Cops shut down crack den in De Beavoir

Police have closed down a crack den in De Beauvoir that had become a magnet for dealers.

Officers obtained a closure order for the flat following complaints about drug dealing in and around the premises.

The raid was carried out by officers from Dalston and De Beauvoir safer neighbourhood team last Thursday night.

The property will remain closed for up to six months and anyone caught entering will be arrested.

Sgt Shaju Bashaharan said: "I hope this action sends a positive message to the community that we work with the information they provide to us and take whatever action is necessary to improve their lives and tackle crime.

London's Top Ten Nightspots

From salsa to jive, mojitos to martinis, London's nightclubs and bars will leave you spoiled for choice. And whether you want to venture east to Shoreditch or hang out in the members' clubs in Kensington and Mayfair, you will find what you are looking for. Here's a peek into the decadent world of London's hottest nightspots.

Mahiki

Stepping into Mahiki is like walking off a London street and into a Polynesian paradise. Princes William and Harry are often spotted partying here, along with plenty of other celebrities. Grab a table upstairs and relax with an exotic tropical drink after work, or head downstairs for a night of dancing. On the long list of cocktails, classic favorites like pina colada mingle with Mahiki inventions with names like Neptune's Bounty, Lover's Cup and Coastal Kiss. Thursdays are particularly hot here -- and don't forget to bring your dancing shoes.

Whisky Mist

The owners of Mahiki struck gold again when they opened Whisky Mist last year. With a sleek, dark interior, Whisky Mist draws a similar crowd to its sister club, and is one of the hottest places to see and be seen in London's central Mayfair area. Membership -- which includes a personal monogram-sealed bottle of whiskey stored at the club -- is an option, but not a requirement.

Boundary

Boundary, which opened in January, is one of London's hottest new nighttime hangouts, yes, but it is so much more. Located in the trendy East London Shoreditch neighborhood in a converted Victorian warehouse, Boundary includes three restaurants and bars, a bakery and a food store, plus 12 guest bedrooms and five suites. The rooftop bar -- which includes a grill -- comes complete with a wooden deck, olive trees, couches, blankets and a panoramic view of the city.

Cargo

Another Shoreditch gem, Cargo is the place to go for an impressive variety of live music, film screenings and art. The music runs the gamut, with a DJ often taking over after a live performance to spin party-goers into the wee hours of the morning. On nice summer nights, kick back in Cargo's courtyard under the refitted railway arches with friends, drinks and some South American fare. Unlike many other places around the city, there's no cover charge here on Fridays.

Favela Chic

Favela Chic, which first opened in Paris 11 years ago, is an eclectic mix of many things -- a Brazilian-French restaurant-club in a converted warehouse in Shoreditch. A diverse, international crowd packs the dance floor late into the night nearly every day of the week -- expect a long queue, and a cover, on Fridays and Saturdays. Depending on the night -- or the time of night -- you might find a DJ or a live performance supplying the music, ranging from hip-hop to samba to electronica, and everything in between. Get there early in the evening to check out the menu of authentic Brazilian food. And don't forget to try a mojito.

Boujis

Chic, exclusive and pricey, Boujis is a mainstay on the London nightclub scene, popular among celebrities and locals alike. Paparazzi routinely park outside this private members' club, waiting to catch a glimpse of Prince Harry, Lindsay Lohan or any number of other celebrities who routinely make the rounds here. If you want to check it out, be prepared to queue... and to pay. Reserving a table for seven will run upwards of £500.

The Last Days of Decadence

Looking for fine dining? Live music? A theatre performance? A club? A tea room? Then make your way to Shoreditch, where you'll find it all and then some at The Last Days of Decadence. The versatile space boasts stained glass windows and an art-deco look. Upstairs you'll find white linen table cloths, downstairs a packed dance floor. Be sure to try one of Last Days' famous cockteas -- hot alcoholic infusions served by the pot.

Floridita

Floridita, in the heart of Soho, is the place to go if you're in the mood to salsa. Mojitos and daiquiris top the list of refreshing Cuban cocktails, and low lighting and a live Cuban band combine to set the mood at this popular restaurant-bar-dance club. Added bonus: the Cuban cigars, which are rolled on-site.

The Bathhouse

The Bathhouse, a refurbished Victorian building that used to be home to Turkish baths, is at once a late-night bar, live music venue, fine dining restaurant and a place to stop for a quick bite at breakfast or lunch. The two subterranean rooms are bathed in candlelight, and the walls lined with a collection of mirrors, which make the space feel more expansive than it really is. Young fashionable crowds flock to the Bathhouse for its elegant atmosphere, dance floor and excellent drink selection.

Rockwell

Voted the bar of the year by both the Evening Standard and Time Out in 2008, Rockwell is a sleek bar located in The Trafalgar hotel along the Strand. The interior features dark walnut walls and lots of black leather, and the bar serves up fancy, expensive cocktails. The roof -- open in the summer, and entirely enclosed in the winter -- is outfitted with sleek modern white couches, umbrellas and bar stools, and offers up a gorgeous view of the city.

London's animation festival gears up

With less than a few days to go before the first events of this year's London International Animation Festival, details of the opening party are being announced, while the full programme is also revealed.

The opening night party, taking place this Thursday (August 27), is hosted by Brighton-based short film collective Paper Bag in collaboration with BAFTA. Paper Bag has selected the night's programme of animated shorts to be screened; The Morning Orchestra and DJ Kelvin Andrews provide music.

Also at the opening event, animation pairing The Brothers McLeod give a talk, discussing their BAFTA-nominated short Codswallop, as well as other past works and future projects. The party takes place at the Roxy, London SE1. Click here for more information and to book tickets.

The festival proper kicks off on August 28 and features seven days of themed screenings at venues including the Horse Hospital in Bloomsbury, the Rio Cinema in Dalston, and the Renoir Cinema in Soho.

Strands include Animated Documentaries; British Panorama and International Panorama (which take the pulse of the international animation scene); Best of the Next (a celebration of international graduate animation); and Museek, a panorama of animated music promos.

Click here for the full programme and to book.

London cash machines offer Cockney slang option

LONDON — Would you Adam and Eve it? Cash machines in east London are offering customers the option of using the local Cockney rhyming slang to get their hands on their sausage, so to speak.

Five automated teller machines (ATMs) in the East End are going Cockney for three months from Monday.

While cash machines with several language options are commonplace in some countries, the chance to use rhyming slang could leave those unfamiliar with the east London lingo in a right load of Barney Rubble.

Anyone opting for Cockney rhyming slang will be asked to enter their Huckleberry Finn (PIN) before choosing how much sausage and mash (cash) they want.

Those wanting to withdraw 10 pounds will have to ask for a speckled hen, while the machine may inform users that it is contacting their rattle and tank, rather than bank.

"We wanted to introduce something fun and of local interest to our London machines," said Ron Delnevo, managing director of operators Bank Machine.

"Whilst we expect some residents will visit the machine to just have a butcher's (hook, look), most will be genuinely pleased as this is the first time a financial services provider will have recognised the Cockney language in such a manner."

The ATMs displaying prompts in Cockney are all free to use, though most of the group's cash machines charge a fee.

Better-known Cockney rhyming slang includes dog and bone (phone), apples and pears (stairs), whistle and flute (suit), Adam and Eve (believe), Barnet Fair (hair), trouble and strife (wife), loaf of bread (head) and boat race (face).

The Pictures

ZINE LAUNCH!

New issue features interviews, profiles, artwork and photos, including... Ry Russo Young (Orphans), Angelique Bosio (Llik Your Idols), Bang Wash Productions, Nicola Probert, Tom Moore, Garry Sykes, Michael Reid, Alexandra Roxo
FREE COPIES FOR FIRST 10 ATTENDEES
plus specially selected programme of DIY SHORTS by those featured!

and if that isn't spoiling you enough...

live! BAMBIKILL
we're really excited about finally getting Bambikill up from Bristol to bless us with her ethereal, raw, immersive guitar noise. if you only ever come to see one band at The Pictures, make sure it's this one!

live! PETS IN HEAVEN
fantastic new duo bringing their awesome security blanket songs to the boudoir.

AND last but definitely not least, a screening of the legendary, impossible to find Werner Herzog documentary GOD'S ANGRY MAN, a bizarre and fascinating portrait of a 80s TV evangelist Gene Scott


Bonus material:
- our new Arnold Schwarzenegger based game with cool prizes
- DJs
- free popcorn!


Doors: 8pm
Entry: FREE ENTRY
...the screen is the retina of the mind's eye...


http://www.myspace.com/thepicturesnight
http://www.myspace.com/bambikillmusic
http://www.myspace.com/petsinheaven

Gilbert & George: JACK FREAK PICTURES

10 Jul—22 Aug 2009
Hoxton Square

White Cube is pleased to present a new exhibition by Gilbert & George. The ‘JACK FREAK PICTURES’ will be shown in both the Mason’s Yard and Hoxton galleries and comprise the single largest series of work ever made by the illustrious British duo. It is their third show with White Cube and the first in London since the monumental retrospective at Tate Modern in 2007.

According to the writer Michael Bracewell, “the ‘JACK FREAK PICTURES’ are among the most iconic, philosophically astute and visually violent works that Gilbert & George have ever created.” The dominant pictorial element is the Union Jack, itself an internationally familiar, abstract, geometric pattern and a socially and politically charged symbol whose significance spans the cultural spectrum from contemporary fashion to aggressive national pride. Equally prominent, and linking the ‘JACK FREAK PICTURES’ to almost every work previously created by the artists, are Gilbert & George themselves in a variety of guises: dancing, gurning, howling, watching, waiting. Sometimes their bodies seem complete; other times they have been fragmented or contorted. Invariably they feature as both subject and object, artwork and artist; they are players in the epic and complex pictorial drama they have created.

Set in the East End of London where Gilbert & George have lived and worked for over forty years, the ‘Jack Freak Pictures’ bring numerous aspects of the modern world to life. Medals, flags, maps, street-signs, graffiti and other less immediately obvious motifs jostle for attention with the brickwork, buildings and even foliage of the contemporary urban environment in works that are densely layered and complexly nuanced to evoke (and sometimes conflate) a sense of past, present and future. They raise fundamental and rudimentary questions about religion, identity, politics, economics, sexuality and death. The ‘JACK FREAK PICTURES’ reaffirm Gilbert & George’s status as pre-eminent Modernists and underline Robert Rosenblum’s observation that “of the singularity of their duality in life as art, there is little doubt”. Michael Bracewell’s view that they are “visionary artists in the lineage of William Blake” rings truer now than ever before.

Gilbert was born in the Dolomites, Italy in 1943; George was born in Devon in 1942 and both live and work in London. Together they have participated in many important group and solo exhibitions including the largest retrospective of any artist to be staged at Tate Modern (2007). The exhibition went on to tour Haus der Kunst, Munich (2007); Castello di Rivioli, Turin (2007); Milwaukee Art Museum (2008) and Brooklyn Museum (2008 –09). They have had many other extensive solo exhibitions, including, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (1971-1972), National Gallery, Beijing (1993), Shanghai Art Museum (1993), Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1995-1996), Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (1998), Serpentine Gallery, London (2002), Kunsthaus Bregenz (2002) and Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover (2004-2005). They won the Turner Prize in 1984 and represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2005.

A fully illustrated catalogue, with an essay by Michael Bracewell, will be published to accompany the exhibition.

White Cube is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm. For further information, please contact Honey Luard or
Sara Macdonald on +44 (0)20 7930 5373.

Dalston Flats bear resemblence to Grid Iron Building in NYC

James & Taylor cladding company develops product that drives air through wind turbines

The 14-storey Kinetica building currently taking shape in Dalston, east London, will use specially developed cladding to help channel wind to its four wind turbines.

The apartment block, which has a notable resemblance to New York’s ‘Flat iron’ building, has been designed by architects Waugh Thistleton and features four wind turbines stacked vertically down the side. These will supply 15% of the building’s energy needs.

The aerofoil shape of the building has been derived from the technical requirement to drive the air towards the spine and through the turbines and to ensure that no eddies occur along the facade a smooth surface was essential.

Specialist cladding company James & Taylor has come up with a version of its Moeding Alphaton cladding which has an ivory coloured hue and glazed finish.

Mark Boehmer, associate at Waugh Thistleton Architects said: “As such a conspicuous object in the skyline we had to ensure that the appearance was not only visually striking but also met the high quality standards that we set ourselves. We have chosen a natural product with James & Taylor and through experimenting with the glazing gauge believe that we have developed a highly durable product with a beautiful and impeccable finish.”

The building will include 41 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments along with commercial spaces. It is due for completion in early 2010.

Read more: http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=284&storycode=3147091&c=0#ixzz0OiZOKeRu

London's Oldest "Boardwalk" Found?

London's oldest known timber structure could be the city's earliest "boardwalk," archaeologists say.

Preserved for more than 5,700 years, the structure was found in an ancient peat bog next to the Belmarsh prison in Plumstead, a suburb of East London near the banks of the River Thames (see map).

"It is definitely man-made, and a very rare find," said team member Jon Sygrave of the Institute of Archaeology at University College London.

At the time the timbers were laid down, the Thames was made up of numerous interweaving tributaries and channels, which flowed through a vast marshland.

The structure was most likely built to keep people's feet dry as they ventured across the soggy ground near the river.

"It probably provided access into a resource-rich area full of birdlife and plants and [was] close to the river for fishing," Sygrave said.

Marsh Trackways

The boardwalk is one of just a handful of similar ancient structures that exist in the U.K.

The oldest known timber trackway in the country is the Sweet Track, which was built about 6,000 years ago across marshes in what is now Somerset.

But the Belmarsh structure is London's oldest, predating by 700 years a timber trackway found in the city's Docklands area in 2002.

The newfound platform is about 5 feet (1.5 meters) by 6.5 feet (2 meters). It was made from split alder or hazel logs that were each about four inches (ten centimeters) wide.

The wood beams were found 15 feet (4.7 meters) underground near the remains of a now dry river channel, the team said.

But it's not clear how far people might have traveled to reach this boardwalk, the excavation team said, since no prehistoric settlements have been found nearby.

Further analysis of the structure as well as ancient preserved plant material found around it should help clarify the trackway's purpose.

Prison Dig

Archaeologists found the structure during excavations carried out before construction of a new prison building.

(Related: "Henry VIII's Lost Chapel Discovered Under Parking Lot.")

The structure may extend farther into the ancient bog, but the complexity of the excavation meant it would take too much time and money to investigate further.

Instead, any additional timbers will remain buried, and the excavated area will be preserved under special glass flooring in the new building.

Londoners Through A Lens

What makes a Londoner? Place of birth, place of work, a certain accent, a particular attitude? Living here, dying here? Finding fame and fortune here? Look around these walls and you'll find all these things, and many more.

As with Time Out/Getty Images' previous exhibition and book, London through a lens, we've rifled through the vast archives of Getty Images to unearth a multifaceted selection of photographs of the capital from the past hundred years or so, but this time with the emphasis on the capital's inhabitants.

The capital has produced its fair share of heroes and heroines down the ages, so you'll spot plenty of famous faces. Some are defined by their London connections (step forward Mary Quant, Terence Conran and Michael Caine), some made their name and reputation here (take a bow Norman Hartnell and the Sex Pistols), others worked tirelessly to improve the lot of Londoners (thanks to Sylvia Pankhurst) or to keep them entertained (three cheers for Kenneth Williams and Peter Sellers). And plenty of famous places pop up too, among them Trafalgar Square, the British Museum, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, Covent Garden Market and Kew Gardens.

But there are just as many ordinary and anonymous people on ordinary and anonymous streets doing what Londoners have always done: queuing, shopping, working, striking, protesting, laughing, celebrating, playing, eating, sleeping and generally getting on with life in this bustling, overcrowded, dirty, historic, exciting metropolis. And it’s to them that this exhibition is dedicated: Londoners through the years, without whom this great city would be a dull and lifeless place.

http://www.gettyimagesgallery.com/exhibitions/default.aspx

VICE Magazine Photo Exhibition Comes To Dalston

The VICE Photo Exhibition 2009 will run for two weeks from Thursday 13 August at Dalston’s The Printspace before touring Spain, Italy and France. Entry is free.

The exhibition celebrates the VICE annual photo issue.

The exhibition includes newly commissioned work, material from previously unseen archives and new work from the likes of Richard Kern, Angela Boatwright, Maggie Lee and Dana Goldstein.

Highlights of the annual issue and exhibition include:

· Black and White by Terry Richardson and Moonage Daydream by Ryan McGinley – images from both series have been used for two separate covers of the August issue of VICE.

· Archival Girls by Richard Kern - early photos of old friends, old friend's girlfriends, strangers and strippers.

· Mystic Heather and Virgin Snow by Tim Barber - photographs from a portrait series of friend Julia in and around New York, and up in the woods of Western Mass.

· Three Photos by Peter Sutherland

· Jailbait Core by Dana Goldstein

· Hackney Unicyclists by Alex Sturrock

· Candid Reich by Nico

The exhibition is open daily from 10am at theprintspace, 74 Kingsland Road, London E2 8DLThe VICE Photo Exhibition 2009 will run for two weeks from Thursday 13 August at Dalston’s The Printspace before touring Spain, Italy and France. Entry is free.

The exhibition celebrates the VICE annual photo issue.

The exhibition includes newly commissioned work, material from previously unseen archives and new work from the likes of Richard Kern, Angela Boatwright, Maggie Lee and Dana Goldstein.

Highlights of the annual issue and exhibition include:

· Black and White by Terry Richardson and Moonage Daydream by Ryan McGinley – images from both series have been used for two separate covers of the August issue of VICE.

· Archival Girls by Richard Kern - early photos of old friends, old friend's girlfriends, strangers and strippers.

· Mystic Heather and Virgin Snow by Tim Barber - photographs from a portrait series of friend Julia in and around New York, and up in the woods of Western Mass.

· Three Photos by Peter Sutherland

· Jailbait Core by Dana Goldstein

· Hackney Unicyclists by Alex Sturrock

· Candid Reich by Nico

The exhibition is open daily from 10am at theprintspace, 74 Kingsland Road, London E2 8DL

The ghost bikes of Dalston and the World

As a cyclist, I’m acutely aware of government cycle campaigns, with Cycle Fridays being the latest from Boris, complete with big splashes in Time Out and plenty of Twitter action. The Police are also on their own mission, promoting cycle-lorry-driver harmony with internet videos and a PR drive. I was even stopped by police on Kingsland Road; they offered to sit me in a lorry driver’s cab so that I could find out for myself where their blindspots are. But the most poignant of all cycle campaigns (for me at least) has invisible protagonists.

I first spotted a ‘ghost bike’ as I was cycling along. I pursed my lips and thought to myself ‘Ooh! That’s a nice white bike. Maybe I should spray mine white’. Then after a few weeks, I kept seeing the same white bike everywhere (or so I thought). Then I thought to myself ‘I hope that this isn’t another art project’. But after a spot of Googling, I discovered that they are in fact junk bikes that have been sprayed white and placed at a spot where a cyclist had been killed.

http://www.ghostbikes.org

Savoy Cafe in Dalston Provides Inspiration

The Savoy Cafe, on Graham Road, is one of East London's hidden gems.

The cafe is one of the only remaining places left in Hackney that has retained its early 20th Century interior, with original 1930's décor and fascia.

Closed in the mid-1990's, the cafe was left as it is by its owners, the Coltelli family who have lived there since the 1950's.

Now the cafe is to be openened for a series of special events throughout the end of July and August, including a film premier and a series of talks. It is the aim that this project will provide an inspiration to developers who choose to sensitively add to the regeneration activities of Hackney Central, and to other artists and curators who choose Hackney Central for their activities. In addition, work already undertaken with the 20th Century Society and Hackney Museum confirms the need for the Savoy Cafe’s interior to be preserved, listed and sensitively restored in the future. Hackney photographer Emily Webber has taken a series of photographs from inside the Savoy. They can be seen here.

Dalston drive-by shooting drama

A man has been shot in the leg during a drive-by shooting in Dalston on Monday 17th August, several shots were fired from a vehicle driving along Sandringham Road at around 3.20pm.

A large section of the road was cordoned off as police forensic teams moved into investigate. A man has been taken to hospital suffering from a gunshot wound to his leg. There have been no arrests.

Seizure by Roger Hiorns, re-opens in London

With flaming street drains, grinded up aircraft engines and Toyota engines made to look like brains included in his eclectic oeuvre – British artist Roger Hiorns is anything but standard.

Hiorns uses unusual materials to effect surprising transformations on found objects and urban situations. Fire emerges from storm drains, perfume permeates metal surfaces, and copper sulphate crystals colonise industrial objects.

SEIZURE was Hiorns’ most ambitious work to date and his first major sculptural project within an urban site, and it marked a radical shift in scale and context in his work. The artist encouraged the growth of an unexpected crystal form within a low-rise late-modernist development near the Elephant & Castle in south London.

75,000 litres of copper sulphate solution were pumped into the council flat to create a strangely beautiful and somewhat menacing crystalline growth on the walls, floor, ceiling and bath of this abandoned dwelling.

After the project opened, 151 - 189 Harper Rd became a site of pilgrimage. Every day hundreds of people made their way across the capital to this anonymous council flat near the Elephant & Castle.

SEIZURE was commissioned by Artangel and the Jerwood Charitable Foundation, supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, in association with Channel 4. The work was selected through the Jerwood/Artangel Open, a new commissioning initiative for the arts, which was launched in the summer of 2006 in association with Channel 4 and Arts Council England.

This project is supported by Arts Council England, Artangel International Circle, Special Angels and The Company of Angels

Roger Hiorns: SEIZURE
151 - 189 Harper Rd, London SE1
September - November 2008

Then reopened from 23 July 2009
Open Thursday - Saturday 11am - 7pm
Sundays 11am - 5pm
Closed Monday - Wednesday

Entry is free and booking is not required

Bus shelters to provide a platform for public artists

Bus stops are to be transformed into works of art in a London-wide design project.

A digital artist has designed a computer programme to create images for the tops of bus shelters after being inspired by attempts to beautify the roofs on his local route.

Alfie Dennen, 33, from Hackney, says he wants to provide a canvas to allow Londoners and communities to tell their stories to thousands of passengers every day.

“I live in Kingsland Road and there's someone who throws painted toothpicks with potatoes on to bus stops. Then there's another person who leaves trails of hearts and grass on them. A lot of people do stuff like that on bus routes,” he said.

“It will be a public artists' resource, but really it's to put art in the hands of the people.”

Mr Dennen estimates the cost of the project at about £300,000 and he has been shortlisted for Arts Council funding. He said the concept “turns art on its head” and is intended to empower the public and create a genuinely community art experience that he hopes will reflect the cultural diversity of London.

He will have panels of programmable LEDs installed on the roofs of 64 bus shelters, two for every borough. His computer programme for creating the designs works in a similar way to graphics editing programme Photoshop, providing every user with tools. “There's a standardised toolkit — lines, spray can function, circles. It's the same for everyone: artist Anish Kapoor would be using the same tool kit to make his canvas as a 14-year-old kid from Dalston,” said Mr Dennen.

Bus stop artists will upload their designs to Mr Dennen's website, where visitors will vote for which they want to see on a shelter roof. The chosen designs are sent to a modem at the bus stop and appear on the LEDs. Designers can also specify what time they want their work to show.

Mr Dennen said:“It's a very, very big public art project. Bus stops are quite incredible structures — regular, modular and they serve a social function — they're just quite wonderful social projects. We're hopeful we'll get funding,” he said.

He is the co-founder of mobile blogging site Moblog, and is no stranger to public art projects. His website We're Not Afraid, which he set up after the 7/7 bombings to show that Londoners would not let terrorism stop their freedom, attracted 3,500 images in days.

London's designers putting cutting-edge style into the cycle lanes

LOOK round London and you will see a cycling revolution taking place. In every borough, fashionistas are gliding through the city on fixed-gear riders, mountain bikes, or vintage-style ladies’ cycles.

Owning a bike used to be about saving money and getting fit, but now it is a style thing and Londoners who make up the 545,000 bike journeys a day drive an industry ­centred on looking good.

Although there is still an army of cyclists decked in Day-Glo and hi-vis wear each morning, many of London’s two-wheelers are opting for a more unique, stylish look, which involves more than just reflective gear and weather-safe shorts.

Partly driving this is the fad for fixed-gear bikes, and the interest in sub-culture sports such as bike polo. London’s bike polo devotees, who play three-a-side matches on ball courts across London, will lock horns at the European Bike Polo Championships at Southwark this weekend. Around 40 teams – four of which are from London – will take part. The event, as much about looking good as it is about winning games, will even have a best-dressed team award. This fashion, whether from classic cycle website Rapha, or the laddishness of Chunk’s bike polo range, is inspired by demand for style.

In east London, Cyclodelic has designed feminine “bra bags” fitted to suit the shape of the body so they don’t move when riding, while Bobbin stocks tweed flat caps which reflect the light of drivers’ headlights.

Cycle Chic Shoreditch

58-60 Rivington Street, EC2

cyclechic.co.uk

At the forefront of the cycle revolution is ­Cycle Chic, run by Caz Nicklin. A brand wich combines femininity with functionality, Cycle Chic started life as blog in 2007, before Nicklin realised the gap in the bike fashion market, opening a store in May last year.

Nicklin says its rain capes, stylish panniers, “ding-dong” bells and breathable ladies­’ vests and knickers are changing cycling­ from “a blokey, unsafe way of travelling” into something stylish.

“Our main market is women in their 20s and 30s who are fashion-conscious, though blokes are regularly banging down our door asking for more fashion,” says Nicklin. “Being in Shoreditch, we do get a lot of ­people coming from trendy design companies, and young professionals.”

Cycle Chic’s top lines include fingerless leather cycle gloves with “Love” and “Hate” written across the knuckles, and peaked Bern Muse helmets. But what Cycle Chic specialises in is beautiful Velorbis bicycles (from £899) and designer panniers.

“The cyclist’s main problem is how to get your stuff from A to B with style,” says Nicklin. “When we started, the only panniers on the market were dull, waterproof affairs. Now you have range – be it floral, leather or traditional satchel looks.”

Best buy: “Love” and “Hate” cycle gloves (£29.99)

Revolutions in clothing

Rapha Kentish Town

Kentish Town rapha.cc

Founded in 2004, Rapha is the grandaddy of the cycle cool scene, creating stylish road wear for the discerning rider.

Chief executive Simon Mottram says: “It’s no longer uncool to ride a bike. Ten years ago I would be derided for walking through an office in Sidis and a cycling jersey. These days it’s a positive image.”

Once the preserve of road-race obsessives, the Rapha look has been adopted by bike polo players and even City fixed-gear riders.

Best buy: Classic Sportwool Jersey (£125) and the flat-peaked cap (£25)