Filed under: Concerts and Tours, Exclusive, Q + A
Taking over London's Southbank Centre at the end of July, the Vintage Festival is a celebration of Britain's love affair with music, fashion and popular culture. Spread across six floors, the festival will present over 70 live bands and 150 DJs including Heaven 17, Booker T and Andrew Weatherall as they celebrate music and fashion from the 1920s to the 1980s.
Spinner caught up with two of the Vintage festival's organisers, fashion designer Wayne Hemmingway and his son Jack, to find out more.
Music and fashion have always been linked but have we come to the point where neither is growing any more?
Jack Hemmingway: I think that for a long period, yes. Indie bands have been dressing down and it's just been about getting their hair as greasy and as messy as possible. But I think that performing on stage should be about a show and dressing up and looking good and smart and doing things a bit differently. Most bands and pop stars these days don't and the only person who is doing it is Lady Gaga. It's embarrassing to say that because her music is so bad but her presence and attitude and the way she dresses is amazing.
Wayne Hemmingway: I can't image the equivalent of Vintage in 20 years time playing a Gaga track. You might have a Gaga picture on the wall but... Interesting stuff is happening in black music. After gangster hip-hop and all that, Aloe Blacc is coming back to black music's roots. He looks like he cares about his appearance and that's a healthy thing. When I look at younger age groups, there are still plenty of people that dress absolutely amazingly. The only thing that they're not doing is [making it tribal]. That's because places like Top Man have got a whole team of designers straight from college and that means that fashion isn't as visual as it once was; you don't see a whole gang of skinheads walking down the street which was quite exciting.
Freddie Highmore Beau Garrett Rudolph Giuliani Eduardo Noriega Vera Farmiga