Holy Moley! It's Jezebel&Toff

Jezebel&Toff is the brainchild of British born designer Vincent Miller. Born in England, raised in Oz and now calling home NYC, the label was inspired when Miller stumbled across a disused warehouse containing vintage army surplus in East Village.

With a background in performance art, rather than design, Miller performed onstage for artists including The Spice Girls, Robbie Williams and Run DMC before finding his niche as a designer; But this only adds to the drama of his collections, and their appeal to the music industry and performers.

The signature of the brand is the hand appliqué imagery and embroidery, which takes pride of place on everything from oversize army jackets, to harem jeans in Japanese denim. These large-scale mix media images such as the gold leather King Tut, Wonder Woman and the Virgin Mary mean that the wearer definitely stands out from the crowd.

The fact that Miller has chosen to work with a cross section of used army wear, recognizes the importance of uniform; But the fact that it is deliberately mixed up, using camo prints from a variety of nations, makes each piece unique. And with the designs limited to 100 per edition, you can join the gang, but there will never be a leader

Not for the fainthearted, J&T will appeal to the confident, forward thinking boys and girls who have something to say and want to be heard.

Check them on www.jezebelandtoff.com or at their store at 110 Thompson Street, SoHo, New York, NY 10012

By Sara Darling

Fashoin for men with manners.....

Eastie Empire, is a menswear brand with a growing fanbase of men who appreciate quality classics. The company was founded in 2009 by Sara Weston, who claims the label is designed for ‘journeymen and gentlemen’, and offers the modern man dapper clothes to dandy about in.
Inspired by Indian workwear and the British Raj, Eastern references are evident in the tailored fit and fabric choices. Each piece is a key separate, and can easily be adapted to a current wardrobe.
The collection ranges from tailored day wear which won’t look out of place walking the dog, heading a business meeting or in the terraces on a Saturday afternoon. Smart yet casual, the individual looks are reminiscent of the original dandy wear of the 1920s when men began to take an interest in clothes, and fashions were made to last.

The AW collection is aimed at men who have a personality and are a fan of quality tailoring. It re-works classics such as the Sports and Dancehall jackets, but also provides the basics- cotton shirts, blazers and trousers; The Journeymans Smock is the perfect laid-back denim accompaniment to smarter trousers, and if you are a fan of the traditional, the Eastie buttonhole braces and Francois neckerchief are a must to complete your look.. The collection has a unique sense of confidence and the attention to detail of piping and contrasting buttons, only adds to the charm and confidence.

Aiming to create stylish, understated practical pieces, the collection is now available across the globe and can be found in boutiques from New York to Melbourne to Colibri in London and Norwich.
Also available on line at eastiestore.com

By Sara Darling

55employees hit the Haygate....

From the excitement of my "DAY OUT" on the Haygate estate, 55employes were so excited from the story of another land they wanted to take the trip. Chris and Nick in all 55style headed South with the cameras to document the area like a day bunked off school...
Not before walked half a mile from Elephant and Casely carrying a double mattress. Dont ask, it just had to be done...





A rather bemused intern followed them around, felling quite out his comfort zone while 55employees shot away (the intern soon discovered this wasn't Chelsea, and in a sick way think he relay enjoyed it)





Andrew Rutland
Nick Thompson
55intern








Rutland on hearing the news we were south on the Haygate Zooomed down on his old woman bike to be blown away by the whole site and area.
For Rutland to be excited is some thing.....

55employees are planning a night trip, not on Acid tho!! if any one is interested to join for the evening.
We wil be participating in night shots and not getting stabbed and mugged.

Really we had an awesome afternoon quite fascinating!!! If this is not enough to get you heading south on the underground to Elephant and Caste then i give up!!!

What a perfect day on the Haygate estate.

After a VERY long day, and night and up again at 7.30am not for the want of wanting to stay in the luxury of the Kennington play boy pad!! No thats not an ipad we've reinvented.


I thought I would pop to the Elephant and Castle SE my old marching ground and have a look around the pound shops. Even 55employees need a bit of ME time!





On the way, after out RUM interview I thought I would pop and take a look at the Haygate Estate, as its soon to be pulled down. Not knowing if i would actually get in there.

Much to my joy i found the whole estate basically empty but open to who ever wanted to wander around.

What an absolute joy!!! I spent a good 2 hours like a curious kid wandering around the sky walk ways between the blocks, up and down the odd stair cases, gasping at the HUGE stretches of tower blocks. The external walk ways running like SiFi ships gracefully almost hovering.


I couldn't quite get my head around the beauty of it all. Being a massive fan, well lover of Brutalist design walking around the Haygate Estate was thrilling yet morbidly upsetting.








Soon to happen the whole place is to be bulldozed. Not content with demolishing the whole area that is one of the largest holding of mature trees. Its incredible the amounts of folage and wood land that have over the past 30 years established its self. All to go. Also the 3000 people that have been moved out of the area since 2006, and still the place is empty and standing. Also the surveyors report that all the building are sound and only need refurbishing.




Unfortunately it is too late for the Haygate. In my recent pass
around 2005 I was on a hugh film shoot over the entire estate when most of the place was still populated. Now a ghost city with the murmur of central London just beyond its walls.












Advice. Get your selves to the Haygate for an after noon, then pop in to the Elephant and Castle shopping centre for a trip back to the early 1980s. Astonishing, and it will all be gone in the next 3 years replaced by generic glass buildings and city worker.

YUK!!












Any how, for me this was a perfect day. For others going to the country side, me the Haygate estate.

Truly Inspiring !!!!

It's been just over a year now since I moved to London, and what a year its been! I've seen some wonderful brilliant and crazy things. Like Greenwich Uni burn on the set of Pirates of the Caribean 4. I've seen and witnessed first hand the acid trip that is Camden Town at night. I knew 55Employee, Kieron Allender before he started disliking the majority of the Population, yes there was a time when he tolerated folk and in some cases liked them. And finally I've seen 55Employee Nick Tompson interview a Jedi and a Morris Dance outside the Bank of England.

But I've done some pretty crazy but epic things too... But thanks the side effects of alchol I don't remember most of these.

However I do remember joining 55Factory. I dont remeber how it happend, I remember turning up to 'the Bunker' with something cool on my iPhone, and now I am legally contracted never to leave. All I do know is that 55Factory is the BEST place to work. And 55Employees are the happiest alive because the love what they do! (Apart from Kieron)

My role at 55 is tilted 'the Nerd' not officially. Since starting at 55 I have developed the Mobile Website which now appears if you visit www.55factory.net on your Mobile, or when you scan our funky QR code on the back of 55Page.

I also designed and animated the new intro for 55TV.

But I'v been mainly working on the 55App for iOS Devices. The app is very close to being finished and has some great features on it, like all the latest content all the beautiful faces of 55Employees with the ability to contact us all. It also has some nice twitter and facebook intergtated features. Oh and finally this Blog!

So stay tuned for the App and many other exciting things only at 55Factory.

By Joe Barbour (joebarbourdesign@gmail.com)

55factory gets article in RUM magazine

55employees Sims and Thompson recently were asked to do a six page article for RUM magazine on Brutalist Architecture. Never ones to not rise to a challenge they scrambled together a bunch of images shot around the narrative, then proceeded to spend a sleepless night writing some thing that made some sense in the way of words.


As usual, it was a last minute request, literally giving us 2 days to collect the images and do the words..... And on top of this prep for a 10 pages fashion shoot the next day. Needles to say the RUM article was finished and sent off, and the fashion shoot was AMAZING with the most fantastic model Trissian for D1 models London. More to come on that one very soon!

All tho a little ragged the following day for the Fashion shot, 55employee Darling had it well in order for the boys to take it a little easier!

Given this opportunity with the RUM article, 55 employees blow the trumpet as much as possible for 55factory work force and associates, as well as giving a DOPE essay on Brutalism. Well thats verry 55factory any how!!