CULTURE VULTURE: FIVE EXHIBITIONS TO SEE NOW

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

There are still two days left of our extra long bank holiday weekend, so we thought we'd let you know our top picks of fashionable things to see and do in all this magical free time we've been granted. If you should you need a break from all the union jack waving and cupcake eating, here are our suggestions of things to see in London right now...

DESIGNING WOMEN: POST WAR BRITISH TEXTILES

Following the rationing and hardships of WWII, Britain's textile reinvention is brought to life in this exhibit at The Fashion and Textile museum in Bermondsey. It focuses on designers Lucienne Day, Jacqueline Groag and Marian Mahler whose work is about as much of a departure from floral, cutesy, quintessentially English prints as is possible. A great tie-in with this weekend's 1950s nostalgia but from a less overdone angle.

Designing Women is on at the Fashion and Textile Museum until 16th June

Lucienne Day and her quirky textile designs (image from www.fetchingthings.com)

PICASSO AND MODERN BRITISH ART

Anybody vaguely art literate will be familiar with Picasso's work. Tate Britain presents a new angle by examining the influence his work has had on Brit artists such as Francis Bacon, David Hockney and Henry Moore.

Picasso and Modern British Art is on at Tate Britain until 15th July

One of the works on show... Picasso's Three Dancers (image from http://swowen9.blogspot.co.uk)

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN

You don't get more iconic than a Louboutin red sole, it's hard to believe that they've been around only twenty years, so ingrained is his aesthetic. What was a world without the ultimate red sole even like? The definitive exhibition for lovers of footwear full of glamour and va va boom.

Christian Louboutin is on at the Design Museum until 9th July

Dream shoes... Louboutins by Khuong Nguyen (image from www.searchingforstyle.com)

BRITISH DESIGN: 1948-2012

One of the V&A's big exhibitions this year and another nod to the Jubilee celebrations. The FashEd has seen this and tells me it's a must-see. Spanning everything from the 1948 'Austerity' Olympic Games through to 70s Punk and 90s Cool Brittania as well as much much more in-between this is a comprehensive look at the defining design concepts to have come out of Blighty since a little before the Queen came to the throne.

British Design: Innovation in the Modern Age is on at the V&A until 12th August

Sex Pistols' punk iconography (image from fastyling.blogspot.co.uk)

THE BODY ADORNED

Walking around London, it soon become pretty obvious that around every corner a new culture and its influences can be discovered. This show, which forms part of the Culturl Olympiad, at the Horniman looks at many of the ways Londoners chose to express themselves and the cultures they identify with, whether that's wearing  sari, getting a tattoo or having our nails done.

The Body Adorned is on at The Horniman until 6th January 2013

Urban Street portraits by young people, part of The Body Adorned (image from horseman.ac.uk)

SOUL TO SOLE WITH CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

The lovely Mr Louboutin (image from afanovafashion.com)

Earlier in the Spring I interviewed Christian Louboutin for Ponystep, a brilliant and fun style magazine with an irreverent and camp yet informed tone of voice. It is not a cheap purchase; £12 is a LOT to pay for a magazine - and we all do the work for Richard Mortimer, its founder and editor-in-chief (he also created BoomBox), for free because we know he can only just about afford to eat himself. As more people discover the magazine - and they are, in droves - he'll gain the ability to bring the price down.

Personally, I love how Ponystep documents the creative class together with pop and club culture in a big crazy soup of glossy pages. Its not everyday you see One Direction a shiny page away from a gay fetish-obsessed architect and trangender porn stars. But then, as a woman who spent most of her 20s hanging out in gay clubs, I appreciate a bit of diversity.

Which brings me onto Christian Louboutin, a designer and man I have a huge respect for, mainly because, after celebrating 20 years in business, and a massively successful one at that, he is still independent and has never sold out to the big boys for cash. Mr Louboutin has personal and creative integrity and is not afraid to stand up for himself, a David in a world of Goliaths.

The amazing "Pigalle Flat" £635 from Christian Louboutin

He gave a startlingly honest interview, to the point that he called me afterwards and asked me not to put some stuff in which was too personal and emotionally raw (I had tears in my eyes a few times), and if you don't know, he is also in the middle of a trademark case with PPR, the conglomerate which owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga. An Yves Saint Laurent shoe design incorporated a red sole into its design, something he rightly took huge exception to - if you know a Louby shoe, you also know they famously have pillar-box red soles.

Piou Piou £495 from Christian Louboutin 

The case is still ongoing. But one thing he said that didn't make it into the final edit has stayed with me, and it should be the way all designers operate... "You know I respect people. Sometimes you are designing things and you look closely and you think it looks too much like something of a certain designer. If I see that in my work then I immediately erase it, so it’s not even talking about logos or signatures of different brands. I would never approach that type of thing, never. Also, your work is about creating. You have to have your brain functioning rather than just copying, you know? You can’t be in both fields, you have to decide."

Loubi Zeppa £625 from Christian Louboutin

If you haven't already seen it, his exhibition currently at the design museum is wonderful and gloriously risque as well as being highly educational. If you ever wondered how a designer shoe is made, you can see it at the Design Museum. Now time to enjoy the interview....

How cute was Christian when he was younger?