Riz La Teef is a London based DJ specialising in the underground UK sounds of Garage, Grime and Dubstep. Known for being an advocate for the lost art of cutting dub plates. He runs the South London Pressings record label to release emerging artists and has just taken up a new weekly residency on the mighty Rinse FM.

You’re well known for cutting dub plates, what inspired you to go down this path when most others have gone completely digital?

You have just started a new residency on Rinse FM, how did that come about?

What plans do you have for your South London Pressings label?

You post a lot of cars on instagram, what is in your dream collection?

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Featured deadstock early 90’s Boneville jackets, available 10/6/22 at 12.00 Midday BST.

Photography: Fergus Riley

At Home With Conor Murgatroyd

Conor is a Bradford born artist specialising in painting who is rapidly gaining traction in the art world. His work takes in a wide variety of influences from Rene Magritte’s early 20th Century surrealism to a love of Rottweiler dogs. Currently based in South East London we visited Conor’s eclectically decorated flat with photographer Theo Cottle. We styled him in our latest selection of early 1990’s deadstock CP Company & Stone Island pieces and got to know more about his practice.

What was it like growing up in Bradford?

I would say it was quite fun but difficult at times. I left when I was 17 to further study art in London. I knew it had to be the capital where I could further progress as a painter. I often think of my childhood at a lot and what type of effect that has had on me as a person, I guess I’m still coming to a conclusion on that.

 

How did you discover painting?

I discovered painting at Leeds College Of Art when I was studying a BTEC right after leaving school. I had a very influential tutor who really illuminated painting as something I could do that would be fruitful and worthwhile, whilst also displaying that a painter didn’t have to adhere to a cliche.

Your work makes a lot of traditional historical art references along with contemporary UK cultural imagery, what made you connect the two?

I believe to truly understand our present we must understand the past first. For me to ruminate my experience through painting, I couldn’t just do that if I purely focused on contemporary imagery and themes. The majority of my favourite art and painters are deseased and I take a lot of influence from events in history that I find significant also. unifying the past and present is something I’ve always done for myself mainly to help me understand the world, my paintings are the tool that helps me do that.

How long have you been a full time artist and what were your doing previously?

I have been working full time now consistently for the past year and half, but I started initially back in 2011. I took time out after finishing my BA at Chelsea College Of Art in 2016 and worked mainly in construction for 4 years until recently when I really decided to dig my heels in and develop my practice, it’s the best decision I’ve ever made hands down.

What or who are your biggest influences and inspirations?

My family is my main influence and inspiration! My love for them drives me in my life in general. As well as fashion art and some music.

How would you define your style, artistically and personally?

Personally, classical menswear is my main style foundation. I have always loved old Italian style, around the 60-2000s. I also take influence from some niche parts of history I’ve been exposed too, one era old Yugoslavia, their politicians they had the best suits. Artistically some of my favourite artists I hold in the highest esteem are Henri Fantin Latour, Renoir, Magritte, Edward Hopper, Degas and a lot of Renaissance art.

Where do you see yourself and your work in 10 years?

Hopefully me and my family are healthy and happy. My work I hope too will have evolved even more and be at a place where it is strong and powerful, that I can look back on it when it comes to the end of my life and be proud of it.

A limited edition run of 25 signed and numbered copies of Conor’s print Magritte & Moncler will be available to purchase from our site this Friday 26th November 2021 at midday 12.00 GMT.

Photography: Theo Cottle

Styling: Josh Barber-Cruz

Interview: Ollie Evans

Henri Lloyd X Nigel Cabourn

To mark the launch of the forthcoming Henri Lloyd x Nigel Cabourn collaboration project we travelled up to Newcastle to visit Nigel at his studio HQ. Home to his incredible 4000 piece  archive we learnt about the design process behind the collection and his love for collecting vintage.

“So the Henri Lloyd project, I met Henri personally about 1988, I got on really well wth Henri.

He was a lovely man, very knowledgable and he really looked after his staff.

It’s now run by Swedish people, when I got the job first thing I said was let’s see all the heritage. The guys in Sweden had bought everything, all the stock and all the vintage

So I went to Sweden and they had maybe about 10 boxes of full of vintage, there was young kid there of about 30, he is the head of sales we went through all the whole fucking lot with me and we found all the pieces that we referenced, we went back to 1968, there might have been some 65 in there, it started n 1962

So I was able to cherry pick the pieces I liked and I added in a few things in myself, vintage pieces that were not theirs, which suited the brand. I did some clever things with it, I found a velcro pocket that had a flap over the pocket, it used to have a piece of velcro like a long L under it. I thought fucking hell if I just put another piece of velcro there I can turn it into fucking H can’t I?!

So all the Henri Lloyd jackets have a H underneath, then I took the H and I plopped it on the back and did a giant H in velcro and put a pocket on it. It wasn’t such a hard job to design because I had a lot of inspiration for it.

I’m privy to all the best vintage around, all the best collectors in the world so if I’m doing a project I  know roughly what I can find. These are prime pieces here really.

We’ve also done a big sweat with a H on, it’s come from the Champion, I’ve got some great Champion stuff, I collect Champion, I collect Patagonia.

About 1978 I started collecting vintage. It was just by chance,  Paul Smith used to work for me in the 70’s. He actually worked for me from about 72-75 he was selling Cabourn, he got me into all the London stores because he only had one shop in Nottingham in those days.

He showed me this RAF jacket, British from the 50’s that had a button and tape on it, a slide button and tape. The jacket itself was pretty cool, and he said ‘Nige you should be doing stuff like this, this is a good move for you going forward.’ I says ‘Paul you’re fucking right I like this, I said where did you get it?’

He said I got it in the flea market, I said will you take me, so he took me the next day and I couldn’t believe it! All of sudden I realised there were whole markets. I mean was about 28 at the time.

You know you’re stupid sometimes, I started the business late 60’s and it took me some years to figure out where my inspiration came from.

I had this conversation with Paul and that was the start of my love affair with vintage from 78.  I got all the inspiration I could find from 78-79 and I went to Paris and fucking had it off like you wouldn’t believe, this was before Stone Island started with the outerwear, I was the first in there with it, that type of military inspired outwear, I was right in there in 79

I went in to the 80’s and I had such good outerwear in the 80’s. I’ve still got Paul Smith’s jacket, it’s not that special really, I actually took the collar off and put a leather collar on it to do something I wanted to do as well, I’ve still got that jacket.

I’m very inspired by British, especially British Army, British Navy, British RAF, they’re key. And then the next thing that really inspires me is mountain clothing. I’m very interested in George Mallory being supposedly the first man to get to the top of everest who fucking disappeared 800 ft from the top, they say he fell from the top but nobody knows!

I’m also very interested in Edmund Hilary because he was the first man to get to the top with Norgay Tenzing and of course he was the first man to go North to South on a Tractor in Antartica. I’m really interested in mountaineering, Antartica. I’ve got a lot of books on Military clothing and of course with really good pictures so I can really see what I’m doing but to do a really good job I have to go out and buy the piece generally. I might see something in a book I really love then I have to go out and fucking find it.

The skill of this is you have to find the clothing, clothing has to have a concept of a time, you take the concept, you take the year, you take the look, you follow it, not copying it but being inspired by it.”

Henri Lloyd X Nigel Cabourn launches 30/1/20 at midday 12.00 GMT.

Interview: Ollie Evans

Portraits: Jake Ranford

Editorial: Joe McDermott

Model: Nasty Brian

One Block Down have shared images of pieces from their CP Company collab with original reference garments they used for inspiration from the Massimo Osti Archive in Bologna.

It is incredible to see these Osti classics reimagined into the current collection and how closely they stayed to originals.

Shop the collection here