Tag Archives: London

Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion

The V&A gallery is currently hosting the Balenciaga exhibit, a first ever in the UK, it’s a lot of insight on the life and creative mind of Spanish designer extraordinaire, Cristobal Balenciaga.

The exhibition, which marks the centenary opening of the brand’s first fashion house in San Sebastian and the 80th anniversary of it’s Paris fashion house, the £15 ticket (with concessions available) is ultimately worth it for two levels of past, present and future of fashion dominance from not only ‘The Master’ himself, but the many whom he inspired.

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The exhibit dominantly features pieces from over the years, as well as visuals (pictured above), with an array of information on the forward-thinking designer, his pioneering silhouettes, exploring textiles and pattern-cutting which shaped the modernity of the 60’s and still hold relevance today.

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It could be argued that there is a lot of the information provided available online, however, the opportunity to see such a variety of pieces from different generations is not as obtainable, including the redefining ladies suit, not to mention many designed throughout the years by other established designers, such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Calvin Klein, Paco Rabanne and more..

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The exhibit (which is running until the 18th of February 2018) is great for fashion fans and students alike, a chance to not only learn about ‘The Master’, but see some of the finest works, influence and adaptations within fashion today.

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A great exhibit all in all, one I definitely recommend checking out, especially if you appreciate the finer details to Fashion.

 

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Fem Fel – Jail Tales (BBC Three)

Although many of the others within this unique series have recieved more praise and support, this one is a stand out in my opinion.

Fem Fel:

The instrumental instantly dominates, however, attention should be paid to the content and Fem Fel really makes the most of this opportunity, lyrically captivating, he takes you on a journey into a dark era of his life, emotionally charged, you hear the pain in his voice, like a cry for help as he endures the hardships of being locked up, hearing this is extremely inspiring. This is a positive offering from one of South London’s realest artists. Looking past the glitz and glammer, Fem paints a raw picture of life inside prison, an incredible eye opener for the youth of today who are misguided by the glamorization of such lifestyles.

I salute Fem, for he could have used this to showcase himself, yet he does less of that and more in terms of teaching through his own mistakes, in accordance to what the concept of Jail Tales portrays, this is exactly what was needed.

FEM FEL

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WizzyWow & Tippaly present: Baileys & Passports

As the new year comes ever so closer, the spacey hitmaker Mr WizzyWow and his partner in rhyme Tippaly have decided to unleash the long awaited mixtape earlier than scheduled.

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In all honesty this download is so fresh that I am still listening to it as I type,
the intro is not just for the mixtape, but an introduction for Tippaly, who makes the most of the opportunity with his unique style, he has a stand out voice and with his own range of wordplay he makes an impression, Wizzy wow steps up for Blame It On The Baileys, setting the scene and overall concept of this mixtape.
Hottest In The Hood has them flowing over the beat like only they can, it serves as a starter for your ears before the infectious Hands In The Air, where the duo go back and forth with lyrics and plenty of that Space Boy swagger all over the beat.
Run This Town brings you back down to Earth as they both have a verse each allowing you to distinguish their styles and approach before Tippaly goes solo over Let The Beat Build, this track is the boarding lounge before the take off which is Wizzy Wow – Eyes On Me ft. Tips, now flying at a comfortably high altitude with Miss London, Wizzy’s trademark flow and hook over a nicely layered beat, complete with synths.

Throw It In The Bag must have been a favoured instrumental because Tippaly displays a lyrical ability that you may not have known he possessed and then just when you feel you’ve heard the best, Wizzy Wow matches the flow and lyricism for an overall ‘dope’ UK take on the Fabolous & Drake track. Next track is Pop Music, which is not actually what the track says, however it is WizzyWow’s version of the genre, take it as a glimpse into what to expect, the synth-based chart sound from the North London producer, now the flight has to land at some point and Wizz jumps on the Maybach Music 2 beat, Rick Ross and Justice League made a classic, the man formerly known as Y.Wizz does not dissapoint, the next track is Tippaly taking stage on the powerful Lemme Get On Ya, so far the mixtape is fully focused on the concept and it is a good listen with its variation of styles, this is proven with the next track, WizzyWow over The Dream’s Rockin’ That instrumental, it feels like an interlude before the next track Can’t Beleive It, giving up the autotune, Wizzy gets his rap game on alongside Tippaly, they both flow over the beat with a motion that can only be described as ocean cool (they get wavey).

The concept and theme is female orientated, so it is only right to give them a little more with Valentines, the slow paced smooth talk song before they put their spin on Dirty Money’s Love Come Down beat (put your speakers up for this one)..They really go for it with this, a consistent flow and slick content makes this one of the stand out tracks off the mixtape especially as it features Cell22 and one of the most underrated artists in the game..North London’s Calibar.
Say Something serves as an outro, nicely done as well, featuring Ivy London, they put some space age flavour onto Timbaland’s instrumental, each one does not dissapoint and it nicely brings the mixtape to an end but by now you would have already pressed play on track 1 again.

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LUOL DENG – CROSSOVER SUCCESS

Back in secondary school, St. Mary’s in Croydon, London, there was a fellow student in my year, he was the tallest in our year, tallest in the school to be honest, but he was one of the nicest, one of the humble kids, he never used his height and strength advantage in any negative way, he was not a loud student, except when it came to sports, especially Basketball, he was the one, he had the physical attributes as well as the determination, but coming from our surroundings, nobody expected anyone to make something of themselves, we were all ambitious but you did not think that so and so was going to be famous, or even massively successful, so all our acheivements, be it sport, art, music or drama was all for fun.

Fast forward a good few years, I was sitting at home flicking through channels, it was around 2am and there was an American College Basketball match on, so as a basketball fan I decided to watch, so I see this one team, Duke, they had a player that was just standing out throughout the entire game, they mentioned the name ‘Deng’, I paid no mind, still watching, then I see a close-up and I feel like I recognize the guy, then the commentators mention he is from England, I sit up in my chair, could it be? I watch more, I hear more, turns out..yes, it is my old school mate Luol Deng, I was amazed, proud, a mix of things, someone I went to school with is on TV. So now I began to check regularly how he is doing, his stats and so forth, within a week I’m watching the NBA drafts and there he is, this is amazing, he is drafted by Phoenix Suns but traded to none other than the Chicago Bulls, I’m ecstatic, this is unbeleivable, the guy who used to shoot hoops with me in the school court, the guy who sat opposite me in class as we flicked a foil-made football through finger goals is now going to be playing in the NBA for the Bulls.

He had come a long way already:

Now taking all that in his stride as he carves a successful career for himself in the NBA:

What I am pleased most about is that with all his success, fame and fortune, Luol is still just as humble and it only makes me wish him even more success, I hope the Chicago Bulls’ Number 9 goes on to create his own legacy as he represents the UK in the NBA. He continues to use his advantages for the good, embracing the community, doing what he can to make a difference, it is these qualities which separate him and solidify his status as a true superstar and I am proud to know him.

Expect more great things from the powerful Deng, I certainly do.

“Good Luck for the future bro”

REPPIN LONDON

REPPIN' LONDON

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