English, Softback 27.3 x 20.5 cm 120 pages Published December 2021 by Black Baby Publishing ISBN: 9781739990299 "As a lock-down project, I regressed back to my teenage self once more and began hand-painting Siouxsie and The Banshees imagery onto old biker type leather jackets, either sourced from John’s vintage stall at Spitalfields Market or donated in lieu of studio rent from Alex, a photographer friend of mine. I found I still held a steady hand as I dipped the cheap nylon brushes into a pot of leather dye from the local leather shop in my de Beauvoir ‘hood, which was as sensual as spreading Lurpak onto a slice of Mother’s Pride. Laying down the brushstokes to a rag doll dance I became entranced, as the brush slid across the leather to the rhythmic pounding of Budgie’s Burundi-style drumming on SPELLBOUND ( track one, side one, JUJU ) I found myself transported back in time to Saturday afternoons spent idling away the hours at the Clock Tower in Leicester City centre ….me ’n' Charlie, Simon Reynolds and Jason with the mohican would catch the bus from Birstall to meet up with ‘The Ratt' and Johnno in town to show off our latest self-sculpted haircuts and hand-made outfits. JOHNNO - who we nick-named the 'oldest PunK in town' - must’ve been at least 40, would repeatedly try to impress us with the tale of the metal plate inserted inside his head after someone had bottled him in the mosh pit at the METEORS gig down The Centre Bar... I spent weeks trying to source vintage Siouxsie badges on eBay like the obsessive fan I used to be ...or still am - but failed to gather enough ammunition in order to decorate the front of my latest design - so with the aid of a magnifying glass and a 00 size brush went about painstakingly making my own, and ended up with over 50 hand drawn and painted badges fronting one such jacket - if it don’t exist - invent it - that’s what I say. By the time the first Lockdown was over, and my first born was born - I must've accumulated about 18 Jackets in total and exhibited them in a Catwalk style fashion show in my studio on December 1st 2021, with an army of unusual suspects modelling each jacket stomping and jigging their way through the studio in a style of their own. FULL LEATHER JACKETS is the accompanying catalogue for the collection, expertly photographed by fashion photographer Alex Sainsbury and me neighbour the Architecture photographer Ed Reeve, cut pasted and glued together by the ‘Russian Criminal Tattoo’ book designers FUEL…"
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