In February 2010 in time for London Fashion Week, footwear designer Tracey Neuls will open her shop TN29 at 29 Marylebone Lane for a 3-way collaboration involving acclaimed contemporary artist Nina Saunders, and revered British textiles company, Sanderson on the eve of the latter’s 150th anniversary.

The collaboration will be anchored by a large-scale sculpture from Nina Saunders and a dedicated collection of shoes from Tracey, both employing reissued vintage Sanderson textiles. Nina’s sculpture, a characteristically morphed, melting item of furniture, upholstered in Sanderson, sets the scene for this sensual and playful subversion of the expected. Tracey’s shoes take this further. Cast rubber soles are deftly inserted with Sanderson textile meaning the shoes have pattern top to bottom - a trailblazing approach in footwear, yet the cut and feel remain uncompromised – exquisite!

The Spring Summer 2010 collection is Tracey Neuls’ most recent foray into an ongoing preoccupation with textile, surface and sculptural form. Her vision is one that goes beyond the shoe, and her shop’s eclectic displays reflect her openness. This chimes nicely with Sanderson who have throughout their history forged links with dynamic designers and artists, encouraging a stream of innovation to mingle with the timelessness of their product.

As Tracey says, “a collaboration that combines three completely different disciplines and generates contradictions like classic / avant-garde, or heritage / timeless is exactly what 29 Marylebone Lane is about”.

The project represents a coming together of shared mind-sets, combining artistic innovation with a healthy respect for traditional craftsmanship. February brings an enmeshing of design, art, and decoration - footwear, furniture, and interiors. There are untold stories sewn into the fabric here. We invite you to come and experience them for yourselves.

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If you missed it at the cinema you can now see the gruesome and stylish Let The Right One In on DVD. From chilly Sweden, it's much darker vampire tale than the teen sensation Twilight and has a wonderful, sparse aesthetic.

www.lettherightoneinmovie.com

Apparently run by a mysterious art collective called Passing Clouds The Haggerston is a laid back pub with a fine line in posters for the various music, poetry and club nights held there. Don't bother going with a large group, none of the cosy tables hold more than four people.

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Happy New Year! Thank you all for your support during 2009 and over the last ten years, and wishing you luck and happiness in 2010 and into this new decade, whatever it’s called!

To celebrate we’re starting with a 30% sale on our Homage range plus boots from all three collections. You probably know the Homage shoes, but if not they are re-inventions of classic TN29 shapes but with rubber soles, often with textiles slipped in – practical, durable and heaven to wear, but with that Tracey Neuls edge… Come and scoop up a deal, your feet will love you!

Tim Ellis’ charming and wintery illustrated story is still sprawling across our walls, and in this weather ‘The Day the Dawn Froze’, feels rather close to the bone! Come and warm your cockles - if you haven’t seen the display, it is worth a detour. He is also selling one off prints, t-shirts and drawn-on crockery.

We’ll be back shortly with more news from Tracey Neuls, but until then stay warm and enjoy the snow sculpture by these creative Londoners. See you soon.

Next time you're making your way to TN_29 to satisfy your shoe addiction you might want to watch out for the potholes along Marylebone Lane - they hint at the watery presence of the ancient Tyburn river below which flows from its source near Hampstead Heath all the way to meet the Thames at Vauxhall Bridge where it is commemorated with a plaque. Like many rivers in London it was eventually paved over in the name of progress and public health but it can still be seen, complete with goldfish, flowing through the basement of Gray's Antiques Market near Bond Street tube. Intriguingly a large percentage of London's ghost sightings are also reputed to happen in the vicinity of buried rivers - so it seems they may be flowing with souls as well as water! For more about "lost" rivers see Peter Ackroyd's excellent Biography of London or N.J. Barton's book "The Lost Rivers of London".

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If you want to immerse yourself in the Spirit of Christmas Past this year the most evocative and inspiring place to visit in London, if not the world, is the wonderful 18 Folgate Street in Spitalfields. This 18th Century house, originally occupied by real Huguenot silk weavers, became the imaginative canvas of Dennis Severs on his arrival from California in the 1970’s and he spent the next 30 years filling it with Georgian objects and weaving a story around a fictional Huguenot family. At Christmas the house is at its most beautiful and intriguing – peaceful, candle-lit and filled with the scents of wood-smoke, spices, oranges and evergreens. Every surface is adorned with fascinating objects – half-drunk glasses of wine, jewelery, pipes lie around in sumptuous rooms - there is even a real cat warming itself by the fire. Best of all there are no silken ropes to hold you back from exploring to your heart’s content and imagining yourself being at home here on Christmas Eve 200 years ago…..

www.dennissevershouse.co.uk

A though-provoking new show at GSK Contemporary behind the Royal Academy showcases artists who take climate change as their inspiration. Mixed in with the message of man's damaging environmental impact are some refreshingly beautiful pieces. It's always a pleasure to be re-aquainted with Anthony Gormley's field of clay figures - supposedly staring us into guilt about our carbon emissions. Also look out for Clare Twomey's fragile hand-made clay flowers - some already shattered by interaction with visitors, and Cornelia Parker's sculpture of hanging charcoal pieces - a little reminiscent of TN29's shop display....

www.royalacademy.org.uk

We wish you a Merry Christmas! Come and celebrate the Tracey Neuls way – here is a small taste of what’s on offer this month at 29 Marylebone Lane:

Ellis In Wonderland!
You may know Tim Ellis, or at least recognise his artful doodlings… We’re very proud to present his distinctive illustration and story telling at the shop from December 1st. His scrawlings will sprawl across our walls, revealing a special narrative – ‘The day the dawn froze’ - that will lead you entranced around the shop. Tim cleverly taps into the history of story telling, summoning images of huddled groups around bonfires, the spinning of fantastic yarns – seasonal stuff! To celebrate we are producing new wrapping paper for our handled shoe boxes, and will have Tim’s books for sale in the shop. On Thursday December 3rd we’ll be open late along with a few of our neighbours, including KJ’s Laundry over the road - the grand lane opening!

Christmas!
As well as shoes, and our fabulous leather gloves, we have some more little gems for sale this month, perfect for placing under the trees of all your favourite people

• Cards: from Maria, striking white with vividly coloured leather - beautiful and so different from the standard Christmas fare.
• Socks: Delicate, sexy, barely there socks from Chic Appeal. In silk, cotton and wool, the look and touch is exquisite – fit for that very special occasion.
• Stockings: from Angela. These are adult-sized (petite!) stockings, hand-stitched, with button detail - just gorgeous.
• London Design Guide: we’re in it, and we stock it! Max Fraser, journalist and aficionado of the Design World has included TN29 in this guide to London’s design hot spots despite a shoe shop falling officially beyond his remit - he just couldn’t resist! Sumptuously illustrated, and organised by district (including walks, maps and good coffee stop-offs); Tracey actually introduces the walk around Marylebone. A great treasure trove of vintage stores, institutions and bookshops.

We also have other publications, including colouring books for the little ones - come and have a rifle through.

Weekends, from December onwards
Bread Baking at 29 Marylebone Lane. Lets get toasty! From December, the weekends at Tracey Neuls will be spent enjoying our new display, pondering this shoe or that sock, all amidst the sweet smell of fresh bread baking. We are going back to our old ways… come by for a whiff or a slice!

Christmas Opening Times
We will closed for Christmas at 6.30pm on Wednesday 23rd December
Closed - December 24th – 27th
Open - December Tuesday 29th – Wednesday 30th 12-5pm
Closed - December 31st – January 3rd
Monday 4th January, we’ll reopen as usual, 11am – 6.30pm

The Brother’s Quay create unusual, strange and gothic stop-motion animation shorts. Tim Burton was massively inspired by them and it’s not hard to see why, with their influence of eastern European puppetry and miniature sets invoking childhood dreams…and sometimes nightmares.

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An organisation based on performance poetry. With poet profiles, events and meet ups.

www.applesandsnakes.org