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Posted on Jul 22nd 2011 10:22AM by Julian Marszalek
Britain's music tastes have always been informed by international influences as much as they have been by homegrown talent but no other country makes the link between fashion and music with the same degree of passion or finesse. Be it 50s Teddy Boys, 60s Mods, 70s Glam or the baggy clothing favoured by 80s ravers, it's always been the British that have led the way when it comes to giving music culture its defining look.
Taking over London's Southbank Centre at the end of July, the Vintage Festival is a celebration of Britain's love affair with music, fashion and popular culture. Spread across six floors, the festival will present over 70 live bands and 150 DJs includingHeaven 17, Booker T and Andrew Weatherall as they celebrate music and fashion from the 1920s to the 1980s.
Spinner caught up with two of the Vintage festival's organisers, fashion designer Wayne Hemmingway and his son Jack, to find out more.
Music and fashion have always been linked but have we come to the point where neither is growing any more?
Jack Hemmingway: I think that for a long period, yes. Indie bands have been dressing down and it's just been about getting their hair as greasy and as messy as possible. But I think that performing on stage should be about a show and dressing up and looking good and smart and doing things a bit differently. Most bands and pop stars these days don't and the only person who is doing it is Lady Gaga. It's embarrassing to say that because her music is so bad but her presence and attitude and the way she dresses is amazing.
Wayne Hemmingway: I can't image the equivalent of Vintage in 20 years time playing a Gaga track. You might have a Gaga picture on the wall but... Interesting stuff is happening in black music. After gangster hip-hop and all that, Aloe Blacc is coming back to black music's roots. He looks like he cares about his appearance and that's a healthy thing. When I look at younger age groups, there are still plenty of people that dress absolutely amazingly. The only thing that they're not doing is [making it tribal]. That's because places like Top Man have got a whole team of designers straight from college and that means that fashion isn't as visual as it once was; you don't see a whole gang of skinheads walking down the street which was quite exciting.
Does today's a la carte culture mean that the impact of music and fashion has been lessened?
WH: Well, we can't come back from that and I don't know if music and fashion have been devalued as a cultural currency but it's made it very different. It's hard to imagine seeing a group of people walking along the street, like you'd see a group of Mods, ever happening again. You might get Gaga fans dressed as her going to one of her gigs but you're not going to get someone who goes out there believing that they're at the cutting edge thinking, 'We're going to wear our trousers at 14"' – that's not going to happen. It'd be nice to see again but it just doesn't fit modern life.
The Vintage festival is a celebration British music, fashion and food. Why localise it?
WH: Well, it isn't British in a way. Vintage will have three nightclubs –- the Soul Casino, the Style Studio and to a lesser extent the Warehouse that will all be playing a majority of black American music but what we're saying is that this is what British people have enjoyed.
But I do think that the British do [appreciate and make] music and fashion better than anybody else. I can't help but go back and thinking about the British weather [and the role it plays in developing music and fashion]. In Australia, it's very hard to imagine them ever being cool. They've got other things to fill their time with like surfing or cricket but we've got long autumns and winters and pretty short spring and summers and you have to make your own fun. We can't sit around on a beach for six months swapping stories with your mates because you'll freeze your bollocks off so you'll go to a club or you form a band. You look at America and where the most creative cities are and they are Seattle and in Canada it's Vancouver and that's because their weather is like ours.
Does music and fashion always have to look back for inspiration? For example, the Teddy Boys looked back to Edwardian fashion, the hippies took a lot from Victorian fashion and the 70s took a fair bit from the 30s...
WH: It's very hard to invent something totally new when it comes to fashion and [given all that's gone before] it's very hard for this generation to make their own trousers. How else could you do it if not looking back? But then, it's not really looking back but seeing what worked really well.
Has the decline is tribalism and the mix and match nature of today's world been a good thing for music and fashion?
WH: If you took a photo of us now and left it in a box, I don't think people would be able to pin-point it to a specific era. But is that a good thing? I don't know. The digital age has made music and fashion easier and when I was growing up you had to work harder to be a part of it. But it doesn't matter when you were born – good music is good music and the same applies to fashion. It's never going to die. There should be an event to celebrate it and this is it.
The Vintage festival runs July 28 - 30 at London's Royal Festival Hall and will feature live music from Percy Sledge and Booker T, electronic pioneers Thomas Dolby andAlan Wilder, 60s icon Sandie Shaw and over 150 DJs, including Andrew Weatherall, A Guy Called Gerald, Greg Wilson and Norman Jay Tickets and more details are available here.
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Taking over London's Southbank Centre at the end of July, the Vintage Festival is a celebration of Britain's love affair with music, fashion and popular culture. Spread across six floors, the festival will present over 70 live bands and 150 DJs includingHeaven 17, Booker T and Andrew Weatherall as they celebrate music and fashion from the 1920s to the 1980s.
Spinner caught up with two of the Vintage festival's organisers, fashion designer Wayne Hemmingway and his son Jack, to find out more.
Music and fashion have always been linked but have we come to the point where neither is growing any more?
Jack Hemmingway: I think that for a long period, yes. Indie bands have been dressing down and it's just been about getting their hair as greasy and as messy as possible. But I think that performing on stage should be about a show and dressing up and looking good and smart and doing things a bit differently. Most bands and pop stars these days don't and the only person who is doing it is Lady Gaga. It's embarrassing to say that because her music is so bad but her presence and attitude and the way she dresses is amazing.
Wayne Hemmingway: I can't image the equivalent of Vintage in 20 years time playing a Gaga track. You might have a Gaga picture on the wall but... Interesting stuff is happening in black music. After gangster hip-hop and all that, Aloe Blacc is coming back to black music's roots. He looks like he cares about his appearance and that's a healthy thing. When I look at younger age groups, there are still plenty of people that dress absolutely amazingly. The only thing that they're not doing is [making it tribal]. That's because places like Top Man have got a whole team of designers straight from college and that means that fashion isn't as visual as it once was; you don't see a whole gang of skinheads walking down the street which was quite exciting.
Does today's a la carte culture mean that the impact of music and fashion has been lessened?
WH: Well, we can't come back from that and I don't know if music and fashion have been devalued as a cultural currency but it's made it very different. It's hard to imagine seeing a group of people walking along the street, like you'd see a group of Mods, ever happening again. You might get Gaga fans dressed as her going to one of her gigs but you're not going to get someone who goes out there believing that they're at the cutting edge thinking, 'We're going to wear our trousers at 14"' – that's not going to happen. It'd be nice to see again but it just doesn't fit modern life.
The Vintage festival is a celebration British music, fashion and food. Why localise it?
WH: Well, it isn't British in a way. Vintage will have three nightclubs –- the Soul Casino, the Style Studio and to a lesser extent the Warehouse that will all be playing a majority of black American music but what we're saying is that this is what British people have enjoyed.
But I do think that the British do [appreciate and make] music and fashion better than anybody else. I can't help but go back and thinking about the British weather [and the role it plays in developing music and fashion]. In Australia, it's very hard to imagine them ever being cool. They've got other things to fill their time with like surfing or cricket but we've got long autumns and winters and pretty short spring and summers and you have to make your own fun. We can't sit around on a beach for six months swapping stories with your mates because you'll freeze your bollocks off so you'll go to a club or you form a band. You look at America and where the most creative cities are and they are Seattle and in Canada it's Vancouver and that's because their weather is like ours.
Does music and fashion always have to look back for inspiration? For example, the Teddy Boys looked back to Edwardian fashion, the hippies took a lot from Victorian fashion and the 70s took a fair bit from the 30s...
WH: It's very hard to invent something totally new when it comes to fashion and [given all that's gone before] it's very hard for this generation to make their own trousers. How else could you do it if not looking back? But then, it's not really looking back but seeing what worked really well.
Has the decline is tribalism and the mix and match nature of today's world been a good thing for music and fashion?
WH: If you took a photo of us now and left it in a box, I don't think people would be able to pin-point it to a specific era. But is that a good thing? I don't know. The digital age has made music and fashion easier and when I was growing up you had to work harder to be a part of it. But it doesn't matter when you were born – good music is good music and the same applies to fashion. It's never going to die. There should be an event to celebrate it and this is it.
The Vintage festival runs July 28 - 30 at London's Royal Festival Hall and will feature live music from Percy Sledge and Booker T, electronic pioneers Thomas Dolby andAlan Wilder, 60s icon Sandie Shaw and over 150 DJs, including Andrew Weatherall, A Guy Called Gerald, Greg Wilson and Norman Jay Tickets and more details are available here.
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