Notts Family: The Outlaws of Design celebrates Nottingham’s creative culture with a night of live music, fashion and art

Nottingham’s creative scene is getting a new addition this October, as Notts Family: The Outlaws of Design officially launches with a free night of live music, fashion, art and local creativity.

Taking place at Laceworks, part of ARC Space, on Saturday 17 October, the launch party will bring together some of the people, sounds and ideas that make Nottingham’s independent creative scene what it is.

Notts Family is a Nottingham-born clothing brand and creative project built around a simple idea: celebrate the city and have some fun doing it.

The project began with four years of photographing and filming Nottingham alongside founder Kelham Stevenson’s work in the visitor economy. What started as a side project documenting the city and its creative culture has gradually evolved into a clothing label, with designs inspired by Nottingham’s architecture, heritage, streets, venues, characters and everyday identity.

But the clothes are only part of the story.

“I started documenting Nottingham and its creative culture as a bit of a side project alongside my work in the visitor economy,” says Kelham. “I’ve always had a real love for the creative scene here and a passion for celebrating what makes Nottingham, Nottingham.

“Notts Family has just been a really nice creative outlet for me. I’ve been able to bring together bits of architecture I love, some tongue-in-cheek designs and all those little things that make the city feel like home.”

That idea of collaboration runs through the launch, which brings together a genuinely eclectic selection of Nottingham talent.

Headlining the night are Dusty 4 Track, the Nottingham duo of Will Jeffery and Benjamin James, whose alternative blues and folk sound combines storytelling, soulful musicianship and plenty of grit.

They’ll be joined by Nottingham’s Loud Planet Records, featuring LVNDLXRD, Jimmy Rocket and Vandal Savage, bringing beats, bars and bass from another corner of Nottingham’s underground music scene.

There’s also Nobody, a Nottingham-born producer whose bass-heavy productions have already provided the soundtrack to Notts Family’s videography and creative content. Expect 140, dubstep, jungle and plenty of energy.

Keeping things moving across the evening will be SJ Bravo, bringing a DJ set packed with French house, Justice, Daft Punk and whatever else takes his fancy.

Away from the stage, Laceworks will be transformed into a Notts Family creative space, with a pop-up shop showcasing the clothing collection alongside projections, lighting, photography and videography captured across Nottingham over the past four years.

It’s a fitting setting. Laceworks, part of ARC Space, occupies a restored former lace factory and has become a home for independent music, comedy, DJs, open mics and other creative events in the city.

The launch is also supported by DropWorks Rum, the Nottinghamshire-based rum producer based at the Welbeck Estate, bringing together two independent local projects built around creativity and doing things differently.

For Kelham, the idea behind Notts Family is to create something that can grow naturally from the creativity and culture around it.

“I just want to keep making things that feel genuine to Nottingham and that people can connect with,” he says. “The clothing is a big part of that, but so are the music, photography, videography and the people we get to work with. I want Notts Family to keep evolving, keep collaborating and keep celebrating the creativity that’s already here. That’s what I think Notts does so brilliantly.”

And perhaps that is exactly what makes the launch interesting.

Rather than trying to define Nottingham’s creative culture, Notts Family is bringing different parts of it together in one room for the night.

Tickets are available here: https://bit.ly/3SU5q3Y

Notts Family: The Outlaws of Design.
Saturday 17 October | 6pm–11pm
Laceworks, Western Street, Nottingham, NG1 3AZ
Free entry / Pay What You Feel | Limited capacity

Music. Fashion. Art. Nottingham.

Welcome to the Family.