Ian Berry in France

Ian was interviewed for French channel TLVA by Amandine the morning of the show. This was no set up, the scenes you see all happened, and continued throughout the show. Thanks you to all that came and brought so much warmth and excitement toward Ian's work.

These are some of the translations.

This man isn't a rock star but you could believe it seeing all those women asking for an autograph or taking a selfie with him. This Englishman with a lively and intelligent look is an artist from London, young and handsome which adds to his so British charm. He got invited to this 23rd edition… to show his art.

At the first look these monochrome pictures make you think of oil painting but you realize quickly that the depth of these compositions and the variations of blue remind us that his
painting is just denim; a story that started when he found an old pair of trousers.

Ian talks

Before becoming this artist much on fashion, Ian was a graphic designer. Nowadays he is not making quilts but real pictures with glue and of course denim. He belongs to these modern street art artists and so contemporary. He likes taking pictures to draw them afterwards. What inspires him are advertising posters, architecture of some places or streets of London.

Ian speaks

His work is a real allegory of our contemporary life. Denim being whats most worn on earth and
most popular in each socio-cultural class, its normal that Ian's artworks echo that.

Ian Berry showing at Carrefour Européen du Patchwork

Ian will show at the Carrefour Européen du Patchwork 2017 in Espace des Tisserands in Sainte-Marie-Aux-Mines in the Alsace region of France open on the 14 -17 September.

It will be a great chance for many people to see his work up close and personal as he makes very rare appearances, and his work needs to be seen to be truly understood.

Well into his second decade, Ian started from a different route to traditional Textile Art, and only in the last several years has the Textile Art World and Ian Berry crossed. He has been invited as a special guest to many events, and here now at the EPMshow he has taken the chance to show in this context. It will be a great chance for many Textile enthusiasts to see his work, which, often defies description.

While mainly a Quilting event, Ian is not a quilter but will follow in the footsteps of Fraser Smith, Birgitte Busk, Malin Lager and the tent makers of Cairo as being an invited non traditional quilter working with fiber art.

Ian will show his Behind Closed Doors body of work as well as the My Beautiful Launderette installation.

The 23rd European Patchwork meeting will open from Thursday, September 14 to Sunday, September 17, 2017 in the Val d'Argent, in the heart of Alsace

More than 20,000 visitors come every year to discover the art of patchwork in whatever form thanks to thirty exhibitions by internationally renowned artists. This event, of an original concept, has become a reference event in the field of traditional and contemporary patchwork and the art of quilt.

Ian Berry in GQ in Spain and Italy September issue

GQ have been good to Ian over the years, first featuring him online as far back as 2013 in South Africa, then Brazil in 2014. Last year he was printed in GQ GB and here in both Italia and España. 

In the Italian issue it was reported by Paola Montanaro (translated from Italian)

The art of Ian Berry transforming jeans into masterpieces

His creations have a palette that exploits all the nuances of denim, his canvases tell stories of everyday life, or travels started a while ago. Like that of Pepe Jeans London, which has supported the art of the young English artist immediately.

Use denim as it is painting, to transform it into matter through which tell stories of everyday life. Part of this is the work of the young English artist Ian Berry, who has entered the world chart of 30 top artists under thirty years. His meticulous work consists in transforming denim artwork by exploiting all the many shades of jeans cloth to create his own palette of colors, and to transform ordinary scenes in masterpieces. As he tells himself: "The starting point is to find an interesting scene on which to build and tell a story. It could be someone sitting in a laundry room, a single girl in a bar ... any reality or situation, even the most banal, which will then turn into something very special. "

It's normal that his creativity and originality did not go unnoticed in the eyes of a brand that shares his values nd has his own denim in the heart: Pepe Jeans London. Between the artist and the brand was born a very high level synergy that led the London brand to donate their denim to use for his works of art. In addition to supporting Berry's work, the brand has also decided to host Berry's canvases in its stores around the world. In particular at the opening of the Regent Street shop, the artist created an ad hoc opera: a journey into the history of Pepe Jeans from origins at Portobello Road, where the brand was born in 1973.

And some quotes from España

“Throughout the history of art, many of its protagonists have been meant to take their obsessions to the last consequences .... In the 21st century, we continue to admire artists who turn their conceptual and material concerns into the vertebral axes of their Works, our latest discovery Ian Berry.”

ending with - Ian Berry, a young talent who has made denim a powerful artifact to convey emotions.

Ian Berry on Social Media

Find Ian on instagram at @ianberry.art

Find Ian on facebook at @ianberry.art

There is also a fb group Ian Berry Art in Denim

You'll find Ian on twitter @ianberry_art

Finally, you can connect with Ian Berry on Linkedin

Ian Interview on Carved in Blue

Ian had an interview with one of the leading Denim industry websites.

Run by the Lenzing Group who have a long history rooted in sustainability. They manufacture plant producing wood pulp and viscose fibers, down a path of eco-conscious innovation to become the world’s largest producer of TENCEL®   

With environmental responsibility at the forefront of consumer consciousness and denim’s popularity back in full force, they launched Carved in Blue, a blog that delves into the inner workings and innovations of the denim industry.

Lenzing is the world market leader in high-quality wood-based cellulose fibers. All their fibers are branded, TENCEL®, Lenzing Modal®, and Lenzing Viscose®, and each have their place in denim, upgrading its comfort, performance or sustainability.

They say:
"The meaning of Carved in Blue is whatever you want it to be, whatever you visualize about the denim business and is personal to you. Our inspiration originated from the phrase ‘carved in stone’—it represents our permanent and absolute position as a fixture in the past, the present and future of denim. Our fibers are woven into the denim tales that Carved in Blue will tell."

Find out what Ian answered 'What does Carved in Blue mean to you?'

You can read the interview here

Ian Berry X Pepe Jeans London Film

Filmed in his studio, during install and in front of the final piece, Ian Berry presents the CCTV control room installation for Pepe Jeans London new Flagship store on Regent Street.

Ian Berry CCTV Installation on Regents Street, London

Notting Hill Gate Station

And more suitably, the location that house this installation? The new flagship store of Pepe Jeans London on Regents Street. One of London's most famous shopping streets and a stones throw (even Ian could throw that far) from Piccadilly Circus, possibly one of the most CCTV hot spots in the world.

Pepe Jeans have just opened up their new flagship store in Central London and this piece was central to its design by acclaimed Martin Brudnizki Design Studio. The CCTV cameras focus on West London, where Pepe was formed in 1973 on the Portobello Road, which is 'watched' heavily on the monitors. It then tracks a journey from W11 to central London, Oxford Street, Piccadilly and then to the new store at 57 Regents Street.

Ian says: 'Pepe Jeans is all about London. They first bought a piece from my gallery in 2013 and we had a friendly relationship before that and had actually first met in 2012 and they have been really good to me, sending me many pairs of jeans. They have since bought other works from the exhibitions and put them in various stores, officers and showrooms - they saw and appreciated it as art.  Its a good chance for people who don't go to gallery shows to see the real work. I want more people to see the real work, and not just replicated in differwnt media forms.

'So, they wanted a specific piece for the Regent Street store but I had complete freedom to make what I wanted, not trying to dictate anything. I said it should be something that could stand alone in a gallery as well as a store.'

And that he has. This incredibly detailed work comprising 16 'screens' most of which have four in between has been painstaking in the production. In the centre of the piece is a TV screen, showing Ian's work and him in the studio from a vantage of a CCTV camera. It also enables Pepe to use it sometimes for campaign imagery.

Notting Hill Gate Station escalators

But, whats the idea? says Ian 'Having got to know Pepe Jeans London well over the last few years and of course knowing them since my younger days, I know they are all about London. All that West London feel and aesthetic and aspiration. Their great campaigns all on the streets of West London, especially Portobello Road. It has such a good heritage routed there, of course, London doesn't have that many outright denim brands. But it's not just the heritage, they are forever looking at London for inspiration and this is my core feeling when making the piece.

'The control room is almost imagining them having it to keep monitoring the fashions of London to take inspiration from the street style of this great capital to keep evolving with the fast moving city'

With scenes including Portobello Roads famous Electric Cinema and market street, to some of the local pubs and music stores, showing some of the places the West Londoner would be hanging out. Ian says:

'As its the tourist area of London on Regent street and many of the customers coming in will probably be the many visitors to London I did think, they are not familiar perhaps with the West London scenes and wanted to add a few familiar sights, ones which I wouldn't normally do, but I think would catch the attention in the store - and perfect with the location.'

That's how the idea was born to make it the journey to the new store and he brilliantly utilizes the famous ad board of Piccadilly Circus which you can see from the store window as well as the iconic streets of Regents and Oxford which will bring the familiar to those less familiar with the city. And of course, all out of this familiar material - but one so unusual and unexpected as an art form that Ian has perfected for well over a decade.

Go and have a look again at this very contemporary art piece showing Ian's favorite subject of urban life and living out of the material of our time. Denim jeans.

You can view the piece daily at the Pepe Jeans flagship store at 59-61 Regents Street, London.

You can see a photo gallery here

Ian Berry on Spanish TV show Ja t’ho faràs

Watch Ian on Catalan language show Ja t’ho faràs - including an attempt at the lingo! Filmed in his studio in London and using some stock image it gives a good feeling of his work, showcased to the Catalan audience.

I-Skool awards at BASE Milan

Ian Berry attended the award ceremony for the 2017 I-Skool awards in Milan this week. As someone interested in education and inspiring younger generations it is a perfect event where Isko and leading brands in the denim industry support an educational program - one that encourages over 60,000 entrants to enter the award where the winners will present their creativity at a catwalk, this time in Milan at an amazing industrial space at BASE.

Students from all over the world and some of the leading education establishments from every corner of the globe like Parsons, AMFI, UAL, FIDM, NABA and Polimoda to name but a few. As always the standard was high and put on to a level of a professional fashion show. This is a greatchance for the students to get right in front of some of the industries most important and most well trained eyes.

For many it would be a dream to get in front of Adriano Goldschmied and catch his eye. As the head judge his jury picked Massimiliano Mucciarelli as the worthy winner of the Best Seller Award.

The brief this year was on Genderful - celebrating the erosion of the old stereotypes with the new and inclusive ways to conceive of the multiplicity of modes of self expression. A nice little touch with the models all wearing masks often disguising their own gender.

The ISKO I-SKOOL™ Denim Design Award however is much more than a simple competition: it is a structured training program meant to motivate youth to learn everything they can about the art of denim and gain experience through a number of workshops and denim seminars that take place in the inspiring CREATIVE ROOM™, ISKO™ style and design center located in Italy.

With a keen eye on sustainability, especially with key supporters like Tonello and Lenzing this important message is starting to take hold. The Marketing Award really highlighted this with a brief to convince consumers to choose denim that has been produced with sustainable methods. It didnt end there as the Responsible Innovation Award, was given to the student with the most sustainable garment, which was Morine Uramoto.

A brilliant award and event that is important for the whole future of the industry and a great way to give back. So a big well done to all involved.

One of Ian's personal favourites

We couldn't but feel that this reminded us of Ian in the studio when he had found the jeans to work with.

The winners

Winner of the Best Seller Award

Massimiliano Mucciarelli from (Iuav Design della moda)
awarded by Adriano Goldschmied

Winner of the Responsible Innovation Award

Morine Uramoto from 文化服装学院（Bunka Fashion College),
awarded by Tricia Betz Carey ( Lenzing AG)

Winner of the Marketing Award

Team led by Sara Giordano with Victoria Kozyreva
from (POLIMODA) awarded by Diana Profir (ITEMA)

Winner of the SWAROVSKI Award

Giulia Masciangelo from NABA Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti,
awarded by Claudio Marcolli.

Denimu is Dead

After over a decade working with denim, Ian Berry is dropping the Denimu name. Made up for many reasons, including Ian thinking he may do more street work, not wanting his work to be about him, but also sharing the name with Magnum Photojournalist, Ian Berry
 

The next decade will see a new phase in Ian Berry's work, a new maturity, so you will only find him going by his given name. It also celebrates the new website, dropping denimu.com that served him so well for ianberry.london after his move back to the city.

Ian Berry. Formerly known as Denimu.

Al Jazeera feature Ian Berry

Al Jazeera's AJ + came to Ian's East London studio and filmed for their English and Arabic speaking channels and over facebook have 1.3 million views combined and counting. Thanks to the wonderful Shira Pinson for the filmography.