As soon as the Roxy Music song kicked in on this film by Jamie Hince and Tom Beard – made to promote both the current collection of designer James Small, and the series of bespoke belts he’d produced on behalf of W Hotels – we were transported to a very specific place in the cultural consciousness. Our mind’s eye shifted towards the idea of hazy, sun-drenched 1970s holidays and bohemian excess, weekend orgies in tumbledown cottages and the eve of glam rock – in short, towards a time when a man could wear a leopard, chiffon blouse and still ooze untouchable masculinity, even as the presence of the almost eye-searingly exquisite Louis Simonon provided a more prosaic reminder of the decade, being as he is the product of one of its most prominent rockstars.
We’ve no doubt that these associations were intentional (especially given Hince’s involvement, and his own band’s debt to the music and aesthetic of the 70s), and we were only too happy to be absorbed by them for five minutes or so. The only problem is that, once the credits rolled, we couldn’t help but notice that we were in rainy, modern-day London, mere yards from a Poundland store.
- Tom Beard (Click Here)
- James Small (Click Here)
- The Kills (Click Here)
- W Hotels (Click Here)