We do like unique magazine concepts here at Flux and Swallow Magazine is very much in that category. As the name implies it’s all about food but is nothing like your usual mainstream high street title. The magazine was founded in 2009 by James Casey and the love for all things food leaps out at [...]
We are living in the age of the Stay-cation. Or at least that’s what I’m led to believe. But despite the persistent rumour that more Brits than ever are shunning the delights of the European beach holiday (can you hear the collective sigh of relief from over the channel?), the idea of a weekend in [...]
Coffee shops: the second homes of all writers, from dreamy poets to obsessive bloggers or aspiring novelists alike. Buy a few caffeinated drinks and their tables can be rented out as the creative alternative to an office desk. Although the constant source of caffeine has to be a factor, there must be another reason behind [...]
The latest on-ear headphones from Skullcandy, the long awaited Navigator, hit all good retailers this month. The headphones are a perfect blend of style and cutting edge technology and the compact size and wearability make a force to be reckoned with fashion conscious consumers who are after that high quality music experience. Headphones [...]
Colin Leslie does a great line in thoughtfully created, eco-friendly glasses and sunglasses that are catching the eye of discerning shoppers and celebrities alike. As a brand it has only been going for 4 years but has already built up a great reputation and is sold online and in stores internationally enjoying popularity in countries [...]
Everything about Bang & Olufsen screams out quality. The company have been handcrafting their products from Struer in Denmark since 1925 and their reputation is known far and wide. The sound experience has to be top notch of course but this is a marriage between style and functionality – you just cannot separate the design [...]
I can’t quite recall the good old days – when you had no choice but to drag your tin bath in from the shed and boil some pans of water to have your regular bath (once a month at most on a Sunday). The guy in the video doesn’t look a happy chappy. He’s having [...]
We do like a good old knees-up here at Flux and the Ray-Ban Envision Tour has all the hallmarks of a great celebration of all things music and design. The Envision tour is about vision, with each event inspired by one of the Ray-Ban lenses’ unique characteristics. The first instalment of this celebration of [...]
We are all demanding more as consumers and that demand is driving a sea-change with an explosion in services and experiences to us offered by brands and retailers. Consumers now want much more and this is having a profound effect on the goods and services we use as part of our active lifestyles. [...]
How do you promote your vast range of styles from your new Menswear Denim range? You could go the usual route – hire some male models and the latest cool photographer and end up with some posed studio shots but it’s hardly going to set the world on fire is it? Well the marketing bods [...]
We do like unique magazine concepts here at Flux and Swallow Magazine is very much in that category. As the name implies it’s all about food but is nothing like your usual mainstream high street title. The magazine was founded in 2009 by James Casey and the love for all things food leaps out at [...]
A harpist strums away sweetly and a smartly dressed lady greets us as we enter Jumeirah Carlton Tower’s exquisite Chinoiserie. We’re here in Knightsbridge on this drizzly Saturday afternoon to try the new Fusion afternoon tea as crafted by master patissier and star of Channel 4’s Baking Mad, Eric Lanlard. Opulent doesn’t even begin [...]
I went to the Forge and Foundry in Camden without quite knowing what to expect. I’d had a quick look at their website and had decided to try the place out based on the impressive images of their food and interesting music line-up. My friend and I arrived, after getting slightly confused and lost in [...]
We are living in the age of the Stay-cation. Or at least that’s what I’m led to believe. But despite the persistent rumour that more Brits than ever are shunning the delights of the European beach holiday (can you hear the collective sigh of relief from over the channel?), the idea of a weekend in [...]
Coffee shops: the second homes of all writers, from dreamy poets to obsessive bloggers or aspiring novelists alike. Buy a few caffeinated drinks and their tables can be rented out as the creative alternative to an office desk. Although the constant source of caffeine has to be a factor, there must be another reason behind [...]
Men’s public toilets can be a daunting place to visit at the best of times. But when it looks as though someone might be peering down at you as you try to do your business – well that’s going to lead to stage fright. Your nerve goes and the moment passes. Well the mischievous marketing [...]
With the dizzying array of TV channels we have to contend with nowadays it comes as no surprise that we are turning to technology to help rescue us from the chaos of traversing the nightly schedules to find something worth watching. And it seems women in particular are using all means available to them in [...]
I’m halfway through my vegetarian month and as things stand I have eaten enough cheese to glue the Grand Canyon back together. Gone are any illusions that this venture would make me healthier. Even though I can’t blame this on vegetarianism in itself as the culpability more obviously lies in my mad desire to “meat [...]
The latest on-ear headphones from Skullcandy, the long awaited Navigator, hit all good retailers this month. The headphones are a perfect blend of style and cutting edge technology and the compact size and wearability make a force to be reckoned with fashion conscious consumers who are after that high quality music experience. Headphones [...]
Issa London is well known as the label that keeps it simple, bold and stylish. It’s about getting just the right dress for that occasion. Loved by stars and public alike they have teamed up with luxury online discount store THEOUTNET.com to bring us a rather special collaboration. It features some of Issa’s classic silhouettes [...]
Colin Leslie does a great line in thoughtfully created, eco-friendly glasses and sunglasses that are catching the eye of discerning shoppers and celebrities alike. As a brand it has only been going for 4 years but has already built up a great reputation and is sold online and in stores internationally enjoying popularity in countries [...]
One only has to guess what was going through the minds of the victims of the filming of the latest online campaign for the Renault Clio. The participants set off on what appears to be a perfectly innocent test drive through South London, with a salesman in tow. “Turn left here, turn right here, why [...]
Sony launched their brand new Xperia Z phone in London with a typically swanky party. It’s reckoned this breakthrough handset could help put Sony back in the driving seat amongst its rivals but what is all the fuss about and does the phone actually match the hype? Well for all of us who are [...]
Combining form, function and food, designer Joseph Hartley has the recipe for success – he was the winner of the British Design Centre’s New Designer of the Year award at New Designers 2012, just after graduating from his 3D Design degree at Manchester Metropolitan University. Hartley’s nickname, “Butcher, Baker, Designer, Maker”, reflects his experience of [...]
There are a couple of things worth considering on outings such as this. Firstly- attire. Stretchy, forgiving, and sensibly coloured is the connoisseur’s outfit of choice. And secondly – lunch. In so much as arriving at what can most aptly be described as London’s newest den of gluttony- MEAT:mission – on a full stomach, is [...]
The Lowry Hotel, though officially in Salford, is one of Manchester city centre’s most luxurious hotels. The best way to approach and see the hotel in its full glory is over the footbridge suspended over the River Irwell that leads directly to it. The hotel is sleek and resembles in many ways a contemporary art [...]
For those who have never lived in London’s Peckham, hearing the district’s name probably brings to mind Only Fools and Horses and Desmond’s, the riots of August 2011 and the tragic death of Damilola Taylor. These are all things that Peckham is most famous (or infamous) for. It is an area that conjures up thoughts [...]
‘Unite All Originals’ is a new campaign from adidas that aims to bring together the various creative forms including art, music and fashion so they can spark off each other with unique ideas. At the heart of the concept is the ‘adidas collider’ an online portal which is quite something to behold - the best [...]
2013 is to be a momentous year for Amsterdam. Already off to a fantastic start, events and celebrations are set to keep on coming, as jubilee after jubilee for the Dutch capital fall in the next few months. This provides many great reasons to take a cheap flight to Amsterdam with airlines like Jet2.com, to [...]
Usually, the focus of a hotel is on the hotel bit: namely, the bedrooms, the décor, the room service, menu-order pillows, fluffy white dressing gowns, impressively large bathtubs, a good selection of TV channels. Of course. Hotels are, after all, in the business of sleep – they’re where we go to wind down, to lie [...]
Did you ever get lines at school? What a peculiarly English punishment. The idea of the drip, drip monotony of repetition. Strangely when I did get lines I never used to mind that much. Almost soothing after a hard day being a snotty nosed pupil. Fashion retailer Ted Baker realise the importance of old-fashioned manners [...]
It can be a bit of an obstacle course trying to navigate your way into the creative industries. Those who have already made it onto the next levels often make it look easy and newcomers often find it very hard to get good advice from these more successful creatives who are understandably very busy themselves. [...]
It’s a great feeling to let yourself go in a club once in a while or even every weekend. We’ve all done it. Kissing the clouds as we loosen up and let our bodies feel the music. With the rise of nightlife photography and the accessibility of the web we sometimes wake the following day [...]
From Ella Fitzgerald to Frank Sinatra, all the musical class acts have sung about their love for Paris in the springtime via the Cole Porter songbook staple. Well you can now add Mercedes-Benz to the list of Paris lovers with #Untamed, their somewhat more wild, photographic sojourn to the French cultural capital this April. Sifting [...]
Fast becoming a force to be reckoned with, style commentator and TV presenter Angela Scanlon is not afraid to shoot from the hip. Originally from Dublin she’s now moved to London and has been hailed as one to watch and she really knows her stuff on matters of style. Here she steps into Fashion Priest’s [...]
Socialising through dance has been a common pass time for Brits for decades, and the variety of options available continues to grow. Whether you’re looking for club classics or indie establishments, all the major cities will cater to your every desire. But what if people are actually getting bored of this? With money tight for [...]
Let’s be honest – Chiswick has a lot of French restaurants: bistros, brasseries and bars, you name it. On my way to Sam’s Brasserie, just one amongst many in the cosmos of Gallic gastronomy of west London, I lose count of the French restaurants I pass by in the five minute walk from Turnham Green [...]
It seems like a natural enough transition: Londoners, their arteries clogged and their buttons strained by the hipster burger/hotdog/chicken movement, are shunning the sticky, drippy, impossible-to-consume-with-dignity street food for something infinitely neater, and far healthier. The raw food concept is nothing new. On the contrary, the Japanese have been eating raw fish since the second [...]
“Say something rude,” I said into her breast. She paused. “…You’re fat?” We can’t help being fascinated by the sex lives of others – of the ordinary looking next door neighbour or fellow worker who you just can’t imagine ‘doing it’ – so you sort of try. Sex is so personal we can’t help wanting [...]
Nestled in Barnes, South West London, is Sonny’s Kitchen, a true purveyor of innovative British cuisine. Brainchild of restaurateurs Phil Howard and Rebecca Mascarenhas, it fuses minimalistic modernity with an eclectic array of art. The focal piece of the restaurant is a strikingly gorgeous terrazzo fireplace by Bruce McLean, a Scottish performance artist and painter [...]
Now this Talisker Atlantic challenge is not for the feint hearted as you’ll see from the video. This had me breaking out in a sweat just looking at it. I do like a spot of rowing but give me a calm lake and a sunny day. This is what some might call ‘out of this [...]
A sharp, January wind cuts through the narrow streets and alleyways running parallel to the Whitstable shoreline, as we hastily carve a route through the town. My partner and I are on our way to Island Wall Cottage (a cosy, coastal hideaway set just off the beach) for a quick winter getaway from the city. [...]
With its red-and-white clad exterior, assorted spitted meats and salad bar, The Golden Grill looks pretty much like any other kebab shop in Shoreditch. There’s certainly nothing to suggest it might be concealing a genuine Mexican watering hole in its depths. Nothing except for the staff, whose weary directions “around the corner, second door to [...]
Imagine the scene. Our young buck sets his sights on a vision – a self-assured and sexy young woman with her own unique sense of style laughs her infectious laugh. She wears a mysterious symbol tattooed to the nape of her neck and is armed with the seductive power of the Just Cavalli fragrance. The [...]
Last December with the Mayan calendar prophesising a cataclysmic end to the year a concert of epic proportions took place. The band was of course The Prodigy whose live events have become the stuff of legends. Liam, Keith and Maxim laid on the mother of all gigs just in case the world was to come [...]
Have you come across this mysterious video? A hand held camera focuses on women from various cities across the globe. All the women have an intriguing symbol tattooed onto their necks. So what’s it all about?
Once upon a time – perhaps a year or so ago – a group of friends decided they could do better. After many winters working for chalet companies with slapdash standards and uninspiring food, they spotted a considerable gap in the market. So they took the same principle and transformed it into something rather different. [...]
Italy isn’t Italy without its countryside. And yes, I know the same could be easily said about England too with our Kentish Gardens, the Lake district and the Dartmoor moors etc, but the countryside of Italy is different; it is literally fed into the very identity of Italy; it is the womb of the country [...]
They say you get the politicians you deserve. I hope that’s not true as ours are a sorry bunch. They are so painfully conscious of their own self image and the media that it guides or should I say warps their thinking and thus sometimes their policies. This is clear to see when it comes [...]
So Christmas and New Year is all over and you’re out the other side in one piece. You can breathe a sigh of relief. But what’s this hurtling towards you on the horizon? Valentine’s Day is on its way. It always rushes much too quickly at you straight after the Christmas break. Whose idea was [...]
“I’ve seen how democracy is under duress, But I’ve never seen a nipple in the Daily Express.” (John Cooper Clarke) Tabloids’ indiscriminate muckraking produces a telling mash-up of porn and politics. Both embody the workings of power, and power requires a dynamic between have/have not.The problem of porn is its insistence on a retro-futurism of [...]
The end of 2012, according to Mayan prophecies, should have also been the end of the world as we know it. Before the dreaded date, to celebrate our species’ last few days on earth, I was invited to an interesting event (courtesy of Dan Aykroyd and Crystal Head Vodka) to discuss the impending apocalypse. In my company [...]
I’ve always liked the whole Radisson Blu Edwardian experience. It’s a fine old building transformed with its own sense of grandeur and history that still speaks volumes as you wander through its spaces. The hotel itself that now occupies the former Free Trade Hall were keen to incorporate and not obliterate the buildings past as [...]
The word ‘canteen’ brings back traumatic memories of my early school dining experiences: a cold grey out-building, ruled by the tyrannical cook, Mrs Ashby, who would aggressively spoon dishes of over-boiled greens and lumpy mash onto greasy, plastic trays. I am therefore relying on my visit to East London’s Rochelle Canteen (in the old canteen [...]
Wreck-It Ralph is the latest animated film from Disney. It’s picking up some great reviews over here and back in the States. This is one of those rare films that kids and adults alike will get a kick out of. And to celebrate the UK launch in the New Year, Disney have got together with [...]
Our favourite new sneakers from fashion to sportsfield!