Garment Graffiti: designers – poem – installation
By Thomas Voorn

For the past months Voorn has travelled around with a bag full of clothes (his alphabet) to create garment graffiti in the most obvious and unexpected places; from brickwalls and alleys to sunkissed fields - looking for a tension between clothes, text and surroundings to create colourful temporary landscape pollution.

Continuing his garment graffiti Thomas Voorn creates a 'designers - poem - installation' for b Store London using labels sold in the shop. Lifting the Christmas spirit, Voorn has created short slogans such as 'cosmic christian ceremony'  layed out in clothes. Feature designers include Cosmic Wonder Light Source, Hans Christian Madsen and Opening Ceremony.

Following his studies in fine art at the Aki Academy in the Netherlands and a stint at Central Saint Martins in London, Voorn based himself in Rotterdam working in the Netherlands and abroad. In 2006, he created ‘The Clothing Alphabet, resulting in several projects such as ' The Fashion Hit Next Season - series ' (2007) and 'Your Name Here - series' (2008).

b Store and Paperback magazine are proud to present the first ever UK exhibition of work by the seminal Japanese artist and musician Yamataka EYE. The installation will be featured in b Store from 17th October – 15th November to coincide with the Frieze Art Fair.

As the founder of cult band the Boredoms, EYE has released seventeen critically acclaimed albums breaking new ground across a maelstrom of genres, from psychedelia to acid-punk - influences that are ever present in his artwork. EYE works with a range of media; found objects, T-shirts, drawing and photography all come into play in his collages that combine artificial and natural elements, pop cultural trash and psychedelic shamanism.

Drawing influences from childhood experiences, the exhibition is a celebration of the greatness of life and will show elements from EYE’s major exhibition and publication ONGALOO. To find out more about Yamataka EYE, log onto www.magical-artroom.com

Join us for the launch!
Celebrate the launch of the Yamataka EYE exhibition with us at b Store, London from 6.30-9pm on Friday 17th October, with cosmic music from Fergadelic on the night!

A picnic on Temple Island for B Store

On Friday 19th September amid the neoclassical backdrop of Home House, b Store presented itsSS09 collection. Inspired by a picnic on the secluded Temple Island in Henley on Thames, the collection had a quintessentially English quality. Nostalgic straw boaters courtesy of Christine Bec for b Store, chambray denim smock tops, triple-pleat trousers neatly rolled up to the ankle and cotton shirts all look to be the new indispensible classics for men. For women, the b Store aesthetic continued with its essence in simple, elegant tailoring. High waist trousers, Peter Pan collar shirts, loose check shifts and double layered cotton shorts in a polka-dot-meets-check design were super-airy for spring. Found in a gentle colour-way of navy, grey, blue and white, the range was fresh and light, with highlights of red check to keep the look modern. The collection will be available in b Store next season.

Next up, the SOAR Spring/Summer 2009 collection at Home House

After a champagne interlude, the SOAR collection took its turn on the catwalk at Home House to present the SS09 offering. Tim Soar’s minimalist aesthetic received an injection of print with an interpretation of the classic Hawaiian shirt. Tailoring was relaxed but immaculate with rounded cuts on jackets and volume on the trouser legs, think sashaying sailor-inspired flares and ankle-tapered cuts. The all-in-one is emerging as a new trend and offers a fresh direction for men; from his camouflage boiler suits to the sharply tailored double breasted versions, this is one look that Tim Soar has certainly got the monopoly on. The collection will be available in b Store next season.

Click here to read the full article on Poneystep.

POP IN BOUTIQUE

We have collaborated with London’s legendary Selfridges store to launch the b store POP IN boutique on the Selfridges menswear floor. Opening on 17th September amidst the electrifying buzz of London Fashion Week, the POP IN boutique will emulate b store’s individuality. Five handpicked b store designers have been chosen to design a limited edition product for the area, which will be sold alongside our very own b store clothing range. Designers including Siv Stodal, Soar, Ute Ploier, Bernhard Willhelm and Hans Madsen will feature in the month-long POP IN boutique.

Get down to Selfridges from 17th September to soak up the atmosphere and you can even pick up a copy of our exclusive POP IN paper, to coincide with the POP IN store. Read on to find out more…
 

POP IN PAPER: READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Celebrating the launch of our first POP IN collaboration with Selfridges, we’ve produced a limited edition run of the POP IN paper. The newspaper is free and can be found at b store, Selfridges and selected international b store stockists. Fashion shoots, articles on b store collaborators including artists, designers and musicians plus a discussion with Paul Smith on the emergence of menswear at London Fashion Week, are featured. The 40 page publication is a must-read for fans of b store and fresh, young talent. 
 

Jo Cope, the hottest new Conceptual fashion and accessories designer sees the debuts of her forward-thinking conceptual bag installation structure at b store, for London Design Week as part of the prestigious Icon Design Trail.

Jo Cope is a hot new design talent working with visionary ideas which relate to the garment, accessory and the wearer. She translates ideas through various non restrictive means including, product design, installation and moving image. ‘Clearly a Bag’, a conceptual vision of a bag, is Cope’s latest installation making its debut at b Store from 12th September – 4th Oct 2008.

This event will form part of the London Design Week events as a select exhibit for the Icon Design Trail.  ‘Clearly a Bag’ follows the success of Copes debut installation during Frieze 07 ‘Translations of Three’ for b Store, Jo Cope comments:

“I am really pleased that the Icon design trail has embraced a challenging design project which originates from a fashion perspective”

‘Clearly a Bag’ is a conceptual vision of a bag. As a singular design object it has been created to challenge the way an item’s aesthetic familiarity may influence its end design outcome. This design concept takes the defining key elements that makes a bag what it is and configures them in a minimal form, which disregards visual preconceptions. This project is representative of Cope’s desire to make people ‘see and think about fashion differently’; it carries the hall mark of her non frivolous and strong visual design style, seen throughout her work.

Cope’s interest is to build closer relationships between conceptual work and the public, her decision to sell each bag for a seemingly inaccessible price was to push the audiences focus past the bags daily practical application in order to allow them to fully consume its concept.
 
“I feel that the concept boutique environment of b store and there ongoing affiliation with art and design based projects is the perfect setting to push new ideas” Jo Cope
 
Opening night will be on 11th Sept invitation only.

Also see Jo Cope during design week at 100% Design Earls court, stand P93 as part of 100% Futures show.

Log onto www.jocope.com for more information.