Arts Diary: Fife lads appeal to a modern, confident Turkey with the new Vogue

Published on Wednesday 17 February 2010 21:43

THE first edition of Vogue Turkey hits the streets of Istanbul next month and Fife brothers Andrew and Iain Foxall are playing a key role in shaping it.

Their London-based design and creative firm, Foxall Associates, was picked to oversee the new magazine's look and feel for Cond Nast and its Turkish partner Dogus.

The Foxalls are from the Fife village of Strathmiglo and studied art at the the local Bell Baxter School before heading to Liverpool College of Art.

Andrew, 32, has lived in Istanbul for ten years since hooking up with a Turkish fashion designer while studying in Milan. Iain, 31, also lived there but is now based in London.

"There's a modern, confident Turkey that's not really seen outside Turkey, that we are going to communicate with this magazine," Iain says. "It has to speak about where Turkey is going."

The main fashion shoots were commissioned from around the world, but the influence of Fife is subtly felt.

"With everything we do we bring some part of us into it which is Scottish," says Iain. "I go to Skye and Mull and some of that inspiration goes to Turkey."

There are only 18 Vogues in the world, and no "Vogue Scotland" – we're part of Vogue UK.

Scotland's best-known export to Istanbul was footballer Graham Souness, who ran the football club Galatasaray and is still a popular choice for local screensavers in certain parts of the city.

Holyrood swap shop

THE diary is still struggling with the notion that the Royal High School, the epitome of Greek revival architecture in the Athens of the North, has been earmarked for yet another luxury hotel development.

The project is being led by architect Gareth Hoskins. All right, he's the man of the moment in Scottish architecture, representing Scotland in Venice with a set of giant steps of Scottish larch, and he was rightly praised for his Culloden Battlefield museum.

On the other hand, there's that small matter of the diamond-shaped designer kiosk in Edinburgh Castle, which looks as if it came from planet Krypton.

We can rest assured, of course, because Edinburgh City Council will be casting their watchful eye over the project. Those are the people that brought you the sensitive and fitting Missoni Hotel on the Royal Mile and the imaginative and thought-provoking Usher Hall outdoor toilets, er, extension.

The Royal High School was meant to be the Scottish Parliament. Perhaps it could still be, and we could convert the Scottish Parliament into a luxury hotel-cum-concert hall?

Jamie chases around

IN 2003 a 23-year-old Jamie Cullum stunned audiences at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre when the Royal Variety Performance came to the city. He was a stand-out virtuoso talent in a unlikely mix that ran from Westlife to a weepy Pavarotti.

Now Cullum is on his first UK tour since 2006, kicking off in Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall on 7 May and in Edinburgh's Usher Hall the following night.

Cullum recently sold out New York's Carnegie Hall and has been around the European festival circuit too, playing headline dates at Glastonbury and the Montreux Jazz Festival.

He comes armed with The Pursuit, his fifth album released last November, his first new solo record in four years.

Big bling hunters

SOTHEBY'S jewellery specialist Alexandra Rhodes will be in Edinburgh next week to offer valuation and advice on selling jewellery. No paste please. Over 30 years Rhodes has played a primary role in selling the collections of the Duchess of Windsor, Dame Barbara Cartland, Baroness Eugne de Rothschild, Elton John and Ava Gardner, to name a few.

She is gathering items to sell at Sotheby's next jewellery sale in Geneva.