Behind the scenes of "Hell for Leather"

Since my beloved Canon powershot bit the dust at the Lovebox festival when it got flung to the stage during the excitement of the Chic set, I have struggled to love the iphone6 and its in-built camera. Having been forcibly upgraded by the modern mindset that constantly has to fix stuff that ain't even broke I was assured I would come to love it, especially the camera. This has not come to pass. So luckily my "Behind the Scenes" portfolio has been artfully augmented by Deborah, assistant to Ben Amure, but at the first shoot, when our Countess of Bedlam was actress Rose Keegan, I was left to fend alone with the Fisher Price i-phone.

Rose at her dressing table

Mr Wesley assuring that the hem of the King of Threads corduroys whisper to the co-respondent shoe

Theo Jackson in the "Mr Harrop" waistcoat, "Jay B" overcoat and Bedlam bibfront shirt with Mr Wesley in his 

Rose in riding boots with gaucho nickel spurs (my own, not for sale), the waterproofed cotton jodhpurs and "Helen" coat of Harris Tweed

I love my spurs, found them in the tiny town of Turkey, Texas

It was our first round in Ben's Brixton studio, which he shares with a couple of other photographers. A stone's throw across the road is one of my favourite places I ever lived, St. Matthew's Road, where Eddie our landlord had thrown himself out of the kitchen window one day in a fit about people leaving washing up in the sink (this was before my tenure, I need hardly add). He landed on his head in the flower bed below. He got up and walked away but this caused a blot clot that effectively turned Eddie into a time bomb. One dawn I returned home from the Ministry of Sound to be informed that he had dropped down dead in our bathroom (he didn't live with us but preferred our flat to his own and we gave up dropping hints that he might respect tenant / landlord space). Shortly after that my cat Kitten gave birth and I christened her only issue Edward in his honour. Edward went on to become something of a celebrity:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1095649/8216-It-time-scatter-Edward-8217-s-ashes--8211-Sinatra-8217-s-grave-8217.html
But I digress. Back to my shots of the first photo shoot:

Ruby assisted Ben on the first shoot

Ruby's beau Theo Jackson in the "Tectonic" suit

The "Mr Harrop" waistcoat awaits its turn in the spotlight. Made of Harris Tweed it is lined in silk printed with our signature handcuff motif and has real leather buttons

Rose in the cosy rosy Bedlam Union Suit and high top hat by Bedlam's own Milliner Maria PK. She is buttoning the wrap over "Lady C" skirt made of the same waterproofed cotton as the jodhpurs. It has a detachable fan pleat tail

Back view of the "Lady C" skirt. Rose wears the "Evelina" jacket on top

Sophie, the jolly Orange Baron's daughter, popped in with her business partner Henry to see how we were getting along. They will be turning their attention to our website, rebuilding it entirely, just as soon as we get them the content. Next week I promise. In the meantime you can have a look at their other clients! http://www.dinkelandsweerts.com/
(We particularly commend to you the Langtons Gin, so supremely tasty that you can drink it neat, as shots! And we have! And it's delicious. Beware though, it is stronger than your arravige infusion). *hic*

Henry was taken off guard and bundled into the double breasted "Clancey" coat and suddenly James Dean was on set.

Why Mr Dinkel your star's a-twinkle

Ben coaches novice pin up Henry Dinkel

Henry in the "Mr Willis" suit and Bedlam's button tab Manchester made bib front shirt in Bengal Wine. 

Henry in the "Mr Wesley" impermeable made of wonder fabric Ventile

Ok, that's enough from me for tonight, I've been ordered upstairs to my room by some man in a Newsboy cap and a round neck waistcoat. And he's not telling me twice. But for a bed time story I leave you with this post from yesterday's Style Mummy blog, with which we were most delighted:

http://www.stylemummy.com/2013/04/12/5-minutes-with-mark-wesley-fashion-designer-and-coccreator-of-earl-of-bedlam/

St. Patrick's Day Parade

Thanks to Theo Jackson, our bad ass musical ambassador, we have lately got to know Ben Amure, a photographer making a name for himself with portraits of London's rising jazz stars. For our cause, he kindly volunteered his time and talent to take shots of the clothes au studio before we went to New York. Since we've been back he has organised - and I mean organised - two shoots of the collection at his studio in Brixton. http://www.benjaminamure.com/

We needed bodies. I thought I might see if Goldie was around but the flash gnasher was off to Miami http://www.goldie.co.uk/.
I asked my old RADA buddie David Harewood, but he was still in LA. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0362873/
(We did take a raincheck for showery April though!)
"Don't worry," said Ben, "I've got a model, great physique, tall, Jakub. I met him on a train."

Moving on to casting our girl, I remembered meeting Georgia Brontë at a Kenzo party in the early days of this blog. She is now a sort after model, signed to Select, and we had a little Twitter exchange that established she had college study calls on her time the weekend of the shoot (yes, it has occurred to me that might be a polite brush off). Then Sophie, daughter of the jolly orange Baron, came to see us at the studio. She searched her phone for a photo of her boyfriend's step sister.
We peered.
"Crikey! Call her!"
I then had a brief conversation with Casper, for it was she, and she announced she was game. Minutes after we talked, she drove through this little village in Yorkshire:

It's a sign!!

Casper, it was immediately apparent, tell everybody, was born to be the salty pirate Queen of Bedlam.

Casper in the "Evelina" jacket in a John G. Hardy Alsport tweed; scarf by Age of Reason

Casper's daddy was a sailor. Here she rocks the Tectonic suit in a J. & J. Minnis flannel chalk stripe

Casper in the "Helen" coat made of Harris Tweed with leather hot cross bun buttons and the Bedlam bib front shirt in Bengal Wine

The Evelina jacket as above

Casper in the Megan jacket in John G. Hardy tweed with silk velvet highway lady cuffs and pocket flaps; the Lady C split skirt in waterproofed cotton; "Orgy" silk scarf by Age of Reason

Casper in the cozy rosy Bedlam all-in -one with pearl buttons

Then Jakub strolled in and flash, bang, wallop, the clothes fitted him perfectly; the right attitude and look was instantly there; it was natural, effortless, a delight to behold; and, kinda crucial in the circumstances, it transmitted to print.

Jakob in the Taffy jacket and Arthur  trousers, both in John G. Hardy Alsport tweed. Bedlam grandad shirt with soft leather collar in Tattersall check.

Oh yes. Jakob tipping his hat in the Tectonic suit and Bedlam bib front shirt

Jakob looking stingin' in the Bumble Bee jacket - pure wool cloth from A.W. Hainsworth, trimmed in Toscana lamb fleece from Walter Reginald and lined in pure honey gold silk from Pongees

The Tectonic suit jacket from the back

Jakob in the Clancey jacket in Harris Tweed with real horn buttons; and the Arthur trousers

Ben's assistant Deborah Adelabu  took a series of "behind the scenes" shots

So then we threw them together. To coin a phrase, it was smokin'!

Fresh off the boat, landed on Ellis Island, are they brother and sister, Bonnie & Clyde, or double trouble empire builders?

Betty Blue-Clara Bow-Demi Moore all and more is Casper, Bedlam's Pirate Queen soaking up the scrutiny from Jakob, Bedlam's Gypsy King (another of Deborah's shots)

Casper and Jakob in his'n'hers cosy rosey Bedlam Wild West all-in-ones. It's cold out there, cuddle til cookin'

Next up rocked two stars of the UK jazz scene, Soweto Kinch, multiple MOBO winner and Mercury Music Prize nominee (and who was actually Goldie's partner in the TV show "The Band") and Welsh trumpet player, Andy Davies, just a little smug from the previous day's rugby victory. He hosts the jam upstairs at Ronnie Scotts on Wednesday nights.

Rain's not on the list, it's not getting in. Andy and Soweto in the Ventile mac with rubber sealed seams we call the Mr Wesley; and the King of Threads cords. Andy holds the Stick of Bedlam, branded ivy by artist David Taborn

Soweto Kinch in the Mr Willis suit in a John G. Hardy Alsport tweed; Bedlam bib front shirt and New York Newsboy cap. 

Andy, the good ship Bedlam's own Horn Blower

Andy in the Jay B single breasted overcoat of Harris Tweed with velvet collar and red piping, lined in silk printed with Bedlam's signature handcuff motif

The St. Patrick's Day Massacre rat-ta-tat-tat.
Andy Davies in the Mr Harrop waistcoat in Harris Tweed and Bedlam bib front shirt

There are more to show you and some of my own "behind-the-scenes" slightly out of focus efforts. So if the wind is in the right direction that ship should sail along shortly.

NY Triptych concluded

I am writing this in bed feeling kinda yucky - some lurgy has crept through a chink in my armor and a part of me is glad of an excuse to lie down. We've been back from NYC for over two weeks and finally I'm concluding the round-up.

Danielle tries the "Evelina"

Wednesday, the day before we left for home, we breakfasted with Helen and Ingmar at their hotel near the UN on the East Side of the island before taking ourselves off to the nearby British Consulate. Our meeting there was with Danielle from the UK Trade & Industry Department and Brittany from the Consulate staff who looks after fashion commerce.

Ingmar stands aloof from the hokey kokey

The ladies both seemed to think we had a good handle on how to progress but gave us insight into various joint initiatives we can pursue. We will have another meeting in London next week with our UKTI point person Nicola. There is plenty of assistance and structure to lean on out there if you make the effort to contact them. We pottered off for a pit stop before intercepting Redboy on the sidewalk outside the offices of Barneys. Once we were through the most remarkably unsmiley security (I considered it the triumph of the day that we managed to make the corner of his mouth twitch before we made for the elevators) we kept the most welcoming receptionist on the Barneys floor company while Red slipped into the "Tectonic" suit.

Ingmar waiting in reception at the Barneys office (we should have put a shoe on his head to balance the composition)

Then a familiar voice called up the stairwell, "Can it be, are you really here?!" before the elegance that is Jay Bell, VP Buyer of Designer Menswear, appeared and enveloped us in his embrace. He adapted to the extra personnel we had brought along with customary good humour and we shoehorned into his office along with a clothes rail. He tried on every piece. We had been corresponding in the week also, thanks to an introduction from Nile Rodgers, with Simon Doonan, the Englishman in New York and now Creative Ambassador-at Large of Barneys http://www.simondoonan.com/

Jay Bell in the "Mister Wesley" mac and Redboy in the "Tectonic"

He was particularly taken with the grey herringbone overcoat with velvet collar and red piping. As we have named each piece in the "Hell for Leather" collection for someone who has helped us and given encouragement, then this shall henceforth and for ever more be known as the "Jay B": 

The "Jay B" overcoat in 100% Harris Tweed wool herringbone, photograph by Ben Amure.

As well as Redboy, we had Ingmar to model and he showed off the "Edwin" corduroy suit inspired by an old French gardener's suit with the lovely spotted silk lining and plaited leather buttons:

Jay tapped at the calculator working out prices with taxes and import duties and freight and all the other costs that have to be factored in. To buy the whole collection for the stores would be a major spend and we had appeared, as it were, Hell for Leather, at the end of the cheque book. Our sort of gorgeous don't come cheap here in the UK but with all the extras added on for the US market it makes for what is known as "investment dressing". Still, we like to think that pieces by Bedlam will be passed down a generation so divide years of potential wear into the total price and you've nabbed yourself a bargain. So what we settled on was a series of accessories to introduce the brand in Barneys, to be able to say that we are in. So a smaller order but an enormous cause for celebration. More on that later. http://www.barneys.com/Men/men,default,sc.html

We next dashed back to Gladsons to meet Blanche who by now had dug her way out of Connecticut. She lived up to all the fanfare Mr Harrop had given her. Legend has it she keeps a notebook of her outfits so as not to repeat one when she goes on meetings. She was as pleased as Edwin had been to see what we had done with their fabric and twirled for us in the "Helen" coat:

Blanche gives Mr Wesley a squeeze

That evening, our last in the City, we rode the train out to Scarsdale for dinner with friends Craig and Hayley. It was a five star treat to eat home cooked spag bol and talk about school with their boys. I asked Gabe, their youngest, if he would be my Valentine. "No," he said directly. "He is your Valentine", pointing at Mr Wesley. 

We had brought cup cakes decorated in sugar hearts from the bakery in Grand Central Station and had them for dessert before we rode the train home. It had started snowing again in Scarsdale. I wore my pearly cap. It's still not finished, it has the threaded needle in the brim, but people are taking that as a design conceit and digging it! Funnily enough, Craig and Hayley have started collecting pearly artwork by a lady called Ann (whose last name I must double check). I loved the Pearly Queen that hangs in their drawing room:

On our last morning in New York City we hosted a meeting in the lounge of our building with Helen and Ingmar and the gentleman Helen has appointed to help her guide a design project with which we may be involved. We shall return to that in time when various legal procedures have been cleared. Helen then went to be interviewed about her foundation on a TV show while we hopped a cab with Ingmar and rode up to Times Square to visit GQ in the Condé Nast building, such as Cameron had set up for us http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/

En route we had the best celebrity sighting ever. Ingmar nearly fell out of the cab with excitement. That would have been a shame to mar our last day together with a Sesame Street sidewalk splat. We had an action packed month with him and it was full on until the last moment.

ELMO!!!!

So Michael Rossi  - who used to work at Decades with Cameron -  was kind enough to look through the collection and having said how much he liked it, request a look book to show his GQ colleagues. We were tempted - Ingmar was set on it - to go up to Vogue's floor after we left him and barge our way into see Anna. I was tired and had just enough in my tank to get us through the day and onto the plane. I guess adrenalin would have kicked in had we had an elevator encounter with La Wintour. Here am I looking peaky with Michael:

Enfant Terrible aka Wunderkind

Condé Nast but Nice

Then we returned Ingmar to his mama, went quickly in to Any Old Iron to say our "goodbyes" and "thank yous" to Mr Clancey, bought cleaning products from the grocery store to give Francine's apartment a gleaming swish over before hailing our last taxi of the week to deliver us to Newark Airport. It was Valentine's night, everyone was headed outta town early to get home to their honeys, not least those romantic Italian types who all live in New Jersey. The traffic was a gnarl fest but we arrived to check in on good time with a host of preposterously tall and slender models on their way to London Fashion Week. We came second in the "Best 'How We Met' story" competition and won a £20 voucher for onboard shopping. The next morning Stuart was at the Heathrow to meet us in is Hansom Cab. What a kind chap. I am as tired now as I was then and my achy head is flopping forward so it's a wrap and lights out for this edition.