The Jubilee Weekend is very nearly upon us and with all the options for Union Jack dressing, being patriotic never looked so good. Go Brit-centric with your wardrobe and make HRH proud.
It’s been a scorching few days, so we’re getting in the mood by thinking about our favourite tunes for summer and the long weekend ahead. The Religion head office spill their faves: prepare for guilty pleasures and summertime classics...
It's Crystal Castles and 'Crime Wave' that tops the list for our Garment Technician.
Our Marketing Coordinator chose 'Raindrops' by Basement Jaxx - let's hope it's not a premonition.
We couldn't do this list without including Will Smith and Jazzy Jeff! Luckily our Womenswear designer picked a classic -'Summertime'.
Chezza's back and the Religion Showroom Manager can't get 'Call My Name' out of her head.
There are certain rights of passage for all new musicians set to make it big; going on Jools Holland, gigging their way round the country in a Peugeot 106 (or something like that), air play by Zane Lowe, the list goes on. Add another to that list: on their way up to the top, they’re all passing through the doors of Religion. Here’s a selection of our latest newcomers and ones to watch...
Labrinth: Ok so maybe calling him a ‘new musician’ is a bit of a stretch. He’s been huge on the scene ever since Tinie Tempah uttered the words: ‘Labrinth, Come In’. As a man with discerning taste and, as you’ll see below, mountains of style, Lab picked out the Black Label Base Jacket when he dropped by.
Next up – Etta Bond. This isn’t her first trip to Religion either, as Etta wore one of our dresses for a pre-Brits performance earlier this year. Signed to Lab’s label, this London girl’s voice is soulful and strong. We love her for her revealing lyrics and when she hits the big notes. Our favourite is ‘Ask Me To Stay’ – have a listen...
Grimes, the Canadian goth-come-dance music machine has an ethereal voice and makes her music in her Montreal bedroom. Wikipedia isn’t the most trustworthy source of information at the best of times but we’re inclined to believe that her profile, saying she built a house boat with her boyfriend which housed the couple and their pet chickens, is probably true. She’s also brought out a line of...brace yourselves... 'Pussy Rings'. The jury’s still out on that one. She even wore one on Jools Holland and we can’t help but admire her subversive style:
Get the Falling Jacket and Roberto Wash Dress here
Delilah. My, my, my. This multicultural beauty balances the grittiness of East London style and the prettiness of ... well... being really pretty. She performed an amazing session in Fearne Cotton’s Radio 1 Live Lounge on Tuesday and here at Religion we’re super happy that she’s getting recognised in the mainstream.
And finally, it’s the über-glam Jessie Ware, who started out singing backing vocals for cheeky chap Jack Peñate and now belts out breathy tunes – our favourite being ‘Running’, which you may have heard on the club circuit in the form of a Discosure mix. She’s like the cool girl next door who you wish was your bezzie mate. Take a listen:
The cover of June's Cosmopolitan is graced by Mollie and Rochelle from The Saturdays, and flicking through the magazine you'll see the girls pulling their best moves in our Movement and Anatomy dresses.
Is it really May already? Here's a look at some of our key press for April, from weeklies Star and Heat to glossy monthlies Marie Claire and the Spanish magazine MAN. It's all about the Summer wear and the magazines are showing off our best pieces for sunshine, such as our Globe Dress, a selection of sunglasses and of course our printed Vegas shirt. Read more about our selection of men's wardrobe brightners here.
Last month for Around the World in Religion we were in the sunny climes of South Africa. This month we’re a little closer to home in Northampton, shoe making centre of the UK and home to Religion concept store managed by TS2 and Temple Menswear owner by Neil Taylor. Neil has been selling Religion for almost 20 years and knows the brand and his customers inside and out. Read on for the who, what and wear of Northampton.
Hi Neil, how long have you had your Religion concept store and what did you do before then?
I’ve had the Religion Store for a year now. Previous to that I was still selling Religion but in our Temple Clothing Store alongside other brands.
Tell us a bit about your store, its location and your customers?
The Religion Store is situated at 235 Wellingborough Road, Northampton which is about a mile out of the town centre and appeals to a more upmarket and fashion conscious customer. The Religion Store is also located next door to our parent store 'TS2 Menswear'. Northampton is a funny town in terms of it has two shopping locations for clothing; the town centre which is suited more towards the younger customer with its high street stores and the Wellingborough Road which is home to some higher profile stores selling designer brands.
We’ve been selling Religion in Northampton for nearly 20 years and have built up a good following of customers over the years. Our customer mix is varied, ranging from the Ibiza lads, to the young and trendy, to the more discerning black label customer.
What is it that you and your team like best about Religion?
We love wearing Religion Clothing, I like the fit and style of most of the products. The good thing with Religion is that the range continually evolves and moves on! It's a directional fashion brand that appeals to our customers and it’s always nice going out and bumping into customers wearing the brand.
We make some pretty eye catching t-shirts – what is your favourite design?
For me the Captain scoop t-shirt from a couple of seasons ago is my favourite piece. I’d wear it layered underneath the Byron Coat or Scryer Jacket from the Black Label Collection and worn with the Dirty Zee Jeans in Washed Black.
Scryer Jacket, Captain tee, Dirty Zee Jeans
What are your stand out pieces for this season?
The stand out pieces have to be the Hawaiian shirts! We have the Miami, Vegas and St Tropez shirts and they get a lot of attention in the store – they’re hitting on a key trend for the summer!
Vegas, St Tropez and Miami shirts
What are your store bestsellers?
The Shoreditch Stripe T-Shirt in Blue has been the best seller for this season; we sold out within a week.
Shoreditch Stripe tee
What’s the best spot for nightlife in Northampton?
If I’m out in Northampton my night would normally start off in Sazerac a really nice bar always playing good music, then I’d pop across the road in to Borjia a newly opened bar with a good decor and after a few vodka red bulls you'd find me in Auntie Ruth's, a members club next door to our Temple Store. It has an awesome roof terrace bar perfect in the summer!
What are you listening to in the store at the moment?
We’re listening to an audio stream from House Radio it's live with no commercials and plays deephouse, techhouse, minimalhouse, classic and more styles of groovy housemusic. Perfect in the store really on a Friday afternoon getting ready for the weekend!
You can find the Religion store in Northampton at 235 Wellingborough Road, Northampton, NN1 4EH or take a look at the TS2 Menswear website where you can get 15% off Religion until Tuesday 8th May.
The Coronas have been rocking up a storm in Ireland for the past four years, and now they’re UK bound for a ten night tour. We caught up with them before the tour kicks off tonight to hear about Irish fans, English fans, Nickelback and everything in between.
Hi Conor, Dave, Danny and Graham! For anyone who doesn’t already know about you – tell us a bit about yourselves.
We’re a four piece Irish rock band from Dublin. We’ve been together for 4 years now and we’re about to embark on our first proper headline UK tour starting May 1st at King Tut's in Glasgow and finishing on May 10th in Cargo in Shoreditch. We’re really excited about the tour - things are going well for us in Ireland at the moment, we’ve signed a new deal, we’re getting radio play, everything’s falling into place. We’ve been itching to get over here for years and now we’re doing it!
Sum up sound your sound in three words:
Dave: Guitar, rock, pop.
Conor: Lively, energetic, amazing.
Danny: Unbelievable, amazing, enigmatic.
Graham: Big choruses.
Sounds good! How has the response been from your audiences at live shows?
We played a gig last night in Borderline – it was our first proper show here but it was actually amazing, completely sold out and it was really cool. We’ve been playing so long in Ireland that we were a bit nervous about bringing it over here but the crowd was fantastic last night.
Do you think there’s a difference between your English and Irish fans then?
There used to be a bit of a divide between English and Irish music – even between Northern and Southern Ireland, but music overlaps now. Because of the internet it doesn’t matter where you’re from. We don’t consider ourselves an Irish band, we’re just a band – and an Irish person will appreciate our music just as much as an English person.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Danny: For inspiration, there’s a few common influences that we all love like Radiohead, The Beatles, Jeff Buckley. Then we have individual ones like I love Stereophonics and Travis – the guys slag me for it though! Con’s into classic Oasis – that kinda thing.
Graham: One of our favourite films, Almost Famous inspires us and it’s where our name comes from.
Do you get inspiration from things other than music, like your experiences?
Our inspiration is from everything – whatever happens to you in your life. Even moving to a different city and meeting new people [Danny has just moved to London] – it changes the way you write.
How do you warm up for a big show?
First things first we put our Religion on! We just practice hard. We’ve got technical things like ear monitors or different speakers that we need to adjust to for each gig. For this tour it’s more scaled down so we practice and make sure we can get a big sound. Make sure we haven’t forgotten how to play!
Do you get nervous?
A few little nerves! If we get nervous it’s more like ‘is there going to be anyone there?’ or ‘are they going to like it?’. We’ve got to the stage where we know we can play well and pull it off. We’re lucky that we all get on, we’re all in it together. It’s important for us to have a good crew, it makes for a better gig to know that we’re proper friends – we went to school with our guitar tech and manager too.
How do you decide what to wear?
We know some other bands who are like ‘what colour are you wearing tonight?’ and ‘what do you think of this?’ but we’ve never been like that. If we’re wearing the same t-shirt then we’ll be like ... ‘we gotta change’. But recently we are spending a little more time on it – to start off we just wore whatever but now, it makes a difference if we try and look good.
What’s been the pinnacle of your career so far?
Graham: Once a crazy woman came up behind me and cut a chunk of my hair off. She started crying, and then emailed our manager Jim and said that she’d rolled it up in a ball with sellotape and slept with it under her pillow. I should have pressed charges! She made a pretty neat job though - I didn’t have a bald patch.
Danny: And that’s the defining moment of our career....
We’ve had a few incredible moments – we supported Paul McCartney. They say you don’t meet your heroes but, he was so nice and made such an effort to spend time with us. It was incredible.
If you had to give someone in the industry advice – what would it be and who would you give it to?
Graham: I would advise Nickelback to retire. That’s all. That’s the only thing I want!
Now tell us something that nobody else knows...
Dave: Graham and Danny’s parents used to.... know each other... shall I say this??
Danny: You’ve started now...
Graham: Ok! His Mum used to go out with my dad!
Danny: It was a long time ago, they were in college.... there’s your exclusive!
Now while you’re left pondering the similarities between Danny and Graham, check out the boys' website or follow them on Facebook and Twitter for all their tour details.
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