Whilst it is everything you would expect, an Americanised mall (sorry, I know its Australian!!), large space, big brands and huge stores, it contains names you would never have placed with ‘Stratford’. I grew up being dragged to the Stratford Centre for shopping trips with my mum. A damp run down old indoor market that smelt not dissimilar to a fish mongers! The biggest names in there included a Boots, but generally were the likes of Mark One fashion (think polyester dresses for a £5!), and the notorious ‘in shops’ consisting of indoor market stalls.

Although that’s a very old picture, and it has since been re developed, to see the opening of  brands such as Jamie Oliver, Searcy’s champagne bar, Armani jeans and Hugo boss is big news for the East end!

It’s exciting to be part of such a major change in the local area but also quite sad to think this could be the end of the Stratford centre.

Keen runners got up early in London yesterday to join Mo for a run in London’s Regents Park. The first 250 runners back also got a free breaskfast at Holdiay Inn, the official hotel provider for the 2012 Olympics and Paralymics.

The atmosphere at Indigo is no different and was recently helped by a printing job we did for the International Olympic Committee and their Youth Olympic Games. The design received was the logo of the games with the tagline ‘Spirit of Youth Olympic Games’, which highlights how YOG DNA stands for an idea rather than any of the specific games.

For an order this size we do production in house and in so doing embody a little of that spirit by printing 60 t-shirts using a painstaking technique. This was done via the vinyl printing process which initially involved our ‘weeding’ workhorse Adam etching out each of the logos individually after they had been printed out (see below).

Once weeded the logos were then passed onto Steph to heat press them onto the garments, and after 60 he had broken enough sweat to warrant it as an entry into the games!

We thought the garments looked great and were pleased we could do our bit for the Youth Olympic Games. It also gave us a taster as to what to expect from London 2012, hopefully this is only the start of Olympic t-shirts, hoodies and other merchandise that Indigo can do. Lord Coe said today in reference to the athletes that “the greatest tool you have is a well-stocked shop window”, and although we may not have a shop window we’re certainly going to be well stocked and ready for the Olympic season.

I was surprised when I arrived that there were only about 50 people in front of me, and was chuffed I got a wrist band for the first two sets allowed in the ‘pen’! 2 hours of queuing in the cold had paid off! The queue started to build up about 8am and was round the corner before the doors opened. I spotted a guy with a pillow and sheet who had clearly slept there, later spotting him at the till with a 1.5k receipt in his hand! What he wanted with all those dresses I don’t know! well I do… ebay! One of the canvas shoppers is currently on with 21 bids and at £25.00 (£2.50 in store!) and the £149 tutu frock is currently available as a buy it now, for £300!!!

I could cash in on these beauties, but they are far too precious and I don’t get up that early for anything but beautiful dresses! And not just one beautiful dress but three, one t-shirt, earrings and a lippy!

Bringing together a casual campus style, downtown prep with a fresh edge, the Rugby Ralph Lauren boutique will be yet another American brand bringing it’s wares to London (such as Abercrombie and Fitch and Banana Republic in recent years). The US lifestyle label recently launched a store in Toyoko, and it will be the first European store by the younger Ralph Lauren range, which dates from 2004.

Should you be looking for rugby shirts with a slightly lower price tag and that can be customised with your club message, school crest or business logo then Indigo Clothing rather than Ralph Lauren might be a more suitable place for you to visit!

Indigo Clothing produced these t-shirts for 29 year old entrepreneur and architect Anthony Lau. Anthony was the designer of the racks that hold the bikes for the new London cycle hire scheme. You can buy the t-shirts from Velorution cycle shop in Great Titchfield Street, Soho.

Print Club is a great way for designers and illustrators to get their hands dirty and they run one-day beginners workshops to teach the basics of screen printing. They are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and they are well equipped. They have six screen beds, two t-shirt carousels, a t-shirt dryer, Apple Macs, storage facilities, a washout room and a large exposure unit. £90 a month gives members unlimited access to the studio and 9 hours pre-booking time per week. They supply the facilities and members supply ink, paper, emulsion,and screens.

We think it is a great idea! If however you need t-shirts printed and don’t want to go down the DIY route, of course Indigo Clothing are always on hand to supply both garments and the printing service is super-quick time.

]]> http://www.indigoclothing.com/blog/print-club-london-waterbased-screen-printing/feed/ 0 http://www.indigoclothing.com/blog/virgin-london-marathon-2010-2/ http://www.indigoclothing.com/blog/virgin-london-marathon-2010-2/#comments Sat, 24 Apr 2010 14:26:54 +0000 Jo http://www.indigoclothing.com/blog/?p=1749

The London marathon is going to kill me in this weather…. the drinking/cheering I mean… I am not crazy enough to actually run the marathon! Amongst the thousands of runners descending upon the streets of London this weekend is our friend Lyn Brooks. She is raising money for the Spinal Injuries Association.

She has raised a great amount so far through various means, including selling printed tees from Indigo Clothing!

If you see Lynnie on the day give her a cheer, or meet her at the end and buy her a beer!

To donate to this worthy cause, please see this link.

Team Lynnie

Plus Indigo Clothing’s Stephan has designed this charity tee for Lyn Brooks. She is running the London Marathon, raising money for the Spinal Injuries Association. These are available to purchase through Lyn’s facebook page and feature a gold foil finish! You can donate here.

Sizzling In The Heat….
or Super Igloo: Tremendous Home…
or Screaming Invisible Trampoliner Hurt.

But (fortunately) what it actually signifies is: Star In The Hood.

London’s Tinchy Stryder is not just a pretty face/rapping rapper/musical melody maker who likes to flash around with his S.I.T.H clothes shimmering, he is in fact the very fashion master behind this brand. Created a couple of years ago, Tinchy says: “RESPECT” and “I wear it every single day”. After listening to Tinchy’s touching lyrics, I have been inspired by ‘the hood‘ way of life and have decided to make it my quest to become a Tinchy disciple. So far so good, I’ve been congratulated on the authenticity of my walk, shades and rhymes, now all I need is some cutting edge stizzle [style]. Where better to stizzle myself up that with some bone fide Tinchy wear, modeled by the man himself. Since it’s chilly I’ve decided to go for the sweatshirt, a soft, fleecy lining sounds so appealing for when I’m snuggled at home with a cup of tea….oh I mean, I need to keep warm-izzle when I’m out on the streets all night in a freestyle rap-off. There are many designs to choose from. The neon green on black is attractive, but since I’m aiming to be more of a ‘baller’, I think I’ll bling it up with the diamante, black-filled, grey-marl sweatshirt. No expense spared.

Serious Stizzle

Despite my steely exterior (you need it in the hood), I have to admit that this gangsta’ is really quite the softie. So when selecting some Christmas presents for my homies, I’m planning on splashing my baller cash on an ‘I Got Soul’ Tinchy-esque tee, because 100% of the profits go to War Child, an international charity that protects children who live in the most dangerous war zones of the world. Yeah Tinchy, that’s right – “Respect”.

When you're in the hood, you're allowed to be grammatically incorrect

Kool

Since Anna Lou is of London, she also loves to make her plastic accessories Britalicious. The Queen’s Head earrings and Corgi Brooch are my particular favourites, and would be ideal Christmas gifts for any friends who live overseas. Particularly friends who dislike Britain…there’s nothing like a good bit of patriotism in the face of banterous hostility is there now? I’m just hoping for a Gordon Brown range to come out; did you know, he’s gone a little bit gangsta, rap bling these days has G-Brown…

Guess who has a Royal Corgi..............

............that's right! The Queen!

“Salut”

“Paper Planes”

“Cubesville”

and my personal favourite…..”Tv’s”

But these kind t-shirters are also willing to print on request, so if there’s a particular style/colour combination you’ve got your heart set on then your wishes might just be accommodated. As ‘We Make T-Shirts’ begin to burst into stores in London (Lik & Neon Brick Lane), Sheffield, Nottingham and Birmingham (“Cow” Stores), their talent is getting some well deserved recognition and I think it’s time to jump on their bandwagon.

Nick Knight t-shirt printed by Indigo Clothing

Indigo printed t-shirts for a new fashion and photography exhibition at London’s beautiful Somerset House. Fashion Revolution will showcase the talents of innovators as various as Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Gareth Pugh, Kate Moss and Björk – alongside Knight himself.

If you are in town, pop-in and check it out. Jo and Vick went along for the press launch and were talking about nothing else all week!

SHOWstudio: Fashion Revolution will run at Somerset House from September 18 to December 22 2009.

[Via Vogue.com]

I am Five. We’ll in truth I have aged a bit since then, though the frequency with which I have to whip out the old proof of age would beg to differ, as would the checkout people who have in the past checked that I’m old enough to buy Baileys ice-cream. I can say with pleasure that afterwards they were slightly embarrassed at checking. Looking young is clearly something to treasure, though I worry that one of these days I’ll wake up and all my ageing will have happened overnight and I’ll all of a sudden be hobbling around with a stick and booking myself in for a face lift.

I am Five isn’t quite a statement of age, it’s a t-shirt design label based in London town. I doubt that they’re grappling with the same age-appearance incompatibility related issues as me because they’re so busy making fantastical t-shirts. The first line from their brand spanking new online store is all about London fun. With a clean website, and equally clean design techniques they present a series of nods to London past, present, regal and fictional. You might like to wear Sherlock Holmes‘ profile, a t-shirt interpretation of the British Post-Box or three letters than mean so much: ‘LDN’. I like it.

"ER" Royal Majesty

“Oh Meeha, keep in mind we’re very casual and jeans will do just fine.”

Just the words any intern/workshadowing student wants to hear when trying to venture into the world of the working kind. I didn’t really know what to expect  when I got accepted to do a workshadow with Jo and the gang at Indigo Clothing. All I can say is, quickest six hours of my life, apart from the really, really , REALLY fast six hours of sleep that preceded the working day.

I was taken by Jo, my mentor for the day to the warmest, most comfortable studio room-office ever. T-shirts hanging from a clothing line, of course, they customise shirts, among other things. Was introduced Eleni, who works with Jo, and got right down to work, being explained bits and bobs along the way.  After a  few additions and multiplications, sending back quotes to potential customers  it was time for lunch. Guess what, they feed you too!! Well, only if you’re interning I guess . Yummy chicken sandwich baguette from a bar across the road, you will truly be missed. When we got back from lunch I was introduced to the Blog on which these few words will be put up, I’m assuming. FUN! Although I’m not sure if this particular post will be half as popular or fun to read as any of Kate’s. Wow can that woman write or what?

As I write this, I’m getting my very own t-shirt printed.  It took me nearly half an hour to think up what I wanted to have printed on my shirt. I think it is quite near perfection.  Almost.

You readers should be so lucky to get a day to intern with Indigo Clothing, I did, so BOOYA!! I’m thinking of throwing in an evil chuckle somewhere, yes totally should.

*RUBS HANDS TOGETHER AND CHUCKLES*

And because I have a train to catch back to Loughborough University, I must stop writing this post from this big city computer, in this big city work place, in the big city.

This sheep in the big city and alien to fast walking, tube-taking, hustling and bustling must go back to the Village that is Loughborough.  Adios!

Meeha's new t-shirt!