Skin to us…

Nicholas Lewis — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:36:44 +0000

With just a couple of days until our Skin Issue hits the streets, we thought it useful to give you a little insight into just one of the many passions we indulged in over the last few weeks.

Skin and ska: The Specials

Nothing says ‘original skin’ more than The Specials. The brainchild of keyboardist Jerry Dammers, The Specials epitomised England’s ska revival movement of the late 70′s-early 80′s more than any other band, with tracks like ‘Too much too young’, ‘Gangsters’ and ‘Dog town’ echoing the decade’s many woes. Enjoying somewhat of a renewed interest in their career, the band recently made the cover of NME, whilst it also is scheduled to play in London at the end of the month. Here are some tit-bits of very special Specials love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxHcx7FO8nI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrAibOio2GM&feature=fvst http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTo7VHFvu6o&feature=fvst

Skin and style: Skinheads

No subculture is complete without its own style, and skinheads had theirs locked down. From the obvious (Ben Sherman shirt, bomber jacket and Doc Martens) to the studied (the coulour of everything from your shoe lace to your shoe stitch) and more subtle (the size of your crop), the attention to detail prevalent in their aesthetic might confuse more than one as to the movement’s working class origins. Captured in Nick Knight‘s monumental social documentary ‘Skinhead’ (buy it here), celebrated in many a Shane Meadows‘ pictures (specially so in ‘This is England‘) and the source of inspiration for Raf Simons‘ collection for Fred Perry (another skinhead style staple), skinheads’ legacy is nowhere more evident than in the world of fashion.

The cover to photographer Nick Knight's infamous book, Skinhead

Stills from Shane Meadows' 'This is England'

'This is England' lead character Shawn

Essential viewing and Wikipidia knowledge for those who want more:

Skinhead attitude – documentary by Swiss Daniel Schweizer (buy it here)

American hardcore – documentary on the US hardcore scene: Bad Brains, Blag Flag, Minor Threat and the likes (buy it here)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC3zxvDyY8c http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlcnS2jj05k

About 2Tone Records

About skinheads

About straight edge

About Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice

10 years of Showstudio – The party

Hettie Judah — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:15:07 +0000

We rediscovered 10 years of old Showstudio projects at the opening party of the exhibition at Somerset House on Monday; there were plenty of highpoints, including Alexander McQueen turning a bridegroom into a bride for Transformer and Julie Verhoven’s erotic interactive wallpaper, and we loved the way they managed to keep the audience-participation tone of the website. But the film that held us rooted to the spot was Gareth Pugh’s extraordinary, almost masochistic make-up fest. The quality’s not great and you’d do better playing your own music in the background, but check it out – birthdays will never be the same again:

A selection of Showstudio’s groundbreaking and genre-defining photography and art direction over the years:

The Word Magazine » Nick Knight

Skin to us…

Skin and ska: The Specials

Skin and style: Skinheads

Essential viewing and Wikipidia knowledge for those who want more:

10 years of Showstudio – The party