Dark Renaissance by Underated London

Dark Basilica Leather Sweatshirt £120

London based indie brand called Underated have recently launched an exclusive collection of the overprints called Dark Renaissance. This set of tees and jumpers with architectural print and imagery of Jesus is in fact a revamped alternation of their regular stuff. Although I love the use of history in fashion, I'm not that into the current trend of using overprinted baroque paintings and ceiling designs onto tees and jumpers - the idea SEEMS good, yet the finished outcome often looks sloppy and cheap (which is the exact contradiction of what it supposed to look like) - but I gotta admit I'm absolutely in love with this new noir thing! The desaturation of golds and oranges makes it look way more interesting, sharp, timeless and cool + the whole collection have that interesting vibe of being dark but not gothic / emo / metal / whatever and I love how you can build up some totally new meaning to it. Although half of the collection is still yet to come, some of the pieces are already available for purchase in their online store. They also seem pretty pricey for an regular overprint but, well, what can you do? I'd love to get all those jumpers though! Anyone got a spare couple of hundreds I could borrow? 

A bit about Underated London: Based in the heart of London, Underated is the segue between the modern stylistics of street wear and the delicate finesse of high fashion.

In an otherwise over populated fashion industry, our blend of modern street culture, bold renaissance imagery and contemporary prints helps separate us from competitors. Underated is a lifestyle brand and we pride ourselves in designing premium quality, trendy and unique garments we know you'll love.

Dark Domenichino Stars Sweatshirt £65

Road To Calvary Tee £90 / Crucifixion Tee £90

 Resurrection Tee £90 / Crown of Thorns Tee £90

Dark Medallion Yoke Leather Sweatshirt £100

Dark Medallion Yoke Leather Tee £70

Max Richter: Vivaldi Recomposed - Spring 1

Composer Max Richter has done a brave thing for any artist in any medium: He's messed with a classic, specifically, Vivaldi's four violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. He has a new album simply titled Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi, The Four Seasons.

Richter says that as a child, he loved The Four Seasons. But as he grew older, that passion faded.

"As a child, I fell in love with it," he tells NPR's Audie Cornish. "It's beautiful, charming music with a great melody and wonderful colors. Then, later on, as I became more musically aware — literate, studied music and listened to a lot of music — I found it more difficult to love it. We hear it everywhere — when you're on hold, you hear it in the shopping center, in advertising; it's everywhere. For me, the record and the project are trying to reclaim the piece, to fall in love with it again."

Listen to the piece called "Spring 1" and see whether he succeeded in enchanting you by his brave attempt. He surely did enchant us. We instantly fell in love with its uplifting spirit.

Royal Decadence

Ashley Smith photographed by Sharif Hamza for Russian Vogue 2010.