A Blur-inspired collection of fresh and modern clothes that nod to earlier styles
THE CLOTHES MIGHT challenge the background and vice versa, but these cinematic, almost comic-strip style pictures taken in a red-brick Ringsend setting down in the Dublin docklands tell a story on various levels. Styled by Jan Brierton and inspired by the famous 1990s Blur video Parklife, they're everyday, fun clothes but unmistakably new and modern at the same time.
The combination of stripes and polka dots is light-hearted, there’s plenty of slim layering going on and typical is a classic trench coat – but in a punchy spring-time apple green rather than conventional khaki, worn with zany socks and a burgundy belt.
Sporty jeans, zippered jackets, lots of primary colour and a slightly comic edge – the theme is that of a smart young couple moving into their new house with its 1970s wallpaper, the cool new “mod” arrivals in the neighbourhood.
It’s a look similarly caught in the Blur video, which was said to be a subversive indictment of the post-Thatcher Americanisation of London suburbs. Be that as it may, Dublin’s new metropolitan suburbanites favour casual dress with the key little details that make it up-to-the-minute and fresh.
Even the local dog, Dali, rose to the occasion – a star in the making.
PHOTOGRAPHY: GERRY BALFE SMYTH