Paul Gorman is…

The return of The Face: Some thoughts

Mar 30th, 2019

In my twin capacities as “biographer” of The Face and curator of last year’s British independent magazine exhibition PRINT!, I’ve been asked publicly and privately for my thoughts on the imminent online relaunch of the title (the plan is that the quarterly physical edition will follow in August, carrying a September dateline).

So here they are:

It’s interesting that the greatest anticipation for the magazine’s return is being generated for and by the fashion community. The PRs, writers, stylists and students who kept the flame alive after the publication’s 2004 demise are now busily banging the drum in response to the relaunch’s oddly one-note Instagram branding exercise, filling their feeds with excited content.

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PRINT! celebrates the power of the newsstand with a rendition of the Sloane Square kiosk

Jun 15th, 2018

//Visitors to the show browse Newsstand magazines this week. Photo: Somerset House Trust//

//The kiosk on which our Newsstand is based was built for the news vendor at Sloane Square station 30-odd years ago//

Traditional newsstands figure among my favourite examples of London street vernacular architecture (if indeed they qualify as architecture – I’m no expert).
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Exhibition: The Story Of The Face x London at Sonos Seven Dials until April

Jan 27th, 2018

//The cover of the February 1982 issue of The Face featuring Sheila Rock’s striking image of Siouxsie Sioux at the Sonos store in Earlham Street. Photo: Lawrence Ajayi//

//Photo: Lawrence Ajayi//

//Photo: Lawrence Ajayi//

The Face magazine was firmly rooted in central London and like its host city it was inclusive, outward-looking, multi-cultural and diverse. While it expressed all the best aspects of creative London it was never parochial but simultaneously intent on making the connections to cities and sub cultures around the country and around the world.

Based throughout the 1980s and 90s in the enclaves around Carnaby Street, Mortimer Street, Marylebone and Clerkenwell, the magazine and its writers, designers, photographers and stylists became fundamental to the scenes they documented.

From Soho’s “The Cult With No Name” through rare groove, rave and British soul to Britpop, Brit Art and beyond, The Face was at the epicentre of the capital’s youth, music, fashion, art, design and club cultures.

At a time when the area’s venues and nightlife are being challenged by regulation, regeneration and urban development, this exhibition and companion events aim not only to shine a light on central London’s cultural significance but also highlight a time when a magazine could change the world.

Perhaps the greatest exemplars of The Face’s disruptive London attitude were cover stars such as John Lydon, Malcolm McLaren, George Michael and Suede as well as Kate from Croydon and Naomi from Streatham, who toppled the glamazons ruling fashion and endure as emblems of London street style and suss.

The Face: It was a London thing.

My exhibition about The Face magazine’s roots in, and relationship to, London is currently being staged at home leisure specialist Sonos’ newest store, in Earlham Street, Seven Dials.

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The Story Of The Face in Amsterdam

Dec 12th, 2017

//Athenaeum has done the book proud with this splendid window display. Photo: Athenaeum//

The Story Of The Face is coming to Amsterdam on Friday (December 15).

In an event at the city’s NewWerktheater organised by leading Netherlands bookshop Athenaeum Nieuwscentrum, I’ll be making a visual presentation about the magazine that changed culture.

Afterwards I’ll talk about the enduring influence of The Face and my new book The Story Of The Face with Gert Jonkers, founder of Butt and Fantastic Man and publisher of The Gentlewoman and COS Magazine.

If you’re in town please come along. Tickets from aanmelden@athenaeum.nl

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In conversation with Chris Salewicz about the early days of The Face at Bookseller Crow on Tuesday

Nov 25th, 2017

//John Lydon. From The Face issue 8, December 1980. Photo: Sheila Rock//

//Grace Jones. From The Face issue 6, October 1980. Main photo: Jill Furmanovsky//

//Divine. From The Face issue 9, January 1981. Photo: Sheila Rock//

Here’s a selection of articles for early issues of The Face by veteran music journalist/author (and my old mucker) Chris Salewicz to mark the fact that he and I will be in conversation about my new book The Story Of The Face at leading south London independent bookshop Bookseller Crow on Tuesday evening (November 28).

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The Story Of The Face in British GQ

Oct 6th, 2017

Out today, the November 2017 issue of British GQ includes a 10-page feature on my forthcoming book The Story Of The Face: The Magazine That Changed Culture.

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RIP Gary Warnett, streetwear guru and sneaker supremo

Sep 28th, 2017

//Warnett in his element. Photo: Hypebeast, to which he was a regular contributor//

This is a terrible week for those of us interested in the accumulation of knowledge and expertise surrounding design, music and popular culture.

I was settling in to write an obituary for New York design hero Jim Walrod when news came through last night that British sneaker guru Gary Warnett – a similarly irreplaceable figure – had also unexpectedly died.

Warnett was 39; the cause was attributed to complications arising from pneumonia.

The former content editor for label Crooked Tongues, Warnett was a streetwear obsessive who worked with the world’s biggest brands. Still he found the time to pursue a wide array of interests as evinced by his excellent Gwarizm/Still Lameaphobic site.

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My new book – The Story Of The Face: The Magazine That Changed Culture

Jun 7th, 2017

This is the front of the jacket of my new book The Story Of The Face: The Magazine That Changed Culture, which is published by Thames & Hudson this autumn.

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