Author: modculture

Categories / Music

Jarvis Cocker’s Meltdown details announced

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Jarvis
The Meltdown festival at London’s Southbank Centre is always worth checking out – and the latest line-up, pulled together by Jarvis Cocker, looks to be as interesting as any that have gone before.

Running from 16th – 23rd June, it packs in a range of acts from the past 50 years, including old school rock from Iggy & the Stooges and Motörhead, comeback kings The Jesus And Mary Chain, and the first ever UK performance by Roky Erickson.

There’s also punk legends Devo, legendary composter John Barry, Cornershop, Jerry Dammers’ Spatial Aka Orchestra, Melanie and the Lost Ladies Of Folk – a ‘freak folk’ supergroup.

For a full breakdown of events, dates and admission prices, read on after the turn.

Southbank website

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Categories / Design and Interiors, Gadgets and Tech

Space Invaders soft toys

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Invaders_softtoys

Is your obsession with retro computer games out of control? Well, you are probably the target market for these Space Invaders soft toys.

The official name for them is Bitz Pixelated Palz, designed by Jude & Amy Buffum. There’s a total of nine aliens to collect, each sized at seven inches x seven inches and in limited runs.

Available at the Art Star online store, they retail for $25 (around £13) each.

Find out more at the Art Star website

Categories / Women's Fashion

Vintage Dior jewellery at John Lewis

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Lewis_dior

If you are on the look out for vintage designer jewellery, John Lewis isn’t the first place you would look. But as of Monday 30th April, it should be.

The company is selling 1,500 vintage pieces of Dior, Burberry and Grossé for a limited time. The archive collection belongs to Bert Grossé, owner of the former Grossé jewellery factory in Germany, which was purchased by Christian Dior in 2004. From 1955 until its takeover, Grossé was the only manufacturer in the world licensed to make Dior jewellery. It also produced its own line and had a 7-year contract with Burberry.

Mr Grossé kept hold of his favourite pieces, but has now decided to sell, fearing his descendents might fight for them after his death. Cash, it seems, is easier to split. The collection includes items from the 1960s to 1990s, with prices ranging from £19 to £499 – so something for everyone.

You can find it in the following shops:
John Lewis Oxford Street: 30th April – 13th May
John Lewis Brent Cross: 21st May – 3rd June
John Lewis Liverpool: 11th June – 24th June

John Lewis website

Categories / Bags

Puma Roma: Have you seen this bag?

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Puma_roma

I’m a big fan of the classic 1970s sitcom Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads, but watching the DVD recently, something interesting caught my eye.

Look at the picture above and you’ll see a particularly eye-catching sports bag. It’s a Puma Roma bag in black with white lettering. This episode dates from 1973, so I’m guessing the bag was in production around that time – but I don’t know anything else.

Does anyone out there know if this bag has been reproduced since then? Or indeed, if it was widely available at the time? All advice gratefully received as I’m very keen to pick one up. It’s a shame Puma don’t bring out some genuinely classic items as opposed to the rather disappointing Puma French 77 range.

Categories / Design and Interiors

Jobs Handtryck vintage fabrics

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Thistle

Jobs Handtryck is a family-run printing house, which has been producing bright designs by hand since 1944. And they’re still producing them today – a mix of new styles and classics from the back company’s rich design past.

You can buy a number of them at Skandium, including my favourite – this Thistle design. Both Thistle and Thistle Blue were designed by Dagmar Lodén in 1949 on union linen.

With a width of 135cm, this particular cloth retails for £95 per metre. Not cheap, but certainly eye-catching and almost certain to be exclusive to your street.

Find out more at the Skandium website

Categories / Travel

The cutting-edge Airstream caravan

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Airstream

We’ve covered vintage Airstream trailers in the past, but this one is a little more cutting-edge than your average caravan.

It’s available from US retailer Design Within Reach and is the work of San Francisco architect Christopher Deam – matching the latest technology with retro fittings for the go-getter who needs to work on the move, but still wants a bit of style. As well as having Wi-Fi connectivity for getting online, it has kitchen cabinets lined with green plastic laminate, a Nelson Ball Clock, upholstery in striped fabric by Paul Smith,  a separate bedroom, a flat-screen TV and much more.

It’s available from June for $49,066 (around £25,000). I don’t think they do mail order outside the US!

Find out more at the Design Within Reach website