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Do It Yourself

Since her first show under the protective wing of Fashion East in 2012, Claire Barrow has become a real fashion heart-throb – and rightly so. Her pieces are some of the most instantly recognisable – not simply because of her hand painted visions of distorted landscapes, twisted faces and cutsie cats scattered across every garment – but because of her unique approach to garment construction. Everything feels intentionally DIY, like a celebration of the imperfect – fraying edges, laxly layered frills, off centre lines. And this SS16 felt true to form – with Barrow’s subject matter of dystopian post-tech youth creating not only beautiful garments, but an entire collection which actually engages the viewer both visually and mentally.

Do Androids dream of Instagram?

Mixing fashion, social politic and art, Barrow’s work explored the unimaginable question – what happens when there’s no more tech? When we can’t live a life online? Models sat drearily, swathed between a huge wave of oil-slick black fabric; dull synth sounds played out in the background like a distant steel-works signifying a new, industrial age; the girls and boys clanked plastic hands on homemade instruments – hanging metal disks, half filled glass bottles and huge steel sheets. There was armour-like leathers – in knickers, ass-less chaps and trousers – which laced up at the crotch (harking back to that iconic  Xtina: Stripped album cover), roughly hand distressed relaxed fit denim had faint landscape scenes and faces battered into the fabric, and a beautiful baby pink three piece suit was adorned with golds and blacks in a pattern which looked like melting oysters and open mouths. Everything was a vision of dystopia – with scenes playing out upon the pieces depicting smudged faces in distress and bleak landscapes in toxic waste green. It all felt rather confronting – the designer managed to capture a feeling of real loss and anxiety in a world without the internet – imagine that. The irony, then, that the attendees stood and snapped away – posting to notify their followers of their imminent, unfilterable doom… ace!

Photographer: Thurstan Redding

Words: Tom Rasmussen

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Thankfully payday’s only just passed and we haven’t blown our wage slips on unnecessary Ubers and midweek deadline breakdown Mcdonalds’ just yet. This month we’ll be making investments as Claire Barrow relaunches her website with an exclusive pop-up store of limited edition pre-collection designs.

Sign up on Claire Barrow’s website to receive an access code to the pop-up online store, opening this Friday 7th August. Big spenders can look forward to lambskin leather swing coats for £1500 as well as ruffle tops and silk scarves. If you’re broke with expensive taste, you can satiate all your fashion needs with a leather phone case, tote bag or painted patch, you can still purchase a piece from the ever considerate designer without needing to take out a loan.

This ‘gift shop’ approach stems from Claire’s inspiration for the collection, thinking about her hand-painted items and e-commerce, she deduced that her store was like being in the gift shop of a museum, with art you can take away to wear. We can look forward to prints inspired by promiscuous and sensual women she imagined to be on exhibition in her dream museum. Think Eve, Cleopatra and French dance-hall girls, hopefully all in Claire’s signature sketchy style we saw last season.

All clothes by CLAIRE BARROW AW15.

Photographer: Cleo Glover.

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Backstage at Ed Marler SS15.

Live Archive present 3-s: Women: an archive and private sale of three of London’s most exciting womenswear designers Ashley Williams, Claire Barrow & Ed Marler. Taking place at the Live Archive project space in Hackney, shoppers will be able to snap up past-season and pre order pieces from each of the three designers’ archives.

Expect hand-painted leather and illustrated silks from Claire Barrow, Pepto-bismal pink knits and kitsch prints from Ashley Williams and re-imagined tracksuits, Del Boy shearlings and of course, gold crowns from Ed Marler.

RSVP here.

Backstage at Ashley Williams AW15.

Backstage at Claire Barrow AW15.

Photography: Amy Beasley (Ed Marler), Thurstan Redding (Ashley Williams), Cleo Glover (Claire Barrow).

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Cultural Caricatures

Looking at our capital’s city workers and power women, Claire Barrow created prints of disillusioned employees paired with aviator jackets. The childish sketches link to the desire for freedom and youth and the inventive shapes were creative. Shearling hats curled into themselves like seashells. Tatty Devine transparent perspex trompe l’oeil earrings appeared like silk scarves, shapeless and formless. Everything was constantly windswept by fans and furry hats resembled shaggy, unbrushed hair.

Pirate Pieces

We’re not sure if this was intentional, but we were getting some definite pirate vibes from the girls. The curved shell shape of the fur hat, the stripy tights with skull-ish faces for knees, loose trousers, headscarves and an off-the-shoulder silky dress worn like an exotic treasure brought back from the other side of the seven seas. Intentional or not, we’d definitely forgotten about the sorry state of our city after focusing on these pieces.

All in One

The standout item was a maroon strapless jumpsuit. Elasticated at the top and bearing some alarmed and dismayed looking faces, it was shapeless and ballooned everywhere with a swirling palette of black, white, red and blue. When worn, it was more like a working, moving, breathing canvas for the illustrations which featured so heavily throughout.

Words: Lily Walker

Photographs: Cleo Glover

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Hand painted leather is Claire Barrows thing, and it probably always will be, it’s whats gained her her dedicated following so far, motivated by a DIY and  hand-crafted spirit Claire has hugely developed since starting with Fashion East three seasons ago.
The inspiration for her first independent collection came from deceased male icons, her dedication and ultimate unrequited love for them. A collection of souvenirs to have and to hold.

Claire used her original hand paintings comprised of primary colours with dark expressive strokes to create digital prints which are then collaged into each garment. Celebrating Claire’s heroes, their faces decorate shiny satin jackets, floor length dresses, silk scarves and men’s ties. Just like the men they pay homage to, the clothes are made for moving, dancing and singing with a small handful of leather pieces adorned with fringing. The silhouette remains feminine thanks to raglan shoulders. Love the hand painted cowboy boots!

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The picture is home to a select group of children who are the offspring of famous fairytale legends, who learn to relive their parents destinies, but not all fairytales end with a ‘Happy Ever After’. Spoiler alert: The children soon form parallel, adverse groups which leaves us as the voyeur left to decide in which ‘gang’ we belong. The ‘Royals’ are rather elated to conform to their creators destinies whilst the aptly titled ‘Rebels’ turn delinquent.

The launch at Hoxton Gallery in the capital’s Shoreditch saw the film collaborate with a hoard of emerging London Fashion talent who created and designed special edition handbags to commemorate the official release.

Fashion-makers Ashley Williams, Bobbly Abley, Claire Barrow and Ryan Lo became creative opponents and each embraced the challenge to develop equal aspects of both ‘Royals’ and ‘Rebel’ cliques.

Each individual Designer had decorated an ‘Ever After High’ doll, fashioned a bag and Co-hosted the ‘Ever After-party’ which was hosted by London’s very own sovereign, Princess Julia. All creations were enhanced on display amidst Tony Hoernecker’s whimsical forest set design.

Other guests, which included Stylist Judy Blame, Cassette Playa’s Carri Munden, Fred Butler and James Long who all enjoyed delicious themed cocktails and an endearing considerable amount of cake and confectionery which was supplied by baker and designer Lily Vanilli.

Each handbag arrives in a limited edition number of three and will eventually go on public sale from this friday at Selfridges London’s Toy Shop

Words: Shane Hawkins

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Most normal human beings wouldn’t be up for getting their head shaved, let alone on camera, but we guess Models 1 girl Harmony Boucher isn’t most people. The daughter of a rock musician and the frontwoman of the rather ferocious Vuvuvultures – you can listen to their most recent single, Safe Skin, here – Boucher comes from an illustrious line of rebellious models who dabble in rock’n’roll androgyny (Freja Beha, anyone?) and play fast and loose with the rules of beauty.

“Every few years I get an overwhelming need to start again!” Boucher told us, explaining her motivations behind the shoot. “Shaving my hair off has so far been the most effective way of cleansing both my soul and my ego.”

Take a look at the resulting video and shots, below.

Film: Joseph Wilson
Photography: Mario Benedetti
Stylist: Justine Josephs
Model: Harmony Boucher at Models 1
Pic 1: Shirt, jacket and jeans all by ASHISH
Pic 2: Shirt around waist by ASHISH, shirt and skirt by CIARA IP
Pic 3: All-in-one shirt with jacket by ANJIE JIMIN AN
Pic 4: Jacket by CLAIRE BARROW and shorts by ASHISH

Make-up: Lucy Bridge using YSL skincare and make-up
Hair: The Doctor
Photographic assistance: Adriana Lavocou
Stylist assistance: Leyla Abounour
Retouching: James Charles Abbott
With thanks to: Stoke Studios

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For autumn/winter 2013, Claire Barrow, Ryan Lo (above) and Ashley Williams present their first Fashion East collections, giving the crowd a taste of the different, the strange, and the pop culturally fantastic from the great designers of tomorrow.

CLAIRE BARROW

Our first taste of Claire Barrow was certainly one we won’t forget. We were hooked after the first fish clutch made its way down the runway, accompanied by a tough, loose sack-dress reminiscent of a Biblical power woman. The Adam and Eve feel then transcended into full woodland goth, a dark, twisted fantasy world where Turn Of The Screw meets Midsummer Nights Dream. Forest greens, widow blacks, and Miss Havisham white gowns glided along in an eerily fun beat. It seems very clear that Claire Barrow will be a success, both in this world and the next.

RYAN LO

The Ryan Lo collection was true to its inspiration: if Bridget Jones and

Ally McBeal had a love child, the result would be a powerhouse kid with the coolest sleepovers in town. The first looks were plush pink and monochrome power suits that harken Jackie O – if she joined the grunge movement. Then came wonderfully soft, bathrobe blue jacket. But it didn’t stop there: polka-dot onesies, clownish skirts and colourful trainers brought the nineties back, and we’re totally digging it.

ASHLEY WILLIAMS

Through prints and pristine cuts, the Ashley Williams collection was an evolution of pop Americana. Her baby doll dresses evoked the blonde bombshells gracing Hitchcock silver screens. Homey gingham pencil skirts and heavy knit jumpers were something out of a Gidget fantasy, while the king of retro Americana, Elvis Presley, was everywhere – on dresses, skinny trousers, and t-shirts. But from double-denim to the popular references on dresses, Williams takes retro pop and gives it new life, proving that the pop culturista isn’t just always looking to the past, she’s shaping the future.

Words: Elise Marraro
Images: Harry Carr

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