We don’t particularly enjoy screaming ‘One not to miss!’ at you but seriously, if you have the urge to catch an exhibition and you find yourself in London then hit the newly opened Yayoi Kusama retrospective at the Tate Modern. Obsessed with repeating patterns, dots and intense colour, the 83 year old has accumulated a body of work that includes just about every media you could think of. Apart from being an incredible talent, she also looks like an 80’s Hollywood movie idea of a conceptual artist, which makes us feel like we really are in the presence of greatness. If you need any encouragement spare a couple of minutes and watch on.

“The nine decades of Yayoi Kusama’s life have taken her from rural Japan to the New York art scene to contemporary Tokyo, in a career in which she has continuously innovated and re-invented her style.”

Follow us as we step through the doors of MHL’s first London store, located on Old Nichol Street and yet another addition to the Redchurch street massive. Margaret Howell has always kept the utilitarian label on a relatively low exposure level. As with the mainline, fiercely protecting the brand has created a continuous buzz and sense of exclusivity, both of which have kept her legion of loyal followers faithful to this British fashion institution. The space is very much in line with MHL and Margaret Howell stores worldwide. As you’d expect light, wood, simple fixtures and a sense of space are the preferred look.

Placing the clothing at the centre of attention, there’s very little to distract from what MHL does best – creating the kind of gear you’d happily fill your wardrobe with and wear for the rest of your days. The Spring/Summer 2012 collection had just dropped when we paid a visit, even more reason to take the tour.

Photography – Ross Trevail

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How many reading this remember hunting down copies of Deadline back in the day? In the States it was a pain in the ass. Mailorder was usually the best option but even then, it took some months for those back issues to crawl off a boat from the U.K. The covers took me in. Imagine being 15 years old and seeing this slightly butch punk girl on the cover with a cigarette in her mouth… I definitely did not gravitate to it for any other reason. But truth be told, once inside, the discovery of the Tank Girl saga. Those new to Tank Girl can skip the movie and go straight to the current graphic novels.

Step into the late 90’s and the first Gorillaz record which had that very familiar comic art style of Jamie Hewlett. I was pretty much sold.

Today, ABSOLUT delivers their latest artist collaborative, part of their city series with ABSOLUT LONDON featuring the art of Mr. Hewlett, who takes on the history of London’s fashion scene over the last 200 years. On the bottle you’ll find all those scenes represented: the dandy’s, the punks, the mods, and our favorites, those terrace riding 80’s casuals.

50 total bottle of ABSOLUT LONDON will go on sale starting March 1 at Selfridges and Harvey Nichols. Good luck, collectors.

More looks in our gallery…

London 2012 have asked part time Baltimore badman and part time East End tortured detective Idris Stringer Luther Elba to talk a little about his home town of Hackney and the arrival of the Olympic games.

The film’s a bit slapdash which is kind of why we like it. Idris does his best to get you all excited about the Olympics, possibly because in typical London fashion, a lot of cynicism is flying about with this event and everyone’s scared of being trampled by white elephants or something to that effect. Click on and see if this sparks a bit of enthusiam.

Paul Smith turns his attention to commemorative stamps with this edition for the Isle of Man celebrating London Olympics 2012. Always one to stay involved in all areas of design, Sir Paul was driven by his love of all things bike related.  ”A lifelong follower of world cycling, Paul Smith was honoured to be asked to participate in this project by the Isle of Man Post Office. The Isle of Man has strong cycling connections as it is the home of heroic Olympic cyclist, and good friend of Paul Smith, Mark Cavendish.”  The Isle of Man Post Office shop carries a selection of collectable packs with an accompanying book also available from Paul Smith online.

Janette Beckman has spent decades photographing the great and good of London and New York.  One of the most influential photographers of the punk era, she’s worked for the likes of The Face, Melody Maker, Vogue, Rolling Stone and The Times. A Self-Described documentary photographer her incredible work has been brought together in ‘The Janette Beckman Newspaper’, a limited edition, 24 page collection of black and white work featuring street scenes, poseurs, hip hop kids and a selection of stances.

Find it at Arkitip.

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CR Blog introduces us to these stylish posters used to advertise the merits of London Transport. 20 designs from the 1930s and earlier will be on show at the ‘Painting by numbers – making sense of statistics’ exhibition at the London Transport Museum in January. Concerned with promoting the service as well as explaining the cost of providing it (as CR points out ‘no doubt passengers in 1938 were just as upset at fare increases as they are today’), they’re a incredible example of commuter communication at its best.

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Coggles have been snapping the good folk of London for some time now. While street style blogs currently take up *27% of the internet, it’s nice to see a little more in-depth investigation into the more stylish subjects.

With that in mind the store set about picking their favourites for a series of skillfully shot films. We’re introduced to the well dressed Olubiyi, a student at Central St Martins whose work is heavily influenced by his hero Jean-Michel Basquiat. Film director Terry Hall catches the man at work.

*unofficial figures.

HUH, the UK arts and culture magazine is now open for business. Their brick and motar shop, stocking a variety of goods from Orlebar Brown to Gestalten book does not try to be the high or the low in the market. HUH Shop simply offers unique gifts in both fashion and design that their readership would be fond of. HUH has men and women covered. Be sure to stop in for a hello in London at 56 Stoke Newington Road. I see an espresso machine in there… nice.

More looks after the click.

Coming this October 15th at all Louis Vuitton store is the first city guide of 2012 for London. Use it to explore the world of men’s fashion tailoring and accessories. The video above allows you a nice preview of the contents.