In Focus: Ollywood.

 Oly Innes (a k a Ollywood) 26 

Originally from Worthing (just outside Brighton), Oly moved to London 8 years ago to study photography at London College of Fashion. He is a regular party host and a scene heartthrob to both girls and boys alike. Here is an insight into Ollywood world.

 

-What is your style, how would you describe it and your influences?

There's two sides to me I guess. There's a side that always wants to be seen as very masculine and dark. When I feel like that I usually want to do a Tom of Finland look or something "gothy" or horror. Then there's another side of me that is super camp. Problem is, I make the ugliest woman ever, so I usually have to fuck it up a bit to make it work.

- Where do you go out? Which clubs do you like and make you feel most yourself at?

Well I used to work a lot in nightlife so I was everywhere, working at every party that would hire me. Now I go out a lot less and make a lot of effort when I do. I never really feel myself when I'm out. But I love Sink the Pink, Dalston Superstore and bars like The Glory and George and Dragon.

- What is the scene like in your home town? Is extreme dressing up a thing there or is it almost unthinkable?

Worthing is very quiet, it's mostly populated by old people so all the teenagers there are very frustrated. I was shouted at in the street for dressing a bit too strangely as an adolescent. The types of stuff I wear out in London would not be appreciated back there. I try not to go back there too much cos when I do I get sad at how "behind" everyone seems.

- Why do you love dressing up? What does it bring?

I didn't use to dress up much, it's mostly been a recent thing. I gave up alcohol and drugs 7 months ago. I wanted to still go out like I used to but I was finding it hard, I was getting nervous and shy. Wearing a costume is an amazing tool to help me feel more confident and helps me become a character.

- Have you had negative responses to your appearance?

Not really. I've heard of queens being abused in the streets and that's terrible. If you're going out in a look try and get a cab and stay in a group.

- And to end on a more positive note, how has dressing up helped you be who you are?

I see a huge difference between who I am with my friends or at home and who I am when I go out. When I go out I tend to become withdrawn because i get nervous. But when I wear a costume I become an alter ego. I can be sassy with people and be silly without needing to drink or do drugs.  It's been an amazing release for me.

all images ©OlyInnes 

McQueen Savage Beauty at the V&A

The most anticipated show of the year has finally arrived at London's Victoria and Albert Museum and it's a sold-out event for months ahead.
The much admired British designer who has not just influenced the club kid scene, but was also part of it (we met him first at Fiction back in 2001), is celebrated here with a large exhibition of his most notewordy creations, couture and audio-visual media alike. 

The exhibition is the first retrospective of McQueen's work in Europe, and has taken over three of the V&A's galleries with the selection chosen by Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton. Lee's body of work is arranged thematically, with areas focused on different notions of Romanticism – including gothic, primitivism, nationalism and naturalism.
A recording of McQueen's voice is played in the grey-coloured gallery, where examples of his tailoring and early collections are presented alongside footage of his first catwalk show from 1995. From there you enter the catacomb room, with bone-covered walls and mannequins set into alcoves and clothed in extravagant garments made from synthetic hair and feathers. An egg-shape pool above us is revealing a girl swimming inside. A "cabinet of curiosities" occupies a double-height space, with all four walls covered by niches filled with more than 100 garments and accessories – including collaborations with milliner Philip Treacy and jeweller Shaun Leane. In the centre, a dress that was spray-painted live by two robotic arms slowly rotates as the model did during its original '99 presentation. Another highight is the glass pyramid inside which the incredible hologram display of Kate Moss is played in its entirety, the amazing displays of his Voss and Horn Of Plenty collections. It's a walk down memory lane for many of us who remember these eponymous collections. His last collection naturally closes the show and leaves you kind of wanting more, which is meticulously achieved by a surpirse room - the gallery shop. It's full of cards, prints, little objects, accessories, scarves (for £360 plus) and plenty of other stuff, most of which perfectly unnecessary, beautifully arranged and somewhat inviting. It's a treat in which one should only indulge in modesty.

We have an exclusive : 4 tickets for today 7:30pm - a surprise one-off offer available only to 4 of you on first come first serve basis. Inbox for details.

Gareth Pugh celebrates 10 years and a return to London Fashion Week

 

11 February 2015

 

Today saw the opening of a retrospective display of Gareth Pugh at the Galleria Melissa in Covent Garden. Pugh's will be the first installation in the footwear brand's gallery space, which opened just last October. This year marks the designer's 10 year anniversary and the decision to exhibit at the Melissa spacious showrooms makes perfect sense since he collaborated with the eponymous Brazilian shoemaker a few years back. What is most exciting about this exhibit is that it happens in London. Pugh first showed at London Fashion Week in February 2005 and since then has collaborated with Nick Knight' Showstudio on numerous projects and subsequently with Knight’s former assistant Ruth Hogben, with whom they championed fashion film as a medium (his Paris shows in A/W 2009 and S/S 2011 were presented in the form of moving images which went viral and set a trend for the medium).

 

After many years of showing mainly in Paris and New York, he has just announced that this year he will be returning to London Fashion Week for a first time in 10 years. The somewhat nano display (containing just 9 outfits) at the Melissa Galleria is just a fraction of his most memorable designs, some of which were made popular by the likes of Kylie and Beyoncé.
It is refreshing to see that Mr Pugh has decided to show his new collection here in London, where he lives and works, it makes sense really, especially after such a long absence. Few would remember the first designs that propelled Pugh to his current status of avant-garde master. His first collection was largely influenced by the club kids culture and their typical love for oversized pieces, circular shapes and his use of balloons or plastics in various forms, exaggerating and distorting the body shape, not too dissimilar to Leigh Bowery's body of work. After a couple of Bowery-esque collections, Pugh took a more geometrical and monochromic approach to fashion and was able to shake off the early comparisons with Leigh.

 

 

 

I first met Gareth Pugh a few years ago when I was working on my book about the London Club-Kids scene. After a quick chat about the scene, I suggested that he write a short quote for the book because many of the new club kids were in awe with his work. He didn't decline right away, but having managed to divert from the scene and finally achieved the recognition he craved, it was obvious that he didn't want to be associated with that scene. In the weeks that followed our meeting my emails to him hit a rock and it was clear that he would not have his name put in the same sentence with the term Club Kid ever again...I beg to differ.  

 

 

  (Text and photography: O.Yordanov©2015)