For insight into the creative journey involved in each one of Hannah Martin’s sculptural jewellery pieces head to the Darkroom for the latest window installation as part of their 'Darkroom Loves' series.

Literally a window into Hannah’s design process, the installation includes pages from the jeweller’s sketchbooks and tools from her workbench.  Samples of each stage of design are displayed, from the initial research, proto-typing and hand carving to polishing and hallmarking.

Having a unique story and intelligent design process remains the root of the Hannah Martin brand with each piece of jewellery staying true to her own visual identity.  Often inspired by traditional forms, the creative process pushes the boundaries of design to arrive at a completely contemporary product.  The result: jewellery as miniature sculpture that has more worth and identity than any other piece in the wearer’s wardrobe.

The Darkroom is the perfect setting for this showcase illuminating Hannah Martin, the jeweller as craftsman, with materials, scale and form being values that both brands hold close to their hearts.  Since it’s opening on Lamb’s Conduit street in Bloomsbury in 2009 the Darkroom has concerned itself with maintaining a thoughtful selection of hand-made, unusual and unique accessories.  A concept store that provides an individual shopping experience for design lovers. 

Two limited edition colour combinations from Hannah Martin’s debut leather collection (due to launch in September) are available exclusively at the Darkroom. The luxury leather key rings, card holders and wallets hold an inherent masculine yet strikingly beautiful quality as seen in her jewellery collections.  Available for pre-sales, priced from £90-£380. 

www.darkroomlondon.com

2008 was the last time Michele Howarth Rashman exhibited work as part of the highly acclaimed ‘You Dig the Tunnel and I’ll Hide the Soil’ exhibition at White Cube.  Her work was shown alongside artists including Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Anselm Keifer and Jake & Dinos Chapman.

In her debut solo show at The Outside World Gallery in East London, exaggerated, larger than life, odd-looking busts and torsos arouse debate over what is beautiful and what is grotesque, what is masculine and what is feminine.  Stemming from something she overheard being said between two old women in her local post office; “There’s one in the village, he calls himself Margaret” Rashman has explored the notion of aesthetic beauty and how we see ourselves in comparison to how others perceive us.  The work champions art and craft with each piece taking months to complete.  The mixed media sculptures are constructed layer upon layer with a technique Rashman has refined over years making it impossible to replicate or delegate to assistants.  Hand worked and micro stitched, this meticulous process inevitably leads to a bond and rapport built between artist and subject.

Rashman is keen to explain that despite the obvious comical element to these strange creatures her intent was empathy rather than to mock.

“Each piece has an internal life, a back story if you like, that taps into a world of people, usually women, who somehow miss the mark.  Bad hair, bad wigs and bad posture.  Saggy breasted and sad eyed…these are the romantically deceived and disappointed, the washed up and the invisible.  And yet somewhere in their making an effort, in those acts of self improvement – the wig, the padded bra, the surgical enhancement, the flower in the hair – there is a poignancy and nobility that I hope touches the viewer” – Michele Howarth Rashman.

Alongside these frightening ‘beauties’ are framed ‘psychiatric knitwear’, a selection of jumpers with slogans such as ‘EMOTIONAL CRIPPLE’ and ‘JUST AN OLD HIPPY’.  The first of these jumpers was knitted by Michele when her husband was suffering from life-threatening depression and found himself stigmatised and under attack.  Confrontational and a sort of two fingers up at those around him, Michele intended these talismanic jumpers to help empower her husband against those who attacked him whilst at his most vulnerable.

The exhibition unearths interesting questions on how we present ourselves to others and runs until the 14^th December at The Outside World Gallery.

The first Alexander McQueen store in China has opened in partnership with JOYCE at Sanlitun North Village, Beijing’s premier luxury retail development.  With 400 square metres spread over 2 floors the store takes it’s design cue from the other flagships in London, Milan and New York, with a seamless and softly lit organic feel.  As well as holding men’s and women’s ready to wear collections and accessories there is a private dressing area on the second floor for VIP clients.

Creative Director, Sarah Burton, was invited by JOYCE to attend a series of special events in the Chinese capital in honour of the store’s opening.  The first of these occasions being an intimate cocktail party where celebrities and VIPs met Burton and viewed her latest Autumn-Winter 2011/12 creations.

Get your head around creative global talent with New Era’s Introducing project.

New Era’s global quest for unique self-expression in headwear design enters its final stage with a touring exhibition and limited edition hardback book showcasing the designs of the 80 finalists. 

The international lifestyle brand issued a blank canvas cap, its iconic 59FIFTY, to contestants from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.  As well as transforming their ‘cap canvas’ into a distinctive work of art the finalists were asked to document their creative journey from influences and inspiration through to birth and creation.

The winner of the project to discover and reward un-sung talent from artists and designers just starting out on their creative paths was 23 year old Lina Al Almoudi from United Arab Emirates. Winning the title also awards her a £10,000 bursary to help launch her artistic career.

Taking inspiration from The Queen of Sheba, drawing upon her divine wisdom and mysterious exotic power, Lina intricately laser-cut four separate panels into a symbolic crown that cages a royal red velvet covered 59FIFTY.

The exhibition kicked off in London on the 4^th and 5^th November and will head to Berlin, Milan, Barcelona, Paris, Stockholm, Cape Town and Dubai. The brand plans to roll out the initiative to the US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil in 2012.

Founded in 1920, New Era has an authentic sports heritage producing over 35 million caps a year and can boast being the manufacturer of the official on-field caps worn by every Major League Baseball Team. Additionally the brand has a history of championing self-expression and a strong stake in streetwear style. 

EMEA Marketing Director, Wayne Best, sums up why they were keen to launch this art campaign; “ the project is a platform for self expression and a strong reflection of our brand DNA.  We have built our brand by building on customization and collaboration and the opportunity to work on a project with young creative minds of tomorrow is incredibly exciting.”

Visit the New Era Introducing website for more information and to see some of the inspiring and eclectic finalist designs - 

http://neweraintroducing.com/

All images courtesy of New Era

Erickson Beamon is a jewellery institution these days.  The brand has worked with a plethora of designers since it’s birth in the early eighties, ranging from Jean Paul Gaultier and Alexander McQueen to Richard Nicoll and Erdem on show stopping catwalk jewels.  The desirability of this couture like costume jewellery is decade spanning and now we can get ourselves a slightly more accessible slice of the Erickson Beamon crystal-encrusted pie with their third exclusive collection for Urban Outfitters.  

Taking statement jewellery to new levels each piece is far from being a finishing touch to an outfit, these pieces of jewellery ARE the outfit.  Collars of hand-painted, rainbow coloured, swarovski crystal on black leather pack a psychedelic punch and a studded metal and leather punk version will keep you in line with this season’s gothic trend.  Metal cuffs and cocktail rings with crystal and spike embellishment complete the offering.

The collection, with prices from £42-£175 has just landed in the London Oxford Street and Spitalfields, Hamburg and Frankfurt Urban Outfitters store as well as the Urban Outfitters website.

With romantic and exquisite jewels described by the house of Fabergé as ‘objects of fantasy’, desirability is at the heart of this international jewellery brand’s success. Steeped in a poetic history born out of the Russian Revolution, founder and artist-goldsmith Peter Carl Fabergé was jeweller to the Russian Imperial Court.  However in 1917 the Bolsheviks seized his workshops and treasures and the Fabergé family had to flee. 

The legend of Fabergé has proved resilient and the house is run today by Creative and Managing Director Katharina Flohr and her creative team.  The great grand-daughters of Peter Carl Fabergé, Tatiana and Sarah, are called upon for their expertise and guidance to keep the family history and vision embedded in the collections.

Now a new chapter in Fabergé’s long standing legacy sees their first ever advertising campaign, proving the relevance of their historic designs and their ability for contemporary creativity in today’s fashion and jewellery worlds.  As can be expected with a house of such regal associations, the creative team working on the campaign was a stellar line up with Mario Testino collaborating with Carine Roitfeld and producer Camilla Johnson-Hill.  This teams last foray together had been the launch of Russian Vogue in 1998.  They chose Bee Gee, the Russian-Lithuanian model sensation, to be the face of Fabergé’s campaign that fuses Russian and Western cultures and successfully marries past and present.  The images will feature in the December issues of the major glossy titles in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland and the US.

The campaign features some of the beautiful pieces from the latest collection, Les Saissons Russes, which was launched at Paris Couture Week in July, including these ‘Lumiere d’Ete’ earrings –

Images courtesy of Fabergé

A new exhibition of the album cover art of Storm Thorgerson and StormsStudios has just opened at the Idea Generation gallery.  Having produced some of the most memorable album covers in music history such as the iconic ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ cover for Pink Floyd, Thorgerson is considered one of the most sought after music art designers in the world.  In the 1960s he set up ‘Hipgnosis’ with photographer and graphic designer, Aubrey Powell, and over the years worked with Black Sabbath, Genesis and 10CC as well as Pink Floyd.  Then in later years, as StormStudios, he continued adding to his sterling rosta of band clientele, working with The Cranberries, Muse, Ian Drury and Biffy Clyro.

Music art design now has multiple outlets from billboards to digital downloads and postage stamps.  Thorgerson’s vast directory of work in this exhibition covers the walls from floor to ceiling and includes a series of five foot square, high quality prints, the largest ever attempted by StormStudios.  Interactive installations allow you to make your own versions of some of the infamous album covers.  Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath…the unforgettable covers of some of music’s outstanding albums have long been works of art in their own right and it is great to see them all side by side and revel in these iconic images.  The exhibition runs until 13th November and is part of Photomonth, a celebration of photography across East London.

BIG&SMALL from billboards to downloads, the album art of StormStudios at Idea Generation Gallery from 21st October to 13th November, for more information please visit gallery.ideageneration.co.uk

To tell the tale of their artisan skills and pay tribute to the house’s craftsmen, Loewe has commissioned a special book called ‘The Masters of Leather’.  Having enlisted renowned art director and illustrator Robert Clarke to work on the book, Loewe invited him to spend time in Madrid visiting the ateliers and stores, allowing him to see first hand the full lovingly handcrafted process of creating Loewe’s leather goods.  ‘The splendid and regal city of Madrid and the genuine warmth of the Loewe company made me feel so welcome’ says Clarke, ‘and seeing the quality of the work at Loewe was such an eye-opener’.

Innately proud of their artisan craft and sticklers for the highest quality and finish, Loewe use the same techniques and production methods that the house initiated in it’s childhood back in 1846 when it’s first shop opened.  165 years of expert knowledge has made its way down through the generations and is exercised by the artisans working in Loewe’s factories in Madrid today.

The attention to detail and reluctance to settle for anything but the very highest quality sees Loewe using a special breed of sheep for it’s leather with less than 5% of the skins passing an extremely high criteria.  The elite skins that make the grade are then perfected and smoothed further in the tanneries.

In homage to the expert handcrafting Loewe executes, Clark has drawn and written the book from cover to cover by hand.  He describes the book as a ‘labour of love’ and his personal experience of researching Loewe’s craft shines through in details such as the inclusion of handprints of the Loewe craftsmen he met on his journey.  Picking up on the colours and styles of the bags with their inherent Spanish heritage, inspiration was also sourced from Spanish artists such as Miro and Picasso for the style and colour palette of the illustrations.

The ‘Masters of Leather’ is available to buy in all Loewe standalone stores with illustrations from the book featuring in window displays worldwide until the end of October.