The Tea Dances
Some people are worried that there is a split growing...
Read MoreThe Blu Mile
The Blu Mile is a website dedicated to music, culture and fashion that showcases the talents of its creators Blu Evans and Miles Fleming and other creative people.
Blu and Miles (pictured above, right to left) are 20-year-old students from south London who became friends in sixth form through a “relentless passion” for music and trainers. They started a blog about shoe design which, over the past two years, has grown into theblumile.com, an impressive site which gets more than 7,000 views a month. The site gives people the chance to take their first steps in the creative industries.
“Where we grew up, it didn’t seem like there was much celebration of what people were achieving,” says Miles. “So we thought there needed to be a place where we could showcase people’s talents alongside our own creative projects.”
The Blu Mile has brought together a group of contributors, editors, and videographers, one of whom was recently asked to work on something for Channel Four based on a video he created for theblumile.com, which you can watch below.
Growing together
“From the start we tried to build a little team of those actively looking to showcase their work, so everyone feels a part of something,” says Blu. “We feel this is the best way to encourage talent, with the idea being that we all grow together.”
Being online means the pair can reach more people. “We do help people in our area, but it’s not just about working with people from south London,” says Blu. “It’s not so much about where people come from on the map, but sharing the talents of people who are under the radar and not many people have seen, to try to get them the attention they deserve.” One such person is artist Brenda Henneh who features in the video below.
How Live UnLtd has helped
The Live UnLtd Award that Blu received allowed the project to build the latest version of the site (which launched in January 2012), hold a launch event to encourage participation, and buy a much-needed DSLR camera.
Blu and Miles, whose ultimate dream it is to one day open their own trainer store, are now planning a series of quarterly events blending art and music, and they also plan on publishing a book. Watch this space!
You can visit theblumile.com here. Or click the button below to learn about starting your own project.
Blu says, “We got a lot of regular support from Live UnLtd, and we continue to receive updates from Caroline, our Development Manager, who provides us with information and has connected us with other Award Winners.”
