London - UNCLE

Features10.2510.25Adam Jones is holding on to yesterday, one beer towel at a time.

His eponymous brand has become something of a cult classic in recent years. For Adam, it has always been about celebrating working-class nostalgia and the culture of great British boozers. In an age of overconsumption, where design is getting more detached from everyday life, his work remains grounded in the tactile, the ordinary, and the unmistakably British.

It’s not just boozers that whet the creative whistle of Adam’s work. Rooted in a childhood spent at Welsh car-boot sales, he’s guided by the instinct to make something from nothing. Materials that would otherwise be dismissed as kitsch or mundane – tea towels, lace curtains, your grandma’s doilies – Adam sees as potential.

“It brings me a thrill to share my memories through clothing and then dress people up in these memories.”

Each piece carries a sense of lived history. It’s about storytelling. His garments can recall the smell of the local, the texture of a loved one’s home, or the grit of London’s pavements. Equal parts sentimental and subversive, Jones’s work leans into this tension – unpicking then restitching British ideologies into something wearable.

For this partnership, UNCLE brings Adam’s work back to the streets that shaped it – transforming his handmade, working-class romanticism into a flyposting campaign that celebrates British culture in all its rough-edged glory. We spoke to Adam about nostalgia, pubs, and the process of making something beautiful from what’s been overlooked.

TO START, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AND YOUR PRACTICE TO SOMEONE ENCOUNTERING YOUR WORK FOR THE FIRST TIME?

I am a fashion designer and, importantly, the maker of all my products. Everything is made by me in my studio in South London. Garments are predominantly upcycled from found materials that evoke memories of my upbringing in rural Wales; anything a bit 70s, kitsch, punk and ultimately full of nostalgia for simpler times in Britain, all patchworked together into contemporary looks for today. I love to revive these old materials and make people want to wear them now.

YOU GREW UP IN WALES BEFORE RELOCATING TO LONDON. HOW DID YOUR CHILDHOOD ENVIRONMENT – RURAL, SMALL-TOWN WALES – SHAPE WHAT YOU DO? IS THIS ALSO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN FOR YOU?

My upbringing has entirely shaped what I do today. I didn’t think Wales was cool growing up, and I couldn’t wait to get out and study in Manchester and then get to London, which was the epicentre of fashion for me. Now, my view and experience of Wales is my point of difference, my total inspiration that I was silly to try and deny at the time. I fully embrace where I come from now, and it drives everything I do.

My childhood was very ‘make do and mend’. I pretty much grew up on car boot sales. Buying and selling with my parents, grandparents and friends. I looked forward all week to a Saturday spent on a muddy field rifling through people’s ‘junk’. I took joy, and still do, in the simpler things; appreciating old objects, collecting, making things from things I had found, and this remains my ethos today, so I think it was shaped at a very early age.

WERE THERE EARLY MEMORIES OF MAKING THINGS, DRESSING UP, OR NOTICING FABRICS THAT YOU NOW SEE AS FORMATIVE? WHAT ARE THEY?

Growing up, I was always making things out of nothing. My playing was drawing or making things. I was quite a shy child, so I wasn’t really out playing with other kids. I loved being alone, making things with my hands. My grandma really encouraged my creativity; she is an artist and would sit and draw with me, tell me stories and show me her old clothes. She has always been very stylish, and I loved being around her, dressing up in her old clothes, dressing my cousins up and putting on shows. I guess the fabrics in her home, alongside these clothes, have remained important in my mind. I seek out tablecloths, tea towels or anything that reminds me of her home, and I love the challenge of making things out of them that people will like.

YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WORK AS ‘IDIOSYNCRATICALLY BRITISH’, REIMAGINING VINTAGE PUB TOWELS, TABLECLOTHS, BLANKETS AND ANYTHING ELSE YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON. WHAT DREW YOU TO WORK WITH THESE ‘UNCONVENTIONAL’ MATERIALS IN THE FIRST PLACE?

It was during university that I found it frustrating and uninspiring to go to fabric shops. Everyone would pick similar materials, and I just wasn’t excited by making beautiful things out of beautiful fabrics; it felt too easy. I have always wanted to be different and sought out other ways of making things, as I did in my childhood, looking for materials that others were overlooking. So, I really lent into my background and my childhood and embraced the way I used to play with fabrics as a kid. I just began collecting things that meant something to me or looked like they could have been in my grandma’s house, or something that I would see in the local pub or find while walking around the countryside. I realised there was so much to draw upon and that I could use to make clothes out of.

HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT SOURCING YOUR MATERIAL? DO YOU GO KNOCKING DOWN PUB DOORS? FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE? CAR-BOOT SALES? HAS THIS PROCESS CHANGED AT ALL SINCE YOU FIRST STARTED?

I used to spend a lot of time at boot sales, markets, etcetera. That was pretty much the whole design process. I then began sourcing on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Etsy, Vinted, which sped up the process and helped me find quantities of these materials. As I get busier, this is pretty much the process now. If I travel, I make sure to hit up the markets and charity shops – and it’s my favourite part of the job. I am trying to make sure I remember how integral the shopping is to the job and not feel guilty for not being at the studio. Research is work, as is fabric shopping.

SPEAKING OF PUBS, WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE LOCALS? ARE YOU CONSTANTLY LOOKING AT TEXTILES WHILE YOU’RE THERE, OR ARE YOU ABLE TO SWITCH OFF?

I love pubs. I would say the top three are Blue Posts on Berwick St, Coach & Horses, which is also in Soho, and The Ship in Fitzrovia. You can’t beat a central London pub. The pub is where I get all my ideas. I love going for a pint alone, taking in my surroundings, observing characters. The ideas just come to me.

DOES THE MATERIAL DICTATE THE DESIGN, OR DOES THE DESIGN DICTATE THE MATERIAL?

I say the material dictates the design, totally, but I obviously have a taste in materials that I have honed over the years, so I look out for specific things. But yes, ultimately, the dimensions of the material dictate what I can make out of it. I can never really sit down and sketch, as I used to, and then find the material. The choice of fabric, which is usually vibrant and perhaps garish, does mean I make simpler classic garments, which allows the fabrication to speak for itself.

IS THERE A MATERIAL OR AN OBJECT YOU DREAM OF WORKING WITH ONE DAY?

I am always trying to work with sheepskin, which is the most Welsh of materials. I just feel like I should, so it’s just about trying to fit it into my world and figure out how I could use it.

HAVE YOUR OWN VIEWS ON GENDER NORMS OR MASCULINITY CHANGED SINCE YOU LAUNCHED YOUR BRAND?

100%. It’s always changing and developing; I find it so exciting to see my clothes on different people. It can surprise me, and it definitely excites me. It also informs the way I design and especially casting models. I find it most thrilling to dress traditionally ‘male’ bodies in more feminine shapes or styles, and I like to make ‘female’ bodies more masculine. It’s about challenging the gender norms. Especially in fashion, I think it’s important we do it.

WHAT’S IT LIKE SEEING YOUR WORK PASTED IN THE STREETS?

It is very exciting to see clothes I have made by hand, shot and then shown in the streets. The posters bring fresh eyes to my work, and I love the punk nature of flyposting. I think it fits perfectly with my ethos. I love the physicality of a poster on the street in this increasingly digital age. I can’t wait to see the wear and tear, the torn edges, or have them graffitied over.

WHEN YOU SEE PEOPLE WEARING YOUR PIECES, ESPECIALLY THOSE BUILT FROM SUCH LOCAL MATERIALS, HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL? DOES THE MEANING OF THE MATERIAL CHANGE ONCE IT’S OUT IN THE WORLD?

I feel immense pride seeing people wearing something I have made. The fact that someone would be happy to part with their hard-earned cash to buy one of my pieces, especially today, means the world to me. It’s also fun to see people out wearing something that maybe I have found the material for just around the corner at a market stall, but now it’s wrapped around someone’s body and has a new life to live.

AND FINALLY, WHAT IS NEXT FOR ADAM JONES?

I am looking forward to collaborating with others, hopefully introducing some more categories into my collections. I would love to do denim, shoes and bags, and continue to pay my rent and have a few pints from selling clothes I have made. Nothing makes me happier.

Her practice starts with the model, not the garment.

It is a method that Sinéad O’Dwyer developed during her time at London’s Royal College of Art, where her exploration into detoxifying the industry began. Since graduating, her eponymous work has remained a love-letter to the human body that has continued to challenge the dysmorphia that parallels the fashion industry. Going against the traditional ‘sample-size-orientated logic’, O’Dwyer opts for diverse bodies that remain central to the entire design process.

“It creates better design. It opens the mind to a more expanded vision of beauty, it breaks down the patriarchy.”

Her work explores moulding, stretch and innovative pattern-making as technologies to accommodate women and gender non-conforming femmes who have historically been precluded from access to luxury garments. Sinéad’s work is an aesthetic dialogue between delicate and dominant.

For London Fashion Week, UNCLE partnered with Sinéad O’Dwyer to bring her principles and methodology out of the workroom and into the streets. The posters showcased her SS/PF25 campaign and championed the kaleidoscopic spectrum of feminine expression, with no better time to do so than during London Fashion Week.

CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHO YOU ARE, WITHIN YOUR OWN WORDS?

I’m an Irish womenswear designer living in London. I would say I’m quite a countryside girl still, growing up in Durrow which is outside of the town of Tullamore, Co. Offaly.

CAN YOU TELL US WHAT GROWING UP IN SMALL TOWN IRELAND WAS LIKE FOR YOU?

I loved being outside all the time, the freedom of being able to roam as I liked as a kid, exploring and building things. I was also lucky to go to Gaelscoil though so I grew up speaking Irish. The school was so new, though there was at first just a handful of students in two terraced houses with the walls knocked down in between, I think it was special to be part of a new school that was so focused on Irish learning and music and poetry and stories.

YOU PREVIOUSLY SAID THAT YOU FELL IN LOVE WITH FASHION AT AGE 12 AFTER VISITING AN EXHIBITION IN DUBLIN. WERE YOU MAKING THINGS BEFORE THIS EXPERIENCE? IF SO, HOW DID THINGS CHANGE AFTER?

I was always making things, my Nanny (grandmother) taught me to sew and knit from a very early age and I was always cooking too. Dad is a silversmith and artist so I also was tinkering around in his workshop here and there, I was always making something. However, going to the Philip Treacy/Isabella Blow exhibit was my first taste of fashion. Seeing the ship hat on Naomi Campbell on the runway (in the exhibit) awoke something in me that connected the body and human/emotions with craft.

YOU GRADUATED FROM LONDON’S RCA IN 2018, AND IT WAS HERE THAT YOUR ATTITUDES TOWARDS BODY ACCEPTANCE OCCURRED. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THESE TRANSFORMATIVE YEARS FOR YOU? WHAT WAS IT LIKE?

I went there searching for meaning, after working briefly in fashion, and feeling disillusioned about the industry very quickly after seeing the wastefulness and extreme thinness at shows, it sort of freaked me out. I have always been searching to connect with what I do and so I heard about Zowie Broach and wanted to meet her. When I was accepted, I started my course, and in those two years, I finally identified that I had an eating disorder and started thinking about where it came from and that’s truly the beginning of my journey. Understanding the impact that the design of the patterns and who is chosen as the fit model as being the basis for so much misery was a powerful realisation that I wanted to communicate to the world, especially those I love, my sister and mother and myself too. It’s been utterly transformative, I have gone from being singularly obsessed with my size to genuinely not caring, in a way that I thought was impossible for me. I would not know myself if younger Sinéad could see me now.

YOU SAY THAT INCLUSIVE DESIGN GIVES YOUR WORK ITS MEANING. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY TODAY, TO USE A DIVERSITY OF BODY SHAPES AND SIZES?

It creates better design. It opens the mind to a more expanded vision of beauty, it breaks down the patriarchy. It is just more interesting, it is more sustainable, it is kinder, it is radical. To question why you think something is beautiful and who told you to think that and try and figure out what you see as attractive, is a process of unlearning and so meaningful. I feel that I actually started learning a lot about that through watching photographers, seeing Sharna Osborne on set in one of my very first projects shooting Agusta Yr in 2018 really opened my mind. I really saw the tender connection between model and photographer was so necessary to create a good image, as the work is so much about the moment, the connection and trust between photographer and model is so palpable. Observing Sharna and Agusta together, I really saw what it was to see beauty and capture it through your own gaze.

WHAT IS YOUR PROCESS FOR MAKING A COLLECTION? WHERE DOES IT ALL BEGIN FOR YOU?

Usually a memory, a desire to connect emotion and narrative. I am also always inspired by craft so combining techniques across disciplines I find exciting.

IN THIS PARTNERSHIP WITH UNCLE, YOU HAVE USED IMAGERY FROM YOUR SS/PF25 COLLECTION. WHAT INSPIRED IT THIS COLLECTION? WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT?

Ottilie Landmark shot my SS25/PF25 campaign. It features artists Davia Spain and D.D. Lyonne and that work was about a memory of falling in love for the first time, a year I spent in NC and driving around and fresh water and stifling heat and our first kiss.

HOW IMPORTANT IS LONDON FASHION WEEK FOR UP-AND-COMING DESIGNERS AND THOSE ALREADY ESTABLISHED?

It’s a really vital platform to show our world to potential buyers and customers, so they can understand the story before viewing the collection and all its details at showroom.

IS THERE ANYTHING SPECIAL SINÉAD O’DWYER HAS PLANNED FOR LONDON FASHION WEEK?

Not this season, but I am doing a new performance work at the Barbican in November.

HOW DOES THE CITY OF LONDON SHAPE THE WORK YOU DO? AND ARE THERE STILL SOME ASPECTS OF SMALL-TOWN IRELAND THAT COME THROUGH IN YOUR WORK?

A lot of my collections are based on my formative memories in Ireland, but the city of London shapes me through community and collaborators. I could never make my work without the help, support and commitment of so many friends, designers, journalists, artisans, etc. in London. I love working here; I am very lucky.

As rights are rolled back, Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley’s art archives, amplifies, and protests for trans lives

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to exclude trans women from the definition of “woman”, Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley created TRANS & CONDITIONS with CIRCA, a collaborative archive of trans voices that sits at the intersection of art and activism. What started as a series of posters for a protest fast evolved into a digital platform, offering trans people the opportunity to ‘act in safety’ and document their lived experiences. Now, in collaboration with UNCLE and CIRCA, these testimonies are taking over London as a flyposter campaign.

For Danielle, the audience is her medium. Her art is designed to sparks a reaction or, better yet, an action. In contrast to the cultural tendency to aestheticise and sanitise, she calls for ‘art that isn’t pretty, isn’t kind to the audience, and that is hard to sit through,’ provoking discomfort in order to inspire necessary change.

At its essence, her practice refuses erasure: ‘I archive black and trans existence’ Danielle tells UNCLE. In these hostile times, she warns that ‘the loss of [trans] rights is a trail of the removal of the rights of others.’ Her work exemplifies how, in the face of increasing censorship, we must continue to speak up: ‘It’s time to take all the risks, to mess up and not get it right because there may be a time where that chance no longer exists.’

What is abundantly clear from her work and from our interview: the urgent need to do more and to act now.

FIRST OFF, CAN YOU TELL US WHO YOU ARE IN YOUR OWN WORDS?

I am a reactionary artist. I take in what’s happening around me at the time and create work that allows the audience to take action or react in some way. I’ve said it often, but it’s worth saying again, the audience is the medium I work with and my aim is to give them choices which could stay with them.

COULD YOU SHARE HOW THE IDEA FOR TRANS AND CONDITIONS FIRST CAME TO YOU AND HOW YOU BROUGHT IT TO LIFE?

The idea first came actually after the UK’s ruling that excluded trans women from being categorised as women. It started as a series of posters made for the protest against this ruling and then began to morph into a wider piece when we wanted to give people a platform to discuss exactly how they felt. We needed a way to react, a place to come together, a way in which our voices were not just a footnote.

THE WORK FEELS LIKE A BOLD ACT OF DEFIANCE AGAINST THE ERASURE OF TRANS LIVES AND VOICES. HOW CENTRAL ARE THE CONCEPTS OF PRESENCE, VISIBILITY AND SPEAKING OUT TO YOUR PRACTICE AS AN ARTIST?

I would say my work is about giving people a choice. Through that process often we are speaking to people whose choices are limited. Their thoughts, feelings and words form the foundation of the work we made. Archiving voices that are often ignored means nothing if it’s just used as content. So the voices we archive become the foundation for larger choices within the work.

MUCH OF YOUR WORK CENTRES UPON BLACK AND TRANS EXPERIENCE. HOW DO YOU PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR ENERGIES AS BOTH AN ARTIST, ACTIVIST AND BLACK TRANS WOMAN WORKING IN THESE TURBULENT TIMES?

That is and is not a correct statement. My community is black and trans. My family is black and trans. They form the foundation. It centres their voices through the way they think, references and aesthetics. But often it’s the focus on the words “black” and “trans” that is used as a sounding board for tokenism and othering. I archive black and trans existence. But the experience you have through the work will archive who you are and where you find yourself standing. The choices you made or did not make will be your reflection in this instance.

My foundation is black and trans so naturally all those references go in but the work is all about commenting on the current state of the world.

Your experience will be your own. You will learn primarily about yourself, how you think, how you feel, where your effort goes.

WE’RE SEEING INCREASING ATTEMPTS AT CENSORSHIP IN THE UK AND GERMANY TOO. IN YOUR OPINION, HOW CAN ARTISTS PUSH BACK AGAINST THIS AND WHAT ROLE DOES ART PLAY IN PROTECTING FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION?

Art can play both roles in censorship and freedom. It’s not fair to only see it as something that protects freedom. It can be used for both aspects. This is why when we see a rise in censorship we see a rise in the presentations of certain kinds of art and the fall in others. Each artist and piece has its role to play.

When you are showing as an artist, your role is not only defined by what you show but whose place you took. Whose voice you amplified and what subjects you broached.

I think artists should do their own thing but I would love to see art that isn’t pretty, isn’t kind to the audience, and that is hard to sit through. That makes us stand in front of ourselves and face what choice we have made to get there.

We shouldn’t stop taking the risks in the work because of new laws. It’s time to take all the risks, to mess up and not get it right because there may be a time where that chance no longer exists.

Lastly I also think collaboration and doing things for other causes is a great way to get involved with a movement rather than to just stay within an art practice. All this I am also telling myself.

ON TOP OF THIS, YOUR WORK INVITES THE PUBLIC TO GET INVOLVED. WHY IS IMMERSION AND PARTICIPATION IMPORTANT TO YOUR PRACTICE?

Because we have to act now…if we don’t we won’t be able to. I want to offer chances to act in safety. An arena to practice. A method to ease that transition from reacting in safety to standing up for a cause you care about.

I AM INTERESTED IN THE ROLE THAT THE CITY (IN THIS CASE, LONDON) PLAYS IN TRANS AND CONDITIONS AS WELL AS IN YOUR WIDER WORK. HOW IMPORTANT WAS IT TO RECLAIM SPACE IN THE CITY? WHAT HAS THE REACTION BEEN FROM THE PUBLIC?

I don’t have a reaction. I need to do more. Hopefully I can. We don’t collect data on the public so it’s hard for me to say. All I can say is I am thankful for all those who wrote letters and hope to provide better ways in which we can do this again in the future.

DESPITE MOUNTING HOSTILITY IN SOCIETY, THIS YEAR’S LONDON TRANS PRIDE PARADE WAS THE LARGEST EVER, A POWERFUL SHOW OF SOLIDARITY. DO YOU BELIEVE LONDON CAN BE A PLACE OF RESISTANCE AND COMMUNITY? HOW DOES IT COMPARE TO BERLIN?

Trans rights shouldn’t be confined to a single place or court case. Trans people are human and deserve protections. We don’t have that anymore. And we are losing more and more of these.

I don’t want to lose any more trans people than we already have. London is a place of resistance, and that resistance has now been met with fierce crackdowns and censorship by both the labour and conservative government. It’s not just about trans rights. The loss of our rights is a trail of the removal of the rights of others.

Live in London long enough and you’ll soon learn to know one thing: it can charm you and chew you up in the same night.

It’s this truth, that Morgan Allan has stitched straight into Twos, the “janus-faced” magazine that spins on its own axis between devotion and disdain. Twos was born after one of those rolling nights out in London until sunrise, following by the grim reality of having to sell off his Stone Island to pay council tax. The push-pull was too good to ignore.

“The emotional floor and ceiling of this place are so far apart”.

Now three issues deep, the South London art director and editor has built a publication that refuses to smooth over the city’s contradictions. The design of Twos mirrors the mood swings of the city. Flipped one way, it is an ode to the romance of living there. Flipped the other, it’s an unfiltered airing of grievances. Twos is record of a city that inspires as much as it exhausts, and of those who know you can love and hate a place in the same breath, and still come back for more.

In the interview that follows, we chat with Morgan about how that duality shapes the magazine’s identity and why Twos will never pick just one side.

CAN YOU TELL US IN YOUR OWN WORDS, WHO YOU ARE?

My name is Morgan Allan. I’m an art director and magazine editor based in South London.

TWOS IS UNIQUE IN THAT IT IS ROTATABLE AND “JANUSFACED” – A DOUBLESIDED GUIDE THAT EMBRACES BOTH LOVE AND HATE FOR LONDON. CAN YOU WALK US THROUGH HOW THIS DUALITY SHAPED THE MAGAZINE’S IDENTITY FROM THE OUTSET?

It’s an unusual way to format a magazine but once I’d settled on it as a framework, it was a useful way to discern if ideas were right for this issue. If they didn’t fit into either category, they weren’t going in. It also made the project seem more achievable. The proposition of filling 100 pages is pretty daunting. Breaking it down into two 50-page magazines that happen to be attached to each other helped me get moving.

WAS THERE A SINGULARITY – A NIGHT OUT, A CONVERSATION, AN EXPERIENCE, A FRUSTRATION – THAT MADE YOU THINK “I NEED TO MAKE A MAGAZINE ABOUT THIS CITY”?

I had had one of those exhilarating, rolling London nights out – jumping from place to place until the early hours – woke up and realised I had to sell all my Stone Island to pay council tax. I just thought “the emotional floor and ceiling of this place are so far apart”. The love/hate push-pull is inherent to existing in London – you just have to speak to anyone that’s lived here. I was looking for ways to push the format of the new issue of Twos and a double-sided mag centered around this theme felt like an exciting way to do it.

THE “LOVE” SIDE HIGHLIGHTS THE LIKES OF LIME BIKES, THE DLR (A PERSONAL FAVOURITE OF MYSELF, TOO), VENUE M.O.T., WHILE THE “HATE” SIDE CRITIQUES BREWDOG, AND HAVING TO LOCATE PUBLIC TOILETS IN CENTRAL LONDON. HOW DO YOU CURATE THIS EMOTIONAL PULL, WHILE ENSURING BOTH AFFECTION AND CRITIQUE FEELS EQUALLY HONEST AND ESSENTIAL?

I think it’s just that: being honest. You couldn’t make a magazine like this from your bedroom. I’m severely outside in this city so I feel like I can speak authentically about it: both positively and negatively. A lot of the ideas featured in Twos Three start with experience: the DLR is fun to ride, BrewDogs are shit to drink in. Once you have that initial emotion, it’s just about finding the right format.

WHAT WERE SOME OF THE EARLIEST REFERENCES OR INSPIRATIONS THAT SHAPED TWOS FIRST ISSUE? PUBLICATIONS, ZINES, NEWSPAPERS OR PERSONAL OBSESSIONS?

My first job in the industry was at MUNDIAL Magazine, where Alex Mertekis took me on as a junior even though I didn’t know how to use inDesign. I’ll always be grateful for that and for everything the team taught me there. John Joseph Holt’s LAW magazines are foundational texts for me, both in content and form. And then London: being surrounded by people putting so much time into insane projects in a hostile economic climate inspires me to do the same.

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE FIRST ISSUE? HOW DIY WAS IT? WERE YOU WRITING, EDITING, DESIGNING, AND DISTRIBUTING ALL YOURSELF?

The first issue was my final project at LCC. Me and my mates would sit about in the pub, looking at the people being featured in traditional youth culture publications and think “these guys aren’t any better than us or people we know. They’ve just got good PR”. Those magazines had stopped rewarding talent and were prioritising Instagram followers. It felt backwards. So I thought “I’ll just make a magazine and put all of us and the cool people we know in it.” I wrote, designed, edited the original Twos and collaborated with a bunch of my friends on the content. I printed 100 and spent a lot of time at the post office.

WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND BEFORE TWOS? HAVE YOU ALWAYS WORKED IN EDITORIAL AND DESIGN? OR WERE YOU DOING SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT?

My year at MUNDIAL really birthed a love of editorial design. I was studying Graphic Branding at the time, kind of hated it, then managed to get work experience there and my eyes were opened to this new world. I was born in 1999, so I didn’t read loads of print magazines growing up. I think my love for print is a reaction to how digital my life is. Everything moves so fast, feels so fluid, that it feels good to make something permanent by putting something down on paper. Each magazine is a record of how I wrote, how I designed, how I felt at a particular time.

THE PHYSICAL DESIGN OF TWOS INTENTIONALLY DISRUPTS THE READING FLOW: FLIPPING IT UPSIDE-DOWN REVEALS A NEW ANTITHETIC PERSPECTIVE. WHAT CREATIVE CHALLENGES CAME WITH BUILDING A MAGAZINE THAT DEMANDS A PHYSICAL FLIP TO FULLY EXPERIENCE IT?

I really treated them like two separate magazines during the production process. Of course, they informed each other in aesthetic but it was only right at the end that I joined them together.

TWOS DRAWS ON LONDON’S VISUAL LANGUAGE TOO – FROM HAND SCANNED TEXTURES, TO TUBE SIGNAGE AND TYPOGRAPHY. HOW DO THESE VISUAL ELEMENTS INFLUENCE THE AESTHETIC DECISIONS?

I wanted the reader to feel London when they sat down with the magazine. One of the ways I did that was to incorporate textures I had scanned throughout the city into the graphics. A couple years ago I bought a hand-held document scanner and have been using it to build a texture library that I use to make my designs feel more alive. Now, the signs, walls and windows of the city live on every page.

I also drew a lot from the city’s most obvious existing visual language: the TfL network. The headline type on the cover is P22 Underground – a font based on Johnston’s iconic 1913 design. The Twos logo, redesigned for this issue, is an adaptation of an arrow taken from Tube signage. Even the colour palette is inspired by old TfL tickets (pink and blue for ‘Love’, the inverse green and gold for ‘Hate’).

I treated the two halves of the mag as two distinct publications. There are two covers, two editors’ letters, two contribs’ pages. The cover feature runs twice – once on each side – with different imagery and design in Love & Hate. This division helped when crafting the flow of the mag, ensuring that each section held its rhythm.

THE MAGAZINE FEELS DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE LONDON CREATIVE SCENE. HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT FINDING THE WRITERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, AND ILLUSTRATORS WHO CONTRIBUTE TO EACH ISSUE?

Like I said, I’m outside a lot. Part of the joy of that is meeting interesting people. I also love discovering new names on Instagram. Building a network there is really gratifying.

WHAT EMOTIONAL OR AESTHETIC “CRACKS” IN LONDON LIFE ARE YOU LOOKING TO EXPLORE NEXT, AND HOW MIGHT TWOS PUSH ITS FORMAT EVEN FURTHER?

We’ll have to see. The next one won’t just be a print publication. I want to make the magazine part of a wider project. What form that takes I don’t know right now.

IN WHAT WAYS DO YOU HOPE TWOS SPARKS CONVERSATION?

I think it would be helpful if we could acknowledge that it’s possible to hold contrasting ideas simultaneously. I love London and I hate London. You can do both. If we understand each other as complex and messy, I think things get easier.

Babak Ganjei doesn’t care if you think he’s joking. His work – part confessional, part protest, part deadpan – will make you laugh before you realise you’re a little broken.

Over the years, Babak has built a world of handwritten posters, sardonic petitions, and quietly chaotic one-liners that hit harder the longer you sit with them. There’s an uncomfortable comfort to his work, a feeling that we can all relate to.

Now, with UNCLE, Babak is revisiting his petition series with a new poster demanding we unplug the world for a second before plugging it back in. It’s a solution that (somehow) works for all things technology, so surely it’ll do some good for us, right? Within days of the first posters going up, passersby began interacting with the petition. If this has taught us anything, it’s that we’re all human and that we could all do with a little restart. Also, who still carries a pen with them?.

In the interview that follows, UNCLE spoke with Babak to talk about his early inspirations, life within his own sitcom and how the city of London shapes his art.

CAN YOU DESCRIBE, IN YOUR OWN WORDS, WHO BABAK GANJEI IS?

He’s a bit of a stranger, I don’t really know him.

YOU GREW UP IN A VERY ART-ORIENTATED FAMILY. YOUR MOTHER WAS A PAINTER, AND YOUR FATHER WAS AN ARCHITECT. CAN YOU SHARE SOME INSIGHT INTO LIFE GROWING UP FOR YOU?

It was just very natural to be making marks everywhere. It was very normal for everybody to be making things all the time so I don’t know any different. Still when it came to Art School I think my parents would rather I fell into a more secure future but I had no back up plan whatsoever.

WHETHER THEY BE ARTISTS OR NOT, WHO WERE YOUR INSPIRATIONS GROWING UP?

I was 13 when Nevermind came out and Nirvana kind of set me off on a path where I could see what being an artist could do. As a kid I hung on Kurt Cobain’s every word and through Nirvana I was introduced to Sonic Youth and through Sonic Youth an entire underground scene of art, music and film. This is pre-internet so discovering these underground worlds felt incredibly rewarding. And liberating. The world didn’t end at Bournemouth town center anymore. In later years Charlie Kaufman’s scripts and Andy Kaufman’s comedy were a massive influence to my work. Both share a surname and a tendency to break the fourth wall. Charlie Kaufman with the films he wrote and Andy Kaufman in pushing his comedy from beyond the stage blurring the lines between reality and fiction.

DID YOU ALWAYS WANT TO BE AN ARTIST? WERE THERE ANY OTHER CAREER PATHS YOU THOUGHT ABOUT GOING DOWN BEFORE LANDING ON THIS ONE?

The only back up I had thought of was to become a writer. When I was seven, I thought I was going to be a screen writer. I’d already decided at that age I didn’t have the guts to tell people what to do so I couldn’t be a director. I’d have to get it on the page first in silence.

YOU’VE MENTIONED BEFORE THAT, SINCE GRADUATING, YOU’VE BEEN LIVING IN A REAL-LIFE SITCOM. CAN YOU EXPAND ON THIS AND HOW THIS DICTATES YOUR CREATIVE OUTPUT?

I try and look at things in a movie like narrative, I guess. This isn’t intentional. It might just come from growing up as quite a silent kid in front of the TV. I like to link events and people and the way a day unfolds. I think I do it unconsciously, it’s now how I’ve trained my brain. I guess maybe it makes it’s a less scary world if I can connect things together.

YOUR ART FEELS DEEPLY CONFESSIONAL, DRAWING ON YOUR INNER MONOLOGUE. CAN YOU TALK US THROUGH YOUR PROCESS WHEN STARTING A NEW PIECE?

I’d say the entire process comes from walking and I guess the inner monologue is running the whole time. I find sitting at a desk and thinking very difficult, so the process is to stay moving. Wander the streets at a slow steady pace, so you can still notice things around you.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POP CULTURE AND POLITICS WITHIN YOUR ART?

I was born in Britain my parents are Iranian so there is an element of that experience that is inherent in my work without me making an intentional decision to talk about it. It makes you feel like you are in a way not really from any one place and I think that is quite a liberating space to be in as an artist. Not feeling comfortable coming from one place, the desire to find connections and common ground is a bit stronger. Or at least that is my understanding of it. Pop culture, politics it’s all tribes and groups everyone is trying to find a place to fit.

CAN YOU TALK IS THROUGH THE ARTWORK YOU HAVE CHOSEN FOR THIS PARTNERSHIP WITH UNCLE?

I had been making all these fanciful petition posters for things like “Make my cat like me more”, “Bring Prince back to life” but in recent years it feels like the world is on fire and there is so much rolling news we don’t have a chance to process anything that is happening. There was something nice about making a sort of old school street campaign to turn off the internet. The idea that somebody would pass it by and stop and feel compelled to sign it makes me feel like somehow that’s a success.

WE’VE ALREADY STARTED SEEING THE PUBLIC INTERACT WITH THESE POSTERS IN THE STREETS AND SIGNING THEIR NAMES TO THE PETITION. IS THIS WHAT YOU HAD IN MIND WHEN YOU STARTED CREATING THE PETITION PIECES, OR WERE THEY MEANT TO BE RHETORICAL?

It’s always a bit nerve wracking putting something out there that invites interaction. I think when I first made the “Please bring Prince back to life” petition I imagined it to be rhetorical but it was a large installation at a festival which instantly got signed and it does say “Please sign” on it so I don’t know what I was thinking. I just don’t presume people carry pens around anymore.

HOW DOES THE CITY OF LONDON COME THROUGH IN YOUR ART AND YOUR PROCESS?

Well in this instance hopefully by putting pen to paper, but in general my work is born from wandering London streets. This work is basically a tribute to that. It’s the kind of thing I would like to stumble upon

WHAT IS YOUR DREAM COMMISSION?

T-shirt for the band Pavement.

www.babakganjeiworks.com
www.instagram.com/babakganjei

“Salons, to me, are all about community and self care and I realised there was no where we could all go to be in that together, so I made somewhere.”

Brad is no stranger to the streets of SE15. Having grown up in southeast London, there has always been a tie between him and Peckham.

“I love how much culture there is in Peckham, not the Timeout ‘hidden gems’ but the market stalls, the aunties braiding, the Colombian bakery, the Irish butchers and the jerk drums on the road, they’re all the signs of how many communities are still here within one community despite all the change.”

It makes sense then that when it came time to open his own salon, that Peckham would be the place for it. Enter RINSED. A texture and gender-neutral salon, as Brad describes. After a stint within Holdron’s Arcade, RINSED moved a few roller-doors-down to the iconic Bussey building in Peckham – where it has continued to cater to those underrepresented.

“Us being texture and gender-neutral means that we can be an inclusive space for everyone. Salon services have always been very gendered with you having to fit into the box of a women’s or men’s cut, this excludes people that don’t conform to gender binaries and as a queer person it was important to me that we were a safe space.”

Their latest partnership with UNCLE challenges the concept of ‘basic’ hairdressing, asking the streets of Peckham, through flyposting, to be a bit more expressive up top.

In the interview that follows, UNCLE spoke with Brad to talk early influences, life in southeast London and the importance of community and safe spaces alike.

CAN YOU TELL US WHO YOU ARE, IN YOUR WORDS?

I’m a southeast London born and bred hairstylist and creative. I am the founder of RINSED, a space I built for all the people who feel underrepresented and not catered for in typical salon spaces. I’m queer, so barber shops have never been a place I’ve not felt comfortable in, and most of my friends have textured hair which, until recently, wasn’t even taught in UK hairdressing. I realised there was no where we could all go and have our hair done together, so I made somewhere.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO BEING A HAIR STYLIST? IS SOMETHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO GET INTO WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER?

I was always interested in hair, makeup, anything girly growing up; braiding hair on lunch breaks at school and doing girls makeup for prom, but I never really thought about being a hairdresser. I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up, an artist, a backup dancer for Destiny’s Child. I even thought I’d be a mechanic for about ten minutes. My sister was a hairdresser, and I started to clock on that it was basically a job you got paid to be creative and yap people’s ears off, so I thought I’d give it a go. My sister introduced me to her friend Nathan who trained me in salon and session work, and it started from there really.

WHAT WAS GROWING UP IN SOUTHEAST LONDON LIKE?

Growing up in southeast London was fun! It was tough at times, but it was fun. Gentrification hadn’t really taken off, so the sense of community was much tighter, it felt like everyone knew everyone or at least knew your face (that wasn’t always a good thing, haha).

RINSED PRIDES ITSELF ON ITS UNIQUE TEXTURE-AND-GENDER-NEUTRAL SERVICE. CAN YOU EXPAND ON WHAT THIS MEANS? AND THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATING A SPACE THAT OFFERS THIS SERVICE?

Us being texture and gender-neutral means that we can be an inclusive space for everyone. Salon services have always been very gendered with you having to fit into the box of a women’s or men’s cut, this excludes people that don’t conform to gender binaries and as a queer person it was important to me that we were a safe space. For me being texture neutral was massively important as my friends have a massive range of hair textures that aren’t catered for in Eurocentric salons. Salons, to me, are all about community and self care and I realised there was no where we could all go to be in that together, so I made somewhere.

THE FIRST ITERATION OF RINSED STUDIO WAS AT HOLDRONS ARCADE, BUT JUST OVER A YEAR AGO YOU MADE THE MOVE INTO THE STUDIO’S NEW LOCATION; WITHIN PECKHAM’S ICONIC BUSSEY BUILDING. WHAT DOES THE COMMUNITY OF PECKHAM MEAN TO YOU AND TO THE STUDIO?

The community of Peckham is massively important to me. I’ve spent so much of my life in Peckham, so it’s a bit like being in EastEnders now where there’s no two characters that don’t interact. I love how much culture there is in Peckham, not the Timeout ‘hidden gems’ but the market stalls, the aunties braiding, the Colombian bakery, the Irish butchers and the jerk drums on the road, they’re all the signs of how many communities are still here within one community despite all the change.

WITH OVER A DECADE EXPERIENCE WORKING ON FASHION AND MUSIC SHOOTS, HOW DIFFERENT IS THE EXPERIENCE OF EDITORIAL WORK AND THE WORK WITHIN YOUR STUDIO?

Editorial work and working in the studio are completely different, while I love them both I love them for different reasons. Editorial can be quite high pressure and stressful, but you get to be much more creative with your process as you’re often doing stuff that’s not everyday wear. Salon is a much more of a personal vibe. It’s familiar, often with regular clients and there’s more connection involved. I always bring a bit of editorial into the studio with little backstage styling hacks and a big range of styling services.

THE ARTWORK FOR THIS PARTNERSHIP WITH UNCLE IS VERY BEAUTIFUL AND REFINED. WHAT WAS THE PROCESS BEHIND THE SHOOT?

I’ve built the salon aesthetic on youth culture with a lot of emphasis on music and fashion, so for the shoot I wanted to reference my favourite point in youth culture which was Gen X in the 90s. I’ve always loved collecting magazines from the 90s and 00s and my favourite ads in them were always for the original CK One. I love how simple they were but still a bit anarchic and provocative with a lot of play on sexuality and gender – casting androgynous models like Jenny Shimizu. I felt that advert perfectly captured RINSED’s aesthetic and the white vests and denim lent themselves perfectly to showcasing the hair. So, I played homage and gave it a little 2025 RINSED spin.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO SEE THE POSTERS UP IN THE STREETS OF PECKHAM?

Peckham has been the backdrop to so much of my life it was a real pinch me moment to see something that was once an idea in my head be all over the streets.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE OF RINSED LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?

The future of RINSED looks bright! We want to become a beauty brand that stands up in the fashion industry, bringing a lot of backstage work into our salon spaces(s). We want to collaborate with other brands outside of beauty in the fashion and lifestyle scene to widen how we show up in our community of clientele.

www.instagram.com/rinsedpeckham/

A voice for resilience and revolution.

Jasmine is a fearless artist whose music is as unflinching as it is tender. Emerging from Manchester’s DIY underground, she has carved out a sound that is both raw and meticulously honed – a balance fully realized in her debut album, ‘You Are The Morning’. A deeply personal manifesto of identity, love, and survival, the record pulses with spirit and the defiant energy of queer resilience. To celebrate its release, UNCLE partnered with Jasmine to amplify its message in Manchester and London through flyposting, ensuring its themes of visibility, solidarity, and defiance resonate far beyond the underground.

At its core, ‘You Are The Morning’ is a testament to resilience. The album brims with raw emotion, weaving together intimate songwriting and expansive production, bolstered by contributions from indie-rock luminaries like boygenius. But beyond the sonics, the record is a rallying cry – a declaration of presence in a world that often seeks to erase. It’s about survival, about finding and holding onto the people who make life worth living. It’s a love letter to the queer community, to trans joy, to the underground scenes that build something beautiful out of struggle. It’s not just music; it’s a movement.

In the interview that follows, we dive deep into the heart of the record. From the songwriting process to the weight of representation, from Manchester’s impact to the transformative power of live performance, nothing is off-limits. This is an artist who isn’t afraid to speak her truth – who, in fact, sees it as a responsibility.

‘You Are The Morning’ is such a personal and emotionally rich album. How does it feel now that it’s out in the world?

I feel honoured that it is out and reaching people in the way that it is. Queer people around the world are telling me it has resonated with them in a way they haven’t experienced before, and I’ve had older trans women tell me that they wish they had someone like me to look up to when they were transitioning, which means the world to me.

What message do you hope listeners take away from it?

The importance of solidarity. Queer friendship, mutual aid and international solidarity quite literally saved my life and got me to where I am today. And to those in need, a message of hope: things can and will get better. You will find your people.

You’ve spoken about your songwriting process starting with voice memos and stream-of-consciousness writing. How do you know when a song is “finished”?

I don’t think a song is ever finished. I don’t feel comfortable playing a song the same way twice, it feels gross to me. The songs on the album have already changed.

How Did The Presence Of Boygenius (Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers And Lucy Dacus) Shape The Sound And Energy Of The Record?

In so many ways. I think it sounds very boygenius in a lot of ways. Julien’s guitar tone, Lucy’s editing and sequencing skills, and Phoebe’s knowledge of the studio and leadership in arrangement were vital aspects. All of their voices really carry the record.

Many of your songs explore love and identity in a deeply personal way. Do you think music has helped you find and express your truest self?

Fully. In the words of Avril, I’m a rock chick. But seriously, expressing myself through music and writing has really helped me through my darkest times and helped me process and heal.

Diy magazine called you a “testament to the importance of trans representation”; do you feel a responsibility as an artist to represent trans voices in music?

Yeah, a massive responsibility. It’s an honour to step into the spotlight as some random Manchester doll and be a voice for trans liberation. The world is so cruel to trans people, especially trans children, trans people of colour, transfeminine people and disabled trans people. It’s honestly terrifying leaving the house in our most deadly year on record, let alone touring internationally as a group of trans women. Those in power stoke more and more hatred towards us as a distraction from the real evils of capitalism, and the consequence is that trans people are being killed in the street more than ever. We are losing our jobs more than ever. We are homeless more than ever. There have been so many direct attacks on trans people in legislation around the world already this year, including Wes Streeting’s ban on trans children accessing puberty blockers (non-trans children are still prescribed them freely). As a consequence, we have seen a huge spike in trans children killing themselves. Edinburgh women’s shelter has started denying trans women escaping abusive partners. Trans women are being raped and murdered in men’s prisons around the world, including here in the UK. These are the real trans issues that should be in the media. We are victims, but instead, we are painted as predators, aggressors and perpetrators. I want to do my bit to change the mainstream conversation.

You’ve been vocal about your work with trans mutual aid manchester. How do you see the intersection between your music and activism?

When your very existence is politicised, you don’t really get much of a choice!

How has Manchester shaped you as an artist?

Coming here I met my community and fell in love with trans people for the first time, which is what the record is about. So, entirely!

Favourite spots in the city?

The Peer Hat is a fave of mine — my website is based on that pub.

You’re embarking on a full UK tour this year. How are you feeling about taking ‘You Are The Morning’ on the road?

So excited to meet more of my community, mainly! I love playing live, I love my bandmates, and I love the impact that our shows have had. Trans people have told me they’ve found their chosen families at my shows, others have told me that seeing me has allowed them to accept their own trans identities, others have reached out to say that seeing us out here as a group of trans women has given them hope for their own futures. You can’t make an omelette without cracking some eggs!

The album title represents new beginnings. What’s next for you after this release and tour?

There are loads more shows and festivals to be announced. I’m so excited for this year. I’m also hoping to start being able to make a living from music and so have more time to spend with my incredible partners and my chosen family. And of course, I’m constantly writing — really hoping to share more music imminently!

Style, Storytelling, and the Power of Representation.

Style isn’t just about clothes – it’s about presence, attitude, and the stories woven into every fabric choice, accessory, and perfectly curated look. To My Titas is a bold, fashion-forward tribute to the Filipino aunties who have been serving effortless elegance long before social media made it a trend. In partnership with UNCLE, this photobook isn’t just a celebration of their impeccable style – it’s a love letter to the culture, resilience, and quiet power of a generation of women who’ve always understood the art of showing up and showing out.

But this project goes deeper than just aesthetics. To My Titas merges editorial fashion photography with raw, personal storytelling, highlighting the lives these women have built far from home while carrying their heritage with them in every detail. From church hall gatherings to house parties fuelled by karaoke, the book captures the energy, tradition, and community that shape Filipino identity in the diaspora. It’s an intimate yet strikingly stylish look at how fashion and culture intertwine, proving that heritage is never out of style.

In this interview, we sit down with the creative force behind To My Titas Nicole Alonzo, to talk about the vision, the process, and the beautiful chaos of working with a group of legendary, Facebook-loving aunties. From deep cultural connections to high-fashion influences, this conversation is about more than just a book – it’s about the power of representation and why these stories need to be seen. Let’s get into it.

What inspired you to create to my titas? Was there a particular moment or experience that sparked the idea?

I remember having a conversation with my girlies, who come from different ethnic backgrounds to me, and we got to talking about how fashionable and stylish our aunties are. Down from the jewellery, to the designer bags, the extravagant cultural attire they like to wear to church, or how well they hold themselves when wearing their sunday’s best. I chose to do a photobook because i go to photobook stores to get inspired or feel some type of relatability through visual storytelling and realised there were no photobooks about my filipino heritage. I felt a need to put my country on the map.

Tell us about some themes in the book. How did you decide on the visual and narrative elements to achieve this?

I have a love for fashion imagery and clothing since i was a young kid. I currently study a fashion communication course at ual and i know that visual storytelling through fashion editorial style is how i best express myself. However, besides the fashion imagery and clothing aspect of my photobook, i understood the importance of interviewing these amazing women and collecting cultural artifacts that they brought to the motherland, to represent their stories properly. I really wanted to celebrate their lives that they’ve made in england and their relationships with each other. These themes include our love for karaoke. Every time i go to a filipino house party, there’s karaoke.

What was the process like for selecting the titas featured in the book? Did you face any challenges in capturing their stories?

In terms of process, i grew up in a strong filipino community in nottingham. My father is the chairman of the nottingham filipino community and so the titas in my photobook are women who have seen me grow into a woman. In my culture, you call everyone auntie or “tita” even if they aren’t by blood, but by culture and community, they are. The biggest challenge for me was getting all my aunties in one place lmao, they’re very busy women. I had to do a lot of facebook messaging and physically going to their houses to interview them. I am currently based in london, so i had to go back and forth to where i am originally from, which is nottingham, just to talk to my titas. They love their facebook.

How do you hope to my titas will impact perceptions of filipino womanhood?

I hope it will help people realise that no matter what culture or community you’re from, we’re all the same. We all have at least one auntie who is always dressed to impress. I also just wanted to celebrate my culture by looking at traditional perspectives and contemporary perspectives that a young filipino person would be able to look at and feel seen. I guess i just want people to know how proud and strong our women are.

Can you share any standout stories or moments from working on this project that resonated with you in particular?

For me, my most standout moments were being in a shoot with all my aunties. They bring such vibrant energies and this sense of ‘diva’-ness to a room that i just adore.

How has your own background influenced your creative practice?

My own background has influenced nearly everything i do in my creative practice. I think i was so excited to get out into the world and step into the fashion industry and then quickly realised that most high-end fashion spaces made me feel like i wasn’t allowed there unless i was known. Of course, this is slowly changing but the exclusion is definitely still there. Due to this, it forced me to look within and really understand what niche communities speak out to me and accept me as a creative. In turn, this project is a rebellious act to the fashion industry. One, mature women and people deserve to be in the fashion limelight as much as young people because they love fashion too, and two, my culture is equally as fashionable and elegant through our clothing.

If you could describe to my titas in three words, what would they be?

Strength, adaption, and style.

If younger filipino artists want to explore their heritage through storytelling, what advice would you give them?

Look at the people around you, create work with the communities you already have. There is so much beauty in it that you may not notice because it isn’t on a campaign ad. Obviously, dream big but don’t forget your roots or who you are along the way. Bring those attributes with you to the industry; it will set you apart from the others.

Talk us through the artwork of the campaign?

One of the artworks for the campaign is the front cover of my photobook, which showcases all my aunties in one photo wearing their best-dressed clothing, all in different colours and designs that best describe their individual personalities. I wanted the location to scream britain, but the poses, style, designer bags, and jewellery to scream fashion! My auntie on the left took her shoes off mid-shoot because they annoyed her and decided to take a photo because she can, on her facebook, and i knew that capturing that moment would best describe these women and our culture from a contemporary perspective. The rest of the artworks were taken in my local church while wearing our cultural attire to showcase our local church hall in nottingham. A lot of events hosted by the nottingham filipino community have happened in that church hall, so it’s a very sentimental space for my aunties and me. Our cultural attire is equally as sentimental to us as filipinos away from home, so i knew to capture both of these important elements together to best describe our culture to london.

How has london informed the project?

London is a very multicultural city, filled with such beautiful heritages living together in one place. Living here forced me to look at my heritage and how my community has shaped me as a creative growing up in the midlands.

What parts of the city inspire you?

I currently live in whitechapel, and the bengali community there is strong. However, even though we have cultural differences, the themes of family, community, and styling (down to their traditional clothing shops, which i always adore every time i walk past them) are all the same. In such a big city, a niche community is what makes you feel connected, and it made me think of mine back at home in nottingham.

What’s next for you as an artist? Any upcoming projects we should look forward to?

As an artist, i am currently working on my next project, which is creating a physical exhibition curated by bame women who live in the midlands, who love fashion and also take inspiration from their cultural heritage. I am planning to have this exhibited in nottingham because nothing creative happens there. Not because there isn’t creative talent, but because there’s no funding that goes to those regions as they’re all being pumped into london. Therefore, i am planning to create this exhibition to showcase the amazing bame women creatives in nottingham.