Antonelli, Paola, ‘SAFE: Design Takes on Risk’ exhibition catalogue
(Museum of Modern Art, New York) p.103, 108, 109, 198
Puma Bike from the Puma Tribranded Collection 2004
Biomega, Vexed Generation (see page 108), and the sports-equipment manufacturer Puma
joined forces to launch a limited edition called Tribranded Collection as part of the Urban
Mobility line. It consists of a bike and a range of accessories and garments designer for
ease of movement and everyday commuting. The Puma Bike created by Skibsted is the
result of this collaborative initiative.
Scroll Top Backpack and Karrysafe Screamer bag
In 2002 Design Against Crime collaborated with clothing designers Adam Thorpe and Joe
Hunter of Vexed Generation to develop the Karrysafe line of antitheft bags and wearable
accessories. Established in London 1994, Vexed Generation produces clothes that suit an
urban setting and promote environmental and social issued. Air pollution, surveillance, and
civil liberties are often addressed by incorporating unique design solutions and technologies,
like respiratory protection or high-performance fabrics that are waterproof, breathable,
reflective, fire-retardant, and knife-resistant (see page 198). Some pieces are specifically
designed for bike users, since the designers of Vexed Generation consider biking the ideal
means of transportation in an urban setting (see page 103).
The philosophy of this design initiative is that the best protection against crime is awareness
and the willingness to take some basic precautions in public places. The bags incorporate
materials and electronic technologies used in the automotive and aircraft industries, such as
Cordure – a high-performance durable textile material resistant to abrasion – and electronic
alarms. Both systems can be found in the Karryfront Screamer laptop bag. The built-in
antiattack alarm automatically starts “screaming” at 138 decibels if the bag is forcibly removed
from its owner. The two-way strap allows the option of carrying it across the front while
walking or on the back if cycling. Another variant, the Scroll Top Backpack, features a Velcro
scrolling top that avoids dipping, as its noise will alert the owner. It is made of slash-proof
materials and has an antilifting clip and a double-thick strap that make access even more
difficult.
The Phonesafe wrist holder (opposite) offers a hand-free way of carrying a cell phone and is
slim enough to be worn under clothes, with additional pockets for cards and keys. It also lets
the user receive calls without removing the phone from the stretch pouch.
With design focused on users’ needs, these accessories are meant to resist any attempt of
aggression and discourage street robbers and pickpockets.
See and Be Seen (SABS) Parka - image on p.198
Vexed Generation in ‘Architectural Design’ Vol. 70 No. 6 (Bognor Regis:
Wiley-Academy, 2000) p.90-91
It is not the architectural world alone that is taking the lead in innovative retail spaces. Vexed
Generation is small London fashion house that invents exciting and creative themed
environments to accompany its edgy, urban designs. The creation of its own ephemeral retail
sets is a means of bypassing the catwalk and taking its work directly to the public.
Adam Thorpe and Joe Hunter of Vexed Generation have been designing and retailing unique
clothing products since their inaugural collection 1995; which included the much-copied onestrap bag.
A small, independent operation, Vexed chose not to show its clothing via the conventional
catwalk show, but rather to invest its ideas in a more permanent retail installation, combining
creativity with commerce, and allowing both press and public to experience the collections
and concept firs-hand rather than through the filter of media and buyers’ opinion. Vexed
collaborates with designers, artists and musicians to crate the space sin which to display and
retail its collections.
The first Vexed retail installation, opened in 1995, sought to create an environment reflecting
the collection’s design brief: London’s street environment in 1994/1995 – surveillance versus
society, right and responsibilities, air quality, civil rights. Since the front window was whited
out, passers-by could only view the interior via a small monochrome TV screen. The interior
space was under constant surveillance. The curve, backlit walls displayed statistical
information relating to the social and ecological urban environment. The floor was of a white
gravel. This provided easy maintenance and alerted those who entered to a ‘change in
space’ form the street outside. The clothing was displayed in a glass case in which holes
were cut to allow visitors to touch and view the garment but not remove them. A key aspect
of the installation was the absence of ‘staff’: only if you ventured downstairs would you find
the Vexed crew within the public access gallery beside the record decks and ‘alternative TV
service’ made up of combined video works from the public.
Shop 2, 1996/7, was The Green Shop. Located on the first floor of 3 Berwick Street – down
an alleyway, along a dark corridor and up a spiral staircase – it is continued the
environmental theme. Clothing was displayed on inflatable bags that, linked to an air
compressor, inflated and deflated on a timer, giving the impression of ‘breathing clothes and
walls’. The open-access gallery and decks were located in the changing area and changing
area and counter respectively.
Shop 3, The Grow Room, saw the garments arranged in rows in the centre of the space.
Fast-growing plants such as ivy, clematis and passiflora grew up through the clothing,
sprouting from armholes and neck openings, an optimistic reference to the strength and
adaptability of the nature. The walls were lined up with blackboards inviting people to enter
their personal details, an experiment in public/private access information. The floor covering
was compromised of £750 worth of one-penny pieces, an example of safety in numbers: you
can leave hundreds of pounds on the floor in small coins and not worry that they will be
removed. People may also contribute new pennies, thus producing a ‘wishing floor’.
In Shop 4, A Stitch in Time, incorporating ‘The Label Database’, the downstairs corridor
moved towards you as you entered. It was in fact a water ramp, whose trickle of water was
reflected around black glass walls. Brush-matting flooring on the staircase and display area
dried your feet as you approached the changing/ gallery area, where your footprints were
taken on a Plasticine floor. Moving walls increased the display areas and could create
separate spaces for changing. Clothing was displayed on mannequins, some standing, some
suspended over a black glass floor which reflected the padding on the ceiling and wall on
which people could record their presence in thread. They could also print a name label and
sew it on the wall, creating a textile database of customers and collaborators.
Barley, Nick; Douglas, Caroline; Lack, Jessica & Stetter, Alex ‘Lost &
Found: Critical Voices in New British Design’ (London: Birkhauser | The
British Council, 1999) p. 94, 106, 114.
“You put up a surveillance camera- I’ll put up a collar.” Vexed Generation’s ballistic parka, in
knife-, and fire-proof nylon, highlights the erosion of civil liberties in the 1998 Crime and
Disorder Act which, among other things, made it illegal to hide one’s face in a demonstration.
If increased surveillance and police powers of arrest have helped to erode community and
breed paranoia in the 1990s, Vexed Generation’s agitprop streetwear simultaneously
communicates these issues and protects their wearers from their worst effects. Beneath the
turned up collar is an anti-pollution facemask. Highlighting social and political questions, the
Vexed designers respond to their own experience of London street life in the 1990s:
surveillance (a hood that conceals the face), the environment (a sleeve pocket for an antipollution mask), the quick change (a skirt that zips into a pair of trousers).” P.94.
“…Vexed Generation highlights the hazards of city life. These competing narratives sketch a
complex and multi-faceted city, a London not generally represented in its image as a centre of
fashion.” P. 94.
“Adam Thorpe and Joe Hunter are Vexed. Neither had a formal fashion training; Thorpe
studied Microbiology at Kingston University and Hunter graduated as a graphic designer at
Middlesex in 1990, but together they have created a label which epitomises the attitude of a
growing number of fashion designers who eschew the culture of the catwalk.
Vexed Generation have powerful political convictions which have led them to design
solutions to social problems as well as fashionable clothes. Bags that are easier to carry and
harder to snatch; trousers made in light weight, high-tech hardwearing materials with soft
speedy Velcro fastenings replacing old fashioned zips, buttons and poppers. All of their
clothes are derived from their conviction that urban conditions place us under constant
danger. Air pollution, constant surveillance, over-zealous riot police and the risk of an attack
form a threat to our civil liberties. The garments parody the situation, and then offer some
protection too.
The Vexed parka, the duo’s most notorious garment, is made from “Ministry of
Defence-specification nylon; the same stuff they use in flak jackets,” says Thorpe. The
parka’s knife-repellent, fire-resistant fabric is padded around the spine and kidney areas, and
has a between-the-legs fastening to protect the groin.
The more recent woollen Shark Coat was developed in response to the contemporary
political landscape in Britain. The abundance of surveillance cameras in city streetscharacterised at its most extreme by new multi-million pound digital facial recognition system
installed by the London Borough of Newham- provided an impetus for the design of the Shark
Coat. Like other Vexed garments it features a collar which can transform into a hood, offering
the wearer the option of anonymity. “The higher the levels of surveillance, the higher the
collarlines of the populace!” says Thorpe. Moreover, the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act
effectively renders it illegal to cover one’s face in a political demonstration by granting the
police powers to confiscate face coverings. This could have the ironic effect of making the
garments an illegal political protest in their own right.
As a designed response to the current socio-political climate in urban Britain, Vexed
Generation’s clothing positions itself far away from the concerns of the fashion establishment.
The garments are, nevertheless, clearly articulated and architecturally structured, with a
shrewd sense of style which has made some of the cheaper designs enormously popular in
London. As well as being politically aware, Vexed Generation claim modestly that their
company aims to be “commercially viable”. P. 114.
P. 106: Image of Black Ballistic Parka ’99 by Vexed Generation
Bolton, Andrew ‘The Supermodern Wardrobe’ (London: V&A
Publications, 2002) p. 14, 38-9, 44-5, 49, 53-5, 76, 77-80, 86-7, 99-103, 39,
44, 49, 62, 74, 77, 81, 85, 102, 122
“By contrast, many designers of supermodern clothing, as befitting the combative metaphor of
the contemporary city, look to military and occupational uniforms for their inspiration. This is
reflected in both the materials and styling of much supermodern clothing. The ‘Vexed Parka’
by the London-based label Vexed Generation, for instance, is made from ballistics nylon and
is styled after police riot gear. Designed by Adam Thorpe and Joe Hunter, the founders of
Vexed Generation, the ‘Vexed Parka’ formed part of their debut Autumn/Winter 1995-1996
collection. It was a reaction to the increasingly military tactics of policemen during the various
political demonstrations in London, particularly those that took place as the Criminal Justice
and Public Order Bill (1994) was going through parliament. On one level, the parka parodies
riot gear, but on another it offers the wearer practical protection against the behaviour of overzealous police officers. Made from knife-repellent, fire-resistant nylon, it is padded around the
spine and kidney areas and has a between-the-legs fastening. As Thorpe and Hunter explain,
‘Riot police always debilitate demonstrators by going for the groin, our parka provides
protection against this form of attack.’ Thorpe’s and Hunter’s ‘warrior wear’ or ‘agitprop
streetwear’ is reflective of their philosophy that urban life is an unfolding riot against which we
must protect ourselves. Their clothes could not be a more appropriate response to the
warfare or battleground metaphor of the contemporary urban city.
Vexed generation, like many designers of supermodern clothing, adopt and adapt
certain physical characteristics of uniforms in order to highlight and draw attention to the
differences between uniform and non-uniform wearers.” P. 14-15
“Adam Thorpe and Joe Hunter, the designers of Vexed Generation, have also tried to blur the
territory between luggage and clothing. This is perhaps most apparent in their ingenious
‘Wrap Liberation’, which formed part of their Autumn/Winter 1999-2000 collection. The
garment, which is designed for men and women, resembles a mantra ray when laid flat.
Through the use of zippers, it can be worn in a number of ways, including a stole, a jacket
and a waistcoat. As well as being transformative, the zippers also allow for the storage of a
variety of daily necessities. A zip down the centre back opens up into an A4 pocket for
documents and files. Zips at the sides allow for the storage of smaller items such as wallets,
purses, Walkmans and mobile ‘phones. As Thorpe and Hunter explain, the inspiration behind
Wrap Liberation came from a wide range of sources, including the Japanese kimono and the
straitjacket. The influence of the kimono can be seen in the technique of wrapping and
‘secret’ storage facilities. A kimono has a number of places to store money and small
personal objects, such as the folds in the collar and sleeves. The influence of the straitjacket
can be seen in the restrictive nature of the garment. If the wearer inserts her hands in the
sleeves of the garment and the sleeves are then fastened at the waist, the wearer is left
incapacitated. The wearer can release herself by unzipping various sections.
Wrap Liberation is both a kind of Houdini scarf and a kind of glamour wrap. Another
inspiration came from Christian Dior’s 1957 ‘Normandie’ suit, comprising jacket, skirt and
stole. Thorpe and Hunter were astonished by the ‘absurd, debilitating and almost unwearable
nature’ of the Normandie suit and wanted to reflect these trails in Wrap Liberation. They also
wanted to reflect the beauty of the suit through the use of luxurious materials. For instance,
one version of Wrap Liberation, which Thorpe and Hunter call the ‘ultimate glamour wrap’,
was made in leather with a Kevlar gold lining. From one point of view, Wrap Liberation can be
regarded as a contradictory garment because it restricts as well as facilitates movement. But
as Thorpe and Hunter explain, ‘We wanted to make a garment that appeared to imprison the
wearer, but actually sets her free. Wrap Liberation allows the wearer to move through urban
spaces with more ease and comfort. Her hands are liberated from the carrying of bags or
suitcases. With Wrap Liberation, incarceration becomes emancipation.’ As a consequence,
Wrap Liberation not only adopts the functional reading of luggage, but also its symbolic
reading. For as Irit Rogoff observes in Terra Infirma: Geography’s Visual Culture (2000), ‘Like
many other important terms such as “exile”, “diaspora”, “migration” or “hybridity”, the suitcase
has become the signifier of mobility, displacement, duality and the overwrought emotional
climates in which these circulate.’
Wrap Liberation developed from two earlier designs by Thorpe and Hunter, the
‘Vexed Bag’ and the ‘Shopper Bag’. The pieces were designed specifically for individuals who
use two-wheeled transportation. As Thorpe and Hunter comment, ‘When we established
Vexed Generation in 1994, we wanted to encourage more people to ride a motorbike or a
bicycle as a way of reducing air pollution in London’. Thorpe and Hunter, who both ride
scooters, developed the Vexed and Shopper bags in an attempt to improve the experience of
two-wheeled transportation. The Vexed Bag formed part of their debut seven-piece collection
in Autumn 1995. It is the first example of a one-arm rucksack and has been copied
subsequently by many designer and high-street labels. The strap, which is designed to go
across the torso, can be adjusted to suit the needs of the individual wearer. It also has a
detachable mobile ‘phone pocket fixed to the strap with Velcro for easy accessibility. The
main body of the bag is designed to sit perfectly straight on the back for added safety and
manoeuvrability. Originally intended to carry records it is large enough to carry a laptop and
other daily necessities. Made from Cordura laminated with polyurethane, the Vexed Bag is
also waterproof. In a way, it can be read as a jacket that has been reduced to its ultimate form
and function. As Thorpe and Hunter explain, ‘We began cutting away at a jacket to see what
would be the minimum amount of fabric needed to support a large square box. We were left
with a structure that developed into the Vexed Bag. In effect, the bag is a jacket in it most
simplified form.’ The Shopper Bag developed out of the Vexed Bag and formed part of Vexed
Generation’s Autumn/Winter 1998-1999 collection. As they explain, ‘We wanted to claim
authorship of a design that had been coped by nearly every major player in the fashion
business by creating a more advanced version.’ Like the Vexed Bag, the Shopper was
designed for two-wheeled transportation. It enabled individuals to carry more personal effects
while still retaining accessibility and manoeuvrability. Made from Cordura laminated with
polyurethane, it also contained an air-flow padding for added comfort. Similar to Mandarina
Duck’s Task Bag, the Shopper has pockets in its side panels for wearers to insert their hands.
It’s a design detail that is intended to highlight its function as wearable luggage.” P. 38-45
“Adam Thorpe and Joe Hunter of Vexed Generation have researched the movement patterns
of individuals who use both public and private means of transport. Their research has led
them to develop a range of garments that rely on various innovative cutting techniques such
as stretch seaming. One of Thorpe’s and Hunter’s first garments to use this technique was
the ‘Jacket 3’, which formed part of their Autumn/Winter 1998-1999 ‘Crusader’ collection. As
with so much of Vexed Generation’s work, the crusader collection was primarily inspired by
two-wheeled transportation. The name originates from ‘Crusader 21’ the working title of a new
military kit that the Ministry of Defence introduced into the army in 2000. Jacket 3 is basically
a biker’s or cyclist’s jacket. The body of the garment is made from non-stretch Cordura
laminated with a waterproof and breathable membrane that serves to protect the wearer. To
enhance manoeuvrability as one leans forward to grip the handlebars of their motorbike or
bicycle, stretch Cordura panels have been placed across the shoulder blades and down the
sides of the jacket.
The idea was developed further in the ‘Stretch Seam Jacket’, which formed part of
Vexed Generation’s Autumn/Winter 2000-2001 collection. Like the Jacket 3, the Stretch
Seam Jacket was made from non-stretch Cordura with stretch Cordura panels across the
shoulder blades and down the sides of the jacket. But unlike the Jacket 3, the Stretch Seam
Jacket was not designed specifically for two-wheeled transportation. Thorpe and Hunter
explain that, ‘The jacket was designed to ease the stress that we place on our clothes in our
everyday lives. Constant sitting down, standing up and moving around puts a strain on the
seams of the garments. We wanted to create a range of clothes that stretched with the body’s
natural movements promoting both mobility and flexibility.’ The technique of stretch seaming
was developed further in the ‘Techtonic Jacket’, which formed part of a subsidiary collection
to Vexed Generation’s Autumn/Winter 2000-2001 collection. Plate tectonics is the study of the
continental plates which move over the Earth’s surface. Using tectonics as an analogy, Vexed
Generation studied the placement and movement of plates or panels over the body’s surface.
For protection, the body of the Techtonic Jacket is made from ballistic nylon. Stretch Cordura
seams are positioned to allow comfortable movement within a close-fitting rigid outer shell.
The overlapping plates ensure that rain runs off the garment as well as giving an angular
silhouette.
Another technique used by Thorpe and Hunter to facilitate bodily movement within
space and society is that of pleating. The ‘J 96 Jacket’ was the first garment in which pleating
was used to promote increased mobility. It formed part of Vexed Generation’s debut
Autumn/Winter 1995-1995 collection. The jacket is made from denim that has been treated
with Teflon, a technique developed by Thorpe and Hunter to provide water and stain
resistance. ‘Vexed Denim’, as it is known, offers the durability of denim without the saturation
tendencies of 100 per cent cotton. The back of the J 96 Jacket has two vertical pleats, which
run down from the shoulder blades. It was an idea that was first developed further in the ‘Box
Pleat Jacket’ and the ‘Fan Pleat Jacket’ from Vexed Generation’s Autumn/Winter 2000-2001
collection. Also made from Vexed Denim, the Box Pleat Jacket offers greater manoeuvrability
than the J 96 Jacket by increasing the number and location of pleats. For increased mobility,
pleats have been incorporated into the arms, the chest and the back of the jacket. The pleats
expand, allowing the garment to fit closer to the body without sacrificing either comfort or
range of motion. A snug fit was one of the specifications of the Fan Pleat Jacket, made form
CFX nylon lined with Outlast Phase Change Material. CFX nylon is a high tenacity nylon that
is similar to ballistics nylon, but has a looser weave, which makes it lighter and more flexible.
The Fan Pleat Jacket concentrates on the arms for increased comfort and freedom of
movement. Again the pleats are expandable, but as well as being functional they are also
highly decorative. As Thorpe and Hunter explain, ‘With the Fan Pleat Jacket, we wanted to
move slightly away from the utilitarian look of the J 96 Jacket and Box Pleat Jacket. Of
course, the Fan Pleat is still extremely practical, but it is also a beautifully sculpted garment –
glamour utility, if you like. Glamour clearly underlies the choice of colour, a shimmering
metallic silver. Indeed, the full beauty of the garment can only be appreciated in motion, with
each fan pleat expanding and contracting to create an ever-changing silhouette. It recalls the
dynamism of Futurist clothing and the structural intelligence of Vionnet. Ultimately, though, it
is Thorpe’s and Hunter’s ability to create practical garments for a nomadic urban lifestyle that
dictates their clothing aesthetic. Their garments may include beautiful styling, but it is always
delivered in a package that allows for ever greater comfort and freedom of movement. P. 3855.
“As befitting the warfare or combative metaphor of the contemporary city, many designers of
supermodern clothing borrow certain physical characteristics of military dress in order to
provide individuals with successful defensive ‘urban armour’. For instance, Adam Thorpe and
Joe Hunter of Vexed Generation have used ballistics nylon in both the ‘Vexed Parka’ and the
‘Techtonic Jacket’. Ballistics nylon was the first material in widespread use for high-energy
impact or projectile protection. In the military, it is used for protection against bullets and
fragments emanating from an explosive. Although it is strong and stiff, it allows more freedom
of movement that a rigid form. Ballistics nylon also has the added advantage of being
inconspicuous. Susan M. Watkins points out that, ‘A political figure can wear “bullet-proof”
undergarments at all times in public appearances without appearing unduly nervous. An
undercover policeman can wear a fitted ballistics undershirt under a regular uniform or don a
trench coat with a ballistics liner without significant change in apparent body size or shape or
difficulty in movement.’ The forms of military and police body armour influenced the design of
the Vexed Parka and Techtonic Jacket produced by Thorpe and Hunter. In fact, given the
way these garments flaunt their ‘undercover’ detailing, they might be considered a radical
take on ‘underwear as outerwear’. Although the jackets consist of too few layers of ballistics
nylon to be truly ‘bullet-proof’ look for the wearer. As Thorpe and Hunter explain, ‘It would be
difficult to make a “fashionable” jacket that was 100 per cent bullet-proof. Not only would it be
extremely difficult to machine sew, but it would also be uncomfortable to wear in an everyday
urban context.’ Nevertheless, the two jackets are slash-proof. And should an individual
require additional protection, Thorpe and Hunter have designed detachable linings from
Kevlar fleece to fit inside many of their jackets. Kevlar, a registered trademark owned by the
DuPont Company, is another material with the characteristics of strength and stiffness. In
recent years , Kevlar is the material most frequently used in the military for ballistics
protection.” P. 76.
“Similarly, for their Autumn/Winter 2001-2002 collection, Adam Thorpe and Joe Hunter of
Vexed Generation have created a range of clothes with hidden pockets. Entitled ‘See And Be
Seen’ (SABS), the garments provide ‘stealth storage’ for mobile phones, Discmans, MiniDiscs, Walkmans, MP3 Players and a range of other electrical equipment. Ultimately, labels
like Mandarina Duck and Vexed Generation aim to produce clothes that represent ‘stealth
wealth’. That is to say, clothes that hide an individual’s valuable possessions.
Vexed Generation’s SABS collection is also intended to help prevent accidents by
enhancing the visibility of individuals on busy city roads. Thorpe and Hunter explain that, ‘The
See And Be Seen collection was designed specifically for “street performance”. We wanted to
create a range of clothes that would increase the safety of bicyclists, motorcyclists and
pedestrians as they negotiate city traffic.
Unsurprisingly, poor visibility is the cause of more road accidents that any other
factor. Consequently, many motorcyclists and bicyclists have taken to wearing fluorescent
strips across their chests. In their SABS collection, Thorpe and Hunter have taken this form of
protection a step further by incorporating high-visibility reflective panels into their garments.
Aware that such protection is not always essential, Thorpe and Hunter have designed the
garments so that the reflective panels can be zipped away when not needed. The SABS
collection also contains a number of other features which help to improve the safety of
individuals in busy city roads. Like so many collections produced by Vexed Generation,
garments in the range possess reinforcement patches on the elbows and knees for extra
protection in the event of an accident. In this respect, the garments fulfil the same function as
the basic battledress uniform worn by the infantry soldier. Several jackets in the SABS
collection also include a unique hood construction that ensures full facial coverage without
loosing peripheral vision via a tinted ‘vision strip’. Such a detail is particularly effective for
motorcyclists and bicyclists who require full peripheral vision for certain road manoeuvres like
changing lanes and turning corners.” P. 77-81
“The hooded garments designed by Adam Thorpe and Joe Hunter of Vexed
Generation are particularly worth mentioning for their ability to empower their wearers. When
fully zipped, the Vexed Parka takes on an other-worldly, insectoid appearance that can serve
to intimidate as well as dominate. A similar effect is achieved with the ‘Ninja Fleece’, one of
the five items of clothing that formed part of Vexed Generation’s debut Autumn/Winter 19951996 collection. In fact, many outerwear garments produced by Thorpe and Hunter, such as
the ‘Liner Jacket’ from their Autumn/Winter 1997-98 collection and the ‘Zip Spiral Balaneck’
form their Autumn/Winter 1999-2000 collection feature high collars or hoods that aggrandise
their wearers.” P. 86
“Indeed, Thorpe and Hunter designed their ‘Shark Coat’ as a response to the Crime
and Disorder Act (1998) which, among other things, rendered it illegal to cover one’s face in a
political protest. The erosion of civil liberties is a major concern of Thorpe and Hunter and has
often precipitated the creation of many hooded garments. They are often quoted as saying,
‘You put up a surveillance camera – I’ll put up a collar.’ In this context, collars and hoods act
as a form of resistance.” P. 86-87
“Adam Thorpe and Joe Hunter of Vexed Generation are typical of many designers of
supermodern clothing in their use of dark colours, particularly in their Autumn/Winter
collections. As mentioned in chapter one, one of their concerns is with bridging the gap
between uniform wearers and non-uniform wearers. One of their strategies is the
appropriation of certain physical and symbolic elements of uniforms, principally those worn by
the police. It is possible, therefore, to interpret their use of dark colours as another means of
closing the actual and psychological distance between police and civilians.
Thorpe and Hunter have also commandeered various fabrics of police uniforms, such
as ballistics nylon and Kevlar. These still, hard-surfaced materials offer individuals another
form of camouflage in urban centres by creating geometric forms that echo those found in
transitional spaces. Fabrics like ballistics nylon and Kevlar add to the apparent size of the
body, giving us an increased sense of power, a sense of extension of our bodily self. It is an
effect that depends upon an illusion known to psychologists as ‘confluence’. As Flügel
observes, ‘In this illusion, the mind fails to distinguish two things which under other
circumstances are easily kept apart, and attributes to A what really belongs to B, so that A
appears to undergo an increase.’ Thus, the extension of the body provided by ballistics nylon
and Kevlar, is unconsciously attributed to the body that wears them. Like many designers of
supermodern clothing, Thorpe and Hunter prefer plain, undecorated materials. This does not
mean that their clothing lacks detail. Their work often incorporates visible stitching, padding
and quilting. In some clothes, the form of the padding has been directly inspired by the design
of particular vehicles. This is perhaps most clearly seen in the ‘Vexed Parka’, where the
padding around the spine and kidney areas was based on the wheel guards of Vespa
scooters.” P.99-102
Image of Vexed Bag p40
Image of Shopper Bag p41
Image of A4 Coat p42
Image of Wrap Liberation p43
Image of Fan Pleat Jacket p50
Image of Jacket 3 p51
Images (x2) of See And Be Seen (SABS) Parka p78 &79
Image of Ninja Fleece p.82
Image of detail from Vexed Parka p.103
Image of detail from Vexed Parka p.122
Breward, Christopher ‘Fashion’ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003)
p. 238
“Chalayan’s vision, though occasionally constrained by its perceived non-commercial bias,
thus claims a clarity of purpose and sense of impact that have nevertheless succeeded (along
with artist like Lucy Orta and labels like Samsonite, Prada, CP Company and Vexed
Generation) in shifting paradigm of directional fashion as an expressive medium.”
Breward, Christopher; Ehrman, Edwina & Evans, Caroline ‘The London
Look: Fashion from Street to Catwalk’ (London: Yale University Press,
2004) p. 156-8
“From the beginning of the decade, the designers Joe Hunter and Adam Thorpe worked as
Vexed Generation to produce socially aware agitprop street fashion that reflected both
designers’ experience of life on the London streets: surveillance (a hood that conceals the
face), the environment (a sleeve pocket for an anti-pollution mask), the quick change (a skirt
that zips into a pair of trousers)”
Image of Vexed Parka
Breward, Christopher & Cicolini, Alice, ‘21st Century Dandy’ (London:
The British Council, 2003)
“13. Vexed Generation: Origami suit – rip-stop nylon (grey) / Overcoat – cotton/velvet (black)
Designers Adam Thorpe & Joe Hunter have consistently focused on practicality and a love of
the design challenges posed by urban life. Materials and Structure are of great importance,
everything directed towards suitability to the garment’s purpose. In the process however,
pieces take on an unintended ostentation, the designers themselves acknowledging the
dandyism inherent in their über-functional garments. The pleats incorporated into the
structure of this biker’s suit were added for comfort yet their inclusion also owes a debt to an
orientalist “style commonly associated with architectural Modernism.
Dean, Corina ‘The Inspired Retail Space: Attract Customers, Build
Branding, Increase Volume’ (Gloucester, Mass: Rockport Publishers,
Inc. 2003) p.148-151
“Itinerant in its nature, Vexed Generation, established in 1995, choose to set up its own retail
outlet and organize all aspects of the business from the manufacturing of clothing and
accessories to sales promotion. The first location in London’s entertainment neighbourhood,
Soho, was sited neighbouring London’s underground activities, such as semi-illicit
businesses, when the upwardly mobile moved in. When rents rose, Vexed moved on.
Because Vexed locations are often highly masked by urban detritus or under the guise of a
club, it is not perceived as a retail outlet.
Vexed relies on a different type of brand loyalty: The Vexed customer stays loyal to the
Vexed social and political agenda. Clothes designers Adam Thorpe and Joe Hunter as they
define themselves, as opposed to the fashion designers, have established a political and
social agenda that forms the conceptual basis for the clothing. This design agenda
encompasses the promotion of two-wheeled transport, examining surveillance techniques in
the city and information surveillance, and a push for civil liberties with the effort to promote
two-wheeled transport over the car came the much-copied, over-shoulder courier bag. In
response to the heavily armed policemen who disbanded Britain’s underground warehouse
parties in the 1980s, Vexed designed a line of clothes that parodies the police riot gear.
Over six years in retail, Vexed has had two venues and a number of shop installations. The
changes of location and rapid turnaround of interior installations aptly reflect the design
collections titled “Itinerant Retail”.
The first shop, in London’ Covent Garden on 12 Newbury Street, included record decks and a
video library. Situated in the city’s film and advertising area, creatives were invited to drop by
and use the space as a makeshift cinema.
Vexed does not produce seasonal collections; instead, the clothes are designed to react to
the political or environmental agenda. The first Vexed store display featured a glass box,
much like an incubator unit, in the middle of the floor. Holes were cut into its sides so that
prospective customers could feel the items but not remove them from the incubator – hence
the store had no need for security. Customers would then progress to the ground floor,
where DJs played music, movies were screened, and the actual merchandise sold. The
storefront, after years of neglect, was camouflaged under city grime. A discreet slit on the
glass was cleaned to allow a glimpse of the interior; otherwise, a closed-circuit television
monitor, visible from outside the store, monitored the goings-on internally. The installations
was a reaction to the debate in the 1980s about surveillance versus civil rights, air quality,
and a greener transport system.
The second installation, titled “The Green Shop”, was located on the first floor of 3 Berwick
Street in London’s Soho. Breathing garments linked to an air compressor were inflated and
deflated on a timer, giving the impression of breathing clothing and walls. Fast-growing
plants such as ivy and clematis were weaned through the clothes to create a living
installation. Sensors lights illuminated the clothes when viewers were present, adding a
sense of the unexpected.
The third installation, named “The Grow Room 98/99”, featured £750, or $1,200 worth of onepenny coins lightly set into a thin resin layer. The floor was a statement on safety in numbers
because it seemed unlikely that someone would go to the trouble to remove 75,000 coins
from the floor.
In the shop installation “A Stitch in Time”, customers were encouraged to leave their personal
details on a label attached to the wall; these were then randomly reproduced on a garment,
which could result in a chance meeting of a wearer and identity donor.
Vexed is now being lauded by the big clothing players. They are working with the anticrime
squad division of the police and independent bodies that promote safety to design a range of
protective clothing for women.”
Evans, Caroline ‘Fashion at the Edge: Spectacle, Modernity and
Deathliness’ (London: Yale University Press, 2003) p. 285, 302
“You put up a surveillance camera, I will put up a collar.” Vexed Generation’s ballistic parka,
in knife, and fire-proof nylon, highlights the erosion of civil liberties in the 1998 Crime and
Disorder Act which, among other things, made it illegal to hide one’s face in a demonstration.
If increased surveillance and police powers of arrest have helped to erode community and
breed paranoia in the 1990s, Vexed Generation’s agit prop streetwear simultaneously
communicates these issues and protect their wearers from their worst effect. Beneath the
turned up collar is and anti-pollution mask. Highlighting social and political question, the
Vexed designers respond to their own experience of London street life in the 1990s:
surveillance (a hood that conceals the face), the environment (a sleeve pocket for an antipollution mask), the quick-change (a skirt that zips into a pair of trousers).
Fake London lovingly perpetuates some great British fictions. Owen Gaster celebrates urban
verve. Vexed Generation highlights the hazards of city life. These competing narratives
sketch a complex and multi-faceted city, a London not generally represented in its image as a
centre of fashion.
Adam Thorpe and Joe Hunter are Vexed. Neither had a formal fashion training; Thorpe
studied microbiology at Kingston University and Hunter graduated as a graphic designer at
Middlesex in 1990, but together they have created a label which epitomises the attitude of a
growing number of fashion designers who eschew the culture of the catwalk.
Vexed Generation have powerful political convictions which have led them to design solutions
to social problems as well as fashionable clothes. Bags that are easier to carry are harder to
snatch; trousers made in light weight, high-tech, hardwearing material with soft, speedy
Velcro fastenings replacing old-fashioned zips, buttons and poppers. All of their clothes are
derived from their conviction that urban conditions place us under constant danger. Air
pollution, constant surveillance, over-zealous riot police and the risk of attack form a threat to
our civil liberties. The garments parody the situation and then offers some protection too. The
Vexed parka, the duo’s most notorious garment, is made form “Ministry of Defence –
specification nylon; the same stuff they use in flak jackets,” says Thorpe. The parka’s kniferepellent, fire-resistant fabric is padded around the spine and kidney areas, and has a
between-the-legs fastening to protect the groin.
The more recent woollen Shark Coat was developed in response to the contemporary political
landscape in Britain. The abundance of surveillance cameras in city street characterised at
its most extreme by a new multi million pound digital facial recognition system installed by the
London Borough of Newham – provided an impetus for the design of the Shark Coat. Like
other Vexed garment it features a collar which can transform into a hood, offering the wearer
the option of anonymity. “The higher the levels of surveillance, the higher the collar lines of
the populace!” says Thorpe. Moreover, the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act effectively renders it
illegal to cover one’s face in a political demonstration by granting the police powers to
confiscate face coverings. This could have the ironic effect of making the garments an illegal
political protest in their own right.
As a designed response to the current social-political climate in urban Britain, Vexed
Generation’s clothing positions itself far away from the concerns of the fashion establishment.
The garments are, nevertheless, clearly articulated and architecturally structured, with a
shrewd sense of style which has made some of the cheaper designs enormously popular in
London. As well being politically aware, Vexed Generation claim modestly that their
company aims to be “commercially viable”.
Gore-Tex Fabrics ‘Fashion’ (Livingston, Scotland: W L Gore &
Associates Ltd, 2004)

No text only 2 x photos of Vexed Generation Autumn / Winter Collection
2004-05.
Marjanovic, D. (ed) ‘Proceedings of the Design 2006 9th International
Design Conference’ (Zagreb | Glasgow: Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering and Naval Architecture | The Design Society, 2006) p.726733
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Chapter written by Dr. L. Gamman and Adam Thorpe entitled Design Against
Crime as Socially Responsive Theory and Practice.
2. What is Vexed Generation
2.1 Socially Responsive Clothing by Vexed Generation
2.2 Vexed Parka 1994
2.2 Vexed One-Strap Backpack 1994
2.3 Ninjahood and Ninjahigh 1995/6
2.4 S.A.B.S. Parka (See And Be Seen) 2001
2.5 Why Clothing?
2.6 Why sell these clothes and not just exhibit them? – the argument for
Market intervention
2.7 Vexed and Proleptic Retail
2.8 Commercial Impact of Vexed
Quinn, Bradley ‘Techno Fashion’ (Oxford: Berg, 2002) p. 12, 13, 58, 6471, 65, 66, 67, 75, 120
“Vexed Generation imbue their collections with principles of surveillance and visibility. They
interpret fashion as a form of communication and resistance that can initiate long-term
changes to the social infrastructure.” P.12
“Vexed Generation have used military fabrics like Kevlar to create parkas with high collars
and zipped panels that conceal the face as well as the head. ‘Hiding the face offers
psychological as well as physical protection,’ Bolton explained. ‘It gives the wearer a look that
is both aggressive and disturbing, heightened by the fact that the parka’s hood allows only
partial recognition of the wearer’s identity, minimising the possibilities of casual exchanges.
Interaction with a hooded individual is a one-sided relationship with someone who is not fully
present.’” P. 13-14
“The hip London label Vexed Generation also create garments that are reactions against
surveillance. Using strategic design tactics, their clothing rebels against the widespread
acceptance of video-surveillance by using visors and hoods to render the wearer anonymous.
They give fashion the power to invert and deflect the political agendas that promote electronic
surveillance as a means of social control.” P. 58
“When it comes to counteracting surveillance, Vexed Generation are the ones to watch. For
more than a decade, Vexed Generation have crafted clothing from bullet-proof and slashproof materials for an urban lifestyle that counter the problems of modern life. Their
collections pioneer new materials and construction methods, combining principles from
sportswear, high performance protective clothing and cutting edge street style. They work
with fashion not to mimic the latest trends, but to use it as a form of communication and
resistance that can initiate long-term changes to the social infrastructure.
One of their most famous garments is the ‘Vexed Parka’, which they created as a
commentary on the escalation of surveillance during the 1990s. The parka was designed in
response to the political climate in London at that time, but relates to a universal narrative.
Adam Thorpe, who owns Vexed Generation in partnership with Joe Hunter, explained: ‘It was
1994, and there were the surveillance cameras going up at the time. Now there are cameras
everywhere but at that time it was just starting and nobody was discussing it. So we put that
on the agenda as well.’ The Vexed Parka is characterized by a sinister hood and collar that
covers most of the head and face, closing over the mouth and nose but leaving the eye area
open. ‘We made the parka in 1994 and launched it in 1995. It sums up all the ideas and
concepts we had about fashion and social surveillance, which we include in most of the other
clothes we have designed since,’ Thorpe said.
During the 1990s, the British government and private industry are estimated to have
spent around £3 billion to establish surveillance systems and equipment. ‘For a fraction of the
cost we made it pretty much redundant as the person wearing the parka can hide his face,’
Thorpe said. ‘The area in front of the mouth and nose is formed so it can take one of the
filters normally used in special neoprene cycle masks.’ Though the mask was designed to
look and function as a filter, it also concealed the lower half of the face.
The political climate at this time was characterized by protests and civil disobedience
in response to the controversial British Criminal Justice Act and the government’s
implementation of poll-tax reforms. ‘At that time we felt that civil liberties were attacked.
Freedom of expression, the rights to demonstrate, assembly or party were strategically cut
short. Particularly during the poll tax riots it was apparent that although holding an equally
valid proposition or opinion, people were confronted with riot police wearing protective kit,’
Thorpe explained. The parka embodied the difficult juxtaposition of civil liberties and CCTV,
becoming a confrontational parody of police riot gear that protected the wearer. ‘We were
interested in the possible sartorial links between the extremes. For us the garment was a kind
of modelling of social situations,’ Thorpe said. This enabled the wearer to maintain a public
presence and gather social and political information first hand, while remaining anonymous.
Thorpe said: ‘Our clothing is about communicating what we think is essential or important. We
give people enough protection for them to be able to go out and be active, more involved with
their environment in a secure fashion and be more individual.’
Anonymity and visibility against the urban landscape became considerations
expressed in each garment Vexed Generation make. As they began exploring materials with
different properties, the functions of the jackets extended beyond concealing to include
weatherproofing, physical defence and environmental hazards. ‘As well as making garments
for our own conceptual reasons, we are also making clothing that people want to wear for
practical reasons,’ Thorpe said.
Vexed Generation chose technologized materials like Kevlar and ballistic nylon for
the strength and durability that makes them slash-proof, providing a shield in the even of a
knife-wielding attacker. ‘When we first started using Kevlar you could only get it in Britain,
where it was manufactured for use by the Ministry of Defence and security companies. We
had to say we were making protective clothing to get it, so we told them our company name
was “V G Security”,’ Thorp said. He began buying other technologized textiles from factories
in Switzerland, America and Italy. Using high-tech materials created a unique aesthetic
almost by default, because the densely textured surfaces and subtle patterns in the fabric
have real impact. The properties of non-woven textiles are ideal for creating complex forms,
due to their strength and ability to hold their shape.
The aesthetic this created became known as ‘stealth utility’, because it defined the
wearer against the public space, concealed their identity and constituted a multi-functional
design. Other streetwear labels soon began to update their look with hoods, technologized
textiles and multipurpose designs. ‘We never intended to become part of any fashion trend,
but have noticed that much of the clothing that we originally made in 1994 and 1995 has
ended up becoming a new sort of urban utility look,’ Thorpe said.
Investing their garments with stealth significance has in some ways contributed to the
social mythology that generates the ‘Big Brother’ paranoia associated with surveillance
systems. But as Vexed Generation’s range of customers grew they attracted people who liked
the stealth aesthetic for its practical value, rather than the surveillance principles behind them.
The concepts and social principles behind their clothes remained in place, but their designs
evolved to include garments less radically concealing. ‘While the first pieces we did were
single statements, allowing people to shut themselves off from their surroundings, now we
also make the “A4 Crombie” styles that appear much more conventional, tolerant and open,’
Thorpe said. The danger with the principle of self-sufficiency is that sometimes the wearer
closes off to the environment they are in, relying on the clothes to filter the input and stimuli
from outside. ‘I agree that if the comfort zone goes to a point in which people become too
dependent on technology or where people become too distant from reality there is a concern
there. I think the boundaries of natural and synthetic should not be forgotten; once they are
forgotten we start getting into trouble,’ Thorpe added.
The coats in the A4 Crombie range are tailored like traditional overcoats, echoing
classic Mackintosh styles. Made out of high-performance duramix wool, the A4 Crombie
range combines the resilient outer shells with a waterproof, breathable coating. They are less
menacing than the Vexed Parkas, but elements of their stealth aesthetic still remains. With a
few discreet zips the hood covers the face and a mouthpiece is revealed, a look that turns
from stylish urban fashion into fully functional protective gear. ‘If you want to hide from a
camera you still can, because we’ve put in a tinted visibility strip so you can still look around
and remain anonymous. We use a high performance cloth that can last and be durable and
can cope with all those outdoor things that are thrown at you, whether it is the weather, or an
uncivil civilian. We are trying to make clothes that will stand the test of time, including the
styling.’ Thorpe said.
The use of temperature-regulating materials in Vexed Generation’s winter collections
ends the need for bulky layering. Phase Change Material, a substance originally developed
for NASA, is used in the lining to equip coats with built in thermometers that act as personal
thermostats, keeping the body temperature constant while journeying through transitional
spaces. ‘Phase Change fabrics like Outlast have tiny paraffin capsules embedded in the
fibres to create a climate controlled atmosphere,’ Hunter explained. ‘When the body heats
over forty degrees centigrade the paraffin molecules react and absorb the heat. When the
temperature drops below thirty-seven degrees centigrade they expand to release the heat
they’ve stored and warm up the wearer both inside and out, bringing the temperature under
the control of the individual, following the same principles of the fifth season created by urban
air-conditioned environments. Their semi-tailored suit/bike jackets are streamlined even
further by the use of Corwool, a fabric with the warmth and appearance of wool, without the
bulk and shapelessness of an anorak.
Almost everything that Hunter and Thorpe do is inspired by the London scene. Like
the skateboard labels that emerged as part of urban subculture, Vexed Generation’s range of
clothes paralleled developments in urban youth culture. ‘We started in response to the
English street environment because we thought that that was the environment we knew about
and where we were placed ourselves,’ Thorpe said. When Hunter and Thorpe decided to go
into business together they were equally drawn to the idea of starting a music label, because
Thorpe had the experience of working for a London record company. ‘When we got together
we were all on the dole and couldn’t decide if we wanted to do music, design, fashion,
whatever,’ said Thorpe. ‘We made some records first and eventually decided to have a go at
fashion, which we made based on new ideas and materials,’ he added. When they lost
access to the recording studio they were using fashion seemed to be the easiest option, since
Hunter had the experience of having previously produced his own fashion label.
The London fashion scene is characterized by social contrasts, with a wide gap
between insider and outsider. Coming into fashion virtually by default highlighted this divide;
working outside fashion conventions proved to be Vexed Generation’s advantage. The
concept behind their shop and showroom was set up to break down the insider/outsider
boundaries, by presenting fashion in an open forum rather than through insider PR events.
Rather than just watching fashion shows, the public can be in dialogue with the clothes, look
at them close up and try them on. The showroom was in Soho, accessed via a spiral
staircase, where the latest collections were hung on dress forms suspended from the ceiling.
Thorpe explained: ‘We put all of our energy in communicating the ideas through the space,
through our shop because it is open all year long, anyone can walk in and experience it.
Meanwhile, if you do a catwalk show you rely on the press or on those who attend to
communicate what they’ve seen or they’ve felt to other people.’
The showroom’s interior design expressed their clothing concepts in architectural
principles. While in architecture things are usually built to be longer-lasting that they are in
fashion, the concept behind the showroom inverted this. The technologized textiles they use
mean that the clothes are almost impossible to wear out, and more durable than the paint,
carpet or wallpaper, while the shop’s décor was made to constantly wear away. The
Plasticine floor in the gallery space started off as a pure blue surface that would be worn
down with each foot print, recording the traces of each visitor and accelerating the process of
erosion day by day. ‘We were interested in its weathering capabilities and in concepts of
quality, tradition and longevity,’ Hunter explained. ‘It was also our Ludite approach to
surveillance, because we were tracking people without using digital technology.’
Rather than fitting heating insulation, they padded the shop’s interior with the type of
quilting they would pad their garments with. ‘We did that to slow things down,’ Thorpe
explained. ‘Before that people could scribble their names and orders on the wall, but we put
the padding up so that they could embroider their names, which took them longer to do. Later
on we printed out labels for each order that had the customer’s name on it. One was sewn
into the clothes, the other was sewn up on the wall, mimicking the way big retailers build a
name and address database to keep records of their customers,’ he said.
Vexed Generation’s uncompromising perspectives on the standards and values of
their designs is a rarity in both conventional and cutting edge fashion. Vexed Generation tend
to invert superficialities like marketing clothing for its sex appeal, capitalizing on short-term
trends, notions of exclusivity and product branding by placing emphasis on protection and
durability. They also innovate by guaranteeing high performance standards for their clothes,
achieved through high-tech textiles and functional design. ‘With our garments, and as a
philosophy, we go against the mainstream of production where the products are designed to
last a determined period of time through concepts of cheapness and disposability. We are
fundamentally against that and that’s why our garments are intended to endure and keep their
qualities. We’d like to thing of our garments going into second-hand shops and yet, being in
perfect shape,’ Thorpe said.
More recently the stealth utility concept has been extended to a range of garments
designed to be worn on a motor scooter or bicycle, called the ‘See And Be Seen’ line. ‘We
use a lot of technological developments because we appreciate the utilitarian values of them
and because when we use motor scooters, we know how it feels to be in the freezing cold
and have aching knees for at least four hours after you come off your bike. We made them
[the See and Be Seen range] to be worn on the scooter but also to look like an ordinary day
coat. When you wear it on the scooter, you unzip sections to show reflective panels inside.
Other parts unzip to give you the expansion you need in a scooter coat to hold that position of
leaning forward on the handlebars,’ he explained. ‘So I guess they’re not so ordinary after
all.’”
“This is why Vexed Generation developed a range of transformable fabrics for their techtonics
range. They discovered that it was not viable to produce one-off garments, and the
constraints of mass production made it difficult to include enough variations to make each
garment unique and individual. Rather than explore modularity, they began looking for a
design innovation that would transform the garment over time, and also give the wearer a role
in personalizing it.
Initially Vexed Generation attempted to find high-performance fabrics that would
change texture or colour with use, mimicking the way that suede gradually turns into smooth
leather with wear and tear. ‘To begin with, we tried making the techtonics range in ballistic
nylon,’ said Joe Hunter ‘but the nylon doesn’t mould to the shape of the body so we changed
to denim instead.’ The techtonics range includes trousers, jackets, coats and ‘mid layers’
made out of non-stretch plates of fabric laid out onto a stretch framework. As they are worn
against the body they move apart, referencing how tectonic plates operate in nature. ‘We
were aware that the friction between the two materials would create an erosion in the edges
of the cut that would change the garment over time,’ he said. Rather than deteriorate with
wear, the techtonic garments would transform into something new. ‘We once talked to
Reebok about how to produce a range of clothing based on transformability, because what
these people want is to mass produce individuality which is a difficult thing to do,’ he
explained.
Image of Hood p.12
Image of hooded jacket p.65
Image of SABS coat (back) p.66
Image of SABS coat (side) p.67
Image of Vexed parka p.71
Quinn, Bradley ‘The Fashion of Architecture’ (Oxford: Berg, 2003) p. 2324 & 52-54
“The London-based fashion visionaries Vexed Generation also create garments that counter
surveillance. Their strategic design tactics give fashion the power to invert and deflect
electronic surveillance by using visors, hoods, zips and collars to render the wearer
anonymous. One of their most popular garments is the ‘Vexed Parka’, which they created as
a commentary on the escalation of surveillance during the 1990s. The Vexed Parka is
characterized by a hood and collar that covers most of the head and face, closing over the
mouth and nose but leaving the eye area open. Adam Thorpe, who owns Vexed Generation
in partnership with Joe Hunter explained: ‘We made the parka in 1994 and launched it in
1995. It sums up all the ideas and concepts we had about fashion and surveillance, which we
include in most of the other clothes we have designed since.’
During the 1990s, the British government and private industry is estimated to have
spent around £3 billion to establish surveillance systems and equipment. ‘For a fraction of the
cost we made it pretty much redundant as the person wearing the parka can hide his face,’
Thorpe said. ‘The area in front of the mouth and nose is formed so it can take one of the
filters normally used in special neoprene cycle masks.’ Though the mask was designed to
look and function as a filter, it also concealed the lower half of the face.
The political climate and this time was characterized by protests and civil
disobedience in response to the controversial British Criminal Justice Act and the
government’s implementation of poll-tax reforms. ‘At that time we felt that civil liberties were
attacked. Freedom of expression, the rights to demonstrate, assembly or party were
strategically cut short. Particularly during the poll tax riots it was apparent that although
holding an equally valid proposition with riot police wearing protective kit,’ Thorpe said. The
parka embodied the difficult juxtaposition of civil liberties and CCTV, becoming a
confrontational parody of police riot gear that protected the wearer. ‘We were interested in
the possible sartorial links between the extremes. For us the garment was a kind of modelling
of social situations,’ Thorpe said. This enabled the wearer to maintain a public presence and
gather social and political information first hand, while remaining anonymous. Thorpe said:
‘Our clothing is about communicating what we think that is essential or important. To give
people enough protection for them to be able to go out and be active, more involved with their
environment in a secure fashion and more individual.’” P.23-24
“Vexed Generation have always worked outside fashion conventions. The concept behind
their shop in Soho, London set out to present fashion in a public forum rather than through
insider PR events. Conceived as a public space rather than a boutique or showroom, Vexed
Generation created an environment where buyers, press and public could be in dialogue with
the clothes and gain a sense of the concepts behind them. Adam Thorpe, one of Vexed
Generations designers explained: ‘We put all of our energy into communicating the ideas
through the space, through our shop because it is open all year long, anyone can walk in and
experience it. Meanwhile if you do a catwalk show you rely on the press or on those who
attend to communicate what they’ve seen or they’ve felt to other people.’
In architecture things are generally built to be longer lasting that they are in fashion,
but Vexed Generation’s garments and shop design inverted this concept completely. The
high-durability techno textiles they use make clothes that are almost impossible to wear out
are far more durable than the paint, carpet and wallpaper that inadvertently wear away.
Rather than constantly renovate and redecorate like most shop owners do, Vexed Generation
decided to create an interior based on thematic installations, collaborating with designers,
artists and musicians to create unique environments for each collection.
The first of these, opened in 1995, reflected Vexed Generation’s strong commentary
on the escalation of surveillance as discussed in chapter 1. The front window was rendered
opaque with several layers of white paint, which only a video monitor left visible. Onlookers
could observe the shops interior by looking into the video screen. By placing the shop under
the surveillance of passers-by, Vexed Generation reversed the normal security measure of
recording customers by placing the screen in the public gaze.
The following year environmental themes were featured. Vexed Generation moved
their shop upstairs to the first floor, where walls and display units were made from inflatable
bags powered rhythmically by an air compressor. The effect was that of ‘breathing’ walls and
‘breathing’ clothes, echoing the role of trees functioning as the ‘lungs of the planet’. In its next
phase, the shop was transformed into a grow room. The garment displays were aligned in
rows, like fields of crops waiting to be harvested. Around them fast-growing ivy, clematis and
passiflora grew up through the clothing, sprouting from necklines and cuffs, drawing attention
to natures bounty. Blackboards lined the walls inviting customers to share their personal
details as a statement encouraging public access to information.
The plasticene floor in the gallery space started off as pure blue surface that would
be worn down with each footprint, recording the traces of each visitor and accelerating the
process of erosion day by day. ‘We were interested in its weathering capabilities and in
concepts of quality and tradition and longevity,’ Joe Hunter explained. ‘It was also our ludite
approach to surveillance, because we were tracking people without using digital technology,’
he said. At one point the floor was covered in £750 worth of one penny coins to illustrate the
concept of safety in numbers: large sums of money could be accessed by the public yet not
be removed.
The shop was later themed ‘A Stitch in Time’, featuring an installation called ‘The
Label Database’. Rather than fitting conventional heating insulation and concealing it with a
flush surface, the shop’s interior was padded with the same quilting used in the garments.
‘We did that to slow things down,’ Thorpe explained. ‘Before that people could scribble their
names and orders on the wall, but we put the padding up so that they could embroider their
names, which took them longer to do. Later on we printed out labels for each order that had
the customers name on it. One was sewn into the clothes, the other was sewn up on the wall,
mimicking the way big retailers build a name and address database to keep records of their
customers,’ he said.
Vexed Generation’s work tends to ignore short-tem trends, notions of exclusivity and
product branding by placing emphasis on protection and durability. They also innovate by
guaranteeing high performance standards for their clothes, achieved through hi-tech textiles
and functional design. ‘With our garments, and as a philosophy, we go against the
mainstream of production where the products are designed to last a determined period of
time through concepts of cheapness and disposability. We are fundamentally against that and
that’s why our garments are intended to endure keeping their qualities,’ Thorpe said. Vexed
Generation’s uncompromising perspectives on the standards and values of their designs
outlines a durability of materials and structures more common to architecture than fashion. As
they eschew the transient styles of fashion and the use of outmoded fabric, they inject fashion
with an element of sustainability that promises to extend its value long after its shelf life.” P.
52-54
Rogers, Brett ‘Fabric of Fashion’ (London: The British Council, 2000) No
page numbers.
Adam Thorpe and Joe Hunter comprise Vexed Generation. Their style of menswear is urban
streetstyle combined with military apparel. Their choice of fabric is generally highperformance and includes billet-proof ballistic nylon and smart materials that respond to their
environment. The materials are layered, padded and quilted. The design of both clothes and
accessories reflect the source of the fabrics in protective applications.
Neither received a conventional fashion or textile training. Thorpe studied
Microbiology at Kingston University, while Hunter attended Middlesex University to study
graphics. They met in London’s Portobello Road. At the time Thorpe was working in the
music industry and as a sportswear consultant, mainly for Puma. Hunter was involved with a
clothing label specialising in recycling clothes. They shared a common interest in social and
political issues and decided to use clothing as a means of communication. At the time they
met, the Criminal Justice Bill was being debated in parliament attracting media and public
attention. Thorpe and Hunter decided to use the bill with its associated issues of civil liberties
as a brief for their work. Lacking the technical expertise of pattern-cutting, they decided to
take a year out to teach themselves the technical aspects of designing and making garments.
This was done mainly through books and manuals. Vexed Generation was launched in 1994.
When asked about the importance of fabric in their work, Hunter’s immediate reply
was that “Our cloth is as primary as our style. You can’t make a shape without having the
right cloth”. Most of their fabric suppliers produce high-performance technical textiles for
military and protective clothing. Over the years they have developed a relationship with these
textile manufacturers who view their demands as a challenge. The duo are behind many of
the textile innovations we have seen in recent years such as Teflon coated denim, resin
impregnated polyamide and the use of ballistic nylon for non-military applications. Their work
with the fabric does not end with manufacturing and finishing treatments but extends to
garment cutting and assembly. Textiles are often layered and quilted for reasons of aesthetics
as well as performance. A layered fabric from Vexed might include a line of Outlast and an
outer layer of ballistic nylon, providing protection to the wearer from climate changes and
gunfire. Outlast uses a micro-encapsulation technique to incorporate a Phase Change
Material (PCM) that has the ability to change its state depending on temperature. Outlast is
more usually used in sportswear or protective clothing to provide the wearer with their own
climate-controlled environment, keeping they warm in winter and cool in summer.
Vexed Generation are keen to establish that their work is not just about social issues.
They are happy to provide interesting shapes with new solutions, usually in the form of fabric
innovation. Comfort is important, as they believe their clothes should be comfortable to wear,
regardless of seasons or climate changes. This is not unlike the performance demanded by
protective and military clothing specifications so it is no surprise that many of their fabrics
should originate from the same source.
Smith, Courtenay & Topham, Sean ‘Xtreme Fashion’ (London: Prestel
Publishing, 2005) p 50-53
“London based fashion label Vexed Generation was at the forefront of the 1990’s trend for
tough, urban street wear. The Vexed Parka was part of the label’s debut collection in 1995
and was designed in response to the heavy-handed tactics used by the authorities in the UK
to control demonstrators at rallies against the Criminal Justice Act in the early 1990s.
The parka closely resembles the body armour worn by frontline police officers and is
designed to offer protection from physical assaults. Joe Hunter and Adam Thorpe, the
designers behind Vexed Generation, noticed that when such demonstrations turn nasty, riot
police tend to try and debilitate demonstrators by using their truncheons to hit them in the
groin or around the lower back. The Vexed Parka is padded to offer protection around the
spine and kidneys and also comes with a between-the-legs fastening to shield the groin area.
To ensure that the coat is as tough as it looks, the designers employ a slash-proof and fireresistant nylon that was originally developed for use in blast-proof curtains and protective flak
jackets. The designers used riot gear as their inspiration and from it developed a range of
protective clothing well suited to cycling, riding scooters and similar exposed forms of urban
transportation. Concerns about the increasing use of CCTV play a major role in the shaping
of Vexed Generation’s Ninja Hood and Ninja High-Neck Tops. Inspired by the bad-boy cool
of hooded sweatshirts and zip-up tracksuit tops sported by teenagers the world over, the
garments were designed to raise awareness about the use of video surveillance in public
areas. The vexed garments have high necklines that can be worn over the lower half of the
face to conceal the identity of the person wearing them. These clothes aren’t designed to
encourage criminal activity, but they help level out the field when those in charge start
abusing their powers. More that anything they appear to express apprehension about the
erosion of civil liberties such as the right to protest. Fashion is a means for the people behind
Vexed Generation to communicate their ideas about pressing social and political issues to a
wider audience.
Van Kopplen, Anthea and Vaughan, Laurene ‘Engaging in Fashion’
(From Website)
Vexed Generation, the designers of one shoulder rucksack have had an eye for sustainability
since 1994. A British duo, the pair only makes their bags in Britain, “so we can have a
relationship with the people who work for us” (Buttolph 1994 p.98). They are also inspired by
political issues, their Wrap Liberation was born out of the juxtaposition between the elegance
of Dior’s Normandie jacket and by the desolation of street people wrapped in blankets. The
Wrap Liberation is a length of cloth that can be interpreted by the wearer. Wearers
participate in this design through emotional and pragmatical desires. The desire to identify
with the desolation perhaps and the desire to have a flexible functional piece of clothing that
can protect from desolation.
Vexed Generation took on the political with their Wrap Liberation by raising the awareness of
the condition of the homeless and with their statement on their general approach to
outworkers.