:: Dispatches from London Fashion Week ::
During London Fashion Week, Somerset House is not the only place wear fashion mavens congregate.
Just a stones throw away from that iconic venue, at the Strand Hotel, an event is taking place bringing together lesser known and emerging, but in many ways, equally talented designers, under the banner ‘Fashion Mavericks’

:: Dispatches from London Fashion Week ::
Sometimes a sense of a shared history, and clues to who you are come in the unlikeliest of places. In this case, on a London Fashion Week catwalk.
At the Caroline Charles show to be exact.

So This Is Worldtown drops by London Fashion Week (LFW)– taking place Feb 19 to Feb 24– sneaking in to a couple of runways shows at LFW’s home at Somerset House, as well as reporting from a range of other events in the city focusing on fresh, diverse and up-and-coming designers to watch.

For this endeavour, we keep in mind the Oscar Wilde quote: “It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.” Fitting?

This Is Worldtown captures the Hypernova’s coordinated black and white hypster chic outfits, as they keep the crowd going with their tunes from upcoming album ‘Through the Chaos’ & provocative banter.

Imagine a band, born and raised in Iran, whose upbeat dance-rock brings to mind the Strokes, Joy Division, and Depeche Mode. Throw in some catchy hooks, and the distinctive deep voice of front-man (first names only) Raam, and you’ve got North America’s fast-rising indie-rock outfit Hypernova.
In the climate of the ‘War on Terror’ with Iran being the latest threat, coverage of a story like Hypernova’s might aim to shock. Despite the fact that rock n’roll has pervaded every corner of the earth, it is still seen by some, at its core, as American as apple pie.

Can we talk about poverty in a way that doesn’t exoticise it? Is this possible anymore? When we talk about elitism and about golf courses and convertibles, can we admit that conversations about privilege are also about government housing, about skipped school fieldtrips, and the way roaches will scatter in swarms across tile floors when you flip the kitchen switch at midnight?

For ‘Hypernova’, the fast rising indie rock band from Iran (Yeah, they are from Iran), politics is personal, it’s all about the music (and it’s good!) and as they navigate between the worlds of humble musicians, travelling artists and aspiring rockstars it makes for a familiar yet atypical experience.

For the characters inhabiting Amir Nizar Zuabi’s ‘I am Yusuf and This Is My Brother’, survival is paramount; but there is no redemption to be found in this haunting play.

A Worldtown one to watch: Of Rwandan origin and now living in Vancouver, B.C., Shad’s a hip-hop artist whose style inadvertently draws comparisons to rap from the early 90’s - you know, when it wasn’t a byproduct of autotune and bloghouse effects. With a second album and a Juno nomination under his wing, Shad’s in line as repping the under-the spotlight Canadian Hip-Hop scene thanks to artists like K’Naan and Drake. We ask Shad questions about his influences and future plans and see where the Old Prince stands as sought out hip hop royalty.

Susan Mullally’s photography project asks what you keep and why it is of value, in collaboration with members of the Church Under the Bridge in Waco, Texas. The portraits look straight at you, and the answers & objects are what is so incredible about the series– from a ten-gallon hat, to a pop bottle, to a washboard… What do you keep?