SOHO HOUSE STORIES.

On a rare night out I ventured to the new White City Soho House, full of media types, or corporate types trying to be media types, although to be fair, there is more likelihood of them being genuine media types here. I've visited Greek Street, Babington House, Shoreditch House and this was distinctly different again.
Liked the square, round and oval windows, on the wall behind the band who were brilliant.  And the Blue Peter Annuals with books scattered about. Nice design touches, nice pool, phenomenal view over London. Picked up a copy of 'House Notes' in the inhouse magazine which shares information about what is going on from cinema, to food, drinks, events. Its sort of a modern Groucho trying to be authentic although I'm not quite sure an authentic what. The Soho House venture has expanded globally and I have met over the years some of the past directors - one of whom has now all but taken over a village in Southern France, getting as much flack from some residents who refuse to sell up their ancestral home to him, as the Mistral which the walls turn their backs on. It is an idyll but it gave me a sense of the 'sense and sensibility of the Soho House chain. Sort of beauty not being truth as Keats would say, or corporate selling itself as creative.  Another director of Soho Group my ex worked with, and just like a lot of ventures and start ups there's a lot of financial people (out of necessity I suppose) who have invested off the talent (rather than into the talent) of the creatives around them.  In this month's House Notes there is a section on how members moved from corporate to creative. Corporate tends to be appropriate the talents of those who are creative. Even when yo have 'left' the corporate, you never really do. You just form another corporate. Once you are in the money you follow it, and tend to appropriate from the creatives around you, telling their story, rather than your own, appropriating their talents as your own. Once corporate always corporate. Once creative you are always at the mercy of not only selling your talent, but your story to them.