We sent Richie Clarke, owner and resident artist at Forever True Tattoo in Liverpool some Luke Dixon x Brutus t-shirts for a party at his parlour.
Established in 1995 Forever True is one of the North of England's premier tattoo studios, offering custom and classic tattooing by award winning artists from around the world.
Richie has been a Brutus supporter since day one and owns nearly every shirt from the new collection. Here is the man himself wearing the Heritage yellow and black Tartan, an artist at work in his Trimfit.
We went to have a chat with top-notch bespoke tailor Mark Powell at his shop on Marshall Street in Soho. He was immaculately dressed as you might expect from a man who can take you through the history of tailoring and point out the nuances in style but also keep you up to date with what’s happening now. He could probably tell you wants going out of fashion before it’s even come in.
Mark has a firmer than fair handshake and a keen eye for detail that has been setting the type of trends that over the decades have brought David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Paul Weller to his door.
Established in 1985, Mark Powell offers a bespoke service and a ready to wear line, take a trip to Soho and check out his website here: www.markpowellbespoke.co.uk
‘Voices of East Anglia’ is a blog set up by a gang of four contributors, three from Newmarket and one from Norwich, the name is a twist on The 70s soul group ‘The Voices of East Harlem.’ They provide an alternative view on popular culture and search that bit deeper to find interesting articles in forgotten pockets, like looking for rare gems in a record shop.
“We started ‘Voices of East Anglia’ after the four of us would send each other emails with various links to interesting stuff, then we decided why not put it in blog form? Three of us were involved in the Mod and soul scene in the 80s/90s and one is an ex raver/hip-hopper sort. We thought it would be a good idea to have a blog that would appeal to an older crowd.”
“As old mods and soulies we've seen enough articles and pictures of targets, Weller, The Small Faces and Wigan Casino to last a lifetime so thought we would produce a sort of alternative.”
After we discovered some great old Brutus imagery on their blog we gave the voices access to parts of the extensive Brutus archive to feature, it’s great to see the old imagery dissected into order and all in one place.
They will be posting up new material from the archive as they search through our years of heritage, we look forward to seeing what they pull out of the bag next. Check the first post on Brutus photoshoots from the 70s/80s here:
A BRAND NEW YEAR BRINGS BRAND NEW OPPORTUNITIES.
2012 IS GOING TO BE THE YEAR OF BRAND NEW CHECKS AND UNDISCOVERED TARTANS, PHOTOSHOOTS, GOLD MEDALS AND EXCITING COLLABORATIONS.
Brutus is always on the look out for emerging talent, it gives us great pleasure to support up and coming designers and help their careers to flourish.
We are proud to release our first limited edition Brutus T-shirts in collaboration with Luke Dixon.
Luke is a talented young Artist based in the North East. His hand drawn line work gives his illustrations a sharp and distinctive edge.
Prolific and terrific, check more of his work here: www.dukelixon.co.uk
Between the bricks between you and me, there must be a fortune of stories in the windows and doorways that stand up and look out over The East End.
One of our Brutus stockists, 123 Bethnal Green Road is a perfect example. The beautiful grade II listed building that stands up the corner, once housed Moderne Buckles a secret arms shop that supplied guns to the criminal underworld.
The building is rich in history and is now home to a boutique whose four floors are rich in British fashion and the sort of gifts that will charm the queen’s noses out your pockets. Especially perfect if you are stuck for presents this time of year, they have a great selection of current Brutus shirts in a neat display on the ground floor.
Throughout December 123 have teamed up with the Disappearing Dining Club to offer a night of indulgence called “Too Much is Never Enough”. We went along to see what delights were on offer and boy were we knocked off our seats.
It takes about two delicious hours to glide through the shop as there is a different course served on each floor. Behind the door you are greeted with champagne cocktails to take and tickle your fancy, before canapés and bowls of spiced gin punch to warm your cockles up in the attic. On the floor below the main course is served, where you are handed a plate and encouraged to tuck in. The cast Iron hot pots full of Coq au Vin, Cassoulet and steaming Stews, are a feast before your eyes fit for a king. The desserts are found in the Bunker Cafe with Hot Doughnuts, Spiced Rum & Mince Pies, British Cheeses, Dessert Cocktails and DJs till midnight.
If you have a special occasion on the horizon or you are on the look out for a cosy corner to disappear for a night, this is a great way to spend it. The shop is open too in case you see any eye catchers on your way round.
Too Much is Never Enough is every Tue/Wed/Thu at 123 until Dec 22nd. Open at 6pm the last entry is at 9pm.
A short film that shows the cast from Elaine Constantine's 'Northern Soul', talking about the insistent rhythm that keeps them up at night.
Shout out to the revolutionary stylist Adam Howe who like Elaine helped to change the face of fashion photography in the 90s.
Adam is costume designer/ stylist on the film.
The Brutus boys attended a very special night with the one the only Elaine Constantine, to catch a glimpse into a very personal project some 10 years in the making.
As a freelance photographer Elaine Constantine was a regular contributor to the style bibles The Face and i-D. Her photographs of the intimacy and euphoria shared by teenagers at live gigs burst some colour into the grunge aesthetic associated with the 90s.
It is a lifelong fascination with youth culture and an obsession with 60s American Soul music that has inspired Elaine to work towards her first full-length feature film, on the phenomenally popular Northern Soul scene that swept the North of England during the 70s.
‘This is a story I’ve been desperate to tell all my life!”
‘Northern Soul’ is a film about a movement that grew in the nightclubs of industrial northwest England, which brought together a young and faithful crowd who shared a desire to break out of working life on the production line and express themselves on the dancefloor.
Elaine started a dance club 2 years ago, aiming to introduce young kids to the raw energy of Northern Soul. The club has rapidly grown in popularity and we were treated to a spellbinding performance of high Kicks, fast spins and neck-breaking acrobatics, by the talented cast of dancers who will now star in the film.
Elaine’s enthusiasm is infectious and her love and knowledge of subject will undoubtedly provide an authentic insight into what it must have felt like to belong to a pure, unspoilt and underground scene.
Brutus have supplied Trimfit shirts and original jeans for the dancers and filming is due to start early in 2012. We wish Elaine and all the team the best of luck with this enthralling project.
"I have memories of my bedroom wardrobe from my well-spent youth being peppered with fantastically coloured Brutus button down shirts. I wouldn't be seen dead at an all-nighter without sporting at least three of them over the course of an eight hour dance-athon'' Elaine Constantine
We went along to the House of Billiam HQ, to chatter with founders Tom and Rav about twills, tweeds, tartans and timeless classics.
House of Billiam is a UK clothing label that takes traditional British fabrics on a detour to East London and applies them to truly iconic streetwear shapes.
After a flick through a rail of samples, side projects and current creations it is clear that by using these high quality fabrics on staple pieces like varsity or biker jackets, they have been able to fuse a style of their own.
The Billiam boys offer a bespoke service where you can hand pick every detail of the garment to reflect your own very personal sense of style, or the colours of the team you follow through thick and thin.
With a fortune of options to choose from you might think that their signature would get lost but with their own in house cuts, attention to detail and sensibility to both fabric choices and colour matching there is no danger of this. Every garment is unique but all have a definite Billiam air about them.
Keep a look out for a very special collaboration piece coming your way soon.
It is our distinct privilege and great pleasure to take our hats off, open the door for the first time and welcome you to the brand new BRUTUS blog.
We will be providing you with a steady stream of current interests, interviews and insights into life behind the Brutus scene. The blog will be written and curated by the talented minds behind LAW.
LAW stands for 'Lives and Works'. It is the title of a magazine that is an umbrella, a bomb shelter for creative collaboration between the talented youth of today with grit in their teeth and something to say.
LAW shares an enthusiasm with Brutus for upholding British traditions and are dedicated to capturing the beautiful everyday, lying right under noses that were so busy searching they forgot to notice.
It is vital to build these archives of real characters and historic British traces, before their distinct style changes, shops shut up and their language is lost.
We are interested in making fashion accessible by challenging perceptions that it’s an elitist world and showing that it surrounds us all. We hope to appeal to butchers and builders, everyday boys who wouldn’t mind reading a fashion magazine if only they could appreciate and relate to the content.
This post marks the beginning of an exciting collaboration between Brutus and LAW, we are pleased to have you here and look forward to telling you more.
Best wishes and lucky horseshoes,
John Holt,
LAW Editor
