Category: Features

As our technologies advance, it becomes increasingly apparent that all things regarding the digital world and metaverse are ever evolving. For our latest collaboration, we have partnered with RedKite and Ourtypes to put up flyposters promoting their group NFT art fundraising show.

Running for 16 days, the art show entitled ‘Humanity’ has been created to raise money and awareness surrounding the conflict in Ukraine. The show features 33 esteemed artists, both traditional and NFT specialists, who have come together with the intention of raising USD $84,000 for charities including: Emergency Fund, The Refugee Council, UNICEF UK Children’s and The Voices of Children Foundation.

The collection of work itself sees 256 NFT art pieces, ranging from 0.1 ETH, 0.15 ETH, 0.2 ETH, and 0.25 ETH in value, are available in editions of 8. Pieces include art from the likes of Pure Evil, street artist Fanakapan, Ben Eine and Dave Buonaguidi, AKA Real Hackney Dave. Most notably is work featured by Heath Kane – who created a bold image with the text ‘liar, thief and murderer’ in Ukrainian, which we flyposted across London.

Speaking on the show, curator Angie Davey said, “as with any global crisis, artists are some of the first to get involved to help out, and as an NFT platform with access to these artists and a means to raise funds, RedKite made the quick decision to put on Humanity, to aid refugee charities.” Alongside the show, limited edition artwork created by Pure Evil during a session of art therapy with children in Ukraine will be put on auction on Tuesday 21st June. You can find out more here.

As an artist, Yoko Ono is synonymous with the word “peace”. A lifelong pacifist, her “Imagine Peace” project was born in March 1969–an event with strong imagery that people around the world remember, regardless of whether or not they’re fans of her work. It was then that Ono and her late husband John Lennon staged a “bed-in” against the Vietnam War, protesting from their bed for a week at the Amsterdam Hilton hotel and later Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. It was part of a larger series of similar protests, but theirs and the photos of it garnered the most attention. 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the latest war that has shocked the world and grabbed the attention of Yoko Ono. We collaborated with Ono, arts and culture platform Circa Art and BUILDHOLLYWOOD to promote the latest instalment of a decades-long project for peace. Ono’s words, “Imagine Peace”, will be occupying digital screens across the world in their local language. Piccadilly Lights in London, Times Square in New York and K-Pop Square in Seoul were among those interrupted to broadcast the phrase, but the art installation, presented by Circa and Serpentine Galleries, can also be seen in Berlin, Los Angeles, Melbourne and Milan. Our flyposters spread word of the project in London and New York, bringing a message of peace to streets across the world.

Alongside the public art and posters, a limited-edition print will go on sale with all proceeds donated to the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund. In a press release, Ono said, “Imagining is something that we can all do, even when we have different opinions about how to get there.” You can find out when the screen near you will next be interrupted here.

In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, you can see the familiar blue and yellow of Ukraine’s flag flown in solidarity everywhere you go. Many artists are using their talents and those colours to show support of Ukraine, both with art and with tangible efforts like cash aid.

We teamed up with Migrate Art and artist Idris Khan to create his own take on the flag, a limited-edition print on sale for £300 for 10 days only, a reflection of the concept of running out of time. Called “I Thought We Had More Time…”, the piece inspires the viewer to think about the reality of what’s happening and their own lives. Collaged with those bold colours over sheets of music, Khan was inspired because the flag has become, “the symbol of the free world for a lot of people, and a symbol of hope and defiance. It’s really strong — two bold, strong colours, blue and yellow,” he said to the Evening Standard.

We’ll be putting up flyposters across the UK, bringing the crisis to the attention of all passersby. Sold as part of the Evening Standard’s Ukraine appeal, the piece is powerful. Speaking to the Standard, Khan said, “My first thought was about not having any time. One day everything’s okay, and then suddenly you’ve got two hours to leave everything behind and get out of your house or flat, wherever you are, and make a decision about what you take. I’ve got two kids as well, and that vision of just grabbing them and having to flee and leave everything behind while you watch your home be destroyed–that was a complete shock. Your emotions are: what can you do? How can you help?”

Everyone has been using what they have to hand to help the people of Ukraine, and in both our and Khan’s case, that’s art. 100% of profits will be donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee. 

The upcoming AW21 collection for Charles Jeffrey’s brand, LOVERBOY, reflects on why it’s important to acknowledge the bad times as well as the good.

Ceremoniously dubbed “the ringleader of London’s next generation of club kids,” by Dazed, Jeffrey’s LOVERBOY was born as a cult club night, morphed over the years into something more without ever losing that subversive, collective spirit.

To celebrate his AW21, Gloom collection, we collaborated with the designer to flypost the streets of London with bright red and white posters of striking models wearing his gender neutral, punk-inflected pieces. Inspired by Jeffrey’s home, the collection radically uproots tradition, riffing on tartan and knitwear, tearing up the rulebook to create unique kilts, jumpsuits and other garments that feel fresh yet familiar. A new uniform for an uncanny Glaswegian autumn.

Shot by iconic fashion photographer Thurstan Redding, the images will stop even the busiest passerby with “the brightest gloom around.” Gloom is almost an indefinable mood, but as Jeffrey puts it, “Gloom speaks to the moment in which we find ourselves, for how could we do it otherwise? Teetering on the edge of something new and gazing into the unknown.” The shots show models lounging on beds and couches, as Jeffrey says they are, “stuck in their own melancholy, dreaming of celestial bodies in their teenage bedrooms.” 

The depth of the photographs and garms captures the ethos of LOVERBOY’s Gloom, offering a texture that needs to be seen IRL to be understood.

A collab with Real Hackney Dave puts the onus for women’s safety where it belongs.

While the city streets can be a source of inspiration, for many others, especially women, they can be a breeding ground for fear. With gendered violence dominating the news this year, women have felt increasingly unsafe walking the streets, and the onus is often put on them to avoid terrifying outcomes. This series Give Her Space, in collaboration with printmaker extraordinaire Real Hackney Dave, has an important mission statement of “Brightening the streets with simple ways men can show up for women against sexual harassment.”

Give Her Space launched in early 2021 in an effort to combat the narrative around street harassment and to help women to feel less at risk when out and about, particularly at night. Real Hackney Dave, known for his tongue-in-cheek text-based pieces, seemed like a natural fit to keep the project’s message concise yet unforgettable.

We wanted to get this important message, “Just be nice, give her space”, onto the streets, prompting men to step up and find ways to make women feel less scared. With stats that show 97% of women have been sexually harassed, these bold, red, simple yet effective texts all over the UK were intended to serve as a reminder to everyone and take the pressure off women for a change.

Cult British-Jamaican menswear designer Martine Rose has had an unusual and illustrious career. Born in South London, Rose received a degree in fashion design at Middlesex University before launching her eponymous label in 2007, focusing on menswear with a playful twist. She has also worked with a number of big names both in street and luxury fashion, collaborating with CAT on a line of boots in 2011, working as a consultant to Balenciaga for Demna Gyesalia in 2015, and collaborating with Nike on a tracksuit in 2018.

For her own line, Rose draws inspiration from punk, reggae, rave and other London subcultures to craft boundary-pushing clothes that don’t fit into any box. She incorporates playful fabrics not often associated with menswear, like fur, satin and lurex into her designs, crafting collections whose reference point is always music and subculture, drawing on her upbringing and first influences.

Her pieces blur gender boundaries in menswear, and we were excited to bring her SS21 collection to the streets. With camboy thrills, stretch nylon and frills, the clothes bring a playful edge to an arena that can often feel stale. The posters, featuring models poised on a frilly pedestal, are simple, bringing the focus to the clothes and to Rose’s venerated name, letting the work speak for itself. Rose often showcases her work in non-traditional spaces, including a street market and a climbing gym, so the street seemed like the perfect catwalk for someone so adept at subverting the fashion world’s strict expectations.