King & Queen of Bethnal Green!

A lovely friend, Missy, gave me the heads-up about this insanely cool store in the Hackney area, charmingly named King & Queen of Bethnal Green. "You have to go see it, I just ordered a jacket from Kim and I love it". And when I finally made my way down, true enough, it was fabulous.  

 The window display, which is given to budding designers to transform every few weeks

Situated on a quiet street,  you wouldn't imagine finding such a gem of a shop here. And above is the sight that will greet you first, but only if you make your way down soon, because various creative designers and artists are constantly being invited to give their take on it.

Kim and Paulo, co-founders of the shop and mom & dad to 5 month-old Gypsy, had always wanted to open a shop together selling the vintage and ethnic finds they picked up in their travels.  With Paulo's 20 years' experience with vintage items and Kimiko's fashion background (take a Central Saint Martins graduate, add a successful 7-month collaboration with Jean Paul Gaultier, and a well-trained eye for picking out the identifying detail in all sorts of garments and accessories), both were more than ready to showcase what they had. When they came across the newly refurbished shop space on Temple Street, they decided to take the jump, and London's all the better for it :)

At first glance, the store carries an eclectic assortment of accessories and garments, but if you look closely, it is quite apparent that each item has been singled out by the unique eyes of Kim and Paulo. You will be able to find anything from a beautifully restored vintage Vivienne Westwood dress for £700, to a cute red-beaded cuff bracelet for just £15. Definitely check out the gorgeously handcrafted leather pieces by Kim as well (www.kimikored.com).

Another awesome thing (there are so many, I know!) about the store's philosophy is their support for budding fashion designers, who are featured on a rotational basis to create awareness and help their labels take flight. At the moment it's the talented Kristian Steinberg, whom Kim studied with at CSM, a young menswear designer who produces very interesting shirts that incorporate japanese print fabrics and interesting detailing. Every item in the store teases you into trying it on, either with its history (Blackadder coat anyone?), detailing (thousands of sequins, trimmings or mother of pearl buttons), unique cut or silhouette. 

KQ-BG opens Thursdays to Sundays, eleven to seven. On the other days of the week, the shop is open by appointment, usually to photographers, stylists, artists and designers. As if this isn't cool enough (I'm actually running out of apt adjectives here) they are regularly approached by large fashion houses in search of vintage or sourced pieces as inspiration for the next season's collections!  

 

Doesn't it make you want to try them all on? I really liked the one with the shoulder detail.

To round off this post, here's a picture of me with Kim, Gypsy (isn't she cute??), and Juliet, interior designer and latest extraordinaire invited to takeover KQ-BG's windows. See you soon!

King & Queen of Bethnal Green

41 Temple Street
London
E2 6QQ

0207 729 0197

open: thurs - sun, 11-7
mon-wed by appointment

CoutureLab

Whenever I had to get from point A to B in town, I'd just battle the masses going in the opposite direction from me along Oxford Street. Today however, J let me in on a nice alternative that was more scenic, less crowded (much), and which led to my discovery of this amazing and wonderful store, which delighted me infinitely. 

CoutureLab's beginnings require some explanation. Two years ago, the website was set up by Carmen Busquets (who is also co-founder of Net-a-porter) to bring the exquisite finds she had acquired from her travelling to the network of luxury clientele she had built up from over 20 years of working in the retail industry. 

Fastforward to the present, two months ago CoutureLab became a physical presence to allow existing patrons the opportunity to touch and feel the luxury and quality of its products before purchasing, as well as make a more intimate acquaintance with walk-in customers. And boy was I blown away at the items that were in there. 

Drawn into the store by the Charvet ties and amazing Alexis Mabille bowties on their window display, my feet led me to a shelf with handbags beautifully arranged together, and their brilliance was breathtaking. It was then that Zeeshan, the shop manager appeared and suggested that I look around and to let him know if I needed any further information about the items. What a darling! 

So I proceeded to pick this handbag(below) up, and while it was lovely to hold and behold, it was what I found out that made this creation incredible. This handbag is on display at the store as shown in the picture below, standing on two opposite points with nary a supporting stand in sight. It hadn't occurred to me that this was impressive until Zeeshan pointed out that before the bag is even designed, every bead and crystal is weighed so that their positions are allocated, resulting in a bag that is balanced in weight, and will not be heavier on one end when held in your hand. I held it, and it was true! Isn't that amazing? 

Bea Valdes is an accessories designer from the Philippines, and she works with artisan techniques and exotic stones, beads and feathers to produce such amazing investment pieces. The black Gio Evening Bag would set you back by £1,895, but you'll know it'll keep forever, for seasons and generations.. Did I also mention that the method by which the individual beads and crystals are sewn on guarantees that if a bead were to fall off, the rest would remain secure? I'm just saying...

Black Gio Evening Bag by Bea Valdes

 Then Zeeshan disappeared for just a moment and returned with some pieces that had just arrived and were not yet on display, including this one: 

 Maharlika Evening Bag, £4,375 by Bea Valdes

To quote the description on the website, 'The intricate beadwork of Bea Valdes' handmade bags illustrates remarkable skill. She calculates the space between each bead, sequin, crystal and feather, accounting for their varying size, shape and angle.' You'd really have to hold the masterpiece in your hand to appreciate every detail.

CoutureLab doesn't just stock handbags of course, no matter that my raving makes it seem so.  Their selection ranges from understated mens sweaters by Tomas Maier (the creative director of Bottega Veneta's own label) to ethereal dresses by Isabel Toledo, to homeware and jewellery and even impossibly adorable items for baby. All the items are arranged tastefully in the boutique, almost as if each is given its own space to shine. With an L-shaped shop layout, the womenswear and accessories occupies the main length of the shop, with menswear, homeware, babies’ accessories and the sales counter taking up the remaining decently spacious floor.  

It was quite an uplifting experience, if I don’t consider the fact that the items on sale are a little out of my reach at the moment. Carmen’s idea of a business that would transcend seasons and celebrate workmanship, quality and mastery of materials is created for a niche market of people who value individuality (by owning hard to find or one-off pieces), support creativity and artisanal techniques. Since time is the ultimate luxury for many, wouldn’t it be clever to own such timeless pieces?

CoutureLab

37 Davies Street 

London

W1K 4LS

SHOWstudio at Somerset House

So I booked a ticket for the SHOWStudio: Fashion Revolution exhibition at Somerset House a few weeks ago, expecting to be able to view the photoshoot that Nick Knight was going to do with supermodel/supermom/super-activist Natalia Vodianova (omgomg!) that day. But to my dismay, when I arrived that evening after class, I was told that the shoot had ended many hours earlier than scheduled, mainly because they found *the shot* ages ago before that. Oh well, I was offered a complimentary ticket for another day where they would be having a photoshoot, and I decided to go on the 20th.

Observing the shoot was a little underwhelming, mainly because there was a lot of waiting going on while the makeup artists worked on the lone model's face. And because it was a face shoot, there was nothing going on in terms of any cool garments either :( The rest of the exhibition made up for it though.

viewing the shoot from a one-sided mirrored window (but if you went quite close to the window pane they were able to see you, as J and I found out when one of the hairstylists waved at us haha)

Transformer: The Bridegroom Stripped Bare 

Alexander McQueen, 2002

Nick Knight has realized many really creative projects with SHOWStudio and it's rather inspiring. I still remember stumbling upon the pattern for a kimono jacket designed by McQueen on there, with free download and instructions, and getting really excited about how that made higher fashion accessible to the masses who might not be able to afford typical designer clothes. The exhibition featured pieces submitted by people who gave the pattern (among others) a go with their own interpretation of fabrics. Awesome.

There was also a video on playback featuring the creative process that McQueen undertook to transform a model dressed as a bridegroom into a 'bride'. Even if they did dress it up a bit (I doubt he usually works with wind and sequins?) it was still nice seeing him in frenzied cutting and painting action.

Gareth Pugh made his face up several times before he was satisfied with his Halloween get-up...

There were also conversations with Vivienne Westwood and other fashion luminaries that were fun to watch, a dark room with dark but beautiful illustrations by Julie Verhoeven, and sections dedicated to Rei Kawakubo and John Galliano.  I really liked it.

If you haven't already been to this one, do make a booking! Nick Knight's doing photoshoots with various creative celebrities from now til December 20th. See here: http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/fashion/showstudio/1067.asp

And while you're at it, you might as well book an evening at the ice rink too! With the Tiffany tree.

Somerset House - Fashion