Casio G-SHOCK and b Store hook up for “Tokyo Calling” with Dazed for a special installation which goes live this Sunday.
Today, one of the world's most iconic design brands and one of the UK's coolest purveyors of fashion come together to celebrate over 25 years of rich design heritage – Casio G-SHOCK and b Store have partnered to showcase their latest limited-edition Tokyo watch models.
This project goes live this Sunday with an conceptual installation display created by Hellicar & Lewis – "Together (Everybody Hertz)". Created for b Store and specially commissioned by G-SHOCK, Together was inspired by both the aesthetics and functionality of the watches, and displays a familiar analogue physical phenomenon in such a way as to prompt further enquiry and experimentation. "Together" uses a series of research-grade ripple tanks to create a unique triptych of physical systems, each interacting with their surroundings in a different way – you can see some exclusive pictures of the project's construction here, as well as a video of the prototype in action. The collaboration and display will be active throughout the whole of London Fashion Week, and will be visible through b Store's iconic shop front on London’s Savile Row.
"When B Store approached us about doing an installation for their window we started by thinking about what G-Shock meant to us," says Joel Gethin Lewis of Hellicar & Lewis. "We started to focus on G-Shock being a digital object that was built to respond to an analogue problem. We wanted to investigate vibration and how it could be visualised. I remembered using ripple tanks at school, and thought that they would be a great way of showing interference patterns. We have known each other for years, but have only started working together recently - we thought that the installation would also make an interesting comment about our own relationship - that people can work together and make something more than the some of their parts."
"Finding the right tanks was a challenge - we wanted to have a modular system that would make its own functionality clear – a kind of 'honest object'. Next was to make a series of holders for the watches that would enable them to generate interference in the tanks - discovering the right Perspex that would bear the timepiece correctly, and allow for as free a transition of vibration as possible and also filter light correctly was a process of experimentation and refinement."
The G-Shock watch, designed in 1983 by Casio's Kikuo Ibe, was created to challenge the traditional concepts of a watch as a fragile and easily damaged accessory; it incorporated a new design offering a watch that was virtually unbreakable. As well as offering their own clothing label and b Shoe range, b Store acts as a showcase for young designers, stocking brands such as Bernhard Willhelm, Ann Sofie Back, Peter Jensen and Tim Soar. Opening in 2000, b Store moved to the current position on London’s Savile Row in February 2006, and won Shop of the Year at the British Fashion Awards in the same year.
“We were honoured to be asked to collaborate with G-Shock," says b Store owner Matthew Murphy, "as for both of us growing up, Casio and G-Shock was just the coolest brand around.” The watches will be available exclusively through b Store for a limited period only, and Dazed will be partnering on the launch party on Monday February 23, in London Fashion Week.
This project goes live this Sunday with an conceptual installation display created by Hellicar & Lewis – "Together (Everybody Hertz)". Created for b Store and specially commissioned by G-SHOCK, Together was inspired by both the aesthetics and functionality of the watches, and displays a familiar analogue physical phenomenon in such a way as to prompt further enquiry and experimentation. "Together" uses a series of research-grade ripple tanks to create a unique triptych of physical systems, each interacting with their surroundings in a different way – you can see some exclusive pictures of the project's construction here, as well as a video of the prototype in action. The collaboration and display will be active throughout the whole of London Fashion Week, and will be visible through b Store's iconic shop front on London’s Savile Row.
"When B Store approached us about doing an installation for their window we started by thinking about what G-Shock meant to us," says Joel Gethin Lewis of Hellicar & Lewis. "We started to focus on G-Shock being a digital object that was built to respond to an analogue problem. We wanted to investigate vibration and how it could be visualised. I remembered using ripple tanks at school, and thought that they would be a great way of showing interference patterns. We have known each other for years, but have only started working together recently - we thought that the installation would also make an interesting comment about our own relationship - that people can work together and make something more than the some of their parts."
"Finding the right tanks was a challenge - we wanted to have a modular system that would make its own functionality clear – a kind of 'honest object'. Next was to make a series of holders for the watches that would enable them to generate interference in the tanks - discovering the right Perspex that would bear the timepiece correctly, and allow for as free a transition of vibration as possible and also filter light correctly was a process of experimentation and refinement."
The G-Shock watch, designed in 1983 by Casio's Kikuo Ibe, was created to challenge the traditional concepts of a watch as a fragile and easily damaged accessory; it incorporated a new design offering a watch that was virtually unbreakable. As well as offering their own clothing label and b Shoe range, b Store acts as a showcase for young designers, stocking brands such as Bernhard Willhelm, Ann Sofie Back, Peter Jensen and Tim Soar. Opening in 2000, b Store moved to the current position on London’s Savile Row in February 2006, and won Shop of the Year at the British Fashion Awards in the same year.
“We were honoured to be asked to collaborate with G-Shock," says b Store owner Matthew Murphy, "as for both of us growing up, Casio and G-Shock was just the coolest brand around.” The watches will be available exclusively through b Store for a limited period only, and Dazed will be partnering on the launch party on Monday February 23, in London Fashion Week.
