I’m a journalist, author and commentator on visual culture, and this is my blog, a cultural portal presenting exclusive interviews, information and images.

I began my professional writing career in 1978, working on weekly news for trade publications and in 1983 won the Periodical Publishers’ Association award for campaigning journalism.

In 1990 I was appointed west coast bureau chief of Screen International, reporting on the film industry and based in Los Angeles.

Between 1993 and 1998 I was contributing editor at Music Week, reporting on and profiling executives and artists including Madonna’s manager Freddy de Mann and U2 manager Paul McGuinness as well as Bjork, David Bowie, Oasis and the Sex Pistols.

In 1993 I was recruited by Brian Eno and Anthea Norman-Taylor to their creative think-tank on behalf of the charity War Child, which resulted in events Little Pieces From Big Stars at Flowers East and Pagan FunWear at the Saatchi Gallery.

Between 1994 and 1999, I was contributing editor at Music Business International. During this time I travelled the world and contributed regularly to a wide variety of publications including the Daily Telegraph, Heat, Mojo and Radio Times (and conducted the first interview with the Spice Girls).

A foray into television resulted in a development deal for a trash culture magazine show called The Strip and in 1999 I directed Channel 4 documentary Las Vegas Grind.

In 2000 I delved into music management by signing Latino artist El Vez to Alan McGee’s Poptones label and also worked with Kevin Rowland in 2003 on a Dexys Midnight Runners tour and compilation.

BOOKS

In 2001 I published the first edition of  The Look: Adventures In Pop & Rock Fashion, followed by the only history of the music press In Their Own Write (also 2001) and book collaborations with Goldie (Nine Lives, 2002), Ali & Robin Campbell of UB40 (Blood & Fire, 2005) and Boy George (Straight, also 2005).

The second edition of The Look was launched in 2006 in Tokyo by Sir Paul Smith and resulted in talks on post-war style at the V&A, London College Of Fashion and Central Saint Martins, where I was made an associate lecturer.

The first edition of Reasons To Be Cheerful: The Life & Work Of Barney Bubbles came out in 2008 and was made MOJO Book Of The Year in 2010 when the second edition was published. Associated Barney Bubbles events have included lectures at Chelsea College Of Art, Manchester University, Suffolk University School Of Art & Humanities, Bath College Of Art & Design, University Of Brighton and others.

In 2011 I edited and created the format for the exhaustive Any Day Now: David Bowie The London Years, published by Adelita.

In 2012 my book about the design entrepreneur Tommy Roberts was also published by Adelita. The foreword to Mr Freedom – Tommy Roberts: British Design Hero was contributed by Sir Paul Smith.

I edited artist monograph Derek Boshier: Rethink/Re-Entry,  published by Thames & Hudson in autumn 2015 with a foreword by David Hockney. In an email to Boshier six weeks before he died, David Bowie told the artist: “I love your book; your work cascades over the decades”.

The Story of The Face: The Magazine That Changed Culture was published by Thames & Hudson in November 2017 to great acclaim.

The Life & Times of Malcolm McLaren: The Biography is the definitive life of the late cultural iconoclast published in hardback by Constable in April 2020 and in paperback in November 2021.

The Wild World of Barney Bubbles is the updated and enhanced third edition of the acclaimed monograph, published by Thames & Hudson in June 2022 with the companion limited edition A Box of Bubbles by specialist imprint Volume.

Totally Wired: The Rise & Fall of the Music Press is the definitive story of the media sector which influenced pop culture and beyond and was published by Thames & Hudson in September 2022 with the paperback edition out in July 2023.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Between 2008 and 2010, my fashion label The Look Presents produced seven sell-out clothing collections in collaboration with Nigel Waymouth, Wonder Workshop and Antony Price for Topman in the UK, US and Japan.

I make regular TV and radio appearances on such channels as Sky Arts, ARTE, Resonance and BBC Radio London and l give lectures at design and fashion study days at the V&A and other institutions. I have also spoken at design conferences in Belgium, Denmark and France.

CURATION

In 2010 the publication of the second edition of the Barney Bubbles book was accompanied by the exhibition Process: The working practices of Barney Bubbles which I curated with my wife Caz Facey at London’s Chelsea Space. Process was selected as a highlight of the London Design Festival by Creative Review and the New York Times.

In 2012 I curated two exhibitions: Lloyd Johnson: The Modern Outfitter at Chelsea Space and The Past The Present & The Possible at the International Poster & Graphic Design Festival in Chaumont, France.

I sourced and contributed exhibits from my archive to Postmodernism (2011) and British Design (2012) at the V&A, Pop Music at Pallant House Gallery (2012), Glam! The Performance Of Style at Tate Liverpool (Feb-May 2013), Frankfurt Schirn Kunsthalle (June-Sept 2013) and Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz, Austria (Oct 2013-Feb 2014), Lucy Harrison’s Carnaby Echoes in central London (Sept-Oct 2013) and Punk at SHOWStudio (Oct-Nov 2013).

In 2014 I curated two exhibitions presenting the work of Malcolm McLaren. The Look of Music The Sound of Fashion was held at the Copenhagen International Fashion Fair in August 2014. Based around sections focusing on each of the six retail outlets McLaren operated with Vivienne Westwood, it presented original clothing, photographs and ephemera loaned from my archive, the Estate collection and such collectors as British fashion designer Kim Jones and musician Marco Pirroni.

British fashion writer Charlie Porter praised the show on his blog: “At the Malcolm McLaren show in Copenhagen, the hang of the garments is exceptional.”

I was co-curator of the exhibition Let It Rock, about McLaren’s background in the visual arts as a student and practitioner at Le Magasin, the Centre Centre National d’Art Contemporain in Grenoble, France, from October 20114 to February 2015. This was the major component of the group show Art In Pop, which also featured contributions from Captain Beefheart, Genesis Breyer P. Orridge and Alix Lambert.

I was co-curator with David Thorp of Eyes For Blowing Up Bridges: Joining the dots between Malcolm McLaren and the Situationist International at John Hansard Gallery, Southampton, September to November 2015.

With Guy Brett I co-curated  Derek Boshier: Rethink/Re-entry Works of the 1970s/Films & collages 2014 at Flowers Gallery, Cork Street, Mayfair, London, October to November  2015.

With my wife Caz Facey I staged the group event Be Reasonable Demand The Impossible at Central Saint Martins, Kings Cross, London, on November 6, 2015.

In 2017 I curated several exhibitions:

• In August I teamed with Fred Perry to curate a show about Barney Bubbles at their flagship store in London’s Covent Garden to mark a design collaboration with the British casualwear label

• In September I organised another Barney Bubbles exhibition at Rob Tufnell Gallery in Vauxhall south London, including examples of the late graphic artist’s furniture designs

• In November and December I curated the companion photographic exhibitions David Bowie: Song Stories at the New York and London stores operated by home leisure company Sonos.

• From January – April  2018 I curated the exhibitions The Story Of the Face at both the Sonos outlets in New York and London. And I also curated the show Bowie In Berlin on the opening of the Sonos outlet in the German city April – May 2018.

• From June to August 2018 I co-curated with Claire Catterall , senior curator at Somerset House, the exhibition PRINT! Tearing It Up at the central London venue.

• In spring 2022 I was a leading contributor to Subscribe: Artists & Alternative Magazines 1970-95 at the Art Institute of Chicago.

MAPS/GUIDES

The King’s Road Music & Fashion Trail, my 2012 series of films for the Royal Borough Of Kensington & Chelsea’s culture section, is available for download.

In November 2012 my map The Look Of London was published in collaboration with Herb Lester Associates.

In February 2016, Herb Lester published my map Punk London: In The City 1975-78.

In June 2021 Herb Lester published my companion maps Situation Vacant: Sex Pistols & Malcolm McLaren in London.