Another Saturday, another working lunch in Notting Hill trying to make sense of all the things around us and what they mean for Turnleft. This one took me to posh E&O for a drink or two with Johannes, Turnleft’s creative consultant and all-time muse. After checking preserve and latkes recipes at Books for Cooks next door, we walked on Portobello and passed the flyover for a quick look at Les Couilles du Chien - the area’s favourite antiques shop – and then Rellik – the godmother of all vintage shops. It was very inspiring as usual and we agreed that the cosy world of travel publishing is in need of a new magazine that can relegate Conde Nast Traveller to history… What came to mind as sources of inspiration were Alain de Botton’s A week at the airport and Iain Sinclair’s Hackney. If I remember well, Johannes threw words like semiotics and psychogeography [Later that day I checked the travel writing section at Foyles and Waterstone's only to realise that it is indeed populated with stories of middle-aged men in the South of France and public schoolboys gonzoing their way through Africa/India/Tibet].
Apart from his imminent flight to Helsinki, Johannes also mentioned some ongoing trend forecasting work with a Hong Kong-based clothes manufacturer and it hit me that we should launch a clothes line for the World Cup, something fresh and different that would target football widows (TM thank you – I coined it) and those that feel alienated by football culture but that will still revel during the Cup. In a bout of naughties nostalgia the closest thing that came to mind was my old fcuk football tee-shirt and how daring it felt at the time.
For some reason we then talked about Mademoiselle Agnes, Paris’ eponymous fashion observer. I am not her biggest fan but Johannes – whose brains are permanently in overdrive – dared suggest that her style is the embodiment of Dada philosophy applied to the fickle world of fashion. I’m still pondering.
From there our discussion could only lead to how overrated most fashion bloggers are, and how ephemeral their influence will be in the realm of fashion, even if a few of them made it to the front row. Instead we analysed a range of new magazines, including Candy – the first transversal style magazine dedicated to transvestism, transexuality, cross-dressing and androgyny by the fabulous Luis Venegas, of Fanzine 137 and Electric Youth fame. With Bruce Weber and Terry Richardson as contributors, we gathered that magazine publishing isn’t on its last legs.
And that was it, another Turnleft brainstorm in the shadow of Trellick Tower!
E&O 14 Blenheim Crescent - Books for Cooks 4 Blenheim Crescent – Rellik 8 Golborne Road - Les Couilles du Chien 65 Golborne Road
