Peroni Ambra Pop-Up at The Oast House, Manchester

We're almost ready to launch into full-on celebration mode here, as it's only a few days until myself + Hollie fly over to Las Vegas to get hitched! The countdown is pretty much over, and we're all preparing for a super surreal, fun (30 of our friends + family are travelling with us!) an emotional couple of weeks, but there's just enough time left for one more round of drinks, with Peroni Ambra, before we say those famous words.

To celebrate the official launch of Peroni Ambra, the Italian brewer has partnered up with The Oast House in the heart of Manchester's Spinningfields district, to play host to a brand new pop-up experience - The Apertivo Bar. Expect to find the team sharing the beer over ice, with a twist of orange to garnish, all served in a bespoke handmade tumbler, created by Italian designer Andrea Morgante.

What makes Peroni Nastro Azzurro's brand new offering, Peroni Ambra, so unique and inherently Italian is one of the aperitivo's key ingredients, the Chinotto fruit. This guy is a rare and unique fruit, part of the citrus family, which is grown and harvested in the Liguria region of North West Italy. 

To mirror the heritage of the brewer's first aperitivo beer – created specifically to open the palate – Peroni Nastro Azzurro's authentic Italian experience will be coming to our very own North West region of England. 

The Aperitivo Bar, presented by Peroni Ambra will be taking up residency in The Oast House from Thursday 22nd to Sunday 25th June, making it perfect opportunity to discover little taste of Italy right here in the UK.  

Location: The Oast House, Manchester, The Avenue Courtyard, Spinningfields, Crown Square, Manchester M3 3AY.

This post is in partnership with Peroni Nastro Azzurro. Thank you for taking the time to support the brands + businesses that make this blog happen.

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Exploring London’s Architecture from Paddington to St. Pancras

Images taken on iPhone 6

For a little while now, I’ve been posting pictures of London’s architecture. It started with the classic shots of iconic landmarks – St. Paul’s, The Shard, and the rest – before I moved on to a few, slightly more obscure pictures of the city’s lesser known buildings.

To be honest, my intention was never to fill my entire Instagram feed with shots like this; but, what started as a way of killing some time between meetings, has turned into a mild obsession, where I’m forever stopping in the middle of the pavement to capture a building I’ve not shot before.

I’m not alone in this, of course. Instagram is bursting with architectural imagery, from every corner of the world – and, the more I posted, the more I chatted with folks who had a similar fascination with the corners of office blocks and apartments.

One of these guys was blogger and photographer Anthony Lee – and both finding ourselves with a Friday morning free, we decided to meet up and take a walk from Padding Basin (and *that* staircase), along the canal and the A40, down to Euston, before winding up in St Pancras.

To be honest, there’s so much on offer in this part of town, with so many new buildings going up, that it’s hard to know where to point the old iPhone. We were lucky with the weather – very very lucky; bright blue skies always set the angles of a neat, modern structure off nicely.

That said, some of the glass buildings just had too much glare for a perfect shot; which, actually, makes for a nice excuse to head back and try again, one day. First up though, I’ll be heading further East and trying to get some decent shots of the City. Who’s up for coming along?

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Finding Inspiration at Bombay Sapphire Distillery, Laverstoke

 Laverstoke Mill, Bombay Sapphire Distillery, designed by Heatherwick Studio

Everyone has a different source of inspiration. Mat – for instance – has a proper love for inhouse magazines, which you’ll see popping up on more or less any post he does about weekend relaxing or long train journeys.

My inspiration comes mainly from those people I follow online. Those folks who regularly post content that captivates me for longer than the usual split-second, opens my mind a little, and leaves me slightly jealous of their creative eye and ability. I can’t name check everyone here; but, folks like our friend Jordan and our very own Yasumi definitely deserve a mention – their ability to capture different angles and interesting details in everyday objects is impressive beyond belief.

And then there’s Haarkon; an account I’ve been following religiously for the past few months, checking in every time they have a new Instagram post or blog. These guys have an incredible eye and their content – focused almost exclusively on indoor plant life – has a hauntingly beautiful quality that will stop you in your tracks.

Recently, I tried to mimic their style with my own pic (hey – imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!) – and then, when the opportunity came to visit the glasshouses at the Bombay Sapphire distillery, I saw my chance to try and emulate them just a little more.

I’m sure many people reading this will have caught a glimpse of the Bombay Sapphire distillery before. It features two striking glasshouses, designed by Heatherwick Studio (the guys behind the new London Routemaster bus), that seem to grow from the bed of the river that runs through the distillery. Twisting and turning their way into the red brick buildings of this former paper mill, it’s as if these glasshouses are an integral part of the gin making process, drawing up the water for the gin and imparting the essence of the plants they house as it sweeps passed.

They aren’t directly part of the process; but, the glasshouses are a perfect reflection of the gin making method, where a neutral spirit is transformed into something flavourful through the introduction of various botanicals; which – in the case of Bombay Sapphire – include liquorice, orris root, angelica, coriander, grains of paradise, and five others.

Using Your Environment with Raw State by Jigsaw

  Patch Overshirt, Zip-Through Overshirt, Blue Tee + Selvedge Jeans by Jigsaw

Patchwork watch by Avi-8 x John Jarrett - coming soon

Inspired by the uniforms of a welder, carpenter and engineer, Jigsaw's new SS17 capsule collection, Raw State, takes an unexpected look into a world inspired utility. I have been a long-time appreciator of traditional workwear, but the idea of stepping out of my house looking like I've dressed from a particular decade doesn't appeal to me. The Raw State collection backs up that notion – creating a super wearable 21-piece collection fit for the present.

"With the Raw State collection showing predominant signs of inspiration from traditional manual labour and utility, we wanted to give this a subtle nod with our own direction"

The restricted palette of the collection took the lead, so we played upon the off whites, greys, faded blacks, and the mixture of blues from Jigsaw’s main collection – heading out to explore the Bloomsbury and Mayfair areas of Central London.

Raw State Chore Jacket, Grey Tee, Raw State Worker Pants, Suede Sneakers by Jigsaw

 Patch Overshirt, Denim Shirt, White Tee, Selvedge Jeans + Sneakers by Jigsaw

Raw State Chore Jacket, Patch Tee, Worker Jeans by Jigsaw. Watch c/o DuFa, Cap by Percival

Overalls + Henley by Jigsaw

Photography by Husam Al-Deen
 

Our idea was to have a little fun with the utility elements of Raw State, so we set out to find a selection of complementing locations which mirrored each garment’s original inspiration; rough textures, concrete architecture, stark lines, signs of construction and unfinished details. 

True, with London's constant want to build and improve it wasn't too tricky to find signs of construction sites, new builds and disrepair, but this worked perfectly to what we had in mind. Using the city's unfinished environment gives you a deeper connection to the streets which we'd usually consider just to be a means of getting from A to B.

Are you aware of your town's progression? I'd love to hear your thoughts on how we styled this collection.

 Shop the Jigsaw Raw State collection here.

This post is in partnership with Jigsaw. Thank you for taking the time to support the brands + businesses that make this blog happen.

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Love for the National Theatre | Oliver Sweeney SS17

 Marmelos Sneakers by Oliver Sweeney | Chinos by Whistles | Cap by Percival

Boxstead Mac by Oliver Sweeney | Sweatshirt by Sunspel

Let's call this one teamwork. The beauty of Instagram is being able to discover + easily connect with people you may have never come into contact with. I started chatting with Photographer Husam Al-Deen just at the start of last December, and it wasn't long before we were sitting in a central London coffee shop, brainstorming ways in which we could collaborate together.

We got chatting about our love of sneakers, architecture, printed magazines + menswear – so it was decided, we'd making something happen in the new year.

 Red Sneakers (coming soon) by Oliver Sweeney | Socks by Form&Thread

 Vilarcia Knit + Osimo Sneakers by Oliver Sweeney

Residents: Inside The Iconic Barbican Estate by Anton Rodriguez

A new photographic publication, entitled Residents, shines the spotlight on the life, work and incredible interiors of over 20 residents of the Barbican Estate. London-based photographer + VSCO artist Anton Rodriguez documents the creativity, uniformity and individual personalities of one of the most iconic housing estates in the UK. Commentary from the residence is accompanied by an essay by design writer Katie Treggiden, which explores the history of the Barbican Eatate and questions why we have become so obsessed with seeing inside peoples' everyday lives.

I caught up with Anton Rodriguez to hear the more about the Residents project:

Mat - What was the reasoning behind choosing the Barbican Estate as the subject; was it the community, the building design or something deeper?

Anton Rodriguez - I guess it's partly all of the above reasons. I’ve lived in the Barbican Estate for the past 5 years and always wondered what the inside of the other flats were like, and who lived there. I’ve lived in 3 different layouts of apartments within the estate, there are over 100 different flat types so I’ve always been intrigued to see how they were laid out.

Also there are over 4000 residents here, usually you only get to know the people who live within your block, but this project has helped me explore the whole estate and make new friends along the way.

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The Residents: Inside The Iconic Barbican Estate book will be released 10th October and is available to pre-order here.

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Best of Airbnb | Concrete Maisonette + We're Going to Japan

We're booked! In what has been a pretty last minute decision I'm heading over to Japan in May with my furniture designer buddy Dan Marc! The opportunity came up for me to tag along on a business trip he's been planning, and I found it stupidly hard to turn down.

So for 10 days we'll be travelling around Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, heading to meetings (should we rent bikes in each city?), visiting homeware + design stores, getting into those insanely tall ice creams, and soaking up the culture. Too excited!

We're currently looking for a place to stay in Toyko, and my search on Airbnb has thrown up some pretty cool results so far. Look at the inventive use of space in this maisonette apartment, just near Tokyo Bay! Have you been to Japan? If anyone has any advice, recommendations or suggestions of places to go / people to meet, please do share!

Best of Airbnb is a series featuring some of the most exciting, desirable and unique places to rest your head, from around the world.

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