Pierre Cardin – Space-age genius 'The clothes that I prefer are those I invent for a life that doesn't exist yet - the world of tomorrow.' Pierre Cardin Past, Present, Future, 1990. Growing up in the 80s on the borders of the East End & Essex, Pierre Cardin was chiefly known as the
The amazing, overwhelming Marrakech Marrakech was somewhere I've always wanted to see, and was lucky enough to get to visit for a few days this month. I suppose like many, I had a vague, romanticised idea of what it may be like. It turned out to exceed those ideas on every level. Exciting, intimidating, mysterious,
Part three in an occasional series on film visual style in the movies I love. As far as 'ten greatest ever' – well, the ones that were on my mind when I was putting this together. The link throughout is an appreciation of production design, cinematography, or any other defining visual characteristic – it’s purely
1980s fashion illustrator Tony Viramontes Bold, beautiful and Damned, is a stunning book by Dean Rhys Morgan – a retrospective of the career of iconic fashion illustrator Tony Viramontes. To anyone with even a passing interest in fashion, Viramontes' work will be instantly recognisable. His sinewy, sexy drawings were the output of someone
The Face magazine – it introduced Kate Moss to the world, made Neville Brody a design superstar, elevated club culture and championed musical tribes of all types. Publisher Nick Logan started The Face in 1980 while still working for Smash Hits – purely on instinct – as a magazine that he would want to read,
Every year, before the foreign holiday, we head down to Mudeford in Dorset and spend some time in a beach hut. The beach huts in Mudeford are located on the Hengistbury Head peninsular, a hook shaped land-mass that encircles Christchurch harbour. The huts themselves are back-to-back on the tip of the peninsular as it almost-but-not-quite
“Fifty Bucks an album…they loved it, thought it was modern, they thought it went with the music… one or two colors to work with at that time and some outrageous graphics!” Between 1955 & 1967, Reid Miles was the designer at jazz label Blue Note Records. Known as a label that let their
More of an outdoor flavour to this post, in contrast to Part 1 which featured a lot of artificially lit interiors. There’s no particular theme, although with a Road movie and two Westerns, there are three examples of non-US directors tackling some classic American movie staples, plus three mythic characters who have had multiple films
Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. There are so many incredible images associated with this film it’s difficult to know where to start or stop, but the ones that generally stick in my mind are those that highlight the amazing set design, and the lovely update of the 60′s air travel experience to space. One
Syd Mead designed the world I want to live in – a beautiful retro-futuristic mash up of Mid 20th Century Modern and Jetsons-style sci-fi. He is one of those talents that come only once or twice in a generation. The best of his images blend a 60′s creative optimism, with his industrial designer’s understanding of
