CARBON ISSUE 9

inside: Carbon Live ... Modest fashion zed in the clouds fast track travel... streetwear gen z rebellion fendi timeline golf wang mind maintenance... living alone savage beauty of sri lanka longevity of fashion brands... solo travelling second hand revolution

EDITOR’S Back again for issue nine, and what a wonderful feeling to have you back here. Be ready to be taken on leaps and bounds, of beautiful words and uplifting thoughts. Mind opening ideas and amazing art work we’ve never had before from a brilliant graphics team. Now is the chance to gain an understanding from a fashion magazine that deals with so much more than trends, but everything along side it too.

Working as Editor on Carbons ninth issue opened my eyes to the bigger picture, the big idea. The whole issue is a wonderful collection of hard work and brilliant new contents.

Taking you around a metaphorical journey throughout travel, uplifting you to the biggest idea of them all: Climate change.

Having the chance to read all of this from the perspective of your generation is a unique experience, and it’s been a great experience to watch it all come together.

E T O N

Within this issue, we also take a look through longevity of brands, what’s new and what’s old Open our eyes to the wide world of fashion and truly understand what’s coming next and what’s never coming back again. Household names proving their longevity and status worth. We dive into high fashion accessory shoots, taking a look at exactly how to style those sunglasses. Whilst also being able to learn how to do all of it, on a budget.

Being editor has been a brilliant chance and experience. It’s really been a wonderful chance to get to understand how it all works, and see everything come together. To be able to put my own thoughts and true efforts into it, and see an end product im more than satisfied with. The production process has been mind opening and has allowed me to see and understand not only the industry, but the whole thing. Allowing me to see the ins and outs and exactly what goes into Carbon Magazine.

I hope you enjoy this issue as much as i’ve enjoyed the journey; I’m sure you will. I feel proud to watch the end product come to life and see all the efforts paying off. This

Front cover image with work from

@mariccanatan (see page)

Contents

8 Fashion Tickled Pink

Music Madness

Behind the Instagram Influencer

Evolution of shoes

Golf Wang - merging hip hop and fashion

Is Relatability Becoming more Important than Exclusivity at

Your Winter Wardrobe

Fashion Week?

Carbon Footprint Clothing

Skate Style- Nathan Lock

Bringing modesty back

Longevity of Fashion Brands

The Second Hand Revolution

On the DL- Low Profile is the New High Profile

Like Mother like You?

To Remain a Classic

Trend Barometer

Thrift Shop- Stay on Trend without Spending a Penny

What is in the Past Must Stay in the Past

The Secrets of the Fashion industry

Game Changer

A Fine Line

Virtual Reality- Insanity or Future Reality?

58 Features Inside the Life of a Freelance Photographer

Paranormal

Do You Have a Social Problem

Living Alone for the first time?

‘Don’t Hide You Will Be Fine’

Nobody’s Child.com

Mind Maintenance

Faces or Faces

Attention! - New Insta Shops on the Block

Virtual Friendships Q&A

Glitter Boss

The Next Step

Our Planet is Dying

Gen Z Rebellion

How to help our Forests in 8 steps

Be The Boss

The Art of Creating Problems that Weren’t Even There What Would You Take?

The Art of Sleeping

Travel Travel Tips

Savage Beauty of Sri Lanka

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Travellers Guide to Desserts City Break to Madrid Fast Track Travel City Break to Berlin Solo Travelling

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ArT & Culture The First Kiss

The History of Embroidery 10 Iconic Fendi Moments The Women of Hip-Hop From Pirates to Pop Stars Zed in the Clouds

CONTRI BU TOR’S T IL S

EDITOR IN CHEIF - Rachel Lamb ART EDITOR IN CHIEF - John Whalvin EDITORIAL DIRECTORS - Ciara Wilson, Jess Maidwell, Chelsie Tia, Lottie Griffiths EDITOR - Yas Feasey DEPUTY EDITOR - Megan Summers ART DIRECTOR - Jose Jurado DEPUTY ART DIRECTOR - Karolina Muszanska Picture Editor - Sabreen Ebrahim SUB EDITOR - Rachael Taylor / Laura Hale FEATURE EDITOR - Rosie Stewart FEATURES WRITER - Eva Mclennan FASHION EDITOR - Harmony Garland John FASHION DEPUTY EDITOR - Tanzeela Rahman FASHION TEAM - Alfie Webb, Jake Adatia, Hayden Salter, Lucas Smith TRAVEL EDITOR - Matthew Nicoll TRAVEL DEPUTY EDITOR - Lucie Kyle ART AND CULTURE EDITOR - Kayli Haydon ART AND CULTURE DEPUTY EDITOR - Jasmin Fee Art And Culture Designer AND WRITER - Kerys Collins ART TEAM DESIGNER - Erin O’Farrell DIGITAL EDITOR - Anna - Maria Kancheva DEPUTY DIGITAL EDITOR - Lili Malone DIGITAL DESIGNER’S - Niamh Davies, Danni Mead,

Sofia Calatalyud, Jack Faylkner MARKETING EXECUTIVE - Jazmyn Pesci DEPUTY MARKETING MANAGER - Chloe Major Marketing manager - Beatriz Angulo Menor Marketing Team - Atlanta Wilson SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR - Hannah Isham DEPUTY SOCIAL MEDIA - Ava Monaghan SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM - Loren Parkhurst, Cyra Watts CONTRIBUTING EDITOR - Sophie Corderoy

Tickled pink Having been worn by the likes of Ella Eyre and Little mix, Ploom is the label on everyone’s lips. Carbon meets Daisy Keens, our new feathered friend.

D

aisy Keens says, “It was never a goal of mine to birth a brand of any sort! Having no design experience, I hadn’t ever entertained the idea”, but here she is now with Ploom; “a dabble in making fluffy finery for the masses.” She went on to talk about her mum being a “sewing wizard” and Daisy would regularly get her to make fluffy fashion statements. Ploom has now turned into Miss Keens’ passion project and a 6-10 job.

Recently we have seen the likes of Little Mix and Ella Eyre wearing Ploom products which led onto me asking how it feels seeing celebrities wearing

her clothes. Daisy responded with “Utterly thrilled! Months can pass before you see the results of a shoot, and it never fails to floor me when I finally laid eyes on it! It’s just insanely cool to see something you’ve cooked up worn by someone - anyone: celebrity or customer! It motivates me to chase that feeling and get Ploom in the hands of more people.” Carbon asked Daisy about whether she thinks being featured on Little Mix’s makeup campaign will aid Ploom’s growth. She replied, “I’m not sure if celebrity sightings have bolstered Ploom in terms of growth, but they certainly provide credibility! Whether it has an impact on followers and sales or not, it’s just as exciting to me. It’s a big deal, y’ know? A girl band has worn this little thing that my mum and I cooked up we love!”

Afterwards, Daisy responded to how social media is helping Ploom grow.

She answered by saying, “Instagram has been so essential to helping Ploom grow! I first started showcasing Ploom pieces on my personal account, so it made sense that Instagram would be the advertising focal point when Ploom came to fruition”, this shows that celebrity sightings aren’t the be-all and end-all if you wanted to start up your brand.

@jkrstyling

But what we wanted to know here at Carbon, does Daisy know about her brand’s newfound fame when draped across celebrities or is she just as shocked as we are? She went on to say, “Stylists often email me requesting particular pieces and I’ll loan whatever is available at the time. There are a few celebrities I’d love to see in Ploom - personal style heroes of mine like Rihanna and Dua Lipa - so I’m currently on a mission to get a Ploom package to their stylists! Wish me luck.”

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Lastly, Carbon asked Daisy what is next for Ploom, where she mentioned went onto say, “I’d love to see it grow, but I need to dedicate plenty of time and money to it to do so. I’ve got design ideas and photoshoot mood boards aplenty whizzing around my head, but all these things require money, so it’s a case of saving up to make those things happen. It’s a bit of a slower pace than I’d like, but I’m beyond stoked that Ploom is even a thing, to begin with.”

words and design: Ciara Wilson, Images: Daisy Keens, @ploomthelabel, @jkrstyling

“a dabble in making fluffy finery for the masses”

“This little thing that my mum and I cooked up has been worn by a girl band we love!”

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BEHIND THE INSTAGRAM INFLUENCER

@chlodavie

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Written and designed by Ciara Wilson, @Chlodavie

CHLO DAVIE

CARBON INTERVIEWS SOLENT MA CREATIVE DIRECTION STUDENT ABOUT HER DOUBLE LIFE

How do you keep your followers engaged for your content?

I do find this one hard- I think understanding why people follow you is important. I know people follow me because of my festival/rave/quirky fashion. So when I upload a photo which doesn’t match that, my photos don’t do as well.

Some Instagrammers are being criticised for paid endorsements on their accounts, do you think that this ruins an authentic voice?

Not at all! I don’t understand why people don’t like influencers who state they get paid for certain posts. A lot of hard work goes into influencers Instagram accounts so; obviously, they want to get paid for it- I understand if they’re taking on paid posts which don’t match their aesthetic, then it doesn’t look authentic; but if it matches their style, then I don’t see the problem.

The influencer market is saturated, do you feel pressure to keep as original as possible or be like everyone else?

100% I worry so much about this- I constantly think of how I can be different and original, and it’s so hard. I definitely get inspiration from other influencers, but I make it into my style- I’ve learnt you have to be yourself to make it on Instagram.

Do you feel confined by promoting brands which don’t fit your aesthetic?

I have learnt not to take on jobs I am not passionate about, I used to say yes to everything, but I think once Instagram starts becoming career and always balancing it with uni work you can’t take on everything, you don’t have the time.

own life, I know I have beforehand, and it just makes me more anxious.

I think it’s amazing when people do and inspire others, but I do feel like sometimes people overshare to get likes and comments- because why else would they put it on Instagram in the first place?

You must see so many trends come and go, what do you get most excited about?

Festival fashion!!!

Have you ever had a bad experience with your job, how do you deal with it?

Yes, 100% when people who aren’t paying you to get annoyed when you don’t post. People don’t understand I have a life outside Instagramnothing annoys me more when I am out with my friends posting fun stories of brands and us are messaging me “???” on Instagram because I haven’t replied to their messages, especially on the weekend. I am not good at dealing with this, and I am bad and tend to ignore because I get so annoyed.

We love your summery style, how do you make the transition to colder seasons?

I find it hard because I am deffo a summer girl- I always wear vibrant jackets and wide-leg jeans to make sure I still look good.

Have you contemplated designing your own collection? What would be your dream collaboration?

100%! I would love to design my own collection- I would love to come up with a festival fashion collab with Motel Rocks as they’re my favs!

What do you do with the clothes you share no longer want?

How do you deal with competitor influencers buying likes and followers?

I sell on Depop or give them to my friends.

Fast fashion has received negative press about its contribution to climate change - your wardrobe must have a fast turnover, how do you counteract that?

Yeah, 100% I honestly clear out my wardrobe every few months, and when I have a girls night round one of my friends I let them go through the bag of clothes, and they usually take everything, or if I know, the items are worth a lot I sell them on depop.

What do you think about bloggers oversharing their personal life in a bid to gain the following?

Find it so funny because it is SO obvious! It won’t last, and brands catch on- you know when Instagram has become toxic when you start doing that.

Do you see social media as a career with longevity? Do you treat it as a springboard your dream career?

I honestly can’t tell you, if it happens it happens, I will never strive after an influencer life as personally, I think that is when it comes toxic and doesn’t happen. If it is meant to be my career, then it will happen naturally. At the moment I am so focused on uni, but maybe in the future, it could be a career for me.

It makes me sad because there must be a reason people overshare on Instagram, e.g. they might not have anyone else to talk to in their personal life. In all honesty, I don’t post anything too deep about my

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GOLF WANG !

MERGING HIP HOP AND FASHION

Golf Wang is a brand established in 2011 by Tyler, The Creator that establishes links between Tyler’s own individual style and his music culture. The brand creates a house style of vibrant, pop like colours with individual twists on basic classics. Whilst collaborating with brands like Vans and Converse, Golf Wang remains popular in skate culture, and street wear. Style that is portrayed majorly through Tyler’s fans. The brand name Golf Wang is a short for the hip hop collective ‘Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All’.

The hip hop artist also articulates new personas throughout his music and social media, which creates a wide range of market and adapts himself to a more creative view with life. Creating Golf Wang allowed Tyler, The Creator to portray his own style into his work and show not only through hip hop but through fashion too, who he is.

GOLF WANG X VANS The first Golf Wang x Vans collaboration was in 2012, featuring first a redesign of their classic old Sokol style sneakers, with bold upper colours and a gum sole. Golf Wang collaborating with vans originally created the skate brand identity linked now, as well as links to the hip hop culture itself.

Collaborating with Vans continued until the final line was released in 2015, ending with various styles and colours of the old Sokol sneakers, including detail with the Odd Future donut logo.

GOLF LE FLEUR X CONVERSE Golf Le Fleur is a range created by Golf Wang in order to promote Tyler’s new album at the time; Flower Boy. The range relies on a collaboration with Converse, realising lines from November 2017 up until the latest line of June this year. The lines relate themselves to Tyler, The Creator’s creative identity, using both bright and pastel colours and different materials. Creating a truly individual spin on a classic Converse sneaker.

Within the range Tyler released different lines, Mono, Industrial, and Velvet Le Fleur. Which each focus on reworks of the Chuck ‘70, and his redesign of the ‘all star’, ‘one star’. Each range throws a new spin on the sneaker, keeping both Golf Wang as a brand, and Golf Le Fleur as a range current and individual. Expressing who Tyler, The Creator is.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM GOLF WANG

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Golf Wang as a brand will continue to articulate style that represents Tyler, The Creator as individual and expressive. Fitting well with his music and personal style, and remaining vibrant and colourful throughout house style.

Pop up stores still place themselves round America, mostly L A, keeping the brand in the eyes of different people and remaining it relevant. Golf Le Fleur is still being released as a line from them, and will continue to do so. Look out for vibrancy, individuality, and expressionism.

Written, designed and images by Yasmin Feasey

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your

Winter wardrobe Here is an essential list of everything you need to fill your wardrobe with this winter.

The days are longer, colder and darker so wrap up warm and look stylish this winter...

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2.

Leather 1. statement coat Get yourself a statment coat this winter because it will be a staple piece in your wardrobe. It might be faux fur, puffy or a teddy coat but whatever it is make it bright and keep it big.

You want to fit layers underneath whislt looking extremly stylish.

Leather jackets are a classic and never seem to go out of fashion. These are perfect for more dressy occasions still keeping you nice and warm. Leather trousers are also very popular this year especailly as we head into the party season. They look great paired with boots or heels, a long jumper or sparkly top.

Don’t forget about accessories...

6.

Boots You can’t go on winter walks without your staple boots. They go with any outfit for anytime of day or night. Over the knee boots are very popular as they can be dressed down with jeans or dressed up with a mini skirt for a night out.

7.

Scarfs Scarfs are that perfect accessory because not only do they look cute but they also keep you warm. Big blanket wrap scarfs look great with sweaters, skinny jeans and some lace up boots.

They add the final touch to your outfit.

Written and designed by Meg Summers

You need the matching hat and gloves for them extra chilly day and nights! These suede gloves and beanie are an essential to surviving this winter. Don’t forget to take them iceskating too.

5.

Cashmere sweater

3.

Knits Your wardrobe is not complete unless knitted jumpers or cardigans are hanging up. These are cute and super soft which look great with layering. Pair them with jeans, trousers or even tights and a skirt.

8. hat & gloves

4.

Skinny jeans Skinny jeans are perfect for allowing layers.

Layer them up with a long jumper and a puffy coat for extra warmth. These also style well with heeled boots and a leather jacket for a night out on the town.

These cosy sweaters are a key piece in your wardrobe this winter. Match them with some skinny jeans and lace up boots for a casual look.

They are super soft and an easy throw on item you will keep wearing again and again in winter.

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N

CIRC

PICUOUS C S N O O

ND

N IS OUT O I T -A Mp U S

ON

c

ULAR FA S h I

N IS I

...

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CARBON F O O T P R I N T OF

CLOTHING

• When we buy polyester clothes, we’re wearing fossil fuels.

• Cotton is one of the largest consumers of waste water, as it is a thirsty fibre • 80% of old clothes end up in landfill • clothes manufacturing used land which could be used to produce food or • absorb carbon • these factors are still set to grow • If we don’t act now, we will be living in the future with potentially irreversible consequences

Words , design and images by Harmony john

Have you ever bought something only to decide you don’t like it?

Or maybe it starts to fall apart soon after you’ve bought it? Do you feel like a whole load of your clothes are no longer in style?

What about if you have ever found a crazy good deal on an item of clothing? I’m sure everybody experienced at least one of these scenarios.

These are all factors of the fast fashion industry. An industry that, for many reasons, environmentally unsustainable. The fact is, the rate at which we are producing, and we are consuming, and discarding clothing is putting a severe strain on the planet. We won’t be able to keep this up in the future without potentially irreversible consequences. With the rise of “fast fashion” - The business of quickly turning around new collections, often at much lower prices; as consumers want something new way more frequently.

Therefore the waste from constant mass production has a massive impact on the planet. Sometimes we forget to notice; this is inevitable in such a fast-paced industry with trends and styles evolving almost constantly.

Narrowing down a few of the vital issues in the negative sides of the fashion industry; you wouldn’t think about this all the time, but the very clothes you’re wearing may be one of the most significant contributors to your carbon footprint. Some of your favourite brands are notorious when it comes to sustainability; Victoria Secret, Primark and ASOS have been held accountable in particular. Notice that even the brands who proclaim their support for minimising fashion’s carbon footprint and actively support sustainability still have an impact on the industry. H&M and Zara are making small changes through designing sustainable ranges, yet only accounting for a small percentage of their overall products.

It’s good for us to be aware that unknowingly we may have a more significant part to play. We have a better understanding of the “dirty” side behind every fast, high street and high-end fashion brands. It’s up to us to be educated shoppers; understanding in this faced paced generation this will never be demolished completely but for us to work a little toward doing our bit to reduce our effect on the world. Small factors like giving garments a longer lifetime, to then sell them to websites such as Depop, Etsy, Tradesy. Another option is to buy from ethical, sustainable brands, ideally with higher quality, items that can last.

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Words and design by Tanzeela Rahmen

BRINGING MODESTY BACK

modesty is the new

y x e s

what is modest fashion and how did it become so popular?

You may think that a conservative style sounds a bit strange considering the plunging necklines and short hems that have appeared on the runway.

However, modest fashion has become increasingly popular this past year - its global market is reportedly worth billions, and this figure is only set to rise.

Modest fashion has become so relevant; it’s even got its fashion week. In 2017, London hosted its first Modest Fashion Festival, where designers and brands presented a modest luxurious and contemporary style. It showed that regardless of your religious or cultural identity, modest clothing can be enjoyed by all.

From high streets to designer catwalks, modest fashion is everywhere. But what exactly is it and why is it so popular?

The term ‘modest clothing’ can be defined as many things. However, it is typically used to describe clothes that conceal your body rather than accentuate the shape of it. You can wear them for religious reasons which would mean wearing a hijab or burqa, although people have started to wear modest cut tops, trousers, dresses and jackets just for a modest aesthetic.

The rise of modest fashion began after young religious women realized they needed a wider variety of fashionable clothing. Modest fashion became a trend on Instagram after Muslim designers and social media influencers started to fill the gaps they saw in the market and use their platform to gain publicity and set up online stores. Pinterest UK reports that searches for the term ‘modest fashion’ has gone up 500% since the beginning of 2019.

Instagram is being taken over by a growing amount of modest fashion influencers such as Maria Alia, Habiba da Silva and Dian Pelangi. Pelangi currently has 5 million Instagram followers and is holding fashion shows in places like Britain, France, Germany, Holland, Australia, Dubai, Egypt, Kuwait and Jordan. She is also a brand ambassador of Wardah Beauty Cosmetics and has even published her book ‘Hijab Street Style’ in 2012.

Customer demand has caused more mainstream fashion brands to launch modest fashion lines of their own as an effort to make their campaigns more inclusive. In 2014, DKNY marketed a ‘Ramadan Collection’ of existing products that were suitable for modest dressers. H&M also honoured the trend by featuring their first hijab-wearing model, Mariah Idrissi in 2015.

Over the years, more models of Muslim faith have been showing the world that women who wear hijabs can also be stylish. 20 year old, Halima Aden became the first contestant to wear a hijab in the Miss Minnesota Pageant and has since then gained success in her modelling career, appearing at fashion week numerous times. She also became the first hijab-wearing model to be on the cover of British Vogue in the publication’s 102-year history in 2018.

Is it a coincidence that the oversized trend we like so much - wide trousers and statement balloon sleeves - are in the stores and on the runways right now? Fashion is often a reflection of the cultural conversation, and today, there are more options than ever for dressing modestly. The data-crunching fashion search engine ‘Lyst’ has seen an increase in related terms such as ‘high neck’ or ‘long-sleeve’ increasing by 52% over the past six months.

So what’s next for modest fashion? Many women feel like the next stage lies in diversity; this lies with the diversity of women who choose to dress modestly, as well as the variety of designers, influencers and platforms.

At the moment, modest fashion is mainly associated with Islam. However, the next step is for people to realise that modest fashion is not just for Muslim women. It’s meant to complement the diverse lifestyle of all types of women, no matter their faith or culture - who want to implement modesty into their dress code.

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The Second Hand

Revolution

How buying second hand clothes can save the planet There are enough unwanted clothes in the UK alone to fill 10,500 charity shops, yet places like H&M and Primark are still producing and selling clothes for double the prices and in most cases at a lower quality as what can be found in charity shops. This is an issue as fast fashion has a major negative impact on our planet due to how much and how fast clothes are churned out.

This rapid production of fast fashion seems so unnecessary when so many unwanted clothes are already out there that aren’t impacting our planet in this way. Apps such as Depop popularised this trend of reselling years ago, as they offer an online place for our generation to buy and sell clothes to promote the life cycle of clothing. However, not everyone is using Depop, as for some people there is still a stigma of buying second-hand clothes because it’s not “new” and therefore out of trend. This argument may have some legs, but for the most parts, trends come in and out of fashion ALL the time, and vintage clothing will most likely always be on-trend.

People may not think of the clothes in charity shops as being any good, but actually, literally anything can be found in charity shops from vintage coats to hype skate brands, charity shops can be a gold mine for hidden treasures.

It is often thought that only vintage shops sell “real” vintage clothing, but where do people think they get their stock from? Vintage just means it’s aged therefore that £3 jacket in the PDSA may be no worse than that £15 one in the vintage shop and is almost definitely better quality than the £30 one in New Look. With Depop, eBay and similar apps it is easier than ever for anyone to profit from charity shops as from experience I know you can buy a Nike t-shirt for £3 and sell it for £10 with ease. Here are just a few diamonds in the rough found in charity shops:

Burberry purse £10 Words,design and images by Alfie webb

HUF windbreaker £4

We aren’t going to buy all our clothes second hand as there’s always going to be those specific jeans or hat that we want. Still, we can minimise our impact on the earth and its health dramatically if we gave charity shops a chance before going straight to Primark.

Shopping at charity shops also promotes individual style as you can stop worrying about whether something is trendy or not and buy clothes just because you like them and who knows maybe you could have your fresh take on something that is the next big trend.

Second-hand clothing is the apparent move going forward as Y2K / 00’s fashion seems to be on the rise again. The majority of items in specific charity shops are authentic Y2K clothes from the generation before us; so even if you do want to follow trends, second-hand clothing can be easily implemented into your shopping habits. Remember this will save you money - especially at uni, protect the planet and doesn’t promote the fast-fashion world we seemed to have been stuck in for so long. So I urge everyone to give sustainability a chance and do their bit to help save the planet.

Palace sweatshirt £5

YSL Harrington £4

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Like mother,

like you?

You say you don’t want to look like your mum, then why you dressing like her? Five items from your mum’s wardrobe that have made a massive come back

If I told you two years ago that you would be dressing like your mum and stepping foot outside the house, you would have said exactly where to go, because we would have done the same. These trends don’t just come out of nowhere, and we are here to tell you, that unitard you were sporting last month to that festival, yeah, your mum probably wore one exactly the same.

If only she had kept hold of all those old gems you could be saving yourself a fortune on all those online shopping hauls.

1. NEON Neon has made a massive come back, especially this summer. A festival look just wasn’t complete without a bit of neon and believe it or not, your mum used to feel the same. Even though neon has a love-hate relationship with just about everyone, there was a time even your parents were rocking it.

Who knows, if you dig deep enough into the back of your mum’s wardrobe, you might just find something tight, lycra and neon…

2. LONG COATS What better way to stay snuggled up in winter than to wear your dressing gown out! Well, with these maxi coats, you practically are! These coats give off a classy, effortless look while also keeping you as wrapped us as you could ever need in the cold, snowy days of winter. You can layer one of these with a jumper and boots for more of an autumn vibe or totally ‘class-up’ a joggers and trainers look.

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3. FLARED JEANS When skinny jeans were all the rage, the mere idea of wearing any other type of jean made our stomachs turn just as much as yours. But who would have thought that those flares you’ve seen your mum rocking in the old baby videos would make a come back amongst you and your friends. Mom jeans, boyfriend jeans and bell bottom jeans seem to be much more popular than the standard cant-bend-down-or-breathe skinny jeans…for now, but how long will this comfy trend stay with us?

4. CHUNKY SHOES Chunky trainers are everywhere today, but the chunky shoe trend didn’t come from thin air. In the 70’s and the 90’s big chunky heeled shoes and platform shoes were what was hot. We love this trend, especially those of us 5’5 and under, its always nice to add a few inches without having to injure your feet in 6 inch heels. These chunky trainers are perfect for this, especially those Fila disruptors.

5. JUMPSUITS

Words ,design and images by AVA MONAGHAN

Jumpsuits have never really gone out of fashion, however, this year denim playsuits and jumpsuits have been everywhere. They can be dressed up or dressed down making them the perfect outfit for so many occasions. Not to mention the fact that you can easily make your whole outfit by putting on one item, um yes please, we are all about that simplicity and apparently so were our parents.

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MICROHYPOCRISY Around 60% of material made into clothing is plastic, including polyester, acrylic and nylon textiles.

When washed, these clothing materials shed tiny plastic fibres called microfibres, a form of microplastics.

The effects of microplstic ingestion on marine life are catastrophic, causing starvation, stunted growth and broken down digestive systems.

The use of washing machines alone cause around half a million tonnes of plastic microfibres to be released into the ocean every year.

-Fibre length and fabric density are two factors that determine the number of microfibres that will break free during washing, finishing treatments such as coating has proven to reduce shedding by up to 50% -Fabrics that are washed many times will shed more microfibres than they did when new, so simply washing less can help cause less shedding -Until new materials are designed, reducing shedding and capturing fibres before they enter the environment can reduce potential harm.

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TREND BAROMETER

You want to spice up your wardrobe for this season, but you don’t know what to look out for and what to throw away? Don’t worry, Carbon is ready to help and is showing you what’s hot and what has no place your closet this A/W.

LEATHER

This season there is something for everyone, no matter if you like the minimalistic look or you are more into colours, prefer to dress up or dress down, simple or statement silhouettes. From edgy leather pants to classic blazer, here are some of the biggest trends for A/W 19/20.

Alexander Mcqueen A/W 19/20

Off - White A/W 19/20

Etro A/W 19/20

Giorgio Armani A/W 19/20

Self Portrait A/W 19/20

PUFF SLEEVE

Alberta Feretti A/W 19/20

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LACE

Alexander Mcqueen A/W 19/20

Prada A/W 19/20

Zimmermann A/W 19/20

FLORALS

Carolina Herrera A/W 19/20

Giambattista Valli A/W 19/20

BLAZER

Words ,design and images by ANNA MARIA KUNCHEVA

Christian Dior A/W 19/20

Elie Saab A/W 19/20

Aalto A/W 19/20

Balmain A/W 19/20

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What is in the past must stay in the past!

TIE DYE

On the other side of the barometer, there are definitely some trends that need to go this A/W season. They may be the centre of attention during previous seasons, but if you want to stay on top of your trendy game, you should give them up. So have a look in your wardrobe and if there is anything neon or you are only wearing flared jeans, turn on the previous page and get inspired for a stylish closet makeover.

MSGM S/S 19

Ashley Williams A/W 18/19

Brandon Maxwell A/W 18/19

Son Jung Wan A/W 18/19

Cushnie S/S 19

FLARED PANTS

Marques Almeida A/W 18/19

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TINY GLASSES

Sally Lapointe S/S 19

Laquan Smith S/S 19

Emilio Pucci A/W 18/19

Alexander Wang A/W 18/19

Giambattista Valli A/W 18/19

Jeremy Scott A/W 18/19

Prada A/W 18/19

Balmain A/W 18/19

TINY BAGS

Fendi S/S 19

NEON fashion | carbon 31

32 carbon | fashion

GAME

R E G N CHA

AN EXPLORATION INTO THE STREETWEAR RESELLING COMMUNITY. With streetwear becoming what seems to be a huge passion as well as a massive moneymaker for thousands and thousands of individuals in today’s fashion industry I think it’s safe to say this game isn’t going to be ending any time soon. With reselling becoming a mega-money maker buying a pair of shoes for £200 and then some being able to flip them for £2000 it needs no explanation as to why this game is what it is.

With collaborations such as the Nike X OFF WHITE Collab being probably the biggest Collab with the most amount of stuff being released to the public to date the streetwear industry can’t get enough, reason being is that each shoe that is released is different in its way. Nike gave Virgil Abloh 10 different classic Nike silhouettes which the then took and reconstructed using different materials to make the shapes a new thing which everyone loved; he later added the tags to each shoe which no one had ever seen before he came along. The hype over this Collab is still crazy with some shoes having a resell value worth up to £2400 and almost every other shoe having a value worth over £1100. When a drop launches, they usually aren’t any on a first come first basis, which can become crazy and dangerous.

Words ,design and images by Hayden salter

Every year HYPE within streetwear is continuously changing. YEEZY 3 years ago was the brand everyone was going crazy over. With resell being over £1000 for every shoe that was released with everything selling out in less than 1 minute worldwide, but since the start of 2018 the hype has died off with everyone being able to buy a pair of them and then resell value being bellow £500. Kanye West has for once kept the promise in ensuring everyone gets there pair.

Eminem x Carhartt WIP x Jordan 4 (black chrome) £12,300 Trophy Room x Jordan 5 F&F £14,999 Medicom Be@rbrick layered wood 1000% £15,000 Supreme x Louis Vuitton Baseball jacket £15,000 Dior x Kaws plush BFF £30,000 NIKE air mag “back to the future” £39,999 NIKE Air Jordan 4 Derek Jeter £40,000 Supreme x Stern pinball machine £55,000 SUPREME AND PAL ACE Skaters still love to get involved although the biggest brands in streetwear Supreme and Palace are skate brands a lot of skaters refuse to touch these brands now because of what they have become. Five years ago it was a different story, skaters would be all over these brands, but with the hype growing they don’t have anything to do with it because the brand itself has changed as they aren’t sticking to being a skate brand. Palace does stick to its skating routes with its clothing being skatewear. Still, many kids are getting involved, not giving skaters a chance actually to have the opportunity to access pieces released on drops.

RESELLING The hustle to be able to make a big profit from selling an item to make a profit to the put this in a cycle and copping an article every week without fail. Missing a significant drop is a big NO within the streetwear industry as you getting your hands on a big garment adds to your reputation and continually getting your hands on big drops gets your name well recognised.

A items price may be dependant on what item is releasing whether its a piece of clothing or a shoe, also if its a collaboration between 2 different brands. This is a list of the ten most valuable and expensive items available at reselling price Nike air YEEZY 2 Red October £6,999 Supreme x Meissen Porcelain cupid figurine £8,400

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Words ,design and images by Hayden salter

Virtual

Reality

Insanity or Future Reality?

34 carbon | fashion

“There will be digital clothes... being able to overlay digital garments onto what we are currently wearing is very realistic and we believe it will happen.”

- Matthew Drinkwater, Head of Innovation, London College of Fashion

Recently I came across a short video on the BBC News website, which caught my attention with its title “will virtual clothes transform how we shop?”. I had never come across the idea of virtual clothing before, other than perhaps in a video game where you are often able to select an outfit for your chosen character and personalise its appearances, such as hair and skin tone. The video showed students from the London College of Fashion, exploring how the idea of ‘mixed reality’ could potentially change how we shop in the near future.

Words ,design and images by hannah isham

The students could be seen using a smartphone app whereby they created a virtual avatar with extraordinarily to represent themselves with extraordinarily high levels of accuracy, due to the app being able to track the body and obtain a sense of depth. In turn, meant that the students could scan items of clothing and overlay them onto their avatars to see whether the item is a good fit for their body shape. It was the idea that we could potentially try clothing on using virtual reality that got me particularly excited. I know from my own experiences with online shopping that it can often be challenging to make a sound judgment about what size would fit me best, whether the item is what I am looking for and perhaps most importantly if it will suit me. So, having an app where you can get an accurate idea of what items would look like on, would save you, me and countless others a whole lot of time and money. The video also included some shocking figures relating to the return rates for online shopping, which has reached over 60%. This figure, though staggering, is not a great surprise to me based on my personal experience and confirms the struggles we face when shopping online.

So is the use of virtual reality technology in fashion just a five-minute fad or a potentially game-changing innovation? The process of returning unwanted online orders is relatively straightforward today. Customers like choices as to how they can return online goods and as such are often deterred from buying from those brands who do not offer free postage and packaging or the option of returning items to a physical store. Although this level of service is beneficial to the shopper, the costs incurred by the retailer can be huge as they struggle to match what their competitors are offering in terms of a returns

policy. Likewise with over half of the clothes and shoes bought online being returned, most often because they don’t fit, the volumes involved create both substantial postage and manpower costs in what is already highly competitive industry. Therefore, using a virtual reality app to allow customers to virtually “try on before they buy” could alleviate some of these issues, although the technology would have to be sufficiently advanced to generate a realistic avatar, which is a truly accurate representation of each shopper. Additionally, brands and retailers would need to ensure higher levels of consistency around sizes, to work in conjunction with this technology to guarantee their success.

Another benefit of using such an app would be the freedom for people to try on multiple outfit choices and mix and match styles outside of their usual comfort zone, without the financial constraints of making an actual purchase or having to re-packaging numerous returns, which is often a hassle. This technology could also be used to significant effect by Instagram celebrities and fashion bloggers to promote brands without the need to be photographed in the person wearing the items.

There are several exciting possibilities created by the use of virtual reality technology in fashion. However, there is one area that such an app can never wholly replicate and that is the feeling of merely trying an item on. Seeing the quality of a product in the flesh and feeling the fabric on your skin is important for a lot of people helps the decision as to whether to buy an item of clothing or not. We know that there will always be a place for more traditional ways of shopping. Despite this, we cannot ignore the fact that online shopping continues to grow at an extraordinarily fast pace, with many new brands opting to operate solely online. Therefore, companies must invest in technology to improve the shopping experience and enable customers to make informed choices about their online purchases. It is for this reason that I think having a virtual reality shopping tool is more than just a gimmick and has the potential to revolutionise both the way we shop and promote fashion online.

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Words ,design by matthew nicoll, images from unspalsh.com

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music madness THE INFLUENCE OF MUSIC ARTISTS ON THE FASHION INDUSTRY Nowadays, it seems that anyone could be a designer within the fashion industry, with music artists now seemingly having more influence in today’s fashion industry than ever before. Music artists have just as many, if not more, social media followers than brand themselves, and therefore their reach to the audience is going to be more significant. Collaborations with other big brands and then having the die-hard fans who are willing to do anything for their favourite music artist; it’s a remedy for instant success.

A$AP Rocky has been one of the most famous American hip-hop artists over the past decade, with his overall sense of style wooing music and fashion lovers alike on social media platforms. His brand AWGE, which the artist sees as his “creative industry”, teamed up most recently with Selfridges to have their own space within the designer department store. An area within the store sells a mixture of streetwear clothing, designed by himself, and exclusive merchandise that is sure to entice his audience into buying into his brand. Within the permanent space, Rocky’s history and influence are shown through a backdrop of the Harlem skyline, giving his audience more of an authentic experience when visiting his well-awaited area. In October 2017, Rocky first brought a taste of New York City to London for a pop-up store within Selfridges, with fans going crazy over this. Due to the success of this pop-up store, the artist decided to do it again; this time is making it permanent.

Another example of a music artist and their power within the fashion industry would be Tyler The Creator’s brand GOLF le FLEUR* and their most recent collaboration with Lacoste. With Lacoste having to reinvent themselves over the past couple of years to remain relevant within the fashion industry, collaborating with one of hip-hop’s craziest yet most influential characters was one of the best choices they could have made. With the widespread release of GOLF le FLEUR*’s collaboration with Converse back in 2017, Lacoste felt that it would be a great idea to create a whole collection of pieces ranging from bucket hats to cardigans. Also helping Lacoste become a more exclusive and luxurious brand in a sense as the brand seemingly dropped off throughout the past couple of years. So a collaboration with not only one of music’s most prominent influencers but social media influencers shows how much power music artists have within the industry today. Through a very much anticipated build-up, the collection was released in July 2019 and instantly sold out online. The only place nowadays to pick up pieces, excluding online, would again be in the department store Selfridges.

With these two artists having their pieces of clothing situated alongside some of the world’s biggest fashion houses; such as Gucci, Versace, Maison Margiela and Balmain, to name a few. Does this answer the question of how much influence do music artists now have on the fashion industry?

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EVO LUT ION OF SHOES

What’s your favourite pair of shoes?

Conducting interviews with a few people aged 18-25, both genders, I’ve asked them about their favourite shoe brands and style of shoes that they own or wish to buy.

Even though the whole evolution has come far brands such as Converse, Doc Martens, Nike, Reebok are still successful till this day whereas earlier on particular shoes would go out of fashion and not come back into the spotlight ever again.

The evolution doesn’t just consist of the shoes but also how we use them in the fashion industry, for example, decades ago shoes were to protect our feet and there wasn’t much fashion behind it. Now we have catwalks, campaigns and all sorts of shoe fashion.

What’s great about the evolution is that we usually look to catwalks for inspiration and new designs, but now we look to the streets for inspiration and what style people are interested in.

The streets have now become the new influence

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The top five favourite brands of shoes were, both genders picked Nike, Adidas, Converse, Vans and Doc Martens these brands. On the other hand, the favourite styles were, trainers, slides and heels, more of a limited section of answers. Due to the majority of people asked preferred comfort in trainers and slides rather than the heels and other types of shoes.

Words ,design by karolina muszanska iages from unspash

The evolution of shoes, starting from leather sandals, to squared toed heels, to gothic-styled boots, to stiletto heels to doc Martens; we have come far in the evolution. We know the difference between the left and right shoe now, amongst the apparent stitching technique’s, materials, decoration, colours and different styles of shoes and their purposes.

wh at’ s you r fav our ite sho e bra nd?

Even the fact that men can now wear heels freely is a big step in the evolution of shoes, also though it was men wearing heels back in the times of Shakespeare before it acceptable for women to wear.

who’s your favourite shoe designer?

The first pair of shoes were actually made in the 12th century, long ago and not as good looking as our shoes now; it wasn’t until 1818 that the right shoe was invented so until that time there was no difference between the right and left shoes being made.

ev ol ut ion sh oe ev ol ut ion

evolution shoe evolution

shoe evolution shoe

shoe evolution shoe fashion | carbon 39

Relatability 40 carbon | fashion

Is Relatability becoming more important than Exclusivity at Fashion Week?

It has become more and more apparent over recent years that the catwalk shows at London Fashion Week and other fashion capitals around the world are beginning to lose their exclusivity and move away from the traditional idea of an industryinsider event only. Instead, today’s catwalks have started to embrace the inclusivity movement that is slowly gathering momentum throughout the industry and as a result, are aiming to be a much more relatable and accessible occasion.

The catwalk has always been home to the most prestigious haute-couture fashion houses such as Chanel, Christian Dior and Givenchy. These brands are synonymous with luxury, and while many of us will covet that “must-have” piece from their latest collections, for all but a limited few, it’s a dream that will never be fulfilled. However, September 2019 saw fast fashion brand Pretty Little Thing hold its first catwalk show at New York Fashion Week, a significant event in the city debuting a 59-piece collaboration with American rapper Saweetie.

Words ,design by hannah isham iages from unsplash

As an online retailer, Pretty Little Thing does not fit the conventional image of a brand that you would expect to see at the runway shows. While their target demographic is young fashion-focused females, the low price point of its products makes it extremely affordable to the masses. Therefore, the brand has an entirely different customer profile from the designer brands that typically showcase their new collections at Fashion Week.

Pretty Little Thing has been able to filter into the upper tier of the fashion elite shows, their phenomenal success shows as one of the fastest growing online retailers. The fashion world has now recognised the need for evolution to remain relevant in a digital world.

The front row of the Pretty Little Thing show included several celebrity guests such as Paris Hilton alongside influencer Molly-Mae Hague; a Love Island star and Instagrammer with over 3million followers, who has recently also collaborated with the brand. Once again this is another way in which the runway shows are becoming more relatable and accessible to a broader audience, as influencers post real-time pictures and videos from the FROW for their millions of followers to see on Instagram. Before

the advent of social media, it could have been weeks, if not months, before the general public got to see images from the catwalk through print media, such as glossy magazines and newspapers, resulting in a disconnect between the public and fashion buyers and editors.

Moreover, this year’s London Fashion Week became the first of the “big four” global Fashion Weeks to allow access to both trade and public audiences. This is a huge step forward in eradicating the somewhat pretentious atmosphere that has surrounded Fashion Week in the past.

However, although we can see that changes are being made to make such events more accessible, the public was still only able to purchase tickets to six exclusive shows over the weekend. So, there always seems to be a limit to the amount of access being granted, leaving the public wanting more.

Another way in which the shows are becoming more relatable to us, the general public, is by having performances from famous musicians as part of the show. For example, Victoria’s Secret show in 2018 included performances from Halsey and Rita Ora, who had recently released hit songs that were well known and relevant at the time.

Similarly, the Pretty Little Thing show included performances from Saweetie, Ashanti, Quavo and Lil Kim who again are all current, relevant and famous figures, so their presence will bring added interest and attention to the show; even if some of the members of the audience have only chosen to attend because of these performances. They may not have been initially interested in the brand.

This is, of course, an excellent marketing strategy, as we often copy and imitate the clothing and brands worn by our idols, whether it is a conscious decision or not.

Although the industry has come a long way in a relatively short space of time to make Fashion Week and catwalk shows in particular, more accessible and relevant to the broader public, there is still more that can be done to make high fashion more inclusive. However, we should always bear in mind that an element of intrigue is essential to maintain high levels of interest.

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NATHA Q&A

s, we wa nt ed to e pa st fe w ye ar th er ov e io ns on yl st e in sk at e an d th ei r op in Af te r an in cl in we re we ar in g s er rd oa eb at ac tu al sk fin d ou t wh at f th ei r st yl e. ro bb ed th em of at th e tr en d th up rd er, wh o gr ew pi ri ng sk at eb oa as gh t an , ei ck er Lo ov rd ed fo r to Na th an Ca rb on sp ok e an ha s sk at eb oa th en Na . od on wo ht e ig th ic ks in Br sk ill s on le ar ni ng hi s tr go od wi th hi s y . el iv e” ss yl st re og te pr ka be co m e ic h is “s ye ar s an d ha s m , ho we ve r, wh hi gs bu at th g e th in de ck . Th er e’ s on al ity ”. fo rt an d pr ac tic st yl e is al l co m rd oa eb at Sk “F or m e, le vi ew wh en pe op sk at er s po in t of a g. om in fr rd ng oa yi eb t is an no ab ou t sk at Na th an sa id “I kn ow an yt hi ng t n’ e do th d r fo an s n ss io e cl ot he ig in an d th e pa wh o we ar sk at de rs ta nd th e or un t ct fu l if yo u no pe ay es m sr di le So m e pe op d be se en as ul co ds an br n ce rt ai br an d. W ea ri ng om th e te am ”. a pr o sk at er fr ow kn do n’ t ev en ul d r to fo ot ba ll, wo br an d, its si m ila a nd hi be re e cu ltu ’t ev en kn ow ?”

“T he re ’s a wh ol a te am yo u di dn om fr t ir sh a yo u we ar to we ar ; d wh at he lik es an e yl st s hi t ou os t nt on to ta lk ab I lo ok fo r th e m Na th an th en we co m fo rt ab le … be to e lik I g sk at in . “f or m e, wh en go fr om th er e” s, bo ar ds an d oe sh , its tf ou pr ac tic al an d hi s ac tic al ou tf its , on hi s m os t pr ns tio in g/ es rd qu oa w a fe ile sk at eb I as ke d Na th an he s to we ar wh ot cl st be e th s on pr om pt s an d tip e. at sk to le ar ni ng

42 carbon | fashion Written by: Jacob Adatia Designed by: Jacob Adatia

S ATE STYLE

AN LOCK What would you say is your favourite skate shoe and why?

“Lakai skate shoes. They do such adventu rous colour scheme s, and I like the look of them. The shoes lasted so long too; I reckon I could do 100 Kicklfip s before they showed any wear, this saved me a lot of money as I didn’t need to keep on buying new shoes”.

The bottoms?

“ Jeans. Route One blue jeans. Cheap, comfy and they last. I don’t usually wear shorts because I like the protect ion from the jeans, plus I think jeans look better’.

What top would you wear?

“Top, Ummmm , usually a Thrashe r Magazi ne t-shirt if I have any that are new, with no holes in (hahah a), or any skate brand graphic tee.

I do really like origina l skate T-shirts , it feels more authen tic”.

Do you wear headgear or a hat?

“Most of the time I wear a hat. Backwa rds. I love a good hat, looks fresh, soaks up the sweat and protect s my face/ne ck from the sun.

When is it ever sunny in England , though ? And also I don’t wear a helmet, couldn’ t do that; too bulky and makes me unbala nced. But with street skating , you don’t need a helmet as much as you would with vert skating . They also look f***** g stupid” .

What set up have you been using to skate?

“Again, I use a cheap route, one deck. I have gone through way too many skatebo ards in the past by snappin g them. 25 quid for a new board is pretty good, especia lly if you are starting up. On occasio n I will use a Palace skatebo ard, such a gnarly board and the concave on them is unreal. But they do cost around 45 quid. I also have Spitfire wheels, Venture trucks, Grizzly Griptap e, Bones bearing s and Diamon d hardwa re. All quality components of a skatebo ard”.

Words ,design and images

by jake adatia

fashion | carbon 43

Longevity of Fashion Brands 44 carbon | fashion

Written by: Matthew Nicoll Designed by: Matthew Nicoll, Images by: unsplashed.com

Fashion brands nowadays seem to dip in and out of the spotlight, with some surprisingly making a comeback after a few years of “dying out”.

Throughout the years we have seen many big brands make a comeback in to the industry, a whole decade after they seemed to have vanished out of existence, with names such as Fila, Champion and Reebok making a massive return to the fashion spotlight within the past couple of years.

The term ‘longevity’ is used to describe the length of time in which a brand remains somewhat ‘relevant’ within the fashion media, with social media being the main factor of keeping a brand ‘relevant’. The question on everyone’s mind is “how?” and “what makes a brand last longer throughout time than others?”.

Looking at one brand that maybe didn’t do as well as it envisioned is Beyoncé and Topshop’s Ivy Park line, with Beyoncé being the head star-influencer for her activewear brand. When it was announced in October 2014, social media accounts flooded the sites with excitement for the collaboration, especially with Beyoncé having such a big year with the release of her fifth album a few months before the announcement. Articles were written online about how “the beyhive (her fans) were buzzing”, according to Cosmopolitan online due to the announcement, but this was short lived as the original release date of Autumn 2015 was delayed until Spring 2016. With the frustration of fans becoming clear after waiting almost two years for the brand to be released, when it was actually put on sale it seemed that no one was actually interested in it anymore.

One instance is on the release date in New York City, with people expecting that a collaboration of this standard clearly going to have queues of people rushing in to get the items before they are sold out – but this didn’t happen. Only three massive Beyoncé fans showed up fifteen minutes before the doors opened, with themselves confused as to why no-one had seemed to show any interest in the hyped-up release for the brand.

Looking back at it from 2019, it seems like the brand has fallen off the face of the Earth, with the brand also coming under scrutiny after a couple of months after the release as factory workers in Sri Lanka were supposedly getting paid less than the equivalent of $7 a day, which is far below the minimum wage, according to CBS News.

In 2018, Beyoncé’s company Parkwood Entertainment managed to acquire the entire ownership of the brand due to Topman’s owner Sir Phillip

Green coming under scrutiny for allegations of racial abuse towards other and sexual harassment.

With the brand not having done anything for a couple of years, in April 2019 Beyoncé announced that the brand would now be partnering with Adidas. This seems like the last flick of the coin from Beyoncé with this surely going to be boosting sales back in to the company, or will it?

On the other hand, looking at a brand that has recently stood its test against time is Champion, another activewear brand originally, but has now ventured in to a more casual-looking style.

In the 1990’s sweatshirts and jackets featuring the iconic Champion logo were worn by almost every ‘jock’ or ‘skater’ across the US, but at the turn of the millennium the brand seemed to have never existed in the first place. Then came social media. The brand decided that in order to revive interest in the brand that they would jump on the social media trend before it was even a massive thing; when it wasn’t the go-to thing like today.

Having Kylie Jenner posting a selfie with a simple Champion reverse-weave white t-shirt is absolutely massive for the brand, especially with someone of her status promoting the brand as her post got well over 1.2 million likes. Most of Kylie Jenner’s followers will then look at what she’s wearing and realise that if they want to be as famous as her then they have to wear what she’s wearing – it’s just simple marketing. The other instance in how the brand has managed to stay relevant is the rise of vintage clothing, with the young audience members within the fashion industry finding that older designs of clothes are more appealing than newer ones, and therefore with Champion being a 1990’s brand, it’s a story for success of the company.

Looking back at the two brands discussed, the power of social media influencers and fashion trends are so important in today’s fashion industry. The rise of social media and vintage clothing proved to the world that youth culture is unique; the younger audience want instant access to clothing, vintage clothing is always going to be there, all pieces are different and therefore it’s what they want. They don’t want to have to wait around for two years for a release of a fashion brand.

The longevity of brands is determined through marketing and truly finding its perfect target audience, with some brands clearly finding it harder than others to stand the test of time.

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LOW PROFILE IS THE NEW high profile Finding inspiration for new outfits is hard, especially when there’s so many names to choose from. Yet we always look at the same people. If you dive further than the explore page, you can see a market of people with great style who deserve more credit than granted. Keep an eye out for these influencers in the next couple of months, because they’re going to make it big.

@libiabayliszullo is also another low-profile influencer. Her style varies as she wears casual clothes to more occasion wear. This is mainly why her account is loved because she has different styles which everyone can relate too and also afford.

@Ericaburleyx is one of the many low-profile Instagram influencers that does the same job as high profile bloggers. She has great style which others follow and she is even followed by a clothing brand called ‘I SAW IT FIRST’ which is becoming a more popular brand and it is thanks to low profile influencers reaching out to other people. @rebeccaspencerxx is an example of a low-profile influencer who does not necessarily blog about clothing but mainly more about her photography. This is so her business can grow further, and she can work with other influencers and even some brands. Her followers are increasing daily and soon enough she will be well known on most social media platforms. This just shows that you do not have to have millions of followers to build a career and that it all just takes time.

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ON THE DL

Written by: Chloe Major, Images from Instagram

@vickiholtfit is another low-profile influencer, going in a different direction towards fitness.

Fitness influencing is growing every day and is becoming more in demand as more people are becoming fitness crazy. Vicki’s account is growing more and more and because of this her career can move forward and it’s all thanks to her account.

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48 carbon | fashion

Written by Jazmyn Pesci, images from Tag Walk

fashion | carbon 49

TO REMAIN A

CLASSIC

We need to appreciate trends as we never know when they’ll leave so here are three ways that have been around for a while and always seem to recreate themselves.

THE LITTLE BLACK DRESS The first trend has been around since around the 1900’s, and even though this was a while ago we have managed to reinvent this trend each year.

This has been done in one way from how the dress would be worn. Chanel originally made the ‘little black dress’ so it could be available to most of the market as such a variety of women could wear it.

Nowadays a little black dress can be worn at any time, whether this is casually (for example layered with a tee underneath and some chunky trainers), or if you are going for more of an evening outfit a silk or satin little black dress with a pair of black heels. Maybe even add a splash of colour with a red clutch bag to emphasis the chic look.

The little black dress will for sure for a long time and even though 100% certain the proof is in how black dresses can be found in stores

be around this is not many little and online.

Written by: Chloe Major, Images by: Credits to Owner Image by: Tag Walk

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THE TRENCH COAT Following onto another trend that has not seemed to have fizzled out…. trench coats! They have been around since the 1850’s which again is a while back. Burberry and Aquascutum were the first two brands to claim the invention of the trench coat.

This classic item was invented for officers in the Army to help protect them from the rain and also any bad stormy weather. It meant they could stay outside for longer when needed and because they worked so well and became popular the soldiers started wearing them as well.

The trench coat became popular again when famous actress Audrey Hepburn wore a trench coat in one of her New York based flms. It gave her symbolic power as it did to the troops back in the war and so this is why the trend has continued its legacy.

Trench coats in modern day can be worn with anything from jeans and a jumper to a skirt and a bodysuit and can be worn from autumn through to spring! They will definitely keep their mark in fashion and stick around.

Image by: Fashion Week Online

the cargo trousers

Image by: LP - Life CZ

Cargo trousers have also been around a while and have been worn in many different ways. They were first invented for use in the war and to be worn by soldiers in the armed forces. This was because of their big pockets to hold maps, field dressings and anything else that was needed on duty.

As time has passed, this timeless trouser has stuck around and is now still in fashion, however not in the same way as before. You can now find cargo trousers being worn with either chunky boots, trainers and even a pair of barely there heels! Additionally, jumpers, crop tops and bodysuits could be paired with these which is great because it means anyone can wear them and choose to style them however they want to.

As far as cargo trousers go, they’ll be sticking around whether they’re being worn for a casual day out or a night out. They’re now a wardrobe essential.

fashion | carbon 51

Written by: Eva McLennan, Images from TagWalk.com

Waist belts

Tights

thrift shop 52 carbon | fashion

Stay warm this winter with a pair of statement tights, or even thick black tights. This seasons catwalks were taken over by many different styles of tights. Re-use your old school tights or your fishnets from 2 years ago, match these with cocktail dresses or A-line skirts with a pair of Chelsea boots for a snug autumn outfit.

Showing off your figure with tightly fitted clothes has not been popular recently as loose clothing had taken over, however this is about to change.

Use one of your normal leather belts or sparkly chain belts over jumpers, blazers and coats to pull in the waist creating a cute outfit. Style it down with jeans and trainers for an everyday look or go trouser less with heels for a smart but sexy evening outfit.

Spotted at: Chanel

Spotted at: Agnona

Sta y on tre nd wit

Here are 5 ways of recycling old clothes this A

block colour

check

square shoulders A powerful look this autumn is having strong square shoulders, the best way to achieve this is oversized blazers, if you don’t own one yourself ask your dad if you can borrow his. Wearing this with skinny jeans or tight leather trousers and trainers or boots will keep you stylish this season.

By autumn we will be wearing prints again, especially checks, taking inspiration from old school uniform, check will be on trend in any colours. Finding out your old school uniform could work for this trend or even borrowing your parents to really mix it up. Wear prints together or wear one check clothing piece for a more subtle look.

Single colour pieces have always looked good but pairing these with the same colour is becoming increasingly popular. Keeping your whole outfit one block colour will create a striking look, instead of wearing 3 different coloured items wear a skirt blazer and heels that are the same colour but different shades for a strong look.

Spotted at: Alexander Wang

Spotted at: Carolina Herrera

Spotted at: Boss

tho ut spe ndi ng a pen ny

Autumn/Winter, keeping you warm and trendy:

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AFINE The ever-evolving fashion industry will always show the line between luxury and commercial fashion. But, will the position of this line be compromised in the future? As times pass, we have grown and fallen within our society in many ways, but how does it tells us that we are eventually going to be wearing whatever we want, whenever we want.

The make-up industry is already blurring the line between what is ‘avant-garde’, with trends being used commercially from small businesses practising techniques to switching up an evening look to your everyday girl wearing an electric eyeliner look to Sainsbury’s. In a day, whereas a culture, we thrive off the acceptance of minority groups and previously-taboo subjects. So, is it such a far-fetched idea that Grace, 28, Model from London can be spotted out on Kings Road in her Molly Goddard Prairie Tulle Dress?

Definitely not. Times are changing, and as we try to all grasp our individual style, the concept of wearing ambiguous clothing isn’t so grotesque.

‘Free the nipple’ is a topfreedom campaign that launched in 2012, giving women the vice to take off their bras to be more comfortable and confident in their clothing and themselves. As the trend evolves, it has become more common for women to dress without a bra, with celebrities and the general public supporting the movement. Now, from the catwalk to the high street, we love the sheer outfits in the name of #FreeTheNipple.

It isn’t just political movements that create a wave within the fashion industry, as we all know the trend of the decade has been ‘athleisure’, inspired by rich women going about their everyday activities in their pilates ensemble. As Balenciaga encompasses the trend on their catwalks, the likes of Stella McCartney and Comme De Garcon pairing with Adidas and Supreme, have created a collaborative athleisure collection.

Does the uprise of this trend mean luxury is going more commercial?

The way that we express ourselves through what we wear is essential. If Lady Gaga can wear a full leather look on the streets of New York, who is to say that you can’t wear that too?

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Written by Rachael Taylor, images from unsplash.com

T

here are various forms of extreme fashion, and few people have experimented with how far one can push this metaphorical line, separating what is and isn’t “everyday acceptable”. Within this article, I give you an insight into two rather fashionable knights that are breaking through this wall and showing their audience the true definition of unapologetic fashion. Ever wondered where influencers like Kylie Jenner grabbed their latest pair of shoes?

The likelihood is that these shoes were not bought but rather sent to their doorstep to be a priceless advertisement for the brand. Kylie is a prime example of a person that doesn’t have to worry about overdressing. When a celebrity reaches a certain level of fame, the brands come flooding in with their products, fresh from the runway. These garments were created for single-use, as they are far too extravagant and memorable to wear more than once.

“Wuzg00d”

Alani Figueroa, or better known as “Wuzg00d” has used this to her utmost advantage. 241 000 followers and counting, Alani floods her feed with colour and unique combinations of unique garments that leave the reader in awe. She is a prime example of how Instagram can provide the confidence and self-assurance needed to break through that bubble of socially acceptable fashion.

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A great example of extreme fashion made acceptable through the renowned guestlist, and an acclaimed all-round event would be the infamous Met Ball. This years’ theme of choice happened to be “Camp: Notes on Fashion” which consisted of flamboyant expression through many elaborate garments. Again, the one-off piece’s that are tailored for a single moment in a celebrity’s lifetime. These moments on the red carpet of the Met can either make or break newly discovered influencer.

Extravagance in fashion is set free on platforms such as Instagram. One of the many areas in the world where being, acting or wearing something different can be celebrated and appreciated; two examples of popular influencers:

“iunii”

He Liu, or “iunii”. Her contemporary approach to fashion has bought her attention from the right people. Her minimalistic taste, unlike Alani, is considered smart, modern and well-tailored. However, this does not take away from the fact that her rather chic pairing of attire would leave the regular person too anxious to exhibit in their day-to-day routine.

THE RED ROPE OF FASHION

The ostentatious line that separates what celebrities and the public can or cannot wear

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Written by Lucas Smith, images from Instagram

Cream Tailoring

Stella Mccartney

Agnona

Dolce and Gabbana

Fashion

Here are four reoccurring trends through out in London, New Y

Rejina Pyo

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Oscar de la Renta

Chloe Written by Eva Mclennan

Etro

Alexander McQueen

Gothic Prom

Oscar de la Renta

Area

n weeks

each of the Spring/Summer 2020 fashion weeks York, Milan and Paris

Dior

Chanel

Khaite

Valentino

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Bevza

Valentino

White Shirts

Roksanda

Molly Goddard

Tibi

Louis Vuitton 60 carbon | fashion

Maryam Nassir Zadeh

The Row

Agnona

JW Anderson

Trench Coats

Balenciaga

Louis Vuitton

Bottega Veneta

Burberry Chloe

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Ports 1961

Have you ever wondered what the life of a freelance photographer looks like or what it takes to be one? Maybe you are also into photography and you want to take it to the next level, but don’t know how. You’ll find the answers to these questions and many more in this interview with one of Bulgaria’s most known freelance photographer - Daniela a.k.a. @sucks2beyouu Q: Hi, Dani! It is really nice to have you as a guest of Carbon magazine. Can you introduce yourself for those who don’t know you and are not familiar with your work?

A: Hey! I’m Daniela, 24, from Bulgaria and I’m a freelance photographer.

Q: You are a great photographer. How did you get into photography?

A: Ooh, thank you! It’s really a boring story about the 9 yo me, trying to do some macro shots of flowers with my moms camera secretly.

64 carbon | features Words, Images and Design by: Anna-Maria Kuncheva

er

I bet that all of you have profile on Instagram and you have seen these amazing professional-looking photos Instagram models, bloggers and influencers post all the time. In most cases people don’t take them by themselves. They hire someone with more experience, better equipment and ideas to do that instead.

raph

Inside

freelance a f o ph e f o li

tog

the

SMALL COUNTRY BIG DREAMS

Q: And what about your passion for makeup? You had even studied makeup related course in Southampton.

Tell me more about that.

A: I have always loved makeup. Not the “imma buy this lipstick... in all the shades possible” kind of love, haha. More of an enthusiast who wants to know how to do everything around the making of a beautiful image. I was in arts school before coming to uni and since I already had a good base of skills for photography and foundation in arts in general, I decided to study something that would further my knowledge and make me a more rounded artist.

Q: Was it difficult for you to succeed career wise after graduating?

A: It still is! It was definitely hard to get out of the sales and hospitality work and start earning anything by doing what I truly believe I am meant to do. Challenges are what keep me excited, stressed and hard working at most times.

Q: What is your biggest achievement so far? What are you most proud of?

A: Aah, I can’t really mark my achievements by their size. Every published image, every big collaboration I have done, every time I work in a big creative team feels like a big achievement. You probably also know how hard it is to get to work with like minded people, so I feel like I’m achieving a lot when that happens.

‘Challenges are what keep me excited, stressed and hard working at most times ‘

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Q: Where do you find inspiration for your photoshoots?

A: Everywhere. Boring answer, but there really isn’t a specific thing that gets my creativity going. Today is the weather, tomorrow it might be the overly fashionable outfit of an elderly lady. Who knows..

Q: How do you describe your personal style and is there anyone who you consider a fashion icon?

A: Fluid. I constantly change my style and I still cant figure out whether its due to social media impact, or the constant change of my moods, since I always dress accordingly to how I feel in that particular moment.

Maybe @uglyworldwide , she is insane and constantly reminds me to be me and not give a damn.

Q: You have pretty big following on social media.

How did you build it up?

A: With a lot of hard work and collabs. I flood (or at least did before) social media with images everyday. I use hashtags, stay active and constantly create. After 2-3 years of not stopping, people had no choice but to notice that, hahah.

Q: What’s next for you?

A: I have no clue.

Q: Can you give an advice to ever yone whose passion is either photography or makeup, but they are just getting started?

A: Work with as many people as possible. Listen, give and take what people give you. Know who you can trust and don’t ever quit just because someone once said you are no good. Take breaks, but never really stop. Experiment, question and try to do what you dream of, not just the easiest, closest thing to that dream.

Now you know all the secrets and you can start living your dream as a photographer or just stepping up you instagram feed game. Give Daniela a follow on Instagram as: @sucks2beyouu or check her webpage: www.danielayordanova.com

“Know who you can trust and don’t ever quit just because someone once said you are no good. “ features | carbon 67

do you have a SOCIAL PROBLEM? media Social media has definitely changed our routines. Checking our social profiles on a daily basis keeps us connected and updated. However, because of social media, we are wasting too much time. We asked to our readers about their phone usage and the results of our study may surprise you.

We are connected... or not While we may think a higher use of social media means that we have more friends, the reality is different. The amount of time we spend in our phones highly depends on the generation we belong to.

USE 20H

WHERE ARE WE WASTING OUR TIME?

18H 16H 14H

GEN

CARBON readers let us know how they use their time online.

They organised the most popular apps in terms of the time they use them.

TIKTOK 1,1%

YOUTUBE 13%

Words, Images and Design by: Jose Jurado

INSTAGRAM 28,9%

WHATSAPP 25,7%

SNAPCHAT 3,6%

FACEBOOK 16,4%

TWITTER 11,3%

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GEN X

GEN Y

GEN Z

How are we using our phones?

Most people can’t admit they are using social media too much.

People think they are socialising but they are using social media more time than they need it and that is not socialising.

COULD YOU GUESS HOW MUCH TIME YOU ARE SPENDING ON SOCIAL MEDIA?

Stop a second and take a look You are probably spending more time than you think.

If you spend +24h a week, in a year you are going to lose

1.356 hours

57 days

Then, in 20 years you are going to be wasting

27.120 hours

1.130 days

Things that you are missing:

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO WITH THIS TIME INSTEAD? We asked to CARBON readers what they would rather do with that extra time

Sports / Exercise Hang out Play videogames Learn a new hobby

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Don’t hide

mental

You will be fine W h e n A m a n d a Wa t s o n s t a r t e d h e r f i n a l y e a r a t u n i v e r s i t y t h e a n x i e t y a n d d e p r e s s i o n t h at s u r fa c e d d u r i n g h e r f i r s t y e a r r e t u r n e d w i t h a v e n g e a n c e . T h i s t i m e i t wa s s o b a d t h e 2 1 y e a r o l d h a d t o l e av e h e r d e g r e e for a year, return home to Leicester and spent 12 months focusing on r e pa i r i n g h e r m e n ta l h e a lt h . S h e s h a r e s h e r s t o ry w i t h Ca r b o n .

“The first thing I noticed was a change in my sleeping patterns. I was sleeping very erratically and then my attendance at lectures dropped,” the 21-year-old Advertising student recalls. “That made me more anxious and it spiralled. I was an anxious mess sleeping 13 hours a day.” Now back at Solent University and about to sit finals Amanda is not alone in finding university life stressful.

Words, Images and Design by: Atlanta Wilson

She is one of soaring numbers of students across the UK seeking help for mental health problems. She believes young people are under pressure to “have the best time of their lives” at university, when the reality is that it can be lonely. She’s taken the brave step of describing her experience, hoping it will help break the stigma of mental health and ensure other young people get the rapid support she says her university gave her.

When Amanda first reported feeling anxious and depressed in her first year she was seen by her university well being counselling services within a month. She says that and medication from her GP helped her cope. But when symptoms returned a few weeks into her third year, she told lecturers she wanted to leave. They persuaded her to take a year out rather than quit outright and supported her to do it, she says. “Anxiety is like a really tight feeling in my tummy and shoulders and there is a constant feeling of pressure in my head,” she says.

“It can make me feel nauseous and faint and feels ver y over whelming. Anything can trigger it but it gets worse if you don’t sleep and eat properly and that makes it harder to look after yourself.“ I managed with medication and weekly appointments near to where I lived from the university counselling service, but when I came back in the third year things began to slip. “I was sharing a house with six of my friends. They were supportive but they’re not your family. I didn’t realise how unwell I was.“ I played down how bad I was feeling but I think

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my parents had an idea and my dad came down from home in Leicester to check on me. “All my lecturers and student ser vices were ver y keen for me to take a break rather than give up.

When you’re in that headspace you feel like giving up, but they persuaded me to take a year off and come back.” Amanda believes the wave of young people with mental health problems is caused, in part, by pressure to be happy at the same time as growing up with austerity, leading to fears about future prospects.

University social life is so hyped up that students can feel failures if they aren’t having the “time of their lives”. “People get told that university will be the best time of their lives but the reality is, for some people, it is just not. For some people university is tough.“ I think a lot of people worry about making friends. It took me at least six months to a year to have a group of friends.

“There is a lot of pressure, especially for freshers, to go out and get drunk. It starts before university. In sixth form you are told about all these wild parties and what a good time you’ll have.“ The reality is that living with people at university can be tough and it takes a while to get it right. You don’t get advice about these things in advance. “Our generation has grown up with nothing but austerity and cuts. I have ver y supportive parents but things in future like unpaid internships terrify me.” One university counselling service manager, who did not want to be named, said cuts to child and adolescent mental health services and schools meant young people’s mental health problems are often missed until they get to university, fuelling the crisis. “In many cases we see, because a young person was not able to access care earlier in their life, or only had limited access, their situation has reached a crisis point at the time they come to university,” the manager said. Meanwhile,

health Will Survive

universities across the country report soaring numbers seeking help. Cardiff Metropolitan University said in 2017-18 that 7.75% of its students, 790 in total, asked for help from its counselling and wellbeing team and complexity of cases has increased. At another London based university numbers have gone from just 80 in 2011 to 3,645 in 2016-17, 5,604 in 2017-18 and 3,120 in the first five months of the 2018-19 academic year. Factors contributing to the rise in demand include cuts to community mental health resulting in people not having access to early intervention.

Use Carbon’s mental health checklist to protect yo0ur own mental health as much as you can.

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Structure and organisation Taking your medication Believing in yourself Getting a good nights sleep Working on your strengths Speaking to someone Attending exercises classes Take time to relax Keeponig a diary Attending a diary Attending therapy Keeping rack of everything Listening to your body

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mind maintenance Words, Images and Design by: Tanzeela Rahman

how to feel your best when you’re feeling your worst

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1. Stay Hydrated - We often wake up in the mornings slightly dehydrated, so drinking a glass of water as soon as you wake up is a great way to start your day! Staying hydrated is very important as the fluid brings nutrients to your body that keeps it functioning as well as keeping your skin healthy and clear.

2. Journalling - Even if you’re not a big writer, writing down at least three things you’re grateful for or what your intentions are for the day puts your mind into a different perspective that will help reduce your stress and anxieties. Journalling is an outlet for processing emotions and increases self-awareness.

3. Take Time For Yourself - Be sure to always take time out of your day to decompress, it could just be for five minutes if you feel like you’re too busy. Take this time to relax and sit with your thoughts.

4. Sleep! - Not getting enough sleep can affect the way you feel emotionally and physically as well as causing major health issues. Start by thinking about your nightly routine. Are you eating or drinking immediately before bed? If so, it’s especially important to stay away from caffeine and sugar, which tend to keep you awake.

Reduce the number of distractions in your bedroom that keeps you up at night, such as your phone, television etc.

5. Exercise - We all know that exercise is good for you physically and helps you lose weight, but did you know that it also helps mentally? A little bit of exercise a day can boost your mood and reduce stress and anxiety. Of course not everyone can go to the gym everyday, so try to incorporate different activities such as walking or yoga that may fit into your daily routine easily, 6. Spend Time Outside - When natural sunlight hits the skin it triggers the body’s production of Vitamin D and increases the brain’s production of serotonin helping boost your

7. Practice A New Hobby - The benefits of having a hobby encourages you to take a break from your work that has been causing you stress. It allows you to explore your interests and talents as well as being a great stress reliever. These hobbies could include things like baking, photography or playing an instrument.

8. Clean Up - On a subconscious level, clutter is likely to be linked with negative emotions (confusion, tension, irritability, worry) whereas a clean space is more likely to be linked with positive emotions (happiness, calm, a sense of wellbeing).

Declutter your surroundings by identifying the items you use routinely and keep them at reach, put everything else in a drawer or just bin it! Clean surroundings will increase your productivity and reduce stress levels.

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ATTENTION! new insta shops on the Block

@rbfunkycreations Follow!

...

H a ve a look at thes br ands t h a t h a e n ew ve b e e n appeari ng o bringin n our feeds, hand-m g the freshest ad ve s t t o p e g a r m e n t s . Fr om s to r a v indepen ewear, these dan h a ve g o t l a b e l s t it all.

Apparel & Clothing

Rheabfunky is a shop full to the brim of ditsy patterns, butterflies and flare. Created by Rhea Barry in Manchester, this brand has been popping off recently with custom hand-made to order apparel.

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Words, Images and Design by: Cyra Watts

@newgirlorderuk

...

independent

hand - made

Newgirlorder is another popular destination at the moment. From its graphic print tees to its whacky mesh crops, this brands got it all. They have an amazing range of plus size clothing too!

clothing @shopfluffy

...

Crochet is in! Shopfluffy will stun you with their collection of bright knits to keep you warm and prepare you for when fest season comes back round. Sadly they dont do clothes for dogs... yet. features | carbon

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#GLITTER Proving glitter isn’t just for christmas, Carbon meets SparkleButt London - the designer behind your year round party wardrobe.

Carbon brings you an exclusive Q&A with Ashlee Auckland founder of SparkleButt London. She talks all things glitter, shimmer and shine as well as how she found herself starting her own business.

Why did you start Sparklebutt?

I have worked as an event producer for the last 10 years and was working in festivals and parties a lot making my own clothes and costumes! Sparklebutt started as a girls brand but I saw a gap in market for mens festival clothing so I made a pair for my boyfriend at the time and they were so popular so I put them online and the rest is history!

Why did you call the brand Sparklebutt?

How did you start the brand?

I started it on my living room floor and sold to my friends. Afterwards, I started an Etsy store. My poor housemates at the time - sequins literally EVERYWHERE.

Was the process of starting the brand hard?

The hardest part is keeping going for sure and you have to be very self taught and driven! The amount of time I have spent watching YouTube videos on how to do things!

Words, Images and Design by: Ciara Wilson

Why did you launch a brand which caters to men and women?

It was originally women but 90% of my customers are men, I was going to drop the women’s line altogether but then decided to just put girls in the guys clothes and call them unisex!

What is it like setting up a new fashion brand in an age where the market is so saturated by big fast fashion brands?

It’s hard, when I launched with my sequin flares, ‘Topshop’ bought out sequin flares for Christmas - so basically that was it for that product. I had to think differently to make my next move (which was shorts) and

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Someone once told me about this band called Sparkle Horse and I always remembered that because we used to have these sweets in New Zealand (where I’m from) called Sparklers. When I started the brand Sparklebutt came to me straight away, it’s everything I love - sweets and sparkles. Oh and Butts!

remember that soon enough they’ll be out of the shops.

What is your main target audience for the brand and why?

Men aged 28-40, they party, they’re show offs and they’re FUN.

What makes you different to other brands who target the same audience?

I still work in events on the side so I guess I’m very much in the thick of the party scene, both in Sydney and in London. Also, the fact that I’m based between Sydney and London is pretty unique!

How do you deal with competition between brands?

Be different! I have a lot of friends who also design sparkly festival costumes and we fully support each other and collaborate when we can, but it is important to be unique. Only you have your vision.

How are you hoping the Prince’s Trust will be able to expand your business?

The Princes Trust helped me with mentors which has been AMAZING.

“I started it in my living room floor and sold to friends then started an Etsy store. My poor housemates at the time - sequins literally EVERYWHERE. “ Having someone to bounce ideas off has been so helpful as I’m mainly working alone. Also all of the course and workshops they do have taught me SO much. It’s much nicer learning in person than watching thousands of YouTube clips.

How do you see the brand changing if the glitter trend evolves?

I’m not sure! Will the glitter trend ever end? I’d love to see some sustainable sequin fabric, I know you can get sustainable sequins for embroidery but haven’t seen whole fabrics yet! Stay tuned!

Do you have any advice to those wanting to set up their own business?

Join the Princes Trust - the only thing I would have done differently joined them earlier! The money and time I could have saved!

Where next?

As the winter rolls in it’s time for me to head to Sydney with my sequins to get ready for our favourite southern hemisphere party - SYDNEY GAY AND LESBIAN MARDI GRAS!

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OUR PLANET IS DYING!

deforestation in numbers 30%

of the world are rainforests

Words, Images and Design by Jose Jurado

18 million acres in the planet (7.3 m hectareas)

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4500 acres are cleared every hour

4

OF EVERY 10 tREES ARE CHOPPED & PROCESSED

S TS I N % RE O F

80% DESTROYED HOUSING & URBANISATION

in 100 years there will be no rainforests.

protected

20% PRODUCTS INGREDIENTS

FARMINGLoss

of forests contributes in a 12%-17% to annual ______ global greenhouse gas emissions

every 4 minutes an area the size of a football field is destroyed

20% of the world's oxygen is produced in the Amazon forest.

28,000 species can go extinct in the next 25 years

There are more than 121 natural remedies in the rainforest which can be used as medicines.

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how to help our forests in 8 steps 1. AVOID PRODUCTS containing PALM OIL 2. GO VEGAN / VEGETARIAN / REDUCe meat 3. RECYCLE PAPER & CARDBOARD 4. USE BOTH SIDES OF PAPER 5. USE CLOTH INSTEAD OF PAPER 6. buy RECYCLED PRODUCTS 7. replace paper with digital 8. PLANT A TREE

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features | carbon 81 Words, Images and Design by: Loren Parkhurst

Words, Images and Design by: Beatriz Angulo Menor

It’s everyone’s worst nightmare but if you were given five seconds to grab the most important things in the world to you - what would you grab? Carbon asked some readers what personal possessions meanT the most to them with the question: What would you save if your house was burning down?

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The paranormal is vastly misunderstood and often considered as a tool for hit-selling horror movies. But for some people it’s something very real. Two Gen-Z students gIve their insight on paranormal acitivity and whether it’s for real.

Fashion management student Rebecca Chisholm has had her fair share of paranormal activity.

She shares her experiences with Carbon.

Marketing student Blaine Lewis doesn’t believe in the paranormal.

He shares why with Carbon.

Do you believe in the paranormal?

Do you believe in the paranormal?

“Yes, I do.”

“No.”

What has influenced you to believe?

How come?

“I have had different experiences, and my family members and friends have had similar experiences.”

“Because I’ve never had an experience with any of it and it just sounds fake. Plus, none of it makes logical sense.”

Do you have any specific experiences that are prevalent to you?

So, what about all the stories and other people’s experiences?

“When I’m driving from my village towards my boyfriend’s house, I have had a reoccurring experience. It’s always in the same spot, but this only happens late at night. In my rear-view mirror, there are old yellow car lights that flash up and then disappear after a few seconds.”

“Well if I was crazy enough, I could convince you right now that someone just touched my shoulder. Nobody did, but I could claim they did if I wanted to. So, if I could pretend, then anyone could.”

Has this happened more than once?

“It’s happened a few times, and also it’s not just me because my uncle used to tell me he saw the same thing 40 years ago.”

Wow, that’s so interesting. Has anything else ever happened?

So, I guess the fact that it’s so easy to make stuff up makes you cynical?

“Yeah, plus why is there never a good spirit that helps you cook dinner, why is it always something creepy and dangerous? Because it’s just material for a good story.”

“When my dad was terminally ill, he said he’d make it to my 1st birthday but didn’t and then every birthday since then the living room lights flash on and off occasionally throughout the day.”

So, you think its mostly just people making things up for fun?

So, you believe in ghosts and spirits?

So, you definitely don’t believe in ghosts and spirits?

“I’d say so, yeah.”

“Definitely not.”

Paranormal The paranormal is vastly misunderstood and often considered as a tool for hit-selling horror movies. But for some people, it’s something very real.

Two Gen-Z students give their insight on paranormal activity and whether it’s for real.

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“Yeah. Otherwise, there’d be more evidence wouldn’t there.”

1. THE TALKING HEADS

3. THE STATION PUB

The talking Heads pub is 130 years old. The staff have reported several

Customers of the Station Pub have reported being tapped on the shoulder

strange occurrences, the owner apparently being slapped across the face

when using the female toilets but finding there to be no-one there when

by some unseen force. One employer claimed to see a white dress in the

they turn around. On-site CCT V has caught an image of a ghostly man

corner of the cellar but couldn’t see who was wearing it. Additionally, beer

standing underneath a wall light. The previous landlady has claimed to

gasoline markers were sometimes turned on even when no-one had been

have heard a man whistling in the men’s toilets despite there being no-one

in the basement to do so.

there.

2. TUDOR HOUSE MUSEUM

4. THE BRUSHMAKERS ARMS

The Tudor House Museum is apparently haunted by a very active ghost.

This pub experienced a mass of paranormal activity after renovating the

Neighbours repeatedly called the police on suspicion of intruders as lights

upper floor. The wardrobe doors kept springing open, new mirrors kept

would come on at night and shadows were seen in the windows, but no

cracking in the same place even when replaced, and battery-operated toys

human life was ever found. A psychic was called in, and he reported that

would turn on in the middle of the night. Small items would go missing

the spirit was simply bored of the afterlife. A ball was

and then reappear in their original place several weeks later. A cat

left for the spirit to play with and ever since the paranormal activity has

ornament in the lounge was found turned facing the wall every night.

slowed down dramatically.

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Words and Design by: Sophie Corderoy Images by: Unsplash

haunted locations in SOUTHAMPTON

Words, Images and Design by: Niamh Davies

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Tanzeela, 28 Flat in London How welcome were your neighbours?

“They were so nice, one case to my door the second evening that I was living there with some homemade cookies as a welcoming present”

Matthew, 25 Flat in Southampton

How soon did your parents stop visiting?

“At first they came quite often to help me set everything up and make sure I was okay but after about a month I felt more comfortable so they stopped coming but we still keep in contact on the phone and we meet up for lunch sometimes”

Did you find a new hobby?

“I started going to the gym more as it was in my building and I liked going swimming after to relax”

How soon did you meet your neighbours after moving in?

“They were really friendly and came to my door to introduce themselves together on the next morning after I moved in”

At which point did you feel comfortable to love alone?

“I think when I established a pattern of living I felt at home, I had certain days for different things like food shopping and washing.”

When was the first time you met your neighbours?

“I was fixing my car on my driveway as they were going into their house, we talked for a while and they were very nice”

How did you cope with feeling lonely?

Whats your favourite thing about living alone?

“I love having my own space, I can make it look how I want and I can do things in my own time”

Megan, 24 House in Guilford

What did you do to keep busy?

“I became good friends with my neighbours so we hung out regularly to chill and go out or have movie nights”

How did you make your flat feel homely?

“I decorated it with lots of photos of friends and family and loads of plants like cacti and bamboo”

“Sometimes I just went out with may friends and other times I stayed in and watched movies, I loved having my cat swell as he helped me feel less alone”

What makes you feel at home?

“Having photos up and knowing that I designed the house and its mine” Where did you get a lot of your home decorations from?

“I got a lot from Primark, their home section is so big and cheap its made my house look so cute”

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nobody’s child .com

Carbon speaks to Nobody’s Child’s head of buying, Charlotte Haynes, ahead of CarbonLIVE 90 carbon | features

How was Nobody’s Child born? Did you see a gap in the market for fashionable, affordable yet sustainable brand?

It happened quite organically and before the focus on sustainability. We’ve been around for 4 years now. Founded by a family run garment manufacturer with factories in the UK and Europe. The founders saw that the transparency and ethical foundations of their supply chain combined with low carbon footprint set them apart in the field, and they decided to create an ethical brand to reflect that. They then brought in a team to deliver covetable yet considered collections.

The fashion industry has been largely criticised for its impact on the environment, yet as consumers we have a desire to shop fast. How do we as shoppers strike a balance?

Many fashion brands have released recycled collections, yet it seems they’re using it as a marketing strategy rather than scaling back production. How can fashion brands have a genuine responsibility?

Sustainability and responsibility have to be in every aspect of the business, it’s not just about the collections. Although that’s a good start. At NC we always start with the product first. What does the customer want whether it be one of our DNA prints or a trusted shape. We are aware if we don’t focus on that then ultimately it will not appeal to the customer, which means it would end up as waste itself. We then create this with upcycled or sustainable fabrics such as our 100% organic tee’s and launching next month Ecovero TM viscoses. Having our own production means we can reduce minimums that other brands face and have limited low impact runs and therefore less wastage. The majority of our collections are also produced near the UK (if not in the UK) so we also have a low carbon footprint behind the scenes. It’s not just about an auto-response or solution from brands to do these recycled collections. It’s a constant education into all the functions that make a collection. We also look at reducing any unnecessary trims so they are only functional. We recently changed our pinny dress design from having a buckle to having a wraparound belt to reduce the use of unnecessary additional plastics/components. In our pattern making process we use up as much of the fabric as possible to prevent wastage, we have then gone on to turn these off-cuts into tote bags (like the ones at CarbonLIVE) and watch this space for our upcoming scrunchies! But we’re the first to admit there is still so much more we can do, we are on a journey and endeavour to show this to our customer.

We’re recruiting an increasing number of guys into our fashion courses, and we love the diversity and dynamic mixed gender teams bring to the creative environment at Solent.

Would NC ever branch into menswear?

When it comes to recruitment we employ openly without any discrimination. But in reality, few men apply for roles at NC, so when a role comes up, do apply guys!

We pride ourselves on womenswear and have developed an inclusive and loyal cult following over the years. Our customers have and will always be number one in all our decision making. In terms of menswear who knows what the future holds. Inside fact, our head of product and buying was previously a menswear buyer!

You donate your leftover materials to fashion colleges. What’s the most exciting thing you’ve seen made by students using NC fabrics?

At the moment we unfortunately don’t often see what happens to the fabric after donation, but this is something we are hoping with more resource we are able to follow up in. We also donate clothing for student projects and fashion shows as well as and raffle prizes etc. We love being sent the imagery and feedback from the student’s shows and sharing this with the head office.

How does NC invest in rising talent from student communities? What skills do you look for?

There are so many opportunities and roles in the fashion industry so skills and expertise can vary depending on the function. But a key mindset and characteristics desired across all of these are someone who is customer-centric, agile, passionate about the product and its sustainability, is an effective communicator, can handle a fast-paced environment and is a a team player. Remembering you can’t do it alone. We also launched a student ambassador program last year in which we worked with students from all over the country to spread the message of the brand, with free clothes every month, exclusive discounts for their friends and family, insider access to the brand and also the chance to earn commission on any sales – not bad for a little extra cash when you’re a student!

CarbonLIVE has been launched to bring together young creatives to discuss everything from fashion, to careers, beauty and wellbeing in a fun and collaborative environment.

What advice would you give to graduates entering the fashion industry in 2020?

I would encourage them to read “Almost is not good enough” by Andrew Jennings.

He sums it up perfectly, “Retail has always been a dynamic industry but right now it’s going through an unprecedented pace of change. Seismic economic shifts and breathtaking technological advances are changing the shopping experience faster than most retailers are able to react. Customers demand ever more exciting shopping experiences and have higher expectations of product, service, value and environment. And there’s the multichannel reality to get to grips with too!

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Words by: Emily Salmon

How we all look after the planet is rapidly becoming one of the biggest concerns and areas of control for most customers today, yet arguably fast fashion still exists. It all comes back to the customer, to the education and understanding of ‘who made my clothes’? What is the fabric source? How many times will I wear this dress? At NC we try to be as transparent as possible and encourage our customers to re-wear and re-style our beautiful pieces.

faces or faces the man behind the artist doodles speaks to Carbon ahead of CarbonLIVe

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CarbonLIVE brings Carbon magazine to life with a series of events taking place from 25th November to 4th December. The newest guest speaker to get in on the action is street artist FacesOrFaces. If you haven’t seen the street art around the walls of Southampton, you clearly don’t get out enough! Faces or Faces focuses on exploring urban and social issues using a mix of mediums including spray paint, markers, acrylic and oil pastels, and he does it well. The team at Carbon speak to him before the event to hear about his artistic vision and his colourful doodles.

Have you always been a doodler - how has your trademark evolved?

I have always been a doodler even when I was younger. I’d draw on literally everything I could, usually school desks, that’s basically how it all evolved into the faces. I used to draw lots of characters but the faces stuck and just gradually changed over the years.

Did you draw it over schoolbooks etc?

Yeah! Every book I had was covered in little doodles and even big pages full of drawings near the back, teachers weren’t too keen on me ha-ha.

What is it about graffiti culture that you find most inspiring?

I love the creativity and individuality of it, everyone has their own stuff. Also just love going out at night and making something out of all these boring city spaces.

How do you go about coming up with new concepts?

I usually just randomly think of things and start drawing them up then keep adjusting them to one I like, some ideas just come from a collaboration of my other artwork put into the faces!

At what point did your work change from being a hobby to an artistic project and how?

When I first came to university I started seeing it as more of a project, then when I started seeing people enjoying the art and uploading pictures of the faces around town I started the Instagram for it. From there it has become a platform to showcase my work and sell merchandise like canvases and t-shirts!

Do you create your artwork to make thought provoking statements or just for fun?

Are there any hidden messages in your work?

people auctioning off street art as it defeats the whole purpose and culture behind it but what can you do? It turns the art into a completely different thing when it’s put in a gallery or up in someone’s house. A key aspect of street art is that it’s not meant to last forever, you could do a big piece that takes hours and it could be gone the next day.

Do you see this as your career path or remaining as a hobby?

For now, it’s just a hobby that gets me by. As long as I’m enjoying it, I’ll stick to it.

I’m not going to try and force in into a career path but if it happens, I definitely won’t be complaining.

Would you ever collaborate with other artists?

Yeah 100% would love to collaborate with other artists in the future, it would be lots of fun! I’d like to get in contact with some more Southampton and London based artists.

If you could do graffiti on any building in the world, where would it be and why?

I’m honestly not too sure, it would definitely be a big tall building in either central London or New York with some big colourful faces going down it!

The faces and characters started as a representation of humans as a way to celebrate all people without specific details such as gender or race. Things like that can hinder some opinions on others. However I don’t usually make this reasoning known, I like people to have their own interpretations or just to enjoy the work for what it is.

What do you think about artists like Banksy going from being an unknown artist to making political statements to selling art for millions?

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Words by: Emily Salmon

Selling street art for millions will always be a weird one, especially if it’s ripped out of a wall, I know bansky and most graffiti artists aren’t keen on

“I MET MY BEST FRIENDS ONLINE BUT THEY HAVE NO IDEA I’M A RUNWAY MODEL”

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Words, Images and Design by: Jack Faulkner

VVIIRT RTUUAALL Matthew Costa age 17 from Greek Cypriot.

Currently living and studying in London England.

So what do you do for a living?

Currently studying psychology but I want to go into the research of the potential treatments for mental health using psychomimeticsubstances.

Who inspired you to start modelling?

I wasn’t really inspired to start modelling. When I was younger I was quite insecure and wanted to, this is around age seven, because a family friend was a photographer and this got me into some modelling work but two years ago I was scouted at a music festival and from that it gave me my first real boost in the industry.

Tell us a typical day in modelling?

If its for a fashion week I firstly wake up go to the agency to grab my schedule for the day castings, fitting you name it I’ll do it. Here you kind of bump into all of the other models. You’ll tend to get little groups of friends and go around together for the day.

You will go to your castings, where you get seen, walk, sometimes get fit with something (sometimes you can get up to seven days of hectic!). If you have a show you will have priorities, so fittings will be top of the pile. It’s not as relaxed as people think, you’re constantly running round the whole of London trying to make certain times and will always miss a few things which can bum you out as someone may have got what you missed because you missed the time slot. Then finally you will have a show if you had one you would normally be leaving to go home around 10pm then to go straight to sleep as you’ll be doing it all over again the next day! It’s crazy I know.

Do you meet a lot of friends modelling?

You can meet a lot of nice people, like anywhere, there are the good people and the not so good people it’s really not as bohemian and surreal as it looks from the outside. We all just vibe together or don’t. Sometimes if I show up to a show we will get mountains of McDonalds or just go to the pub and wait for the show times and slots to begin, that’s if my days aren’t super packed that day, we’re all just humans.

Is it hard to maintain friendships within modelling as you have to move around a lot?

It’s pretty easy to maintain friendships as nowadays if you want to because of social media. Everyone is sort of about my age most are at school by my older friends yeah I see them here and there. For example I have a friend who I met whilst modelling and he lived in Korea for a few months to model and we messaged back and forth and now he is coming back to London soon so we shall go a meet up, have a catch up.

Do you find it easier to make friends online rather than real life?

PS4 is a great way to get new contacts and friendships. You will make a friend who has a friend who will then become your friend. It’s not like in real life where it would be weird to then meet the other friend without your first friend as you can just hop into a party chat and play a few games together. I have made some of my closest mates just by messing about on games and making stupid jokes. With PS4 you can hop on at any hour text some of your friends say you’ll be on all at ten then at ten you will have about five of your closest friends all talking, laughing and just being… friends.

Did online gaming open up new friendships?

Online gaming definitely opened up a huge amount of friendships as said before I have made some life long friendships just from a silly game like Fortnite. Even to the point where the other month a big group of us all met up in London for the first time and went for a 18th birthday meal for one of the boys.

What is it about online friendships that you like?

It’s being able to talk about something that you don’t necessarily talk about normally maybe be it’s relationship troubles, what’s going on in my head or even just asking one of the boys for a personal opinion. It is all fun and games with my friends online like we do take the absolute piss out of each other but if someone is genuinely worried we will all talk about it.

Would you consider your online friendships as strong as your real ones?

Like all friendships I don’t think one can say online friendships are stronger or weaker than my real ones its more of an added strength to my real ones because as time goes by the concept of them being online disappears and they become real.

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Where do i start?

You can request a studio visit Studio visits can be a really fantastic way to get a feel for a realistic workspace,additionally they can be a very good way to get in with a team. Even asking for lunch if you’re confident.

The next

step step

It’s never too early to intern Whilst at uni, get an internship. Offer to intern even for a week. Or alternatively offer to intern on a couple of set days a week.

Consider who you are emailing When you’re emailing smaller design studios, remember that most of the people who run these studios are small groups. There might not even be a project manager. You need to research these things, and make sure you know who you want to send the email to. However, if it’s a bigger company, the first person who reads the email probably won’t be the person that hires you, so it’s good to adjust the email accordingly

Creative careers- it’s what we are all aiming towards, but how do we get there?

What if you don’t know what you want to do?

It’s good to not know sometimes

Don’t do a copy and paste job Use information about the company and make it feel personal. You are less likely to get a response from a generic email sent to 50 companys.

Make it short, personable and flattering. For a cold email to a studio, try and keep it to five lines. It’s good to use the first line to say why you like the studio. This just demonstrates that you understand and know that studio’s work, and that you’re not batch emailing, which is horrible. If you put a GIF in there that’s even better.

It’s good to let them know which bits of their work you like, or if you can say that you saw them do a talk. Then you immediately have an understanding. A mistake people make in emails where people talk about themselves for three paragraphs, which doesn’t come across as very professional.

Portfolios and Showreels Less is usually more If you include a showreel, keep it short and only put your best stuff in there. Edit a tight minute together, and if you have less than that, don’t pad it out to make it longer. What you show also depends on what you want to do. For example, do you want to do straight-up technical animation or do you want to direct? Then in terms of format, portfolio websites are prefered over Instagram or Tumblr pages – they just look more professional.”

Include work that you’re very proud of and want to do more of. Thinking about this is really important, and during your studies is a great time to experiment with that, too.

Being nice will get you far Often it is being polite and being nice to be around that lands you an internship.

It is so important to be likeable. You need to be able to communicate, be reliable, willing and very present. There have been so many times where interns go into industry and think the world owes them something. They will whinge about the projects, but you’re supposed to be so excited. Obviously there’s a limit, don’t be crazy enthusiastic! But be nice. There are a lot of egos in the industry but a lot of the time people just want someone they can get on with.

Often when at uni students have literally no idea what I’d do after I left.

It’s rare to come out and know instantly, and it can take years. Some people are lucky, but the majority won’t know, and that’s fine. Allow that uncertainty and build new skills.”

Keep making work Just focus on your personal work if you’re not sure. Keep working on your own interests and getting closer to what you want to do. In terms of making money, I would also suggest taking on a side job before taking a full-time role in the industry that isn’t what you really want to do. Don’t underestimate how much work a full-time job is; it’ll sap a lot of energy and you might get stuck in it because you need the money.”

Things can take time You may not yet be at the point where you’re doing stuff you are truly really proud of. You may be at points where you feel like, ‘What am I doing?’ But giving yourself lots of different experiences and put yourself out there,this is when you learn invaluable information and it means that you have more knowledge in certain areas.

Make the most of your studies in the meantime Learn to take critique

Learn to separate yourself from your work, specifically when taking critique. You are not your work. Don’t get defensive – people are just trying to help you. And off the back of that, critiques are not absolute, your tutors are not mind-readers, they don’t know what you’re talking about all the time. You know your own work best, so follow your own gut. Interpret critique from your own point of view, however don’t ignore it.

Use all the facilities

Use your facilities. You won’t have them when you leave, and start interning now. I could suggest starting from your second year as I knew that I’d have to pay full rent once I left uni.

Have a goal Have a goal. For some people it might be a studio they’d love to work for.

It can change (that’s fine) but just have a mission, as it’ll help direct you towards something. If you do have studios in mind, think about making work in a similar style, and keep that in mind before you leave uni. Make it a priority, don’t just float through and expect something to happen. If you try to work out what you want to happen, it becomes easier to make it a reality.

Words, images and Design by: Rosie Stewart

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GEN Z REBELLION GEN Z REBELLION GEN Z REBELLION GEN Z REBELLION GEN Z REBELLION GEN Z REBELLION GEN Z REBELLION GEN Z REBELLION GEN Z REBELLION GEN Z REBELLION 98 carbon | features

Gen Z, the generation taking things inro thier own hands, fighting for thier futures, rights and thier oppourtunities.Having been labelled “snowflakes’, “social media obsessed”, the generation has clearly shown themselves in the best way possible in the spotlight this year, protesting agasint the climate change crisis,walking their lgbt+ marches, and even getting involved with the politics, voicing their opinions on thighs such as the whole Brexit Mess.

Gen Z has become the most powerful and indepedent generation so far, using thier voices to try and make a change into thier and the youngergenerations futures. Using all sorts of platforms of social media and strikes,missing school times just to protest they show how serious they are and egaer to make these changes and take actions now.

Focusing on the climate change crisis, Gen Z have taken actions such as, recycling more, re-using fabrics, plastic bags, walking instead of taking public transport, drinking through metal straws instead of plastic ones because you know, “Save the Turtles!”. Generation Z has had an eye opener to what will happen if we don’t start caring for our one and only envirnoment.

Another issue that the Gen Z have taken action upon is the LGBT+ community acceptance is important to everybody, nomatter who you are. People these days can now freely express themselves, dress how they want, wear makeup how they want and all sorts of other activites, this is because Gen Z are accepting to each and every person and how they are. Constrasting with some of the older generations which may not be okay withsomebody from the LGBT+ community

WHAT ARE Y O U GOING TO DO FOR OUR FUTURE?

“We ARE THE CHANGE”

Words, Images and Design by: Karolina Muszanska

Fashion, another thing on the list of Gen Z’s that they rebel against, creating ther own fashion trends and statements, not following dress codes for certain occasions. Comfort is priority for them meaning they will wear whatever they want and whenver they want to. fashion is a way of expressing themselves and this is where they look to the street, social media and the music indutry for influences rather than the fashion shows.

Fashion is a sort of expression and comfort blanket for Gen Z, they live in a generation where appearances are important to them, threy rebell from having to dress a certain way or to fit into typcial sterotypes. Gen Z have thrown away all sterotypes, gender, workplace, clothing, marriage and many more things in thier lives, they like thier freedom and choice of variety.

The generation is already taking actions towards thier futures, protesting, rebelling and taking risks for themslves to better thier opportunites and lives, how will you help make our world a better place for everybdoy? little things such as recycling, saving on public transport and walking, reusing clothing, plastic bags etc. all these things can contribute to a better and healthier environment for everyone. be kind and spread posivity just like the Generation Z are doing, standing up for themsleves and the younger generations as well as the older ones, the ones who dont even want to take action for the problems in the world and the isuesed faced by everyone.

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be the

BOSS boss How hard is it to set up your own fashion brand? It takes time, skill, patience, confidence and most importantly, a vision. 29 year old Jem from West Sussex is the owner and founder of Instagram clothing brand Pharaoh London (pharaoh_ldn), formally known as Cats Got The Cream. Jem was just 21 when she turned her dreams into a reality and created her own fashion brand, but its not all as seamless and fun as it seems online. We met up with Jem to find out just how hard it really is and to get some tips for anyone starting out.

So, tell us about your brand.

Pharaoh London is a streetwear brand that I created 8 years ago now, it’s very much casual wear aimed at girls between the ages of 16-24.

It’s very much on trend and a bit different to your average online brands like Pretty Little Thing and In The Style, in my eyes. In the future I would definitely be interested in doing other styles, like some more dressy pieces.

Was it hard to be taken seriously as a brand at first?

Words, Images and Design by: Ava Monaghan

Not at all, I think it was easier as there was no one else really doing it when I first started in 2011, so I feel like people were crying out for underground, affordable brands to wear.

But with things like creating the right content for Instagram and dealing with customers at the start, that was really hard to get used to.

It’s like you get scared your’e going to post one wrong thing or say the wrong thing to a customer and its game over before it’s even started.

How long did it take for you to feel secure in the brand?

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I would say it took me about 3 months to feel secure in the brand in the sense that it was actually going somewhere. Others may say longer, but I knew that if I carried on working hard it would really take off and it did. Always believe in yourself and listen to your gut. I remember at first every day I was questioning myself, have I made the right decision? Is this just going to flop? It was hard.

What were your very first steps to get the ball rolling?

So first things first, i put all my ideas dow on paper. Started thinking properly about what kind of clothes I was passionate about and then had to think what will sell, what d people want? Then, I found a supplier that urban outfitters were using and basically bought a load of that stock and started selling the same items on eBay- it escalated from there. After this, I knew I could sell and stared my own website and used tumblr as a platform and grew sales from there.

What was the hardest thing you had to deal with when starting off?

Well, starting from nothing I only ever put £150 of my own money in. So building up from that has been a long process and was very hard at the start but exciting at the same time. Money was always tricky at the start but I was cutting costs where possible and once i realised the brand was taking off it gave me the confidence to start investing more knowing I would be able to make that profit.

Is there anything you didn’t know that you had to learn the hard way?

Taxes! Just about anything to do with finances, I really struggled at first, its not just one of those things that comes naturally- well not to me anyway! Accounting is definitely my down fall but my mum used to run a small business so she helped me out a lot and sort of showed me the ropes.

What would you say the brands main source of exposure is?

I would have to say that now days it’s definitely Instagram. However, when I first started out it was bloggers, and surprisingly Facebook! I feel like back then not everyone was glued to their phones constantly checking their social media and seeing what everyone else is wearing and buying, it was a lot harder back then to get the exposure I needed as a new brand, I think if I was to start it now, getting enough exposure wouldn’t be one of my worries.

Are there any influencers/bloggers you are extra proud to have worked with?

We have worked with Sarah Ashcroft (sarahhashcroft), Ellie Joslin (missjoslin) and some others that have now gone on to bigger things. But some celebs from shows like made in Chelsea have worn our clothes on their own accord which is cool and was so crazy to me at the time.

What other brands did you/do you look up to and do you think it reflects in your own pieces?

I think I have always found brands that strive to be ethical cool, I think that’s super hard so I admire them a lot. Style wise, I look up to brands like Nike,Yeezy, Off white, lazy oaf, fearless, gym shark. Some of our items definitely give off the same vibe as Yeezy, a few customers have said that before. That casual, oversized sort of simplistic look that is just effortless yet looks really cool.

Looking back on the journey of Cats got the Cream/ Pharaoh is there anything you would do differently?

Too many things! But I see these are learning curves like, I don’t regret anything. If I had to narrow it down I would say that I wish I would have pushed pharaoh years ago as for me personally, I prefer the name and the whole style over the image that the brand had when it was Cats got the Cream. I also wish that I took advantage of the blogger scene rising up, I could have got a lot ore exposure and also helped out smaller influencers who are just starting off.

Is there any advice you would give to those with the same goals you had who are just starting off?

The more you learn the more you earn, basically.

Never turn your nose up at anyone. I strongly believe we can learn something from everyone, whoever they are. Don’t give up at any hurdles because there is an answer for everything, there is always a way out of any sticky situation.

And don’t be scared to try something different!

Fashion isn’t meant to be all the same, you will only regret the ideas you don’t share.

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6

TIPS TO IMPROVE your INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT

upload videos (you can connect with a emotional) bond)

create your own hashtags

be more social

post everyday

analyse your posts and improve

keep in mind the time you upload the post

(create more accounts in other apps)

Words, Images and Design by: Sofia Calatayud Garcia

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HATE KYLIE LOVE HER MONEY

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HOW TO BE AS RICH AS 1. Start a little business and watch it grow. Kylie gets most of her money out of her cosmetic line. She started it by selling lip kits, She slowlt expanded her brand and now she has a whole new makeup collection. If you are interested in starting your own business dont hold back. Who knows you could be the new Kylie Jenner

3. Kylie is known for her iconic look. The curves, big lips, bold coloured wigs. She isn’t afraid to look outgoing. So why should you? Don’t be scared to embrace your style and personality.

Kylie is now a billionaire, so wear that funky outfit, green coloured wig and put them red high heels on and watch brands fall at your feet, wanting you to be their model

KYLIE JENNER 2.Keeping up with trend when starting your own business. Driving demand with limited edition stock is something Kylie is no stranger to. Seasonal launches are a hit with her fans, who have come to expect new collections at Christmas, Valentines day and mid summer, to name a few.

4. Kylie has a massive following on Instagram. She gets paid around 1.2 million dollars per post. Social media is a great platform to get your name or brand out there. To build up your brand awareness you need to be consistent with you posts, every post needs to match your feed.

You don’t need to post exactly what she posts but as long as your are passionate about your brand or yourself people will be engaged. You can ask to collab with big brands, or other influencers. This will help your brand be noticed due to the fact they have a lot of followers and page activity

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WOULD MARILYN MONROE

B

BE A BEAUTY ICON TODAY, WITH NO INSTA FOLLOWERS?

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0

0

INTERVIEW

WE ASKED 3 INSTAGRAM INFULENCERS WHAT THEIR OPPINIONS ARE ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA

Would she of been such an icon with in Instagram?

Celine: Of course, personally I dont understand how she got so famous when she didnt use social media. I really look up to her as she started from the bottom and worked worked her way up by being on the TV, radio, news papers and more.

Now all you need to do is post a picture or video on your feed its a lazy world

How many times do you use social media a week?

Olivia: I have 8,266 followers on instagram and I’m on my page every day. I aim to post everyday, however its very hard and time consuming now I’m at university. If I don’t a picture for my feed everyday, I post on my Instagram story to keep engaged with my followers I love its my part time job.

Would you prefer to live in Marilyn Moroes year or 2019?

Zoe: I have 4,338 followers on instagram I promote my makeup brand on their. I am selling my own eyelashes and I am a makeup artist. My feed shows my audience my skills, and products. Without social media my followers wouldnt know about me.

I dont have money for advertisment

Marilyn Monroe was a famous American actress, model and singer.

Her beauty quickly evolved as her career took off, Monroe experiment with her hair and makeup, however her iconic platinum blonde curls in a variety of styles was she was known for. In 1950 and early 1960 Marilyn was seen as the most beautiful women, everyone admired her looks through the TV screen, radio and news papers. Marilyn didn’t need Instagram likes, comments or followers to prove that she’s beautiful.

Now in 2019 that has all changed Instagram is a social media network where if your page doesn’t get enough interaction from the public, you are seen as “ugly or imperfect”.

Instagram brain washes people into believing everyone’s life and image is perfect, except from your own.

However people forget that a filter doesn’t only cover up the original picture it also covers up the reality.

No one post the bad people only posts the good aspects in their lives.

Instagram isn’t healthy and more people need to understand that the features | carbon 107 amount followers and likes doesn’t prove anything.

4

THE TOP

FASHION INFLUENCERS

TO FOLLOW THIS SEASON

@weworewhat 2.2 million

Danielle Bernstein

is the founder of the fashion blog and brand ʻWeWoreWhat.ʼ “WeWoreWhat is a fashion blog

I created to provide a daily dose

of outfit inspiration

from every corner of NYC. What started as a street style blog is now a personal style blog and my fashion diary.”

Over the past year, 17 year old

Leo Mandella

has become one of the most recognisable figures in streetwear.

“I think fashion is one of the best methods of expressing yourself differently to everyone

else because now I have

found myself.”

@gullyguyleo 720K

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Adam Gallagher is the founder behind the highly popular blog ʻI AM GALLA.ʼ

This blog aims at the menʼs demographic, including styling tips,

trend forecasts and third party inspiration.

Gallagher stands out due to his ability to blend his native California aesthetic with a sharp New York approach to fashion.

@iamgalla

2 million

@lissyroddyy 854K Alicia Roddy, influencer and youtuber, is most popular for her carefully curated outfit photos on instagram.

“I am very much in to fashion and styling and everything that surrounds that, however I actually studied Business Management Sales and Marketing. Being a buyer is my long term goal.”

Words by Niamh Davies

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TRAVEL

When going on holiday, it’s essential to not only have a good time, but to make sure you’re prepared. But, don’t worry, this time we’ve done all the hard work and compacted a handy list of all your must haves for the next time you travel. Whether it’s long haul or short, close or far, here’s everything you’ll need for a good trip. So sit down, grab a coffee, and get ready for us to tell all...

1 WARDROBE

Okay, so firstly you’re going to want to make sure you pack the correct wardrobe. Capsule is the way to go, trust me on that one. Holding a capsule wardrobe for your travels ensures you have all you need, and outfits are easily matchable. Made a mess? No worries because you’ve got seven other tops that pair well with those jeans.

2 SPF May be an obvious one to some of you brain boxes, but make sure you take some SPF with you. It’s so important to keep yourself topped up with sun cream, even when it’s frosty outside the sun can still shine through, then next thing you know, you’re resembling Rudolph more than yourself.

3 HAIR BANDS Hair bands! If you’re one of the lucky ones with lovely long hair, don’t forget to bring more than one hair band. No matter how long the trip, those tricky little hair ties can snap on you in no time. Next thing you know, you’re tying it up with an elastic band and let’s be real there, nobody wants to do it. Do they?

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Words and images by Yasmin Feasey

4 JACKET Back to the clothing idea, bring a jacket! Even if you’re going to the Equator, bring a jacket. We have all been in the situation: sunny seven day trip to Spain, we’re packing light. Jacket? Don’t need one! Lie, you do need one. Just always be prepared for those slightly chilly sunset evenings on the terrace.

TIPS

5 BOTTLE If you can, make sure you bring a reusable bottle of some sort. Take it empty in your luggage if you’re traveling by plane and just use it when you arrive. Taking a reusable bottle can not only do its bit to save the environment, but you can also save you a lot of money and effort by doing so. Staying hydrated is just as important as looking good., so take care of your drinking water as much as your new outfit.

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A K N A L I SR F O y T U A E B E G A V SA

The elegant Indian Ocean island named as the top country to travel in 2019 attracts up to 2.1 million visitors a year, to explore its natural beauty and culture. Asides from the exquisite beaches, temples and its wildlife, the country is known for its dangers, which should be investigated before choosing to travel here. There are many precautions for UK travellers in place to increase personal safety and security during your visit including advice for terrorism, which is high due to Easter 2019 attacks and natural disasters such as cyclones and monsoons. They also include useful information about travel visas, local laws, customs and injections. Aside from the negatives of the country, it is a stunning island to visit, if you take your own safety seriously.

The island’s capital Colombo is full of beautiful handpainted temples and architecture are hidden throughout the busy streets including the Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque - the magnificent brick structure made of swirling red and white patterns is one to see. However, the city’s main safety precaution is that you make sure you travel in a group and don’t walk through the city on your own, especially as a foreign traveller and a woman.

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Another beauty in the country would be Kegalle, found 48 miles from Colombo and 25 miles from Kandy, although it isn’t a famous location that is recommended for Sri Lankan travels, it is home to a fantastic organisation called The Elephant Freedom Project. It is a small family-run project which shelters captive elephants and is the only elephant association in Sri Lanka which don’t allow elephant riding.

They currently are looking after one elephant who had spent many years working in the harsh wood logging industry, allowing her to live her retirement out in a calm, relaxing woodland environment. It enables you to get close to the giants, in a once in a life experience, which you cannot miss during a visit to Sri Lanka. Although it is an idyllic country, everywhere has its own dangers and travellers should always check safety recommendations before travelling.

Words by Lucie Kyle

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A TRAVELLERS GUIDE TO

DESSERTS Carrageen moss pudding with raspberry compote

IRELAND CANADA Beavertail

TENESSE

Banana pudding

Mantecados

SPAIN There are many benefits of travelling around the world; and desserts are just one of them. Looking for the next Instagram upload? Trying to find something to boast about on Twitter? We decided to look at the many countries over all continents, highlighting the secret treasures of food around the globe for everyone to shout about!

MEXICO

BRAZIL

Infogrpahic by Erin O’Farrell

Pastel de tres leches

PERU

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Brigadeiro

Ribbon cookies

FINLAND Krumkake

Birds milk cake

NORWAY RUSSIA

Kaiserschmarrn

GERMANY

8 layer honey cake

Chimney cake

HUNGARY

Gambir

MONGOLIA

KAZAKHSTAN

ITALY

Egg waffle

CHINA

Rice pudding

Stir fried Ice cream

SAUDI ARABIA

THAILAND SINGAPORE

Galaxy Doughnut

AUSTRALIA Malva pudding

SOUTH AFRICA

Fairy bread

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A short city break to

MADRID, SPAIN

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As soon as the offer of a flight ticket to Madrid for just under £50 one way came up in the middle of June, I knew it would be the perfect place to spend a couple of days with a couple of friends. Booking the Ryanair tickets was smooth, and finding a place to stay through Airbnb was even easier. A cute two-bed apartment at the top of a building, with an open loft, converted into a bedroom, was the perfect place for us to stay as we were situated not too far from the centre of Madrid. Then again, getting to London Stansted airport, which is no-where near London anyways, for a flight at 8:00 in the morning was never going to be fun. Luckily one of my friends going on the trip could drive us there; one thing I would recommend if you get cheap flights to other countries and live an hour and a half away from Stansted.

As soon as we got to Madrid, it was hot. Europe at this time of year was suffering from a big heatwave, massively affecting countries such as Spain, France and Germany, with this being the hottest June ever recorded in Europe. France even experienced some temperatures that were over 45°C! Buying bottled water was a massive necessity throughout the start of the trip due to the amount of walking that we did, with big 1L bottles of water not being too expensive either. Our first thing to do on the agenda in the beautiful city was going to an art museum, exploring the culture of Madrid and Spain through their artwork. The ‘Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía’ is one of the best museums I have visited. It is more appealing for the younger generations compared to the older generation who usually find visits to museums a bit more interesting. The artwork is a lot more abstract; lots of colours used and different styles of art to entice the customers to explore. Even though I was never really the biggest fan of staring at a piece of art on a wall, I found this fascinating and got a lot of inspiration from this one place. The best thing about the entire trip to this art museum is that I didn’t have to pay anything to get in, with it being free for students to access, compared to paying a €10 standard fee to get in. Agreed, I was on a gap year, so I technically wasn’t a student but, I’m on a student budget.

If you are a lover of fast-fashion high-street stores such as H&M and Primark etc., Madrid would be the place to go for a shopping spree. The Primark that I visited was massive, with the building featuring five floors and looking like an entire shopping mall in itself! I can imagine people would probably end up getting lost there. On the other hand, if you are a lover of vintage and more sustainable clothing, Madrid is also the place to visit. Walking through one road of central Madrid, there were never-ending rows of blankets laid out along the ground, all filled with old clothes, items of jewellery and sometimes just junk. It was like a car-boot sale, but I would describe it as an in-real-life version of Depop.

One of the highlights of this holiday was discovering a vintage store named Alphaville, situated in Embajadores. As I went into the store, I spoke to the lady at the desk for a little bit, and she told me that everything downstairs was for €5 as they were having a big clear-out of their stock. When I go and take a look downstairs at the items of clothing, I am shocked to see a 1990’s red Nike jacket, with a big ‘Nike’ print along the back of the jacket.

Even though the size was an XL and is too big for myself, I knew I had to buy it instantly, especially at that price! The only problem was that it was a backpacking trip, so I had to suitcase to pack it away, and that meant throughout the day of walking around Madrid I had to carry this heavy jacket in the 35-degree heat.

The one downside of this holiday was that I didn’t have enough time to explore Madrid fully. There was so much more to the city than I explored, with this city being absolutely massive. The Spanish language and culture was something that always excited me, and being able to experience it at the age of 19 with some friends was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I would highly recommend it.

travel | carbon 119 Words by Matthew Nicoll, Images from Unsplashed

Fast track

here is a guide to interrailing around europe in One month seeing 7 cities & the top instagram destinations...

1.Amsterdam

2. Berlin

Moving on to Berlin, it was such a surprise! I hadn’t realised how beautiful it actually was. A photo by Brandenburg Gate at sunset made for a lovely picture. In just less than 24 hours we managed to also see the remains of the Berlin wall and have time for the best vegetable lasagna I have ever tasted.

Interrailing around Europe for a month gave me the perfect opportunity to see the world and capture all the best memories to upload to Instagram. After a little planning I decided on Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Salzburg, Venice, Milan, Nice and Paris. Each place was different and had a very different vibe about it. The first stop in Amsterdam was amazing, I recommend hiring bikes and stopping down one of the canals for a perfect shot of Amsterdam.

The bikes cost us 15 euros for the day and we cycled for miles, it really is a great way to see around the whole city especially in short amount of time. Although remember your coat because it got very cold and even rained quite heavy on the first day. There are so many things to do and see in Amsterdam the Ice bar was another favourite along with the sex musuem which was 5 euros to basically get a photo of you and a giant penis, it has to be done.

120 carbon | travel Written by Meg Summers, Images from Unsplashed

3.

Prague

Prague was probably the prettiest place visited during this trip, the view from up the castle looking down was very picturesque. Not to mention the actual castle itself, it was very impressive. Charles Bridge was very busy with people all stopping for pictures with the water either side of you. The old town square was extremely busy but highly worth a visit. It’s worth finding a hotel or hostel near this area as everything is in walking distance.

I recommend trying a doughnut ice cream cone with a choice of filling like nutella or cream.

You can’t miss them, they are sold everywhere.

4.

Venice

Italy was a particular favourite place overall. Venice was beautiful! The best thing was that 80 euro gondola ride. It was a half an hour trip around some of the streets of Venice, it was so peaceful and relaxing, also making for a very good instagram. Pick any cute bridge with the water and buildings behind and this makes for another great picture. You also need a picture at night with your pizza or pasta because it really is the best in Italy along with a nice shot of limoncello. I also would consider a boat trip over to the island where glass ornaments are made. We watched the glass be blown into all sorts of amazing things.

5. Milan

Next it was on to Milan where the cathedral was incredible.

You may need to pay for a paper dress as your shoulders have to be covered however its worth it. Inside was amazing and you are allowed to take photos! The Montenapoleone was probably the most impressive shopping centre I will ever see, not that we could afford any of the shops inside. Stand facing the shops and glass roof for another great photo.

6.

Nice

Nice was lovely too. The beach was lovely to sit and walk along after being in central cities for so long. The view from the Bellanda Tower was particularly wonderful. You had a view of the whole strip of the beach all the way to the edge of the city and the mountains in the background.

Monte-Carlo also made a lovely day trip. Everywhere was beautiful and looked expensive. The yachts were incredible all parked around the dock and the view looking down from the casino was spectacular.

7. Paris The last stop was Paris and lets just say so many instagram spots are here!

Tuileries Garden was lovely to stroll through and is right by the edge of the river. An obvious one is in front of the Louvre Museum, however be careful not to drop your phone or camera with the amount of people pushing forwards just to be at the front for the Mona Lisa. The queue for the Eiffel Tower was worth the wait, the view really is amazing paris looks like a city of white buildings, it’s perfect to show your followers you’ve been to Paris with a photo from up there.

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A sHort city break to

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Words by Matthew Nicoll, Images from Unsplashed

“Berlin, the greatest cultural extravaganza that one could imagine.” david bowie Nowadays when people take a gap year, travelling is seen as the typical thing to do throughout the year, with people usually doing an Interrail experience or going across the world to Asia to explore the different countries around there. I had a different kind of travelling experience throughout my year out; spending most of my time working and then visiting a couple of major cities across Europe for a few nights at a time, spread out across the year.

I have always enjoyed travelling and have gone on holiday to many places across the world throughout my life, ranging from Portugal to Turkey to Australia, and as soon as my mate came up with the idea of going to Berlin, the capital city of Germany, it was full steam ahead in to booking it all as soon as possible.

I think the hardest part of the whole trip was having to get up at 3:15am just so we can get to the airport for our flight at 7:15am. Luckily, we can get to Heathrow Airport in literally 15 minutes straight down the M4, and treating ourselves to a Wetherspoons breakfast was just what we needed. Two hours sleep really isn’t the best thing in the world if I’m honest, but the British Airways flight was! The positive thing about an early flight is how early you actually arrive in to your destination, and as Germany is only one hour ahead of our standard time, it doesn’t make a massive difference to get used to. Taking just two hours on the plane to get to central Berlin, it meant we had the whole day ahead of us to explore this exciting city. Finding our Air B&B was easy, and the small apartment was a good size for the two of us.

It wasn’t the most modern thing in the world, but that’s what we wanted to experience when visiting Germany. Just the ant infestation in the bathroom was not something I’d like to experience again.

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especially in the mid 35-degree heat, was a bit of a struggle! Visiting the remains of the Berlin wall with all of the artwork painted on it is perfect for photo-lovers who are looking for the next Instagram picture to show off to their friends that they went on the perfect European holiday. Or there’s the ‘Museum der Illusionen’ where you can experience illusions at first hand, and this was one of the highlights of my trip as it was hilarious.

The way I like to explore cities is going with the flow of it all; I feel like having a really strict plan isn’t realistic as it limits your exploring time, and it’s too much stress as I’m meant to be on holiday enjoying myself. Our first thing we experienced was Charlottenburg Palace, built at the end of the 17th century, and I’d have to say it is one of Berlin’s most secret treasures – it was astoundingly beautiful! Acres of garden which you can just walk through in the 36-degree heat, massive statues and lovely architecture – all to experience without having to pay a single penny!

The typical Berlin tourist attractions were also very worth the distance across the city to see. The thing is with our visit to Berlin we felt that the best way of getting around was by bus, with there seemingly not being a lot of tube stations local to where we were staying, so the bus journey were usually around half an hour to an hour long whenever we wanted to do anything, I have always been interested in the two world wars, and so visiting the monumental places in history and seeing them with my own eyes was something else. Seeing the Reichstag building and Brandenburg Gate was eye opening; thinking about the past and how many people were affected by events that had happened here many years ago. I also highly recommend visiting the ‘Memorial to the Murder Jews’, with this being a massive landscape filled with almost 8-foot tall to remember all of the Jewish people who lost their lives throughout WWII. All of these places were flooded with tourists so getting a picture next to these tourist attractions,

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One thing I loved about Berlin is how inviting they were to students, with near enough every attraction offering some form of student discount so that 16-24 year olds can pay a lot less than a standard admission. This meant that it would be the perfect small break for a student to take if they wanted to do a lot of things but not spend a lot of money on attractions and other things. One thing I realised in Berlin is that it is a very fashion-conscious city, with this being clear through the amount of vintage stores and other clothes stores that are found around the city. There was this one skate shop named Titus which was clearly very popular with the locals; selling all the typical skate brands such as Vans, Nike, Adidas, DC, Patagonia, Stüssy and many more. A fashion lover’s dream you could say.

I didn’t realise that there was so much more to Berlin than it just being a simple city break; there are so many other things to discover as you explore the city. The lifestyle, the culture, the fashion, the food – it’s all part of the experience there, and it’s unlike any other city which I’ve ever visited. And the business-class flight home was lovely.

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Traveller Today’s solo traveller is no longer defined by their relationship status or whether they have like-minded friends. Instead, they are increasingly choosing to leave their loved ones behind to do what they want, when they want and get a bit of hard-won ‘me time’ and have amazing experiences on their terms.

The world was once, for many of us, a vast and daunting labyrinth; a complicated, expensive challenge to navigate, and a path best travelled with friends in tow. You had to be good at mapreading, with the ability to overcome language barriers. Getting around was harder. That’s changed, and an ever-increasing number of us are these days setting off on adventures alone.

Is it just that Google can now steer even the most directionally challenged among us to our next location, or translate words from any language? Is it that more of us are single than ever before? Are we now by nature too impatient to wait for a suitable companion to show up?

According to ABTA’s latest annual Holiday Habits survey, more than one in six people (15%) chose to go on holiday by themselves in the past 12 months – up from the one in nine (12%) who took a solo holiday in 2017. However, the reasons for doing so vary compared to last year.

The top reason to travel alone is still to have the opportunity to do what they want, with over three-quarters (76%) of people doing so – up 3% on last year. But holidaymakers aren’t as interested in travelling alone to take time out (63% vs 71% last year) or to meet new people (31% vs 41% last year). These changes are most notable among the 35-44-year-old age group, which has seen an increase of 11% in solo travel from last year. Just over 92% said travelling alone meant they had the opportunity

to do what they want – 22% up on last year.

Hitwise, the UK’s most extensive online behavioural research tool, said that out of 3 million consumers in the UK, there was a 143 per cent increase in “solo travel” searches over the past three years. In the past four weeks, incidentally, the most popular destinations driving solo travel searches have been Costa Rica, South East Asia and New Zealand. If we’re not doing it, we’re certainly dreaming about doing it, and hotel booking sites have reported similar trends.

Hotelscan.com has noticed a 170 per cent increase in the last 12 months for those looking to book a room by themselves, the most popular destinations for this being Thailand, Peru, Sydney, Portugal and Vietnam respectively. According to Hostelworld, the number of solo bookings made

by Britons has increased by 60 per cent over the past three years, the highest rise globally.

Generation Z (18-24-year olds) were found to be the most willing to face their travel anxieties head-on, with two thirds managing to overcome their concerns. For many, that means setting off alone even if you’d rather have a friend.

The one barrier to solo travel has always been the cost. Being single, it seems, is the most indulgent of 21st-century luxuries. The average cost being an additional £2,049 per year.

Depressingly, travel was the expense with the most significant price difference between a single traveller and a couple travelling together.

Solo Travellers Guide: Six ways to avoid a single supplement 1. Negotiate Holidaymakers have the upper hand over tour operators and hotels at the moment. If you are looking at a time when the hotel is unlikely to be sold out or is offering exclusive deals, phone and ask the tour operator whether it will waive the supplement.

2. Cut out the middle man If you are prepared to book independently, try contacting the hotel by phone or email to negotiate the best possible rate for a single room or single occupancy.

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3. Travel in the shoulder-season In the Mediterranean, (May and June and September and October), as many hotels are quieter at these times. Some tour operators highlight dates in these months when they offer tours and hotel stays which are available for single travellers and don’t attract supplements.

4. Book with an operator that specialises in singles holidays. Mostly, they do not charge supplements, but provide a single or double room for sole occupancy – though they aren’t necessarily cheaper overall, so compare prices before booking).

5. Consider room sharing.

Many tour operators will offer same sex room arrangements. Alternatively, you could try to find a travelling companion through a specialist singles website. A couple of examples include singleagain.co.uk and companions2travel.co.uk.

6. Consider adventure travel. Trips where most nights are spent camping or in refuges, youth hostels or simple lodges and food that’s paid per person out of a kitty, are far less likely to charge significantly more for single bookings.

Infographic by Loren Parkhurst

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CARBON’S FEATURED ARTIST...

Meric Canatan As our featured artist of the month, we are looking into Meric Canatan and her work as an illustrator. With the use of textiles instead of paper, her style combines collage with layering and abstract cutouts to obscure the human form and create an image that compromises the photography editorials within the art and media industry.

Meric made her name as one of the first illustrators to collaborate with DASH Magazine with their launch issue, to then feature on DASH Magazine’s Autumn Winter 2014 issue. Drawing inspiration from female activists and the feminist movement, Meric captures the unconventional and refined existence of woman’s nature by encapsulating powerful faces and designing a piece that accentuates the topic of female empowerment.

In an interview with Metal Magazine, Meric explains that she has always been interested in art, portraiture and figures since a young age. At the age of 13, she attended an art school to develop her work, from then she studied Fine Arts at Ankara Anatolian High School. Meric went on to study a six-year degree in Textile and Fashion Design at Mimar Sinan University, where she explored her style, which fuelled her desire to find a context to apply to her talents.

At the age of 30, her work has featured on likes of Vogue Turkey, Fucking Young and DASH Magazine. Meric Canatan launched her Cosmos Clothing line in 2012, symbolising the Solar System, to then go on to create her Birdy Accessories Design, but this is only the beginning of what has to come for her career.

Too see more of her work and illustrations, visit her Instagram @mericcanatan, which displays her illustrations and collages.

@mericcanatan

Kiss Religious iconography takes its own spin in fashion, but where did it originate?

Carbon explores the artist movements that have influenced everyone from Alexander McQueen to Gucci. This issue we look at pre-raphealite illustrations.

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Written by: Jasmin Fee Designed by: Jasmin Fee

the first

The First Kiss. 1873 by Michelangelo

A diverse range of religions and cultures have been brought into fashion increasingly within recent years. Not just in terms of accommodating the dress of other religions into everyday “normal� fashion. Images on the clothing have shown more and more recognition of religious figures, viewing them as things to be admired.

Cherubs have become popular as a part of design in the fashion world. A lot of people wear it, but where did it come from? Why is it being incorporated into daily fashion? Where is it going next?

Originally cherubs are religious figures within Christian, Jewish and Islamic literature. Alongside that they are thought to be derived from Middle Eastern mythology. In these religious texts they are described very differently as to what we know today, they are said to have two pairs of wings and four heads to show the different types of creatures on Earth.

The heads are that of a lion to represent wild animals, an ox for domestic animals, a human for humanity and an eagle for birds. Through all these interpretations of cherubs, they are viewed as within the higher orders of angels and work closely with God. A cherub is a form of guardian angel and one was said to have been assigned the task of guarding the gate to the Garden Of Eden. Cherubs are seen not only as guardian angels seen to protect those they look over while reporting back to God but they are viewed as a symbol of love.

The version of cherub that we are exposed to and recognise a lot more, especially more in fashion, was actually not brought about until the Renaissance era when artists started painting them as soft featured, baby angels. Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo is known famously for his religious paintings, his painting The First Kiss (1873) of two cherubs kissing is a famous key piece and a perfect example of the Renaissance changing the depiction of what a Cherub is in contrast to religious texts. However, Michelangelo primarily in the Sistine Chapel where he has hundreds of paintings that reflect the religious nature of the building.

Ariana Grande wore a dress entirely inspired by the Sistine Chapel to the 2018 Met Gala designed by Vera Wang, this was really a huge part in cherubs rising to a favourite design. After her debuting this dress cherubs rose in the fashion world and trickled down onto the high street.

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The History Of Embroidery Embroidery has been used throughout fashion history for centuries and once again it is being brought back. Designers have embroidery in their Spring/Summer 2020 lines have. As below there is a range of different ways it’s been used by brands like Moschino and Oscar De La Renta. Each designer takes a different approach to how they want their embroidery to look, giving a taste of the brand identity. We have decided to take a look back at where these different form of embroidery came from, how emrboidery has changed through history and how it differs from what it is today.

Moschino SS20

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Antonio Marras SS20

Christian Dior SS20 Oscar De La Renta SS20

DARK AGES 7TH CENTURY

IRON AND DARK AGE EMBROIDERY 5th & 6th century AD when Egypt was part of the Byzantine Empire, the festive wide tunics of the period were decorated with roundels and panels in split, stem and chain stitch.

The burial garment of the Merovingian Queen Bathilda used chain stitch imitate her precious jewellery.

11TH CENTURY Tapestry of Bayeux, a strip of cloth 50cm tall and almost 70m long that tells the story of the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

8TH-10TH CENTURY Belguim uses surface couching four gold threads and split stitch on on the backgrounds.

13TH-17TH CENTURIES

12TH CENTURY Whitework altar cloths have survived making a variety of stitches including stem stitch, chain stitch, long armed crossstitch, buttonhole stitch, brick stitch and a variety of openwork techniques.

18TH-19TH CENTURY

The monastries of Lune Ebstorf, Heinigen and Wienhausen produced beautiful tapestries in brilliant colours depicting biblical and allergorical scenes.

20TH CENTURY Machine embroidery became easier and embroidery was no longer the fashionable embelishment of choice for clothing, it became purely a hobbby while at the same time ascending to an art form.

Various articles of daily life were embroidered, from fireplace screens to footstools to doilies and “tidies�, to little bags and huswifs (needle rolls).

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THE

WOMEN OF

a y. To d o t e y hav game in e h t n o iati anged the resent c e r p p and a usic and ch still ver y p usic t c e p s the re f hip-hop m to how it is name in m r o f t h eo fig heir ing g t o n a t e n i d w d g a e a e have h t star ted a n from the b how they m s t s i t r Then came hop a women tha all the way awards and p i h Queen Latifah, she started her e Femal mage to the o look back ievements, career in the late 1980s, but really her success t came to light in the early 90s where she released her second p a y h o w e ’r e g o i n g o k i n g a t a c h o , L album. Going on from that she dabbled in acting starring in FOX networks m u s i c y ’s m u s i c . sitcom ‘Living Single’, but it did not affect her production of music. In fact, in toda hip-hop. the peak of her music career came during this time when Queen Latifah h g Going u o r won a Grammy in 1995 for her single ‘UNIT Y’. This was a momentous event th all the way back to the 1980s, MC Lyte was one of the rappers that started the female hip-hop Revolution. Her songs spoke about real issues but kept to the genre she felt best suited her regardless of there being very few female hip-hop artists on the scene. MC released her first single ‘ICram to Understand U’ at the young age of 17 in 1988, and it addressed the heavy issue of crack abuse and how it affects relationships.

She continued to release more and more music, releasing her first full album ‘Lyte as a Rock’ in 1991. Her biggest achievement that was a huge step in not only her career but for female hip-hop artists was her being nominated for a Grammy in the Best Rap Single category. This milestone was huge, with her being the first female solo rapper to be nominated for such a widely recognised award.

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that will go down in history as she was one of the first women in hip-hop to win a Grammy. She has continued to rap about serious issues that society struggles with and often ignores. Her acting career has stayed with her starring in movies such as Taxi, Barbershop 2 and many other films. In 2002 she even won an Academy Award for ‘Best Supporting Actress for her role in Chicago.

Coming from the same era, Salt-N-Pepa also arose into the music industry in the mid-80s. With their first single ‘Push It’ came immediate success with it reaching number 1 in 3 countries which was a massive achievement for 2 female rappers. Following that came their debut album ‘Hot, Cold + Vicious’ which sold over a million copies, that earned them the title of the

P I P H HO

first female rap act to achieve gold + platinum status on an album. Their third album reflected their success and fame has over 7 million copies sold, meaning they became the first female rap act to have multi-platinum selling albums. Again, this paved the way for an increase of female hip-hop artists starting careers and not feel like success in such an area isn’t achievable.

Lauryn Hill was recognised initially for her acting and performance skills with appearances in soap-operas and movies. Then she was signed to Columbia records in 1993 in a group called The Fugees where they released their first album ‘Blunted on Reality’ the following year which had recognisable success. Two years later in 1996, they released their second album ‘The Score’ which had huge success peaking at number 1 on the US Billboard 200 where it stayed in the top charts for over half a year. Maintaining that position contributed hugely to their success and even won them a Grammy for Best Rap Album along with being put on the Rollingstone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Her solo work came in the late 90s with her record ‘The miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ was made. This skyrocketed her career with her being the first woman to be nominated in 10 categories at the Grammys which she went on to win 5 of in one night making her the first female artist to achieve such an honour.

Although Lil’ Kim is no longer active in the music industry, her name is almost a legend in the hip-hop world. Her music career started in the mid90s when she was offered to join a group known as the Junior MAFIA led

by BIG. She went on to release an album with BIG which peaked at number 8 on the Billboard 100 and earned gold certification. Her solo debut album ‘Hard Core’ was 11 on the Billboard 200 and earned double-platinum status in 2001. Her music career allowed her to stretch into other areas, including modelling where she modelled for high-end brands such as Versace. Lil’ Kim earned her a Grammy in 2002 with the song ‘Lady Marmalade’. Her career sadly ended abruptly in 2005 with convictions for which she was sentenced to 1 year in prison, 30 days home detention and 3 years’ probation. Although Lil’ Kim has not been producing new music since 2005, she has been putting out mixtapes every few years since then showing she’s still active. Recently there have been rumours of an album in the works throughout 2019, but no confirmation has been made officially.

Missy Elliot is another huge name in the world of female rappers, her career began by forming an R&B group in 1989 named Fayze initially but then renamed as the well-known group Sistas. Their debut single didn’t arrive until 1993, and their first album was out the following year called ‘4 All The Sistas Around The World’. After that, in 1995, she took her own path

and started to collaborate with Timberland. Following that 2 years later she made her solo debut album titled ‘Supa Dupa Fly’ which was highly successful making it to platinum status for sales, this being a significant milestone for her career. In 2002, her fourth album ‘Under Construction’ was released then being recognised as the bestselling female rap album as it sold 2.1 million copies in the US alone. This was also the year that Missy Elliot won 2 Grammys, one being for best rap solo performance and a shared one for Lady Marmalade with Lil’ Kim, Pink, Mya and Christina Aguilera.

Missy Elliot’s name continued to climb the charts and was seen more and more for nominations for awards. She has continued to bring out music, most recently she has produced an EP released August 2019.

The most recent big name in Nicki Minaj, she started off in 2007 releasing her mixtape ‘Playtime Is Over’ then following up with another mixtape in 2008. That same year she earned her first award being the female artist of the year award at the Underground Music Awards. When 2009 came around, she was given a contract with Young Money Entertainment after meeting Lil Wayne. Releasing her debut album ‘Pink Friday’ in 2010 earned her a lot of attention as it reached platinum status and made her a place on the Billboard top 100 as she became the first female artist to have 7 songs on there at one time. After that she was nominated for 3 Grammys, won a VMA for best hip-hop video and in 2012 she became the first solo female rap artist to perform at the Grammys setting yet another mark in history for successful women in the hip-hop industry.

In 2014 she tested her way into acting by playing a minor role in the movie ‘The Other Women’ then being nominated for another 2 Grammy awards at the end of the year and having won another VMA for best hip-hop artist again. Minaj has continued to create music up until her announcement at the start of September that she’d be retiring from the music industry to settle down and have a family without music is a factor in life that might cause an issue or interrupt that plan.

All these female rap artists paved a path, working for what they believed in and loved. Many girls view them as inspiring and influential figures within their lives, they represent a movement within an Industry and genre that was once thought should never happen. Their careers weren’t just there for the moment they live on as legacies and inspirations to generations of musicians and music lovers to come.

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PIRATES TO

FROM

POP STARS Who Is Sailor Jerry?

Sailor Jerry, born Norman Kieth Collins chose to define himself on his own terms. He simply wasnt one of those people born to live a middle-of-theroad life. Back in the 1920’s, when Collins came of age, tattooing was an expression that belonged to an emerging American counterculture. It was a mark of not blindly following the mainstream of choosing to live outside the lines.

He travelled the country by hitchhiking and train hopping, for Collins and others like him, it was about wanderlust and freedom. They traveled by freight train, took temporary work and camped along the way. This was when Collins started learning his craft, working primitively with only a needle and black ink, creating designs freehand, one poke at a time.

In Chicago, two things happened that changed his life.

One, he hooked up with local tattoo legend, Gib ‘Tatts’ Thomas, who taught him to use a tattoo machine. (For practice, he paid people with cheap wine or a few cents to let him tattoo them).

The second was joining the Navy.

Honolulu was where Collins, as Sailor Jerry, built his legacy.

Soldiers and sailors wanted to grab all the experiences they could before they shipped out. These soldiers were out to have some drinks, enjoy the company of women and get tattooed.

The characterized mindset of an American serviceman on shore leave is a deep thread in Jerry’s art. From “Man’s Ruin,” an image of a vixen in a cocktail glass surrounded by a dice, cards and dollar signs – to a picture of a bloody knife sticking though a heart with the words

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THE SNAKE TATTOO Snake tattoos are associated with power. Snakes are typically shown curled and ready to attack, giving off a “don’t touvh me”sensibility and warding off evil, misfortune and potential fights. Sailor Jerry’s favourite snake to ink was a King Cobra.

THE DRAGON TATTOO Jerry admired the work of Japanese tattooists and was the first Westerner to enter into regular pairings with them. He was also set to beat them at their own game. Jerry’s dragon tattoos, clearly Asian inspired, embody these conflicting attitudes. They’re more like exotic ghosts than living beings — like totems of an earlier, era.

THE SKULL TATTOO A tattoo is one of the hard decisions we make in life, representing a commitment until your last day — this is one reason skulls and death themes are big. The other is that tattoos, in the ancient world and in Jerry’s day, were often the marks of warriors, mercenaries and travellers – people whose life choices represented coming to terms with death.

represent both the call to adventure and the desperation to be home.

THE HEART TATTOO A sailor staring down a long time at sea- including the possible idea of not returning home, wanted a heart tattoo to keep his loved ones close. Sometimes these hearts were just images. Other times, they read “Mum” or featured the name of a special girl. Hearts still remain one of the most popular tattoos for both sailors and not.

THE LUCKY THIRTEEN There’s a known tradition in tattoo culture of celebrating things which others fear (hence the idea of things like skulls and knives).

Sailor Jerry’s Lucky 13 design is probably the most famous set of tattoo designs that flip a bad luck symbol on its head. The series shows Jerry’s iconic design sense along with his well known sense of humour.

THE SHARK TATTOO Sailor Jerry’s attitude towards sharks embodied those of many a sailor. You want to hate them, but you’ve got to love them.

Sometimes animal tattoos are about taking on its traits. A lion shows that you’re brave. A panther shows you’re tough. But a shark’s more about what you overcome. A shark on your arm says you’re willing to stand your ground. It says you’re not about to become someone else’s dinner.

THE PANTHER TATTOO Panthers are usually inked as totems of virility, sometimes also symbolising a connectedness to nature. Sailor Jerry’s panther tattoos are particularly ferocious and masculine – drawn with red, often bloody claws, open jaws and occasionally in the company of a naked woman.

THE PIN-UP GIRL Pin-up girls represent the ideal and extremes of femininity — from maidenly perfection to vixen-ish temptation. The woman inked on a sailor’s arm would be the only woman form he would see for months. Applying his bold, refined style to the pin-up, Sailor Jerry created what could be considered the world’s most iconic tattoo.

THE SHIP TATTOO For sailors, ships are practical. It’s where you go for work – but for adventure too. Sailor Jerry loved ships and held master papers on every major type of vessel. His legendary ship tattoos

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SWALLOW TATTOOS Knowing that a sailor had sailed over 5000 miles, swallow tattoos are also know for the idea of return. This “return” symbolism is rooted in two ideas. The first was the swallow’s famous migration pattern, always returning home to San Juan Capistrano. Second, it was believed that if a sailor dies at sea, birds carry his soul home and to heaven.

ANCHOR TATTOOS At sea, the anchor is the most secure object in a sailor’s life, making it the perfect representation of stability. This is why you’ll often see anchor tattoos with “Mum” or the name of the sailor’s lover (or even the people who keep them grounded). Anchors have become popular within general tattoo culture over the years, but the symbolism is still the same. It’s a reminder of what keeps you grounded.

SHELLBACK TURTLE TATTOOS Like a ship at full speed, a shellback tattoo showed a sailor’s experience at sea. Once a sailor crossed the equator, he earned the right to get a turtle inked on his body. The longer someone had spent at sea, the more tattoos they could show off.

“If you don’t think you’re man enough to wear a tattoo, don’t get one. But don’t try to make excuses for yourself by knocking the fellow who does!” - Sailor Jerry Jerry was deeply influenced by the culture that started the war in the first place - the Japanese. The most proficient and sophisticated tattoo artists of the times were the Japanese masters known as Horis. He became the first Westerner to enter in regular correspondence with these masters, sharing techniques and tattoo tracings. By fusing American and Asian sensibilities, Jerry created his own style of tattooing - iconic and artistic, irreverent and soulful, radical and beautiful.

Jerry refused to do big chest or back pieces on customers who had tattoos by artists he didn’t respect.

He goes over detail after detail, from techniques for shading to the “possibilities of tone and texture” to “crash” effects.

“I haven’t done my best yet, only my best so far.” - Sailor Jerry He asked that upon his death, his shop be passed on to his protégés, Don Ed Hardy and Mike Malone (aka Rollo Banks). If neither took the place over, Jerry left instructions it was to be burned to the ground.

Malone took possession of the shop and ran it for almost 25 years.

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Mario Rubalcaba talked with Pat about his style and the legacy of Norman Collins.

“How would you describe your aesthetic and what drew you to it?”

I was always drawn to American traditional even before I really had an understanding of what it was. I just knew it was the aesthetic of the tattoos that my grandfather had. I was drawn to it just because of how powerful the tattoos are. It’s what I saw as a kid and was my first exposure to tattoos. Aesthetically, the bold lines and heavy black shading make for an excellent tattoo that will stand the test of time.

“How was Norman’s work first introduced to you? What is it about his stuff that is inspiring to you?”

I first got introduced to Sailor Jerry when I was in my teens by a good friend of mine who was a few years older than me and had the blue Sailor Jerry flash book. I had seen some of the more popular designs here and there in tattoo magazines, but this was the first time I had ever seen any sort of collection of these images. Now I had a name to look for and I knew what I liked. Those flash books and a few sketchbooks of his are some of the first things I ever bought off of eBay. It was the way he redid some of those old images that really stands out, his versions of such simple drawings just had so much finesse to them. He could make anything instantly recognizable as drawn by his hand. In most cases with the designs, he wasn’t the first to do it but he certainly brought the most style to the table.

“How do you think a guy like Norman would react if he saw how mainstream tattoos are becoming today?”

It’s hard to say how someone who died 40 years ago would react today. He was very devoted to tattooing and was big on keeping it secret and keeping it small. He was constantly pushing forward up until his death. You can read in his letters to other tattoo-ers of the time just how analytical he was with the whole process. It didn’t matter if it was building a machine, applying the tattoo or just executing the drawing itself - everything was so planned and well-thought-out that it put him ahead of most people of the time. Obviously, as the years go on and societal norms change, tattooing has lost some of its edge, but that’s

“How does Sailor Jerry’s iconic style translate to your art?”

I still draw inspiration from the Jerry designs, as it was one of the first places I looked to when I had to draw something. For me, those were the building blocks of how to draw a rose, an eagle and a pinup girl.

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“I tend to observe and comment on human interaction and behaviour especially within urban environments” Bristol based, graffiti artist, Zed Macdonald (aka zed in the clouds) talks to us all about his journey in to life as an artist in the hip hop world of Bristol and his plans for the future.

WHERE DO YOU GET INSPIRATION FROM? “Hip Hop culture is undoubtedly my main source of inspiration in terms of my creative output. By this I mean all aspects of the lifestyle i.e. Graffiti, break dancing etc in addition to the musical side. (This is something that I feel is often overlooked) I cant remember a time when I didn’t act upon the impulse to write my name/draw on things I shouldn’t and I have been dedicated to writing graffiti in my free time for over 6 years now, so that forms a large part of my visual influence, and the ethos by which I create. The music is also hugely important to me, having got me through a lot of bullsh*t and also providing me with the insight and ability to question the situations I find myself in. However I find inspiration from a myriad of other sources too, significant ones that spring to mind being cartoons i.e. The Simpsons, Rick and Morty, Futurama, The Big Lez Show etc, current affairs, historical events and their relevance in a contemporary setting, social media etc etc...the list really does go on!”

ARE THERE ANY ARTISTS YOU’RE INSPIRED BY? “This list could possibly be bigger! True old school graffiti kings like DONDI and SKEME3 had a massive influence on me growing up, Kaper the Astralnaught (ESM clothing co) was someone I met having recently moved to Bristol and he really opened my mind to the possible outcomes of using techniques and visual stylings born from graffiti in a more design based setting, and I think this really helped my practice develop, and put me on to people who are really doing bits in that are such as 123Klan. Also loads of contemporary graffiti writers like KLOPS in new York, IDST DBK NFA WGS crews in Bristol, people pushing graf in new directions like ODIETH and VILE, and a huge range of fine artists/designers/photographers from Picasso to Bresson and everything in-between.”

HOW DO YOU MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR WORK? “Whatever way I can at this point! Largely through commissions, I specialize in mural/graffiti work and that’s something I’m always trying to get more of, that tends to be bigger jobs and obviously higher rates, although they can be few and far between. In addition to that I do a fair amount of photography and simple graphic design work i.e. flyers, poster design, logo design etc which is quicker, smaller jobs for the most part and normally something I can do from my desk and deliver electronically. I also sell and exhibit my personal work wherever possible. “

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK? “For want of a better expression, I have fingers in several pies creatively.

My personal work as a fine artist encompasses many mediums/techniques and is mostly focused on social commentary. In particular I tend to observe and comment on human interaction and behaviour especially within urban environments and subcultural groups. I also work on commission as a freelance muralist/illustrator/graphic designer/photographer so I am able to adjust my creative output to suit a client, although I like to think that this commission work still retains a recognizable nod to my personal visual language (where possible!)”

HAVE YOU GOT ONE PIECE THAT YOU’RE MOST PROUD OF? “When I was in college doing my foundation year I handed in a plan of assembly for the space I wanted at my end of year exhibition (8 weeks in advance) to then have my tutor ‘forget’ to allocate me space to make my instalment (emphasis on the ‘forget’-we didn’t exactly see eye to eye) so rather than accepting the tiny space in a corner which in no way matched the dimensions I needed I enlisted some mates, we dragged years worth of old college scraps that had been piled up in the yard into a skip and I built the space I wanted from scratch outside. It was a nightmare start to finish but I made it work, and was grudgingly awarded a merit by the same tutor.

Although it was only a college project and I have undertaken much more challenging jobs since, it taught me to have faith in myself as a creative thinker and to follow my ideas through in the right way even if that meant ignoring all the protocols. Without that I don’t think I would ever have been able to get through my uni course as I had to deal with much of the same, and overall I think it really gave me confidence in my own methods which is essential if you want people to recognize your work.”

WHERE DO YOU SOURCE THE BACKGROUNDS FOR YOUR WORK FROM? “I work with collage elements quite a lot, so some are made from a range of cuttings. I like to use material with clear contextual differences so I might for example create something with cuttings from a copy of a tabloid paper, an old story book and a Simpsons comic in order to create a diversity/juxtaposition in source material. I also use spray paint a lot to create tone and texture in my work as I love the wide range of finishes you can achieve. Sometimes the background forms the main substance of the image, with foreground elements such as characters/text overlaid afterwards, and sometimes I work the other way around, creating simple background elements to complement the imagery in the foreground.”

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HAVE YOU GOT A PLAN OF WHERE YOU’D IDEALLY SEE YOUR WORK GOING IN THE FUTURE?

DID YOU STUDY ART OR IS IT JUST A HOBBY YOU’VE ALWAYS BEEN PASSIONATE ABOUT?

“This is something I’ve been formulating for a good few years now, I remember feeling confused at uni by people who were 2 months from finishing the course who had no plan of action/exit strategy. I spent a lot of my free time whilst studying building connections in the hip hop scene in Bristol and the wider scene, because that is where I want to work. Off the back of that I’ve been able to put together SAMJAM, a memorial jam day for a close friend of mine, Sam Hanson (RIP) who unfortunately took his own life last year. Its going to feature art exhibits/live art and some music artists that were once just some of my favourite musicians, but are now also my friends. For me this does provide a sense of real worth and achievement, as I’ve managed to do what 14 year old me thought was a pipe dream, working alongside people that I used to think I’d be lucky to even meet. With this in mind I’m conscious of the fact that I can take things further, so I’m hoping to do more off the back of this event, possibly a spin off in our hometown of Stroud. Other than that I want to develop my mural work more in the hope of being able to eventually do that kind of work full time, and I also want to be able to use my artistic ability to spread awareness about mental health issues and other things I think are important social responsibilities for people in my field.”

“I cant remember a time when I wasn’t really into drawing, maybe before I could hold a pen! I took photography and fine art at A level, did a foundation diploma at Stroud College and then went on to study Illustration at UWE, having graduated in July. I chose to study illustration because I thought it would help give my work some direction or allow me to see a way in which I might be able to make a career from my artwork, because I thought studying fine art might have led me to be unsure as to how to apply my artistic ability into something that generates reliable income, as working as a fine artist is notoriously inconsistent in terms of work. However I think the passion/ work dilemma is something all creatives have to face up to eventually, and I am determined not to lose my creative direction and drive. For this reason I would rather work part time hours in a job outside of the creative sector (hospitality, bar work etc) to ensure I am financially stable while freelancing around that to build up my artistic practice.in the future if things go to plan I would like to be able to survive purely off freelance work but I would have to develop my current client base in order to achieve that.”

HAVE YOU DONE ANY COLLABORATIONS WITH ANY OTHER ARTISTS, IF SO WHAT HAVE BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE?

“Collaboration is without doubt one of the things I love most about hip hop culture and that definitely filters down into my practice. As a graffiti writer I have painted productions with loads of different people, shouts to writers like CROP KAPES YOUNG SOAK etc...plenty more I could name but you know who you are. Some other collaborative work that springs to mind is the frog I painted for the top of the CroakTek sound system and the mushroom I did for Duttyzsounds. I also painted a piece and designed the flyer for the last Duttyzsounds party, big ups to Dutz for bringing me in on that.”

WHAT TYPE OF ART DO YOU MOST ENJOY PRODUCING?

“Graffiti is definitely the thing I enjoy most in terms of the process, but I enjoy producing anything that’s not too corporate really to be honest, I think the key to developing as an artist/creative in the field I work in is being able to put a little of your own flavour in everything you do, but also to take a little bit of wisdom from each job and put that back into your own practice.

For example lots of the mural commissions I have done have been miles away from my normal work in terms of subject matter etc, but they have each taught me things about how to manipulate paint to create certain effects etc which has ultimately helped me develop my own work. With this mindset I enjoy the vast majority of what I do, as I am constantly learning things to benefit my personal work alongside getting paid to do something which I love anyway, some of the jobs are a bit monotonous but even those ones are much preferable to sitting in an office all day for me!”

WHAT METHODS DO YOU USE TO TRY AND GET YOUR WORK OUT THERE?

“First and foremost undoubtedly old school grind! I wouldn’t be where I am today without a lot of elbow grease for real. Instagram is useful no doubt, but unless you’ve got money to throw at them to bump your way past the algorithms or whatever its an uphill struggle getting noticed. Its definitely something good to have even if its only so you can point people towards it If they want to enquire about your work, same with a website. Best thing to do outside that I find is just to chase people, if there’s someone you want to work with/for then get in contact, worst that can happen is they’ll say no and at least they’ll know who you are then! I think speaking to people in person wherever possible is a really good way of expanding your audience too so I’ve been trying to do things like craft fairs etc, handing out little miniature pieces or stickers with my details on for free, giving people an idea of what I do and hoping that they’ll remember that if and when they do have a need for that kind of work. I think its kind of a horses for courses situation really though, depends what you do as to how you market that If you get what I mean?”

HAVE YOU GOT A BRAND OR INDIVIDUAL WHO WOULD BE A DREAM COLLABORATION? “Having been an avid hip hop fan since a very young age there are several that spring to mind. I love the aesthetic of Babylon Dead’s visuals, and am hoping to be able to work with them in the future having already shared some designs with them. Another that would be mind blowing for me would be Blah Records their approach to music, visuals, clothes, the whole spectrum of what they put together is on point!! So Lee if you’re reading this...”

@ZED_IN_THE_CLOUDS_

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