BEAUTY: Clothing--Harri

London Fashion Week wrapped up yesterday and all in all, it offered some interesting moments. And this must surely be one...

After graduating from the Menswear MA program at the London College of Fashion, Indian-born and London-based artist and designer Harri started showing two years ago. His most recent SS'26 collection showed pieces in his signature rubber latex, but the silhouettes were quite disarming. He entitled the collection "MuseumWear" and was inspired by surrealist art. Aside from the literally inflated proportions of many pieces, what I find interesting is how latex is usually associated with tight-fitting garments that often come from the fetish community, but in Harri's hands, they can take on a casual, draped expression seen in coats and jackets (I love the metallic silver jacket!).

https://harri.store/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Olly Shinder

Since 2000, Fashion East has been a fantastic incubator for talent in the fashion world. Founded by Lulu Kennedy MBE, Fashion East has nurtured the likes of Kim Jones, Craig  Green, Simone Rocha, Martine Rose, Wales Bonner, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Per Gotesson, J.W. Anderson, all of whom can be found featured on this blog!

The current crop of talent at Fashion East includes young designer Olly Shinder who showed his FW '24-'25 collection at London Fashion Week. Shinder is inspired by his interaction with the underground gay fetish world. He told Vogue UK, "My fascination lies in uniforms with an underlying theme of kink. Delving into subcultures, I previously explored everyday uniforms. This season, I’ve taken the collection to the lab – think a bit scientist, a bit testing lab. I was drawn to the silhouettes of more extreme uniforms like hazmat suits, imagining how the fetish community might incorporate these pieces. Alongside, there are cotton and wool pieces reminiscent of ceremonial guards’ uniforms, with a more decorative flair evoking an old, classic English – perhaps aristocratic – aesthetic. My focus isn’t on specific places; I’m much more interested in a world of function, which is much more contemporary."

Fascinating.

Shinder does not have a site for his brand yet but you can follow him on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/olly.shinder

BEAUTY: Sculpture--Sam Jinks

These incredibly life-like pieces made of silicone, paint, and human hair are by Sam Jinks, who started as a model maker for television and film. His work is akin to other artists who work with a realistic figurative vocabulary like the phenomenal Ron Mueck (Jinks and Mueck are actually good friends!), Patricia Piccinini, and Duane Hanson.

I am showing some of Jinks' work censored. I want to state that while I clearly have no problem with such works of art, I do not want a stray complaint to either force me to put an "Adult Content" warning before my blog, or have "Oh, By The Way" shut down. So please forgive the sanitized, "spray painted" bits. And go to Jinks' site to see the beautiful, uncensored versions.

Above: Two views of Calcium Divide (Self Portrait)

Above: Two views of Doghead

Above: Two views of Unsettled Dogs

Above: Woman and Child

Here is the artist at work on a piece, painstakingly applying each hair, one at a time.

http://www.samjinks.com/