Bimini gets their Boulash out and Gucci showcases the work of 15 Black artists
Despite all the blockbuster runways and museum retrospectives, it’s perhaps Lee McQueen’s philanthropic ventures which are his most enduring. Following his sudden death in 2010, the designer left the vast majority of his estate to the Sarabande Foundation, which he established three years prior, to support emerging designers with scholarships and studio space. Some ten years later and Sarah Burton is continuing to practice the designer’s altruism with student outreach projects straddling Tower Hamlets and the wilds of Wales. This summer, the McQueen team visited south Wales to hold photography, design, and embroidery workshops with local students, resulting in a documentary-style film and fat tome – Alexander McQueen in Wales. The initiative dovetailed with Burton’s AW20 collection, which was inspired by the country’s natural splendour and gloomy romanticism. Watch the Clémentine Schneidermann-lensed film here.
In other fashion news this week, the IoDF pledged their allegiance to fashion NFTs, while Pyer Moss founder and designer Kerby Jean-Raymond unveiled his secret plan to buttress Black designers. Elsewhere, Rory Parnell Mooney dropped his SS22 collection and fashion’s favourite cult film turned 20, while Jawara Alleyne released a Dazed collaboration in communion with his first ever webstore. Click through the gallery below for anything else that may have passed you by.
BIMINI GOT THEIR BOULASH OUT
2021 wasn’t a particularly generous year but it did give us Bimini Bon Boulash when the Yarmouth queen rose to fame on R* P**l’s Drag Race as we all huddled around iPlayer during lockdown like old people listening to The Archers during the war. The fazzionista fronts Bricks magazine’s 2022 calendar, stepping into Vivienne Westwood, Richard Quinn, and Gareth Pugh in the process. Copies can be ordered here and a proportion of all the proceeds goes towards the Trans+ and non-binary charity Mermaids.
SEE YOU IN MILAN, DARLING
The sound of another fashion season careening round the bend has come to an ear-shattering screech as we find ourselves with a little more than a month until the next slew of fashion weeks. Diesel, JW Anderson, and 107 ALYX 9SM have all bid adieu to Paris, announcing that they will make their Milan debut in February 2022, giving themselves a wee bit longer to prepare themselves for the onslaught.
TOMMY GETS SOME CRYPTO-CASH
It was only a matter of time before Tommy Cash would release his own NFT and this week, the berserk Estonian rapper has unveiled a digital garment inspired by Adam and Eve’s fig leaf. Released in partnership with AR wardrobe platform ZERO10, the loincloth is being sold alongside a Soviet car transformer and a bread jacket. Head over to ZERO10 to make like Tommy and drop some Cash.
RAIL ME CHLOË SEVIGNY
(Read the title of this like it’s one of Henry Holland’s Indie Sleaze t-shirts). Muse, model, and cult icon Chloë Sevigny has curated the latest collection at Oxfam’s pop-up shop in Selfridges. The charity raises around £29 million a year from its retail locations and all the proceeds from Sevigny’s guest-edited rail will go towards the fight against poverty and climate disaster. Head down to Selfridges in London to see what she’s managed to dig out.
GUCCI’S HOME FROM HOME
During the pandemic, Ronan Mckenzie (a photographer by trade) opened a gallery, HOME, in Holloway to house the work of and give space to Black artists. Since then, the creative polymath has been collaborating with Gucci on its temporary Shoreditch location, filling its spangled rooms with her curatorial endeavours. Now in its third and final iteration, Mckenzie’s latest exhibition, Collective Processes, opened this week, showcasing fifteen Black women artists from HOME’s own community. Head down to Gucci Circolo to catch the show.
ANNIE IN WONDERLAND
Annie Leibowitz, one of the most acclaimed fashion photographers of the 21st century, has released a coffee table book just in tome for Christmas. Wonderland spans five decades worth of work through 350 fantastical images, many of which were previously unpublished, featuring written contributions from Anna Wintour. Pick up a copy from wherever it is that you buy books and flick through our round-up of fashion books worthy of splurging on.
NOAH’S NEW MOUNTAIN GOAT
Made for the “practical demands of New York city, Tokyo, and beyond,” Noah has released an exclusive capsule collection exclusively on GOAT. Comprising graphic hoodies, corduroy puffers, rugby crewnecks, heavyweight flannels, and printed caps, the “Mountain Goat” collection is available to purchase online and through GOAT’s app here.
MONCLER GETS PALMED OFF
For 8 Moncler Palm Angels, creative director Francesco Ragazzi has taken inspiration from Americana archetypes – the puffer, the Hawaiian shirt, the tracksuit, and the Moon Boot – amping them up to a streetwear sensibility. Cropped, candy-coloured jackets dominate, swapping out the Moncler cockerel for Palm tree boulevards. The collection is out now, check out Palm Angels for more.
THE BEST HEISTS ARE SILKY SMOOTH
Foundationwear (i.e underwear, hosiery, and shapewear) label Heist has unveiled a satin lingerie collection forged from recycled materials. Bras, briefs, and Brazilian knickers come in black, midnight, and rose. With no hemp in sight, it’s all about taking a more sensual, lustrous approach to sustainability, fit-tested on women of all ages, shapes, and sizes, so every piece works on every and every body. Check it out here.
UNDERDAYS ARE MAKING INCLUSIVE INTIMATES
The underwear industry is going through an upheaval – we’re hopefully out the other side of times with limited sizing offers and designs that can’t seem to grasp the catch-all of sexiness, comfort, and self-expression. Oria Mackenzie and Amelie Salas have launched UNDERDAYS to address just that, a brand and new community that speaks to the ethos of a younger generation seeking personality and progressiveness in their pants.
“The underwear industry has for so long ignored the the real life demands of women, their bodies and their lifestyles,” MacKenzie and Salas say. “Women have had to choose between uncomfortable, over-sexualised lingerie or bland designs that don’t reflect their personality or sense of self-expression. We felt that it was important to create an underwear brand that bridges the gap between comfort and style and speaks to the values of a new generation. We're trying to help women rewrite sexiness on their own terms.”
UNDERDAYS offers inclusive sizes (XS-XXL with an intention to expand as the company grows) and unrivalled style and comfort with its three collections: The Everyday, The Workout, and The Lingerie, with each sleek offering targeting a range of needs from women they surveyed over years. It’s all sustainably minded too – recycled nylon, soft microfibre, OEKO-TEX®-certified fabric, and breathable bamboos with traditional cotton. It’s time, so they say, that underwear got a new face.