Bright Young Things 2013

If you've walked by Selfridges over the last few days, you will have seen that Bright Young Things 2013 has launched, once again taking over the sweep of iconic windows, which is basically advertising gold for anything/body featured.  It never ceases to amaze me how much eyeball attention those windows grab.  Last night when I popped down to photograph the windows, I saw many a tourist (ok, rich Middle East peeps/Russians/Chinese), having done their multi-thousand shopping hauls, bung their bags in their chauffeured cars and then proceed to linger around the windows, mesmerised by the lit-up displays, not quite understanding what it is they're looking at but fascinated nonetheless as they snap away on their phones.  When they saw me snapping away with my camera, they lingered longer, asking questions about what it was I was photographing and what exactly was this Bright Young Things project.  

Same thing happened when I was at the Concept Store space, which houses all the product, created exclusively for Selfridges by the womenswear, menswear, accessories and set designers.  People see random girl taking an interest, and ergo have their interest piqued.  One well-to-do looking girl became hellbent with trying on a top by menswear designer Hiroaki Kanai.  It was interesting to see people marvel at the unknown.

The emphasis on customer interaction has been ramped up for this edition of BYT as ALL of the designers will be involved in a programme of in-store events from marble painting workshops with set designer Clementine Keith-Roach to hat making parties with milliner Keely Hunter to fabrication workshop with Sadie Williams to leather box covering with bag designer Sara Williams to Q&A sessions with menswear designer Alan Taylor‚Ķ I could go on.  They all seem worth going to and I'm only sorry that most of it will be taking place during fashion month.  

The conclusion?  Bring unknown talent to Mohammed and Mohammed will sit up and take notice.  Or something to that effect.  Who's to say that the customer only has an appetite for well-known brands churning out highly commercial product.  Put unique designers in the right context, which Selfridges have done by setting these fifteen creatives with windows, a store and the right marketing engine, and it's a win-win situation.  Furthermore Selfridges have increased the stakes for their latest Bright Young Things, by properly investing in these designers, evident in the product range.  Fantastic visual merchandising opportunity aside, seeing an increased amount of physical product in comparison to last year in that dedicated Concept Store space is a brilliant thing.  In other retailers' books, the whole Bright Young Things project might seem a tad risky but the department store have gotten increased press hum-drum and even more creativity kudos in return.

As for the designers and creatives involved, like I said before with previous BYT editions, the exposure is an amazing opportunity that could lead to further commissions, shows, collections, sponsorship… who knows?  I'm told Selfridges have also paired up their buying and press team with the designers as mentors to offer them guidance in the future.  That's an in-road that most designers wouldn't turn down.  Now, to introduce the lucky fifteen – some have already made waves, some are beginning to make waves and others are definitely prospective wave-makers.  Get stuck into the links and pics.      

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Sadie Williams – I think I'm right in saying that Sadie Williams is definitely the one BYT that is getting people hot under the collar.  Yesterday at the Concept Store, I already saw some rabid CSM students trying to get hold of a lurex-fronted sweatshirt, which she has created for Selfridges.  Her collection at the Central Saint Martins MA show back in February was literally stellar.  Star spangled stellar in fact.  Her window didn't need to stray too far from what she has achieved as she applied that tinsel-speckled glitter to plywood as a backdrop to three of her stunning dresses.  The eyes zoom straight to the dresses and that's the way it should be.  I've already fallen in love with the shortened version of the printed dress, again made especially for Selfridges and I salute and commend anyone who goes for it as it's now sitting in the Concept Store, ready to throw mad shapes and spangles around a room.    

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Yeashin – Yeashin Kim has been doing rooted kitsch n' kawaii since she graduated from London College of Fashion in 2011.  Her clothes have a very specific folkloric more is more sensibility that stems from her Korean background.  She's a keen culture clasher though as traditional Korean costumes mesh with sixties cuteness of the sort seen on a Twiggy.  Pieces such as a printed shirtdress and faux fur Bambi-cuffed shirt probably make up the more wearable and more feminine pieces of the BYT roster.      

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Daniel Pollitt – I didn't get to see last year's Royal College of Art fashion show so I know very little about Daniel Pollitt's work.  Highly graphic, structural with a keen eye for illusionary prints is about all I can deduce.  For Selfridges though, he has created a new body of work that is altogether darker.  The accompanying set of a cracked ground, made to resemble a stark desert, results in quite a minimal window.  Pollitt's work is an interesting addition to the womenswear mix, as his clean lines and penchant for black is sure to get people interested.  

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Cari Marsden of the Co. Project - I nearly shed a wee tear when I saw Cari Marsden setting up her window.  Three years ago, I stumbled across her BA project at Graduate Fashion Week, where she had come up with the idea for friendship bracelet kits for girls.  She then proceeded to develop that DIY ethos by exploring the idea consumer-designer collaboration in her MA project at London College of Fashion where dresses can be altered with a series of holes and thread.  Now her Co. Project finally has retail legs as she now has her DIY bracelets kits on sale at Selfridges.  The window quite simply is an arrangement of all those enticing raw materials which will take most people back to their friendship bracelet making days.  I still believe Marsden can take her "kit" idea further to develop other prospects, maybe in garment making and here's hoping she can also join in on the consumer-led-design movement that has already begun to infiltrate the fashion industry.    

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Grace Hamilton – Of all the BYT designers, Grace Hamilton's work required the least number of photos but that's testament to the fact that this jewellery designer has a singular and well-honed in focus in her work.  Her sculptural knotted and crocheted jewellery looks anything but homespun as she combines colours and selects yarns with a deft hand.  The curved volumes in each piece is reflected in the enlarged chain, which engulfs her window.  

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Sarah Williams of Williams British Handmade – Sarah Williams is another designer who I talked up previously.  Both Steve and I love to fan boy/girl her so much so that we were cooing with excitement when we saw her setting up her window.  Again, she doesn't need to rely on window concept to sell her signature.  By simply building a framed structure for her beautifully crafted and wildy shaped pieces of luggage, she is showcasing her work in the best light.  Her amazing feats of leatherworking have only been available on a custom order basis through her brand Williams British Handmade but now new shapes such as the black cross bag, an S-curved rectangle case or a plum-shaded tetris block are now available to buy at Selfridges and they're wonders to behold.     

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Keely Hunter – I only knew of Keely Hunter's work through her collaboration with Fred Butler but was delighted to see that her own stuff was just as enticing.  Inspired by architecture and engineering, the Kensington & Chelsea-trained milliners is focused on creating hats for the modern era.  They're not frivolous or weighted with feathers and frippery.  They are unusual without looking freakish.  Her neon tube installation for her window emphasises those strong lines that she creates in her hats.  Her plastic brimmed creations, though pricy, are certainly great examples of what 21st century millinery is all about. 

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Alan Taylor – Another familiar face was new menswear star on the rise Alan Taylor, who made his mathematical inquisition into the fourth dimension something of a reality in his window as he constructed a pile of complex light-reflecting cubes that looked like they might topple over you.  His innovative tailoring is what instantly grabs you from the double-fronted jackets and asymmetric pieces.  That cut-out sleeved oversized coat from his AW13 collection will very much be keeping me (but not my elbows) warm this coming winter.    

 

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Hiroaki Kanai - Royal College of Art gets another BYT through the door with the stunning work of Hiroaki Kanai.  I remember his collection of mid-century couture meets sportswear, making a sum of elegant head-turning menswear.  No wonder his appeal spans both sexes as an aforementioned customer at Selfridges was desperate to try on his voluminous flared out top, a stand out piece which features in his surreal window.    

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Eleanor Davies – On to the set designing/artist portion of BYT and this year's selection definitely pushed the boat out.  Eleanor Davies graduated from Goldsmiths last year and has since been creating textiles-based installations, consisting mainly of the humble tassel.  Her work stems from the fetishisation of objects and so the tassel, overt in its reference to sex shows and S&M practises, gets re-appropriated into a different context.  Adorning a plethora of phallic shapes in her window, Davies makes everything look absurd and pointedly ridiculous with her use of pastel colours and shiny textures.  For further titillation, you can buy a range of her well-crafted tassels in-store or online.      

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Anna Lomax - Once again set design is getting the exposure platform it deserves and Anna Lomax is definitely a bright young voice on the scene.  A graduate of Brighton University, Lomax has cut her teeth creating junk-inspired, everything-but-the-kitchen sink type work from small scale still ifes to large scale installations for the likes of Topshop, Creative Review and Nike.  Lomax assembled bits and pieces of pound shop finds to create something of an intriguing set, full of interesting interventions.  Products like a rubber strip covered cushion or cheapie sale notice posters have the right sense of absurd about them that is sure to get people talking.  

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Clementine Keith-Roach - Yet another past disciple of the great Shona Heath has emerged to make her own way in the world.  Clementine Keith-Roach's incredible marble-painted set was a film set waiting to happen.  She imagined a powerful corporate woman kicking off her shoes in frustration in a Miami-hued office space.  The room has been given the veneer of luxury with a marble finish that graces everything from the water cooler to the potted palm to the ash tray to the old school telephone (which are available to buy as functioning phones from Selfridges).  Roach's set had a real narrative that sparks the imagination and sets the mind whirring.  

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Katy Beveridge – Katy Beveridge is a graphic designer specialising in animation and her window needs to be seen in person, in order to understand the effect of her Keith Haring-esque figures whirring about, coming together and falling apart in a physical metaphor of vile bodies.  Beveridge looked at Victorian animation devices for inspiration to create these turntable spinning apparitions.  I love the in-motion inspired products she's created such as a cut-out insert for bicycles that comes to life when the wheels are spinning or the set of stop animation rings of a galloping horse.    

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The Poundshop - I loves me a Pound Shop.  Although it did used to confuse me that not everything in a Pound shop is a Pound.  George Wu and Sara Melin also saw the beauty of a Pound shop and recognised that bargains are hard to come by in the inflated world that we live in.  Started as a joke, Melin and Wu then began The Poundshop as a serious challenge to commission and create design products to sell for a ¬£1.  Ok, there are other ¬£5 and ¬£10 price bands too but they're giving you creative bang for your buck as they work with a wide range of designers to make interesting products.  Their online shop has unsurprisingly been a smashing success and judging by reaction to their goods in-store at Selfridges (too hard to sell things for a ¬£1 online), I forsee a physical presence for The Poundshop girls soon enough.  

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Tasha Marks of AVM Curiosities – I love that food gets representation in Selfridges' BYT roster and this year, they have chosen Tasha Marks, a food historian to join in on the young talent fun.  Marks' venture Animal Vegetable Mineral or AVM Curiosities seeks to explore the relationship between art and food through installations and happenings.  She's the sort of person that I'd love to delve deep into the subject of food habits through the ages.  Marks creates marvel and pomp around our sustenance, which is evident in her window of English sweet shop treats and banquet regalia.  Food glorious food indeed!   

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