Stavros Karelis and Niamhs White: interview with SHOWstudio creatives
MACHINE-A's Stavros Karelis and curator Niamh White talk about future projects, their love of SHOWstudio and their favourite London cultural hang-outs.
SHOWstudio Stavros Karelis
SHOWstudio has been re-defining how we consume fashion online since its foundation fifteen years ago, when SHOWstudio founder Nick Knight exploited the arrival of the internet to create a space in which fashion could be seen as it was designed to be: in movement. (Watch Nick Knight in SHOWstudio YouTube.)
The website collaborates with some of the world's most influential figures in fashion, from John Galliano to Kate Moss and Alexander McQueen, as well as visual curators and entrepreneurs, two of whom sat down with us to discuss their past accomplishments, future aspirations and their favourite London cultural hot-spots.
Stavros Karelis is the Founder and Buying Director of MACHINE-A, the London based boutique selling contemporary collections from both emerging and established brands; and curator Niamh White, an independent visual arts and fashion curator who until recently was Curator of Exhibitions at SHOWstudio, where she commissioned projects with Iris van Herpen, Shaun Leane, Noritaka Tatehana and Anj Smith among many others.
Interview with Stavros Karelis
What was the inspiration behind founding MACHINE-A?
I wanted to create a space where young creatives would be able to showcase their work and present their vision. The main focus became graduates and emerging designers in their final year of university, and we made these designers' collections available for customers to buy.
How have you found the experience?
It has been an extremely interesting. As time progressed, this initial idea [to sell emerging designers' collections] became the basis for what MACHINE-A is today: a concept store where the latest trends are concentrated, and collections from graduates sit alongside established high end brands like Raf Simons.
How important is having a physical shop in which to sell clothes today, compared with e-commerce?
One cannot exist without the other. Retail is an important part of the fashion industry, creating a personal experience between customers and brands. Online, however, gives brands access to a worldwide audience.
Who are the hot designers to watch this year, and what stock is arriving in store soon?
Nasir Mazhar, COTTWEILER, C.E., Raf Simons, Liam Hodges, Gosha Rubchinskiy, JW Anderson, ALYX , Grace Wales Bonner and many others.
LC:M has just been and gone, which shows were you looking forward to?
All of the above, plus Nasir Mazhar who has powerful shows, COTTWEILER for strong presentations, MAN showcasing great designers like Liam Hodges, and my favorite Raf Simons. There's also Fashion East presentations and Gosha Rubchinskiy.
Tell us a little bit more about the partnership between SHOWstudio and Machine A. Why does it work?
SHOW studio is so iconic. Producing fashion films allow visitors to explore the latest news in fashion. MACHINE-A shares similar aesthetic and views with SHOWstudio: discovering, presenting and selling the best of emerging brands.
What defines the London fashion scene?
Unique vision and character. Nowhere else in the world there is a fashion capital that concentrates such a huge number of creative talent. We have the best fashion universities, and each year more talent comes to study, graduate and work in the industry.
How has contemporary style changed? After normcore, where do you think the overall street aesthetic is headed? Will it change?
Street aesthetic comes from street couture and as such it won't change. It will exist as it existed before it was a trend. In each cultural community there are different smaller communities which have different takes.These differences are seen in music and fashion, but it is something deeper and more meaningful with long roots that will continue to grow as younger generations become part of it.
Stavros Karelis: Cultural Diary
Old Favourite?
Anything in Soho.
New discovery?
Colombian restaurant Brixton market.
Best-loved walk or view?
South bank.
Favourite local restaurant?
Shoryu Ramen.
Most memorable cultural experience of the last year?
C.E. presentation Tate Britain.
Hidden gem no-one else knows about?
Harrow Park skate area.
Where will you be seen this month?
At CSM BA show , RCA MA show, GFW , LCM & Paris fashion week and of course MACHINE-A.
click for more fashion
Interview with curator Niamh White
Tell us a bit more about the concept behind SHOWcabinet, how did the idea originate and what are the aims?
SHOWstudio.com has assembled a wide array of wonderful online content from the world's best filmmakers, artists, designers, writers and cultural figures. We designed the gallery model to reflect the idea of the website as an archive. We tend to invite one artist or designer to create a piece especially for the cabinet and then explain it through a collection of fashion and art objects that have informed their practice in some way.
What have been some of the most exciting SHOWcabinet collaborations so far?
It's difficult to choose. The most recent cabinet was with Anj Smith and that was wonderful because it interrogated themes that are pertinent to art and fashion simultaneously: androgyny, fantasy, embellishment and ornamentation.
Shaun Leane created a mini natural history museum that featured eight new pieces of bespoke fine jewellery alongside one of the largest emerald specimens in the world, a Damien Hirst butterfly painting and a live snake!
For Iris van Herpen's exhibition, Nick Knight captured high speed footage of a splash of water hitting Daphne Guinness who stood naked on a plinth looking statuesque. Iris selected a frame from the footage where the water appeared like a dress - wrapping around the waist, creating a full skirt and high collar and turned the moment into a garment by heating and sculpting PET G plastic. The dress was then shot by Nick on Daphne for a series of beautiful black and white editorial photographs, and then exhibited in the SHOWcabinet.
What role does fashion film play in today's contemporary art scene?
The great fashion photographers of the last century (Blumenfeld, Penn, Avedon) have come to be recognised as influential artists who made important contributions to the development of the visual language of photography. I think fashion film will come to be recognised as contributing to the wider field of moving image and video art. If you look through SHOWstudio at Nick Knight's archive of fashion film, it is an undeniably extraordinary body of work.
Who would be the dream collaboration?
I would love for SHOWstudio to host a collaboration between Martin Creed and Off White ℅ Virgil Abloh. I'm imagining a capsule collection and interactive installation. It would also be great to work with Marina Abramovic. I am in awe of the way that she courts the respect of the art world while harnessing the power of popular culture, and riles the art press in doing so. She communicates her craft to the widest possible audience and the field of performance art will owe her an huge debt for this.
Who are the artists to watch at the moment?
We have focused quite specifically on fashion illustration recently. As a genre, it is quite unique as you can own original works on paper relatively affordably. We ask artists to interpret the collections as they appear on the catwalks and the results are often surprising and spontaneous. Unskilled Worker, Charles Jeffrey and Velwyn Yossy are all doing exciting things.
How has the creative landscape changed, are the arts more integrated now than before or has fashion always mixed with high art in this way?
Contemporary art and fashion have always informed and inspired one another - just look at Picasso, Miro, Benois and Baksts' costumes for the Ballet Russe, Dali and Schiaparelli, Yves Saint Laurent's appropriation of Mondrian, Vuitton's work with Richard Prince, Yayoi Kusama, Raf Simons and Sterling Ruby. But there is still a tangible divide between the two. The reason the SHOWcabinet is successful is that it finds common thematic and visual threads that run through both.
Niamh White: Cultural Diary Questions
Old Favourite?
Arts Theatre Club - Frith Street.
New discovery?
The Line, a new 3 mile art walk along the meridian line in London that includes outdoor sculpture by Anthony Caro, Paolozzi, Sterling Ruby, Thomson & Craighead and more.
Best-loved walk or view?
Kit Hill, Cornwall.
Favourite local restaurant?
Rochelle Canteen - Arnold Circus.
Most memorable cultural experience of the last year?
SHOWstudio's In Your Face interview series at Miami Art Basel.
Hidden gem no-one else knows about?
John Garland - Shirt Maker. He's just finished a Savile Row apprenticeship and makes the most beautiful shirts.
Where will you be seen this month?
Amongst a pile of boxes as we move SHOWstudio to a new premises.
click for more fashion
The website collaborates with some of the world's most influential figures in fashion, from John Galliano to Kate Moss and Alexander McQueen, as well as visual curators and entrepreneurs, two of whom sat down with us to discuss their past accomplishments, future aspirations and their favourite London cultural hot-spots.
Stavros Karelis is the Founder and Buying Director of MACHINE-A, the London based boutique selling contemporary collections from both emerging and established brands; and curator Niamh White, an independent visual arts and fashion curator who until recently was Curator of Exhibitions at SHOWstudio, where she commissioned projects with Iris van Herpen, Shaun Leane, Noritaka Tatehana and Anj Smith among many others.
Interview with Stavros Karelis
What was the inspiration behind founding MACHINE-A?
I wanted to create a space where young creatives would be able to showcase their work and present their vision. The main focus became graduates and emerging designers in their final year of university, and we made these designers' collections available for customers to buy.
How have you found the experience?
It has been an extremely interesting. As time progressed, this initial idea [to sell emerging designers' collections] became the basis for what MACHINE-A is today: a concept store where the latest trends are concentrated, and collections from graduates sit alongside established high end brands like Raf Simons.
How important is having a physical shop in which to sell clothes today, compared with e-commerce?
One cannot exist without the other. Retail is an important part of the fashion industry, creating a personal experience between customers and brands. Online, however, gives brands access to a worldwide audience.
Who are the hot designers to watch this year, and what stock is arriving in store soon?
Nasir Mazhar, COTTWEILER, C.E., Raf Simons, Liam Hodges, Gosha Rubchinskiy, JW Anderson, ALYX , Grace Wales Bonner and many others.
LC:M has just been and gone, which shows were you looking forward to?
All of the above, plus Nasir Mazhar who has powerful shows, COTTWEILER for strong presentations, MAN showcasing great designers like Liam Hodges, and my favorite Raf Simons. There's also Fashion East presentations and Gosha Rubchinskiy.
Tell us a little bit more about the partnership between SHOWstudio and Machine A. Why does it work?
SHOW studio is so iconic. Producing fashion films allow visitors to explore the latest news in fashion. MACHINE-A shares similar aesthetic and views with SHOWstudio: discovering, presenting and selling the best of emerging brands.
What defines the London fashion scene?
Unique vision and character. Nowhere else in the world there is a fashion capital that concentrates such a huge number of creative talent. We have the best fashion universities, and each year more talent comes to study, graduate and work in the industry.
How has contemporary style changed? After normcore, where do you think the overall street aesthetic is headed? Will it change?
Street aesthetic comes from street couture and as such it won't change. It will exist as it existed before it was a trend. In each cultural community there are different smaller communities which have different takes.These differences are seen in music and fashion, but it is something deeper and more meaningful with long roots that will continue to grow as younger generations become part of it.
Stavros Karelis: Cultural Diary
Old Favourite?
Anything in Soho.
New discovery?
Colombian restaurant Brixton market.
Best-loved walk or view?
South bank.
Favourite local restaurant?
Shoryu Ramen.
Most memorable cultural experience of the last year?
C.E. presentation Tate Britain.
Hidden gem no-one else knows about?
Harrow Park skate area.
Where will you be seen this month?
At CSM BA show , RCA MA show, GFW , LCM & Paris fashion week and of course MACHINE-A.
click for more fashion
Interview with curator Niamh White
Tell us a bit more about the concept behind SHOWcabinet, how did the idea originate and what are the aims?
SHOWstudio.com has assembled a wide array of wonderful online content from the world's best filmmakers, artists, designers, writers and cultural figures. We designed the gallery model to reflect the idea of the website as an archive. We tend to invite one artist or designer to create a piece especially for the cabinet and then explain it through a collection of fashion and art objects that have informed their practice in some way.
What have been some of the most exciting SHOWcabinet collaborations so far?
It's difficult to choose. The most recent cabinet was with Anj Smith and that was wonderful because it interrogated themes that are pertinent to art and fashion simultaneously: androgyny, fantasy, embellishment and ornamentation.
Shaun Leane created a mini natural history museum that featured eight new pieces of bespoke fine jewellery alongside one of the largest emerald specimens in the world, a Damien Hirst butterfly painting and a live snake!
For Iris van Herpen's exhibition, Nick Knight captured high speed footage of a splash of water hitting Daphne Guinness who stood naked on a plinth looking statuesque. Iris selected a frame from the footage where the water appeared like a dress - wrapping around the waist, creating a full skirt and high collar and turned the moment into a garment by heating and sculpting PET G plastic. The dress was then shot by Nick on Daphne for a series of beautiful black and white editorial photographs, and then exhibited in the SHOWcabinet.
What role does fashion film play in today's contemporary art scene?
The great fashion photographers of the last century (Blumenfeld, Penn, Avedon) have come to be recognised as influential artists who made important contributions to the development of the visual language of photography. I think fashion film will come to be recognised as contributing to the wider field of moving image and video art. If you look through SHOWstudio at Nick Knight's archive of fashion film, it is an undeniably extraordinary body of work.
Who would be the dream collaboration?
I would love for SHOWstudio to host a collaboration between Martin Creed and Off White ℅ Virgil Abloh. I'm imagining a capsule collection and interactive installation. It would also be great to work with Marina Abramovic. I am in awe of the way that she courts the respect of the art world while harnessing the power of popular culture, and riles the art press in doing so. She communicates her craft to the widest possible audience and the field of performance art will owe her an huge debt for this.
Who are the artists to watch at the moment?
We have focused quite specifically on fashion illustration recently. As a genre, it is quite unique as you can own original works on paper relatively affordably. We ask artists to interpret the collections as they appear on the catwalks and the results are often surprising and spontaneous. Unskilled Worker, Charles Jeffrey and Velwyn Yossy are all doing exciting things.
How has the creative landscape changed, are the arts more integrated now than before or has fashion always mixed with high art in this way?
Contemporary art and fashion have always informed and inspired one another - just look at Picasso, Miro, Benois and Baksts' costumes for the Ballet Russe, Dali and Schiaparelli, Yves Saint Laurent's appropriation of Mondrian, Vuitton's work with Richard Prince, Yayoi Kusama, Raf Simons and Sterling Ruby. But there is still a tangible divide between the two. The reason the SHOWcabinet is successful is that it finds common thematic and visual threads that run through both.
Niamh White: Cultural Diary Questions
Old Favourite?
Arts Theatre Club - Frith Street.
New discovery?
The Line, a new 3 mile art walk along the meridian line in London that includes outdoor sculpture by Anthony Caro, Paolozzi, Sterling Ruby, Thomson & Craighead and more.
Best-loved walk or view?
Kit Hill, Cornwall.
Favourite local restaurant?
Rochelle Canteen - Arnold Circus.
Most memorable cultural experience of the last year?
SHOWstudio's In Your Face interview series at Miami Art Basel.
Hidden gem no-one else knows about?
John Garland - Shirt Maker. He's just finished a Savile Row apprenticeship and makes the most beautiful shirts.
Where will you be seen this month?
Amongst a pile of boxes as we move SHOWstudio to a new premises.
click for more fashion
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