Inside Job is back in business

Got plans on Wednesday 2^nd August? Scratch them! Hop along to FLANNELS X on Oxford Street instead for the second edition of Inside Job, our events series with luxury retailer FLANNELS inviting top-tier creatives to join select industry experts in conversation. Designed to share knowledge and remove barriers to entry within the creative industries, the series will provide a new generation of fashion creatives and entrepreneurs with the tangible advice they need to level up on their own creative journey.

This time, we’re looking at visual world building in music – how to create a cohesive visual identity, carve out a niche and master the art of storytelling – as told by an illustrious panel of creatives: Gabriel Moses, Normski, Yemi Abiade and Irene Agbontaen. They’ll be sharing must-know know-how that’s relevant to all creative paradigms, so if you’re into making basically anything, register for free now and get involved.

The first event saw Euphoria costume designer Heidi Bivens discuss the art of styling for the big and small screens, unpack the fashion industry and advocate for better recognition of below-the-line creative roles. Bivens was joined by celeb stylist Leah Abbott, Senior Trends Editor at Vogue Business Lucy Maguire and THE FACE’s very own Digital Director Brooke McCord, plus hundreds of you who couldn’t make it IRL watching it live on our TikTok.

Now, it’s time to big-up hip-hop. This month marks its fiftieth anniversary, defined as half-a-century since DJ Kool Herc switched back-and-forth between the same track at a block party – James Brown’s Give It Up or Turnit a Loose – to extend the percussive breakbeat and keep people dancing. A total musical breakthrough, it kickstarted the era of the B‑Boys, B‑Girls, breakdancing and beatmatching.

In the five decades since, the genre has generated countless offshoots, spawning every form of rap plus the likes of trip-hop, ghetto house, ragga, footwork and, yes, nu-metal. In recent years, the UK scene has totally blown-up, moving back from pure grime into a broader sound influenced by US rap, jazz, soul, afrobeats, pop and old-school hip-hop thanks to the likes of Little Simz, J Hus, Unknown T, Central Cee, Digga D and more.

For all these artists, vision – both in the sense of theirs and ours – has been just as important as sound. Their success has been built on creating a world for us to enter using distinctive creative direction, magnetic campaigns and boundary-breaking fashion. With their combined expertise, our panellists will be looking at how these artists – and creatives more generally – are able to create these unique aesthetics from scratch.

Photographer Gabriel Moses, who shot Central Cee for the Spring 2022 cover of THE FACE, will offer his visual savviness, having worked for the likes of Nike, Dior, Burberry and Pharrell. Fellow image-maker and broadcasting legend Normski, who shot the hip-hop scene for THE FACE back in the 1980s and used to front the legendary DEF II show, will be on board to see world building through a hip-hop lens.

Journalist and broadcaster Yemi Abiade, who writes for hip-hop scripture Complex, will share his expertise gained from writing for the likes of The Guardian, Pitchfork and Mixmag plus bios for Loyle Carner, D Double E and Flohio. Completing the lineup is innumerable polymath, and host for the night, Irene Agbontaen, cultural curator, entrepreneur and founder of TTYA.

We suggest you sign up, then turn up for a night of conversation and a Hennessy V.S X Nas or two. This one’s not to be missed.