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UNDERGROUND AND ART

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Here is Underground’s pick of exhibitions and events not to be missed if you are in London during the next couple of months:

We’re Not Here To Sell Clothes: The Making of BLITZ Fashion

Launched in the UK in 1980 alongside  i-D, Blitz was a style magazine set up by two Oxford students, Carey Labovitch and Simon Tesler. It documented clubbers in Heaven, Taboo and the London venue that shared its name. A name which we also adopted for our iconic winkle picker Blitz boot.

The magazine’s shoots have been archived in a book, As Seen in Blitz and London’s ICA is hosting a series of talks this weekend, organised by Iain R Webb who worked as fashion editor on the magazine from 1982 to 1987 and who also edited the book.

We’re Not Here to Sell Clothes puts London’s 80s vibrant club culture on the spotlight and precedes Club to Catwalk, a major exhibition of 80’s fashion housed at the V&A from July.

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UNDERGROUND AT THE MET BALL 2013

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Inspired by punk and founded in its aftermath, Underground became the footwear of choice for members of the subculture who originally embraced a DIY ethic, independent spirit and personal expression.

Stomping their feet to the fast, rebellious beats of The Ramones at CBGB in NY and The Sex Pistols, whose first gig was at Central Saint Martins in London, followers of the movement that became known as PUNK styled their studded leather jackets and safety pin covered t-shirts with creepers, steel caps and winklepickers.
Decades later a new exhibition at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art highlights the influence of punk on high fashion, featuring original costumes, film, music videos and contemporary designs inspired by the subcultures’s seditious aesthetic.

With a theme in honour of the PUNK: Chaos to Couture exhibit, the museum hosted their annual Met Ball fundraiser, this week to celebrate the opening. Among the celebrities, fashion designers and models who made an appearance at the infamous event was Alasdhair Willis, husband of Stella McCartney who wore Underground Hacienda creepers. An authentic punk style which showed itself to be forever a cult classic, almost thirty years after inception, especially when donned with a leopard print jacket.

The PUNK: Chaos to Couture exhibition will be on view from May 9 through to August 14, 2013 in New York.

FAMOUS FIRST RECORDS AT UNDERGROUND

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A hub for music fans and artists since the 60’s and home to our flagship store, Berwick Street saw thousands of music artists and fans head down on April 20th to listen to bands play live and to purchase special releases available exclusively at record stores participating in Record Store Day 2013.

As part of the festivities, at number 8 we played a rock and roll DJ set that revisited the brand’s history with songs by The Beatles, Joy Division, Oasis and Primal Scream, played on 7” records. We held a retrospective on how music has inspired our original footwear and hosted a gallery space entitled “Famous First Records”, where we asked iconic Underground fans who appreciate music just as much as we do, to tell us about the first records that they bought. Here’s what they had to say:

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UNDERGROUND READING LIST: MAY

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This month at Underground we are reading…

The Contact Sheet:
From a self-professed photographer, this book is an unveiling of the work behind 40 of the world’s best international photographers, looking at the development and thought processes of the masters doing their day jobs.  For those with no interest in the science of photography, this collection of contact sheets will still offer the same satisfaction with engaging subject matters and sights from behind the scenes.

Paris Street Style : a guide to effortless chic
Put together by Isabelle Thomas, a stylist and Frédérique Veysset, a fashion photographer, this book gives an insight into how the Parisians approach fashion on a day-to-day basis. To be read as contemporary look at street fashion, the book shows a broad spectrum of independent style, and more importantly gives a nod to Underground Wulfrun creepers.

Banksy: You Are an Acceptable Level of Threat:
Described as something similar to Marmite – you either Love it or you Hate it – this book holds the best array of photographed Banksy pieces yet printed.  If you are not a lover or advocate of art, then the least this book will give you is a dictionary and vocabulary for those dinner table debates at the pub about the mystery man himself. 

Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division:
A heart felt story of the ins and outs of arguably one of pop’s most influential bands, Peter Hook (the bassist behind “Love Will Tear Us Apart”) tells us of struggles, the illness of loved ones, everyday friendships, domestics and the band antics, which were, Joy Division. 

The Great Gatsby:
If you have not yet read this timeless classic, go out and buy it now, before you even think of heading to the cinema to see the Hollywood Blockbuster version. Although we sincerely hope a synopsis is not needed, set against the backdrop of the euphoria of the 1920s, the story centers on the scandalous lives of the social elite. With its entangled tale of trials and tribulations and one heck of a love triangle thrown in.