Lady Crimplene's Kitschmas

 Last Christmas I visited my friend Helen Desai, aka Lady Crimplene, at her home just off the Triangle. You may know the colourful lady C from her vintage clothing sales on Haynes Lane and elsewhere. Well, her love of all things vintage extends to her Christmas decorations. We all need a bit of distraction at the moment, so feast your eyes on this joyful seasonal extravaganza.

Merry Christmas all!

Rupert & Janet

Backstage: reopened and revisited

As a result of the disruption caused to businesses by lockdown, shops and restaurants have had to rethink and revamp their business model. Heather Morris, the owner of Backstage decided to do away with the hair salon side of her business, to concentrate on the clothing. And she's not just selling off the peg merchandise, but is now making much of it in store.

The front of the store is still the smart boutique selling elegant clothing, and jewellery displayed in Art Deco cabinets, one of which used to be in The Ritz , but in place of the salon stations towards the back, is a cutting table and several vintage sewing machines.

"Setting up a studio to produce clothes within the shop has been a long-held dream of mine", Heather tells me. So her collection of vintage fabrics and sewing machines have now found new purpose. The idea is partly to get away from the wastefulness of 'fast' fashion, and to produce beautifully crafted items that are an art form rather than a disposable commodity. Colourful Liberty prints are turned into beautiful, Japanese inspired Obi belts, as well as more conventional garments.

Heather's stylish store has already been a Westow Street fixture for nearly a decade, and I hope that this forward looking revamp gives it many more years ahead.

A Liberty print Obi belt tied around a vintage Jigsaw mannequin designed by Nigel Coates

The Studio

Heather at work with one of her vintage machines.

Backstage

47a Westow Street

Tractor Factory - Jake Dunn Designs -

A tractor factory, in Crystal Palace? Seriously? Well, not exactly, but believe it or not, until quite recently, No.69 Church Road was the location of a company which bought and sold farm machinery. I always wondered what the story behind this was, as it just seemed so improbable. Apparently they used to buy up old tractors and recondition them, for sale to farmers in developing countries. And it wasn't the only unusual shop in the area. As someone reminded me, there's somewhere else along Church Road selling old shop tills, and does anyone have any idea what exactly Dohm Industries on Gipsy Hill makes or sells? Something to do with scientific instruments I believe.
Anyway, since 2013, the former tractor shop has been home to Jake Dunn Designs. You can't fail to have noticed the colourful window displays, which currently feature, three oversized, spray painted skulls, and a couple of chickens. So although Jake is predominantly a carpenter and furniture maker, it comes as no surprise that among other things, he used to design and builds sets, for stage and traveling trade fairs. Originally from the beautiful Antrim coast in Northern Ireland, Jake spent many years working in California, before landing in Southeast London nearly a decade ago. Beyond the random skulls, chickens, an old Sinclair C5, and a pair of slot machines, the space displays Jake's colourful furniture designs, from stools, side tables and coat racks, right up to built in shelving, cupboards, and a DJ station. The shop is the outward manifestation of Jake's creative mind, brimming with ideas and inspiration, mixing his own creations with stuff he picks up here and there. Just talking to him, you get a sense of someone with boundless energy and enthusiasm for what he does, and someone contented with life above the shop, on the edge of the Triangle, with his workshop out the back and its views across Kent. Having said that however, as we are talking, I become aware of one fly in the ointment. Jake is understandably concerned by the huge trucks which squeeze along this narrow stretch of the Triangle. In the past, he has tried to take matters into his own hands, putting up a 20mph speed limit sign outside the building, but naturally the authorities took a dim view. But it seems that it may not be a truck that takes out this corner, but rather, yet another new development of flats. I feel sure however, that should that happen, Jake will quickly find a new outlet for his creativity.

 

Jake with some of his smaller creations

Impressed with Jake's work, I commissioned him recently to make a radiator cover for the hall in my flat. I was really pleased with the result. As well as hiding a fairly unsightly storage heater, it also provided much needed storage for shoes.

Tractor Factory

69 Church Road

020 8771 2435

jakedunndesigns@gmail.com