Queercircle

Begg x Co + QUEERCIRCLE
Celebrating 50 years of Pride in the UK

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the UK’s first Pride march, Begg x Co has teamed up with QUEERCIRCLE on a capsule collection of lightweight summer scarves.

Beggxco commissioned photographer Jeff Hahn to capture a series of portraits of queer artists and activists wearing the ‘Touch Me’ scarf.

Alongside the images, taken outside the new QUEERCIRCLE space in the Greenwich Design District, London, we sat down with each of the portrait sitters to find out about their individual experiences, their creative processes and activism, and what Pride means to them.

Designed in collaboration with British artist, Jakob Rowlinson, the limited edition, handkerchief-style scarves depict a sprawling rosebush climbing up a wooden trellis in an imaginary queer garden. Instead of roses however, this plant sprouts miniature hands that wave and signal to one another in a variety of suggestive shapes and movements.

The artwork, entitled ‘Touch Me’, is printed onto ultrafine cashmere in three different colour pathways before being finished with hand-rolled hems.

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

Jakob Rowlinson graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2017 with an MA in Sculpture and has since presented solo exhibitions at Clearview in London, Jönköping in Sweden and Quench Gallery in Margate. Contemplating centuries of coding within LGBTQ+ communities is a central theme in Rowlinson’s work which has been described by i-D as ‘a queerness’ in itself, ‘an ongoing reinterpretation and subversion of a visual language we are all aware of in different ways.’ Rowlinson is currently exhibiting as part of OOF Gallery’s Summer Season 2022.

‘When formulating this design I was thinking about coding and the secret symbols that may have been used by queer people in history’ says Rowlinson. ‘I considered how, by certain mannerisms, aspects of our identity have often been displayed via dextrous movements. as this design is shaped like a handkerchief, I was also mindful of the "hanky code"; a historical means by which gay men placed handkerchiefs in different pockets to signal their desires.'

Discover more of Jakob's work