The Bite Magazine Issue 17

silver rings. Next is Goth Queen with her black dress, sleeves gloves, and leg garter, cobweb tights, choker and heavy duty boots. While Heavy Metal Head comes in with his black t-shirt and straight jeans, military boots and wallet chains. How about being Totally Rad with a rad tie dye t-shirt, baggy shorts and checked flannel shirt along with mid- length sports socks and trainers? We take it down 1950s’ memory lane with Retro Dream Queen and Kitsch Geek Chic and their vintage dresses and car- digans, along with gorgeous flowery or brightly coloured handbags. Finally we have the 1990’s Grunge Babe with her heart broken design ringer t-shirt, high waisted button-through cordu- roy skirt, knee high socks and buckled school shoes while Teenage Anarchy causes havoc with a vegan leather cut off vest, yellow tartan trousers, mid- length leather boots, and belt, chain and choker. You’ll find that it’s not only UK-based businesses that exhibit at London Edge but also brands from several other countries. With over 100 exhibitors present, it’s like a sea of stalls and people coming together with one goal in mind – to create a platform where they can spread the word about their brand and gain recognition. Some of the brands that stood out for me were: On the Sunny Side from the Netherlands and 20 th Century Chap from the UK that sells vintage clothing for men from the 1930s and 1940s; gorgeous coloured floral vintage clutch bags from Woody Allen; women’s vintage clothing from Victory Parade; amazing leather shoes for men from the United States’ Never- mind brand; sensational and awesome leather boots from New Rock; and handmade metal accessories from The Original Atelier which in my opinion makes the mansion mask scenes from Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut seem tame. Another exhibitor that also stood out was Crime City Clothing from Malmö in Sweden which happened to have a very interesting story to tell. The owner, Ciilja started the brand in 2009 with the intention to provide alternative clothing in an alternative way. With a desire to be as sustainable as possible by using fairtrade and ecological fabric, she adopted the discharge printing technique that would make clothes feel good to wear and also make the colour run into the fabrics in a way that would ensure it does not crack or peel off. “This is a more expensive printing method but sustainable quality is important to me,” Ciilja explains in a booklet on the brand. Before she established her brand, Ciilja had a clothing store in Malmö where she sold other brands but soon felt some- thing was missing. She wondered where all the brands deeply attached to rock ‘n’ roll, punk and metal were. “I also felt that there was a great lack of brands [that] involved strong women. This was the main reason why I decided to start my own brand.” Working alongside her friend Vince Ruarus, Ciilja’s ideas soon evolved into print designs. However in 2012, these ideas and her logo were copied or “bootlegged I’d rather say” by a big company. Following this, Ciilja decided to make the designs even more personal by creating prints of friends and family members instead. “This was both fun and inspiring, and makes it even more fun to push the prints when it comes to promotion during festivals or through the web.” This new direction in her designs became so popular that some of her customers have even made a col- lection of the characters which includes Moahawk Mayhem aka Moa; Gold Dust Woman and Rambler Gambler, Ciilja’s parents Rita and Berndt; and Escape to Danger, her brother Johan, as well as a few more characters. There is also a group design called the Kikki bite exhibition