William Morris Gallery

My Grandma is definitely cooler than me. This isn't me trying say something cool myself, this is just a known fact by those who know us. She dresses impeccably (most of the time), seems to travel more than I manage to make it to the cinema and manages the to find us fun little things to do every so often.

I can't even remember the last time I got on the Victoria line until I did the other day - all the way to Walthamstow Central to meet The Grandma at the William Morris Museum. The building itself is beautiful, a grand Georgian house which I learned was Morris' home in the mid 1800's.
The furniture and tapestry to stained glass make up a cohesive display of Morris' work and the grounds in which it's set make for a wonderful day out!

http://www.wmgallery.org.uk/

random little sketch from a stained-glass panel

Bag - The Bridge
Button Shirt - Charity shop in Leeds
Hat - Stolen from a friend

Hide and Seek Alone

Hide and Seek Alone is the title of my most recent Uni project. I have included photos of  my work - roughs and finals - and my creative writing that goes along side it.  This project explores a recurring theme in my work: The idea that everyone is made up of three beings, You, your other Self and your inner child. It's also the project that I named the blog after - I'm all three of these people most of the time!

Run

Hide

Darkness

Disorientation.

You are alone.

Alone with your self.

Come out Come out.

A vulnerable mind shatters

You are hidden but you are always found.

There is no place to hide from your self.

When forced to take up the role of hider and seeker in a game once made for children, a much darker, more dangerous play ensues and hiding places are scarce.

My concept forces the hider self to be cunning. They must fabricate hiding places within themselves, within their own mind. These cavernous hollows envelop the wearer and overhanging branches dangle in front of tired eyes. But between these strands of protection, vulnerable skin can still be seen and the hider Self must run on.

Gaping chasms appear. Spaces that once provided shelter now morph into restraints, confining limbs and concealing faces.  The seeker self will always have the advantage.

There is a both a lack of control and total control in equal measure.

In the same mind and body, the hider and seeker are forced continually to fight against each other for a freedom they can ultimately only achieve by destroying the other.

Only in this final game of hide and seek will the true self be found.

LC:M - Kokon To Zai

I'd dressed for KTZ once before at London Fashion Week and the atmosphere was alive, it was electric. Last Monday for the London menswear collections was no different. As I helped unpack I couldn't help but let out a little laugh and shake my head - they'd done it again, another great collection.
One of my favourite things ever is layering and KTZ hit the nail square on the head. Hard. Repeatedly. In fact I think I'd wear more of this menswear than the womenswear we saw in February. Maybe.

There was a definite overall theme of exploration and in keeping with the brand's name, a strong sense of East meets West. I think North Africa - places like Marrakech and maybe even Ethiopia had to be on the designers minds as influence can be seen in the traditional dress of this region.
Also the guyliner automatically threw in Egypt as well. I have to say it was an excellent choice for many reasons.

Created from prints of what seemed to be ancient maps of the world, explorer back packs morphed into cut away capes and back again, while almost urban jersey bottoms became eastern with the addition of (removable) tabards at the front and back. Were their accompanying tops cultured basketball jerseys? Or modern shrouds? Who knows, I didn't really care either way, I was busy appreciating their oversizedness - I think that oversizing may well be my second love after layering.
A cropped plastic rain mac was among the garments I really loved, along with the zips which enabled the arms of most all the jackets to be opened up. Really great feature, but practical? Maybe not.
Striped linens, hung in voluminous layers, creating an ominous feel - you were unsure where the models body was. This was furthered by the draped caps, and metal masks which obstructed the faces of some of the finale model's looks. Only the models piercing eyes peeped from behind various adornments, even their hands were gloved and fingers sparkled with a surfeit of chunky, imposing jewellery. Identities were concealed.

I have to mention how polite and helpful the models were, I do wonder why guys are so much easier to dress, they drank their coconut water quietly and were lovely to chat to.

In the last set, heavy black leather jackets were ferociously embellished with silver metal trinkets, as if they were scooped up, bartered off a Moroccan merchants stall.  Matching sandals jangled down the catwalk too, covered in so much heavy silver so commanding they could not be considered feminine.
Leather pouches were slung around necks, sometimes worn doubled up and there were man bags and purses galore. However it was somehow still remained manly when teamed with the rest of the outfit. It was controlled and authoritative, thats why I love these guys loads, they dare to dare. It was vibrant and alive; I really believe KTZ just proved they are strong contenders for the most forward thinking in menswear today.

 

GFW and Rave In-House Show

Having spent a fair amount of time helping the third years prepare for the shows I was excited to see it all come together both at Graduate Fashion Week and at Ravensbourne's in house show. It was good to dress both and although I've dressed before it was slightly different, perhaps more intense as instead of answering to one designer you were answering to 25+...Scary, exciting and a bit of everything else! The experience definitely made me sit up a little straighter and rattled the motivation jar to (continue) working my butt off at all times.

set up for the in house show

For the last weeks in the run up to the shows I was working with a great designer helping her finish her collection. Check out her work here http://tabithawilliamson.com/. Her collection could be described as apocalyptic chic - beautiful billowing draping and elongated, sensual silhouettes of strong, powerful women.
I spent time laser cutting and weaving to create textile surfaces for skirts and a jumper among other little bits and pieces, I really loved it and learnt a hell of a lot in a short space of time.

You can view her graduate collection here:

 http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/autumn-winter-2013/ready-to-wear/ravensbourne/full-length-photos/gallery/984768

Graduate Fashion Week itself was kind of a blur. We were in and setting up and dressing and out again so fast. I remember backstage however there was such an atmosphere, everyone in the room regardless of their level felt so invested in the work. There was a buzz. A hubub. We all wanted it to go well and have to say it really did.

Even listening to the music backstage you could picture the collections going down the catwalk and there were some really great music choices. Lil Mama's 'Lipgloss' was a highlight, which accompanied a colour popping, badge adorned gir-gang inspired collection by Phiney Pet, one of my favourites. 

Have a look at her work here http://www.demotix.com/news/2145026/ravensbourne-college-design-phiney-pet-graduate-fashion-week#media-2141319 or here phineypet.com

Here are some behind the scenes snaps of some more of my favourites:

Sofie Malmgren

Tabitha Williamson

Chen-Yu Wang 

Patricia Williams 

Our stand was minimal and restrained compared to others; it was a mature approach and the work spoke for itself. I felt the tents and winnebagos and little boxes were a bit much.. 

Have to mention one of my favourite portfolios of the day was Rebecca Howarth's from Manchester  (http://rhowarth.tumblr.com/ ) her combinations of imagery and illustration were dead on point and her layouts were really strong too. 

Really great fun at both days!

Jacket - Vintage
Trousers - Zara

Rave Late: A Fashion Checklist

Recently at uni it was show selection for Level Three. This meant a panel of judges came in to decide who had made the cut to show at GFW this year. Alongside my own project I helped a third year finish her collection, a sort of tradition if you will at Rave.

A 'Rave Late' event was held and the judges gave a lecture elaborating on their experience in the fashion industry and what they thought where the most important qualities to make a successful designer. The speakers where Holly Fulton, Jean Pierre Braganza and Brooke Roberts so I thought I'd share the bits that jumped out at me the most, a sort of checklist for the young fashion designer. 

The talk opened with a heavy discussion on the importance of contacts in fashion. It was stressed that every designer should get out there and meet the people who would influence them the most.

Fulton expressed a like for hard copy portfolios.. apparently we are moving too far into a digital age now..?

Jean Pierre Braganza mentioned that from what he'd seen in the past, students needed to refine their technical skills from the word go and research construction techniques of luxury brands. I liked this, I liked the implication that you should be setting the bar as high as possible for yourself, pitting yourself against well-established brands in quality and technique.

All three agreed that the first initial presentation of both yourself and your work was vital. They wanted to get a clear snapshot of who you are as soon as they meet you. Personality is key: be bubbly, be expressive and be yourself. 

In addition they stressed that all designers need to find and hold onto their own unique vision, JPB stressed that as a creative you need to decide clearly what you want to say and say it well, pushing yourself to become the best at what you do. 

Roberts (who was my favourite speaker) also mentioned her past (and present) as a radiographer and how pulling inspirations from very diverse fields can make for very interesting work. She works over half her week at a hospital and the rest on putting pencil to paper and needle to cloth to bring her 'unique vision' to life. 

"It's a test of how much you want it and how dedicated you are" said Roberts. 

This lady does not take breaks.

 One of her anecdotes transported us to clinical surroundings, where Roberts said she had her 'eureka' moment studying the X-Rays of a brain. This moment, she said passionately, was pivotal to her career; she had found something she was truly fascinated and enthralled by. In my opinion I feel this is something we designers can't and shouldn't try to predict, it could ruin the surprise. One day you could be sewing and make a huge mistake, but instead of trying to fix it this could inspire something much more interesting. Who knows...

Art Wednesday, a lovely blog I read a lot did a great write up of her and her studio: http://artwednesday.com/2012/09/06/studio-visit-1-brooke-roberts/

The talk drew to a close with Roberts on her own attitude towards breaking into the fashion world:

"They don't think I can do it?.... I am gonna do it!"

A really great talk, and here is my outfit.

Wool blend jacket - Passed down from the Mother
Dress - Primark, 4 sizes too big
Tights - New Look
Earring - Topshop

JMB

It was my little sister's birthday last week and I headed home for over-eating and Hama beading. It was such a nice day all -round so thought i'd do an outfit post. These are one of my favourite pairs of tights and also my new T-shirt from my trip to the Uniqlo Pop-up store.

The design is inspired by the work of Jean Michel Basquiat, originally a graffiti artist his work is primitive and expressive. I like its erratic, confused, almost painful use of colour and thick crawling black lines and smears . The colours used remind me of the Fauvist paintings of Matisse and Derain. Feel like I'm going to end up wearing this one a lot!

Poison Oasis - Jean Michel Basquiat (1981)

The Joy of Life - Henri Matisse (1905-6)

Jacket - Levi
Hoodie (underneath jacket) - Nike
T-shirt - Uniqlo
Belt - Banana Republic
Nightie (worn as dress) - Charity shop, origin unknown
Boots - Dr Martins

Repairing the [un]broken

Recently I did an embellishment project called "repairing the [un]broken". 

I explored the journey of a woman trapped inside her inner child, forced to live life through both mentalities. Inspired by toys I saw at the Museum of Childhood I experimented with knit, print and embroidery, creating pyjama like garments which both comfort and smother the wearer. In my opinion these opposites create the emotional environment of a child growing up. I like to write so often I put down a story on paper that describes my concept so here is my design rationale, pages from my sketchbook and final line-up:

 “I want to repair something” said the Woman,

“Something that may not be broken yet. Or is it very broken? I think it’s broken, but you may disagree, you may think it’s perfectly fine”.

She nodded to herself.

“Is this empty space broken? Or perhaps this chair? I can never be sure.

What should be here and what should be removed?”

She paced.

“Yes, yes I’m sure this is broken” she said hastily to the nothingness. “But how should it be fixed?”

She continued, projecting now:

“And you Chair, you’re no good to anyone like that. No good at all, what will I do with you?”

She promptly turned the chair upside down, childishly and laughed as if they were deep in friendly conversation.

She filled the space with all she could find. Clutching, grasping, shaking. Up and down and everywhere.

Imposing space.

The woman sat down in a corner and cradled her toys like a child.

Alone, lonely.

“I wish I was a toy like you” said the Child.

“Life would be so much simpler”.

…

As a child we see life very differently from that of an adult, however what would happen if this line was blurry… or non existent. In which mental state would your mind and body reside? Are you playing dress up?

There is a strong sense of vulnerability as a child. Children lack inhibitions but are also naïve to the world around us; you want to run everywhere but your weak, feeble legs cause you to stumble.

Seen through the eyes of a woman, trapped inside her own mind, this capsule collection embodies her mentality: she knows she is a woman, yet she behaves like a child. She feels both smothered and liberated by this. It is her defense.

She fills rooms full of dolls and building blocks and bears and when someone says stop she stamps her foot. In some ways she refuses to come out of either realm. She has regressed. She is in denial. She is perfectly content.

Let us enter into this childlike state of mind:

I invite you to blur the line.

"The woman sat down in a corner and cradled her toys like a child."