//Left: ‘Waitress dress’ designed by Diana Crawshaw for Mr Freedom 1971. Right: Karen Elson models Moschino dress in the Italian luxury brand’s campaign for its SS22 resort collection//

Even by the cynical standards of today’s fashion industry, the lifting – down to the closest detail – of a particular early 1970s design for British pop art store Mr Freedom by Italian luxury brand Moschino is breathtaking.

‘UNBELIEVABLE’ was the take of a leading fashion journalist while an internationally renowned fashion designer told me they thought it was ‘Outrageous!’

‘I’m sickened,’ says Diana Crawshaw, who came up with the original of this and many other designs for Mr Freedom’s owners Trevor Myles and Tommy Roberts between 1970 and 1972. ‘It’s terrible that they’ve simply been able to take things I spent a lot of time and effort on realising.’

The new version of Crawshaw’s waitress dress is the centrepiece of the Moschino collection, which is the brainchild of creative director Jeremy Scott. As well as direct quotes of these individual pieces, Moschino’s campaign appears as a tribute to a particular phase of Mr Freedom’s brief life, when its second set of premises at 20 Kensington Church Street included the cartoonish restaurant Mr Feed’Em.

//Mr Feed’Em waitress in hamburger repeat print dress in the restaurant 1971. Photography: Tim Street Porter/Elizabeth Whiting & Associates//

//Left: Mr Freedom designer Jim O’Connor. Photography: Tim Street Porter/Elizabeth Whiting & Associates//

//Mr Feed’Em interior. Photography: Tim Street Porter/Elizabeth Whiting & Associates//

And so the new Moschino campaign is replete with repeat prints and references to fried eggs, dripping hamburgers, hot dogs and ice-cream, all Mr Freedom and Mr Feed’Em motifs, as you can see in the film Scott has released to coincide with the collection drop:

And Crawshaw isn’t alone. The use of colour contrasts in the Moschino garments and on accessories such as bags imitates those used by another Mr Freedom designer, Jim O’Connor, as you can see here from this jumpsuit design in the Victoria & Albert Museum’s collection:

//Jim O’Connor for Mr Freedom jumpsuit collar and lapel detail. Photo: Paul Gorman Collection//

//Biker jacket handbag Moschino SS22//

That there is a paucity of new ideas in mainstream fashion is not news though I can’t help wondering about the role of those operators of vintage collections who are regularly raided by fashion designers in return for payments and thus encourage this behaviour.

Diana Crawshaw started her career at the King’s Road branch of I Was Lord Kitchener’s Valet before moving on to make important contributions not just to Mr Freedom but also the legendary outlet Paradise Garage at 430 King’s Road.

//Frederiques Cifuentes photographs Diana Crawshaw outside 430 King’s Road for the King’s Road Fashion & Music Trail, 2012.//

A charming and constantly creative person, Diana was a Royal College a graduate and is now in her 70s. I interviewed her for the King’s Road music and fashion trail I created for Kensington & Chelsea Council in 2012 and when last I bumped into her (inevitably in Worlds End Books) she snapped a photograph of me and sent a flattering portrait she drew from it.

Diana continues as an inveterate Chelsea-ite as a palmist for the enduring outlet Wilde Ones (though at the moment is giving phone consultations). You can book a reading with her through the Wilde Ones website.

Tags: Diane Crawshaw, Frederiques Cifuentes, I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet, Jeremy Scott, Jim O'Connor, Jon Wealleans, Karen Elson, Moschino, Mr Feed'Em, Royal College Of Art, Trevor myles, Wilde Ones, Worlds End Books

//The two maps are housed in handsome folders//

//The guide was designed by Ricardo Santos and includes photography of the band, quotes and a card for my Malcolm McLaren biography//

My new guide out with Herb Lester Associates is out now.

A celebration of the London lives of the Sex Pistols and their charismatic – some might say notorious – manager Malcolm McLaren, it comprises two fold-out maps with 100-plus addresses from birthplaces, schools, colleges, art schools, pubs, clubs, venues and boutiques to such diverse places as Buckingham Palace (where the Pistols signed to A&M Records), the Soho gay club Il Duce (frequented by McLaren after leaving art school in the early 70s) and the Shepherds Bush remand home where the teenage Steve Jones resided before being pulled up before various beaks on assorted burglary charges.

//There are nearly 60 entries charting the lives of the Pistols in London//

//The Pistols map shows how Punk Rock was at its dark heart a London thing//

The Pistols maps covers the group’s 29-month existence and the lives of the five members as they relate to the British capital, while McLaren’s shows how this fourth generation Scottish/Jewish provocateur used the city as a weapon of sex, style and subversion.

//Born in Stoke Newington, McLaren roamed the capital, from Lewisham and Clapham to Chelsea and Notting Hill to Fitzrovia and Oxford Street to Whitechapel and Rotherhithe//

//No coincidence that some of the major projects of McLaren’s life – a psychogeography of Oxford Street, the shop at 430 King’s Road and his campaign to become Mayor of London – were firmly rooted in the city//

SITUATION VACANT: Sex Pistols and Malcolm McLaren in London is available from Herb Lester Associates here.

Tags: Buckingham Palace, Herb lester Associates, Il Duce, Ricardo Santos, Sex Pistols, Shepherds Bush, Steve Jones

//Outside my local “The Roebuck” in London SE1 yesterday//

//Barney Bubbles’ 1966 designs for Woodpecker and Strongbow ciders feature on the bus being used in filming//

This is freaky. Our local has been transformed into the King’s Road pub The Roebuck for the filming of Danny Boyle’s forthcoming FX series Pistol, based on guitarist Steve Jones’s memoir Lonely Boy.

The thing is I knew the Roebuck very well; it is in fact the place where I first met Malcolm McLaren, at the age of 15 in 1975. By happenstance I was drinking in the pub with an older brother the night McLaren recruited John Lydon  to the Sex Pistols.

//The Roebuck in the late 70s. Photo by Barry Beattie/ANL/Shutterstock (5823647a)//

At The Roebuck I came across such individuals as the gangster John Bindon and his well-born paramour Vicki Hodge and the male model David “Piggy” Worth. One night we spotted the infamous art dealer Robert “Groovy Bob” Fraser with some ne’er-do-wells. It was that sort of place.

//The Roebuck was a couple of minutes’ walk east of 430 King’s Road where the Mini driven by Vivienne Westwood, Steve Jones and others could often be seen. This recreation even includes balls of mohair wall in the back//

I returned there over the following years, particularly after I moved to neighbouring Kensington in 1977 – it was a 15-minute walk away. By that time Punk was shifting overground and the upstairs snooker room was the scene of much nefarious activity.

A wild twist is that pioneering 60s designs by the late graphic genius Barney Bubbles have been recreated as period adverts on a bus which is being used for filming.

The conjunction of two of the subjects of my books with a fondly remembered venue 20 yards from where I live is kind of wild.

Tags: Danny Boyle, David "Piggy" Worth, FX, John Bindon, John Lydon, Lonely Boy, Robert Fraser, Steve Jones, The Roebuck

I am the latest subject in the One Great Reader series published by Oakland CA’s Book/Shop.

/Wes Del Val’s introduction//

In the interview by Wes Del Val I talk about the importance of books, particularly second-hand books, in my life.

//I get to nominate the five books I’d keep in stock permanently in my fantasy bookshop//

Above is a selection of reading material mentioned in the chat plucked from the shelves, ranging from Myths & Legends given to me by an older sister when I was eight in the 1960s to Tabitha Lasley’s incredible Sea State published this year.

Read my One Great Reader chat with Wes here.

Tags: A Bit Off The Map, All The Devils Are Here, Angus Wilson, Anthony Burgess, Book/Shop, David Seabrook, FX Enderby, Hangover Square, Jane Bussman, Oakland, Once In A Lifetime, One Great Reader, Patrick Hamilton, Savage Pencil, Sea State, Tabitha Lasley, Wes Del Val

At the bottom of page 66 of Melody Maker, September 13, 1975.

This is, I think, an exclusive. Much mentioned in the story of punk, I’ve not seen this ad published since it appeared 46 years ago.

Tucked away at the bottom of page 66 of the September 13 1975 issue of British music weekly Melody Maker was a relatively nondescript line advertisement offering the lease on premises in London’s Denmark Street, home to the British music publishing industry:

TIN PAN ALLEY.                Must be
useful for some msicians (sic), agent
or such. To take over.       Small lock-
up premises.    Store gear,      group-
meet,    rehearse,     hire-it-out,  etc.
Sacrifice.   –   455 7487.

Complete with that typo, this was the sole entry in the property section of the MM’s classifieds pages, which that week included hundreds of ads for musicians, instruments and equipment over seven pages.

The ad was tucked away at the bottom of the page.

The advert would have cost the leaseholder Bill Collins around £3.50 to post. The father of actor Lewis Collins, the Liverpudlian had made a name for himself in the music business, having been instrumental in the success of 60s powerpop quartet Badfinger, signing them to the Beatles’ Apple label when they were The Iveys. Collins even shared songwriting credits with the group, including those for Without You, which became a massive worldwide hit when covered by Harry Nilsson.

By 1973 Collins had been excluded from Badfinger’s affairs by the powerful US entrepreneur Stan Polley, who was soon accused of depriving the group of millions of dollars. In April 1975, a few months before Collins placed the ad, Badfinger mainman Pete Ham hanged himself at home, blaming Polley in the suicide note for the group’s misfortunes.

Another page of ads towards the back of the issue of MM with a news filler about a bomb scare interrupting a performance by a long-forgotten act called Screamer.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Apple Records, Badfinger, Ben Kelly, Bill Collins, Denmark Street, Glen Matlock, Harry Nilsson, Historic England, John Lydon, Jon Savage, Kutie Jones and his Sex Pistols, Melody Maker, Pete Ham, Sex Pistols, STan Polley, the Beatles, The Iveys, The QT Rooms, Tin Pan Alley, Vivienne Westwood

Among the many things the world doesn’t need now is another book of record covers, but DB Burkeman’s Art Sleeves, which is published today by Rizzoli, is something else entirely.

For once the publisher’s blurb is spot-on; this is “a tightly curated exploration” of record covers which challenge the distinctions between art and design, between object and product.

This means that there are many surprises in the book, and a minimum of the usual suspects.

Art Sleeves also contains a bonus in a series of artist spotlights and conversations featuring such exponents as Christian Marclay, INVADER, Ryan McGinley, Genieve Figgis  and Marilyn Minter.

And Barney Bubbles receives a mention as DB’s “personal design hero” in the introduction.

I recommend Art Sleeves highly. Order your copy here and follow Art Sleeves on Instagram here.

Tags: Art Sleeves, Christian Marclay, DB Burkeman, Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore, Genieve Figgis, Invader, Marilyn Minter, Richard Prince, Rizzoli, Ryan McGinley

Today I’ve launched a page on this site for the Estate of the late radical graphic artist and designer Barney Bubbles.

//Ridiculous Roadshow mask, 1973. © Barney Bubbles Estate//

I represent the Estate and its hundreds of original artworks. We have some exciting activity coming up, including the loving recreation of one of Bubbles’ most striking designs for a very special reissue on Record Store Day this year.

Then there is a new enhanced edition of my monograph Reasons To Be Cheerful: The Life & Work of Barney Bubbles, to be published by a leading international imprint. We are also planning a companion limited edition box of Bubblesiana, including high quality reproductions of his build-your-own paper and card designs.

In recent years the Estate has collaborated with a number of top-flight partners, including Universal Music, BMG Music, Paul Smith, Fred Perry and NOAH Clothing, and produced limited edition t-shirt, poster and postcard ranges with artist/dancer Stacia Blake and specialist printer Something Else.

//Johnny Moped Lightbulb 1977.© Barney Bubbles Estate//

//John Cooper Clarke, 1979. © Barney Bubbles Estate//

Read Barney Bubbles’ biography on the Estate page here.

//Still from Barney Bubbles-directed video for Ghost Town by The Specials, 1981//

//Letterhead for Teenburger Designs studio, 1969. © Barney Bubbles Estate//

//4D Man, 1982.© Barney Bubbles Estate//

//I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass, 1978. © Barney Bubbles Estate//

//Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, 1978. © Barney Bubbles Estate//

//Cracking Up, 1979. © Barney Bubbles Estate//

For licensing and reproduction inquiries, contact paulgormanis@btinternet.com. PDFs of available artworks on request.

Follow the Estate’s Instagram account: @_barney_bubbles_estate_ 

TAGS: None

British artist Paul Kindersley has produced a bewitching small publication which is available now from his Twitter account.

Shipwreck Of The Fake Fairies is 12 pages with 10 b&w illustrations and continues the themes of Kinderley’s recent work, including the performances Fake Fairy Fantasies and Ship Of Fools and his film The Burning Baby.

Limited to 100 in A5 format on 300gsm paper, each is signed and hand numbered.

Copies of Shipwreck Of The Fake Fairies are £10 each inc p&p.

For yours DM Kindersley at twitter.com/PaulKindersley.

Tags: Paul Kindersley, Ship Of Fools, Shipwreck Of The Fake Fairies, The Burning Baby

London  antique dealer James Jackson is currently presenting an Instagram exhibition of a folio of new works by the British artist Robert Rubbish.

Farfouiller dans Les Archives (Rummaging in the archives) consists of 10 original A3 artworks; James is posting one work daily on his IG account.

//The artist at bay//

“In the summer of 2019, I started making a collection of works inspired by stills from the French New Wave films I was watching,” explains Rubbish. “They are mostly of couples in cafes; I liked the idea of juxtaposing words onto them like subtitles, using 1980s pop song lyrics.

//”I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar when I met you”. Robert Rubbish, 2021//

“The text was translated from English to French using Googletranslate. The results became profound, existential (or profoundly existential?) and sometimes absurd.”

Jackson has exhibited Rubbish’s work previously at his premises in Fulham, west London. “Robert will return with an old school gallery type exhibition of new and inspired works  at James Jackson in Lillie Rd as and when circumstances allow,” adds Jackson.

Enjoy the show here.

Tags: Instagram, James Jackson, Robert Rubbish

//The postcard, which measures 230 x 150mm (6 x 9in), is printed in a numbered limited edition of 150//

“Fashion seemed to be the place where music and art came together. Creating my own clothes was like jumping into the musical end of painting. The shop became a natural extension of my studio.”
Malcolm McLaren. The Look, 2001.

Featuring a rare portrait of Malcolm McLaren displaying his wares inside the recently opened Let It Rock in January 1972, this limited edition large-size postcard is a companion to my biography of the man published earlier this year.

The photograph on the front of the card was taken by the late David Parkinson, who documented the refurb of  the premises at 430 King’s Road carried out by McLaren and his art school friend Patrick Casey; the address had previously housed Trevor Myles’ Americana boutique Paradise Garage.

//The postcard arrives clad in black, McLaren’s favourite anti-colour. “Black expressed the denunciation of the frill,” he wrote in the introduction to my book The Look//

The card shows McLaren revealing the detail on a flamboyant drape jacket made to his design by the East End tailor Sid Green, while he is surrounded by the accessories and ephemera which constituted Let It Rock’s environmental installation. Against the black walls, Day-glo socks from Whitechapel wholesaler Kornbluth vie with Frederick Starke red rockabilly shirts, Sun Records 45s, French rocksploitation movie posters and deadstock clothing.

It makes for a beguiling image: the 25-year-old – then still legally Malcolm Edwards – is caught making the leap from art school to fashion retailing by, as he later described it, “jumping into the musical end of painting”.

Limited edition numbered postcard hand-numbered and printed 4/1 col. offset on 350gsm single sided board stock, trimmed to size.

Printing: Something Else.

Price: £12.50 each or £20 for 2. P+P: £5 UK, £10 rest of the world. All postage with tracking and/or signature.

Payment via PayPal to this address.

I’m happy to sign cards on request.

Tags: David Parkinson, Frederick Starke, Patrick Casey, Something Else, Sun Records, Trevor myles