London’s jewellery scene is full of innovative talent. Emerging designers are everywhere you look. Rachel Entwistle is certainly at the forefront. Inspired by different cultures and her travels to Mexico, Guatemala and India, Rachel’s philosophy is deeply rooted in her love of anthropology, symbolism and mysticism. Twin caught up with the East London jeweller to talk Thor & Wistle, primitive man and what it’s like to win two awards at once…

What started off your passion for jewellery design?
As a teenager I was always into clothing and jewellery and often up-cycled pieces I found in charity shops and made my own things. It was in Mexico though that my passion really took off – there are so many jewellery artisans there, great silversmiths and access to gemstones precious metals and jewellery materials made it an easy place to get inspired and start making. I began making with artisans in a very low key fashion and loved hanging out in their workshops. I then went on to study in Taxco which is the silver capital of Mexico and it all went from there.

When did you decide to start your own label?
I didn’t really decide, it was just what I was doing and loved doing. It evolved naturally. I was living and travelling in Mexico and then stayed to study jewellery manufacture. I started to approach galleries and boutiques with my first pieces in Mexico and then continued when I came back to the UK. I was working from my bedroom in Hackney to start with and very quickly outgrew it and moved into my first studio by London Fields.

What inspires your designs most?
I have a background studying Cultural Studies and have always loved travelling – my interest in culture, symbolism, anthropology are the roots of my inspiration – I love to explore the hidden meaning of objects and cultural stories behind forms. For me jewellery needs to have a significance and a narrative that connects the design, the designer and the wearer.

Tell us a little about Thor & Wistle, how did the store come about?
Thor & Wistle was a natural progression for myself and Kamilla Thorsen who I co-own the store with. We had been sharing a studio for a while and renting out various pop-up spaces when we had a very successful stint on Columbia Road with a pop-up for the Christmas period of 2011. It was a  great opportunity for us to manage a space and really get to know our customers and the people who really get our designs plus a chance to think about display. As the lease came to a close in Jan 2012 we realised we were ready to take on our own space. Bizarrely the Thor & Wistle premises was the first place we looked at and we signed the lease that day. We have our store, offices and studio on site and the space is perfect for us. Kind of felt like it was meant to be really!

What was it about primitive man that sparked your interest for AW14?
I am really drawn to tribal and primitive jewellery and love the thought that man has always adorned himself with a purpose – amulets and talismans that protect or manifest. I travelled to Indonesia last year and the jewellery and body adornment from Papua New Guinea really inspired my thought process and I began to explore the idea of primitive man and how ancient symbols can be translated into a modern context but still maintain that essence of strength and meaning. I like my jewellery to have a raw, primal and organic feeling but also an urban edge.

What was it like to win both Jewellery Designer of the Year and Boutique Retailer of the Year at the Retail Jewellery Awards 2014?
Unbelievable! It is such an honour to receive two awards at once. And such a surprise. To receive the ultimate recognition of Designer of the Year is incredible as I was up against some really great designers. I feel really happy to be recognised. We had just celebrated our second birthday at Thor & Wistle the week before the awards and so to receive the award for Boutique Retailer at the same time was really exciting and a great achievement considering we have only been established for such short space of time.

Tags: jewellery, Rachel Entwistle, Thor & Wistle

Fashion’s obessesion with all things surf and skate isn’t fading. Nor is the resurgence of the skate shoe. The slip-on style is effortless, chic and can be worn with nearly every wardrobe. Here Twin picks four designers and brands who have transformed this casual trainer into covetable luxury items.

Joshua Sanders Bordeaux Velvet Rubino Trainers, £220, avenue32.com & Lanvin Grey Leather Skate Shoes, £410, harveynichols.com

Common Projects Leather Slip-on Sneakers, £300, net-a-porter.com & Givenchy Leather Bambi Skater Shoe, £455, brownsfashion.com

Tags: Skate Shoes, Twin Picks

Art Social ’14 is a four day arts and culture festival from pioneering charity and not-for-profit private members’ club, The House of St Barnabas. From Thursday 31st July, until Sunday 3rd August you’ll find an innovative programme of talks, interactive workshops and live music performances in the ornate surroundings of its’ 19th century chapel.

Acclaimed and emerging artists have been commissioned to produce visual and sonic installations throughout the Grade 1 listed Georgian town house. The three central artistic collaborations are; Patrick Murphy X Keaton Henson, Barby Asante X Tony Nwachukwu and Margot Bowman X Actress & Giganta. Their work will be exhibited at the House throughout August, around which the rest of the festival will revolve. Expect talks on subjects such as Art in the Public Realm, Digital Democracy: Art Online, Architecture and the City and more. The specially curated, ticketed events commence on Thursday and finish with a Open House, all day event on Sunday featuring family friendly activities, performances, talks and a tea party.

“Art Social ’14 is where The House of St Barnabas will bring its social and cultural mission together – we believe that to be socially progressive you should be culturally progressive – Art Social is a celebration of that mission,” states Nadra Shah, the Festival Director.

Tickets from £8 – £12.50 and are available from eventbrite.co.uk

hosb.org.uk

Tags: Art Social, The House of St Barnabas

After two years of tireless hunting, London-based artist Polly Brown is releasing PLANTS. The new photographic monograph gives us a glimspe into the homes of the world’s most iconic brands, starting with their office foliage.

Tags: book, photography, PLANTS, Polly Brown

V Jewellery is a relatively new brand, one that should already be on your radar but if it’s not, take note. Grown from a love of vintage design, Creative Director Laura Vann noticed a gap in the market, one where affordability and quality should meet.

“When we began it was all about looking at themes and reoccurring styles that had survived the test of time and celebrating those,” states Laura. “I just started drawing; bought loads of art deco books and looked at old auction catalogues and took inspiration from those, analysing the shapes and styles.” Fast forward two seasons, V Jewellery is now about to launch its third collection and is stocked in around 90 stores in Ireland and the UK.

Having never studied jewellery design, Laura uses traditional forms of designing – old fashion drawing, using pen to paper, but it’s never a chore. “It’s pretty easy when designing for your own demographic – I just ask myself if I’d wear this.” As the brand grows stronger and its audience, larger, Twin headed to Birmingham to met with the V team and created this film with director Hazel O’Brien.

vjewellery.co.uk

Tags: jewellery, V Jewellery

With the release of Finding Vivian Maier drawing closer, Twin spoke with director Charlie Siskel to find out more about the documentary that looks into the life of the mysterious nanny that took over 100,000 photographs, only to be discovered decades later (watch the trailer here).

Tell us a little about how the project came about?
John Maloof bought the original box of negatives because he was working on a book about Chicago. These pictures didn’t work for the book but the more he looked at them the more he recognized there was something special about them.  At the time he didn’t know anything about photography but the photos inspired him to start taking pictures himself.  Eventually he scanned some and put them online just to hear what other people thought. The reaction was incredible and they went viral. That’s when he knew he had found something special.

How did John go about contacting people who knew Vivian?
John contacted someone by phone who’s address was on a slip of paper in the box of negatives he purchased. He told them he had the negatives of Vivian Maier and the person said, “Vivian was my nanny.” That was the point when he realized there was an interesting story here. He started to search for people who knew her and eventually started filming interviews.

When did you get involved in the film?
I thought this was a great story the moment I heard it. A nanny takes over 100,000 photographs and hides them in storage lockers, and they are discovered decades later and she is hailed as one of the great photographers of the twentieth century – what a great story! I thought this could be a great feature documentary that should be seen in theaters.  It is a great story of discovery, a detective tale, a mystery, a roller coaster ride and “an entertainment,” as they used to say. I also grew up in Highland Park where Vivian worked and I thought it would be interesting to tell this story of an artist through the eyes of those who knew her.

How closely does the documentary follow John Maloof on his quest to find out who Vivian Maier really was?
The film is about Vivian Maier but it can’t be told without her discovery — not only would Maier’s story not have an ending, there would be no narrative. So John’s discovery is central. But [the film] explores the mystery of who she was and how she lived a double life publicly as a nanny and privately as a brilliant artist, told through the eyes of people who knew her not as a photographer but as the woman that looked after them, so their accounts are limited, flawed and incomplete. The viewer has to fill in the blanks, judge for herself, and we invite this kind of scrutiny.

People in the film contradict each other — one says that she had a fake accent, another says it was real; someone says she posed people, another says she photographed them just as they were. So part of the film is our exploration of Maier as this secret artist — a kind of detective story.  The other narrative in the film follows John’s effort to share Maier’s work with the world and “put her in the history books.”  Starting with sharing her work online and mounting his own show of her work in Chicago and then trying to gain acceptance of her work among institutions.

You must have ended up with lots of footage. Was it a difficult project to edit down?
That is a challenge, but once you understand the story it is easier to make these decisions. That is where documentary storytelling combines art and journalism. It is not just a recitation of facts — not a movie version of the Wikipedia entry on Vivian Maier. Just because some things are interesting about Maier doesn’t mean everything is interesting about her. The challenge is to tell the story using the elements you have — and we had Maier’s photos, audio recordings, super 8 films, the belongings she left behind and the stories of people who knew her — in an entertaining an enlightening way.

Once we recognized that this was the story of an artist who went undiscovered during her lifetime — in part because she kept herself hidden but also because we as people don’t always know where to look to find art — it became easier to see what belonged in the film and what didn’t.  But yes you always have to make tough choices and say goodbye to individual scenes/things you love in order to make the film work as whole.

What was the most interesting thing you discovered while working on the film?
At first I thought this was a nanny who somehow happened to take thousands of photographs, but that was 180 degrees wrong. She was a true artist, who just so happened to be a nanny, but that was her means to an end, her camouflage and masquerade – that was the biggest discovery. I could see how Maier would feel like an outsider in this world of suburban wealth and privilege. She was misunderstood.

Finding Vivian Maier is released in the UK tomorrow, July 18th. 

findingvivianmaier.com

Images: ©Vivian Maier/Maloof Collection

Tags: Charlie Siskel, documentary, Finding Vivian Maier

Nicole Banning designs swimwear with ready-to-wear in mind. Combining the savoir-faire of the French swim and lingerie industry with Australian manufacturing, Ephemera launched in time for the Cruise 2014 collection and was developed to have the most refined and luxurious finish possible. The High Summer collection, now available online at Net-A-Porter, features a mix of bikinis and one-pieces with cut-out and twist back designs, creating something truly elegant and chic in hues of bright citrus and pasteque, as well as noir. The high-waisted bottoms are a Twin favourite, as are the specially developed jacquard designs that lend themselves to the various one-pieces and bikini styles.

ephemeralive.com

Tags: EPHEMERA, Nicole Banning, Swimwear

In the last of our Autumn/Winter 2014 Haute Couture coverage, Twin sent photographer Masao Yufu backstage at the Ralph & Russo show in Paris. This is what he saw.

Tags: haute couture, Masao Yufu, Ralph & Russo

Our Autumn 2014 couture show coverage continues with a look at all the goings on behind the scenes of the Adeline Andre show in Paris.

Photography: Masao Yufu

Tags: Andeline Andre, haute couture, Masao Yufu

Next in our haute couture series, Twin takes a look at photographer Masao Yufu‘s backstage coverage at Lebanese fashion designer Zuhair Murad’s show in Paris.

Tags: haute couture, Masao Yufu, Zuhair Murad

Our couture week coverage continues with a behind the scenes look at the Alexis Mabille show.

Photography: Masao Yufu

Tags: Alexia Mabille, haute couture

The perfect body scrub should gently exfoliate, remove any dead skin cells and invigorate your skin, leaving it silky smoothe and prepared for the sun. Now it might not be the perfect weather in London to go bare legged today, but with the hope that the rain will clear soon, Twin has chosen four scrubs to help you get your pins prepared.

Sans [Ceuticals] 
Bio Active Body Exfoliant, £30, thisisbeautymart.com & Diptyque Smoothing body polish, £45, selfridges.com

Geranium Leaf Body Scrub, £25, aesop.com & This Works Daily Boost Body Scrub, £18, spacenk.com 

Tags: Aesop, Diptyque, Sans [Ceuticals], This Works

Seana Gavin’s latest exhibition creates a space where past, future and parallel worlds collide. End Times showcases collages where everything that has been and will be all co-exist in the present moment. The imagery and symbolism of ancient civilisations and tribal cultures allow her work to explore the relationship between the past and a concept of the future.

Gavin, a  BA Visual Arts graduate, has had solo shows at the concept store 3939 and The B Store on Saville Row. Her artworks themselves have been published in many art and culture magazines including Twin.

End Times opens today and will be shown until the 23rd of July at Celestine Eleven.  

seanagavin.blogspot.co.uk

Tags: Celestine Eleven, Seana Gavin

With Haute Couture Fashion Week well underway, Twin called upon photographer Masao Yufu to document what happened backstage at the On Aura Tout Vu show in Paris.

Tags: haute couture, On Aura Tout Vu

Last night Twin headed to the Paul Smith Beak Street store to celebrate the launch of the 531 Cycling Collection, hosted by Toby Bateman and Sir Paul Smith himself. As well as the collection itself, we were introduced to a bespoke, limited edition Mercian steel-framed bike created in collaboration with Mr. Porter.

Watch the video below to see Sir Paul Smith talking about his love of cycling and the making of the limited edition Mercian bike.

paulsmith.co.uk

Tags: Mercian Bikes, Mr Porter, paul smith

Thierry Boutemy, the renowned French florist, is the latest person to collaborate with the Opening Ceremony brand. Creating a summer collection of ready to wear, accessories and fragrance, OC and Boutemy created photographs of smashed, broken and decayed floral designs which would become the focal point of the range. These vivid images were then printed onto the ready-to-wear items as well as shoes in collaboration with Manolo Blahnik, Classic Slip-On Vans, hats with New Era, and socks with Tabio.

Geranium 30 is the end result of Opening Ceremony and Thierry Boutemy’s collaboration with Le Labo. The limited edition frangrance was hand-formulated by perfumer Barnebé Fillion and is a balance of flowers and spices, leaving you feeling as though you’ve woken up in a wild, over-grown garden.

“We’ve been following Thierry’s work for some time now and have been in awe of his incredible talent, especially the lavishly designed arrangements in Marie Antoinette.  There’s no one who captures the essence and spirit of flowers as Thierry does, and we are excited to be partnering with him for his first fashion collection.” – Humberto Leon

The Opening Ceremony and Thierry Boutemy collection is available exclusively at Opening Ceremony stores and online at openingceremony.us

Tags: opening ceremony, Thierry Boutemy

Tags: Christopher Shannon, Clym Evernden, Craig Green, JW Anderson, Louis Vuitton, Menswear, prada, Public School NYC, SS15, Y-3

Work-Shop is a designer superstore curated in collaboration with creative magazine Oh Comely. The pop-up’s purpose is to encourage people to learn more about hand made processes; to introduce to the public a variety of exciting and sometimes undiscovered independent brands, giving us a more soulful lifestyle alternative to the many mass produced items currently available on the high street. Founder Michelle Oh, a jewellery designer with her own eponymous brand, temporarily moved her studio into the shop and not only can you find her creations displayed in the store, but you can take part in jewellery DIY classes to make your own. You’ll also find designer talks hosted by the people behind the brands involved, such as Draw In Light, London Tea Club, Elizabeth Dunn, Espergaerde, Project 104 Swimwear, Wickhams Concern plus more. Full brand list available here.

Twin‘s Fashion Director Celestine Cooney visited the boutique for one of the Work-Shop classes and designed her own ring (below). To find out more and to take part, head to facebook.com/work.shop.

Work-Shop is located at 6 Newburgh Street, London W1F 7RT until 1st August. 

Tags: celestine cooney, Draw In Light, london, Michelle Oh, Pop-Up, Work-Shop

Imogen Heap, the Grammy and Ivor Novello award winning recording artist, has just released a new track, as well as the news that her 4th studio album, Sparks, will be released in August. Run-Time is the first track from her new record, where she collaborated with everyone from her fans to unsuspecting passers-by, gardeners to filmmakers, scientists to newspaper journalists and brings us her most diverse and daring body of work to date.”I dived into the most immense, intense creative 2 and a half years of my life that took me all over the planet,” states Heap, “collaborating on so many projects with so many people and often totally spontaneously. The album is then in some ways for me grounded with fans’ footprints bringing the finishing touch for the album art, as so many of them came along for the ride.”

Sparks is released on 18th August.

imogenheap.com

Tags: Imogen Heap

When Twin visited Fashion Sunday at Oval Space recently, we fell for Jessie Harris’s jewellery designs. Even more so when she shed light on her most recent collaboration with another Twin favourite, Danielle Foster. Having met last summer, the two designers recognised similarities in each others design ethos, both favouring strong, clean shapes and a minimal, modern aesthetic. “Danielle was really interested in working on some custom bag hardware, which was the starting point and a perfect bridge between our different areas of design,” stated Jessie. “From there we discussed creating a small jewellery collection that followed on from and reflected the shapes of the hardware.”

With a focus on clutch bags with solid brass clasps, in either matte black, mock crock or an inky blue and black leather, the D – ring shape was then echoed on to earring and rings: “We wanted to keep the jewellery element of the collaboration really cohesive and concise which was a really interesting challenge as I’ve never worked on a jewellery collection of only 4 key styles before.” Each piece is available in either yellow gold or silver, adding some diversity and allowing the designs to be worn as single, statement pieces or even stacked and combined for a different look.

Released in Autumn, we predict this collaboration will be a big hit.

Tags: AW14, Danielle Foster, Jessie Harris, jewellery