Readers of a new book, Inspired: London, A guide to handmade in London, will get an exclusive insight into over 150 handpicked designers, such as an embroidery designer who helped create Kate Middleton’s wedding dress, to a designer who created bespoke and exclusive cushions for Harrods and Selfridges.
Packed full of inspiring designs from clothing to art, and detailed information about their creators, this guide literally puts the reader in touch with the people that hand make products in London. The book closes the gap between the producer and the buyer, as the book contains contact details for every designer, so the reader can chat, make a commission or even meet up with the designer in their studio.
The guide was created by Mary McDermott, owner of We Make London, a series of regular craft events across the city, after she spotted a rise in the interest in handmade products in the UK.
Mary said: “While the enthusiasm for handmade products has increased in the past few years, I also noticed that customers actually wanted to know more about the designers than you can with online shopping. They wanted to have a personal experience and to know that the products they buy have been lovingly made locally. So we decided to put together a book that would allow customers to actually meet up with the designer.”
With products to suit every budget, this must-have guide for Londoners and visitors aims to support local businesses, which is now more important than ever in the current economy. As well as dedicating an entire page to the work of each designer, the book also has a directory of nearly 100 interesting organisations, suppliers, independent shops and designer-maker markets.
or you can buy direct from the We Make London Online Shop
Black Silk Brocade over bust Korzetette featured on the front cover.
Worldwide Gothic
Natasha Scharf
This is the first book to look at the impact of the goth scene worldwide, from its origins right through to the present day. From the UK's sprawling post-punk scene, Japan's highly visual movement, the USA's deathrock explosion and Germany's extremely popular Schwarze Szene, Worldwide Gothic explores how they all came about and the influence they've had on contemporary music and fashion. Spat out of punk at the tail end of the 1970s, goth became a major subculture in the UK with bands like Siouxsie And The Banshees and The Sisters Of Mercy scoring Top Ten hits and its fashion inspiring catwalk collections. After the scene died down in the early 1990s, it spread out to Europe where it attracted hundreds of thousands of followers and became assimilated with other muscial genres. This book also looks at how goth is now returning to its roots now with the emergence of dark rock and indie bands who pay homage to gothic greats like Bauhaus and Joy Division.
Natasha Scharf is a music journalist who specialised in alternative and gothic music. She was the editor of underground gothic publication Meltdown and has subsequently written for Metal Hammer, Prog, Classic Rock and Terrorizer magazines. She co-produced a documentary on the goth scene for BBC Radio 1 called Beyond The Pale and has been interviewed about the scene many times in the media, including on Radio 4's Woman's Hour. She frequently DJs at gothic events across the globe.
Bespoke Overbust Corset with vintage lace and hand beading featured on the front cover.
Naked Exhibitionism: Gendered Performance and Public Exposure
Claire Nally and Angela Smith
This collection of interdisciplinary critical essays examines the evolution of gendered exhibitionism from the mid twentieth century to the present day and asks whether bodily exposure provides the liberation it enacts or restricts our most secret selves to the sanitised realm of socially-sanctioned gender roles. From the films of Bette Davis to the works of playwright Sarah Kane, the gender-transgressive art of burlesque and reality TV shows like How to Look Good Naked, this innovative collection uncovers the repackaging of gendered exhibitionism for a prime-time audience and debates its contradictions and contributions to popular culture in a postfeminist world.
