The second issue of TON headed to St Bartholomew’s the Great in Central London
Buy a copy of the new issue of TON here.
We’ve all heard of it. The sophomore slump; the difficult second album; the second-year blues. After a successful first outing, many creatives find themselves stuck in a bit of a rut, not able to live up to the high bar they’ve already set themselves. But, when TON – the quite new interiors magazine from Jermaine Gallacher, Dazed’s Ted Stansfield and art director Rory Gleeson – launched its second issue last week, it was abundantly clear that those second-time troubles were nowhere to be seen.
To celebrate the arrival of the issue, Gallacher and co opted for a launch event to rival the first issue’s bash, in a medieval church in the heart of central London. St Bartholomew’s the Great was the location of the party, where hundreds of revellers packed its cloisters to begin the holiday season in true TON style. There were performances from Adam Christensen and David Aird, ample amounts of booze, and enough guests to fill out all the pews. Below, we run down everything that went down at last week’s event.
THE STUNNING LOCATION
Like we mentioned before, the party was held in St Bartholomew’s, a medieval church that’s been standing in London since 1123. The stunning spot was the perfect location, and made a welcome change from the identical bars and clubs that these kinds of events usually opt for. As guests entered they were greeted by the sound of David Aird on the grand piano, and then wandered around the vast space, taking in the many artworks, monuments and memorials. The location wasn’t chosen by coincidence though – inside the issue, Stansfield and photographer Dham Srifuengfung take us on a tour of sacred places in London, with Bartholomew’s being one of their chosen locations. “These buildings are vessels for astounding creativity and craftsmanship,” writes Stansfield in the issue, “that spanned time periods, architectural styles and religious expressions.”
THE MAGAZINE
Since its inaugural issue, TON has always been concerned with exploring the rarely-seen side of the interior world, whether that be via extraordinary houses off the beaten track or through young makers doing things their own way. This time around, issue two also decided to focus on community, looking at public spaces, uncommon in interior magazines that often focus on private properties. Inside, novelist Huw Lemmey delved into the sacred space of the gay sauna, while Srifuengfung and Stansfield took us on a tour of religious spaces around London. Other stories explored a farm in West Sussex, a castle in County Carlow, Ireland, a garden shed in Melbourne and a former potter’s studio in a small village in France.
ADAM CHRISTENSEN TORE DOWN THE CHURCH
On the cover of issue two is the performance artist Adam Christensen, sitting in bed at his home in Bermondsey. On the night of the launch, Christensen treated us all to his signature blend of irreverent and wacky humour, where – among many others – he read the lyrics of Mariah Carey’s “Obssesed” from its CD booklet in the style of slam poetry and played the accordion while singing at the top of his lungs. Dazed Club creative director Jack Sunnucks enjoyed the performance so much he had to be removed for laughing too loudly.
IT WAS THE HOTTEST TICKET IN TOWN
Of course, you can’t have a magazine launch without a packed guestlist. In attendance were the singer Celeste (who covered TON’s first issue), Chioma Nnadi the new Head of Editorial content at British Vogue, designer Mark Brazier Jones, TON cover star Adam Christensen, Chief Marketing Officer at Acne Studios Isabella Burley, designer Olly Schinder, artist Faye Wei Wei, photographer Jack Davison, musician Damsel Elysium, in addition to Jess Maybury, Christabel MacGreevy, Frances Armstrong-Jones, Alice Inggs, Thurstan Redding, Pauline Cochet-Dallet, Nellie Eden, Liam Hess, Christie Leigh, Diana Maclean, Jonathan Openshaw, Daniel Olatunji, Charlie Porter, Enzo Randolphi, Christine Van Der Hurd, Ruby Woodhouse, and Mimi Xu.
Courtesy of Poetry vodka (the lovely Dave Stuart from The Eurythmics), which was mixed into some pretty lethal but very delicious vodka martinis courtesy of Rae and Percy, along with Penfolds wine and Lallier champagne.
Issue two of TON is out now.
