Evening Standard - ES Magazine
AFTER DARK
Well, what a Thursday night that was. Without wanting to sound clichéd, it literally was every event on the same night, an east versus west scenario with dos from two of the stalwarts of the modern British high street — Selfridges and Flannels — at either end of Oxford Street. Bringing up the establishment at one end, Selfridges held a BFI screening of Joyland with Studio Soho and Riz Ahmed to raise funds for the Pakistani flood appeal. With the luvvies out in force, Ahmed urged the audience to dig deep and at least donate the value of a cinema ticket to the cause, while a nameless 1990s comedian told us how thrilled they were with their new coat: ‘Honestly, I put a lipstick in one pocket and a condom in the other and I’m set to go…’ Down towards the east of the street Flannels brought up the new guard with the release party for Shygirl’s debut album — an event so hip we were lost in a sea of youth that we didn’t know but really should, with full looks (both Prada and Asos), Gen Z confidence and a truckload of talent. Slightly overwhelmed, we hot-footed it over to the Design Museum to immerse ourselves in Yinka Ilori’s We Found Joy dinner experience with Courvoisier to celebrate the opening of his new exhibition. There we established that Tinie Tempah wasn’t up for questioning (sorry about that) and that Ozwald Boateng might be the only person in the fashion industry to have behaved saintly throughout the 1990s, before being rescued by Jade Jagger — who saved the night and made us belly laugh throughout dinner. Thanks, Jade.