Edit Her loves…

Shoephoria! exhibition

Fashion history buffs and shoe enthusiasts will be pleased to hear that a new exhibition exploring the history of shoes is now on display at Fashion Museum Bath. The show will exhibit 350 pairs of shoes and boots and will trace the evolution of shoe style across the last 300 years.

The exhibition was meant to run last year but was put on hold due to the pandemic; its curators took the opportunity to expand the exhibition under lockdown (the collection started with 100 pairs). Notable shoes in the collection include designer shoes by Vivienne Westwood, Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo, as well as shoes belonging to prominent people and celebrities, such as the dancing shoes worn by Nicola Adams on Strictly Come Dancing 2020 and the shoes worn by iconic British ballerinas Margot Fonteyn and Alicia Markova. The show will also feature a ‘wearer’s walkway’, a photographic presentation of ordinary people and their extraordinary shoes. The exhibition is currently open now and runs until 2022.

More information here.

Storey the app

The last few years in fashion have witnessed a rise in immersive technologies designed to simplify the process of organising our wardrobes and getting dressed. Popular examples of these technologies include the styling app Whering, made by ex-banker Bianca Rangecroft, and fashion styling gaming app DREST, created by the former editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, Lucy Yeomans, in partnership with FARFETCH. These apps work by digitising your wardrobe à la Clueless, and draw users in by offering extra features such as the opportunity to buy and sell items in-app.

Storey works similarly in that it allows users to digitise their wardrobes and track the resale value of their items over time. It was launched last year by Nicole, Tak, Mollie and Onia, a group of young tech entrepreneurs and mindful sustainable fashion professionals. Added features allow members to list their items for sale and buy clothes from other users.

Discover here.

Bill Cunningham Was There book

A new book published by Rizzoli will showcase and celebrate the work of the legendary street style photographer Bill Cunningham. Titled Bill Cunningham Was There: Spring Flings + Summer Soirees, the book highlights the many evening parties and philanthropic events that Cunningham attended across his forty years at The New York Times. And it draws on Cunningham’s weekly column, Evening Hours.

The book was compiled by John Kurdewan (one of Cunningham’s longtime collaborators and friends, who was also a staff writer at The New York Times) and Steven Stolman, a designer, author and frequent subject of Cunningham’s camera.

Known for his asceticism, Cunningham would ride to events on his bicycle, and although mixing with the fashion world’s rich and famous, he maintained an outsider’s perspective, preferring to observe and photograph rather than mingle amongst his subjects.

Buy the book here.

Nicholas Daley’s ‘Return to Slygo’ exhibition

Upon entering Nicholas Daley’s new multimedia exhibition at the Now Gallery on London’s Greenwich Peninsula, visitors are met with a sprawling knitted rug laid out impressively at the feet of a giant Lego jukebox. Closer inspection reveals that it is woven of various tartan fabrics, a prime example of the designer mixing both his Scottish and Jamaican heritage as well as showing off his craftsmanship. Mounted on the jukebox are various family photographs, clothes belonging to Daley’s parents, and ‘A Knitted History’, a short film directed by Joseph Dunn, exploring knitting and ancestry in discussion with Daley’s Scottish mother, Maureen. This part of the exhibition delves into Daley’s familial ties, unpacking his relationship to music, craft and community.

On the left side of the jukebox, visitors will find a glass cabinet displaying the military shirt that Daley’s Jamaican father, Jeffrey, wore during his British military service and then repurposed for his time spent DJing at The Reggae Klub in Scotland. A knitted scarf worn by Jeffrey Daley and knitted in 1980 by one of Maureen Daley’s friends – Jenny Gardner – sits draped across it. The ‘Reggae Klub’ and ‘Slygo Soundsystem’ were club nights run by Daley’s parents at their height between 1978 and 1982. The objects pay homage to Daley’s heritage and love of music.

Elsewhere in the exhibition are archival photographs such as campaign imagery from Daley’s collaboration with Fred Perry in 2020, personal objects such as badges and past show invitations. The exhibition is free to attend, with tickets available on the gallery’s website.