the
PRESENT
Leafing
through Alchemy’s catalogues and brochures from
the past 30 years reveals a dizzying story of evolution
and expansion. Although it’s not yet possible
to fill your entire wardrobe, or to furnish a whole
house in Alchemy’s distinctive range of products,
looking back, it’s easy to imagine that one
day it might be. While jewellery, such as pendants
and rings and, the old Gothic standbys of spiders
and skulls, remain Alchemy’s bread and butter,
today the company’s designers and craftsmen
bring a multitude of other exotic eye-candy to the
table. T-shirts and belt-buckles represent more obvious
additions to the Alchemy range, while items like candelabras,
chalices, even coffin cocktail cabinets, pay testament
to founder Geoff Kayson’s restless imagination
and ambition. In the same fashion, Alchemy has spread
its creative wings to encompass more than the obvious
bats and bones themes. Geoff’s creative process
now often begins by consulting his extensive library
of volumes on history and mythology, while no trip
abroad is complete without a reconnaissance of the
local historic architecture and museums, with sketchbook
and camera in hand, in search of inspiration.
As a consequence, a perusal
of Alchemy’s current catalogue is like a whistlestop
tour of a gallery exhibiting artefacts that almost-were
or should-have-been. The Dark Ages have long been
amply represented, with pieces inspired by our turbulent
pagan past, as have Europe’s Middle Ages and
Renaissance. Over the years, other periods have enjoyed
greater representation, particularly the Georgian
and Victorian eras, whose own Gothic revival is at
the core of much of the familiar funereal style favoured
by modern Goths. Decadence has become an increasingly
important watchword in Alchemy’s current ranges,
which evoke the elegance of Tsarist Russia, Bel Epoque
France, or the Regency England of Jane Austen and
Lord Byron. Alchemy’s tendency to cast its cultural
net further afield for inspiration, reflects not only
a desire to keep the collection fresh and varied,
but also the maturity that has developed within the
company and its key employees, like its founder Geoff
Kayson, who retains the punk spirit that sparked its
foundation, but has also had to become a keen entrepreneur
to ensure Alchemy’s continuing evolution.
When
we reach the age 30 we all do a little soul-searching,
and Alchemy is no exception. In days gone by, it
was the age to turn your back on youthful rebellion,
to hang up your leather jacket and prepare to face
adult responsibility. That's no longer the truism
it once was. Lemmy of Motorhead - perhaps the archetype
of rock 'n' roll rebellion - born when Clement Atlee
was Prime Minister and, now, two years from pensionable
age, shows no sign of slowing down. Visit the Whitby
Goth festival, or the Bulldog Bash biker festival,
or punk weekends, and it's the same story. You'll
see mums and dads, proud in black leather, alongside
their similarly clad offspring. Middle age no longer
need mean turning your back on your colourful -
or indeed midnight black - roots in favour of drab
respectability. Just as the subcultures it supports
have matured, so has Alchemy, with dark treasures
to tempt proud homeowners and adorn the family car,
as well as those saving up for their first bike
or first reaching the age to darken the doors of
their local Goth club. In 1977, Alchemy selling
cufflinks and cutlery sets would have been pure
madness. In 2007 it makes perfect sense.
The subcultures closest to Alchemy's dark heart
are now at the core of our culture. Goth is a regular
feature on the ever-changing agenda of the chicest
fashion magazines. Heavy metal is finally being
recognised as on of our nation's proudest musical
traditions by the mainstream media and music fans
alike. Image-consciousness businessmen are opting
for powerful motorbikes over the more conventional
company car. Punk, Goth, metal - all British innovations
- have established themselves as something to be
celebrated, not suppressed. Uniquely, Alchemy has
been there since the start and even been a distinct
part of it, evolving and maturing with the multitude
of subcultures and movements with which it has become
inextricably affiliated. In that process, Alchemy's
studio has been instrumental in exporting that inimitable
version of the dark side overseas, while never compromising
their origin, as a family company with English roots.
In short, over the past 30 years, Alchemy has become
a British institution, a rare, darkly authentic
example of Cool Britannia.
For more information contact: gavin.baddeley@blueyonder.co.uk
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