Levi’s® launches WaterLess™

This season, Levi’s® launches Water<Less™ Jeans in the UK.  Levi’s® Water<Less™ Jeans are made using significantly less water – an average of 20 percent, and up to 88 percent in some products in the line.

To coinside with the launch, architect Ian McChesney has created a unique sculpture within the Regent Street store to illustrate the concept. Based on water and fluidity, it uses over 100 pairs of Water<Less™  jeans which have been fixed together in the form of a giant whirlpool.

The process of building the structure involved first constructing a cone structure from the ground upwards and inverting this to hang from the ceiling. Its openings allow light to travel through and cast shadows and shapes, further enhancing the sense of movement and dynamism in this landmark space.

For more on Levi’s® Water<Less™ visit www.levi.com/waterless

A CRAFTWORKER’S CHRISTMAS

Fresh from winning an award for Outstanding New Store at this year’s WGSN Fashion Awards, The London Flagship Store has collaborated with one of London’s most talented Craftworkers, inviting Gary Card to create a unique installation within the Origin Space. With a brief focused on 3 words; Denim, Spots and Play, Gary has created a visual masterpiece which evokes childhood memories of curiosity and playfulness from Christmas time….

The Craft of Music – Live Sessions

  Day 6 Review – Carl Barat

26/08/2010 -review By Dan Wade

Carl Barat has always evoked a feeling of romanticism amongst fans. One half of the now re-formed Libertines song writing duo became the anchor of hope that steadied the Albion ship and battered hearts of a generation. And always the portrayer of all things right with Blighty and its bygone days.

Tonight, headlining our last Craft of Music live sessions, he’s showcasing the sort of form we all remember from The Libs and Dirty Pretty Things days.  Cocksure, valiant and as engaging as ever. He’s playing the perfect vagabond, a vanguard of a lost England and the voice of a generation. A generation that are all here tonight, squeezed tightly around the stage.

Tonight’s session couldn’t have come at a better time. Not even 24 hours had passed since the events of the Libertines reunion show had unfolded and the excitement and anticipation was palpable throughout. Many of the true Libertines fans that had gone to the show, some travelling from as far afield as Russia, were in attendance tonight and it was those that captured Carl’s attention throughout.

Kicking off with ‘Deadwood’, Barat’s voice bares the scares of a deluge of whiskey and cigarettes. Of 3am sing-along’s and lost nights and early mornings. While the tales of excess sound as though they might weather a man, it has always been Barat’s ability to perform earnest, heartfelt live renditions of the brazen yet woven song-making that has kept him relevant for the last decade.

Effortlessly flowing between albums and ages, Barat follows up certified DPT foot stomper ‘Bang Bang you’re Dead’ with ‘Time For Heroes’ The Libertine’s anthemic homage to the May Day riots. The strength of sentiment, so stark in the original, has not ebbed a decade on from its conception and the warmth which pulses through the crowd as all in attendance merge with Barat for a heartfelt, audience-wide rendition of the song will undoubtedly stay with them for many years to come. A stunning way to cap an enthralling two weeks of Craft In Music live sessions.

 

 

 

 

 

Day 5 Review – Beardyman + Bass Clef

24/08/2010 -review By Dan Wade

If you weren’t lucky enough to obtain entry into tonight’s show then please bare with us. For the events that have just unfolded on stage in front of our very own, disbelieving peepers are almost neigh on impossible to comprehend let alone describe. A standard issue when it comes to Beardyman but add the hugely talented dubstep luminary, Bass Clef into the equation and we’ve taken a detour onto ‘you’ve gotta work For your money’ road.

And it is he, of Hackney horn-blowing fame that emerges on stage first. Trombone in hand, percussion hung round his neck like a badge of honour and his workstation, wrapped around the forefront of the stage. From which, he launches into a low-end nuclear surge of phat bass, lavish loops of lilting melodies and lo-fi chromo brass. It’s a bold start and the genesis of a campaign of pure noise related carnage. Throughout the set Bass Clef pours over his workstation morphing and manipulating a multitude of sounds. Wall melting bass-lines are entwined in a maze of effect frequencies. While tropicale trombone brass interludes echo beautifully through the reverberating air.

We must remember, Beardyman is not schizophrenic. We must remember this people. Not just for his own good but undoubtedly for ours too. His like a human warehouse, storing hundreds of characters all under one roof and tonight we witness a variety of them. Shaggy doing ‘Mr Boombastic’, Celine Dion doing that annoying Titanic number and a drum n bass mix of Damien Marley’s ‘Jam Rock’, a particular fan favourite. These are all interludes he’s performed before but it’s the sheer accuracy that’s so impressive.

Scattered throughout the set are cacophonies of industrial and metallic eruptions. All cut and paste together to layer upon, slick productioned beats and cavalier bowl shaking basslines. All, produced through his very own weapon of choice, his mouth. It’s easy to just concentrate on the improvised material thrown out at random but that would be doing Beardyman a miss-justice. Sure, it’s probably the most original material we will witness over the six dates of live sessions but his dubstep jams and hardcore freak-outs are equally stunning and a testament to his ability as a producer and a creative pioneer.
So there you have it. A review that sums up perhaps a tenth of the brilliance on offer tonight but without the invention of a legion of superlative adjectives we’ll just have to leave you feeling like you’ve missed out. Unless you were there of course, then you’ll feel as privileged as we do.

The Craft of Music – Live Sessions

Day 4 Review – Steve Mason + The James Yuill

23/08/2010 -review By Dan Wade

How do you follow an avant-garde jazz/rap artist, a four-piece band of siblings and a blues-folk goddess? With a 90’s cult hero, a beat-box champion and an ex-Libertine of course. Week two of Levi’s®, The Craft Of Music and its yet another week of diverse and cultivated live sessions. Over the next few days we’ll see the likes of Beardyman and Carl Barat take to the stage but tonight, in front of an expectant, hyper crowd, it’s the turn of James Yuill and former Beta Band frontman, Steve Mason.

Taking to the stage first is London based, singer, songwriter or perhaps more aptly, Folktronica troubadour, James Yuill. Standing tall behind a plethora of drum machines, synths and sample mixers, Yuill moves effortlessly from station to station. It’s a calming experience and a juxtaposition of sorts considering the complex arrangements of his music. Stand out track is ‘On Your Own’, the latest offering from the critically acclaimed album, ‘Movement In a Storm’. Drifting in on a wave of chimes, it immediately explodes to life with reverberating bass and fuzzed-out, killer synth hooks. It’s technical beyond reasoning to the untrained eyes and ears and caps a stunning set of dub throb, blissed-out space-disco thump and idiosyncratic bedroom-producer funk that pure wins at showcasing the best Craft in Music.

Rambo once said, ‘Heroes don’t die, they reload’. As crass and uncultured as it seems, it’s a repost that sums up Steve Masons much supported revival perfectly. Sat alone, guitar in hand with red-hot, bright, glowing lights fixed prominently on the former Beta Band lead, Mason is offering himself to a devoted crowd as Steve Mason and Steve Mason alone. It’s a scenario no one would have envisaged during the mid-2000’s after his much published troubles with depression but its one that is wholly welcomed. Kicking off with ‘Boys outside’, it captures Masons unmistakable, unwavering and dazed vocals instantly. What new direction it does bring to the table is a pop sensibility. Perhaps evident due to his work with producer, Richard X (Sugarbabes, Liberty X and Rachel Stevens) but his knack of capturing the beauty in sadness and melodramatic, soaring guitar riffs will never see him pigeon holed in any particular genre or camp.

The beatific ‘All Come Down’ is Masons undoubted best moment. A euphoric, morning after ballad that softly ascends to a glorious crescendo.
It caps a stunning performance that rather than leaning towards an over sentimentalism of passed events, paths a clear runway for the next chapter in an already extraordinary career.

Day 3 Review – Lissie+ The Brute Chorus

19/08/2010 -review By Dan Wade

There’s something wholly satisfying about knowing you’re in on something special. As intrigued faces peer in from outside, those of us that are lucky enough to be huddled around the small, intricate Craft Of Music stage are being treated to one of the most intense, intimate performances your ever likely to see.

As beads of sweat shower down on the front row, London four-piece, The Brute Chorus, are throwing their every being into being the most righteous hound dogs this side of the pond. All fire and brimstone, primal energy and dirt ridden distortion, it’s a show that marks out a distinct shift from the acoustic shows of the first two nights.

‘Chateau’, a run-away freight train of pure grit and gravel is counter-balanced with defined, intelligent lyrics. It’s a stand out track but perhaps falls just short of the spectacular ‘Could This Be Love’. Filthy bass, filthy guitars and a filthy heart it fuzzes and frazzles along a Grinderman distortion that rumbles to a chaotic crescendo of unravelling riffs and pounding, pulsating drums.

To sing from the pit of your soul and to deliver from the depths of your heart is quite a ‘thing’ in our books. To do it with an audience so close you can see your reflection in their eyes demands undeniable respect. It’s pretty clear that from the first note of set opener, ‘Little Lovin’, Illinois born, Lissie won’t be holding anything back despite the tight, bright confines of our surroundings.  Slow building with a slack, dreamy delivery, ‘Little Lovin’ cantered along with thudding bass and beguiling, bluesy guitars before exploding to life during the soaring heartfelt chorus.

Etching a mix of bruising blues and crafted folk, Lissie combines both the southern influences of Illinois and the sun-drenched playfulness of her current home, California. It’s a blend that works particularly well during ‘In Sleep’, her self-professed favourite. Constructed around a galloping ticking drum beat, it floats ghost-like through a labyrinth of unpredictable melodies before slipping into a balls-out bluesy break-down.

Set highlight, ‘Everywhere I Go’, encapsulates the flawless, engaging beauty of Lissie’s stunning voice. Alluring and resplendent, it shifts equally between both epic and intimate. A perfect example of a show that uncovered a diamond in the rough and a new star for 2010 and beyond.

Day 2 Review – Magic Numbers + Summer Camp
18/08/2010 -review By Dan Wade

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There is only one certainty in life. No matter how good your job is, and we’re pretty sure this is a scientific fact; you will always be made jealous by bands performing live. It’s something that will always tug away at the rock star in us but, ultimately, will always be sent packing by our inabilities to play anything other than Kumbaya on the guitar or wail like a strangled cat when fronted with a microphone. Ah, such is life. Tonight, thanks to the sweet, sultry pop hooks of Summer Camp and the soaring melodies and array of musical instrumentation of The Magic Numbers, we’re all feeling slightly jealous as we gaze in awe of two captivating sets.

Summer Camp set the evening in motion with a short set, showcasing a master-class in cultivated, Chillwave offerings. Without their usual backing band, the sepia-tinged haze that encapsulates both ‘Round the Moon’ and ‘Ghost Train’ is replaced with a more stripped back, sharp edge. Not that either song is devoid of its off-kilter, playful charms however. And the intricate, lyrical interplay that sways over their sweet, sultry delivery is never more obvious than during, set closer ‘Was It Worth It’.

There’s nothing like time to re-discover an underlying verve, which, after a four year hiatus building their own studio and collecting obscure Ethiopian instruments, The Magic Numbers have discovered in abundance. Running through a handful of hand selected tracks from their new album, ‘The Runaway’, the crowd, which tonight is speckled with lovers, friends, family and children, are humbled from chord one, track one.  The two stand outs from the new album were received like old favourites. First, ‘Why Did You Call’, the first single off the album, is as gloriously dreamy as any of its predecessors. Shimmering with soft, serenading guitars it slow builds to a triumphant crescendo. Whilst, ‘A Start With No End’ is buoyantly sung back by a crowd who aren’t supposed to know the words yet. It’s a ‘moment’ that is only topped by the serenading of a married couple with ‘Love Me Like You’. A song they danced too at their wedding. It’s eloquent, elegant and emphatically gorgeous and brings the curtain down on yet another night of pure entertainment.

Day 1 Review – Chilly Gonzales & CocknBullKid 17/08/2010 -review By Dan Wade http://vimeo.com/14238382 Sometimes you can submerge yourself in London culture. Sometimes you need an escape. Tucked away inside the bare-bricked surroundings of Levi’s® Flagship store, pianist, singer and entertainer, Chilly Gonzalez provided just that. With the buzz of Regent Street just a glass door away, Gonzales, dressed in bath robe and slippers, took to the intimate stage and threw down an immediate gauntlet to the ten acts still to play over the coming two weeks. Hunched over his Baldwin piano, Chilly soothed into a jazz-flecked instrumental, breaking any expectations of a traditional Levi’s gig and defining The Craft of Music project in two minutes of melodic, dynamic beauty. Second track, ’Dot’, captured much of the same spirit but perhaps tipped its cap to a more progressive direction saved for the remainder of the show. Built around a classical solo, it floated with finesse before upping tempo with the boom of various foot stomps and the drive of heavy fingered ivory slapping.

In a further act of variation, Gonzales switches from soft-jazz troubadour, to spoken-word rap artist. ‘Never Stop Rap’ a retort on corporate culture set perfectly, he says, in the church of capitalism. It’s a perfect foil to his virtuoso villain veneer. A front he exudes throughout the hilarious Q and A session with captivated crowd hanging from his every cutting word.

Inviting London singer songwriter, CocknBullKid to the stage for the finale, Chilly informs the crowd that the pair has worked together before. He needn’t have. The chemistry between the two is palpable. And after the spine-tingling bloom of ‘Happy Birthday’, the shows set highlights arrive back to back in the shape of two classic covers. First, Destiny’s Child’s ‘Bills Bills Bills’ and then the stunning, late 90’s dance anthem, ‘Touch Me’, which grows with intensifying euphoria in a climatic epilogue for one of today’s, true modern pioneers.

  http://vimeo.com/14238382

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CLICK HERE TO APPLY FOR TICKETS FOR THE REMAINING CRAFT OF MUSIC LIVE SESSIONS

The Craft of Music -August 2010

Levi’s® and Clash have teamed up to bring to a series of intimate performances and Q+A sessions in the Levi’s® Regent Street store with a diverse range of the finest musical talent around right now.

From singer songwriter legends to piano virtuosos, from beatboxing meastros and live dubstep pioneers to true masters of indie rock, The Craft of Music will give you the chance to experience and engage music’s most exciting artists up as close as you could possibly get.

As well as listening to enthralling sets from some of the best emerging and established talent around, fans will also have the opportunity to put questions to a select number of artists. All sessions will take place in the newly crafted Levi’s® ‘Origin’ space, a performance area situated at the front of Levi’s® Flagship store on Regent Street.

For tickets go to Facebook.com/levisuk

The re-birth of an icon. June 2010.

To commemorate the birth of the first blue jean, Levi’s® has re-introduced an original: the 201 jean. First seen in 1890, this icon was a staple of work wear for decades before being discontinued but now, as part of Levi’s® archive-inspired Product With Roots collection, the 201 jean has been re-born.

To celebrate, Origin has been transformed into a tribute to the construction of the 201 using oversized original patterns, creating a unique visual display of denim craft. Downstairs in the basement level, an original pair of 1920s 201 jeans from the San Francisco archives are on show in near pristine condition – a true testament to the craftsmanship of Levi’s® jeans.

in collaboration

with Alex Turvey, May 2010.

The quest for the perfect fitting pair of jeans is over!

Levi’s® is revolutionising women’s jeans and to celebrate Director and Craftworker Alex Turvey has  created a unique installation in the Regent Street store.  He took the opportunity to craft his own interpretation of the perfect fitting jeans and push the boundaries of window design to the next level:

“Inspired by traditional circus mirrors I designed large mirrored sculptures, each displaying its own personality, each creating a unique display of reflection.  The mirrors generated an obscene amount of static electricity resulting in hundreds of micro shocks during install!

The beauty of the sculptures comes from the incredible range of reflections projected from each window, light bouncing from spike to spike creating a hypnotic web of reflection that changes from night to day

The process through which I realised the designs involved a bespoke combination of architectural techniques developed through my making team MADE.”

Alex Turvey, Director

And complimenting this magnificent window display of mirrored sculptures, the Origin space has been turned into a unique display of shape-shifting reflections:

Origin – The Home of Craftwork,

April 2010.

The Levi’s® London Flagship Store is the manifestation of craftsmanship and reflects the heart and soul of the brand at every turn.   The factory-inspired architecture houses the biggest denim offering in London and takes you on a journey through the origins of jeanswear and the evolution of Levi’s®.

Ground Floor

Basement

Forming the atrium of the store is Origin, a space dedicated purely for the curation of craft.  Regular exhibitions will take place here showcasing everything from exclusive product collaborations to art shows, including exhibitions from a diverse selection of Craftworkers from all over London.

Launching Origin is a beautiful photography display which introduces the Craftworkers featuring in the stunning brand campaign to support the store’s reopening.  Captured by renowned photographer Dean Chalkley, the images will be displayed along side unique exhibits donated by each the Craftworkers to illustrate the varying inspirations, tools and products which make-up their craft.

Origin Exhibition – The Launch of Levi’s® Craftwork, April 2010.