Films

A walking portrait of my hood



Folk Navaz Batliwalla

My Facebook feeds are currently full of friends waxing lyrical about the joys of coastal living, having fled London for the simple life. Me? I’m not quite there yet. London’s where I was born and grew up and as a West Londoner I’ve not strayed far from my childhood stomping ground.

In particular I’m passionate about the pocket of London where Portobello meets Golborne Road. This little local stretch is relatively unknown by the masses. You won’t find hordes of tourists and bloggers descending here for their selfies and outfit posts, but you will find a genuine melting pot of character and style.

You can people watch in the flea market, pick up an antique mirror from Les Couilles du Chien, delight in the curiosities of Kokon To Zai, and make a pilgrimage to Rellik, the famous vintage store that specialises in collectable Westwood, Galliano and Comme. Foodies can enjoy a Palestinian feast at Maramia, fish & chips at George’s or queue up for a pastel de nata at Lisboa, the Portuguese coffee shop that’s a local institution.

I gave the folks at Folk a little local walking tour of my hood a few weeks ago (more…)



Deep cuts



cuts book Steve Brooks Gimme 5

It’s been a bit of a whirlwind month for CUTS, my hairdresser and London landmark of sorts. It’s a kind of ‘if you know, you know’ thing; it’s been around forever but was never treated as a ‘brand’, rather a word of mouth hangout that does very good hair. (Side note: they came out with the phrase ‘You Look Good’ long before anyone else.)

CUTS started in Kensington Market during the post-punk years, then progressed to Kensington Church Street (I would pass it on the way to school) and ended up in Soho where it’s been for a couple of decades. It’s where I went when I decided to go short in the early 90s. (more…)



THE DRG STYLE INDEX: Burberry, Vivienne Westwood, Gucci, Grenson, Matches



Here’s the latest weekly DRG STYLE INDEX ranking, a round-up of the brands and industry stories currently buzzing on my radar…

All attention has been on couture this week, with a wonderful Valentino show (Valentino is winning couture for me at the mo, not least for Pierpaolo’s studio antics), a pleasingly understated Dior show, and a shimmering Chanel show (watch my verdict on SHOWstudio). Elsewhere, these were my big stories…

BURBERRY X VIVIENNE WESTWOOD
Burberry X Vivienne Westwood collaboration
Now here’s a collab I can get behind. Burberry and Vivienne Westwood are joining forces to rework pieces from the Westwood archive in support of rainforest charity Cool Earth. (more…)



Boom For Real, the movie



Basquiat Boom For Real movie

Another week, another 70s-80s counter culture documentary. This time it’s Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat, a very inspiring snapshot of the early 80s New York art scene, looking at the community of artists, writers, musicians and graffiti artists around the rise of Jean-Michel Basquiat. (more…)