Launched last week on a wet and windy night at the AMUTi 23 bookshop just off Charing Cross Rd, Dressing for Pleasure documents the 70s rubber scene in pictures via a best-of selection from AtomAge magazine. Featuring the amazing fetishwear of John Sutcliffe, it uncovers a secret world hidden behind the front doors of suburbia, where bespoke craftsmanship was an important part of kink. Check the interiors too.

Published by Fuel Design

John Skelton is a longtime Sang Bleu family friend whose contributions to the cause have ranged from interviewee to stockist. His latest project LN-CC is a multi-layered retail concept bringing together a sharply curated selection of fashion, music, and literature. Balancing a strong online presence, with an appointment-only store/venue/showroom, also shows typical commitment to the needs of a contemporary customer base – one which he knows inside out. Sang Bleu grabbed five minutes with John in New York after fashion week to talk shop.

Sang Bleu: LN-CC feels like a very natural progression, was it essentially the vehicle needed to bring together a group of people you always wanted to work with under one roof?

John Skelton: Yeah, kind of.  We live in a world where work, friends and the things that we know and love are all the same thing. We always had the people around us and the vision in our minds, we just needed a platform to be able to execute it without any restrictions and doing it ourselves was our only option really.

SB: Has the crossover into combining menswear and womenswear been a particularly exciting development for you?

JS: The women’s thing is something that i had been wanting to do for such a long time and had had so many requests about so yes it is exciting for sure. At the minute our women’s selection is really limited, it was important for us to launch the site with both men’s and women’s product but we also wanted to take time to build a really strong brand list. Next season will be a lot different and as of October when we begin to receive pre-collections you’ll start to see the full strength and direction of our women’s offer. I think that women need an independent store online, the market is dominated by big players but their selection is so dry. Hopefully what we’re doing will mix things up a bit.

SB: How will the collective feel of the concept be reflected in both the real and digital environments of the store?

JS: This is one of the most important things about what we are doing.  We have invested so much time and energy into our space that I’m sure people will get a much stronger feel for what we are all about when they can see the physical representation.  The store sums up the diversity of our group by incorporating so many different areas in a very deep and specialist manner, not just with the men’s and women’s offer but by covering music, literature and art/tattoo as well so its definitely got a very broad flavour and appeal.

SB: Which new element of the project are you most excited about exploring further in the future?

JS: We’ve got a few things going on in the background that we hope are going to change the landscape forever but I can’t really talk about them right now.  The most exciting thing for us at the moment and coming in the near future is definitely the development of the space which should be ready by the end of October.  It’s really starting to take shape and I think will really give us that extra dimension.  the other thing will be the launch of our Japanese site which should be around the same time.  We are working on a new concept with some Japanese guys based in Tokyo which we will roll out early next year but the basics will be in place real soon.

LN-CC LN-CC LN-CC

Sang Bleu is happy to announce that its sister company B&P recently produced this special version of its “Didot” typeface on behalf of Adrien Pelletier, new Art Director of l’Officiel Paris. Speaking of B&P, we are currently working on a brand new website and several new releases, coming out very shortly on www.swisstypefaces.com!

A nice in-depth interview with Maxime Büchi, for those who read the Italian language.

http://www.wallpaper.com/art/types-we-can-make-exhibition-at-mit-museum-usa/4806

I do have a particular affinity for the raw, the brut, the minimal. Gif have been around for a minute but, what an endless source of virtual delight. Like photocopy for printed matter, I guess. The geek in me says: Check this shit out.

(gifs hereunder by Françoise Gamma)

At a release party for V magazine, you might find: