Editor Karyn Sparks

Editor's Note

Greetings Earthling Explorer

Welcome to Planet Vintage!

Zip up your Cardin jumpsuit, don your Niké Victory sunnies, and strap on your Suntimer. Lean back into your moulded plastic chair and buckle up – we’re off on a Sixties-inspired journey through space and time!

Rather than use this issue to wallow in the full-blown nostalgia trip that will embrace us all in summer 2012 – street parties, Jubilee celebrations, and oodles of vintage festivals across the country will do that for us – I thought it would be fun to take a retro look at the future – exploring the 2012 that never was!

Why aren’t we all living in open-plan communal space pods by now, wearing matching outfits and fighting aliens in far-off galaxies, the way we were promised in futuristic films, books, magazines and designs of the past? Well, the politicians may have failed us, but at least we can relive some of that wonderful new 21st-century vision today – recycled!

As you know, I love the Sixties – everything looked incredibly positive, exciting, often outrageous and always weird! Even before we landed on the Moon, the fashion world had exploded with space-age inspired plastic skirts and jackets, white boots, and goggles; whilst geometric squares, trapezoids and triangles were introduced into clothing, footwear and glasses.

My love of outrageous Sixties jewellery has certainly exploded with this issue – my growing collection of Scandinavian pieces definitely needs to make room for some space silver by Björn Weckström. I’ve also been inspired to sprinkle moondust over my cup cakes (if only I baked); discovered I DON’T like Moon Boots (reminds me too much of Uggs!); the way Flying Saucers stick to the roof of your mouth; noted that footed onesies seem to have borrowed their idea from certain space suits; sated, then sickened, myself on Bond movies having watched one every night for a week. Oh, and I’ve determined that I won’t be saving for a metal and wire dress, however fabulous they are!

So, if injecting the space-age vibe into vintage pushes the final frontier a little too far for some of you, I’m certain that, once you relax into it, you’ll find something that rocks your world. By the time you’ve finished, you may have out-of-this-world words like Moonbase, Telstar, Sorellarium, Sputnik, Lunar, Galactic, spilling from your lips with the ease of a seasoned space-traveller!

There’s plenty of toys for the boys in the future-past of course. As for fashion, your moon mission (should you choose to accept it ladies), is to get your spaceman swooning with all the novel fashion materials the retro space-age has to offer. Shiny, wet-look PVC: think Barbarella. Paper clothing: upside, disposable; downside, you really don’t want to be caught out in the rain in it (plus the risk of paper-cuts in intimate encounters). Fabulous anything by Pierre Cardin or Paco Rabanne: plastic, metal, chain mail, hammered metal, knitted fur, fluorescent leather and dresses made of fibreglass. Or, of course, there is the silver Moongirl pants and helmet hat look; or monochrome striped mini skirts and dresses with disc earrings; or chunky space-age silver over a plain white shift dress. (Think Princess Leia in triumphant mode for this last one please ladies, not that Ross ’n’ Rachel slave girl fantasy number – 21st-century women are empowered, remember?)

Meanwhile, for your mothership, get yourself anything Eamesily Sputnik-inspired; sunken conversation pits and modular sofas are a must (casual slouching is recommended); and you can even cut out and keep your own spaceship walls – Moon Base Alpha style – using the handy template on page 29.

Finally, congratulations to Donna of Brighton, East Sussex, for winning our 'Amy Johnson' competition in the last issue of the magazine. Donna wins a £50 voucher to spend on Samaya Ling's website or stand at one of the fairs she will be attending. Amy called her Gypsy Moth aircraft 'Jason'.

Karyn Sparks

Space Silver

Björn Weckström’s 1960s space-age silversmithing has won him fans all round the world... and in a galaxy far, far away

Still devilishly handsome at 77, charismatic Finnish artist and designer Björn Weckström is a free spirit. A lifelong sailor, he also uses old worn-out sails as the canvas for his paintings. Though trained at the Finnish Goldsmith School, he is as likely today to be working in glass or bronze as precious metals. His subjects range from space-age futurism to ancient myth. He splits his time between his native Helsinki and the warm southern climes of Tuscany – and he splits his artistic focus with even greater abandon.

Originally drawn to working in clay as a boy, and with ambitions to be a sculptor, he was persuaded to train as a gold and silversmith instead.  Article continues in the magazine...

With thanks to:

www.grasilver.com

www.deconet.com

www.fellows.co.uk

Commencing Countdown

There’s something futuristic about the catwalks this season – but it’s a future that’s distinctly retro. Confused? Let Jo-ann Fortune explain...

Back in the day, the phrase ‘21st-century’ stood for everything that was futuristic, frightening and fun – exciting, experimental and full of wild possibilities. These days it’s just... now. But by 2012, let me remind you, we were all supposed to be whizzing around in our own personal space-cars in pointy metal bras. Yes indeed... What ever did happen to my Jet Pack?

The ‘World of the Future’ may have turned out in reality to be rather more Simpsons than Jetsons, but there’s plenty of juice left in the sixties’ imaginings of what the future would be. And Chanel, Giles and Bottega Veneta are just three of the big-name fashion houses tapping into the retro Space Age vibe for the summer of 2012.  Article continues in the magazine...

www.kerrytaylorauctions.com

www.samayalingvintage.com

Vintage in Amsterdam

On a freezing February morning the intrepid VE Team set off for the very first Design Icons fair in Amsterdam to sample the best vintage in the Netherlands. By Karyn Sparks

As a partner to Holland’s very first 20th-century design fair, the VE Team set off on Friday 10th February for a well-deserved weekend in Amsterdam. Taking the Eurotunnel, we whizzed through France and Belgium and, within four hours, we had arrived. Our mission was to set up Vintagexplorer at the Design Icons fair and to explore the vintage shops around the city.  Article continues in the magazine...

Keep informed with RetroStart for the second Design Icons event.

www.retrostart.com & facebook.com/retrostart

Vintage shops:

1953 Retro en Chic - Facebook: 1953 Retro & Chic

Laura Dols - www.lauradols.com

Episode - www.episode.eu

ZIpper - www.zipperstore.nl

Optical Illusions

Nothing says the Swinging Sixties like the dazzling brilliance of Op Art, and no one was more influential in Op Art than British artist Bridget Riley, subject of a new two-part retrospective

It’s 50 years since Bridget Riley, 81 on 24th April this year, held her first commercial exhibition at Gallery One in Soho in 1962. And, in celebration, a two-part exhibition will be held from 23rd May to 13th July in two prestigious London galleries. Bridget Riley: Works 1960 – 1966 is the first-ever exhibition solely dedicated to her iconic black and white works and the 45 exhibits will include major paintings from both public and private collections and gouache studies as well as the complete prints.  Article continues in the magazine...

www.hh-h.com

www.karstenschubert.com

Vintage at Milestones

Make a date with Sally Mills on 24th June – and hop into a time machine!

OK, I admit it, I’m a vintage nut. I own far too many 1940s tea dresses, have a penchant for vintage French enamel, love listening to Johnny Cash on a 1950s stereophonic record player, feel that a house can never have enough Herbert Terry Anglepoise lamps, enjoy dressmaking using vintage fabric and vintage patterns, am obsessed with old fonts and typefaces... I could go on and on. And on.

But I’m also one of those lucky folk whose passion is also partly their profession. I’m an event organiser and, since the first vintage festival I ever organised happened to fall on my birthday, I decided to use the opportunity to create the ultimate shopping experience for myself – and I’ve never looked back!

Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to be involved with some extraordinary venues – from Heathrow’s ultramodern Terminal Five to the classic elegance of the Floral Hall, Covent Garden. I’ve learned that event and venue must complement one another the way a beautifully tailored vintage dress complements an elegant woman, so I’m always on the lookout for an inspiring setting that will provide a striking backdrop for my vintage fairs.

So how thrilled was I when, following the success of last year’s Farnham vintage festival, I was approached by Claire Capel to create an exciting new vintage celebration at Milestones museum, as part of this year’s Basingstoke Festival?  Article continues in the magazine...

www.headinthesky.co.uk

www.milestones-museum.com

Space – Collecting the Final Frontier

The world is not enough for Mark Hill’s vintage obsession – he wants the Moon too!

Like many of you reading this, I would have had to peer through my mother’s belly button to see it but, for many of our parents’ generation, the moment on 20th July 1969 when Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the Moon was a landmark TV event, changing the way we see our world forever.

We’ve been exploring space since the late 1950s, and trading in memorabilia and vintage items from half a century of extra-terrestrial missions has developed into a large market. You can see the appeal. Imagine owning something that has literally been ‘out of this world’. Or something connected to your ultimate childhood hero – after all, who is more heroic than an astronaut?  Article continues in the magazine...

My Moonbase Alpha

Live your dreams, they say, And Catherine Bujold is certainly living hers. Welcome to the future!

When it comes to design, some sci-fi fans draw the line at a Tardis moneybox and Star Trek pyjamas. But not Catherine Bujold. French-Canadian Catherine has transformed her home into her own Moonbase Alpha in hommage to classic 1970s TV show Space: 1999. And it’s not geeky in the slightest – it’s fabulous!  Article continues in the magazine...

www.space1999.net/~sorellarium13/

Astro Art

David A. Hardy has spent a lifetime illustrating space. His new interactive website means that you can become a collector of space artwork that is, quite literally, out of this world

It is no exaggeration to say that the day in 1950 when schoolboy David Hardy picked up The Conquest of Space changed his life. In fact, he says so himself.

The book’s text was by Willy Ley but it was the wonderful illustrations by American Chesley Bonestell that blew David away. What looked like photographs of gleaming spaceships on the Moon, canals on Mars, and Saturn’s rings as viewed from various moons, were actually Bonestell’s exquisite paintings. David was inspired and his feet instantly set on a path that would determine his career as an artist.  Article continues in the magazine...

www.astroart.org

Designing 007

Dan Phelan has PR’d a few big gigs in his time, but the upcoming James Bond exhibition has the world’s press hammering at his inbox

OK, I like to think my cunningly executed announcement strategy had something to do with it but, credit where it’s due, the Bond brand still opens doors. And if one ambassador of classy British style – from sharp suits to classic cars – has flown the flag without flagging from the 1960s to now, it’s Mr 007. So it’s fitting that, ahead of this autumn’s latest blockbuster Skyfall, the Barbican Centre is paying tribute to the 50th anniversary of the icon, the legend, with an exhibition called Designing 007: Fifty Years of James Bond Style.  Article continues in the magazine...

www.barbican.org.uk/bond/

Celluloid Dreams - James Bond and the Work of Sir Ken Adam

Lots of of little boys love James Bond. But for Jez Speed, it was the incredible set designs by Ken Adam that turned a passing fancy into a lifelong obsession

It is no exaggeration to say that the day in 1950 when schoolboy David Hardy picked up The Conquest of Space changed his life. In fact, he says so himself.

Although I wasn't aware of it at the time, my first encounter with Ken Adams' work was as a seven year old. I was allowed to stay up late as a special treat to watch my first Bond movie, Goldfinger. I remember vividly watching a silver Aston Martin DB5 tear up the screen, racing a Ford Mustang through the Alps. It slashed tyres, it sprayed oil, it had revolving number plates, a bullet shield, machine guns and, to top it all, it finally ejected the bad guy out through the roof – WOW, I was hooked on Bond!  Article continues in the magazine...