Ubuntu for Bayou Blue
There is a Zulu word we love at Folk HQ. It’s a word the Tories might not be that familiar with, but once you hear it, you’ll never let it go: Ubuntu. There is no word like it in the English language, but the sentiment is one we like to high five at Folk. It translates roughly as “I am what I am because of who we all are”, or sometimes as “humanity towards others”. This month, we have a very special reason why Ubuntu is at the forefront of our minds. We’ve collaborated with the folks at LN-CC.com and the Bayou Blue Foundation to create a T-shirt series to raise money for the Bayou Blue charity, which supports children with a life-limiting or terminal illness. The Bayou Blue Foundation was founded by our friends, Mo and Adia last December, following the birth of their beautiful baby girl Bayou Blue, who was born with an extremely rare chromosomal condition called Trisomy 18/ Mosaic.Mo feels incredibly lucky to have had the support and finances to treat and look after Bayou Blue, all through her one month intensive care journey and now at home with a nurse and weekly visits to an amazing therapist. However, having witnessed first hand the pain and incredible expense families endure, he felt a deep urge to create a foundation to help families who may not have the financial means to give their child the best possible care. Mo, who is a record producer and musician, devised a creative arm for the foundation, calling it the Bayou Blue Family. It consists of music, art, fashion and creative event projects – all to help raise funding and awareness and to grow the foundation into a global charity. Artists who will be collaborating with the Foundation include Will Sweeney, Trevor Jackson, Izzie Ingles, Rob Green, Ivan Smagghe, DJ Harvey and Locossulus, Tornado Wallace, Chris Mackin & Matty Skylab, James Yorkstone, E.S.P., Folk, Kai and Sunny, Velvet Season & the Hearts of Gold, Vladimir Ivkovic, Man Power and BJ Smith. T-shirts will be available on LN-CC.com shortly. Look out for them.Mo says, “My daughter Bayou Blue has changed my life and everybody else that has come to meet her. To me, she’s an angel or as close as we can imagine one to be, a messenger to teach us about life’s values and what’s really important and to give whatever you can, and always from the heart. Bayou on paper shouldn’t be with us today, but she’s getting stronger and more beautiful as the days go on…”
Soho gets the dreamy double
Our Soho shop experience has just been made even better because our buddies from Oi Polloi in Manchester, who have been selling our clobber for years, have just opened a store around the corner from us on Marshall Street. (Boys, just holler if you need any help acclimatising to these southern regions. In fact, put Cathal’s number on speed dial. He is well-versed in the shenanigans of late Soho nights. Indeed he was recently spotted in Folk’s blue-jacquard tailored suit and Ambra Finlay’s (no socks) cutting a bit of a dash on the way to an undisclosed drinking hole. At least that’s what his missus said, who claimed she very much enjoyed walking behind him “as his bum looked so goooood in those trousers”. But we digress… Thanks to Oi Polloi, you’ve now you’ve got not one, but two good reasons to head to one of our favourite parts of town. But because today is all about Ubuntu, we’ll give you a couple more reasons to stick around: · Palomar: If choosing a shirt, jacket or shoes becomes too much take your hungry head to Palomar, a small restaurant serving modern day food from Jerusalem. If you get lucky, you’ll be offered a shot before you’re dinner is served and you’ll find yourself dancing on the barstool by the time the polenta and mushroom ragout hits your palette. Check out what the chefs are wearing… Notice anything? · Bao: If you’re more of a buns kind of person – not the naked derrière kind, but the sticky, soft Taiwanese kind – try Bao on Lexington Street. · Alice. If you’re cruising around the streets of Soho, chances are you’ll bump into Alice. She’s like the best friend you can wish to have and the creative director at the Groucho. If you see a smiley blonde girl bouncing around in silver Isa’s, say hi.
The needle guy
If there’s one guy you need to know, a guy who will sort out everything from dealing with the self-inflicted post-festival hangover, to making sure your sperm swims faster and harder than the next man’s, it’s Ross J. Barr. We came across Ross at one of Rob da Bank and Josie’s first Camp Bestival’s, where Folk had set up a tent. Since then he’s basically become, “our needle guy”. Ross is an acupuncturist. He smiles, sticks needles in you and then leaves the room. The thing is though, the dude smells good and looks good while he’s doing it, plus he flies to third world countries every year to do acupuncture on orphaned children pro bono. Somehow, you feel so good after a treatment, it makes you want to hug him, but you sort of know you shouldn’t, as that would just be weird. Or would it? It’s annoyingly hard to get an appointment already, so don’t tell anyone else. But in the spirit of Ubuntu, we’ve given you our guy. www.rossbarr.com
Ross’s top tip for June: DO LESS.
"Folk's go-to acupuncturist Ross J. Barr says, “Often folk who live and work in the city somehow give themselves more to do under the illusion that it’s healthier. They might get up early and do a boot-camp before work or leave work and rush across town to get to a fitness class. But we end up depleting ourselves further when our battery was already flat. Often the best thing to do when you feel tired is nothing. Do what your body is telling you to do: Go home and do nothing.” Amen to that. www.rossbarr.com
We liming on the beach today?
You’ve already heard about Ubuntu today, but why stop there? We want to introduce you to another great concept: the Guyanese and Caribbean word ‘limers’ – which means hanging out and socializing in a chilled environment. Who doesn’t want to do a bit of that? So in Guyana they might say, “We liming on the beach today?” If you’re sat in the office right now, you might not be doing much liming, but you can get yourself in the right spirit for summer by taking a look at Folk’s collaboration with Limers, the hand-crafted, vegetable-tanned flip flops brand, recently launched by our pal Patrice Hinds. Basically, you’ll want a pair, because just like your favourite leather bag that you once bought on a trip to Greece, these will just get better and better with age, and they will mold to your foot with the same effortless passion as a kid’s tongue on a 99 Flake. Limers’ flip flops are made in Patrice’s village, Melinie Damashana in Guyana. The ethos of his brand is about making a difference to local people’s lives, in particular children, whilst creating a truly original product. A percentage of all profits will be donated to the Kushlumba Foundation (#klfoundation), which is currently supporting a Guyanese orphanage for 54 boys between the ages of 4-16. In the almost words of Bob Marley: “We’re limin’. I hope you like limin’ too.”