LAUREN
SHEPHERD
spring
summer 2002>>>
April
2001: I'm pondering over my impending 30th birthday and life in general.
I've had a stream of good jobs, which started in marketing, moved into
power sales and finally evolved into project management. I work very,
very hard but I'm finding it all so unsatisfying and dull. I have to
do something else. Being 30 has to be about much more than this, something
more fun, something challenging and something I love - fashion. Several
days later I hand in my notice.
May 2001:
I register Agent Anonym as a company. Agent Anonym because: I've often
been described as a chameleon in the way I change my look from day to
day; I much prefer a pseudonym to using my real name, and I love the
idea of pretending to be a secret agent. I choose Glovedup as a label
for the gloves and register the domain name. Glovedup as a name fits
perfectly. It originates from the early house music scene, where kids
would describe the euphoric, touchy sexy feeling of being on ecstasy
as being "lovedup". My gloves have a lovely sensuous touchy
feeling as well, hence the name Glovedup.
July 2001:
I'm unemployed, deliriously happy and full of summery sunshine optimism.
I've compiled a list of all the things I want to do in my 30th year.
I redesign www.londondudes.co.uk, the site I created with my partner.
I buy a sewing machine and some fabric to start with my first mission:
designing and making Glovedup gloves.
August
2001: It's a beautifully sunny Thursday morning and I'm all geared up;
my cycle panniers are packed and I'm ready for my next mission. Over
the next five days, with my partner Rick, I cycle through Holland, Belgium
and Northern France and zoom through Paris and across the Seine to the
5th arr. where my sister eagerly awaits our arrival. Whoa! I'm on the
top the world, bring me water, beer and champagne, it's time to celebrate.
September
2001: I spend most of the month listening to BBC Radio 4 and either
painting motifs on Pwachu or making the limited edition gloves. The
name Pwachu comes from some lettering stuck on a box my partner found
in the street. I've had "I GOT A RIGHT" embroidered onto the
right-hand palm to make it easier to put the gloves on the correct hands.
"I got a right" is a record from Iggy Pop, my punk rock idol.
I hang silver Dutch charms off silver bead chains for the limited edition
Dutch Collection gloves. I've given each glove a Dutch girl's name.
I have to make references to Holland, because it's a never-ending source
of inspiration.
October
2001: I transformed the bedroom into a photo studio, and using the timer
on my digital camera I modelled my new gloves. Now I've got to design
and build the Glovedup website. I switch from BBC Radio 4 to Ministry
of Sound radio to liven things up a bit. I'm pleased with my first home
page picture, which has a line of headless women all wearing Glovedup
gloves. The headless women are all me, ah the joys of computer software.
November
2001: I've just got back from Razzmatazz, Amsterdam purveyor of Vivienne
Westwood et al, and they want to sell my gloves. I make www.glovedup.com
live and have a go at some PR. www.fuk.co.uk does a report on the gloves,
followed by a handful of other fashion webs. I visit Manchester to take
an order of gloves to Geese, a Manchester landmark shop. The visit coincides
with the press launch of 24 Hour Party People, the Hacienda film. Don't
manage to get into the film, but the party is pretty good fun.
December
2001: Georgette Koning interviews me for Dutch magazine, and I'm thrilled
by her response and interest and can't wait to see what she writes.
I'm contacted by Radio London, a boutique in Antwerp and they order
some gloves. I prepare orders for www.theredhand.com and www.ouijetaime.com.
I'm also selling the gloves in a special Christmas store - owned and
run by www.fanclub.nl. I have a lot of fun working there as a shop assistant
for a couple of days, with Mo Veld, super smart Dutch fashion journalist
and member of Fanclub.
January
2002: The designers behind www.fevereddeviant.com, have asked me to
design a glove for their own collection, wow! Lee Carter of Hintmag
has mailed me to say he's added a link to the Glovedup website and that
he'd love some Pwachus, so I set to work making him a man-sized pair.
February
2002: The Strokes are performing at the Paradiso, so a couple of nights
before the gig, my partner and I fly-poster all around the venue. Our
posters are Glovedup recreations of record sleeves of The Strokes, The
Buzzcocks and Iggy Pop. The gig is fantastic and I'm just as impressed
by the support band Stereo Total. We put our Strokes cover flyers on
the chairs behind us, and much to our amusement; people assume the seats
are reserved.
March 2002:
I'm planning my first glove party for next month. We're going to transform
my friends place into a beauty parlour, and then whilst sipping wine
and reading glossy magazines all try on the gloves. I've redesigned
the www.glovedup.com site for the launch of the spring/summer gloves.
Contact:
Agent Anonym
Michelangelostraat 53 III, 1077BS, Amsterdam, Holland
Web: www.agentanonym.com
Tel: 0031 (0)20 676 7320
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