Paul Gorman

Paul Gorman is a London-based journalist, writer and pop culture historian with his own fashion label.

Early life

Gorman was born in 1959 in north west London to Phillip and Alicia Gorman.

Journalism

From 1978, Gorman worked on weekly news for trade publications and freelanced for national newspapers in the UK and the US before taking up the post of west coast bureau chief for Screen International in 1990.

Based in Los Angeles, he interviewed leading executives, directors, producers and stars, including Jerry Bruckheimer, Don Simpson, Oliver Stone, and Nicolas Cage and worked at Cannes and the Oscars.

Between 1993 and 1998 Gorman was contributing editor at "Music Week", where he reported on leading executives and artists such as Madonna's manager Freddy de Mann, Creation Records founder Alan McGee and U2 manager Paul McGuinness, as well as artists such as David Bowie,Iggy Pop, Elvis Costello, the Sex Pistols and the Spice Girls (conducting their first ever interview). Pieces he wrote during this period for "Music Week" as well as for "Mojo" can be found at [http://www.rocksbackpages.com Rock's Back Pages] [http://www.rocksbackpages.com Accessed: 24 March 2008] .

Between 1994 and 1999 Gorman was also contributing editor at Music Business International, and covering the international entertainment business in the US, south east Asia, Australia, Scandinavia, Spain, Israel and South Africa, attending such events as the MTV Awards, the Grammys, the Brits and the VH1 Divas.

Books

In March 2001 Sanctuary Press published "The Look: Adventures In Pop & Rock Fashion", the first edition of Gorman's exhaustive study of the combustion of music and style from the post-war years to the present. With a foreword by Malcolm McLaren, it was greeted with acclaim. "No crease is left unironed," announced Vanity Fair.

In November 2001 Sanctuary published Gorman's "In Their Own Write: Adventures In The Music Press". With a foreword by Charles Shaar Murray, Tony Parsons described the book as “the definitive account of the collective madness known as the music press” [Gorman, P (2001) "In Their Own Write: Adventures In The Rock & Pop Press", London: Sanctuary Publishing] . It featured, among others, Chris Salewicz, Vivien Goldman, Nick Kent, Nick Logan, Chris Welch, Barney Hoskyns, Jon Savage, Ian MacDonald, Barney Bubbles, Lester Bangs, Jann Wenner,Julie Burchill and Caroline Coon, covering the history and development of such papers as "NME", "Sounds", "Melody Maker", "Rolling Stone", "Creem", "Sniffin Glue", "The Face", "Q", "Mojo" and "Select".

In 2002 Gorman collaborated with DJ/actor/producer Goldie on "Nine Lives" (Hodder & Stoughton), which included interviews with Noel Gallagher and David Bowie. Lynn Barber wrote in "The Independent": "Fascinating. Paul Gorman has done a good job in making sense of Goldie's Nine Lives." [Lynn Barber, "The Observer", October 27, 2002]

In March 2005 Century published "Straight" with Boy George(Century), which spent a number of weeks in "The Sunday Times" best-selling non-fiction hardback Top Ten. "The Daily Telegraph": "Straight never fails to entertain or provide food for thought” ["Daily Telegraph", March 20, 2005] .

October 2005 saw the publication by Century of "Blood & Fire: The Story Of UB40's Ali & Robin Campbell" with Tim Abbot.

In May 2006, Adelita published Gorman’s with an introduction by Paul Smith and foreword and updated contributions from Malcolm McLaren. “This is "the" book,” wrote Robert Elms in The Times [ Robert Elms, "The Times", July 15, 2006 ] . The Look has been accompanied by events at the V&A, London College of Fashion and Central Saint Martins and also spawned a London club-night which featured DJ sets and performances by Pam Hogg, Keanan Duffty, Glen Matlock, Kevin Rowland, The Priscillas and Poppy & the Jezebels. The Look was launched in Japan to coincide with the opening of Paul Smith’s flagship store, Space, in Tokyo and has an active online presence at [http://www.rockpopfashion.com/blog www.rockpopfashion.com/blog] .

In January 2007 Arrow Books published "Cry Salty Tears", a story of surviving a life of spousal abuse which Gorman ghostwrote for Boy George’s mother Dinah O’Dowd. This appeared in the Sunday Times Top Ten selling non-fiction hardbacks list.

November 2008 sees the publication of Reasons To Be Cheerful, a celebration of the life and work of the pioneering graphic artist Barney Bubbles, published by Adelita in Europe and Asia and Picturebox in the US.

Rebel Rebel Gorman's book with New York-based British fashion designer Keanan Duffty, is published in the US by Rizzoli and the rest of the world by Adelita in 2009.

Creative consultancy

In 1994 Gorman was recruited by Anthea Norman-Taylor to the creative think tank she ran with her husband Brian Eno on behalf of the charity War Child, resulting in such events as Little Pieces From Big Stars held at the Whitechapel Gallery, which featured auctioned artwork by musicians such as Paul McCartney, Iggy Pop, David Bowie and Shane MacGowan, and Pagan FunWear, held at the Saatchi Gallery in June 1995 featuring contributions from Lou Reed, David Bowie, Jarvis Cocker, 3D from Massive Attack, Damien Hirst, Stella McCartney and many others.

In 1999 Gorman made his directorial debut with the Channel 4 documentary "Las Vegas Grind" and in 2000 signed Mexican artist El Vez to Alan McGee’s Poptones label.

In 2003 Gorman was creative consultant on the reformed Dexy's Midnight Runners, which included leader Kevin Rowland re-signing the group to EMI for a greatest hits compilation. Gorman advised on visual and other creative elements on an acclaimed series of performances in the UK.

Fashion label

in the UK and US with three collections:

A range of t-shirts by the 70s label Wonder Workshop, which was worn by rock icons including Iggy Pop, Marc Bolan, Mick Jagger and Robert Plant - was launched instore and online in June 2008.

In August 2008 The Look Presents unveiled a collaboration with Nigel Waymouth - legendary founder of the iconic King's Road store Granny Takes A Trip - based on a series of t-shirt and graphic designs including reinterpretations of his historic Granny's shopfronts of the 60s.

In October 2008 The Look Presents introduces Priceless, a new range of ready-to-wear suits and other menswear by Antony Price, designer for Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry and Duran Duran.

Links

* [http://www.rockpopfashion.com/blog The Look's regularly updated blog]
* [http://www.thelookpresents.com The Look Presents website]
* [http://www.rockpopfashion.com The Look website]

Notes