St James Quarter has been renamed Westfield St James Quarter as the retail, dining and lifestyle district is taken over by Westfield.
On Thursday evening the band swim school filled the Quarter with live music for Westfield Days: The Sound of Style, presented in partnership with the British Fashion Council. Edinburgh guests enjoyed the headline act and a performance from the drag act Jobbers, a DJ set from Jungle Hussi and bagpiper, Malin Lewis.
Westfield Days is devised by Charles Jeffrey who has created a listening room, an immersive installation built from his own archives and a PUNK FLEA MARKET – which will only be open for a limited time selling accessories and archive products. Charles Jeffrey was born in Scotland and is internationally renowned for mixing up music and culture into a different kind of creative vision. Ahead of the opening he said: ““I’m looking forward to celebrating the people, places and cultural influences that inspire my work, on home turf here in Scotland.
“This is ten days of everything that’s shaped me – the music, the people, the chaotic creativity of it all – and I want Edinburgh to feel like it’s part of that story, not just watching it happen.”
The ten day programme is packed with talks related to fashion as well as fashion photography, a hip-hop session, make up workshops, and a model team open casting.
Alice Johnson, singer with swim school said: “Headlining the opening night of Westfield St James Quarter was brilliant, and playing alongside everything Charles Jeffrey’s put together for Westfield Days: The Sound of Style made the night feel like something genuinely different for the city. Westfield St James Quarter feels buzzing – and we’re proud to have been a part of the launch.”
Anne Ledgerwood, Estate Director at Westfield St James Quarter, said: “This is what the new chapter for Westfield St James Quarter looks like – bold and built around real creative talent.
“Becoming Westfield St James Quarter is an exciting evolution for this destination, and we wanted the launch to feel like that. Ten days of music, fashion and ideas from Charles Jeffrey, one of Scotland’s most exciting creative voices, is exactly the statement we hoped to make.”
The full programme of talks, workshops and live performances continuing at each centre as part of the wider Fashion Britain initiative.
Highlights in the first weekend include:
- Fri 11 Sept, 5.30-6.15pm: Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY x V&A Dundee: Scottish Fashion in Conversation. Charles Jeffrey and V&A Dundee’s Kirsty Hassard discuss Scottish fashion history, introduced by the British Fashion Council’s Laura Weir.
- Sun 13 Sept, 10-11.30am: Fashion Photography Workshop: Creating the Narrative with Claudius Ricketts. A hands-on session on building a fashion image from concept to shoot, with real models. Ages 16+.
- Sun 13 Sept, 12-1pm: Love Your Body Dance Workshop with Ivan Blackstock. An energetic Hip Hop-rooted movement session from the choreographer behind Beyoncé’s Brown Skin Girl. Ages 16+.
- Wed 16 Sept, 2-2.30pm: Talk: Tarot, Fashion & Identity with Jade Mordente. Jade Mordente explores tarot and fashion as parallel tools for self-expression.
Full programme of activity is available to view here.
