Creativity in all its glory

Darlings, there is nothing that excites me more than fashion and craftsmanship and although I have been around the block a few times (I know you’re thinking I don’t look a day over 25 - let me tell you, fibreglass fillers hide a multitude of sins!), I feel we are now in a moment where both are being celebrated simultaneously. Hurrah!

The recent collaboration between British heritage fashion brand Burberry and British luxury craft retailer The New Craftsmen, is one where both fashion and handcrafting come together in perfect harmony.

Held at Makers House, Soho, London, this fascinating showcase emanates inspiration and creativity from the very moment you walk through the quintessentially English courtyard. A sumptuous sanctuary that exudes an exquisitely calming scent with soothing ambient music, it’s a far cry from the hectic hurly-burly adjacent streets.

Upon entry to the ground floor of Makers house, a hive of craft activity and pop-up work stations await you, where you can witness craft in action. I watched beguiled. Book binders, sculptors and artists worked away oblivious to my presence; it was as if I were peeping into their very studios. The space seemed private and special, I had the privilege of a behind-the-scenes look (albeit a staged one), and an insight to their unique skill sets.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spied a green woven carpet with a familiar motif leading the way up a grand staircase – I was intrigued as to what awaited me at the top. On reaching the final step I was disoriented to find an elite FROW crowd directly in my line of vision (I prefer not to name drop darlings but let's just say one of the Delevingne sisters was within arm’s length). I stood in awe, immersed in the display, and then the penny dropped. I remembered where I had seen that motif… the Burberry SS17 collection, of course! Surrounded by the full collection dovetailed with video footage from the live show, I felt as though I were there amongst the exclusive buzz aside the runway.

The impressive nature of this installation has made me think. Today, we're constantly invited into the world of fashion brands, models, artists and designers. Practically anyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the past decade has succumbed to social media in some way, posting snippets of their private lives and thoughts – an intimate behind the scenes view of their character. But when those scenes are extended to more than just an image or tidbit of information, it has the ability to elevate our perceptions about the person or brand. And that is exactly what this showcase has done for Burberry and The New Craftsman. Moreover, the ingenious pairing of the two brands has highlighted an aspect of each that perhaps we never truly considered before.  A very clever move indeed!

Rather than simply presenting the final product, both luxury brands have chosen to commemorate the journey of its creation and the skills involved. Thus, amplifying the all-important finer details, and showcasing a process that should be appreciated. We see here, a new way of promoting creativity. Not just reliant on the media to speak to us, but to have real artisans demonstrate their skills and do the talking. After all, handmade production can be hard to come by these days, so let’s shout about it!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This spectacular showcase is open to the public until the 27th September 2016. For further details please visit The New Craftsmen website by clicking here.

A new space for the modern artisan

Darlings, honestly where does the time go? And where do I start... so much has happened. But first let me share with you one of the most exciting things to happen this year. My chums and I moved into a mansion, it's simply fabulous! Read all about this magnificent new space, here in my darling chum; Amanda Carr's article....

proportion london has relocated from its previous Victorian tramshed factory in Walthamstow to a modern state-of-the-art space that allows its skilled workforce room to breathe.

History and charm of the old has its place, but ask any of the skilled artisan workforce at proportion london’s new bright and airy factory if they want to return to the leaking roof and challenging layout of their loved but decrepit Walthamstow factory, and you wouldn’t get many takers.

Creative Director Tanya Reynolds explains ‘we wanted to keep the quirky eccentricity of our heritage and the strong connection to our artisan craft based practices, but bring ourselves right up to date with the best technology and working techniques within our industry. proportion london is evolving into a strong and modern company and we needed new space in which to flourish. “

Space for the Modern Artisan

The new 42,000 sq ft of factory space is located in leafy Highams Park, one train stop from the old factory but a world away in terms of modern design, state-of-the-art technology and manufacturing style.

The streamlined factory houses design and manufacturing facilities for fiberglass, papier-mache and wax mannequins and bustforms, together with tailoring facilities, prototype laboratories and the creative team.

Proud of its heritage but wanting to modernise both its management techniques and working practices, the new management team of Mark Henderson (Gieves and Hawkes, The New Craftsmen), Antonia D’Marco and Reynolds, recruited process consultants Exelin to advise on space planning and production strategy.  Reynolds continues ‘Between us, Antonia and I have over 50 years of experience in the mannequin business but we wanted a new way of ‘seeing’ in order to embrace the future.”

For starters, proportion london has ensured the creative process, particularly in its experimental early stages, is fully on show, by constructing a glass wall between the visitors meeting room and design studio. Clients can see prototypes being constructed, new finishes showcased and even live sculpting happening in the long gallery space where the creative team work.

The daylight filled studio has a modern laboratory feel to it, with mobile workstations that move to support each project under construction. Craft technicians in white overalls use the purpose built space to view prototype mannequin shapes from all angles and ensure perfect balance and form.  This ‘room to breathe’ in artistic terms helps to strengthen the team’s strong creative edge and stay ahead of the competition.

Logical Flow and Streamlined Process

Logical flow of process is another time-saving benefit of the new factory, which allows each area of manufacture and development to flow organically and efficiently across the factory floor. Both the physical and the creative journey have been accommodated.  One clear winner was the papier-mache process, with the construction of a new mache suite, with mould lamination, lining, baking and finishing happening in a linear progression of internalized rooms, saving space and time.

Sharing of creative expertise has also been considered, by placing the Special Projects workshop, where you might find development work ranging from new mannequin shapes for luxury design houses, through to work on a museum installation or film props, next to the development studio, allowing the creative team to consult and share comment on development projects as they unfold.

Hi-Tech Combined with Bespoke Craftsmanship

Investment in advanced technology systems ensures the company has the edge in terms of speed and quality. Four gleaming white, space-age spray pods house the most advanced spray and bake facilities for super-fast batch finishing of mannequins, touch dry in a breathtakingly short four minutes, with exceptional quality of finish and no environmental contamination.

Giant sealing-screen doors keep areas environmentally and temperature controlled, with a state of the art extraction system that ensures areas such as mould-making are kept pristinely clean from dust particles, which can ruin a mould finish. 

The unique skills of the individual craftspeople have also been accommodated, with each team contributing to the design of their own bespoke workspaces, with every essential material and tool positioned to improve productivity.  From custom made tailor’s benches with perfect-height fabric rollers, to curated shelving for the packing area, to the customised machinery to keep the mould clay at the perfect temperature, the new space was truly a team effort.

A Leaner Management Approach

Mark Bushrod of Exelin has helped the management team construct a Lean Management strategy (used at Lexus cars amongst others), to bring harmonious and continuous improvement to working conditions.  The new factory hasn’t just facilitated better working practice, it has also invigorated the management team intellectually, enabling them to discard out of date practices and introduce streamlined modern ones.

A new Operations Manager, Craig Frost joined to both oversee the move from old to new factory and manage the day to day running of the site. He brings with him expertise from the manufacture of luxury yachts, which seems appropriate since at times the factory feels like a sleek ocean going liner, all white and gleaming in the daylight filled space.

The new home is just one more dynamic step for the company, which also sees an exciting new showroom space for clients open in London’s Shoreditch early this autumn.

Chairman Mark Henderson, already an experienced hand in modernising British craft based institutions at Gieves Hawkes and The New Craftsmen Gallery, is clear the future is bright.

“We’re incredibly fortunate to have found such a perfect home for proportion london. Here we can grow, strengthen our skill sets, develop new concepts and techniques and deliver a first rate product quickly and efficiently. This is British creativity and making at its best. We have a worldwide opportunity with proportion>london and this new home will play a key part in that”.

Roger Miles - artist in residence at Mannequin Towers

Cast your mind back, my darling readers, to my January post on my good chum and accountant – turned – artist, Roger Miles.  For four weeks recently, Roger took up residency at Mannequin Towers, delving his way through our bits and bobs, in search of things that inspire him to create.

Intrigued by Mr Miles artwork and his new found career, I managed to slip away from my busy window-gazing schedule to ask him a few questions….

Has the transition from being an accountant to an artist felt peculiar to you? Working in an environment of routine and structure, but now having the freedom to do whatever you like, must feel rewarding. Tell me what is a typical day for you?  

I don’t really have a typical day these days, there is much less routine, but I feel just as busy.

The biggest challenge from accountant to artist was changing from getting it right to there being no such thing as right.

I still use many of the skills I acquired as an accountant, especially project management and logistics - art is 30% creativity and 70% project management and admin.

You stopped being an accountant in 2009 and completed a BA in fine art at Chelsea Art College. Is this something you have always wanted to do? What stopped you before?

I knew I wanted to have a second career when I got to 40 but I didn't know it would be art.  I used a life coach to help me work out what to do next and I had found out by the time I was 50 (it takes some time to make this type of change).

Doing a degree a second time around was invigorating and rewarding - this time I could really focus on the course and not be distracted.

You have taken up residency in several places, what exactly is involved in being an artist in residence? How do you select the places you wish to work in?

Choosing an unusual location helps to challenge you as an artist and hopefully leads you to make work that you wouldn't have done just based in the studio - it also gives you some structure to your day.

I chose the residency location to be places where you wouldn't expect to find an artist i.e. the local dump!

What are you making at the moment? Can you explain some of the processes?

Cyanotype prints from photos taken at the factory and experimenting with cyanotype on paper mache forms. I am also collecting odd items from the ‘ to be disposed of’ area and will make sculptures / collages from them.

What inspires you?

Live music, contemporary art and my family.

Who are some of your favourite artists?

The boyle family, Jeremy Deller and Elisabeth Price.

You recently created a window for Selfridges and have now taken up residency at Proportion's factory. Is visual merchandising something that interests you, do you think you would explore more in this area?

There seems to be an increasing merging of the two art forms i.e Damien Hirst for Lalique and Yayoi Kusama for Louis Vuitton and Roger  Miles for Selfridges ...

Do you have any other projects in the pipeline, if so what are they?

My degree piece ‘resonate/generate’ was a 1970s record store in a mobile library,  I am recreating the record store at a show at Gallery Different in Percy St off Tottenham Court Rd from 23rd April to 28th May, as part of Keith Haynes art pop show - he makes art from vinyl records and I will playing visitors choices of music from rock and punk from the 70s.

 

If like me you are fascinated by Roger's artwork, do stay tuned as Proportion plan to showcase his pieces at an upcoming event. In the mean time you can checkout his website by clicking here

Ciao for now
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