Really Interesting Group

Clay Shirky once said: “Anyone who’s predicting the decline of big cities has already met their spouse.” and Nassim Nicholas Taleb finds “living in big cities invaluable because you increase the odds of serendipitous encounters – you gain exposure to the envelope of serendipity.”

I’ve been wondering about life in the big smoke and the cultures of serendipity that are unique to London. I’ve also been fascinated by English behaviour in the public sphere. The multitudes of fashion subcultures are tools that people really use to increase awareness of each other without having to say a word. Speaking to strangers in public is awkward at the best of times, so dating and flirting becomes a very different game, especially when it’s been this cold for months now (what with hiding under 3 layers of clothing, feeling grumpy because the sun sets at 5, and trying not to lose it in the Underground). That public sphere is seldom connected to the rich and strange landscapes of digital experiences we have through places like Facebook or online dating sites (with exceptions).

A few months ago, Damaris and I started thinking about how to bridge the two. Clothing as a first step to encourage conversation between 2 people with something in common and also clothing for comfort and warmth.

Months later, I’m proud to introduce Curious Scarves, unisex scarves that allow you to share you relationship status with the world.

You have the choice of 3 patterns that signal “looking for men”, “looking for women” and “looking for both”. They come in 2 sizes, a cravat type and the all-encompassing-wrap-around-twice type.

Soon you’ll be able to order them with a bespoke tag with a word of your choice embroidered on it. Something pithy, smart or your twitter username perhaps?

The pattern is inspired by the game of noughts and crosses, an easy visual system to use that only makes sense if you know what it refers to. It’s not screaming out your availability, it’s keeping things subtle.

We are collaborating with Alexandra Jarup, a graduate of the London College of Fashion to machine-knit them on demand. Slow-fabbing if you will. Tom built the website of course.

This is very much an experiment in the role of fashion and the public sphere. I’m curious to see which models are more popular, which designs, which colours. Having dealt with the world of technology for the past 5 years, this is a very different sort of project and I’m very excited. I hope you like them.