Monday 16 November 2009

THE ASYLUM




Wayyyy back last august i was involved in the production of a big Charity Fashion show and was also asked to make a capsule collection. With about three weeks to make all the garments whilst constantly pestering models, photographers, hairdressers - basically calling in all the favours to get this show on the road lets just say the collection was abit of a brash affair. I wouldn't exactly call it a masterpiece but i have to say it definitely emphasised the theme is was going for of "femme Fatals."

So Long story short! Last week i was asked to photograph the collection to be featured in a new up and coming Edinburgh magazine. And i thought where better place than an old abandoned asylum! so myself, Lindsay Robertson my photographer friend, two models and Anna Visocchi who got the lovely job of dressing all the models in the pissing rain outside a mental hospital, all bundled into the car speeding down the motorway towards Bangour Village Hospital.

For those of you who have never heard of this place it is probably one of the eeriest places i have ever been! The land stretches out for acres and acres and is home to several wards and out houses, aswel as a rehab facilitation centre, a church, a shop, Bangour House and the infamous Villa 9 which was reportedly shut down in the early 90s due to it being haunted. And i have to say normally i don't believe in all that supernatural crap but this place did make me think twice!

So after about a 15 min argument with the security guard who wasn't even going to let us in past the main gates We finally managed to persuade him to let us slip past as long as he didn't "catch us" taking photos or breaking into any of the buildings.

Here are a few shots from the day:









Unfortunately i can't upload the best ones until the magazine has been published. And i have to thank my amazing models Rhona Ferguson and Emma Claire Noble for doing such a good job standing about in a pair of stalkings and a leotard in torrential rain.
x

Sunday 15 November 2009

Kling by Kling




OK Karolina Kling is perhaps one of my favourite print artists in the world! Kling by Klings prints are so complex and diverse it is almost impossible to see where the original inspiration came from, with psychedelic shapes and garments with oversized exaggerated silhouettes i would kill for abit of Kling! Often described as Victor and Rolf on acid! This is a designer not to be missed, only on her fourth collection Karolina is already distributing on a global scale and is regularly featured in magazines such as the lovely supersuper. I would love to take up an internship here this summer helping on a pattern cutting basis and getting an insight into the fantastic world that is Kling.






This lady has also made me sway completely on my final year collection. Will it now be menswear knit or menswear print? And after the stint with the digital and screen printed linings for my Speedo Diffusion line raincoats i am thinking PRINT all the way!

Thursday 12 November 2009

The Jogging


And they've done it again! the latest instalment by the Andrea Crews Collective, a spring summer 2010 unisex capsule collection built mainly from menswear patterns entitled "The Jogging", compiled oversized zip ups and baggy pants in a diversity of monochromatic prints and bright visuals teamed with Nike x Andrea Crews sneakers! The show which pretty much resembled a big party kept Maroussia's original Crews vision with models crowd surfing down the runway, possibly the first time ever in Paris Fashion Weeks History!






I would actualy Kill for an internship with Andrea Crews! most definatly packing my bags for Paris in June

Wednesday 4 November 2009

Eat your heart out





Good old Babs!



OK firstly apologies for the lack of posts it has been CRAZY down here lately with five weeks until the end of term, all that coursework, competitions, a diffusion line and Pick n Mix magazine being published next week it really is ALL GO! So much so i think i have become a hermit on the social scene for the last four weeks not even venturing out for Halloween perhaps my FAVOURITE night of the year!

It hasn't all been WORK WORK WORK though! Last week i had the complete delight of meeting Barbara Hulanicki maby one of the nicests funniest inspirational woman in fashion! She may be in her seventies but this lady is on the ball, an absolute DIVA! Her life story was so inspiring and interesting from growing up in Warsaw, her fathers assassination when she was a child, and not forgetting single handidly completely transforming British fashion.



Basically for those who are not aware of her works she is the creme de la creme of British Fashion, the creative mastermind and founder of BIBA, creating fashion amongst teenagers and woman in their twenties at a time when there was only children's clothes or adult clothes available NOTHING in between no fashion no styling and certainly nothing available at prices people could afford. and then there was BIBA .......







Sunday 1 November 2009

SPEEDO DIFFUSION LINE

WoW! the lack of recent blogs is purley down to the fact there is now five weeks left of term and a helllll of alota work not to mention the magazine going live and into production beginning of next. BUT more on all that later.

I want to show you a sneak peak of my diffusuion line with Speedo. I have to say when i was first handed the brief with the four different labels within the Pentland group which we would be designing for my heart did sink a little .... Hunter, Berghaus, Red or Dead or Speedo. Not exactly my cup of tea! But pushing that all aside i started reseraching into the brands history and began to get a little intrested with their use of perfomance fabrics, and i have to say i was a little intrigued with the idea of diffusing my creative concepts with their original designs and brining speedo out of the pool and into the high end sportswear market.

With the collection going to be primarly menswear, I wanted to incorporate the swimmers phsyique into my designs looking at broad shoulders and muscle vests i also wanted to keep the concept of Speedos second skin line the idea that the clothes lie dierctly in line with the body, made of such high quality breathable fabrics they act as a second skin. So after some major sourcing i have finally arrived at my final farics and beleive me they dont come cheap!

A mixture of gortex, breathable performance perferated mixed synthetic, natural fibre cotton, heavy jersey, quilted synthetic and wax coated cotton.