filled with creative people and their guests. There was never the same thing happening twice.

Your album includes over 15 featuring artists. How important is collaboration to the making of your album, each person must bring in something pretty different? 

Collaboration is a very essential ingredient because a lot of the music we play is freely improvised. This means that [for the improvisation to work] there is a responsibility that each musician has to have, and that comes with a common trust. Everyone brought in all their unique skills and were very comfortable because the studio felt like our living room. I established a couple methods of conduction and kind of lead the sessions, as well. Sometimes I brought in original compositions, or poetry, and sometimes we would just jam and go for a mood or colour. Sometimes we just played standards.

So, was it all people you already knew?

I knew all the people on the album, yeah, and I brought them all together. Some of us had already played in bands together during high school so the connection was there.

Do you think that there is a big difference in energy from a live show with real instruments compared to electronica… Absolute respect to people who make music with computers, but we saw saxophonist Knoel Scott from Sun Ra the other week and his eyes were rolling back into his head when he played, it was deep.

Yeah, I think there is a certain kind of difference. I think that playing an instrument is a very spiritual and meditative thing, I mean, the breathing process for one is very unique. Jazz is all feeling. Jamming is like a deep conversation and everyone has to listen to each other, which is not always the case in electronic music. There’s a supernatural feeling that one can reach in music that you can’t describe. Sun Ra is definitely a good example of this; their music really goes out and has many different moods and a lot of freedom and expression.

Having said all this, it is very possible to obtain that vibe and feeling with electronic music. I play with a few bands that use this element in a great way and it can really get people going and moving differently.

Are you playing any live dates for the upcoming album release? 

Well, we are continuously playing shows all the time at different venues, you know, like pop up galleries and underground spaces and try to stay as active as possible.  We’re planning on doing some fun little radio shows too, and always manage to put a live recording up on Know Wave now and again. For the album we are playing in Los Angeles between January 13th – 23rd at a few different spots and planning an album release show in NYC so stay tuned for that!

Visit www.OnyxCollective.com for live dates, videos and more information, or follow them on Instagram: @jazzatthebarr @ajazzcat

Words: Lizzy Nicholson

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Eau D’ Bedroom Dancing from Joseph Delaney.

Rollacoaster returns this January, kicking off 2016 with the freshest faces of season. For our SS16 menswear issue, White Cube artist, club-kid and all-round troublemaker Eddie Peake reworked our logo across two limited edition covers. Inside, he discusses life as one of Britain’s most fascinating young creatives, and offers us a few never-before-seen artworks.

Cover star, Prada’s new poster-boy and Glue actor Billy Howle talks to Nellie Eden, we shine a light on Olympic Gold-winner and serial record breaker Max Whitlock, and Wolf Hall’s Edward Holcroft walks us through the weird, weird world of Hollywood 2016.

We swap truths with genre-defying dancehall-pop crossover J-Hus and Kanye-cohort Novelist and chat to the likes of Martine Rose, Christopher Shannon and Nasir Mazhar about the Fashion Space Gallery’s breaking menswear exhibition, Mad About The Boy. All this, and the most exciting, out-there menswear fashions of now.

Treat yourself to a taster of the issue with all of the boys from our fashion cover lip syncing to Bikini Kill’s “Riot Girl”, shot by Joseph Delaney. Dreamy.

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Old Dog, Old Tricks

Margaret Howell has been producing indisputably tasteful menswear for well over thirty years and if you think she’s gonna stop now then, well, you will be dissapointed. That means little in the way of surprising innovation for AW16, but plenty in the way of, quite simply, lovely clothes. That could be a high-waisted, fuller trouser styled with chunky chelsea boots or a flannel suit cut with enviable skill: a cut that is neither sculpted nor baggy, but rather hangs in an almost casual way – perfect, you imagine, for all the semi-formal gallery openings that Howell’s customers must attend.

A Touch of Flair 

It was mostly a collection in those classic menswear colours of navy, grey and black, though colour did come through in a 70s-done-well mustard mockneck, a raffish scarf here and there or a splash of Fair Isle. Double breasted blazers added a touch of Michael Caine’s Swinging London with their six, high buttons and short peak lapels.

Well Worn, Worn Well

Outwear to last a lifetime is a Howell special, and there was no shortage of that here with a snow-white duffle coat proving a crispy update on an iconic style and softly constructed navy woolen macs looking like an excellent update on grandfather-wear. She may not change much, but the monochrome looks Howell put forward seemed as crisp and as modern as you could hope for within the guidelines of traditional cut and fabrication.

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