Tweed Yourself

Yourself TWEED

Tweed Yourself Volume One Issue One Featuring: The Mighty Stef, Deryck Walker, Guy Hills, Brendan McNamee, Frank Turner & more

Tweed Yourself Fashion and Lifestyle Journal Autumn and Winter 2010 Issue One On the Cover Stephen Kelly wearing The Tweed Run Bespoke Suit photographed by Jane Kenny in East London.

Tweed Yourself Headquaters London Office 13 Strickland House Chambord Street London E2 7LP United Kingdom Phone +44 7517478540 Hells.kennedy@gmail.com Editor Art Direction &Design Photography Styling

Helen Kennedy Claire Campion Jane Kenny Helen Kennedy & Jane Kenny

Thanks to Glenn Waldron, Robert DeNiet, Terry Newman, Deryck Walker, Ted Young-In, Guy Hills, David Keyte, Sam Lambert, Stephen Kelly, Anton Spreckley, Stefan Murphy, Frank Turner, Brendan McNamee.

Production Claire Campion Publishers Meehan Printing Co.

Letter

EDITORS

Tweed is a funny word, isn’t it? Perhaps that is just because I spent the last three months reading it, saying it, writing and typing it, explaining it and trying to make puns out of it. The idea of creating an entire magazine seemed daunting at first; with so much to plan and do I didn’t know what I had let myself in for. My innate sense of planning still hasn’t kicked in so a lot of this magazine came together at different times and I landed on my feet with some of the pieces, and on the backside with others. I am still awaiting replies to e-mails from about fiftyfour people.

The idea spawned as a fabric magazine and with the myriad of fabrics out there it was difficult to choose just one. Tweed just seemed right. From the powerful history of the hand-woven fabric to its stance in the fashion industry now, tweed has surpassed all other fabrics in terms of longevity and style. I believe it holds a dear place in everyone’s hearts. It brings back memories of a family member donning a tweed jacket, or nostalgic feelings from a moment in the past where tweed featured in something special. My own personal experience of tweed was my Great Uncle Paddy who used to sit in the same chair wooden rocking chair every time we came to visit him and he always wore the same houndstooth Donegal tweed jacket- perhaps this is where my love/hate relationship of tweed began.

I would like to thank everyone who was involved in the magazine. The people who I interviewed were all obliging and polite and gave me some great quotes and stories- some even gave me festival passes. The photo shoot would not have turned out as well had it not been for Jane Kenny, a Textiles student from Dublin who is a whizz with a camera and has a photographers natural instinct, and Stephen the model who didn’t need much direction and worked the concrete surroundings like a professional- never-mind the amount of times I flinched whenever he jumped up on a ledge in the Bespoke tweed suits. To my friends and family who have put up with me over the past few months, I will be back to normal soon I promise. And the most important person, Claire Campion, who without her help you would be flicking through bits of paper with hand drawn headings and pixelated images unsuitable for a children’s colouring book. She has great things ahead of her having just moved to London to start what hopes to be a great career in the Graphic Design industry.

So, throw on a bit of folk music and read betweed the lines of Tweed Yourself. I hope you will be inspired to wear tweed this Autumn, it certainly has affected how I will dress.

Helen Kennedy Editor-in-Chief

Contents Volume 1 Issue 1 Editors Letter

5. The Chronicles of Tweed Tweed All About It 8. Universal Works 10. Liberty Freedom 12. Tana Mitchell The Tweed Followers 14. Deryck Walker 19. Guy Hills Dashing Tweeds 23. Chanel 24. East End Flaneur Betweed the Lines 33. The Tweed Run 36. Twelve Miles of Tweed 40. Tweed Wars 41. Fender Tweed Deluxe 42. Tweedle Do’s and Dont’s The Tweed Pirates 44. The Mighty Stef 46. Frank Turner 48. The last Dandy on Earth

THE CHRONICLES OF Tweed

Tweed has long been associated with Britishness and its stance in the fashion world has come in waves since its conception in the 18th Century. Tweed is woven from carded short wool, using rough fibres and warm rustic colours and has come to evoke the imagery and thoughts of the countryside. But in recent years designers have used it in innovative ways that have time and time again reignited the industry’s love for the fabric.

The word tweed is an English variant on the Scottish word tweel which referred to the wool cloth woven by hand by the Scottish Highlanders, according to Mitchell Beazley in the book, ‘Made in Britain’. It then became the term for all carded home spun wool, including the plethora of tweeds from Scotland, Ireland and France. There are three main types of tweed- Harris Tweed that is handspun in the Outer Hebrides off the West Coast of Scotland; Donegal Tweed which is again all locally made in Donegal, Ireland; and silk tweed which is raw silk mixed with flecks of colour resembling woollen tweeds.

Harris Tweed is one of the most recognised tweeds and many tourists believe thaty is the only form there is. It has been predominantly used in menswear but has branched out into womenswear since Vivienne Westwood got a hold of it in the 1980s. The west coast of Scotland is home to Harris Tweed on the Outer Hebrides islands of Lewis, Harris, Uist, Barra and Benbecula where the cloth is woven in the homes of up to 450 freelance weavers. The industry itself began as an economy boosting project pioneered by Lady Dunmore, wife of Laird of Harris, and has since thrived in making it one of the most famous wool textiles in the world. The unique aspect of Harris Tweed is that it uses all local materials and islanders to make the tweed, taking inspiration from the countryside and surroundings for colour palettes and patterns.

The process for making Harris Tweed is that of a long one; the wool is dyed synthetically in order to produce repeat patterns, the yarn is then spun to give it strength, it is then warped whereby the threads are wound onto

a frame and then sent to the croft weavers who use centuries old techniques to weave the fabrics on traditional Hattersley looms. The woven tweed is then returned to one of the mills where it is washed, dried and cropped to give a smooth surface. No wonder Harris Tweed can range in price up to £360 for a jacket. The British Harris Tweed Authority must give their stamp of approval to every metre of Harris Tweed made, and is certified

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with an orb to prove its authenticity which is there to “promote and protect the name of Harris Tweed”. The Act of Parliament in 1993 states that only tweed made in the Outer Hebrides shall carry the orb. The mills still in production are Kenneth MacKenzie Ltd of Stornaway, Kenneth MacCleod of Shawbost and Bruce Burns of Stornaway. Each mill plays an intricate role in the production of Harris Tweed and its distribution around the world.

Harris Tweed has had its ups and downs. A dark Yorkshire cloud lurked over the Outer Hebrides back in 2008 in the form of Brian Haggas- a textiles entrepreneur who saw great potential in Harris Tweed and thought there to be a gap in the market. His welcomed arrival to the islands to save a failing tradition and to provide consistent work soon turned sour as his business plans were more concerned about money rather than the tradition of the fabric. A staggering eight thousand patterns from the Harris Tweed archives were reduced to a mere and pathetic four, a move he thought to be ingenious but cost him hundreds of thousands of pounds as well as the respect of his employees and business partners. Brian Haggas is considered today as the Devil Wears Harris, a title fitting for a money hungry businessman.

However, all is not depressing when it comes to the history and popularity of Harris Tweed. Fashion designers such as Vivienne Westwood, Margaret Howell, Timothy Everest and Saville Row tailors have all used Harris Tweed in their Autumn/Winter collections for years. Most notably Vivienne Westwood who even interpreted the British

Harris Tweed Authority’s orb her own way and used it as symbolism in her Anglomania collections. Using a slightly lighter version of Harris Tweed fabric known as Lochcarron tweed for her A/W 2003 collection, she designed a three piece women’s suit with a waistcoat corset and gathered sleeve jacket with the typical Westwood twist- using the orb as nose jewellery through the septum. A modern take on tweed if there ever was one!

Donegal tweed, from the North West of Ireland, is another form of tweed that has sustained throughout the years. It is more of a traditional fabric than Harris Tweed as it caters more for the basic tweed jacket lover rather than the next fashion designer. Similar to that of Harris Tweed, Donegal tweed is woven in cottages scattered around the magnificent countryside of Donegal and the mills are located in Donegal Town where the fabric is inspected before being dispatched.

Kevin and Howlin Ltd. on Nassau Street, Dublin, source their tweeds from the Magee mills in Donegal and they have been supplying tweed to Dubliners and tourists alike since 1936. They are known as “The hand-woven Donegal Tweed specialists in Dublin” where one can get a jacket, a suit, caps and scarves in earthly tones and in classic designs such as herringbone. Donegal tweed is much lighter than Harris tweed as the latter is a heavyweight fabric, hence why they are trying to make it less so as there isn’t much need for the heavier wool tweeds now due to central heating and indoor work.

Hand weaving is a skill in Donegal that has been passed down through many generations and most Donegal tweed now comes from the

Magee, Molloy and McNutt mills, but there are also independent local craftsmen that work as weavers. Donegal tweed prides itself on its Irishness and history, and according to Colm Sweeny of the Ardara Heritage Centre, “When you buy a yard of Donegal Tweed, it’s not just a yard, it’s a lot of Irish history you’re buying.” The colours are what set it apart from other tweeds- earthy browns of turf and land, gold of the vast wheat fields, greens of Ireland’s famous pastures, rusts of the Autumnal leaves that cover the Irish countryside, reds from the ash and bramble and greys inspired by the wafting smoke from straw thatched house chimneys that are scattered along the desolate country roads.

Silk tweed has been somewhat frowned upon by traditional tweed weavers as it is not 100% and therefore not ‘authentic’. However, this silk tweed has been used in womenswear and more delicate designs, and has even been used as wedding dress fabric for Gaelic singer Alth McCormack.

With such an interesting and important history, tweed’s impact on the fashion industry will be a constant reminder of the power of tradition. It certainly doesn’t look like tweed will be going anywhere anytime soon.

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TWEED ALL ABOUT IT!

UNIVERSAL

Works

Universal Works are a new British independent brand that is proud of their country’s heritage and shows this by using fabrics and manufacturers in the UK. Founded in 2009 and the brand is relatively new with only three seasons to their name.

Their AW collection proves that not all outerwear has to be drab as they incorporate tasteful styling into their durable designs.

They have used small factories around the UK, most notably the Outer Hebrides for the sourcing of Harris Tweed for their Pendle Work jacket. Their most recent collection is a mix of workwear pieces such as jackets and shirts as well as outdoor essentials such as gilets, scarves and hats. They made two styles for this Autumn/Winter which are more work wear style than blazer style, one with added Wax cotton shoulder and sleeves the other one is made from solid Harris. David Keyte, founder and Creative Director digs deep to try and find the root of his love for Harris Tweed.

“My father wore a Harris Tweed blazer style jacket in dark green for many years,” he recalls. “I think when I was young it was his only smart jacket apart from his wedding suit which did not get many days out and I always loved it.”

When David and his wife, who has a background in design, first launched Universal Works, they were very keen on using Harris Tweed and they are delighted how it has become available again and think it’s great to be able to buy directly from the makers.

They used two colourways called plain colour feather weight which gives a subtle marled look rather than a plaid pattern. The mantra of their label is that they make good quality clothing with a great fit. Universal Works is adamant that it is not about transient trends, but clothes that are designed for a purpose and built to last, and they believe that “there is no great vision or message, no target markets, just garments for everyone, clothing to look

stylish in because you the wearer makes it so, clothing you want to wear, clothing you will look good in”, says Keyte. He also goes on to talk about their surge in sales and great success since the brands beginning.

“We had a great reaction to the collection for Winter 10 and the Harris Tweed pieces were well received and many of our retailers are re-stocking it this season, in the UK and USA and in Japan. It seems to be selling well already in stores so it appears the buying public like the Harris tweed Jackets too.” This is no doubt a great boost for the Harris Tweed industry as well as small independent brands like Universal Works grow from strength to strength.

Not they are going to be small for long. To go from stocking in ten stores for their first collection to 80 stores worldwide as they veer into their fourth is some achievement.

Keyte has had a lot of experience in the fashion industry. His persuasions skills are

TWEED ALL ABOUT IT!

to be envied as he managed to coax Paul Smith into giving him a job with little or no training. He worked as a sign writer and worked in a colliery digging coal after he left school but still managed to charm Smith. “I was spending all my money on clothes and persuaded Paul Smith to give me a job managing his first shop. I then worked alongside him in the design room. Finally, I worked for many years as production manager, working closely with the design team on product development and sourcing”, he says. He also worked for Maharishi for a number of years which is another facet to his fashion career that has certainly helped Universal Works’ development. Their mission statement confirms their Britishness and their love of the unique as well as the protection of the craftsmen trade rather than clothes being mass produced. This was certainly a reason behind their use of Harris Tweed, something that stands by the same principles.

From a background of great British working clothes and outdoor clothes, we use honest, natural fabrics and yarns, often using up dead stock fabrics that would otherwise be wasted.

He confirms that the work with highly skilled people in small factories who they have known for a long time and know what they are doing. “They all make great quality garments, which is never the cheapest way to make stuff but we think it’s the best way,” he says.

The Pendle Jacket is the headliner for the collection. It has been made using hand woven Harris Tweed and treated cotton by Badge of Bolton, Lancashire. £349 Available in Urban Outfitters and online at www.oipolloi.com and also www.mywardrobe.com

TWEED ALL ABOUT IT!

LIBERTY

Freedom Look Cool. Keep Warm. Wear Tweed.

Liberty Freedom launched four years ago and with a slight uncertainty at the beginning, they have gone from strength to strength.

Their whole range of womenswear is based on tweed fabrics sourced from a mill LancashireYorkshire boarder. Upender is the man behind the label and he has a strong sense of Britishness and the design aesthetic of English fashion.

They echo Vivienne Westwood’s punk element with a touch of anarchy to the countryside inspired designs. Their ethos is that all their clothes are handmade in England and sourced there also, using craftsmen of the homeland to ensure its authenticity. It Is “designed for nobles, outcasts, rebels, individuals with intelligent style who can stand out and look fantastic”, as their website puts it, and their amazing tweed fabrics manipulated into extraordinary designs are stand alone in their field. They pride themselves on being “green”, without wanted to sound like they are hammering home the fair trade drone of the contemporaries. But they do ensure that all their fabric is sourced from England, and they try the best to keep down the carbon footprint of the brand.

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TWEED ALL ABOUT IT!

TWEED ALL ABOUT IT!

TANA MITCHELL

Hermes

Tana Mitchell got the chance to design typography for Hermés after winning a Designboom competition. She was shortlisted from 6,000 entrants from almost 100 countries down to the final 200. With two degrees in English and Art History and the other in Visual Communications, Tana has travelled with her career and is living in New York at the moment.

She talks to Tweed Yourself about her opportunity of a lifetime, but doesn’t think she’ll work with them again.

How long did it take to create the typography and how has it been received?

It was shortlisted amongst 200 finalists out of around 6,000 entrants from nearly 100 countries.

It took a while- a couple of days to work out the puzzle.

What have you been up to since your design for them?

I entered the competition whilst living in Berlin, I am currently working in New York for Fahrenheit 212, but I will be moving on shortly.

How do you feel tweed fits into the fashion industry? Does it hold a firm place?

I feel anything with such a strong heritage such as tweed will always be relevant, it may come in and out of fashion but it will always by ripe for re-invention.

Are you a fan of tweed and what type of tweed inspired your typography?

As above I respect the tweed, I am interested in what it represents (history, England, countryside, a certain class, etc) and find it interesting to invert these intricately woven symbols & metaphors.

Do you think tweed should be honoured more in the fashion industry?

Tweed is a quiet champion, herein lays the intrigue.

What’s your typical design process?

So many different approaches, but usually a lot of mulling followed by a eureka moment that is in turn followed by a process of sketching — only when am I clear on the idea and the form to I design on the computer.

What’s next for you?

Heading to New Zealand for a few months where I’ll be inhaling beautiful fresh air & working on an exhibition or two.

TWEED ALL ABOUT IT!

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DERYCKWalker THE TWEED FOLLOWERS

Characterised by bold coloured tailoring, windmill imagery and a thick Scottish undertone, Deryck Walker has created a unique symbiotic relationship between his fashion label and his love of art and sculpture.

His SHOWSTUDIO collaborations prompted tremendous reactions, his role in the Harris Tweed revival set him apart from other designers and his Scottish heritage has always been the backbone to his designing. Now, he has decided to split his time between designing and sculpting, creating a diverse new energy that will mould nicely into his new studio space in Glasgow. He has worked for many fashion houses such as Boudicca and Versace, and with stints in Italy and London under his beautifully crafted leather belt, he is back in his homeland. His love of tweed is certainly not a Scottish typecast.

He was approached back in 2008 by the Harris Tweed Hebrides to help them revive the dying fabric and modernise it. “I helped to re-launch something that was sort of dying.

And it was actually quite naïve of me to get involved in it.” Chuckling, he admits he is no longer in ‘Harris Tweed land’ anymore, and that although it took up a lot of his time, he

THE TWEED FOLLOWERS

received a lot of attention from it. He jumped at the chance to be a part of such a wonderful project, and he interpreted the brief his own way and decided to use bright colours but also wanted it to remain subliminal in a sense.

His new take on the traditional fabric was received very well in the fashion industry.

But this was just one chapter in an already well cultivated career. The label, Deryck Walker, first launched at London Fashion week in 2005. A whirlwind of Scottish designers emerged from the Highlands around that time, and along with Christopher Kane and Jonathon Saunders, Deryck created a buzz down in London and soon the hype surrounding Scotland was unfathomable. He does however believe that this might dwindle a bit in the next few years, because “ye can’t just expect Scottish designers to be popping out like gremlins”, as he aptly puts it.

The fashion industry seems to latch onto a new wave of designers and this pack of three

that do repeat themselves again, it just sort of puts you off a bit,” he says in his thick Scottish accent.

Deryck has moved away from fashion to some degree but hasn’t neglected it completely. “I’m going to split my time 50/50, between the art and creative side and the fashion classic side because I feel that I get more out of that than just doing collections.

I strongly believe that you should work with what you’ve got rather than making yourself unhappy and miserable trying to do something that is expected of yourself.” With the fashion side of things, he has given up on London as he feels financially it isn’t catered for the smaller labels but great in terms of media coverage. The label is looking to go abroad next year, something that is being kept under wraps and is still in the pipeline but it promises to be an exciting new project that will help kick start the new cycle for Deryck Walker.

“Ye can’t just expect Scottish designers to be popping out like gremlins.” undoubtedly made waves as they descended down from Scotland. One designer he has backed is Holly Folton, a denim wear designer who is set for glory and will keep up the Scots reputation. Another new designer Deryck admires is menswear designer Aitor Throup.

He thinks he has started something new and refreshing as opposed to the regurgitating collections that have been seen in recent seasons. Perhaps it is Throup’s engineer aesthetic rather than generic fashion designer outlook that sets him apart from the others.

“My ultimate goal is to strip everything down and to imagine that everything I make is being created for the first time,” says Throup of his work. Deryck thinks what is going on at the moment is very recycled.” I’ve been in fashion for 20 years now and I’ve seen things

Deryck has a very classic view on fashion as a whole, seeing it as something that should be cherished and kept for a long time, rather than being disposable. He recalls friends of his telling them that they want to go back to the time and the ideals where they bought clothes for the long term and didn’t look to the high street for cheap knock offs. “That’s what I love about the Harris Tweed collaboration because people will have them in their wardrobe for a long time. I love how it puts an imprint of history into your wardrobe.”

He does a lot of made-to-measure tailoring and bespoke suits, an ideal he cherishes and believes it is what fashion is all about.

“I find it a more personal than clothes in a department store- that you can actually give the customer what they want.” This bespoke

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THE TWEED FOLLOWERS

element should be for every garment in one’s wardrobe, not just a suit. “I feel like I’d like to go back to a more old fashioned mind set of what fashion is about because I feel like if you own a coat, it shouldn’t be in every store.”

Laughing, he makes a good point that no doubt everyone has experienced once in their lives, “like ye shouldn’t be able to walk up the street and get it in Topshop y’know. “ Deryck Walker was born and bred in Glasgow and has been into fashion for as long as he can remember. “When I was growing up as a wee boy, I was reading Vogue and studying these beautiful ideas of fashion”, he says. He studied Fashion and Textiles at Cardonald College in Glasgow, where he now teaches occasionally, and his methods are that of a realist and he describes himself as a creative “pot of soup”. “I try and tell the kids about all the different things they can get involved in, when they’re doing fashion so as to bring all their inspirations together”, and he takes this on board himself. “I’m more into classic things that last a bit longer so I don’t show every six months”, he says, “so what I do now is I’ll play with some sculpture and art but do collections more or less say every year now rather than twice a year.”

Now back in Glasgow, Deryck has found other ways of expressing his creativity. “My main thing is obviously designing but I’m drawn away from designing and fashion a bit more now”, and with this came his love of sculpture and art installation. He collaborates on a lot of projects with various other artists and designers, most recently the Scottish artist, John Byrne. They’ve just done a campaign together and in it, John will be wearing some Harris Tweed pieces which will no doubt help elevate the brand even more.

THE TWEED FOLLOWERS

Tweed

DASHING IN

Guy Hills, founder of Dashing Tweeds, sits comfortably in the surroundings of his newly renovated home in Primrose Hill, North London. Dressed in tweed shorts to tackle the humid London weather, he is at his most content when explaining his love for all things tweed and Dandy, and sipping green tea gazing out onto the canal at the back of his home, he recalls how it all began. With clients such as Pharell and the Billionaire Boys Club, it’s no wonder everyone is looking dashing in tweed these days.

Guy Hill’s was a professional photographer for the likes of Elle, Tatler and the Daily Mail and this fashion eye has spawned Dashing Tweeds, a modern brand focussing on the functionality and colourfulness of tweed and its practicality when cycling. In the lower ground of his home where his office is situated, rolls of fabric stream down the walls in luminous colours flickering in the light.

Fuchsias, greens and blue hues are juxtaposed against the traditional Harris Tweeds that are draped across tables for inspiration.

One pattern that abruptly stands out from the rest is an exploded houndstooth design in a grey and lime green colour- a suit that would certainly get the attention of any sleepy driver on the traffic polluted London roads.

The brand itself is marketed as Portobello meets Saville Row with interesting shapes and designs peppering his collections, and has womenswear pieces cropping up every so often, such as a tweed cape that is sure to fit in well this Autumn/Winter.

A fashion photographer by trade, Guy Hills has been in the fashion industry for a number of years but always behind the scenes. Now, he has started his own label with his business partner, Kirsty, a weave graduate from the Royal College of Art who he snapped up at the degree show three years ago, and suddenly, everything just got a whole lot brighter. “It started just as a once off, I met her at the degree show and I was looking to change my photographic career. I asked her to style some shoots for me in my studio; they didn’t really have much direction because I wasn’t

quite sure what I was doing and when she said she was a weaver and she could weave me something I was suddenly so excited,” he chirps. This excitement continues on for the duration of the interview, never lagging, extremely infectious. Guy was always into fashion and dressing well, but there was something that sparked a true delight when he got his first bespoke suit, a flannel one at that. “There’s real luxury about having clothes made for you and to be able to wear those things every day.” This love of suits was flourished whilst working for the Saville Row Bespoke Tailors collective that aimed to brand the houses together. He did their advertising campaigns and was paid in suits.

Referring back to the days when he used to wear Vivienne Westwood’s tartan trousers, his love of tweed came rushing back to him after he found an old tweed jacket that had belonged to his father. His love of colour and the basis for Dashing Tweeds was also sparked by Vivienne Westwood’s punk lines as it was socially acceptable to wear bright colours back then.

Tweed’s versatility is what drew him to it as a business venture. He lists off all the positive aspects of tweed, and strains to find a negative: “It’s sportswear, it’s smart, it’s colourful and it’s incredibly practical.

It hardly ever needs washing because wool doesn’t smell. And it’s kind of waterproof, so it’s really an ideal material.” Having tried and tested other fabrics, tweed was the one that stood out the most. He found a tailor on Hoxton Square after a bizarre meeting with

“It’s sportswear, it’s smart, it’s colourful and it’s incredibly practical.”

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an army sergeant at a party who was chatting up his wife. “I went to intervene but he was so well dressed that I couldn’t help but admire his dress sense. And I got talking to him and it turned out his job is to dress his regiment and he had just changed the tailor,” he says, so he had this tailor make him up a corduroy suit.

It was only when Kirsty fully came on board and offered to weave him fabric for a suit that Dashing Tweeds started to form a backbone. “I had this idea of tweed and the environment because that’s what tweed is, it blends in with the environment and the colours of the country. So I wanted urban tweed, the kind of colours of London and I went around chipping up bits of the pavement.” Picturing a man dressed in a dapper suit chipping at pavement must have been some sight to behold, but it made for an excellent colour palate and soon everything in London because a part of his designs. They had no real plan at the beginning of where they wanted to go with the designs, he mainly wanted his own suits to be made and perhaps a few for his friends. With some extra funding from the crafts council to buy a Swiss Patronic Loom for their design studio, Guy’s infectious excitement spread to Kirsty and they began designing together. One of the main points Guy wanted to insure was that they did not regurgitate designs like that of other menswear brands, and thinks that “everything in menswear is functional and it all has a history”, a history he wishes to refresh with his designs rather than replicate.

The idea for the reflective yarn in the fabrics stemmed from a request by his wife. He recalls her concern about him cycling at night, “my wife was trying to persuade me to wear a high vis reflective bib on top whilst cycling but that was the last thing I was ever going to wear and it gave me the idea of having

reflective yarn woven into the fabrics.” What started out as a personal want became an unexpected craze, with the leftover fabrics from his suits being sold in bunches to the tailors of Saville Row, and the idea grew from there. Having been witness to brands and fashion houses in the past, Guy was certain that’s what he expected of his own idea. “I was also aware that I was very keen on having a brand as I used to photograph for all these big luxury brands. I wanted to create a brand which was all about men’s style, innovation and a lot of colour and fun as well,” he says.

Guy has collaborated with Teddy of The Tweed Run to create suits for their online store and loves taking part in the event every year. Soon everyone on the streets of London will be whizzing by in the new cycle lanes of London in tweed so bright you won’t be able to miss them.

Chanel THE TWEED FOLLOWERS

COCO

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Tweed was always considered a menswear fabric from its days of hunting and workwear.

But when Coco Chanel used it for her bouclé jackets and three piece skirt suits, that all changed.

Chanel was known for using the male silhouette for inspiration and creating a new look for women of the 1920s. Not one to be shy of wearing male associated fabrics, she chose tweed as one that could be translated onto a woman’s figure and in turn created one of the most wearable womenswear pieces of all time- the tweed jacket. Tweed at the end of the 19th Century was known as a workwear and hard wearing fabric but when Chanel started using it in her couture collections it was elevated to high fashion status. Coco Chanel is praised for bringing tweed to the fashion arena and by taking it a step beyond the utilitarian looks of the 1940s and 50s.

It is hard to find a person today that has not heard of Chanel. It is one of the most sought after brands in the world and everyone copies and mimics their designs, from cheap knock offs to high street mass produced garbage.

Starting off as a milliner, Gabrielle Chanel, later known simply as Coco, moved into sportswear for women creating a juxtaposing silhouette to that of Dior and other Parisian labels. Chanel then went on to design the ultimate tweed suit that is referred to today as ‘The Chanel Suit’, and also branched out into perfumes- No 5 is one of the best-selling fragrances of all time- and the ubiquitous quilted bag that has every girl lusting after it.

The Chanel suit made from Linton tweeds, a much more delicate variation of the traditional hard wearing tweed, is a staple of the Chanel House and is still to this day one of the most sought after fashion items for any woman’s wardrobe. It usually comes in a three piece ensemble- The tweed collarless jacket adorned with fringing or braid trimmed, gold

buttons and a lining made from the softest of silk used for their blouses; a nipped in at the waist cardigan that tucks neatly under the jacket for wear on crisp Autumnal mornings; and a knee length skirt, all coming in a mishmash of Chanel’s famous colour palettes of sombre shades with injections of rouge tones and white flecks. Chanel said that “A girl should always be two things: classy and fabulous,” and it is no doubt that the Chanel Tweed suit embodies this mantra.

Many believed with the passing of Coco Chanel that the label would lose its lustrous appeal. But Karl Lagerfeld took the reins in1983 and has kept the unique aesthetic of Coco Chanel as well as adding his own design element. Fashion journalist Sarah Mower has every faith in Karl. “In Karl Lagerfeld’s hands, the Chanel couture jacket is an infinitely malleable treasure, always current yet timelessly valuable.” Karl’s latest collections still embody true Chanel mystique with a modern edge. Women’s Wear Daily described it as “‘Neon baroque’ was Lagerfeld’s concept, and it took to tweed like spectators to ‘Avatar.’” Perhaps it would not be so obscure to see one of James Cameron’s creations donned in tweed for the second Avatar instalment. No other designer has created a piece with such longevity as the tweed jacket making it a design from the 1950s could easily be worn today. Her influence in the fashion industry lives on in the capable hands of Lagerfeld, let’s hope he keeps tweed alive in the House of Chanel.

Flaneur

EAST END

Huntsman tailored Tweed Suit designed for The Tween Run Tan Grenson Brogues Denim Shirt: Topman Watch: models own

Harris Tweed Coat: Portobello Road Market Vintage Levi 501s: Rokit Desert Boots: Clarks White Tshirt: Topman Hipflask: stylists own Necklace and Watch: model’s own

Harris Tweed jacket: Portobello Road Market Black Skinny Jeans: Topman Desert Boots: Clarks Black Braces: American Apparel Grey T-shirt: Uniqlo Necklace: Model’s own

Plus fours: The Tweed Run Socks: The Tweed Run Tan Grenson Brogues Cap: the Tweed Run White Bespoke shirt as before Bike: 14 Bike Store, Brick Lane

Tweed 2 piece suit: Portobello Road Market Vintage Levi 501s: Rokit White Bespoke Shirt: Made to Order Tie: Peckham Rye Pocket Square: Stylists own Gold pin: Stylists own Vintage Camera: Brick Lane

Styling as above

Styling as above

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THE TWEEDRun

It all began in 2008 as a bit of fun but the Tweed Run has become an annual cycling tweed bonanza. A sea of tweed has been taking over London for two years every April and arrangements are already underway for next year’s run and with one in New York and a debut in Tokyo, tweed is set to take over the world. Tweed Yourself talks to founder and keen tweed activist Ted Young-Ing about biggest event of the year that celebrates British eccentricity in style.

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The founder of the Tweed Run, Ted YoungIng, finds the whole things rather amusing.

Whilst in a vintage store in Edinburgh, he noticed an array of tweed plus fours that ignited his vision for the Tweed Run. A keen cyclist for years, he thought it would be great fun to dress head to toe in tweed and cycle around London with a few of his friends. A group on a social networking site was created for the event and the numbers quickly went from fifty to two hundred, half of whom Ted didn’t even know. Initially he had planned to stand outside the Huntsman, Saville Row’s oldest supplier of tweed, to pose for a photograph, but that was when he had ten people in mind for the jaunt. “When I realised there were like two hundred people going I thought I had better contact Huntsman and tell them what’s going to happen because this is crazy. They thought it was great and said they’d come out and wave us off ”, he laughs.

And so the guerrilla style event exploded onto the streets of London. The only drawback on the day was that there was a protest march on Parliament Square, but this did not dampen their jolly spirits. The success of the Tweed Run reverberated around the cycling and tweed worlds alike and more people wanted to be a part of it. For this year’s London run back in April they opened up registration at 10am one Saturday morning and by 11am, they had filled the 400 allocated slots.

The idea behind the Tweed Run is to encourage people to cycle in the city and to show that it is extremely safe to do so.

“Basically we had these four or five different points where we wanted to go with the Tweed Run, and one of them is to let people

know you can cycle in London safely and to encourage people who weren’t regular city cyclists. The first time to do it is kind of scary but if you were to do it with a big pack of people it would be a nice intro into cycling in the city.” One of the obstacles when planning the second run was that a police escort would have to be put in place. This was not the image they wanted to portray however and they fought to do it without the escort. If that was going to be the only way to conduct it, then no one is safe cycling in London.

The Run itself is a twelve mile cycle across different boroughs of London- starting at Saville Row, moving to the Chelsea Royal College of Art, breezing through Chelsea and Kensington, popping into Kensington Gardens for some tea and crumpets and back to the City to the finish line. Ted is quick to hammer home that it is not a race, more of a social ride. “What’s really important to us is that it’s not a race, it’s a social ride and you don’t have to break a sweat. No one’s going to laugh at you because you’re slow or anything like that. It was amazing good fun. Part of the joy of the event is that everyone does make a real effort for it and it looked incredible.”

He echoes director Brendan McNamee’s sentiments when describing the change in behaviour when people don a tweed suit. “I think part of dressing like that is that you act differently you know, everyone was acting like ladies and gentlemen and being very polite.” Cycling in London can be a harrowing experience, with toots of horns blasting you out for the way, pedestrians zooming in and out, and big red buses tailing you in the cycle lane. But on the day of the Tweed Run animosity is put to one side and the tension is

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relieved. This makes it a perfect day for first timers on the city roads, which is one of their core values. “What we want is to encourage people to cycle. We’re trying to say is ‘get on your bike and cycle’, and to do it on a day like the Tweed Run makes it more fun and relaxed”.

Ted is a firm believer that one should wear what they like when cycling and is a fan of the tweed suit on an everyday basis. His message is that you don’t have to have some crazy bike, lots of lycra and bike equipment to cycle around the city. He is a testament to his own mantra as he causally wears a pair of chinos, a Ralph Lauren shirt and tan Grenson brogues.

fashion show entitled Pret-a-Roulér will take place on 14th October, the day before Twelve Miles of Tweed will be shown at the film festival. He believes that cycling has exploded in recent years and designers are starting to take note of the recent surge in bicycle wear that isn’t luminous. “There are lots of people that are catering more towards clothes for cycling”, and he says that these clothes will be modelled the runway at the fashion show. Ted is no stranger to the fashion industry as he has worked for many fashion houses as an Art Director. He worked at Calvin Klein in New York as well as Condé Nast, and moved to London ten years ago to become

What’s really important to us is that it’s not a race, it’s a social ride and you don’t have to break a sweat”.

He certainly looks more chic than high visual bibs ever do, and of course, the safety factor of cycling at night is covered by Dashing Tweed who mixes luminous yarn into their tweeds for the urban wearer. Ted and Guy Hills of Dashing Tweed have collaborated on some items for the Tweed Run’s online store, which like the Tweed Run at the beginning, started out as a bit of fun. He jests that “initially it started off as a joke, and then I thought if we’re going to do it we may as well do it properly. So we came up with a range of items that were related to the Tweed Run but at the same time were really amazing.”

Tweed caps and scarves, tan brogues with custom print in soles, and exquisitely tailored suits made by Huntsman are all available to buy online, as are bicycle saddles and beautifully engraved hip flasks. The Tweed run never makes money contrary to what one might think. It is the sponsors that fund the excursions and events, and the items that are sold online merely cover the cost to make them, as Ted insists they are all manufactured in the UK and “terribly expensive”.

For the Bicycle Film Festival in October, a

art director at Gucci. “The time I had at Gucci was amazing and working with Tom Ford was probably the best experience of my life”, he says, but insists that fashion has its downside, especially in the fashion hub that is New York City. “I liked my job, I liked what I did and I liked the people I worked with but at a certain point it becomes too much”, he admits. “People in fashion work harder than most of the other industries and I think you have to be really dedicated and love what you’re doing in order to commit like that.”

In a nostalgic sense, he loves New York, but from a fashion career point of view, it was a suffocating bubble that he just had to burst out of. He describes the parties and events and the people who you meet, “everyone you know and everything you do is fashion and it becomes this insular life where everything is about your job. Your associates want to hear about your job and you go to openings and launches and it is all work related and you can’t get away from it”.

Ted and his business partner and friend, Jackie, are already planning the routes in New York and Tokyo. As ted spent many years

living and cycling in New York, the main problem is getting the right permits. “Not being in New York makes it more difficult, dealing with the police in there is different and a hassle from London,” he says, but the Tokyo plans seem to be coming together nicely. Does he think the Tweed Run will be as big a hit in those cities as it has been in London? “Well the Japanese are really keen on cycling, and anything sort of Englishy and tweed so I’m sure it will go down a treat.”

Surely the popularity of the Tweed Run has extended to every corner of London and even the UK. They have over a thousand followers on Twitter, and hundreds of friends on facebook and other interest from social media sites but he still is adamant that is somewhat an underground event. Due to permit issues, insurance reasons and authenticity of the event, he cannot and does not want more than four hundred people taking part. “The police had never issued permits like this before so they said they’d test it out this one time and we would set a precedent and if it doesn’t work out, it will never happen again.

So we had this pressure where this was the only time a bicycle ride has happened on these terms and if we’re not careful, it will never happen again so we were telling people not to show up if they hadn’t registered.”

He also doesn’t think it would be fair on the people that got up early to register on a Saturday morning in March, and seeing as “everyone has an iphone these days, there really isn’t an excuse not to do it on time,” he realistically states. The registering process is for the benefit of the Royal Borough of Chelsea and Kensington as they have given funding the event so there are a few simple cycling related questions before you can register for the Tweed Run.

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MILES OF TWEED He may not be dressed head to toe in tweed, but film director Brendan McNamee has certainly felt the traditional fabrics’ resurgence since filming Twelve Miles of Tweed, a documentary of the annual Tweed Run in London back in April.

In 2005, Brendan started up Blunt Films, an independent production company, and began to get regular clients and a lot of interest from industry insiders. He has since made music videos for bands such as Royksopp, The Pigeon Detectives, Datsuns and The Hours, but are music videos his passion? “Sometimes yes, I enjoy making them, it can be really satisfying but then it can be really difficult,” he says. “You’re making a commercial for that product whether it is a band or not, and art is primary for me but secondary for them. They see you as a piece of the marketing puzzle but other times they do see you as an important role.” He fell into the world of directing after studying drama at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts. He soon realised whilst acting in student films and plays that he himself could probably do it better. He found himself “talking to other actors and I was also listening and directing without noticing what I was doing”. Clearly an innate passion, he started writing scripts and made some short

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films.

His back catalogue of short films and work with the Bicycle Film Festival is what led him to film The Tweed Run. “I know Teddy and Jackie through the BFF. They had seen a film I had made for the festival and asked me to come along on the day and make a film about the Tweed Run.” Twelve Miles of Tweed was filmed back in April at the second annual Tweed Run and the fourteen minute long documentary was shown at the Bicycle Film Festival in New York in June and will be shown at the London Bicycle Film Festival in September.

With a handheld camera and little or no brief to follow, Brendan set off on his bicycle dressed in a tweed jacket, waistcoat and flat cap to capture the hundreds cyclists who turned up head to toe in tweed to cycle through London. One thing that struck him while he was riding along filming was the amount of cameras on the day. “I found it really interesting that the whole thing was founded in picture taking and that

it was all about the image”, he says of the experience. There were hundreds of tourists photographing the unusual event unfold along the streets of London, almost as if the city had been transported back in time. The film itself has a much more reportage feel to it than Miles Away, his latest feature film, and he admits he loves this kind of film-making.

The documentary covers the Tweed Run setting off from Saville Row to Kensington Gardens where they stopped off for tea and crumpets, and then afterwards, they tallyhoed to a bar in the City and enjoyed gin and tonic. Brendan himself cycled about seventeen miles going back and forth filming and luckily for him, tweed is very good at hiding perspiration. He was surprised at the way the people involved behaved as soon as they put tweed on, how their demeanour completely transformed into a gentleman-like way. He did prefer the women’s outfits however- all dolled up in vintage attire with blood red lipstick.

Brendan is a t-shirt and jeans kind of guy but has a twinkle in his eye as he recalls his day of

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wearing tweed. “Personally, it’s not something I would normally wear, but I could definitely see myself going out in the countryside or in winter in a tweed jacket”, he insists.

The theme of mileage seems to be running through Brendan’s work of late as his new feature film, Miles Away, has recently been screened at the British Film Institute. The film is set in a time when the BSE virus was most rampant- leaving the countryside desolate and free of cattle. It is centred on two mafia type characters that find themselves cooped up in a cottage in the middle of the English countryside. In the small town they stumble upon, the family that own the local pub are wary of them and in order to rid them of their town, they feed them White Russians with diseased milk from the infected cows and this unleashes a whirlwind of hallucinogenic trips and harrowing events that cause the men to go as mad as the cows.

Brendan insists that the long process of making the film was not easy. “I did it between working on other jobs so when any other work came up Miles Away had to be put on the back burner,” he syas. “At one point there was a six month break from working on it.” This created difficulty in the post-production side of things and after those six months, he realised that the previous edits were not right and they had to start all over again, “Obviously once you’ve done it and see what it looks like when you finish editing it, and when you stop to go work on a few music videos or whatever and start up again, you go back and think to yourself, ‘eh, I don’t really like it’”, he frustratingly confides. “This happened about two or three times, partly because we were rushing to get

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stuff done within like two or three weeks between jobs.”

The film was completely funded by Brendan’s film and production company, Blunt Films, so the limits of the filming left a lot of postproduction to do. “A lot of the film we had to shoot during the day and then post produce it into night because it just didn’t have the budget for night lights and people to stay overnight somewhere. And it was a stylistic decision to shoot in the daytime and make it look like night as well.” Another budget restraint was the use of a CGI bull instead of a real one, because ideally, he would have preferred the latter. The use of the computer generated bull however adds to the illusion of the film and its story and never seems out of place.

The topic of finance seems to crop up a lot in the film industry, and Brendan is quick to confirm this association. His frustration is apparent as he describes this vicious circle.

“How can you stretch as a film maker if you’re being given less and less money each time?” he questions. “It’s almost impossible for me to get a brief for a video and think about it without thinking about the money. I shouldn’t have to think about it as it’s such a restriction. I’m still at the mercy of all my clients even though I work for myself. If I want it to look well I have to shoot myself in the foot sometimes.”

The Tweed Run seems to have had a subconscious effect on Brendan as he is currently in the midst of writing a film about Bike Polo, a sport which he himself plays, and he would love to film the next Tweed Run also.

Hopefully by then he will own his own tweed suit.

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Wars

Harris Tweed was once associated with tradition and a fabric of days gone by, but these collaborations with big name sports brands have elevated its status once again. Some have described it as monstrous; others have praised its innovative use of a dying fabric. What do you think?

A collaboration between Nike and Harris Tweed founded a specific type of Nike Dunk SB Low’s, which were also released in a high top version. Nike came up with a new training shoe based on The Terminator, a basketball shoe from the 1980s and wanted to use Harris Tweed as part of their renovation. This created a buzz around the fabric and after a call to Donald John Mackay and his wife Maureen who live and work in the Outer Hebrides, an order was made for 10,000 metres of cloth.

Weavers throughout the Outer Hebrides were called into help meet the demands and could only say good things about the interest in the fabric. Mackay thinks that was going to help bring the industry back, and stated that “we’ve already been getting inquiries from people in the trade who haven’t nought Harris Tweed for years”.

For Fall 2007, New balance teamed up with Offspring to release limited edition collection called the Tweed Pack. The pack consisted of two pairs of M574’s that came in a black and gold mix with blue tweed and a beige and brown shoe with rustic tweed colour lining, and a M576 that came in a forest green colour with brown accents and a classic tweed lining.

New Balance aren’t as aesthetically pleasing as Nike and Vans, as they are more a practical looking shoe rather than being concerned with the fashion aspect, but the tweed adds another level to the usually boring brand.

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Jumping on the Tweed bandwagon, Vans have also teamed up with Harris Tweed in the less distant past as the others. For Autumn/ Winter 2009, Vans reworked their classed Era and Slip On models to fit with the tweed pack theme. Both of the styles feature a milky blue tweed pattern upper, with the classic white vulcanised soles along with the signature Vans logo on the back. These make a nice change from the classic Vans look of either chequered or block coloured shoes, and as Tweed is great in wet weather, make for a very durable shoe.

Deluxe

FENDER TWEED Showing tweed’s versatility, Fender used tweed in their Tweed Deluxe guitar amplifier that was produced between 1955 and 1960. It is referred to as the Tweed Deluxe because of its brown tweed covering around the TV front appearance. The tweed was first used on Fender amps in 1948 on the Champion 800 or “green tweed” model as it is known to music industry specialists.

Leo Fender produced amplifiers with the intention of keeping the sound as clean as possible at high volumes but the Tweed Deluxe lacked this trademark and was known as the beginner’s amp. This saturated tone however is the signature sound for Neil Young who has used the amp since the 1960s. Neil himself swears by his amps, noting that he couldn’t play live without them. “All the old Fenders are different, because of different metal alloys, and also the cables used in them. The power isn’t exactly the same either,” he says of the amps. He also states that the Fender Deluxe Tweed “is the backbone of my sound”, a sound that has made him one of the most iconic musicians of all time and to this day helps his signature sound both in the studio and on tour. Fender has also used tweed on their guitar cases in the 1950s. It started out as a single colour on off white fabric, moved to a horizontal stripe two tone pattern and finally finished up with a diagonal two tone tweed. Unfortuately they have stopped producing all their tweed products but eager tweed lovers should be able to get a hold of some Fender tweed in vintage shops and online.

TWEEDLE

Do’s MC Duke Born with a tweed affliction. He was an East End rapper from London in the underground hip hop scene was known for wearing a three piece tweed suit with a matching tweed cap during battles.

Nigel Coates Architect, interior designer and well known Dandy. His Animalia collection using tweed-like fabrics will have everyone pining after it, especially the Modulair sofa system.

Stephen Fry His Twitter says it all.

Sherlock Holmes Both old school and Robert Downey Junior.

Chanel Classic always wins.

Tweed Blazer Everyone should have one in their wardrobe.

Elbow Patches Not only perfect for tweed jackets but on trend this season with your casual wear too.

Dr Who Matt Smith seems to love tweed on and off screen.

TWEEDLE

Dont’s Cheryl Cole Soon-to-be Tweedy Jack Tweedy Riding on the back of his deceased wife’s Z list fame, never a good look.

The Tweed Band Not as good as one might imagine

Head to Toe Wearing head to toe Tweed head to toe anything is never a good look Brian Haggas The Devil Wears Tweed

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Stef

THE MIGHTY Stefan Murphy of The Mighty Stef is what you expect him to be from listening to the bellowing brash ballads in their back catalogue. He is a towering man with messy hair, sideburns and a deep husky voice with a Dublin accent that immediately sucks the listener in to hear his many tales and anecdotes. Playing both as a solo act and in a band, Stef is definitely the might of the act and is diving head first into live gigs all over Europe and the US in the coming months and with a debut in the British film, Come On Eileen, The Mighty Stef competes with The Mighty Boosh main man Noel Fielding for the use of the name.

Stef later admits that Noel won- he wore a cape to the premiere. “I didn’t expect anything less to be honest”, he later admits defeat.

The Mighty Stef has played some gigs in London over the summer and supporting a favourite band of his, Television, at the Proud Galleries in Camden, was some experience.

Unfortunately the lead singer and only original member of the band didn’t turn up, as he usually never does, and the second gig he is meant to play the following night at the Boogaloo Bar has been cancelled. Quite a sour taste of the London performing scene one might argue, but not enough to set Stef back. He has also recently performed at the after party of the screening of Come on Eileen, a film about a middle aged woman’s struggle to find love. He is featured in the film performing and on the soundtrack, but he remains quite timid about his step into the dark side, aka, the mainstream.

stage at 11am and play to four people, or you might play to 400. It doesn’t matter what band you’re in either. If Bobby Gilespie from Primal Scream wanted to go see a band he would probably have to be in the same queue as meit’s a bit mad like that.” He recalls Ray Davies’ performance at his last Texan adventure, one that affected him more than he ever imagined. “He told some great stories and I was nearly in tears, I texted everyone who I wished was there with me.” It’s hard to picture Stef close to tears, but Ray Davies if anyone could definitely have that affect on someone.

Since he was younger, music has been all that Stef has been able to do and to do it well.

“It’s the only thing in my life I’m qualified to do y’know. I’ve been trying to write songs since I was sixteen but I’d say my first good

“I knew there was something about all of those four artists, something weird, that drew me to them”

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From performing in the punk band The Subtonics to his now folk rock n’roll ensemble, Stef and his band has been on tour with the likes of Floggin’ Molly from which they have gathered a cult following among the Irish-Punk culture in America. The SXSW festival in Texas has been a consistent imprint on The Mighty Stef, as they have been there many times. “I’ve played it the last two years in a row with the band but twice before that on my own and it was kind of unofficial,” he says. He goes on to say that some of the gigs were that little bit weird. “You might be on

song was written about ten years later so I feel like I’ve only started,” he says. “My age tells a different story though!” He grew up listening to the usual 90s music like that of his contemporaries, the Manchester and Seattle stuff, and of course, The Clash. Rap music was also high on a playlist of his, giving him a well-rounded love of music from the get go. However it was only in his early 20s that he discovered who he now believes to have had a big impact on his music. “I only discovered the likes of Johnny Cash and country music much later in life. The Beatles,

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The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan- all came to me years after it should have.” He has four main influences in his life and music that have completed dictated his musical career and he makes sure to pay homage to them at every chance he gets. “Johnny Cash, Nick Cave, Tom Waits and Leonard Coen. I knew there was something about all of those four artists, something weird, that drew me to them” he recalls.

So what of his own music with The Mighty Stef? The macabre themed lyrics of love and rebellion mixed with his meaty Dublin accent are reminiscent of a fellow Dubliner, Shane MacGowan, who he has collaborated with in the past. They have been described as “a veritable band of rock n roll Pirates, sailing a sea of influences that include everything from The Rolling Stones to the Pogues,” by music insiders, and their latest release 100 Midnights, was a hit with fans of the band as well as newcomers to Stef ’s storytelling.

Singles ‘Downtown’ and ‘Death Threats’ pose interesting life conundrums and lyrics of home truths such as ‘nine to five is eating us alive’ rings on in listeners ears while they sit hunched at their desks. He’s no stranger to the odd love song either, many recounting tales of he and his wife before their recent marriage that would have many a girl pining after him.

The band itself is now an eight piece live act, but the band has gone through many changes since its conception. “Well to be honest there has probably been about 25 different members of the band. Just various different

people who have come in and out and it’s been quite amicably, I’ve never sacked anyone.” And it is here he realises the similar attributes to Mark E. Smith of Manchester band, The Fall.

“It kind of is I suppose but in a much friendlier way. Actually, it is exactly like Mark E. Smith. I saw that book, The Fallen, today, about all the ex-members. I opted to buy a Guns N’Roses book instead though because it was cheaper.”

Stef expresses his excitement of playing a festival where Guns N’Roses are headlining.

He will be playing the BBC Introducing stage at Reading and Leeds which will be broadcast live on air from the festival. Another band playing that festival is Frank Turner, and the ‘four piece tweed warriors’, as NME describes them, Mumford & Sons. Stef sees them as a bit of an embarrassment, “I don’t usually like bad mouthing bands but they’re as tame a band as you’re ever likely to hear and they came out all rinky dink in their get up. It’s not what I call rock n’roll anyways.”

Their touring this summer will round off nicely at Electric Picnic in Ireland. They love to play to all their friends and this year they are playing on one of the big tents as opposed to the Salty Dog stage in 2009; it resembled a derelict pirate ship in the middle of a forest. Festivals are a big part of Stef ’s life, and he once worked at Oxegen assembling stages which he describes and the best and worst experience ever. “I was mucked up the eyeballs, dressed like a knacker with a high vis jacket on and Julian Casablancas gave me a high five as the Strokes sauntered off

the stage.” They are recording new material in between gigs and he confides that he has so many songs in his head all the time. “I’m constantly thinking of new songs and lyrics. It just all goes around in my head until I can sit down with a guitar,” he says. “Sometimes the ideas never get made which is a pity. If I was a true artist I’d make myself write them down and carry a notebook but sure…” he trails off.

His recent performances at Reading and Leeds and Electric Picnic have unleashed him to a wider audience who appreciate his passion for his music. A rendition of David Bowie’s ‘Waiting for the Man’ to conclude his belter of a set at Electric Picnic had the crowd going wild as his accent and flare made the song his own. He is a Dublin gem that would have fellow Irish musicians quaking in their boots and it doesn’t look like he’ll be giving up on world domination anytime soon.

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Turner

FRANK

Frank Turner is known for his part in the punk rock outfit Million Dead. But since the bands demise in 2005, Frank set out on a solo guitar voyage into the art of punk inspired folk, or acoustic punk, as he likes to call it. Tweed Yourself catches up with Frank just as he is about to embark on a massive summer tour of the States with some festival spots in the UK that will keep the fans at home satisfied until his winter venue tour. With support slots on tour with The Offspring and The Gaslight Anthem, Frank seems ready to headline his own gigs this winter after some warm up festival frolicking.

Frank has been on the music scene for quite a while. With two studio albums already in his discography and his latest album, Poetry of the Deed, topping the charts last September, there is a down to earth quality about Frank that undoubtedly makes him a lot of friends, one of them being Laura Marling. Speaking of her recent catapult into success on the back of her sophomore album, I Speak Because I can, admiration is there- as well as a bit of gloating. “It’s very rewarding to see a prediction come true”, he chuckles. “She has always had something special about her, an aura of greatness. We were hanging out and playing songs yesterday in fact. I always feel a little overshadowed, but she’s delightfully humble about what she does. She deserves every success.” Frank himself is a humble man, which could be the backbone of their close friendship.

Frank’s first memory of music comes in the form of rock legends Iron Maiden and one can almost envision him in a pair of torn baggy jeans with a slashed black t-shirt moshing along to their head-banging tunes.

“Metal, punk and hardcore were my first loves and will stay with me to the end”, he thinks.

“In more recent years my choice of heroes has shifted a little; Henry Rollins and Bruce Springsteen are my guiding lights, if I had to choose just two.” No doubt the latter two influences play a major role on his writing style, something that, like many artists, has developed greatly over time. “I think I’ve got better at song writing over the years. Beyond that I try not to analyse things too much in case I end up breaking something in the process”- breaking his sanity perhaps, or a guitar string, he keeps that open for us to interpret.

The scene he has been pigeon-holed into is what is known as the folk punk movementsomething which he explains certainly has a similar ethos to what he does but he doesn’t necessarily believe that is his own personal genre. “There is something of a scene developing around the concept now, particularly in the states, which makes me a little more wary - I’ve never been interested in being part of any kind of movement or bandwagon”, he sheepishly states but he recognises the people who are a part of it and commends them for it. “There are other players out there in a similar vein doing great thing - Tim Barry, Chuck Ragan, people like

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“I’ve never been interested in being part of any kind of movement or bandwagon” that. I think it would better be described as acoustic punk, there’s not much genuine interest in real folk music in that scene that I’ve come across.” Other bands he rates at the moment are Dr Dog and singer songwriter Ben Marwood. He has also recently collaborated with The Dawn Chorus, a folk collective from Portsmouth, who supported him on a show there. “I just totally fell in love with their music. They’re also very nice people. I sang a song on their most recent record, and performed it for the first time at 2000 Trees Festival just recently. Good times.”

Frank shows great excitement about his upcoming tour as he sips innocently on an ice-cold coca cola. “I’ve spent a fair amount of time in the States over the last few years and it’s always a good time. I’m very much enamoured with their culture, particularly in the South,” but he admits that it’s not always glamorous. “Long US tours can get a little gruelling, it’s a huge country, but there’s not much else I’d rather do with my time.” Apart from making sure everything is in order and having breakfast on his own to ‘keep him sane’, Frank doesn’t have the usual rock star rituals like that of his contemporaries. When asked if he would ever think of wearing tweed on stage, he laughs saying “I don’t think so, mainly because it’d be far too hot. I sweat loads when I play even just wearing a T shirt.”

He does have nostalgic memories of tweed however and actually owns a tweed jacket, elbow patches and all.

With Poetry of the Deed still making headlines, it is sure to go down a treat on his set-list this winter. His heart felt ballads about his own queen and intricate guitar plucking on his rendition of the classic ‘You are my Sunshine’ let’s his raspy voice on high notes

tingle the spine and leave the listener numb.

This album has more of a rock direction in comparison to his previous two albums, Sleep is for the Weak and Love Ire & Song, and he takes a band on tour with him to create a well-rounded studio sound. Epitaph Records boss and Bad Religion’s guitarist Brett Gurewitz is obsessed with Turner’s music. “Frank Turner’s music is a revelation to me,” he says. “I can’t stop listening to it. It’s a real privilege to get out there and help Xtra Mile spread the Frank Turner gospel.” The album sees the helping and capable hands of Grammy nominated producer Alex Newport who has worked with bands such as Death Cab for Cutie and Two Gallants in the past and he even approached Frank directly to see if they could work together. Frank Tuner live is itself an experience, with his previous Reading and Leeds festival performances spiralling into sing-alongs of the highest degree. He captures his audience like a poet on an open mic night in a café in a run down area of town and his wise words and energetic ballads are not to be missed this year.

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THE LAST DANDY

On Earth

The Dandy has long been associated with characteristics such as gentlemanly courtesy, poetry, prose and masculine camaraderie. From the high standards of neatness, the importance of detail and investment in quality started by George Byron Brummell in 1790 to the new Dandy etiquette of the modernists, Dandyism comes in many different shapes and forms and Sam Lambert certainly embodies a lot of them.

Brummell who has been described as “a flamboyant puritan who rejected the trappings of a corseted aristocratic lifestyle” was seen at all the high society parties and was said to have shined his boots with champagne. These days Dandy’s are more likely to scrub their footwear with some Patrone, if we were to equate the cleaning products to the noughties. In The New English Dandy, Alice Cicolini splits Dandy’s into six categories. The Gentleman embodies classic tailoring; the Neo Modernist represents modernism in English style; East End Flaneur is more of a bohemian Dandy influenced by environment, music and art; Celebrity tailors are people of superstar taste and notoriety; Terrace Casual are the Mancunian revivalists of the working class style; and the New Briton is concerned with reinterpreting contemporary national style. Gustav Temple, editor of The Chap magazine believes in the unique ideals of a Dandy. “Formal clothing now is far less conservative than the fashions of young people, who all desire to look like replicas of each other,” he says. “They’re meant to be the ones shocking us, and yet here we are, the ones causing the sensation.”

Sam Lambert, designer at Ozwald Boateng on Saville Row represents characteristics of most of these particular Dandy’s as he leads two lives- one under the watchful eye of Boateng, a Dandy himself, and the other under his own fashion and art collective, Art Comes First.

For such a young man, Sam Lambert’s back catalogue of work is peppered with different facets of the fashion industry. Not only does he design for Boateng, he is also a photographer, a soon to be author and dabbles in a bit of styling. The bustling café just off Carnaby Street is a less than desirable interview location, but on any other occasion it would’ve been a perfect haven for a catch-up

between friends. And that is exactly what this experience felt like.

Sam surfaces from the underground design studio at Ozwald Boateng dressed ever so dapper. He is wearing one of his own woollen tweed suits, a check shirt, a handmade dickey bow and a blue handkerchief – an item which he later insists is pivotal for a suit as one can change their day to day look with a different handkerchief. “People can be like ‘wow’ and all you have to do is change your hanky”, he insists. It is a far cry from the old pair of shorts he lived in as a child. “I used to wait in the laundry shop with my mum until my shorts were washed and put them back on again”. The two Dandy fellows, Sam and Ozwald, first met on a winter afternoon on the cobbles of Brick Lane. “He just came over to me, looked me up and down, and was like ‘I’m feeling this’. He then offered me a two week stint at the store- I’ve worked here ever since”. Boateng has transformed the traditional outlook on tailoring and his store on Saville Row juxtaposes the rest of the tailors on the street. The bright colours and textured fabrics are set off by the imaginative shops windows that blow away the traditionalists on the Row. Working at Boateng really helped him acquire new skills, such as creating a bespoke button hole. At first, he was told he was a little too quirky, “but from being there my OTT style has been refined”.

From listening to Sam, one can tell that he is a well-travelled individual and he wastes no time in divulging on his family’s heritage.

Born to an Angolian Mother and a father from Congo, Sam encountered fashion first hand as his father was a tailor in their town.

However, it was in Portugal where he started making alterations to second hand garments.

THE TWEED PIRATES

“I wanted to be different, stand out from the crowd. Without even noticing I was tailoring outfits”.

After brief spells in America, Sweden and Paris, Sam settled for the creatively charged city of London. The British capital won his heart as soon as he stepped off the plane at Heathrow Airport. Afraid of sounding too like Bob Marley, Sam sheepishly states that he felt something mystical in the air and instantly knew he would be able to accomplish great things here. “The diversity of London inspires me. I’m a really restless person and need to be constantly doing things”. The London lifestyle fits his eccentric personality perfectly. “I can work ten hours, sleep three hours and go out for three hours”.

Sam admires a lot of designers that have similar styles to him. He loves how Thom Browne coined the rolled up trouser leg Sam himself imitates. One of the best compliments he ever received was that one of his jackets was a “mix between a Vivienne Westwood and Comme des Garcon design.

That was huge for me”, he says. The design in question is one of his favourite creations, the Shakadelic jacket, named after his friend, muse and ACF partner, Shaka. “Every time I design, I design for him. He’s sort of like me but broader and really tall. He’s like a black Dior model”. Rei Kawakubo is someone whom Sam would love to collaborate with. “She is everything. She’s a woman, has a strong personality, an amazing designer”, he coos.

Perhaps his love for the Japanese label can explain his overriding eagerness to visit Tokyo. As the home of street style, Japan has always appealed to him. “I love Japanese culture so when something has got to do with Japan I’m like ‘yeah’”. Without sounding too pretentious - as many a fashion figure does- he only allows Japanese blogs to photograph him as he doesn’t want it “to end up on the wrong blog”. Sam himself is also a photographer and studied the art for three years. He tends to capture scenarios of old businessmen walking through the

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THE TWEED PIRATES

city who don’t even realise how fashionable they are. This is a similar trait to that of Scott Schuman, the Sartorialist, who will be collaborating with Sam for ACF. This collaboration came about whilst in Pitti, Florence, at the annual fabric fair. Scott captures individuals who he believes have great personal style, but also takes the composition of the photograph into account.

Lambert certainly adores the fashion industry and everything it stands for, but he is not afraid to state what annoys him about it. “I dislike a lot what I call people who are ‘faking the funk’, people who concentrate too much on attitude”. This is linked with the aforementioned pretentiousness in the world of fashion blogging which unearths the flaws of the industry. He touches upon a great point that fashion will never evolve if people constantly duplicate each others designs. “If you keep on copying and copying, fashion will keep going backwards”.

Sam seems to be an all round creative individual, steadily coming up with new ideas and finding inspiration for the multiple projects he has in the pipeline. His new venture, Art Comes First, (or ACF, as he prefers to call it) exudes the attitude Sam has as he is artistically aware of everything around him, from the blues of Muddy Waters to the characters in his photographs. He

started the label with his best mates Shaka, of the Shakadelic jacket fame and Patrick, a friend from Sweden. Not only do they plan on creating a clothing line, their book is in the middle of production and they are looking for things that they find interesting to put into it, one idea being the Dandy and its association with street style. “The book has a bit of everything, but it mostly includes shapes and silhouettes and nudity in the female form.

There are a lot of images of hairstyles, props and small objects.” He points to a square chip of red paint on the wall and says this is the type of thing they capture, “everyday things people don’t notice”.

One quote Sam abides by on a daily basis is; “I am a respectable young man, and I always have my tweed well pressed”. This sums up the protégé fantastically, and with such an energetic aura about him, he is sure to surpass his predecessors to make a name for himself and perhaps a spawn new type of Dandy.