Vestal Watch

FALL/HOLIDAY 2008 VESTAL COLLECTION: INSPIRED BY SOUL
Following the turmoil and destruction of world war ii in england the young people finally had both the time and money to focus on themselves. At that time in england and a lot of the rest of the world there was no real youth culture.. Leading up to the sixties england was a stale climate for kids. But with a rise in industry and white collar jobs emerged a new set of young adults interested in creating their own culture and financially able to do so. Adopting a “live now pay later” ideal they rejected the conventions of their parents and embraced convenient innovations as soon as they could. These kids developed the modernist soul movement of the 60s, which flourished from 1960 to 1964.They drew inspiration from american soul music,like the tamla motown sound, often received in 45 rpm records from u.S. Soldiers stationed in the u.K. .These times influenced bands such as the rolling stones, the who and the beatles to begin to play soul inspired cover songs, which later evolved into rock and roll and then into the “british revolution” of music in the late sixties.With their white collar jobs they earned a salary that allowed them to look not only to the u.S.Culture, but also into more liberal parts of europe like france and italy for fashion, music, art, and film. These main influences were found in u.S. Soul music, pop art, italian suits, advertising, french new wave film, existentialism, and was commercially packaged in the dance tv show ready, steady, go! Weekends were spent hunting rare record prints, shopping at boutiques on carnaby street that catered to their ever changing trends, and dancing all night every night of the weekend in membership required clubs. The youth in england led a cultural revolution dictating their new style of dress, centered around a crisp, clean and precise suited look for the boys, and a similar clean look for the girls. The fashion and popular records changed drastically and quickly, to stay on top you had to one up everyone else and be on and off the trend before your peers. Scooters were a preferred mode of transport, as they allowed you to be mobile and stay clean, keeping your look intact. Most importantly the youth developed their own culture and morals with a sense of value based off the here and now that reflected their lives, not those of the elder generations. They wanted to embrace creative thought and innovation in order to rocket forward into the future and were able to do it. Vestal has chosen to focus on this important time because through motivation fueled by american soul music, british youth established the culture of youth for the first time, including their own values and ideals, changing the face of culture worldwide.
“I had never actually come up against one at very close quarters, being what i suppose what they would call utterly square and old (anyone over twenty four is old)” - interviewer in a peice on 17 yr old terry gordon (Pg.9 “Daily mirror magazine” may 23 1964)
“He employs no designers, claiming the fashion ideas come out of my head.” - article on john stephen (known as “priest of high fashion” owner of 18 modern clothing stores (Daily mail sept. 15 1964 - News and classified pg 15)
“When you were at work, you were a nobody, so when you put on your suede or mohair suit and desert boots and go out to the dance hall, you want to be a somebody. You had to be cool. You didn’t want to lose face with the other guys.” - Bill norman (Pg.15 “Mods!” Compiled by richard barnes, assisted by johnny moke and jan mcveigh)
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Vestal collections are watches, softgoods & accessories that fine-tune style and expression for the musically inspired individual. Established in 1997, Vestal is marketed and branded through our friends, musicians, artists, and athletes who are immersed within music culture. Vestal can be found in specialty stores and finer boutiques in more than forty countries around the world.