Lifestyle Shopping&Fashion
Print quality
Anna Burnside browses the shelves at GmbH, a stylish new magazine and periodical shop in Glasgow’s Modern Institute
B orders, the monolithic American- owned books-to-backrubs emporium that once dominated Buchanan Street, is not much mourned. The only gap it left in most Glaswegians’ hearts is 3cm thick with a glossy cover; if you wanted a magazine about culture, design, fashion or architecture (to say nothing of fly-fishing, cross-stitching or building your own Morris Traveller out of used lollipop sticks), it was the go-to store.
Since it closed, west-coasters who need a
regular fix of out-there periodicals have had no equivalent to Edinburgh’s excellent Analogue Books. Which is why friends Neil McKie, 27, and Jamie Kenyon, 25, have colonised the entry to the Modern Institute and turned it into GmbH, a and periodical shop that is cool and stylish in a way that dreary, corporate Borders could not have begun to imagine. magazine
For a start, GmbH looks gorgeous, with fashion titles bigger than posters, Italian architecture porn and groovy fanzines displayed, gallery-style, on sleek, modular shelving. In the middle, a two-piece table designed by Giles Round is the kind of sculptural furniture celebrated in the titles artfully displayed upon it.
Even the logo, designed by one of the
26 THE LIST 21 Oct–4 Nov 2010
Given that they are based in a gallery, it’s not surprising that contemporary art, design GmbH, 14–20 Osbourne Street, Glasgow, G1 5QN, www.gmbhshop.com
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BUY THE WAY NEWS FROM THE SHOP FRONT
THE GEM SWEATER WORKSHOP Taking place at Made in The Shade’s shiny new HQ in The Barras, this three-hour class (led by Edinburgh- based textile designer Kirsty ‘Wooden Tree’ Anderson) could be the road to Cosby Sweater heaven. You bring the jumper; they’ll provide the gems. Inspired by Leslie Hall (pictured) there'll be trashy snacks, a gem sweater soundtrack and bowls of punch. MITS plan to run a full programme of sewing classes, dressmaking courses, knitting groups and more. See www.wearemadeintheshade.com for info. Barras Centre, Glasgow, Wed 3 Nov, £15.
COOKERY SHOP iIf words like ‘Le Creuset’ and ‘Alessi’ get your pulse racing, then this new independent cookery shop could be worth a visit. Creative Cookware opened recently on Rose
Street, and stocks a good range of utensils, pots and pans, baking equipment and knives. They are also exclusive stockists of German kitchenware range, Auerhahn. 89 Rose Street, Edinburgh, Mon–Sat, 10.30am–6pm, www.creativecookware.co.uk CRAFT MARKETS For those about to prematurely Christmas shop, we salute you. Pens at the ready. Get these dates in the diary – Magpie are hosting a craft, design and vintage fair at The Lot, Edinburgh (Sun 14 Nov & Sun 12 Dec, magpiemarket.blogspot.com) while over in Glasgow, MITS are having an official launch for their Glasgow Barras-based Supermercado indie market (pictured), on Sat 6 Nov, and then every week. For more info, see www.wearemadeintheshade.com.
and craftwork all get a good show. But there are plenty of surprises on these shelves as well: a couple of cool cycling magazines (The Ride and Boneshaker), music and digital culture titles, a zany cookery mag called Bite Me. Hardcore art theory? Instructions for cooking beaver? GmbH have the publications to help. They even have old familiars such as Literary Review and The New Internationalist, and the founders are currently debating whether or not to add The New Yorker. If they find customers on the edge of the Calton battering down their door for its elegant articles and arch cartoons, it will appear on the shelves. ‘Print has been undervalued,’ says Kenyon, stroking the book-like Qompendium, the last one left in the shop. ‘But we think it’s coming back. People are passionate about it, and prepared to spend money on quality. It’s all about the physicality of the object.’
Modern Institute’s stable of artists, Scott Myles, is a miniature work of art. The name GmbH is borrowed from German, in which the initials are used as an abbreviation for a limited liability company. McKie and Kenyon wanted a name that was deliberately ambiguous because they have big ideas and may want to use the brand when they publish their own material, open an arts project space or start a coffee bar. They persuaded Myles, who often works with text, to rattle them up some striking typography and an accompanying image, based on an open book, in exchange for custom-building him a bike.
are
open The choice of stock reflects the founders’ preoccupations, although they to suggestions and are willing to source just about any printed matter classed as a periodical that a customer might want. Fashion is very well represented, from the mainstream i-D, Pop and Love, through to the wilder shores of Lowdown, Acne Paper and The Gentlewoman. Perhaps not one to slip in with mum’s Good Housekeeping, The Gentlewoman’s cover star is Dutch photographer Inez van Lamsweerde, wearing a Victorian lacy blouse and a beard.