MAG: OUR ESSENTIALS BY VICTATE

Compiled specifically for our Winter '12 booklet, this is a spread of some essentials Victate style. All belonging to the team, we brought together some of our favourite pieces from our daily lifestyle to perhaps give a glimpse of our possessions and how we believe Victate can fit seamlessly amongst them. I think you can click the image to enlarge it, or of course see it on print by ordering your free copy of said booklet!

"This is a small selection of items owned and used by the Victate team, all of which becoming significant parts of our daily lifestyle, each in their own time. It's also been an opportunity for us to display some brands that we aspire to in our own work and that we believe Victate can proudly sit beside."

DIARY: AN EASTER MORNING

MAG: KITSUNE x AIGLE FESTIVAL OUTFIT KIT

From: Cult Edge

A collaboration between Kitsuné and compatriot Aigle, a specialist rubber craft house, this Festival Outfit Kit is very cool indeed and I am almost literally drooling over these early images. Coming soon are these rubber wellington boots and Gore-Tex poncho, both designed with festival function, that is terrible weather, as the priority thus instilling the best materials for a pleasant, stylish experience. Available for both men and women, the products come in an unequivocally French (or indeed British) colourway of navy with red, white and blue detailing, all making for an extremely sharp outfit. That first shot of the boots turned over is a look!

MAG: LANA DEL REY CHELSEA HOTEL NO 2

What a beautiful cover, song, words and video. So so perfect, Lana.

BLOG: GOODBYE TO UMBRO FROM ENGLAND

From: Umbro

England drew their World Cup Qualifier against Montenegro last night, after an awful second half performance that inspired nobody. But there's more to the misery than footballing matters. Yesterday's match was the Three Lions' last in an Umbro shirt. After 50 years of kits provided by the very much classic English sports brand, England will now be dressed in Nike. And that is a huge shame.

While I'm sure Nike will deliver some slick uniforms with probably the world's most advanced technology and specs integrated into the kits, they will miss Umbro's heritage. Perhaps this is just a cry of romanticism, but there is undoubtedly a quality to Umbro's jerseys that held a sense of tradition, responsibility and patriotism. Recent kits under the label of "Tailored By Umbro" have been excellently chic, keeping the aesthetics clean and simple, making sure that precision and quality were the main priority. I loved these kits and they're certainly good enough for an everyday lifestyle outfit too. I have the 2012/13 away kit and I think it'll be a good idea to purchase the home one too, maybe even get Lampard's number printed. After all, it's the final edition, the last of a renowned list spanning half a century of English history. Thanks Umbro.

DIARY: BEACH HOUSE LIVE AT SHEPHERDS BUSH

24 hours after seeing The Weeknd in Camden, I was at Shepherds Bush O2 Empire to immerse myself in the sound of Beach House. I can tell you now that it was two nights well spent.

"Bloom" released in 2012 was such an awesome album and it was great to watch them play live in front of me. Sat in the comfort of the front row seating, we were treated to an hour and a half of tune after tune with barely any pause in between. Claiming that this would be the final show in London for some considerable time, the band packed in as much as possible into what was an intense, emphatic performance, which felt like time had stopped just for us.

MAG: ACTIVE CHILD EVENING CEREMONY

New song by Active Child, "Evening Ceremony", follows the stunning 2011 debut album with that same dreamy quality in his sound. Soft synths, a pulsating beat, the warm harp, soulful vocals and rich lyrics, I love it so.

BLOG: LIFE BY SEBAS & CLIM

To celebrate the studio's first anniversary, London-based duo Sebas & Clim recently released this lovely video project entitled "Life". With some neat graphics and colour, this cute animation cut wonderfully to music by Aimar Molero is "something for fun and an exploration of style, design, editing and animation", done very well indeed. Their work is full of similarly bright and inspiring design, amongst which is this video for the newly rebranded Cystic Fibrosis Trust's campaign.

MAG: NIKE SB STEFAN JANOSKI LIGHT REDWOOD

From: Hypebeast

New in for Spring/Summer 2013 by Nike SB is this light red edition of the Stefan Janoski. There's been a slight trend in pink hits across their range this season, but I do like this one and it's still growing on me at every glance. The tonal contrasts of the back panel, the embroidered swoosh, laces and label to the light redwood suede upper works really nicely, making for a great simple summer shoe. The same model is available in grey too, but I think I'll have my eye on these.

DIARY: THE WEEKND LIVE AT ELECTRIC BALLROOM

For the second time, I enjoyed seeing The Weeknd play live in London following his appearance at Wireless last summer. His show this weekend was one of four in a row at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, the final few intimate shows before the release of his full debut album and tour, which includes a date at the O2 where I will again be watching in November. And going by what I experienced on Sunday, it's going to be massive.

His set was a good hour of tunes taken from the superb trilogy of mixtapes, including almost every track off "House of Balloons", which is my favourite by miles so already it was money well spent. Some amazing music in that first mixtape and Abel and his tight band killed it. Most artists nowadays perform with a live band, and for me it's really a must, and The Weeknd was a supreme example. He commanded the crowd and the stage, almost conducting the instrumentalists around him with some raw arrangements, and I know I'm biased but I just love the beat of a drum. These guys have an exceptional sense of musicality, right on point, and I look forward to whatever they're conjuring up for us next with great expectation. It was a good show.

MAG: MONOCLE CAFE LONDON COMING SOON

As laid out in Monocle's latest issue number 62, the Chiltern Street café will be opening its doors on April 15, that's very soon. My initial post on the news from June 2012 has been one of the most popular entries on this Blog to date, so I'm guessing people are rather keen for its arrival – as am I of course, being an avid subscriber of the global affairs magazine. Early photos indicate that the café will be presented in true Monocle style with plenty of Japanese and Scandinavian design influences, sure to house some beautiful furniture, tableware and tools. You can count on me to visit and see for myself as soon as it's ready to welcome us in.

MAG: SIGUR ROS NEW ALBUM KVEIKUR

From: Consequence of Sound

After what was a massive success in the Valtari campaign, from the recording to the videos and most recently their worldwide tour, Sigur Rós have announced a new album coming very soon. "Kveikur", the first album released as a now 11-piece band, is described as more aggressive, and you can feel that instantly in this unveiled track "Brennisteinn". Almost a battle of the instruments in a climactic and even dramatic number, you can watch the video below.

"Valtari" is one of my favourite albums to date and I was gutted to miss out on their London shows last month, but with new material arriving already, I am defiant not to miss out again. They'll actually be playing Wembley Arena on November 21, a huge venue for what promises to be a huge gig.

DIARY: PITCH SNOW

Well done to the boys for coming out today. No idea how it's still snowing as we approach Easter, but despite the blanket of snow and sub-zero temperatures, it was smiles and energy all round this morning. Can't use those words to describe how I felt at 8:30 in the morning, but we had a good session for sure. Proud.

MAG: VINCE KIDD LIVE FUCKING LIVE

Vince Kidd showing off his vocal range on this new drop on Soundcloud. His attitude, emotion and swag (yes, swag...) combined with this modern, mellow beat is amazing. Rich lyrics too. No idea where he is exactly in terms of releases but I sure can't wait to hear this man's album.

DIARY: SYNCHRONISED SPIRALS

BLOG: VICTATE WINTER '12 OVERVIEW BOOKLET

From: Victate

We spent many hours working on this booklet, probably because it's a really important document for us to have ourselves. I know it was fun for me as it gives me the chance to do some print design and get it published. And we're very happy with how it's turned out.

28 glorious pages reflecting on Winter '12, focusing heavily on the Private Stock range because there's just so much progression there and new ventures for us that we're very proud to have achieved. There are also some special exclusives only found inside this booklet, so it's well worth asking for one! Why wouldn't you, it's free.

BLOG: JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE THE 20/20 EXPERIENCE

Ah, Justin Timberlake. So he's back with a new album. I've been meaning to write my thoughts on it all for a good week now. FYI, I first listened to it through the iTunes preview streaming service, start to end, seven days before the official release. And then another dozen times after. And then I downloaded it and listened to it some more at home, on the commute, before sleep...

I was the model consumer for JT, in that I heard and watched everything he wanted us to in the order that he wanted us to. "Suit & Tie", the Grammys and "Pusher Love Girl", "Mirrors", the Brits, Jonathan Ross, SNL, Jimmy Fallon... I think there's something to say about the way in which he and the label built up to the release and how tracks were unveiled. Mixing full song releases with teaser live performances, luring us with a little more each time and then letting us hear the album in full for free, I've been left wanting more every time, in awe of what I've just experienced.

Having heard the album in full each time (just the way I like to enjoy an album, how it was intended), it's fair to say that there's a lot of ideas thrown into it, far more experimental than before. My friend smartly said that it wasn't an 'easy' album to get. But the progression that Justin has shown since his last venture seven years ago is superb; he's aged like wine, or Leonardo DiCaprio. What he succeeded with before is still there in abundance, despite the views of some pessimists, but this time it comes with a greater sense of maturity and complexity in his sound that is fresh to hear. And what ties all the styles together for me is in the live performances. I've watched pretty much everything he's done this year so I like to think I have a good idea, but the vibe within the brass band and mini orchestra if you will, plus the chorus, dancers and Justin is so on point, the way they really feel the music and enjoy themselves doing it (just like Bon Iver, say) is something that comes across strongly and that's where the songs make true sense. They fit excellently together, no time-fillers, no repeats. Just a varietal album, ambitious yes, but absolutely just and brilliantly executed not a bit short of what we'd expect from him.

So I think it's a good album, a great album. He is the king of cool. And what, there's another album on the way? Well isn't that just fucking exciting.

DIARY: WHITE BY KENYA HARA PURCHASE

I've wanted to purchase this book for quite a while now, written by renowned Japanese designer Kenya Hara. In this short narrative he talks us through his grasp of simplicity and subtlety through the concept of white. Reflecting on Japanese culture and its tendencies and aesthetics that he knows so well, his book aims to impart on us a clear, fresh perspective on complete design – starting by understanding the notion of white.

I'm merely interpreting what the blurb says here, I couldn't say more without reading it and I can't wait to get started. He has another book too, a far heftier piece of writing called "Designing Design" which came before "White" in 2007 and it's on my shopping list. (It's true, just check my Pinterest board, "Reading List".) He's a designer I admire and aspire to, amongst the likes of John Maeda or Naoto Fukasawa, and I'm so ready to learn from his wisdom bound to be packed in these fine pages.

MAG: BANKS FALL OVER OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

I heard this, and indeed any of her music, for the first time earlier today and it's good. Banks, a newcomer from Los Angeles, has today released this sultry music video, excellently directed by Dylan Knight. The track is "Fall Over" and it's only her second one out in the public, but already there are great signs of intrigue in her music, I want to know more.

Here, she takes a smooth, soulful vibe and merges it with this rich electro sound, bordering on dance, but its sophistication is there for all to hear. Incidentally, the other song "Before I Ever Met You" (also very cool) has an official remix by SOHN, who has been a bit of a thing himself for me all week. Funny how these connections arise in quick succession. Anyway, Banks is a girl to watch out for and I'm sure I'll posting more as and when. (SOHN too.)

MAG: CARA DELEVINGNE UNCUT FOR I-D

In this sexy short film by Tyrone Lebon, model-of-the-moment Cara Delevingne does an inviting striptease, unzipping a crazy trench by Burberry. I've not decided whether I like her eyebrows or not yet, but all the media attention of late and certainly this video are succeeding in keeping me intrigued to this young British sensation.

BLOG: VICTATE CROPPED SLEEVE SWEATSHIRT

From: VICTATE

A fruition of some fun from sampling over winter, we have this week released a new piece to add to the current Winter '12 Mainline collection. Considering the freezing temperatures across the UK right now, it really doesn't matter that it's March. But for those of you who are optimistic for spring's imminent arrival, this sweat comes with cropped 3/4 length sleeves which we've been loving amongst the Victate team. Other fine details include a deeper raglan cut, extended body, handy pocket and I love the black on black! Pieces are limited but all sizes are currently available from our website, so take a look.

MAG: POCKET WATCH BY PEOPLE PEOPLE

From: Cool Hunting

They call themselves a Swedish industrial design agency. People People's portfolio features some beautiful little products that includes the stunning transparent speaker. However, still in development, it's this pocket watch that caught my eye. "It's time for a modern Pocket Watch" they say, and they are definitely onto something with this sleek design, keeping the aesthetics clean with a single piece of aluminium and the dial integrated into the face. Damn I look forward to this being brought to market.

DIARY: MISCELLANEOUS PHOTOS 3.13 PART ONE

I've had another busy few weeks, so there's not many different photographs this month, just the same old coffee, lunches and pets really. The book there is a sweet thing by Colleen Ellis, playing with the negative space in the Roman alphabet in beautifully selected colour and Helvetica 75 Bold. But yes, otherwise it's been a month of little excitement. My sleeping pattern was destroyed but now that I'm on 'holiday' (that is, no scheduled class for four weeks) I should be able to restore that soon. And just as well that next week New Girl returns to British TV on E4, as well as my guilty pleasure that is Made In Chelsea... ha. I've also set up an Instagram account which I realise I'm rather late on. I'm thinking one picture day? Though it'll probably just be more coffee, lunches and pets.

March part two coming at the end of the month.

MAG: RILO KILEY LET ME BACK IN OFFICIAL VIDEO

With the release of their compilation album of 'rarities' titled "RKives" (very clever) coming soon, the band have put together this sweet video for "Let Me Back In" with footage from their tours across the years. The sixteen-song album will be available on April 2, including personal photographs, hand-written lyrics and the artwork too designed by the band themselves. Lovely to hear them again, I thought "More Adventurous" was a stunning album.

MAG: NOCS NS2 AIR MONITORS

From: Hypebeast

The NS2 system by Nocs, a company that supply the audio market with high-end products that deliver both substance and style, is an AirPlay-integrated speaker set that you have to say looks sublime. Designed in Sweden, as you might expect, it's made of rubber coated cabinets built by hand and even Kevlar-reinforced woofers, beautifully put together in this cute minimalistic design. Available in six pop colours, they're on sale for $449.

DIARY: PERFORMING AT REVIVE CHARITY LIVE

This week marked the second year of passing from the huge earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan in March 2011. Japanese Societies of London universities joined forces to put on a cool show at Imperial College's Metric venue on Thursday with a whole bunch of guests performing for the cause. The band I play with were amongst the acts and we got to do a short set in front of an enthused crowd, many of whom have strong ties with the nation and fully felt the effects of that awful happening.

The five of us have only been playing together for around 6 months and we all came in new to our instruments, so of course this was our first time performing live, and we had a blast. Mistakes aplenty on my part for sure, but I can't deny what fun it was to rock out together. We're all students at different universities and all at different stages in our studies, and indeed our lives, so it's hard to say how much longevity there is for us, but if it's possible I'd absolutely love to go do it again.

MAG: BBC KNOWLEDGE EXPLAINER DNA BY TERRITORY

Now this is how you make education both engaging and effective. London-based studio Territory has put together this lovely sequence of neat graphics and colour to explain the science of DNA in this short video. It's one of many resources that is currently being made and commissioned by the BBC for an all new online platform called Knowledge & Learning coming soon with content to be "optimised" for students and teachers alike. Sounds interesting and if this video is anything to go by, it looks set to be a grand step in fixing the wrongs in our education system.

MAG: JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE LIVE ON SNL

So much class right here! Justin Timberlake hosted and performed on last week's SNL, including this sublime rendition of his comeback tune "Suit & Tie" with JAY Z. I've watched him do this track several times, most notably on this year's Grammys, but this one is at a whole other level. From the vocals to the band, the tight set and his moves, I think it's brilliant. You tell Kanye.

This is the first official clip of the show (accessible outside the US) and the "Mirrors" performance is also available for us to melt into. So much class.

DIARY: PENTAGRAM VISIT WITH DANIEL WEIL

As I've mentioned before, I've been very lucky to be involved with ICDC, a group of designheads over at Imperial College. That fortune culminated in two recent visits to the world's leading design consultancy, Pentagram. Under guidance from one of their longest serving partners in Daniel Weil, we were able to immerse ourselves in his über-rich workshops, filled (and indeed overflowing) with sheer wisdom. My respect and admiration for him are sky high and to have had the opportunity to be his student, albeit extremely temporarily, is one of priceless value to me.

Across the six hours, we heard about his story, his work and perhaps most importantly his views, where more often than not I found myself nodding along in agreement. And awe, actually. It was a unique setting, whereby we were visiting mainly as a group of engineers at one of the world's finest higher education institutions, with myself just absorbing as much I possibly could knowing that it would be so so useful for my design practice. We also got the chance last week to present some of our own thinking and it was highly interesting to hear the creative processes of a predominantly science-oriented set of people, whilst I too was able to share my developing intuition and I'm so pleased it was taken rather well. To talk design, the topic I feel most enthralled by in my life really, with someone who not only has as much knowledge and experience as Mr Weil does, but also with someone who truly epitomises passion and express such joy for the topic, was an experience I will forever cherish and appreciate.

I really hope that that's the last time I get to meet and converse with him, but if it is I've taken plenty on board to work with. Do take a look at some of the latest things he has been doing, because he is quite frankly amazing. I am inspired.

MAG: THE KNIFE A TOOTH FOR AN EYE VIDEO

Swedish dance-pop duo, The Knife's return after seven years is imminent with the album "Shaking The Habitual" arriving on April 8th. Its second track has been unveiled over the weekend in this beautiful video directed by Roxy Farhat and Kakan Hermansson, "A Tooth For An Eye". With some stunning visuals and powerful choreography, it's very cool and nothing short of expectations.

MAG: URBAN PONCHO BY OTTO LONDON

From: Otto London

I just found out about this brilliant specialist brand from London called Otto. "Inspired by Latin American ponchos fused with Classic European capes" is their thing and the products look stunning. They're designed with style-conscious cyclists in mind, resulting in a functionally excellent poncho model with a long list of features confined in this sleek minimalistic structure that's quite visually striking. The Urban, as it's called, is made with waterproof oxford nylon and lined with light cotton and reflective piping, and every consideration has been made with combatting any weather through fine detail. I'm really impressed and so keen to get one right now. It retails at £88.88 (lucky for some perhaps) and it shoots to the top of my wishlist.

DIARY: RHYE LIVE AT ST GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS

I was thrilled to have seen these guys perform live on Tuesday evening. Whilst I was admittedly slightly distracted by the Man Utd v Real Madrid game that I had only then realised I was missing, nothing could take my attention away from what was one of the most beautiful sets I've witnessed. An ensemble of instrumental talent, led by Canadian frontman Mike Milosh with the voice of an angel, their rich sound found its perfect match in a wonderful setting of a church in the very heart of London. It was a lovely occasion to have been a part of, in the same week as their debut album "Woman" hit stores worldwide, which I very much hope does well and would absolutely recommend.

MAG: SUMMERTIME SADNESS RYAN HEMSWORTH REMIX

Having won Best International Female at the Brits this year, Lana Del Rey has enjoyed a quiet but already fruitful year. And I finally (finally!) get to see her live when she graces the Hammersmith Apollo this May. For now though, one of my favourite tracks off her album "Summertime Sadness" has undergone an incredible remix thanks to the genius that is Ryan Hemsworth. He recently turned his magic to the soulful, mellow sound of Rhye too and this take on Lana is another hot masterpiece.

BLOG: CHVRCHES RECOVER OFFICIAL VIDEO

Glaswegian trio CHVRCHES have been one of my favourite sounds of the year so far, gorgeous electropop with warming synth layers and lovely vocals from an adorable Lauren Mayberry. She's a massive crush of mine at the minute and the band too are a huge star on my list of artists to look out for.

Today they released the video for their latest tune "Recover", taking an extraterrestrial theme with footage from the Mars rover. The EP will be available on March 25 and they've recently been travelling the nation with gigs here and there, as well as announcing confirmation for several festivals this summer, including Japan's annual epic Summer Sonic. I too will be part of the action, later in April, when they come visit London for a show. So very excited for that! Great little band they are, more to follow here for sure.

BLOG: VICTATE IN VELO 2ND GEAR

I snapped this photo (of the photo) in Magma, where on the shelves sits Gestalten's latest cycling visual "Velo 2nd Gear". The second in its series, the book collates excellent photographs of bicycle culture from around the world – and speaking of excellent photograpy – features this awesome shot from Victate's Summer '12 Mainline lookbook with the wicked guys of Ohana Fixed. Yes, we're in published material and you can get your own copy here if you want. It is in fact a stunning record, page after page of mesmerising bike porn.

DIARY: MISCELLANEOUS PHOTOS 2.13 WITH SNOW