East London gets set for creative Christmas
Not your humdrum high street: the East London Design Show. Photograph: ELDS
With outdoor pursuits abandoned and winter encroaching, there is never a better time to showcase East London’s creative talent. Every year, the area does an impressive job of reaffirming its status as a hub for innovative approaches to fashion and design, a place where exciting ideas are turned into brilliant products and presented to the public in alternative ways in the lead up to Christmas.
This year, inventive pop-up stores and markets are already appearing fast and steady. Here is a look at what’s on offer.
A new pop-up space with an industrial veneer has appeared at Star House, near Kingsland Road, playing host to a number of alternative retail and showcase experiences. Dalston Department Store is housed in an industrial warehouse space reached by a goods lift that drops beneath street level.
On the last weekend of October it threw open its doors for the debut pop-up, which included the wares of design studio Goodwin + Goodwin and menswear from D.S.Dundee. The event was the first in a series which is a collaboration between East London Design Show and Mark Warner, a graphic designer from East London and leaseholder of the space. The open-plan bunker was divided up by a diverse selection of aesthetics and their given canvases.
Anti-heritage, heritage brand Percival played on the trend for worker-wear, with some distinctive moments in the form of tailored shirt and trousers in origami print. Claire English’s delicate and organic jewellery, cast from animal skulls and bones, was another highlight. Keep an eye out for the next in the Dalston Department Store series.
Mr Bear’s Clothes Swap Shop dares you to shop like it’s 1939. Taking up home in The Britannia pub near Victoria Park, the idea is to take along up to seven good quality items and use a WWII style ration book to exchange like for like. The next instalment will be on Saturday 10 November.
Still to come is the East London Design Show. This annual three-day event, running this year over a four day period from 6th to 9th December, was started by a photographer and glassmaker duo in 1994 and is housed in the recently refurbished Shoreditch Town Hall.
The show profiles over 100 of the very best of Britain’s product, interior and fashion designers in Shoreditch’s suitably creative surroundings. Original items are sometimes hard to find amid the general Christmas shopping ritual, and this is where the East London Design Show really comes into its own. This is a great opportunity to buy cutting-edge designer items direct from the designers themselves, including well-known names such as Petra Bose, Nick Fraser, Emma Ware, Wallace and Sewell, Ros Shiers, Goodwin + Goodwin, Harriet Saunders, Katy & June and many, many more (go to East London Design Show for full details of what’s on offer).
This year’s event includes ‘SPARK’, a special showcase of emerging designers, which allows design aficionados and ordinary shoppers alike to keep their finger on the pulse of the latest trends.
The East London Design Show also runs a schedule of crafty workshops over the weekend, hosted by the talented designers themselves. Taking place in a dedicated creative space called the Crafthouse, people of all ages will be able to get stuck into badge and corsage making or Christmas cards and decoration workshops.
For a slice of the past and a clear conscience while you’re at it, go vintage at Judy’s Affordable Vintage Fair. Judy’s fairs tour the country and are infamous for their vintage by the kilo special sales. Just in time for Christmas, Judy’s will be returning to their old haunt in Bethnal Green for a Christmas vintage bonanza on Saturday 1 December at York Hall. A vintage by the kilo sale will be held on Saturday 15 December at Hackney Downs Studio.
Win VIP tickets to the East London Design Show
Simply answer the following question correctly to enter the prize draw and email your answer to editor@hackneycitizen.co.uk
Where is the East London Design Show taking place?
The winner will receive win 2 x pairs of VIP Weekend tickets to the East London Design Show and a bottle of champagne on arrival.
Closing date: Friday 30 November 2012