Anna Wallace-Thompson speaks to curator and artist Maryam Eisler about the characters in her latest book, Voices: East London, which celebrates the unique hub of creativity and individuality
Maryam on designer Meihui Liu (top image with Alice Pins modelling one of her creations on Princelet Street, and below Alice Pins in another creation by the designer with shoes by Natacha Marro):
?I?ve never met anyone with so much positive energy, possibility and potential for doing. Meihui is, first and foremost, a designer, and her art comes in the form of beautiful, timeless gowns made out of found and patchwork vintage fabrics. She?s also the greatest connector I have ever known. I think you can see the influence of the East End on Meihui?s way of thinking, and in the way in which she uses fabrics. We photographed her on Princelet Street, behind Brick Lane. Here, the buildings appeal with their romantic, weathered textures of bygone times: peeling walls in shades of rosewood and teal, houses dating back to the Huguenots and the Irish silk weavers of the early 18th century. The area has such a deep connection to fabric and textiles, just like Meihui?s own personal creations.?
In Paris there is Montmartre, in New York, SoHo ? and in London, there is the East End. One of the last bastions of individuality and creativity in an ever-sanitised cityscape, London?s East End remains a bolthole for artists, fashion designers, musicians and creatives. Its scrappy nature, says editor and ph...