Shopping
STYLE FILE
TWISTED GENERATION
I'll bet you‘ve got a wardrobe full of them. Baggy ones. tight ones. ones you don't wear but can't throw out, holey ones. new ones and most probably some you wear to bed. The thing I'm talking abOth is the T-shirt.
It started life a one-size-fits-all standard shape but now. thanks to a fashion revival and the wonderful Twisted Generation. the T—shirt is back where it should be: at the forefront of fashion.
Austin Rattray and David Gilmour started planning Twisted Generation two years ago when they spent many frustrated hours trying to find an independent T-shirt stockist in Glasgow. At the time Rattray was studying and Gilmour was working as a buyer. but several months. a degree in medicine and a head full of designs later. Twisted Generation went online and sold its first T-shirt. In the past two months it has sold over 300 throughout the UK and as far afield as Indonesia.
Not only does it offer special delivery options and a gift \fi’l'zippllig serVice. but it has also taken the frustration out of T- shirt shopping for girls. Rather then offering just two sizes (‘so skinny it won’t go over your head size' and ‘fits like a tent' size». it has selected tailored designs that go from small (size 8—10: to large (size 16—18). It also hopes to include larger sizes in the future: a rather refreshing thought in the fashion world.
Rattray runs the website. marketing and manufacturing side of the business and Gilmour is the designer. His ideas. such as the acid heads and the knife. fork and syringe designs. come from a variety of sources including fashion trends and clubbing. Indeed. it was while out at the Arches that they came up with the name for the con’ipany and. terrified in case they forgot it. x-xrote it on one of their arms.
The guys aim to find a studio space and venture into accessories and more clothing lines. (Jane Hamilton)
I F.'./lste(i General/on, WWW. tWI'sIedgenerat/On. com
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0 has TOYS
I 1 Powerball £24.95
This is a highly addictive
gadget. designed for fun and fitness. In the centre of the ball there's a gyroscope and the aim of the game is to keep it spinning by iiwaking circular hand and wrist frozenients. The counter on the top tells you how crap or tremendous you are
and. although it's initially tricky to get the hang of. once you do it's hard to put down.
I 2 Procrastinator £12.95
The Procrastinator is a self-confessed ‘waste of time'. Boasting over 1.000 utterly pointless and easy drawing exercises. word games. gap-fillers and daft doodles spread over 100 sheets. this 165 x 110mm box of fun sits neatly next to yOur keyboard and is ideal for those moments '.‘./hen boredom strikes at work.
I 3 Tech Bike $73.99
Why. God. why? The peeple that brought you the amazingly addictive Tech Deck have taken the whole concept of extreme sports toys one step too far. Although aesthetically arm/ing. Wliil interchangeable parts and lots of attention to detail. it is hard to find anything to do with the Tech Bike. The word on the street: it's rubbish.
I 4 Generation 7 Tech Deck $3.99
I 5 Tech Deck Deluxe Grinder £15.99 7' A fr;.'.' weeks to learn. but a lifetime to master. the finger skateboard is the ultimate toy to conquer office boredom. The possibllities are endless: your desk can become a mini skatepark. Staplers can act as handrails and you can grind off your keyboard While you answer calls and bring the X Games to yOur computer tern‘inal. The Deluxe Grinder. hr).'/e‘.’er, is a bit fancier than usmg office slippies as props and. with other designs that interconnect Iver! ramps. corner bowls. etci. you can build your own skatepark. (Carolyn Aiken)
I lenh Deck available from WWW. popcorn/lye. cook; Powerba/l :ir tr 1' f')r'r)r,".'i:;tiriator avar/ab/e from WWW. firebox. com
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1 12 THE LIST ‘. 7’. Jun in’)?
Shoptalk
Spend, spend, spend. . .
I ANYONE LOOKING forward to this year's Intervention fashion festival at the Arches will be disappointed to hear that due to the withdrawal of pubic funding, the event as we know it - a platform for young talent - is no more. In its place, two invite-only events will be staged on the weekend of 7—9 June. One is the launch of the Scot Asia website, a new forum providing advice to designers and giving an online retail outlet for Scottish design. The other is the Vital Scottish Style Awards which will be announcing Scotland's most stylish man, woman, fashion designer and so on, as voted by readers of The Daily Record. Such a high-profile event is good news for the industry but we can't help thinking of all the designers we spoke to last year who were overjoyed that Scotland finally had its own fashion festival.
I A NEW EDINBURGH ~based company has launched its first product range: fairly ed home
“1W
accessories with a contemporary design. Aiming to provide an alternative to the ‘ethical’ look of a lot of the fair trade goods currently on sale, Earth Squared works with projects in Cambodia, Vietnam and Guatemala to produce products such as silk cushions and bags, lamps, photo albums and a whole bamboo range. See www.earth squared.com or call 0131 556 0987.
I SCOTIAND'S TWO lkea stores launch their summer sales on 20 June, with reductions across the board. The Edinburgh store has recently been refurbished and the Glasgow branch has extended its floorspace
to 30,000 square metres. The sale runs until 14 July.
I ON A MORE positive note, Edinburgh College of Art will take its place on the catwalk at this year’s Prince’s Trust Graduate Fashion Week, supported by Topshop. in London’s Battersea Park Arena from 10-13 June, the event has developed a reputation as the place to spot fashion’s future stars and this is the first year a Scottish college has been involved. Details at www.gfw.org.uk
I IF ALL THIS TALK OF fair trade is raising your global consciousness. why not take it a step further and log onto www.ubrand.com. Here you’ll find T-shirts emblazoned with messages of freedom. justice and quality, as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The non-profit making company uses the proceeds raised by the T-shirts (they cost approx 216—220) to post banner ads on the web. promoting the human rights message.
I ON A LIGHTER note, apparently prints are a must- have for summer. and Hobbs has chosen this safari- insplred print shirt dress as its pick of the season. The stores will also be stocking 1960s inspired clothes in linen and gingham prints.
I WHAT DO YOU mean you haven't got you World Cup strip sorted out yet? Lucky for you that Marks & Spencer has produced a range of themed clothing. Dig those sweaters. baby!