Friday 30 March 2012

Humor Chic


I came across Humor Chic, a blog full of illustrations by AleXsandro Palombo. The majority of illustrations are based upon Anna Wintor and Karl Lagerfeld, but their are other friendly faces from the industry along the way. Palombo takes a satirical approach to fashion illustration, whilst making points about fashion and society along the way. I have regularly been checking the blog since my discovery and recommend anyone with a sense of humour has a little look here. I have selected a few of my favourite images to share with you.




Wednesday 28 March 2012

Vivienne Westwood for i-D

Vivienne Westwood

For the Spring issue of i-D, the theme is royalty so it makes perfect sense for Dame Vivienne Westwood to grace the cover. Along with Westwood, Karl Lagerfeld, Daphne Groeneveld, Carolyn Murphy, Shalom Harlow, Georgia Jagger, Hahn-Bin, Sui-He and Guinevere Van Seenus all have they're own cover for this issue. Still unable to find a copy with Westwood on the front, I will continue to hunt and won't settle for any others (except maybe Mr.Lagerfeld of course). Photographed by Juergen Teller, this is own of my favourite i-D covers in a long time.

University Update: Interviewing


After the thrills of the styling unit came interviewing. I was teamed up with a graduate fashion student from my Uni and was asked to carry out an interview with them in the style of a magazine of my choice. I chose Dazed and Confused magazine as they're are known for featuring new talent. It took me over a week to manage to get in contact with my graduate student, but after a dozen emails I finally got a reply with an invite down to the design studio to carry out my interview. I interviewed Rosannagh Maddock, who's graduate collection is inspired by the London Underground.

The Interview:

Rosannagh Maddock wants to develop a new aesthetic in fashion. The 21-year-old graduate fashion student from the University of the Creative Arts takes her inspiration from places people don’t usually pay attention to. Her graduate collection Engineering Works is designed based upon the experience and purpose of the London Underground. Key elements to the collection are prints and structuring so it’s clear that she’s been influenced by her favourite designers Balenciaga and Proenza Schouler.
Dressed in a grey oversized jumper, black maxi skirt and converse high tops, Maddock looks relaxed, with her mousy brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. “I got into fashion through fashion illustration, that’s my main love”, she explains, sitting in a cornered off section of the design studio, surrounded by mannequins with cut outs of images and fabrics pinned up in front of her. “My Mum used to draw little figures and I would draw the clothes on them, like a fashion template”, she recalls, as she smiles fondly. Inheriting her creative flair from her Mother, a knitwear designer, Maddock grew up in the countryside of Herefordshire. ‘It’s like carrying on a family tradition’, she adds proudly about her career choice.
An internship at Iris Van Herpen swayed Maddock to work with precise leatherwork. “I want the wearer to feel protected” she explains, regarding the vast amount of leather used throughout her designs. Aside from leather, velvet, silk and knitwear make up the rest of the collection, all of which are printed on. The prints used are made up from photographs Moddock took on the London Underground herself: “They’re deliberately shit. I didn’t want a professional gloss on it. I wanted people’s everyday experiences to be made the essential focus for something beautiful”.
Maddock designed Engineering Works with jumpers and trainers in mind. “It’s special casual wear. I want it to look different in everyday life”, she says as she flicks through her sketchbook of intricate designs. The collection is made up of structured jackets with big curly collars, tailored trousers, skirts with layering and folds on and jumpers; all of which have raw edges. Keeping in tone with London Underground, Maddock has used a dark colour scheme, black grey and maroon dominating the collection, with hints of green and navy breaking through.
Aware of the tough competition of the fashion design industry, Maddock notes: “There seems to be this core of people who are chosen to be successful, and they all seem to be from Saint Martin’s or London College of Fashion. I think you have to go to one of those institutions to really demand peoples interest, your work doesn’t really speak for itself.” She pauses for a second, before continuing: “If you’re good enough, you’ll get there”.
After meeting Maddock, you can see how much time and hard work she has put into bringing her collection to life. Her designs may reflect her journey through London, but when it comes to her career, Maddock’s journey has only just begun.

Saturday 10 March 2012

Tropical Toes

I'm a sucker for anything bright and patterned coming across these on my daily internet window shop sent a smile across my face. These wedges would brighten up anyone's day or outfit and would be perfect in summer. I love the Hawaiian print and the parrot detail is adorable and they get me in the right mood for a holiday. For £75 it's a bit of a splurge for me at the moment, but if I start saving the pennies then I can snap up these beauties from Urban Outfitters.

Monday 5 March 2012

Imaging and Styling Continued..




Some quick snaps I took of the final layout of the fashion spread today for my Imaging and Styling Unit I blogged about before. I will upload better quality images when it has been printed out and finished, but this is the progress so far.

Sunday 4 March 2012

Urban Outfitters Swimwear


In the last week the sunshine has been breaking through the clouds and the temperature has (slightly) risen. Granted, it's still cold and I won't leave the house without a jacket and jumper but the glimmer of sun has got me longing to summer already. With my plans for the holidays building up nicely, I need to start thinking about my summer wardrobe. These two bikinis (£28 each) from Urban Outfitters will do me when the heat rises over the summer. The first one is covered in miniature elephants, which I find adorable and the second in a tribal Aztec print. I would love them both.

Thursday 1 March 2012

Imaging and Styling

For my Imaging and Styling unit at Uni, our course was given a brief that states we had to create a photo shoot for a magazine of our choice, based around a current trend for SS12, including the influence of a decade.
In my pair, we decided to base our shoot around one of the biggest trends this summer, pastel colours. I gravitated instantly towards selecting pastels as the theme because of my favourite designer duo, Meadham Kirchhoff, and the candy coloured Wonderland they created for their SS12 collection. I knew straight away that I wanted to use the influence of the 1990s, simply because (in my opinion) it is the best decade of all time regarding fashion and culture. Sorted.
Blending together the theme of a pastel palette with the 90's came naturally. We wanted to inject an essence of grunge into our models appearance so we added a touch of dark lipstick and slicked back her hair and kept the rest of the make-up minimal.
After a debate between Wonderland, Dazed and Confused and i-D magazine, we concluded that our style of shoot would best suit i-D magazine, which I was happy about as it is probably my favourite magazine. Although we haven't finished polishing up the final photos, here is a peek at an image I snapped on my phone during the process...


The majority of the clothes we styled in the shoot were vintage, including this super cute playsuit which I adored and hated sending back. If it wasn't for my current bank balance, I would of kept it and cut the legs up into hot pants. The rest of the clothes and shoes were from Topshop and American Apparel. I will post the final photo shoot after it has been edited and laid out properly...