{"id":69090,"date":"2018-08-09T13:29:11","date_gmt":"2018-08-09T13:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/?p=69090"},"modified":"2018-08-13T17:32:52","modified_gmt":"2018-08-13T17:32:52","slug":"spice-girls-super-fan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/spice-girls-super-fan\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Spice Girls super fan curating our girl power dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4568,10172],"tags":[5306,10926,1215],"class_list":["post-69090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-film","tag-90s","tag-collector","tag-spice-girls"],"acf":{"main_category":false,"legacy":false,"hero_title":"","subtitle":"Alan Smith-Allison owns over 3300 pieces of Spice Girls merch, and he's showcasing his collection in a major exhibition","hero":{"video":false,"image":false,"header_color":"black","overlay_color":"","overlay_text_color":"black"},"teasers":{"video":false,"image":false,"width":"4","proportion":"default"},"related_articles":[63293,69025,61828],"next_article":[63293],"content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":false,"settings":{"fit_width":"6","caption":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"

If you thought your \u201890s Beanie Babies collection was excessive, you clearly haven\u2019t met Alan Smith-Allison. The 37-year-old Scotsman is a Spice Girls superfan, and he\u2019s been taking “extra” to a whole new level ever since Mel B uttered the words <\/span>zigazig ah<\/span><\/i>. \u201cIt started at <\/span>Wannabe,<\/span><\/i>\u201d he remembers. \u201cI heard this catchy, cheesy pop song and I bought into it straight away.\u201d In the 22 years since then, Smith-Allison has spent \u201chundreds of thousands of pounds\u201d on girl power merchandise, from limited edition Walker\u2019s crisps packets to one-of-a-kind costumes to an array of terrifying figurines, which <\/span>apparently <\/span><\/i>resemble the Spice Girls. And now, he\u2019s the curator of a touring exhibition that promises to inject some long-lost spice into our lives. <\/span><\/p>\n

While the thought of a 3300-piece-strong memorabilia collection no doubt rings some serious alarm bells, Smith-Allison is actually quite normal, and lives with his partner and two pet beagles. When we manage to catch him for a quick chat between back-to-back guided tours of the exhibition, the collector-cum-creator transports us back to the time we spent singing into hair brushes and choreographing dance routines in our Spice World PJs.<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":false,"settings":{"fit_width":"6","caption":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"

Why the Spice Girls? Why did they speak to you so much?<\/span><\/p>\n

I was 15 when <\/span>Wannabe <\/span><\/i>came out. I was an impressionable teenager with a few angst issues and they just injected a massive amount of fun into my life. They were coming out with these really empowering messages \u2014 like if you work hard, or try hard enough you can achieve anything you want to \u2014 that really resonated with me. <\/span><\/p>\n

When did you first start collecting merch?<\/span><\/p>\n

I used to buy the CDs, and all the different versions of the CDs, the limited editions \u2014 things like that. But it developed into something more in about 2005. In 2007, I bought my first costume and then after that I just kept going and going and adding to it.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most expensive thing that you\u2019ve bought?<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve just had Mel C\u2019s Spice Force Five delivered today and it cost me about two and a half or three thousand pounds. So that\u2019s going on show next weekend for the first time \u2014 it\u2019s not been since publicly since the movie.<\/span><\/p>\n

How much do you think you\u2019ve spent all together?<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh god, I don\u2019t know. Hundreds of thousands of pounds. I wouldn\u2019t ever actually know the figure. I still buy stuff online now, and things are always turning up at the house. I have records of all the major buys and costume pieces, but when it comes to merchandise there\u2019s no record of how much it\u2019s cost me.<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"gallery","gallery":false,"settings":{"height":"75","images_to_show":"1","caption":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"

What\u2019s the rarest piece?<\/span><\/p>\n

Well most of them are one-offs, designed specifically for each Spice Girl, so they\u2019re all really collectable and they\u2019ve been worn to really prominent events.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favourite?<\/span><\/p>\n

(Laughs) I have a full line-up of silver suits from the Istanbul tour. I\u2019m actually the first collector in the world that owns a full five line-up, and they\u2019re pretty cool. They\u2019re really reflective and pretty futuristic even for now.<\/span><\/p>\n

And why do you keep buying?<\/span><\/p>\n

Because I want to finish the collection! But actually I don\u2019t think it can ever be finished \u2014 I’m not sure it\u2019s measurable because there\u2019s so much stuff out there.<\/span><\/p>\n

Have you ever met a Spice Girl?<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve met both Melanies and Geri, but I\u2019ve not met Emma or Victoria yet, unfortunately.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favourite Spice Girls song?<\/span><\/p>\n

Probably, Stop<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who\u2019s your favourite Spice Girl?<\/span><\/p>\n

I just can\u2019t choose \u2014 I can\u2019t choose between them. They all offer up something different I think. I maybe had a little bit of a schoolboy crush on Emma, but they all mean a lot to me.<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":false,"settings":{"fit_width":"6","caption":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"

What made you want to curate the exhibition?<\/span><\/p>\n

Just the passion for it. It\u2019s a shame that all these iconic costumes are normally hanging up in suit hangers, not on show. They\u2019re such an iconic part of pop music history. I think they need to be seen. I love it: all of the lights spotlighting everything, sparkling away. It\u2019s been four years in the making, and I\u2019m so excited to see it in action. <\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the reaction been like?<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you know what, it\u2019s been a little bit crazy. We are having so much fun with it \u2014 it\u2019s beyond incredible. Thousands and thousands of people have come to see it, and everyone\u2019s coming out happy and full of fun, which is an amazing reaction. <\/span><\/p>\n

And finally, if you joined the band and had to take on a \u2018spice\u2019 persona what spice would you be?<\/span><\/p>\n

(Gasps) Uh! Wouldn\u2019t that be nice! Probably nonsense, or silly spice, something like that.<\/span><\/p>\n

Spice Up London is on show in London until August 20 at The\u00a0Business Design Centre, Angel, before going on tour.\u00a0More information and tickets available here.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n"}],"facebook_image":false},"yoast_head":"\nMeet the Spice Girls super fan curating our girl power dreams Meet the Spice Girls super fan curating our girl power dreams<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/spice-girls-super-fan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet the Spice Girls super fan curating our girl power dreams Meet the Spice Girls super fan curating our girl power dreams\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/spice-girls-super-fan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sleek Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sleekmag\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-08-09T13:29:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-08-13T17:32:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sleekmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sleekmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Verfasst von\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"sleek\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/\",\"name\":\"Sleek Magazine\",\"description\":\"Sleek is Germany\u2019s leading independent media house\/brand for creativity and innovation located in Berlin the creative capital of the world. 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