LDN Assembly | UrlfreezeShops SS19 Editorial .03

In the age of the digital nomad, where everything we need is available to us from near enough anywhere, the notion of key cities is one which is waning. With so much of our lives now taking place via superfast broadband and ethernet cabling, the need to commute to the office everyday or visit IRL retail stores has gone from bare necessity to just one option in the blink of an eye. Known as 'The Global Village' phenomenon, this future was foretold as early as the 1960s by media theorist, Marshall McLuhan, who predicted a world so deeply interwoven by different media that it would become just as easy to communicate with your neighbours as it would be to speak to a relative on the other side of the world. As the prerequisite of physical proximity to connect brands to their customers becomes obsolete, it is now possible to exist and engage in the global fashion conversation from anywhere in the world. And yet the draw of the bright lights and big cities to the era-defining creative talent who will drive discourse and create culture still prevails. London is that kind of city.

A frenetic microcosm of the world at large, London itself is the global village. Stark with tension and contrast, London-based musician, John Glacier best summed it up when she described the city as like a portrait of modern life: a place where inspiration is air-borne and a subversive creative brilliance seems to eek out into the water. Generation after generation, London births some of the most influential creative design voices and gifts them to the world, each with their own vision and agenda but all undercut with an unmistakable grit that translates the city onto the global stage.

Paying tribute to these iconic London-based voices, UrlfreezeShops presents LDN Assembly: a curated edit of the very best design talent that the British capital has to offer. Take the stratospheric success of Samuel Ross of A-COLD-WALL* and Polythene Optics, whose esoteric DNA has captured the imagination of a generation and whose astute commentary of classist struggles has sparked a million conversations around the world. Take the culture clashing mash-up of references which defines the Liam Hodges aesthetic, a brand built with love and attention to be an appropriate reflection of the people and places it's come to represent. Take the quirky retro reconfigurations of Martine Rose. Take the iconic interdisciplinary artistry of Craig Green: bona fide Moncler Genius and one of the most pivotal design stories to come out of London - a beacon of bar-raising creative excellence in global menswear. Take this cross section of global design voices - each with a unique perspective and story to tell - and place them side by side to paint a tapestry of London today: a monumental portrait of modern life.

This is the LDN Assembly.