Chaired by Dylan Jones, last night Hay opened its Starlight room for a panel discussion of i-D Covers 1980-2010 with Terry and Tricia Jones, Caryn Franklin and Richard Buckley.
From its incarnation an almighty 31 years ago on the top floor of Terry and Tricia’s house, with the team fighting over one phone, the five looked back on 30 years of magazines and winking covers. As Dylan pointed out in his introduction, from its peers The Face and Blitz, i-D is the last man standing. From Madonna’s first ever cover (mistakenly identified as Boy George’s boyfriend) to the story of Tom Ford and his dog John, the discussion unveiled the stories behind the smiles and the winks and mapped the evolution of i-D from fanzine to leading fashion glossy.
Dissecting the thought processes, creative journeys and lasting friendships that have marked the turning points of the magazine, Dylan, Richard, Terry, Tricia and Caryn shared their most intimate i-D moments. Scrolling through the visual encyclopedia of image covers which were displayed in a secreted exhibition space around the corner from the festival, an iPad 2 was Terry’s toy of choice to present the talk, juxtaposing the D.i.Y aesthetic of the early issues with interactive digital high resolution. Finishing with questions, anecdotes and in-jokes the talk ended just in time for everybody to disappear into the sunset and on to the River Café for a delicious dinner hosted by Diesel.
With special thanks to Diesel, Charlie and Jane of the River Café and Mark, the lovely folk at ustwo and Sally Bailey for lending us their beautiful cottage for the pop-up gallery.
