SLAM CITY SKATES x NEW ERA

UGLY KIDS CLUB TEES

Brand New for 09 for Rudeboys AND Goodgirls
(Yep... now available in women's sizes)
at: www.theuglykidsclub.com/shop
P&P has always been free and every customer receives a free sticker pack.


A short video of behind the scenes footage and a quick interview with the photographer Robin Bharaj will be up soon on our youtube channel: www.youtube.com/THEUGLYKIDSCLUB

Tell a friend, tell a relative...

PLAY DOT APPAREL

Launched in December 2008, Play dot is the brainchild of South Londoners Kay Taylor and Kwasi B. The duo started designing clothes about a year ago but ever since they can remember they’ve been using fashion to stand out from the masses. The label is designed for a young audience somewhere in the 16 to 24 age bracket but there’s no doubt their quirky designs have appeal way beyond.
The current collection is a mix of sweaters and tshirts with a signature hand print, fitted caps and a clever new take on the tired Afghan scarf. It caters to an urban audience but these business savvy creatives are conscious of pigeonholing their brand. Like the New Era label that they admit is one of their main inspirations, Play Dot’s plans for fashion domination stretch way beyond the urban clichés of sportswear and rap. It wont be too long before we see their designs proliferate across the apparel industry. The label is also inspired by the city these two grew up in where ‘the clothes that you wear represent you’, where the necessity of standing out from the crowd is emphasised every day by the throngs that rally about trying to be noticed, a place where ‘uniqueness sells’.
So what is the biggest challenge for an emerging brand like Play Dot, especially with all this chat about difficult times that is upon us. ‘In the end it’s just a business which needs finance and expertise but we know as long as we keep pushing the brand it will be recognised by the right people.’ In a climate like this there is no substitute for confidence, that and an innate understanding of cool has these kids on the right road to success.

Play Dot Apparel is on sale in various apparel stores in London and Brighton. For a detailed list of stockists go to www.myspace.com/playdotapparel.

TOP TEES OF THE SEASON

Terratag
www.terratag.com

Supreme Being
www.supremebeing.com

Your Eyes Lie
www.youreyeslie.com

Dephect
www.dephect.com

Aerosoul
www.aerosoul.co.uk

A Hackney Hairstory by Fran Cornford

It’s an early afternoon in Hackney on one of those sunless days in autumn and I’m walking around Dalston with my camera. I ‘m looking for hairdressers to take some portraits and more importantly to see what makes this place tick.
The first person I meet is Jummy of Jummy hairdressers ‘You want to take pictures of me?’ most people said when asked to have their picture taken, they seem astounded almost upset but Jummy is different. She’s bursting with energy, the kind that is infectious and it fills the whole salon. Her client grins in her chair, ‘Best hair salon in Hackney’. Looking at Jummy I am in no doubt.
Hairdresser’s salons are about so much more than your hair, it’s about self-expression, feeling good and connecting. With Juju you are instantly connected. She showed me pictures other people had taken in Hackney through the years, ‘I’ve seen a lot, heard a lot of stories, I know a lot of secrets’. I would have been perfectly content sitting there all afternoon hiding from the rain hearing Jummy talk about her life and taking in the sheer mass of memories that her salon was hiding.
But alas I had to carry on my journey and came across some more interesting characters. They too had met a lot of people and had heard a lot of stories but no one had asked them their own. Two hairdressers I spoke to on Mare Street had come across about six months ago from China and made quick work with their clients. ‘The culture here, we love the culture, the people’. Some just talk me through what they were doing ‘He wants something different, something different to his mates, he wants to stand out.’ One kid was getting his hair shaved and he simply said ‘It’s about creating your own identity within your own culture’. He created a whole new persona for himself each time he got his haircut.
Everyone I photograph stood out for a reason whether it was the stories they told of how they got here or why they were working. Ultimately though it was their love of connecting with people that brought them to the salon.