502 Bad Gateway – not usually a phrase you want to read

Guest blogger, Chris Hodge, Senior Lecturer at Northumbria School of Design, reviews fashion magazine 502 Bad Gateway – a men’s high fashion magazine with a really refreshing outlook, and a breadth of interesting and engaging content.

502 Bad Gateway is usually an error that will appear if a website’s server has exceeded its operational memory capacity. When applied in the context of this young publication, it promises an overload of information and thought-provoking content which it certainly delivers.

The publication has a really refreshing outlook, with a breadth of interesting and engaging content. Well researched and reported stories of talented new brands and individuals who are finding their feet and making a mark within the creative industries.

There is a very sustainable thread woven through the content and a feeling that this is a publication and a team packed with integrity and vision. The brands, designers and personalities highlighted within its pages have a solid and committed feel for positive change and the carefully laid out passages of neatly set text, tell stories of personal passion and meaning. Heritage is talked of a lot these days when old school brands are discussed, but 502 Bad Gateway is laying out before us the heritage brands of the future. From shoemakers, to architects and furniture craftsmen, the diversity of people and faces are tied together neatly in a natural and nurturing format which is a great cover to cover read as well as a pot to dip in and out of. Well composed and crafted interviews accompanied by tonally muted photography and visuals are the order of the day and a tactile stock to carry them.

The clever inclusion of QR coded links to featured brands websites, webstores and other linked project creates a paper to digital interface which is engaging and effective. Enabling the reader to delve deeper into the processes and projects of the featured designers. Aspiring young designers across many fields of endeavour would find inspirational philosophical approaches to design thinking and craft processes here. 502, focusses in on some innovative and genuine characters and companies who create with thoughtfulness and compassion. 502 totally flies in the face of notions like fast fashion and mass production and instead explores and highlights a slower and more sustainable approach to design and its consumption.

The faces behind the brands and studios are asked gently probing questions about their philosophies and pushed to discuss the state of the creative industries where their ideas are housed. What is the state of high fashion? What are the greatest challenges you face in your industry? If you’re a fan of Kinfolk, Inventory or Cereal then 502 will slip into your reading as easily as a craftsperson’s hand into a bespoke handcrafted glove.

Buy a single issue of 502 Bad Gateway magazine here