Sport lux is going to be one of the big themes this spring, although filtering through in seasons past it’s been building to a crescendo of sorts. But be warned, with this trend it’s easy to get sloppy, and it can cause many a wardrobe malfunction. Opt to wear your high tops with regular staples, those go-to pieces we all love such as leather trousers and over-sized blazers, and keeping to muted colours allows you to be a little more playful with the rest of your outfit. Here are Twin’s favourite trainers to run around and play in.
Saint Laurent Malibu high top china blue trainers, £320, Cricket-fashion.com
Marc By Marc Jacobs 70mm Cut Out Calfskin High Top Sneakers, £330, Luisaviaroma.com
Maison Martin Margiela High Top Trainer, £401.21, Farfetch.com
Nike Dunk Sky High Olive Wedge Trainers, £85, Asos.com
A.P.C. has teamed up with Nike for a collection of casually cool kicks.
The brand founded by Jean Touitou in 1987 has garnered a cult following thanks to its minimalist but covetable styles. Putting a French spin on the sportswear brand’s timeless Dunk and Air Max styles, the collaboration brings a more sophisticated touch to the wardrobe staple, thanks to muted colours such as navy, ecru and brown, plus suede paneling.
Following the A.P.C. mantra of the most desirable wardrobe items being those that whisper instead of shout, we say strike while the iron is hot.
A.P.C. + Nike launches tomorrow and will be available exclusively through A.P.C.‘s retail stores and online shop.
Spring is sprung. Continuing their collaboration with Liberty of London, Nike Sportswear have taken the luxury store’s iconic floral motifs and flowerbombed their classic running trainers. From the Cortez to the Air Max 1, the Make It Count collection is about making fashion work hard for you.
Twin has its eye on the Destroyer Baseball Jacket in particular. Make sure you check out the Nike pop-up space if you’re in London this April.
Trust Nike to make working out hip and fun. For their new collection, Made By Nike, they’ve enlisted quirky blogger/DJ extraordinaire and Twin friend Bip Ling, to talk about her love of boxing.
The project, worked on by Twin’s Creative Director Becky Smith, uses the Tumblr format in order to make shopping an easy click and buy experience. Meanwhile the pieces, a slick collection of purple hued, grey and black sportswear could easily make it into our everyday wardrobe for some added sports luxe.
Twin caught up with Bip to talk about her involvement…
How did Nike find out you were a fan of the brand? Through my blog bipling.com
You’re known for your fun style, what was it that appealed to you about the Nike Made For You collection? I think every day is a stylie day, so when working out why not get into a stylie style.
Can you remember your first pair of Nikes? My Indian grandmother Didas bought me Nikes when I first learnt how to walk. They were white with a blue Nike swish swoosh and with Velcro.
What are your top tunes to listen to while you work out?
I like to listen to Drum and Bass when I work out. It seems to give me lots of energy; it’s great fun to listen to when I punch the peanut ball in the gym and also for runs outside. Makes me feel like I am Sonic the Hedgehog.
1. Big Tings by Drumsound & Sion Bassline Smith feat. Skibadee
2. Dr Feels Good by Original Sin
3. Aztec by Spor
4. You’re Mine by Potential Badboy Deat. Yush
5. Feelings by Shy FX & T. Power
6. Big Bad & Heavy by Leviticus
What’s been your most fashion moment since starting your blog?
I’m not entirely aware of when a fashion moment occurs, but I do love living in the moment.
What would you do if the Internet disappeared for a day?
Learn how to sing.
Tell us another thing about yourself that nobody knows?
I really enjoy eating black pudding.
Last but not least, can you give us any boxing tips?
Punch with your core strength.
Punch with a smile…
and style. hahaaaa lol.x
If you’ve found yourself on the corner of Bethnal Green Road and Shoreditch High Street recently you will have undoubtedly noticed that a space which has been uninhabited for the past four decades has new residents. A cluster of shipment containers have been erected to form the world’s first ‘pop-up mall’.
Founded by Boxfresh’s Roger Wade, whose ethos is all about the ‘brand experience’ rather than sales, the 60 containers house retail outlets with a streetwear slant. Up-and-coming designers like OnePiece and Playful Promises vie for attention amongst established brands Evisu, CalvinKlein, Nike and Phaidon.
Diesel has launched its Fifty Five DSL line here and, alongside such nosh outlets as Foxcroft & Ginger, Frae frozen yoghurt and Hop-Nano, charities Amnesty International and Art Against Knives have spaces on the first floor selling artworks and collaborative designs by such East London-based designers as Lucy Jay and Tracey Emin. Welcome to the anti-high street.
Boxpark opens on Saturday 3rd December boxpark.co.uk
For Twin V we’ve gone to the roots of female creativity and taken a look at the growing young talent working right now. Twin spoke to Grace LaDoja, whose ambition and hard-work has singled her out from her peers. Grace’s eyes and ears are firmly locked on the youth culture pavement. The filmmaker has been documenting youth sub cultures since her first job at 17 and it was her childhood in London that shaped her world.
“Growing up in a three bedroom house with eight other kids around me I learnt if you don’t get up and do something you’ll be unnoticed,” says Grace. “In London you are surrounded by everything culturally relevant. I sucked it all up. I wasn’t the stereotypical black girl living in north London. I was into different music, different scenes on every level. I started running with the things surrounding me. I didn’t even skate but I was fascinated by the scene.”
As part of her first job at sneaker community Crooked Tongues, Grace flew around the world shooting films for brands like Adidas, Stussy and Etnies. Finally a year ago she set up her own production company LaDoja and Sons and has since worked with brands like Nike and Swatch as well as making documentaries such as London to Paris – a film about the cycling scene.
“I love youth culture and I want to document what’s happening now. In the same way as people look to the Eighties and Nineties I want to give kids in the future something to reference from this era. Eventually I’d love to make films like Spike Lee and Martin Scorcese, telling the story of what’s happening.”
“We live in a generation where everyone’s someone and wants to be their own boss. I feel proud to be where I am. I’ve got a space with 15 people working in there and we’re working with big brands. I’m doing something I love and I’m making money. I’m not faking it.”
Irish photographer and filmmaker Niall O’Brien is fascinated with youths on the edge of society. His GoodRats series, the result of following a group of young South London punks across Europe, was a stand-out story from Twin‘s debut issue. Having shot for McQ and Nike, for his latest video project, Anger, he turned to the subject of youthful rage.
Twin spoke to O’Brien about the project.
Why did you chose to make a film about anger?
It was originally part of a commission that fell through. I was given an emotion and the idea of angry kids appealed to me and fascinated me. Temper tantrums are almost in everyone’s breaking point and I think it can come out easier in youth. I know I was a bit of a shit when younger. Recreating it was almost a salute to the way we once were, or still are as the case may be.
Where and when did you shoot the film?
I shot Anger a year ago. It was shot in an estate below my flat in Tower Hamlets. I’d been looking at it for over a year, so when the project came up it was a perfect location.
How does your film work fit with your photography?
I don’t know really, I try to keep the two separate and use it as an opportunity to collaborate. I’m confident in my photography and in my film there is still room for learning.
I’ve been shooting films for four years now and I’m still looking for my voice, I only found what I felt comfortable sticking with in photography about 12 years after I picked up a camera. I love it and have a great crew but I don’t want to be employed to shoot a film because of my photography. I want to be chosen because of my films. But… it all comes from the same person so it must relate somehow.
When and why did you start taking photographs?
I used to be involved with the skateboard industry in Ireland and started taking pictures of my friends. A few magazines and board companies started commissioning me and buying my photos so I decided to study it. I thought I was going to further sports photography, but I ended up doing fine art.
What draws you to documenting the adolescent sub-cultures you’ve photographed?
Reliving my youth I think. Being a kid was a very important time for me. The boy I was then and my friends needed to be documented, but I never had a camera. Some mental stuff went on as a boy, so when I met the punk kids it was the perfect opportunity to recapture it and in many ways relive it. It took me two years to feel like part of the group and when I did, I got a kick out of it. It is a rare opportunity and an almost VIP ticket into the lives of an amazing bunch of lads.
How do you build trust with your subjects?
Getting arrested to protect them helped (for Good Rats), but I think becoming one of them is important. If I approached them with questions and with a mature way I’d be told to fuck right off. It’s easy enough for me as I’m a bit of a kid at heart and don’t mind going there.
Who are your creative influences, photographically and otherwise?
I’m influenced by people who have drive and get stuff done. No matter what they do so long as they put their heart and soul into it and most of all stick to their guns. There is a risk of losing what you have by watching other people too much. Keep the blinkers on, move yourself forward and don’t worry about the other person.
What would you do if you weren’t a photographer?
I’d be a painter decorator.
Guilt too often goes hand in hand with a spending spree. This Sunday though, the marvellous Wah Nails are hosting a huge sale where every pound spent equals good karma. One hundred per cent of the money raised will go to the British Red Cross, in aid of those affected by the Japanese earthquake and Tsunami.
As organiser Grace Ladoja says, “It’s difficult to know what the best way to donate is when disasters like this happen. Especially when it affects people you know. Donating online doesn’t often feel real because you are just pressing a button and you never know how much to give.”
As a result, Grace has called upon her artist and designer friends to donate the items on sale, as well those who simply have wardrobes stuffed full of clothes they don’t wear. Ranging from lables such as Moschino, Nike and Cassette Playa to old records cakes and art, it’s a white elephant stall like no other. And on top of wordly goods on offer, Wah Nails will also be offering a discount on nails and dip dye hair.
I liked the idea of doing a physical sale at WAH because it brings people together,” says Grace. “As well as buying stuff, they can hang out, listen to music, get their nails done and just have a fun Sunday, all knowing they are part of something that is helping people.”
Japan Relief Fund Blowout Sale, Sunday March 27 · 12-6pm at WAH NAILS, 420 Kingsland Road, London E8 4DG London.
To donate items, drop them at Wah Nails, 12-8pm Sat.
As promotional stunts go, Nike’s Destroy to Create campaign rules. Corralling a whole gang of contributors – many of them (like Harry Malt) from the Twin family – to be a part of a special merger of art, sport, music and mayhem marking the launch of their Destroyer jackets. Lucky for those who weren’t there to see the chaos unfold on the night, Niall O’Brien filmed the proceedings.
The ‘Destroy to Create’ artworks are currently on show at 1948, Arches 477- 478 Batemans Row, Shoreditch now.
Twin are huge fans of Alexander Wang. We love the whitewashed, ethereal summer collection that he sent down the New York catwalk last week. So there was an audible in-take of breath when we heard that Mr Wang had created his own Nike shoe. What would a Wang Nike look like?
Alexander Wang’s Bespoke Air Force 1 design is typical of his cool, understated aesthetic. And like most of his creations – we want.
Identifying a comfortable and trendy dog cloth is turning out to be difficult, as more and more cute dog clothes are venturing in the global market on regular basis.
hahaaaa lol.x
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