11Null sunglasses

So Spring is upon us and one must think of re-vamping his wardrobe. I'm a bit of a spontaneous shopper, so this concept is proving a little difficult to follow through, seeing as though I'm still wrapped in black from head-to-toe!

One piece which easily sees me through this transitional stage between seasons are these futuristic, unisex sunglasses from 11Null. These glasses are not my usual style, and seem to be channeling Jean-Paul and Sonny, but I actually rather like them...seriously easy to carry around (in their rolled up form, fitting perfectly into a photo film canister), they sit perfectly on your face without falling off (trust, i tried)...

I know, I know...crappy image taken on my iPhone at work...but you likey?

One step Closer to the dream...

I've had my first piece in a magazine!!! Woooo! It's not exactly high brow, but the first piece from my new job for New Look has a full page spread in Closer magazine. Above is the sketch, and the inspiration from the Preen lacing and another dress of mine (which is also going into New Look very soon).

Above, the dress in our studio...and below, the spread in Closer! One step closer to the dream.

ASOS has gone live...!

My first piece for ASOS has gone live (well, strictly speaking it's my second)! This is the first piece from my new job, which I started in the summer, to go into production and it the stores. So exciting seeing it online, modelled and up for sale. Spread the word and help this hot little jumpsuit sell-out!

Buy it here.

Fashion for the Masses

There is a lot of snobbery with designers these days, especially ones coming fresh out of University. I live in East London, and always bump into people who work in the industry, and unless you say you work for some huge label, or a mega-trendy brand people are generally not interested - they will turn their pretentious noses up and walk away (it has to be said, that these people are mostly young and inexperienced and it may just be a London 'thing'). It's quite disheartening to hear, when you consider the sheer amount of graduates which are churned out from fashion schools all over the globe compared with the very limited number of jobs out there.

I work for the high-street, which I love! I get paid more than people who work for designer labels (you don't get anywhere in the designer world unless you make it big time), I have 99% of the creative control over what I do (obviously baring in mind that I am designing for the masses) and I get to design a range of products, for a range of stores. Where is the shame in that?

Miuccia Prada summed it up nicely in this quote from the latest issue of Purple magazine, and to be honest, has put some of my woes at ease...

"Do you like designing clothes for a large international clientele, or is it frustrating having to adapt to the masses?
Miuccia Prada - I don't agree with other designers who only want to address a small public, which is relatively easy. What's difficult is keeping your integrity with a larger public. Given that I do commercial work I want it to be as large as possible. If I only had to make four dresses for four fashion snobs, I'd change jobs. Maybe in the beginning I wanted to make clothes for the sophisticated few. But that doesn't interest me anymore. The aspect of my work that challenges me the most today is dealing with numbers, with the company, and with people who work with us."

Prada realises that it is more of a challenge to design clothes for a mass market, to keep the masses interested in your work. Anyone can create conceptual garments, but can they translate that work and ideas into wearable clothes? - That is where the talent truly lies.

Caterpiller cage...

Ok, so after all my talking of getting creative over the weekend I got a little lazy. I did however have a little go at a computer collage - printing images over the top of one another. This is the result....I likey...you likey?

Get the creative juices flowing...

Recently I have had a huge desire to start sketching/painting/collaging again for myself. Working in a creative, albeit corporate environment all day let's me express myself to a certain degree but clean technical drawings and photoshop are not what I grew up loving. I used to spend hours and hours of my childhood sketching and interpreting anything I could find, I would create wonderfully mazes in my school maths book (I had, and still have a mini obsession with geometry and the symmetrical delight of squared paper).

Over Xmas I made myself a beautiful black, suede covered sketchbook (which I should show you in another post). Now comes the time to fill it!! I've been drawn to collage recently, not because of the huge trend for collage in fashion editorials now but purely because of the instant nature of it, and the speed with which you can quickly create an amazing visual, which I will use as a base to start sketching or painting.

Matthew Craven is a mixed media artist who reworks vintage photographs, giving them a new graphic quality.

Maurizio Anzeri is another mixed media artist who works into vintage photographs, but he uses embroidery and string-art techniques to add an eerie dimension to the portraits.

Charlotte Cory is an artist and writer who counts the Queen among her customers! She also has a collaboration with All Saints at the moment on a range of t-shirts baring her prints (if only they had men's versions!). She is also currently exhibiting here in London at the Rebecca Hossack Gallery.

A/W2010/11 Inspirations...

New Year is well and truly underway, and life has returned to some kind of normality for most of us. Work is manically busy at the moment, and I'm currently designing our Autumn/Winter 2010/11 collection ready to present to the buyers come February/March. The only problem being Chinese New Year - starting on the 14th February and lasting a whole month where the factories are closed - I need all my samples back before they start their celebrations otherwise we will have nothing to sell until the end of March! Basically I'm working on flat out between sketching up new ideas, speccing my designs (giving them measurements for the factories), choosing and sourcing new fabrics, deciding which factory would make the best job of each particular design (there are about 30 pieces per story x 4) and finally giving the sample to the relevant factory and doing the necessary paper work....praying that in two or three weeks TNT will deliver a truck load of perfect salesman samples!

I wanted to share with you a few of my inspirations for the work I'm doing at the moment...

Extreme fringing, furs and feathers

Hoods, snoods and deep cowls - Future Classics SS10

Fabric mixing and distorted silhouettes - Undercover

Tribal jersey - Anthony Vaccarello SS10

Embossed leather and brocades, as seen at McQueen AW08

Extreme shoulders and fringing - Todd Lynn SS10

Leather applique - Louise Goldin AW09

Futuristic shapes and armour inspired trousers - Balenciaga SS07

Clean lines and exaggerated shapes - Balenciaga aw08

Cross-over trousers (inspired by Thai fisherman trousers) - Nicole Miller and Yigal Azrouel SS10

I'll be back soon...

Street shot - it's me!!

Better late than never, but I've just found a photo of me from LFW! I look a bit fat (bad angle)..but I'll let you off Paul Harnett ;)

The Starling in Hong Kong!

Firstly, Hong Kong was amazing. Although it took me a while to get used to the skyscrapers and narrow streets, by the time my week was up I didn't want to leave. The thing about going to such an amazing place on a business trip, is that you leave the city wondering whether you have actually experienced the spirit of it. I spent most of the time walking (or rather running) around open-mouthed looking up towards the sky, absorbing everything in sight, but I would love to revisit this beautiful, concrete, city of lights to explore what lies beneath it's surface.

As you will tell from my photographs, most of them are taken from my hotel room or from the back seat of a taxi (who, just so you know, drive like f*cking maniacs - I thought on many occasions that I was going to get carted home in a wooden box!). Tourism was not really on my itinerary....fashion was!

The shopping in Hong Kong is immense. I swear that's all there is in Hong Kong - street after street after street of shops, and there really is something for everyone. I bought a few nice samples for work (for 'inspirational' purposes), and myself a couple of cool shirts but found the taste to be distinctly western and not as 'different' as I'd expected - maybe this is more of Tokyo or Seoul expectation?

One thing that did strike me was the living conditions. It is well known that Hong Kong is an over-populated city ,but I never knew to what extent. I thought the flats of East London were depressing, but they have nothing on the endless, dirty tower-blocks of Hong Kong. It certainly made me appreciate what space I do have here in London.

I know some of you wanted to hear about the ins and outs of fashion production in China, but honestly I don't have much to report back. Most of my time was spent running between meetings in Hong Kong, with the factory agents and bosses who have offices in Hong Kong. I was doing design development, discussing with each factory their individual strengths and weaknesses and chatting about pricing, production etc etc. Maybe on my next trip I'll have something juiy for you...

Hong Kong here I come.....!

Michael Lau

I'm off to Hong Kong for my first ever visit with work. It's going to be a mad week of sourcing, visiting factories, doing design development and soaking in all I can of the fashion and textile trade over in Hong Kong and China. I'm so excited I can hardly breathe! Expect some interesting insider images on this blog over the coming week (providing the wireless works in my hotel). I don't really know what to expect - working conditions, culture, food...the lot - but it's definately going to be an eye opener!

Just when everything was going so well...

Well, I've started my new job and it's absolutely perfect for me. I now have creative control over the design work I am doing, and get involved in every stage of the process from trend research to sampling in China. It makes such a change to work for a stable, secure company who respect me and have trust in me. Naturally I was a little nervous when I presented my first collection of designs to the bosses, but they loved them...it couldn't have gone better. They are even taking me to a fabric trade show in Paris, called Premiere Vision, and a trip to China towards the end of the year. AMAZING.

Then the shit hit the fan.

I was only saying to my parents the other day how everything was going eerily too well in my life. I'm a bit of a pessimist, and there is always something going on to even the balance of good and evil! So yesterday I come home from work and find that we ave been burgled. And I don't mean just a little poke around the house, the house was ransacked...with my room being the worst hit. I've lost so much stuff, it's untrue but at least me and my housemates are all OK. The material possessions I can deal with (SLR camera, Mac desktop, flat screen TV etc), but its the sentimental things that hit me the most. The photos they now have on my camera of this summer, and even just the thought of some little shit tearing my room apart and going through every minute detail of my personal space. The forensic team managed to get some really good prints, and actually arrested someone in connection with an arson next door, in the same bloody day, so fingers crossed this could have a happy ending. I could ramble on about this forever, but I shall stop. I just wanted to appologise for not being around the blogosphere much recently....but do not fret...I'll be back!

"I don't know much about clothes, but my hair looks fierce!"

Hey guys, as you can see from the above screenshot, I have been selected to be featured in this months NJAL's The Shop. I am absolutely chuffed...and to top it off, the curator of this months shop is Amanda Lepore, THE most amazing transexual on the planet. I remember some very drunk nights at Uni singing, dancing, and dressing up to her music. Please pass this news around the blogosphere. The more people that know, the more likely I am to get a sale and the happier your Starling will be.

The dress is for sale!!!

OK, the dress is for sale. PLEASE visit here for more details. If you are seriously interested and want to know more information about sizing etc, i can be contacted on londonfashiontrends@googlemail.com.

Fashion156 shoot!!!!!

I'm SO chuffed...these are (obviously) the images from the London Calling competition, by fashion156. I received them from Guy and his team today, and had to share them with you - SUCH a beautiful shoot. The dress looks perfect and I couldn't have asked for anything more. Not sure what I did wrong when I uploaded the images, but they looked brighter on my computer! I have submitted it to the NJAL shop, so cross your fingers, yet again, for me!

London Calling - voting time!

Hey guys, so voting has begun on the fashion156 competition dress on their blog. I'm not sure what relevance this voting has on the final outcome, but I could do with the support.

If I'm honest I don't think that the way they've hung and presented my dress really does it justice, however if you look at earlier posts on my blog you will see it on a mannequinn and in it's true form. The fashion156 image lacks the structure and form that is required for a bodycon dress, but the team are doing an exciting video shoot which should bring the garment to life.

Anyhow, vote here and check out the other designers' work - the competition is fierce - but remember where your loyalties lie ;)

Please read...

Thanks so much to everyone for their kind words about my competition dress. I submitted it on Friday and Guy really loved it - let's just hope that Brix feels the same!

However, with such good news comes some equally bad. The company which I work for during the day full time is in a very bad way, and are on the brink of going under (it is out of our hands, and if a certain high street retailer goes down, it is going to drag us down with it). I was pulled into the office only yesterday and told I need to cut back my days and go 'part-time'. I now do not work Fridays. I am a soft seperates Junior Womenswear Designer, on a relatively low wage, and this is not something I can afford to do. I actually CAN'T. I do not want to move out of London and back to the parentals, so my only other option is to try to make back the money I am losing on that one day per week. I am now going to start making things to sell in an Esty store (which I am a annoyed about as I wanted to create a brilliantly perfect store in my own time, as a hobby and experiment, but I am now doing it out of necessity), which for you guys is great news!

Basically, the reason for me writing this post is I am asking for your help. I really need to find a new job, as I can barely afford to stay in my current company and the financial stability of the company is too much of a risk for me to take. I am sure you are all perfectly aware of the situation within the fashion trade at the moment, but if ANYONE knows of any design related jobs going (preferably in London) please do not hesitate to get in touch. If you are at all interested in hiring me, or know of available positions please drop me an email (londonfashiontrends@googlemail.com) and I will forward on my CV or answer any questions you may have. I have been working for this company for nearly two years and you can see some of my portfolio work on the Coroflot link to the right.

I hope I don't come across too desperate, but times are getting tough now so it is time to put the feelers out there.

The dress is ready!!!!

My fashion156/start competition dress is finally finished. I've had many problems along the way, mainly because I was trying to be too clever with the construction, but after many hours of slaving away it is completed. One of the main problems was the bright pink top half - it is 100% silk chiffon, which is a bitch to work with, it's see through (I decided to make a tiny little racer-backed jersey cami to go underneath, if required) so everything had to be faced and french seamed, and I decided to make things harder by making it all one piece so that the front and back are all cut from one pattern piece. I am ecstatic with the result, and even managed to mould the pleats around the waist without them creasing or folding. There are of course things I would change on it as I am a bit of a perfectionist, but you have to know when to stop (and I need to hand it in on Friday!). I have decided to style it with the beautiful Celine shoes above, and armfuls of chunky bangles, all kindly on loan from Bang.

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Now I cannot wait to see what the brilliant team at f156 do with the photoshoot - exciting stuff!!

Subtracting Jersey

Click image for a much larger version.

Happy Easter everyone...I'm heading home today to the parentals in the countryside, and I can't wait for a relaxing weekend with the family. Before I go I wanted to share some experiments I've been doing recently. They are a move-on from the subtractive pattern cutting ideas I was playing with, but using jersey to create simpler shapes. Hopefully by the summer I shall have some kind of online shop thing set up (whether it be Etsy or something else, I'm not too sure - anyone have any advice?), and all these experiments are leading to that goal, so your feedback is greatly appreciated as you will be my customers...and we all know the consumer is always right! These obviously need more work, and the colours are not final colours - just the first jersey I could get my hands on, but you get the idea.

Trend de la Creme!

I'm a bit slow on the uptake here, but WOW - Jill Sherman of Trend de la Creme has written one of her brilliant 'inspired by' posts about moi! Well, my fashion156 design to be more precise, but pretty damn amazing none-the-less. I still find it strange when people I hold some kind of torch to acknowledge, compliment, or even comment on my blog and my work. These people are the reason I am blogging today (and subsequently pushing myself to create more and more work), so I want to say a big thank you to all of you. Jill Sherman, Susie Bubble, Queen Michelle and Imelda to name just a few...but the real thanks goes to EVERYone who visits my site, and leaves amazingly kind comments - these comments keep me going and sometimes give me that much needed boost in the right direction. THANK YOU!


The truth is Jill, that I've always had a fascination with sea life - I love the out-of-this-world colour combinations, shapes and textures of the creatures under the sea, so you are spot on as always! Read the original post here.