The recurring opening theme of recent Newsletters has been the British weather, whilst this trend continues into June we promise we’ll be leaving it all behind very soon. Roll on those balmy July days.

Some rain on the Jubilee didn’t really seem to matter in the end. The Buckingham Palace fireworks, viewed from the rooftop of CHERCHBI Towers, were preceded by the undisputed highlight – Madness playing the roof of the royal residence, a building-wide projection below. Credit to Sam Pattinson, d3 and Trunk Animation for the spectacular visuals.

A long weekend on the Downs

This was the limit of our participation in the official Jubilee celebrations; the majority of our weekend was spent camping near the ancient village of Alfriston in East Sussex. The village is home to a 14th century Clergy House, the first National Trust property acquired in 1896. We walked the Cuckmere valley passing the house and the chalk-carved Litlington White Horse and finally swam in the sea below white cliffs at Cuckmere Haven

The Union Flag

Our pre-Jubilee Journal posting – James, Jack and the Jubilee– touches on the history of the Union flag, some recent appropriations and the reason why we don’t use it here at CHERCHBI.

Exhibitions

British Design 1948 – 2012 Innovation in a modern age. The selection process for this encyclopedic V & A exhibition must have been wonderfully taxing. Read and see more of our particular favourites in the latest Journal posting.

And the winner is…

Some months ago an English Union Black Sail Rucksack was featured in the The Observer’s Most Wanted competition. After an inexplicable delay a winner has been selected, congratulations to Mr Tomas Andrews of Walthamstow.

A word or two from our customers

We attempt to maintain healthy contact with our customers and welcome all comments, be they good, bad or indifferent. An email to adam@cherchbi.com is the best method. We recently received two pieces of correspondence. The first was from a Brooklyn-based customer who purchased a Herdwyck Black Sail Rucksack.

“I spent over half a year looking for a large, sturdy, beautiful backpack. It had to be made under respectable working conditions and designed in a way that didn’t appear overly sporty or youthful. I looked at hundreds of models, combing every retailer from eBay to Saks Fifth Avenue. There seem to be only half a dozen brands like yours creating backpacks that fit the bill, and yours is obviously my favorite. I think your designs for Cherchbi are really special, and I wanted to commend you and your team for putting some incredible art out into the world.”

Prior to purchase we exchanged a number of emails relating to the design, specification, price and colour of the bag. When a customer analyses our designs to this degree the effort is similar to ours when designing, just from the opposite direction, its hugely encouraging.

The second email was in response to our inclusion in the Men’s File magazine Pop Up shop in London’s Bloomsbury.

“As someone who lives about 15 yards from Lambs Conduit Street I am slightly unnerved by the “increasingly alluring” tag, since what was essentially a very ordinary working-class area is becoming rather too grand for many of us. When I moved here in the early 90’s landlords couldn’t get tenants, now we are the place to be and the basic suppliers of life’s essentials have been driven out. But, my prejudice for products such as yours means that I have to make a major exception for hyper-stylish suppliers of Cherchbi products. May there be many more!  Best Wishes from WC1 .

Lambs Conduit Street has certainly changed in recent years. Of course this area is not isolated in its gentrification, the argument presented above has echoed many miles eastward as the search for cheaper rent and more space mingles with the pervading Olympic effect. Similar issues in Berlin and New York are well documented, I’m sure there are numerous others.

Davide Taub, Tailor and Cutter

The first of the above emails finished with a description of our bags as art. Very flattering indeed but I’m not so sure. Every so often I dip into Davide Taub’s blog. Davide is a Savile Row tailor and cutter. He recently moved along The Row from Maurice Sedwell to Gieves and Hawkes at No.1, in the past he worked for military tailors Kashket & Partners and Tommy Nutter, broad experience in a narrow field. His blog details his work, past and present, completed and in progress. The combined skill, creativity and experience apparent therein are perhaps more deserving of the description art.