Found some Mood/Theme boards from previous projects today. I love layering sketches, drawings, fabric samples, prints and mixing textures together to create these inspirational starting points. Laser cutting acrylic was also pretty fun – the triangles and floral shapes were designed and cut out on gold, black and purple plastics.
A few photos taken as the sun was setting over Weston-Super-Mare. Dismaland was a thought provoking exhibition/sort of sarcastic ‘fun’ fair with a selection of some of my favourite artists’ work (Damien Hirst and David Shrigley to name just a couple). An impactful, awe inspiring exhibition showcasing incredible talent and insight with some hard-hitting messages. I love that materials from the site were reused in the ‘Dismalaid’ project to help build housing for refugees in Calais.
This was the result of a 2 hour graffiti workshop I completed at the Upfest Gallery on North Street. It was so much fun! Using a calligraphy cap and paints which were supplied by the gallery we had a play in the sunshine on the walls of the galleries own outside space. Highly recommended! Please visit The Upfest Gallery Website here for details and info on other upcoming events.
– style.com
– zone7style
– Hype beast
– Slamxhype
– Selectism
– Freshness
– D’marge
Trend forecasting for smaller brands can be tricky as you often have to pay for vital ‘fashion of the future’ type information. For example, you can buy membership with well known trend analysis website WGSN (many high street brands use this when building their ranges for the next season). Thought it would be nice of me to share a few places to look for some fabulous freebie urban inspiration. The above websites share info about trends in Fashion, Art and Design. Zone7style even has a Vintage archive of designer items from the past (pics below). The websites include men’s and women’s fashions from America, Australia and the UK. Enjoy browsing! If anyone knows of other sites worth checking out, please add to comments below…..
Last Friday I was invited to attend the live blogging event at Cribbs Causeway to cover Bristol Fashion week. The show was fabulous with a high point being a beautiful ballerina dressed in white tutu dancing in the midst of a snow scene. Attending the Fashion Week is a great way to start planning your seasonal wardrobe and there were many items I have already set my heart on! The biggest trends to watch include…
– Red, red and more red! The LRD is replacing the LBD this season so get ready to feel festive.
– Tartan. Even better if red tartan. Checks look great on scarves, skirts, shorts (over leggings), and dresses.
– Faux fur as a luxurious trim to your AW13 coat.
– Elegant tailoring. Sharp black blazers look great with trousers and a blouse for daywear or over an embellished dress for a night on the town.
– Embellishment. Heavily beaded or sequinned dresses add a touch of sparkle and fun to any evening. This trend is said to follow through to SS14.
– Pastel colours. Sweet shop pastels is another design story this winter. Just don’t team with red tartan!
Clever boyfriend put this invite in to my birthday card a few weeks ago. Therefore, on the 23rd we will be heading to the Tate, London to see some of my favourite Artwork. The exhibition is so popular that you need tickets so book ahead if you want to attend. You can buy tickets here. For further details of the retrospective show/Tate Modern opening hours see below. A follow up post of my thoughts on the exhibition coming soon…v much looking forward to our city break!
Open until 20.00 on Sundays, with last ticket sale at 19.00.
A designers’ collection of inspirational images, photographs and ‘quick idea’ sketches needs a home. Usually this would involve using a sketchbook or scrapbook but I found that once I stuck images down on to a page, I almost immediately wanted to move them around. I needed a more flexible sketchbook solution! That’s when I started to catalogue images into an A4 ringbinder. This means nothing is permanent and you can switch, add or subtract pages easily depending on what your work focus is at the time. It’s worked really well for me and has meant that there is no longer a precarious pile of papers on my desk! You can also use a snazzy A3 folder which looks very professional (especially in a landscape orientation!). How do you store your inspiration? And am I on my own in sometimes preferring things a little more tactile than Polyvore or Pinterest?!
I found this digital picture of my old work space the other day. Compared to the recent pictures which follow, isn’t the change extreme?! My desk has journeyed from the corner of a dingy flat to an open white studio-style space complete with fairy lights and feminine touches. This is a space where I can be inspired, be creative and play with ideas.
Old Desk Space
New Beginnings
Inspiration
Organiser
Me in my studio…
Where is your favourite space?
Absolutely, 100%, loving this programme at the minute. Been recording the series (thank you Skyliving!) and have watched each episode several times. Producer Rhianna is looking for the next big fashion thing and is putting a bunch of hand picked designers through their paces with a new design and make challenge each week. It’s been great fun to watch the designers come up with fresh, innovative designs for clients ranging from Katy B to Rizzle Kicks. Established Fashion houses are given 3 months when creating a bespoke celebrity outfit/costume and these newbie designers are given only days to produce 1 of these outfits (which makes for a very tasty bit of drama!) These designers are definitely worth their salt to get this far…
Catch the Final Episide on Sky Living tomorrow at 9pm.
Polished, industry educated and cool – Styled To Rock
Rhianna wants an innovative UK designer to create a street aware, urban cool, “feminine-yet-not-feminine” statement garment for her to wear to a key performace. There is so much undiscovered talent in the UK that she may find it difficult to choose…
Rhianna’s team: Presenters Nicola Roberts and designer Henry Holland.
Further Info…
http://rp1.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/08/28/12/pinoy-handpicked-rihanna-fashion-contest
http://skyliving.sky.com/sky-living-shows-news-and-gossip/rihanna-joins-sky-living
Just a quick note to say: if you haven’t had a play on www.polyvore.com yet, don’t wait any longer… This site is an online image database of fashion products including some of the latest designer pieces. As you can see, you can then gather and edit these images to create your own inspiration moodboard. Product info (e.g. price, designer etc) appears when you hover over the items, so if you see something you like, you can easily track it down. Aces.
Beautiful Plumage. 
