Their Magazine by David Daley

COMMUNITY

VOL.1 AW15 GB £12.00 EU € 16.00 US $20.99 AUS $25.00

Success is not built on success. It’s built on failure. It’s built on frustration. Sometimes it’s built on catastrophe. – Sumner Redstone

www.theirmagazine.com

MASTHEAD THEIR VOL. 1 EDITOR IN CHIEF DAVID DALEY PHOTO DIRECTOR NATALIE CAMILLA HEPWORTH SUB EDITORS MATTHEW BARTLETT FITZROY UGORJI CREATIVE ASSISTANT JESSICA CALDERWOOD GRAPHIC ASSISTANTS ALEXANDRA MILLER ELIZABETH FOWLER GRACE GIBSON Special Thanks Ravensbourne Team Printed in London by Target Repro LTD Reproduction of any part of this publication is strictly prohibited without prior permission from the publishers, including all logos, titles and graphic elements. All rights reserved. www.theirmagazine.com 3

COMMUNITY 4

EDITORS LETTER Their is an independent gender-neutral print and online magazine, created in London and published bi-annually. Our boundaries are limitless.They are not constructed by gender, postcodes or by pay checks. We support freethinkers, talent and ideas. We would like to present you with original content including fresh articles and photography of the highest quality. For the first issue we explore the Community, and what this means to us. Community does not have to be our immediate geographic surroundings. It can be online or the community that we grew up in or even that of which we have made for ourselves. We can achieve more together than we can do on our own. This issue celebrates strength in numbers, being bold, and valuing each other’s victories and defeats. We want to illustrate the differences in our success. We can learn and be inspired from the good, the bad and the ugly. Beauty isn’t black or white and neither is winning. In our first issue we take an in-depth look at the people and places around us.The encounters they have come across and the journey they are making and have already made. It’s all about going and being Their.

DAVID DALEY

GENIS CARRERAS PHILOGRAPHICS

CONTENTS FEATURES CHARLIE MAY 8 MOTHER AND BABY 14 THE OUTSKIRTS 17 BRIXTON 22 ODEUR 28 NICK SELLEK 56

FASHION RUN THE TRACK 36 IN THE WILD 46 HIGH RISE 62

CHARLIE MAY blogging’s biggest star designer

Girl a la Mode*

TEXT DAVID DALEY PHOTOGRAPHY CHARLIE MAY STUDIO

Translation* the girl always in fashion. She has taken the journey from award winning blogger to one of London’s most buzzed about designers. Religiously reworking the rules on minimalist dressing. I speak to Charlie May on her inspiration and dressing for herself. You grew up in the picturesque area of North Devon, has this informed your creativity at all? Yes, it’s not until you move away from a place that you realise how great it actually was and how much it influenced you. Every time I go back to Devon it’s like a literal breath of fresh air. So when I get back to London it’s definitely a source of inspiration when I come up with new ideas and collections. I think it’s the mood of the place, whether its raining or sunshine, it’s so picturesque and stunningly beautiful. When did you decide you wanted to study fashion and become a designer? I studied fashion design at University for three years and interned under designers Louise Goldin and Thomas Tait, which taught me a lot about the London Fashion scene. Eventually I just had to start my own label. You started your award winning blog “Girl a la Mode” after university; did you think it would become as successful as it has when you first started it? No way, it was honestly just a place to post inspiration. I’ve always lived on the Internet in one way or another. Growing up in the remote countryside, the only way to connect with those with the same tastes as you seemed to be online. I was very lucky I started it when I did as blogging blew up later that year. Has the blog acted as a platform for Charlie May, do you think it’s given it more momentum and reach? Yes, for sure. I naturally made friends with other bloggers when I moved to London and when they heard about my label they all wanted to support. All this attention eventually lead the magazines to take note. Why did you choose to start your own label? I think it’s tough working for other designers. Or I find it tough anyway. I’ve never liked anyone telling me what to do.

Who is the Charlie May woman? She is chic and sophisticated, dressed down, modern and elegant. Always looking on point; minimal but with an eye catching detail, whether that’s fabrication or colour, or a raw hem or zipper. Do you think there are any similarities or differences between the Charlie May buyer and the Girl a la Mode reader? Yes I think so, those that follow my personal style will naturally love Charlie May too! The Charlie May aesthetic is unashamedly androgynous, what has this been influenced by? I myself am pretty androgynous; I want to dress for myself and not for men say, or those looking at me. I believe most women are like this now. They do it for themselves and so they should. What is your design process when creating a new collection? I usually try to think about what I’d like to be wearing, the silhouettes, then I look for fabrics and start to piece together what this new collection could look like. Toiling and sampling then changes everything and we start finding new and interesting fits as well as creating classic Charlie May staples. Tell me about the inspiration behind the new AW15 collection? The inspiration was to really evolve the SS15 collection, to take the Charlie May woman into the evening. SS15 was all about denims and cottons; AW15 is about rich fabrications such as Alpaca and merino wools. What would be your own advice to anyone else wanting to start their own business in a creative industry? I think my biggest advice would be to use social media - it’s the best tool you can possibly have in your hands and it’s free! And finally, what’s next for Charlie May? Lots! We are working on our resort collection right now and are looking to start doing a menswear line at the end of the year. You heard it here first!

CHARLIE MAY (AW15)

Mother and Baby *

Life is one of those unexplained gifts that we are presented with upon birth. Why are we here? Who knows? Where did we come from? Same again. The bond that we have with our mothers is probably the most formidable relationship that we are ever to deal with. Well that’s if you never get married, which is more than likely going to be a different dynamic in it self. Mothers are the people that give us life and are here to get us through it. Knowing our every step without ever being told, the maternal intuition of a mother is second to none. Somehow, she always knows what to do. When you’ve accidentally put your favourite top in the washing machine on the hottest setting, only to be bound for misery and despair. Or when you’ve been forbidden from life and caught the latest winter norovirus, causing you to be almost bed-bound, ejecting what’s left of your insides. Perhaps we all think that when you become a mother, you are quietly enrolled into this secret masonic club and given an eighteen year no win no fee membership. Where the high priestess on tap to perfectly solve every dilemma: gives you advice on how to burp your baby, or soothe the teething process, or even when your once innocent thirteen-yearold daughter Vicky now leaves the house in a crop-top, belly bar and see-through leggings... No, being a mother isn’t easy especially when you are young, teenage and single. I speak with Holly Nutbeam, a twentyyear-old single mother to her two-yearold daughter Mia.

Getting pregnant at eighteen may not have been the easiest thing, “but it is a decision that I am incredibly proud of ”, Holly says to me in this leafy corner of south London. Her cozy two bedroom flat is sprinkled with all things Mia, her two year old daughter: Peppa Pig stationary and a fearsome assortment of Frozen paraphernalia. Just as Mia is about to retreat from her high chair, Holly promptly tells me the best thing about being a young mum - having the energy to keep up with her daughter. If ever she needed the energy it’s now.

What’s your advice to other young parents thinking about having children? It varies, but it has to be the most enjoyable thing I’ve ever experienced. Being young, you’ll have all the energy you’ll need to keep up with your endlessly moving child – there’s never a dull moment in the Nutbeam house! I’m also able to keep my own identity. I’m not just Mia’s mum, I’m studying at the moment to be a legal secretary. Being a parent means you’re always meeting new people at playgroup or at social events.

What do you think the biggest misconception is about being a young mum?

The worst thing is – “again” (she sighs) – it can get quite lonely and I think you have to build up thick skin because you will be judged.

A lot of the time people think we’re unable to cope, another big one is thinking that all young mothers have no ambition, not wanting to better themselves or their family’s life. But when she isn’t looking after her daughter, Holly studies at college to be a legal secretary.

What are your hopes for Mia when she turns 18 and becomes an adult herself? I hope she’s happy with the decisions I’ve made for us. More importantly, I hope she’s happy and successful in what ever she chooses to do.

What has been your biggest challenge as a young mother?

What advice will you give to her?

It can get very lonely at times… Most of my friends don’t have children themselves so it can be quite hard to relate.

To be happy with who you are and to always trust yourself. When making decisions, always think about what it will mean for your future.

What do you think is the best thing being a young mother?

What are your hopes for the future?

Since I won’t have to take a long gap during my career to have kids, I think I’ll be able to go further in my career. I’m also closer in age with Mia so I hope I’ll be relatable and understand her better.

To be in a successful career, to be doing the weekly shop at Waitrose but mostly for us to be happy and healthy!

*Nature’s strongest bond

Photography by David Daley 16

the outskirts 17

Brixton

a tale of two towns TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID DALEY 22

Four corners. Ritzy Cinema flanks one, the Black Cultural Archives occupies another. Lambeth Town Hall marks one more and KFC in the other. Standing in Windrush Square, you immediately get what Brixton is all about – a striking intersection: heritage, tradition, independence and the establishment. The town square takes its name from MV Empire Windrush, a hefty cruise ship which brought 492 West Indians from Jamaica to London, later becoming synonymous with postwar West Indian immigration to the UK. On arrival, they settled in Clapham Common in one of the unused bomb shelters. Fast forward 67 years, Brixton, just a stone’s throw away from the original Clapham Common settlement, is now a cultural mecca, retaining a flavour of all cultures, immigrant and indigenous, that pass through it West Indians, working class Brits, the burgeoning Portuguese community, you name it. Nowhere is this clearer than at Brixton Market. This is the market your nan goes to on a Saturday morning to get her meat and a bit more than two veg for the good old roasting on a Sunday afternoon. Here you can find anything from an array of tropical fruit and veg to an army of hair and nail salons, to street vendors that will sell you anything and everything. But from under these arches come the clichéd tale of two divisions. It forms a kind of time travelling ruler, splitting the market into two parts, from the old and into the new. On one side, the arches hold small independent businesses lured in by Network Rail’s once cheap rents. It houses the likes of L.S. Mash and Sons the English family run fish mongers. You also have carpet shops, West Indian bakeries and Moroccan cafés. The other side of the arches might be referred to as the smarter sister named accordingly as Brixton Village. It’s built as a perfect rectangle with two avenues in the middle, almost as perfect as the centralised town-planning Milton Keynes. Here you can find groupings of gastro bars, wineries, crepe café’s and London’s coolest burger joints. You could find about 60% of the worlds cuisine here if you wanted to. It should be unequivocally named foodie heaven. If you handpicked all that was ‘cool’ in London and placed it in a gold fish bowl you probably wouldn’t achieve this Chi-Chi mix of retailers. The independent nature of shops speaks volumes. Although in Brixton the level of independence is echoed in two

categories, before and after gentrification. I sit in Federation Coffee. Apparently independent both by name and by nature, this outlet is the first of their shops joining the Brixton Village party in 2010. The price for a latte, £2.60 and £4.50 for a ham and cheese toastie clearly gives Starbucks a real run for its money. Paying nearly seven pounds for a coffee run really separates the apples from the pears. In the Village, prices may be high but there isn’t an empty seat in the house. Here, the multicultural nature of Brixton may be seen only through diverse retailers like the Ethiopian jewellers – not through the customers. The village is part of the new Brixton – one that doesn’t discriminate by race or creed, but by spending power, a power which is pricing out many of the locals. This new Brixton echoes wider London trends, where affluence, ever hungry, lurks out from its Central London strongholds to seek residence in previously undesirable zone 2 districts like Shoreditch and Shepherds Bush. Now they’re just as relevant as Mayfair and Covent Garden. Zone 2 is the new Zone 1 for us normal folk, Zone 3 attracts younger professionals who sans the bank of mum and dad are unlikely able to afford to buy in inner London with its hefty price tag. The increasing desirability of these areas is creating a conflict of independence - that of pre gentrification and post gentrification dwellers. The independent family owned fishmonger under the Brixton Arches are being forced out due to Network Rail’s triple rent hike. Much of this squeeze is owed to the hunger of desirable cash-injected startups in the village – the local art dealers, Brazilian steakhouses, crepe bars and pizzerias. We all yearn for what’s new and hip. Spending power speaks louder than anything in 2015 where the story of affordability in an area that used to attract young creatives and taste makers who have now become priced out of such areas by developers who seek to capitalize on popularity and profitability. London councils swiftly heed the call, demolishing affordable social housing in turn to build smaller more expensive luxury properties. In the ensuing scrum of London only homeowners can survive. So in Brixton, locals are now working up a fight, with the Reclaim Brixton protest seeing both the old and new Brixton rallying side by side. The people who are supporting the old independent retailers in standing against Network Rail’s choice to triple the rents for the arches, will also be those that will move into their current premises. At the protest the demonstrators shout in union

“Who is Brixton? We are Brixton!” And that’s what ultimately makes London so successful and so desirable – this organic mix of cultures and ideas, unrestricted by spending power or affluence. If we turn a blind eye to this, forgetting that the popularity and variety of local businesses, amenities and the locals they serve created the value in the first instance, value which is ruthlessly capitalised on via gentrification. Then we ourselves are turning a blind eye on our communities, all of which are vulnerable to these forces.

TEXT DAVID DALEY

PHOTOGRAPHY ODEUR STUDIO

Petter Höllstrom creative director*

ODEUR

*He’s always on the right side of life

Where are you from and how did that inform your creative outlook? I’m from up north in Sweden. There’s a small fishing village outside a city in the north of Sweden called Umea. I think if it’s shaped my creativity in anyway it might be because it’s a place where you don’t do that much. It’s a small community. In the village that I grew up in we had about fifteen hundred people there. A lot of people were doing sports and things like that… to enjoy themselves. So with a limited amount of things to do you have to somehow be creative with your time. Growing up I had a lot of time imagining the things that I wanted to do. How did you come to create Odeur? So I moved from Umea, the town I grew up in in 2004 to Stockholm in order to study at the Berghs School of Communication for a diploma in Graphic Design. Towards the end of the course you were able to focus on your own project. My classmates were all contacting other companies in order to re-brand them. But I wanted to show that design is not necessarily something that you can always see but that design is also part of an experience. I had an interest in fashion for many years, from as long as when I lived in Umea. I decided to create this fashion label that didn’t have a traditional word based logotype. I contacted lots of people working with scents. From there I created the scents and infused it into the garments, calling it the first nonvisual brand. So that was basically the main idea from the start. It was never meant to be an actual label or produced in that way, but it had interest from abroad, from Japan. A distributor contacted me and asked me to present the collection. So I thought, “Yeah, I have to do this!” Why did you choose a scent, instead of a visual logo? Has it affected your branding? It’s interesting that in fashion, almost everything is about the visuals and everything is about the communication. Everything is about what kind of world you’re building up and how you present it to your customer, exploring how this would feel or how this would be… you know, when you’re wearing the garments. I thought it was an interesting contrast

between giving out a label that was supposed to be non-visual in the sense of branding. We never worked with the brand name Odeur spelt on in print or on any of our garments. I think this came from my childhood experiences; in the 90’s, when everyone was wearing heavily labelled garments so I was so exhausted by that idea. I wanted to get away from that. That said, I have an incredible respect for the visuals, both in terms of images and photographs and how you present certain things. At the very start, when we were getting the message of Odeur out there, I was taking images of the garments with the help of photographers and they were really getting it out there on the Internet. This was at a time where blogs were a new phenomenon. Those images spread through the Internet very fast. Was this in 2006? Yes, 2006 or 2007. Back then, when speaking to people about this I used to always say, “There is a difference between a garment and the image of a garment”. But even today I don’t think many people are thinking about that fact. Depending on how you’re presenting the garments, people will perceive it in a certain way. That’s why it’s so important, the visual communication of the label. In some cases it’s been a problem not working with the word based logo type. Let’s say a retailer online would like to sell your label, they’ll only get a symbol or something that doesn’t say the label… This has been a slight problem over the years. That’s been our challenge. So we now have a word-based logo type. You and Gorjan Lauseger are both the designers of the brand. How do your roles differ? I started the label around 2006/2007. I worked together with a girl named Anna for the first few seasons designing the collection. When we stopped working together, I started working with Gorgan. So you could say I am the creative director and Gorgan is the head designer. We’re working together with the design. For example we have been sitting here for a few weeks with the new Spring/Summer 16 collection. We’ve been creating sketches together and discussing ideas of what we want to create, how we’re going to create it. Choosing fabrics. It’s very much a team spirit working with Gorjan.

ODEUR (AW14) What’s the process like for designing for both men and women? When we sit down and design we never think about the gender. We don’t think, “Oh, let’s do this for men or let’s do this for women”. It’s more about the silhouette that we want to create… What is the feeling that we want to create and communicate. We try to set a concept for each collection. We also look at what we’re intrigued by at that moment. What it is that we want to somehow communicate with the collection and build up mood boards, to find the feeling and spirit of that specific collection. We go on from there choosing fabrics and then go on to build up a line list of which kind of garments and collection structure we’d like to have. We look at which kind of details we’re into, what kind of colour scales. From there it grows step by step. In fact, we’re actually done with the new SS16 collection - we have all the garment sketches down on paper. So we’re now at the stage where we’re making prototypes. We often go to our producers right away for that so we know we can produce the collections in a way that we want

Who is the Odeur customer? You can see them when you go out in the city (Stockholm). We have a very diverse customer base - anyone from an eighteen year old boy with an urban style to ladies in their late 50’s are wearing the garments. It’s something to do with the cuts. With our garments there’s always an element of comfort with the fabrics… and also the shape! I think they are very accessible in that way. I think it’s somehow a matter of mentality; somehow, people who wear our garments feel they’re worth more than going to H&M, which is incredibly important. But also they are people that are interested in the way that they express themselves, Judging by the followers on our instagram and by people who to get in touch with us. We’ve noticed that there are lots of communication students, design and architecture students that are both from Sweden and abroad. Our customer base is international, so we’re actually not that big in Sweden.

Do your stockists buy Odeur more for their men’s or women’s departments I would say mainly they’re buying it for the mens departments. It has been like that for quite a while. There are a few markets where we sell to pure womenswear retailers, for example in Hong Kong. We sell to retailers in around 20 countries. Italy and China are the fastest growing markets for us. We are trying to grow in the UK as well - we’re also trying to get into more stores in London at the moment. Why have you chosen to present the collection at Berlin Fashion Week instead of Stockholm where you are based? If you compare the Stockholm Fashion week to Berlin Fashion week, just in terms of media, for example, it’s a big difference. But we also feel that we’re based in Stockholm and we enjoy Stockholm, there’s an array of creative people here. We like to work with the photographers and so on. When it comes to the fashion weeks, there are big differences between Berlin and Stockholm; how it’s made up, the professionalism of it… everything. So we enjoy Berlin a lot. We work very closely with Temporary Showroom, who is also our press agent and sales showroom in Germany. Have you seen a rise in unisex clothing since you founded the brand in 2007? It’s difficult to comment on unisex fashion. It’s something that comes and goes all the time. We never did it because we wanted to make some kind of statement. We like the idea of unisex because we think it’s kind of awful that you have to think, “Oh, this is only for men or this is only for women”. But in terms of body shapes and everything that can well be the case. If you’re doing really romantic stuff and that’s the design that you’re really into then understandably there’s going to be a problem with the unisex thinking perhaps. But I think at the moment unisex thinking is something that a lot of people are talking about: one of the stand out themes of the last season at Berlin Fashion week was this whole idea of genderless thinking. Some of the looks we were sending out on the runway were actually the same

look but on both a male and a female model so I think that made a slight impression. One more thing on that: since, in Sweden at least, there has been a long debate on gender equality, that’s in Odeur’s DNA. So there could be some political nuances beneath all of the thinking and the creation. Is this something you think about when designing every collection? Look 33 (shown opposite) for example. It’s nothing that I would say we were thinking specifically about at the time, which specifically led our trail of thought to designing a certain garment. But when you have an ideology and you come from a certain place, your mind is shaped by the ideas that you have, by the ideas that people have around you and how the general dialogue in society is at the time. But in the case of Look 33, in the last collection ,‘Opposite, me’, the concept was being able to put oneself into someone else’s mind, to not be so narrow minded, to step outside of yourself and see that there are things that other people need. I really think that this is so important to remember in society today. In Europe and many other countries there are horrible ideas brewing in some cases. That’s something we have to work against and be reminded of. Lastly, what’s next for odeur At the moment we have been hiring new people to work with production, we’re currently trying to build the brand as naturally as we can. We need to be a bit bigger to grow in our markets. Also we are looking at the possibility of opening our first store, in Stockholm or in another city. It definitely has to be the right location.

ODEUR 33 (AW15)

ODEUR SS15 CAMPAIGN 35

run the track Photography Nicole Pilgrim-Sargeant Styling David Daley

this Page: jacket by TASMIN PICK; shorts by ZARA; socks by NIKE and trainers by ADIDAS opposite page Jacket by TASMIN PICK and trousers by Y-3

this page: Dress by ZARA opposite page: hat by TOPMAN; sleeveless jacket by ZARA; shorts by CHEAP MONDAY; socks by NIKE and trainers by ADIDAS

Opposite Page: Gilet by ZARA; Shorts by CHEAP MONDAY; Socks by NIKE and Trainers by ADIDAS

this page: leather jacket by BEYOND RETRO; top ADIDAS by STELLA MCCARTNEY; leggings and sandals by ADIDAS opposite page: vest and shorts both TASMIN PICK

opposite page: Jacket by TASMIN PICK Models EARL JAMES at NEVS and SIMONA at BOOKINGS

in the wild Photography Natalie Hepworth Styling David Daley

this page: jumpsuit by CHAPTER opposite page: jacket, top and shorts all DANIEL FLETCHER opening shoot image: halter-neck top by ASOS

this page: coat and trousers by DANIEL FLETCHER top by WEEKDAY opposite page: outfit as before

this page: Coat by DANIEL FLETCHER and dress underneath by EDWARD SACKEY opposite page: Jacket by ALEXANDER BENEKRITIS

this page: top by ALEXANDER BENEKRITIS and trousers by DANIEL FLETCHER opposite page: Jacket by ALEXANDER BENEKRITIS Model HAARIS at FIRST MUA JUMANI

TEXT DAVID DALEY

PHOTOGRAPHY NICK SELLEK

Nick Sellek artist in residence

from the derbyshire countryside to the heart of east london, Sellekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s solitary structures are captivating the attention of the public

Where did you grow up and has that informed your creativity? I grew up in the Derbyshire countryside and I was always encouraged to be creative. Do you remember your first interaction with art? In Primary school, I remember making things, and at home crafting for Easter and Christmas, and painting, and cutting up cereal boxes. The usual. When did you decide you wanted to become an artist? I left school and did an Art Foundation course at Loughborough University School of Art & Design. I was accepted into a few universities when finishing the foundation, all to do interior design, but I decided to go for one interview for fine art in London and I got in and went there. It felt like the right thing to do. Your piece entitled “High Rise” depicts an anti utopian environment, describe your thinking behind this piece and did living both in London and New York influence this? I had started the High-Rise series before living in New York, but it is a study of my surrounding urban environment through buildings and structures, and New York definitely influenced the latter pieces of the ‘High-Rise’ series. But with any enormous city you do get the contrived and unappreciated bits of architecture. They haven’t necessarily come about through design, more a lack of design. I guess removing the people and only including architecture excites me. Just as with social housing, industrial buildings and concrete bridges, the results are quite bleak. They are intended to entice a desire to explore and interact without restriction, but as I’ve since realised, in a very solitary way. Can you explain the process of how you go about creating a new series of work? A new series of work usually develops from the previous, taking one element and pushing it further and delving deeper. The ‘Contrived Structures’ are close up architectural components from ‘High-Rise’, but then influenced by my ‘Block’ series as well. ‘Block’ was a study I created in New York. I usually turn to collage when I have limited resources and materials, but it also means I actually construct using the materials from that environment, and that usual dictates the outcome and can inspire the next.

CONTRIVED STRUCTURES II (2013)

HIGH RISE (2009-2012) Are your pieces entitled “Contrived Structures I and II” designed as almost a rejection of the High Rise piece? I look at them almost as opposites. In my mind a ‘Contrived Structure’ is, if you had taken one of the architectural components out of ‘High-Rise’ and removed it from context, for closer inspection and from all angles. So the two series’ actually work together. I want people to have a fuller understanding of ‘High-Rise’ by looking at the ‘Contrived Structures’ and vice versa. That said, it still is a rejection of the kind of physical model ‘High Rise’ is. I always struggled to call ‘High Rise’ models; as they are only viewable from one side, I often refer to them a 3D collages. I definitely wanted the ‘Contrived Structures’ to be classed as models and have a certain stability and weight, in their own right. How do you go about creating a model? Firstly I collect ideas through photography and I manipulate them digitally into 2D images. I then manipulate them again, so when printed they can be constructed into 3D forms. I then build the models using cardboard, with the printed surfaces as the textures. I tend not to display the models as the finished piece, so I photograph the models and display them as photographs. What do you want people to feel, see or understand when they look at your work? I really just want people to become absorbed and imagine they were able to interact with the landscape or structure. I also want people to appreciate how absurdly beautiful our urban environments are and not just dismiss them and take them for granted. They are

a product, molded over years and years by a contrived and contorting society, layers of gentrification and development, supposedly for the greater good. It’s a never-ending source of inspiration. Who are your favourite artists? Mike Nelson, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Thomas Demand, Stephen Shore to name a few, all for obvious reasons I think. You are currently based in East London. Where are your favourite hang outs? Do you go to lots of openings, museums or galleries? I go through phases, at the moment I’m quite absorbed in my own work so spend a lot of time in the studio and around Hackney. I live with a bunch of creatives in a warehouse, it’s a mini utopia in Homerton, surrounded by council estates. The area is at quite a nice level, still culturally diverse, but with some good pubs and cafes. But it’s one step away from becoming too gentrified. What’s your best advice for other creatives? One things leads to another, just keep doing it and don’t make too many sacrifices, but do expect to compromise. Lastly what’s next for Nick Sellek? I’m currently constructing ‘Contrived Structures III’, inspired by my recent travels to India. I also would like to cast some models with concrete, but maybe that’s the next project. I’m also planning an extended trip to San Francisco in the Autumn.

CONTRIVED STRUCTURES II (2013)

high rise

Photography Natalie Hepworth Styling David Daley

this page and opposite dress by HOUSE OF SUNNY and shoes by TOPSHOP

this page top and trousers by TOPSHOP BOUTIQUE

this page and opposite jacket and trousers by TOPSHOP

this page and opposite coat by MONKI and top by H&M

this page dress by COS opposite page shirt by H&M; ;top and shorts by & OTHER STORIES model EVE at OXYGEN hair and make up by DEBBIE FINNEGAN using MAC

STOCKISTS Adidas www.adidas.co.uk Alexander Benekritis alex.benekritis@network.rca.ac.uk Asos www.asos.com Carhartt www.carhartt-wip.com Chapter www.joinchapter.com Doc Martens www.drmartens.com H&M www.hm.com House of Sunny www.houseofsunny.co.uk Monki www.monki.com Nike www.nike.com Tasmin Pick www.tasminpick.com Topman www.topman.com Topshop www.topshop.com Y-3 www.store.y-3.com Zara www.zara.com & Other Stories www.stories.com 74