Merz Gallery, Edinburgh, Mon 2-Sat 21 Aug 2004.By Paul Dale
'It's a funny idea having this show, I know, because Joey isn't really seen as an artist. He's a creator, it's amazing how he just rams this stuff out there. I guess the Merz is trying to do what it has always tried to do which is question the whole idea of that crossover between art, fashion, and, of course, pop art at its most inspiring.' Calum Buchanan, Merz gallery owner, is talking about his Festival exhibition. It's a brave, some would say foolhardy, choice to ask a local, reasonably well known clothes designer to dig through hit bulging old crates for the remnants of a life lived on the outré side of clubbing and street fashion.
Joey D, the man and the shop, has a strange place of affection in the hearts of Edinburgh's more adventurous shopaholics. His shop has sprung up on Broughton Street in the late 90s - a time when the area was better known for its ramshackle sex bars and nightwalkers than it was for the genteel gaydar zone it now is. Offering a variety of his own S&M/bondage/re-stich/recycle punk clothing, Joey D himself set out reassembling the influences he had gained from ten odd years in the business. 'To be honest, I really can't pinpoint any single great fashion designer influence on my work, the people that have always left their mark on me were the manufacturers I've met, the people in the factories who do the graft.'
A youthfully bubble but casually mannered man in his late 30s Joey D (not his real name but a pseudonym nicked from a once popular British children TV show) comes across as both self effacing and incredibly proud of his considerable achievements. 'To be honest, I haven't had a lot to do with the show, I've just dug out as much as I could for Calum and he will be curating it, so there's old photos from 1996, old campaign images, loads of diverse stuff and of course my favourite piece ever - the Maolin clog' (an ornate open topped clog with a suicidally high wedge).
Calum Buchanan is in no doubt that the time is now right for a retrospective exhibition of Joey D's work. 'You know all we want to do is get away from what is straight forward. We've done shows with Fred Deacon (Lemon Jelly) and Laura Lees (Selfridges) so Joey, the most prolific and interesting designer I know, seemed like the next obvious step.'
