Gauche, Revisited
A new look for a new chapter
The inaugural print edition of Gauche was published in 2022, in the immediate aftermath of the death of The Queen. The mood of the nation was mournful. At London Fashion Week, Jonathan Anderson sent out a commemorative tee-shirt thanking Her Majesty for her 70 years of service. It prompted us to think about Britishness in a time of bleakness – and we realised that bleak and British had, in the years since Brexit, become synonymous.
We wanted to change that perception. So we took a boiler suit and a second hand Burberry jacket to a field in Kent and donned them on scarecrows. We befriended a man who sold Mr Whippy on Columbia Road and posed with him and men in suits and trackies outside the pub. We shot our friend in a chequered coat with fur-trimmed sleeves riding a horse through Hyde Park, perplexing police officers on their own stallions as we trotted past. We dressed up another friend in a kilt and a sporran as he ordered a pie from a caff on Hoxton Street.
We wanted to create vignettes – images of Britishness that were incongruous yet resonant – and remind ourselves and those around us that, all things considered, we still had a lot to celebrate.
We certainly do now. The country has welcomed a new government brimming with promise and hope (adieu to the Etonian cabal – you shan’t be missed at all). We had a terrific run at the Euros marked by the triumphs of our new national heroes: Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Ollie Watkins. A particularly exciting and starry Wimbledon and Lewis Hamilton winning the British Grand Prix have been the icing on the cake. It’s been a wet start to the summer, but boy, has it been sparkling. Hell, even the Cross of St George is back in style, despite Nike’s best attempts to yassify it earlier this year. (Didn’t they see what happened to Emily Thornberry in 2014 when she suggested it might be a tad, erm, plebeian?)
Yes, there is a lot to love at the minute. Spirits are high and patriotism is hot. And that’s without even mentioning Brat, an album which our dear friend Molly Hackney described as the sounds one might hear “if one were to plug headphones into a mosquito”. This, of course, is the highest of compliments one could ever pay a piece of music – and Charli, if you’re reading this, please get in touch. We want to party with you.
Not everyone wants to be a brat; but more crucially, not everyone can be. Check out our BRAND NEW SUBSTACK and take our quiz to find out whether you’re a rascal or a rodent. There, you’ll also find writing, old and new, by the Gauche editorial team: essays, reflections, diaries and investigations. Our archive is up too: essays on disastrous fashion collabs, the end of hot girl summer and what it really means to zhuzh; interviews with new artists and emerging designers; hot takes on vegan restaurants and Charles Jeffrey’s fashion brand, Loverboy. And, of course, the A to Z of Gauche.
Plenty more of this content and other writing besides will pop into your inbox every three weeks – always on Thursday morning. Keep your eyes peeled. Also, pitch your ideas. You know where to find us…
Gauche love. x
WH & DT