This was by far my favourite outfit to style. I found the poodle skirt when I first started digging around in the warehouse and I based the look around that, adding a petticoat to make a full skirt.

The 50s were a really fun era, and it was hard to pick a look to go for. I chose rock ‘n’ roll which went well with the full skirt. My inspiration here was definitely Sandy from Grease with the preppy cardigan and blouse.

I also met Danielle Meder at Akeela’s birthday party. She specialises in fashion illustration and also collab’ed on Covent Garden with her paper dolls. She created this cute bobby soxer in saddle shoes for the Brick Lane windows.

Danielle Meder is a trend theorist and fashion illustrator, specialising in technical drawings and paper dolls. She is available for commissions. You can read her blog here.

40s was probably the most difficult to do, as it was pretty hard to source 40s-esque items. I did initially go for the pin-up girl look, referenced above, but on a white dress form, it doesn’t look so great, and is too seasonal.

I went to Rokit at 107 Brick Lane to pick out some pieces in store for my 40s inspired look. I chose the dress for the neckline and length, and cinched it in with a belt to give a semblance of a waist, as well as pairing it with sensible low heeled shoes, since 40s fashion was all about a more pared down look post war.

I’ve known Abigail Daker (from the internet) for a while, and I consider her one of my best Twitter friends as well as an extremely talented illustrator and cartographer. She also created the Rokit Propaganda poster for Covent Garden as well.

Abigail Daker is a illustrator and cartographer and is available for commissions.

I was going for the pre-war styles of the 30s, where jackets were more fitted, smaller hats were commonplace, and tweedy browns and greens were more prevalent. This was definitely the hardest outfit, as I find it’s quite hard to find 30s inspired pieces, but I think I did a-ok. I based it all around flat feather cap. Very 30s. I loved this green plaid jacket, which was believe it or not, Juicy Couture and I finished off this utilitarian chic look with the dotty blouse and khaki skirt.

I met Emma Block at Akeela’s birthday party and I got to talking and found out she was an illustrator, who’d just graduated with a 1st. Nice! She told she’d love to be involved, so I sent her off the brief and this was her finished product. She went with the theme of going off on an adventure.

Emma Block is an illustrator specialising in hand drawn and coloured illustration, and is available for commissions. ‘Tea and Cake’ is her first book, published by Hardie Grant, and you can read my review here.

I went for era inspired outfits, as it wasn’t possible to actually get actual 20s items. The 20s were known for their decadence, detail and straight silhouettes, with a lot of Oriental influences. I chose a vintage Fendi princess coat, a sleeveless Oriental silk shift dress with a silk cover up underneath.

For the 20s illustration I commissioned Charlotte Hoyle. Charlotte is an exceptional illustrator, and great friend of mine to boot and I knew she’d do an amazing job. She didn’t disappoint. You can read her fascinating blog post on her process and inspiration at Charlottes Notes.

Here is her finished illustration:

Charlotte Hoyle specialises in hand drawn and digital illustration, and is available for commissions. You can also follow her on Twitter

As shown before, my moodboard for both Brick Lane stores referenced eras. As the 107 Brick Lane is more of a vintage boutique. So I went classy, ya dig?

I commissioned 4 fashion illustrators to create illustrations in their personal style on 4 female mannequins I styled in 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s fashion. I made these selections back in June at the Rokit warehouse.

Here were the themes and visual references:

20s – Coco Chanel/Boyish

Coco Chanel
Boyish
Straight line chemise
Flapper Dresses
Trouser suits/pant suits
Knee length hemlines
Canes
Drop waists
Long line tunics
Knee length dresses
Ruffles
Cloche Hat
Rolled stockings
String of pearls
Fur collars
Low heeled shoes
Turbans
Feathers (Peacock)

30s Women – Utility
Padded shoulders
Square suits
Boxy jackets
Knee length skirts
Puff sleeve dresses
Form fitting dresses with puff sleeves
More curves
Zips
Waist belts
Tilted hats with veils

40s – Hourglass
Sweetheart necklines
Two piece swimsuits (halter neck/strapless) with big pants
Knee length skirts
Blouses
Sweaters
Oxfords
Brogues
Sandals

50s – Bobby Soxers
Full Skirts
Petticoats
Poodles
Saddle Shoes
Blouses
Cardigans worn on shoulders

Willkay Oddkingdom’s work was hung at Rokit’s store at 101 Brick Lane, the mannequins had been changed due to the delay in the printing but stuck to the general theme.

Will is available for commissions, and specialises in graphic design, web design, illustration and video editing – portfolio and contact can be found at www.oddkingdom.co.uk

Pictures taken on a BlackBerry Bold 9900 courtesy of FRANK PR

70s Woman – Disco
Pussy bow blouses
Hot pants
Flares
Platforms
Crop tops
High waisted trousers
Flashy disco wear
Leotards

70s Man – Disco
Flares
Low cut shirts
T-shirts with decals
Fitted blazer with wide lapels
Dress shirt collars

80s Woman – Hip Hop
Baggy sweatshirts and leggings
Hip hop attire

80s Man – Punk
Leather jackets
Safety pins
Spandex
Creepers
Doc Martens

90s Woman – Grunge
Checked shirt
Denim
Worn leather

90s Man – New Rave
Baseball jackets
Bright trousers

Top to bottom: Dressing 70s male mannequin; 90s New Rave; Oddkingdom decal on window; 70s, 80s, & 90s woman; 90s New Rave with decal in window; 80s Hip Hop & 90s Grunge; 70s man

Pictures taken on a BlackBerry Bold 9900 courtesy of FRANK PR

When we look back on the 70s, 80s and 90s – who do we take our fashion inspiration from? Musicians. Over the last few decades, musicians have had an unmitigated influence on our clothing choices and sense of style. The 80s spawned a generation of bleached blonde girls who got in trouble for wearing ripped jeans and the 90s grunge movement owes a lot towards Kurt Cobain.

With Willkay, the designer and illustrator who created “Bland Brand” for my previous Covent Garden window, I spoke to him about creating some of his signature monochrome line illustrations for 101 Brick Lane inspired by his previous work of music artists.

We discussed what artists were the most iconic, and recognisable over the past three decades of the 20th century, and who had careers that also spanned over a significant portion of those decades, and were responsible for kick starting trends.

The final decision was David Bowie, Madonna, Michael Jackson and Kurt Cobain. These four to me, are a perfect example of musical influence on fashion. Four were chosen as there were to be six mannequins in the windows, three male and three female, which were two more than usual. The illustrations were to be hung in between the mannequins, spanning from 70s to 90s.

I decided on the theme of ‘eras’. As there is another store between the two Brick Lane Rokit stores – the difference was significant. For 107 (the boutique) I went for a more elegant restrained theme with the eras, running from 20s to 50s, dressing the mannequins in 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s inspired fashion with the backdrops to be each individual artists’ interpretation of their mannequin.

For the larger store, 101 with sells more contemporary vintage fashion, I drew inspiration from the biggest fashion plates of the 70s, 80s and 90s – music artists.

The moodboard reflects the changing illustrative styles over the past century as well as highlighting the use of colour.

Rokit has two stores in Brick Lane, a large one at 101 Brick Lane and a smaller, boutique store at 107 Brick Lane which carries more vintage designer pieces.

The idea I envisaged for Brick Lane, as it isn’t an actual display unlike the Covent Garden store, but just windows, where mannequins are on the sills was to have illustrations as backdrops. I was inspired by illustrator Richard Haines and the Band of Outsiders display he created for Unionmade. Also I love illustrations from fashion to comics. There’s just something extra special about an illustration and the artist’s own thought process and inspirations to get to their final result.

What to do for the windows however was the question. With limited space I had to produce something eyecatching as well as non-obstructive, and aesthetically appealing which would fit with the Rokit brand and my own brand as a whole.