Leeds Street Style: 24/01/2011

Liam
Assistant Manager of Blue Rinse

Top: Vintage
Bottom: Grin
Shoes: Vintage
Coat: Vintage
Belt: Vintage
Scarf: Vintage
Ring: Vintage

Daisy
3rd Year Fashion Student

Top: American Apparel
Shoes: Vans
Watch: Nixon
Jewellery: Gift+found+key+ring pull
Tights: Primark

Mark
Owner of CHIMP

Top: Rebel8
Bottom: Levi's
Shoes: HUF Choice
Belt: Louis Vuitton
Hat: Rebel8

My Thoughts:

What I notice of UK's retail scene is it's dominated by big brands compared to the Far East. Even if you spend £50 on a dress, there is still a good chance that you could bump into someone wearing the same at a party.

For that matter, accessories are a great way to create a distinctive look. I love seeing people like Liam and Daisy, they slowly collect their jewellery from markets, friend's gifts, or items that are interesting to them. You may buy their clothes, but you can never copy their charm bracelet.

Another person that is always working hard on the individuality style in the city, Mark Bedford, the owner of CHIMP. By seeing the brands he is wearing, maybe we can get an idea of what's he would recommend in the shop. I'm also a reader of his stylish blog, but he kind of stopped for a while, let's hope he'll be back on it soon.

Marcus arrives at the Hebe Office

Marcus Carlsson is the newest member of the Hebe team and I, for one, am very happy he has joined us. I met him through Lee in Barcelona a few years ago and I have, along with the rest of the Hebe team, spent some fun and creative times with Marcus AKA ‘The Pap’. We have shared strawberry mojitos, sang Billie Jean at the Karaoke bars in Barcelona and Marcus along with Lee lived in the Palace and co-built the DJ Booth of Love(In fact in The Palace blog you can see him in the background on his Mac).

So you can all learn a little bit more about the man behind the beard I asked him a few questions:

Marcus! Can I ask you a few questions?

Yes, you can! 

Who are you?

Well, I see myself as a bit of an explorer, meaning that I believe in the concept of life long learning (I really do!) and i also have a constant lust for trying new things. I also think I'm a positive guy that sometimes feels that naivety is the best way to approach life. Why? Basically because I think that what you can learn from failures is miles more valuable than what you can learn from success. Leaving my own personal "safety zone" is something that I've pursued the last couple of years, both personally and definitely as a student and a professional...  I think this started with a move to Barcelona in 2005, where I also got to know fellow Hebe teammates Lee and Shang Ting through our studies at Instituto Europeo de Design. 

Anyway, since 2005, I've worked quite a lot as a freelancer with projects in fashion, music and design, while also completing a bachelor in marketing and communication and my master's degree in Design Management. My experience and studies have given me a quite sober way of looking at business or result driven projects. 

However, it's only just now though, after going through a life changing year studying creative techniques, innovation, and strategy during the Design Management master, I have realized that my passion is the always the path... not the end result. Basically, as soon as I complete something I need to take a new turn, try something new, or just start over again... 

I'm going on a bit here I think, but to sum up, I came to Leeds to work on exciting projects with a fun, creative and daring team that's not afraid to fail... 

Why are you here?

I might have mentioned some if that already, but basically to keep pushing myself to develop as a person and a professional. In addition to that I want to be able to inspire and also push my surroundings towards new unexplored land. 

What are the top 3 things you want to do while in Leeds?

''Hmmm... Good question, for sure, since I'm quite the football fan, I want to go to a Leeds United game, drink some beer from the local brewery, and maybe see some of the music and try the nightlife scene around here. I've heard that it's supposed to be quite good...''

And anything else you want to add!

''I like people!''

And what do the Hebe team think about our newest member?

Lee: ''It is great to have Marcus working with us. We studied together in Barcelona at IED and worked together on the Leeds in Barcelona project last year and he always gives a new dimension to the things we do. We have some amazing projects coming up this year and Marcus will be helping Hebe make those even better by adding his creativity and a bit of Swedish-ness to everything we do!''

Shang Ting: ''I always remembered Marcus was one of the most friendly, genuine person in my class, so I'm very happy he can join us for a while. When we were in school, Marcus' was brilliant of bringing his passion into his projects, like music, technology, Swedish heritage, and youtube videos. We are all confident Marcus will bring lots of creativity and energy to the Hebe team.''

Simon: ''I am very happy that Marcus is here and i am excited about all the projects we have lined up, and having Marcus here as part of it all will be beneficial for our team. Plus we will show him Leeds and have lots of fun like we did in Barca!''

Well I hope you have learned a little bit more about Hebe’s newest member because, for sure, you are going to see his face out and about town, so don’t be afraid to say hello!

Creative spaces are key to creative culture...

The view from the reception at Amaze. The first stop on our tour of creative offices in Manchester and London.

Lee and I hit the road last week, visiting Manchester and London to interview some of the folk involved in a new project with Hyper Island (more on this soon). In the course of three days we visited the offices of Amaze, Channel 4, Code Computerlove, Dare, McCann-Erickson, MTV and Wieden + Kennedy. For us it was an opportunity to have loads of fascinating conversations, some fun with our new video camera (again, more on this soon), and time to reflect on why offices in the world of digital are so very cool.

In the final days of 2010 (it seems a million years away to us now) the team here at Hebe Media spent a few hours dreaming about the kind of 'work space' we want be in. Don't get us wrong, it's not that we don't like our existing office (it's been a good friend since we opened for business last year), but the fact that it is "an office" is precisely the challenge we need to overcome.

The view as you leave the lift in the DARE officesWalking into somewhere like Dare, with all its unfinished ply and exposed concrete, and employees sharing lunch over a ping pong tournament; or the Eastend offices of Wieden + Kennedy, with their cycle filled reception and air of independence; or Code's canal side dwelling that hosts a sizzling BBQ whenever the Manchester weather allows, you definitely don't get the sense that this is just another office. Furthermore, you get a distinct impression that the space isn't just a part of a clever branding exercise: these spaces seem to embody, and simultaneously make possible, the particular culture of each organisation.

A little out of focus, sorry, but this image gives you a view on the entrance to Wieden + Kennedy's office.Lee has written about our work with Hyper Island on a number of occasions. One of the many reasons we enjoy our work with the Swedish-born school of all things digital is that we 'get' their methods. Post-it packed walls, working through 1,000's of ideas (even when they are terrible... mostly mine, I think) to find the few that fit, and using noise and energy as a lubricant for getting to great solutions. Adopting these methods requires a culture of openness, where mess and discontinuity are a part of the furniture. In turn we need a space that matches up to that culture. A space that is a fundamental part of our culture.

Hebe team member, Shang Ting showing putting some thoughts about our office down on paper before XmasWe think the Hebe office needs to be bigger and brighter, one space that is made of many kinds of different spaces. Make it happen space, relax space, reflect space, test space, mess space, retail space, gallery space, meeting space, drinking coffee space, play space, social space, party space, and so on. We also think that this is a space that we would want to share with others, so that our culture can cross fertilise. We want to start when we start, finish when we finish, and hang out when our brains can't take any more. In short, we want a creative space.

This is our dream. We hope to realise it in 2011, and we want anyone who shares this dream to join us. You know where to find us!

A Trip To The Thackray Medical Museum

 

Hebe's Shang Ting and Stacey set off for another one of their trips in and about Leeds and headed off to the Thackray Medical Museum to see what it was all about.

Officially

A museum that acknowledges the Leeds of long ago when disease and death was rife. It’s a journey through medical history.

Unofficially

You begin by selecting a character with a certain illness and lifestyle and throughout the museum you discover everything from your character's dwelling to the cure for their illness, which is so interesting. The first part of the museum is a reacreation of the streets of Leeds which are eerie and smelly but this only adds to the atmosphere. The whole museum has a interesting and educational atmosphere but it was a bit scary as we were the only two visiting the museum at the time. The journey through the whole musuem takes time and requires concentration at times. You can either browse through the museum or take time to read into each poster and exhibit. We did a bit of both :-).

The surgical section towards the end has a real life video of an amputation which made us a bit squeamish. We cringed a little bit while watching a video of the doctor saw through a patient’s leg in one of the first painless surgical procedures. There is also a theatre in the museum which shows a staged video of an amputation before anaesthetic, the Hannah Dyson story. The story is based on Hannah Poynton who trapped her leg in some machinery in 1823. It is definitely not for the fainthearted.

The sections on disease are still a bit creepy, especially with the strange crazy-eyed mannequins. The section on how the body works or the ‘life section’ was great for kids unfortunately we ran out of time as we didn’t expect the museum to take more than two hours but it did and we didn’t even read half the boards, books and items that were on offer. We would definitely go back again as we missed a lot of it towards the end(and we could as we were given free return passes after we paid, which was a nice touch).

Stacey says 'I honestly felt like I was a child again learning so many things about history that I learned when I was young. The interactive parts of the museum were so much fun although some parts were quite gory! It's amazing to see the medical advancements of the last century. We have come so far and we should feel lucky at how easy we have it now. Ouch!. My favourite part was seeing Shang Ting try on the pregnancy belly; she nearly toppled over :-).'

STP says 'I actually like how creepy it was, what other feeling can you expect when you going to a medical museum, right? Afterwards I read from the book Haunted Leeds by Kenneth Goor which says that the recreated Victorian street sections are the most haunted within the whole museum because the ghosts supposedly recognized the street scene and think they are still alive. Glad I didn't know this before I went!'

Turn Up The Style, Turn Down The Heat.

In one of my cool-hunting blog post's we talked about proportion being important when you're going for a vintage style because some of the vintage clothes you find may not come in your size, which, for me, is most of the time. Or there's always another option to make sure the vintage item you get is one of a kind and the right fit. Renewal designs.

I was at ReMade in Leeds last night for Global Cool's first stop of their tour Turn Up The Style, Turn Down The Heat. We were greeted by cupcakes and tea, and after we picked a jumper provided by Blue Rinse, owner of ReMade in Leeds. Lizzie told us some simple ways to add a bit of spice to a plain jumper. We had various vintage materials to use, so while creating new garments we were also recycling. In the end, I (with the help of the designers of the shop) came out with a green jumper customised with a chain necklace made from Ribbon. 

 

The vintage scene is definitely bigger than ever, and you can start to find many renewal sections in high street brands like Urban Outfitters, Miss Selfridge and ASOS. I'm sure many of you have already been doing bits of renewal with your clothes, jewellery, and other things. But for the ones who haven't started yet, why not try to make something old, something new.