Written by Josh Sims, author of Icons of Men’s Style and contributor to titles such as The Times, Esquire and The Independent, the book traces British menswear from the first real movements that saw the youth taking their lead not from their fathers, but from other cultural cues. Tracing these movements from the mid-1950s starting with the Teds, 50 Years of British Style Culture explores the journey through five decades of fashion, music, politics and more, whilst also giving a rare glimpse into the history of an iconic British brand, and Ben Sherman himself. From the original stylistic references, to their evolution and eventual decline, we look at what spurred these movements on and how they came to be superseded. This is detailed through eight chapters: Teddy Boy, Mod, Rocker, Punk, Skinhead, Two Tone, Northern Soul, Casual with a foreword written by Mark Maidment, Ben Sherman’s Creative Director of 10 years. The book contains archival imagery and a unique insight into the movements that shaped a nation’s youth.

Wolves is hosting an exhibition featuring selected images from the book.

Currently up at Wolves is Rikus Ferreira’s very quirky and interesting work. He has taken pages out of story books and then painted over them, leaving only a few words exposed. It’s such a nice idea and he’s executed them so well. Some of them are a little dark, which I love. If any of you want to buy one and have it sent to it through the mail, we can totally make a plan.

Rikus Ferreira’s latest collection of works opens on the 7th of September at Wolves. Here’s what he had to say about the work:

“a bit about the work – in short: in a time where everything is digital, we have iPads, digital books, and the internet, books are fast becoming something from the past. i find this fascinating, and this is in essence what informs my work. i like the physical aspect of books – the tactile qualities of paging through a book – the fact that a book is almost like an interactive “sculpture”. i also love the fact that each book (especially old ones) comes with its own history, it has been through many hands, homes. it meant a lot to different people. so, what i do, is to find old books, and rework them. i change the old story, change their “history”, their narrative, to create a new narrative. i tear pages out, and paint over the existing story, to create a new story. in essence the old text/story informs my new narrative – i select some words/sentences from the old printed text, and let that inform my new story. i also like the fact that a book is mad up of lots of pages, so in these works i play with that idea of “layering”, i cut through the top pages to see through to the ones underneath, and let this layering add to the narrative. i like that these works are tactile, textured. and multi-layered.”