Dear Readers,
Good evening. This is Charlie, the editor of The Fence. I’m writing with the good news that Issue 27 has landed, and should be reaching subscribers tomorrow, having been dispatched from our new distribution hub in East Sussex on Friday. We’re very excited for you all to read it.
At the heart of the issue are three outstanding features. The Groucho Club is London’s most infamous club, a lodestar of Cool Britannia. But a recent slew of scandals has led to an exodus of members, and the future of the Soho institution looks decidedly rocky. Fonie Mitsopoulou has spoken to a number of insiders, and dug up some astonishing new details about the Dean Street grand dame.
About 15 years ago, Stuart Semple was one of the hottest artists in the country, but has since become known for attention-seeking gambits, such as changing his name by deed poll to ‘Anish Kapoor’ and suing the Estate of Yves Klein. In an investigation that has taken months to report, Phin Jennings has talked to over a dozen of Semple’s employees and collaborators, who paint a picture of a failed art prodigy turned provincial opportunist, who runs questionable businesses and fails to pay staff, all while marketing himself as a champion of the underdog, sticking it to ‘the man’ from a Bournemouth studio.
Pam Hogg’s name will be familiar to anyone who enjoys reading about other people’s parties. But while she loved a night out, Hogg was also a brilliant fashion designer, whose talent was never fully realised commercially when she died at the end of last year. Lauren Cochrane asks Hogg’s friends, peers and collaborators what stopped the Queen of Paisley from becoming a global fashion brand.
Elsewhere, we have fiction from Tim MacGabhann, interviews with Bicep and Tony Morris, dispatches from the ‘Legends Gala’ at the Natural History Museum and the insurance mens’ pubs on Leadenhall Market, another peerless piece from John Banville, columns from Sophie Heawood and John Niven and we finish with the ‘26 Most Embarrassing Moments in the British 21st Century.’
This Magazine Sounds Pretty Good to Me
Since its first iterations, I have always seen The Fence as being very much within the world, rather than a reaction to it. So I’m particularly pleased that we now have bespoke print adverts in the magazine. In Issue 27, there are two ads, both designed by Studio Mathias Clottu. The first is with the podcast, How Long Gone, and the second is for Farringdon’s finest restaurant, Luca. If you’d like to work with us on a future issue, do email me at cb@the-fence.com and we can take things further.
The magazine is now stocked at Waitrose, Waterstones and WH Smith, so it’s all happening on the retail front. As ever, we absolutely love seeing photos of the magazine out ‘in the wild’, so please do send those through to editorial@the-fence.com and you can win the Champagne prize (which is a literal Champagne prize, not a metaphorical one).
Hoping you’ve all had a lovely weekend, and wishing you all the best for the upcoming week.
Warmly,
Charlie