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An awesome and ridiculous film that leaves you thrilled beyond the point of your natural endurance
2012
Theatre
The show has suddenly become quite wonderful, and the galvanising factor is the terrific stage debut of Melanie C
Blood Brothers
Music
The British pop music industry may be eating itself but if Muse are the pick of what it can offer the world in 2010 then British music is in rude health indeed
Muse
I was smitten by both Gilberts enormous luxuriant moustache and the intelligence and nuance of this highly entertaining play
I totally recommend Babbo to anyone who is looking for really good and traditional Italian food
Always been a fan but never seen them live. I was ecstatic to be part of this epic event. WOW!
London,
Sue Steward's rating
Reader rating
New model army: the rise of black models, as captured by Ben Dunbar-Brunton
In the week President Obama commissioned a suit from Ozwald Boateng, this exhibition of men’s fashion photography reminds us of the time the designer shocked the Mayfair establishment.
Co-curated by the UK’s leading fashion stylist, Simon Foxton, When You’re a Boy — the title is a lyric from David Bowie song Boys Keep Swinging — features works by his photographer-collaborators including Nick Knight, Alasdair McLellan and Jason Evans. Breathtakingly upbeat and often witty, the show documents the launch of the male model industry and black models, and the influence of gay subcultures, which all transformed the mainstream.
Foxton illustrates the inspirations for his 25-year career through his scrapbooks, which include memorabilia, homo-erotic porn and ethnographic and vintage portraits of black men — all tracing back to the radical magazine photography of the late Seventies and illustrated in a wall of rule-breaking portraits from i-D, The Face, and Arena Homme Plus magazines. Influences range from Grace Jones (black lip-gloss) to Cecil Beaton.
By banishing white walls and partitions, Foxton transforms the gallery into a dance studio or a narcissistic club — places that fed new racial and sexual identities into the fashion industry. He presents imaginative customised street fashions and young black British males parodying Britain’s traditions: Jason Evans’s “Strictly” series (1991) poses models in hunting jackets and plus fours on suburban London streets.
By contrast, the Nineties saw fashion transformed by Wall Street into a new suits conservatism, represented by black models. But a decade later, playfulness dominates — and Nick Knight’s notably clean, studio shots include his iconic, cinematic costumes for the “Minotaur” collaboration with John Galliano in 2007. This entertaining, significant cultural history of post-modern peacocks is long overdue and tailor-made for the Bowie soundtrack.
Until 4 October. Information: www.photonet.org.uk.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
I saw this and it really is a fantastic exhibition, a real must see! One important point that I thought you missed was the fact that this show focusses on the stylist and not so much on the photographer. It is as far as I know the first time this has happened. Simon Foxton is an incredible talent and I think it is amazing when you look at the dates on some of these old photographs and realise how current they still are!
- Douglas, London UK
