Wrap me up

I need these ladies in my life...and their head-wraps.

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.

Staring Girl

I am loving this shoot from the latest issue of 10 magazine. The hobo styling is so perfect, it's untrue...the 'I've raided Mum and Dad's wardrobe' look works in ways that it really shouldn't. The exposed lingerie, the straps, buckles, buttons and fastenings, the hunched poses - I AM IN LOVE (buy the damn magazine - it's always been one of my favourites, and it's pure genius)!

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.

The Renaissance

Inspired by this haunting photo shoot from Dazed & Confused, I have discovered a new found love for the Renaissance. Most of the clothes in this shoot are from the AW09 D&G collection, but I can feel modern day prints taking a nostalgic nod towards the depths of history in the coming seasons.

I know skulls are everywhere at the moment, in some kind of Gothic revival, but the styling in this image is perfect...from the unfinished paint edges on the blue wall to the silhouette of her coat. Perfection.

I love the irregular pleating in this neck piece - imagine this on a skirt or as a bustle on the back of a waistcoat....oh yes!

To go with all these historical references, think dark embossed leather, gold brocades and Jacquards, heavy decorative laces and oodles of decadence - we've all had enough of the recession, so it's time to dress ourselves out of it! Of course, I couldn't do a post about Renaissance in fashion today without throwing in a few paintings from the time. Ones which I believe would make truly stunning prints, on equally stunning dresses, used hugely blown up and distorted - watch this space!

The archetypal Renaissance artist - Leonardo Da Vinci

Raphael

Botticelli

Tilda Swinton desktop background

I'm a huge fan of both Tilda Swinton and ANOTHER MAGAZINE, so when she featured in an amazing shoot in Spring/Summer 2009 I created a quick little desktop background. Now you can have it too ;)

Check it out - it's actually rather good!

POP vs LOVE

As I've now been paid from my wonderful new job, I spent the day shopping. Not much to report, however I did pick up the new issues of POP and LOVE magazines. I have always been a lover of POP, and I wanted to see if after Katie Grands departure, it retained the quality and innovation I remember. LOVE is obviously Katie Grands new venture, so I had to see what all the hype was about. I have to say though - I am not impressed LOVE. As Queen Michelle pointed out a few weeks ago, the issue is dedicated to under 21s. I have absolutely no problem with this, however the entire magazine is riddled with stereotypical, rebellious teens. Apart from a small feature on Tavi (who also happens to be on the cover of POP), there is no emphasis on the intelligent, mould-breaking youth of today that who are surfacing all over the Internet, and beyond. Not to mention Pixie Geldof splattered all over the magazine - I'm not sure if it's the same outside of London, but she is constantly in the London papers and to be honest...I've had enough.

As a 25 year old fashion designer I love my magazines, but I have to say this is the first time that I cannot relate, at all, to a glossy fashion mag. After all the hype that has surrounded LOVE magazine, and Grand's previous work with POP, I am extremely disappointed.

POP on the other hand is impeccable. I haven't yet read it cover to cover, but what I have seen has beaten all my expectations. Over recent months, one of the main reasons I stopped buying the glossies was because they started to blend into one. Maybe I've just had magazine overload, but it felt like they all had the same adverts with very similar editorials, opinions and nothing really to shout about. POP on the other hand has exploded back onto the scene with plenty shout about, which can be noticed as soon as you pick it up.

It is a very brave move putting fashion blogger extraordinaire Tavi Gevinson on the cover. To us bloggers she is (most likely) a daily read, however we can be guilty of living in our own little microcosm, and the rest of the world won't necessarily understand how a 13 year old American has managed to get on the front page of the launch issue of POP. The magazine is at the very fore-front of fashion, acknowledging and understanding the experimental DIY culture of the blogosphere and accepting the explosion of opinions now flooding the web, as Dasha Zhukova explains,

'Smart, talented young women like Tavi stand on the frontline whether magazine executives choose to recognise it or not. We are entering a new era of global growth, not just economically but culturally...Traditional media may continue to glorify the 15-minute famous, but in the end it is young women like Tavi who hold the winning hand.'

As I said, I haven't properly sat down and read POP yet - I want to save that for my hungover Sunday morning in bed, with a nice cuppa - but it immediately strikes me that taking time out was the prefect descision. Their comeback issue excels even their previous editions, with new editorials which are brilliantly styled, various page sizes and weights with mini-mags inside the main one and a plethora of interviews, opinions and artistic genius.

POP one. LOVE nil.

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