Shopping

We know all about shopping, thank you very much. It's what we do to cheer ourselves up. It's what stands between us and a mortgage. It's what Saturday afternoons exist for. But according to Fat, a Clerkenwell cooperative of architects and artists, shopping also "allows the culturally aware person to indulge in the joys of aesthetic enlightenment free of charge, whilst simultaneously keeping one step ahead in the fashion stakes".

Their version of Shopping - with a capital S - offers nothing less than "retail redemption through art". But enough complicated late-90s verbiage: put simply, Shopping is an exhibition of 30 top artists who have designed carrier bags for a selection of shops in the Carnaby Street area. What, that no-man's-land between Oxford Street and Soho that hasn't spawned a decent pair of shoes since the 60s? Yes, the very same. Except now, thanks to a private sponsor who owns property in the area, Carnaby Street is in the throes of an image make-over that has seen Fat (among others) drafted in to supply some bona fide cred. New signage and hoardings have been erected. Plans to pave the area with slabs inscribed with quotes from relevant figures - Paul Weller, Ray Davies, Vivienne Westwood - are under way. And there's the exhibition. At 15 Ganton Street until October 4, it features carrier bags designed by Peter Blake (for Mackmin, pictured above), Antoni & Alison (for Oxfam Originals) and Jake and Dinos Chapman (for Sherry's), which will be given away with purchases from the relevant stores.

One wonders what all the German language students (the bulk of Carnaby Street's clientele) will make of the venture, but let's not be cynical: if you discount the crap trainer shops, there are some good buys in the area. So if you're interested in a bit of retail redemption this weekend, Soccer Scene, Jess James and Face are our favourites.