Charles Jeffrey loves a party. The London designer’s name is rapidly becoming a by-word for nightlife and its attendant freedoms, due in part to his riotous Dalston club nights, Loverboy, which started back in 2014 as a way to raise funds for his graduate collection while at Central Saint Martins.
Now he’s bringing that kind of party to the gallery setting, thanks to the winter fashion commission at Now Gallery in Greenwich Peninsula, London. ‘The Come Up’ is Jeffrey’s first solo exhibition, and features his fashion illustrations and associated 3D sculptures, all in an interactive experience that echoes the atmosphere of the cult Loverboy parties.
‘The vibe that I’m trying to recreate is about claiming a space, and making that space a safe haven for people to be themselves,’ he explains ahead of the exhibition's opening today. ‘So the whole gesture of the exhibition is to create a safe space to be your alter ego or a heightened version of yourself, which is what we always try to achieve with Loverboy.’
To get there, Jeffrey worked with fabricators who helped him translate his colourful gestural illustrations of faces and hands into something three-dimensional. Sculpture was not something the designer had worked with before. First came quick embryonic sculptures, made by Jeffrey out of garden wire and packing tape. Then these sculptures were transformed, in collaboration with sculptors and welders, into something more stable, using materials like jesmonite, papier-mache, fibreglass and PVC.
‘I’d hold up my initial sculpture and explain that I want it to look like this, but I still want it to validate the naïveté of the first subject,’ he describes. ‘Those original proposals have a real frivolity and quickness to them.’ The resulting exhibition is an interactive, multimedia exploration of identity and creativity, two themes that permeate Jeffrey’s escapist fashion collections.
This is the third time Now Gallery has collaborated with an emerging London fashion designer. In previous years the winter fashion collaboration was allotted to Phoebe English and Molly Goddard, two designers of a similar milieu to Jeffrey and also Central Saint Martins graduates.
For Jeffrey, the exhibition itself represents the chance to get outside his comfort zone. ‘It’s an opportunity for me to indulge in the work I’ve always wanted to do outside of fashion design,’ he says. ‘I could have easily knocked on the doors of our previous collaborators, get them to help out, but I really wanted to find a new way of working and work in a different way with different people. I’ve learned a lot, and I think [in the future], scale and drama in our fashion shows will be amplified because of this exhibition.’
Jeffrey made a name for himself with his Loverboy club nights in Dalston in 2014.
The exhibition features his fashion illustrations and associated 3D sculptures as an interactive experience.
Sculpture is not first-nature to Jeffrey, who worked with fabricators to translate his illustrations into a tangible medium.
This is the Now Gallery’s third collaboration with an emerging London fashion designer, the gallery having worked with Phoebe English and Molly Goddard in the past.
INFORMATION
'The Come Up' is on view until 11 February 2018. For more information, visit the Now Gallery website
ADDRESS
The Gateway Pavilions
Peninsula Square
Greenwich Peninsula
London
SE10 0SQ
-
This new Los Angeles restaurant is a mischievous blend of dive bar and 'psychedelic honky tonk'At Marvito, small-batch tequila and a classic rock soundtrack create a delightfully nostalgic night out
-
Half bridge, half home: Wallmakers’ latest project takes architecture to daring new heightsHovering above a forest stream in Maharashtra, Bridge House in Maharashtra, India pushes the limits of engineering and eco-conscious design
-
A postcard from Dubai Design Week 2025: creativity blooms against a desert backdropThe Emirates may still shimmer with spectacle, but beyond the surface a new generation of creatives is fusing research, heritage and innovation to build sustainable, future-facing practices
-
‘Dirty Looks’ at the Barbican explores how fashion designers have found beauty in dirt and decayFrom garments buried in River Thames mud to those torn, creased and stained, ‘Dirty Looks’ is a testament to how ‘creativity and new artistic practices can come out of decay’, its curators tell Dal Chodha
-
Tyler Mitchell’s London show explores the figure of the Black Dandy, ‘imagining what else masculinity could look like’Originally part of a visual essay to accompany the Met’s ‘Superfine’ 2025 Costume Institute exhibition, ‘Portrait of the Modern Dandy’ goes on display at Gagosian Burlington Arcade in London this week
-
Inside Louis Vuitton’s Murakami London pop-up, a colourful cartoon wonderland with one-of-a-kind caféWallpaper* takes a tour of the Louis Vuitton x Murakami pop-up in London’s Soho, which celebrates the launch of a new ‘re-edition’ accessories collection spanning the greatest hits from the Japanese artist’s long-running collaboration with the house
-
Get to know Issey Miyake’s innovative A-POC ABLE line as it arrives in the UKAs A-POC ABLE Issey Miyake launches in London this week, designer Yoshiyuki Miyamae gives Wallpaper* the lowdown on the experimental Issey Miyake offshoot
-
Margaret Howell London Fashion Week Women's S/S 2019 -
London Fashion Week S/S 2023: Ahluwalia to Martine RoseThough slimmed-down, London Fashion Week nonetheless provided the moments of creative expression the city is known for – from Ahluwalia’s ode to Africa to Martine Rose’s much-anticipated runway return
-
Discover these fashion brands at London Craft WeekDuring London Craft Week, fashion brands including Smythson, Bally and Serapian are hosting events across the capital
-
Nicholas Daley's multicultural roots celebrated in London
