NEW DESIGNER SHOWCASE

Here are some better photos of my work in 'Fish and chips, Twice please?!' 

We carried out a live photoshoot in the gallery today again with an amazing team! Images soon to come from that once all edited and retouched!

'FISH AND CHIPS, TWICE PLEASE?!'

After my show at GFW on the 7th of june i headed over to Vienna with my collection to take part in exhibition 'Fish and chips, twice please?!' located in the heart of the city's Quartier21. The exhbition is here to showcase the design talent from the UK, introducing something a little different to what the Austrians are used to!

Work is featured by designers Emma Bell, Scott Ramsay Kyle, Louise Amstrup, Charlie Le Mindu, Louise Gray, Piers Atkinson and Shoe Designer Nicolas Kirkwood and more. 

I was lucky enough to be included in the new designer showcase section where i got to show pieces from my graduate collection. The Exhibition has proven to be a huge success with hundreds of visitors each day! Below are a few snaps taken on my iphone...

My collection in the 'New Designer Showcase' section

I will get some decent pictures taken to post up soon! Be sure to check it out if your in the area! 

AMELIAS MAGAZINE

Check out the illustration of my collection by Lesley Barnes  featured on amelias magazine.  

Wicked illustration with a little review of my work go check it out!

GFW 2010 UCA ROCHESTER

UCA ROCHESTER FASHION SCHOOL PROSPECTUS

My garment was photographed by my uni for the fashion school prospectus a while ago. They have now all been printed and here is my dress scanned in!

Its always interesting to see how other people shoot your work. 

TOMORROW IS THE DAY

Today saw the start of Graduate Fashion Week, which means in 24 hours I will have shown my collection in front of judges and press at London's Earls Court. Scary...but equally exciting!

I haven't posted in a while as its been a mad few weeks getting all my portfolio done for my final hand in at uni. Its a weird feeling knowing that uni is now officially over and I'm about to enter the real world, the harsh reality that is the fashion industry! Heres a few images of bits of work I've been producing...

My business cards 

My portfolio

Laser cut perspex clothing tags and sketchbook cover.

In the early hours of wednesday morning I will be flying over to Vienna to take part in the exhibition 'Fish and chips, Twice please?!' which launches on the 10th June! I will be exhibiting my work under the new designer showcase section a great opportunity to have straight out of uni which I'm really very excited about!

I will post soon with Images from another shoot I did the other day with an amazing team of people! Also to update on GFW and Vienna. For now though I must get some zzzzz's I have a busy and exciting week ahead of me!

RACHEL STEVENS IN PRINT

So after calling around to see if someone had or could get hold of a copy of the mirror i managed to get a hold of some. Pretty crazy when I think how many of these magazines have actually been printed! so here it is in magazine format...

I'm really pleased with the image i think it looks really great and shows it in a really commercial way which different to how I would shoot it for my personal style Its great to see how other people work with it.

BECOME A FAN

Become a fan on facebook and LIKE my page! 

Lets get the ball rolling! 

NOT JUST A LABEL

My new NOT JUST A LABEL page...

Check it out and have a look at the other designers it has to offer,  in a couple of months I hope to have a few items for sale on there so keep a look out! 

PRESS - THE SUNDAY MIRROR - RACHEL STEVENS

So this afternoon I received a post on my facebook wall telling me my stuff was in a magazine being worn by Rachel Stevens! Totally unaware of this i googled my name with Rachel Stevens and the article came up online! Here is the picture...

I sent around a few txts to see if anyone had a copy and my mum managed to grab the last one at a service station for me to see it in the flesh! You can check out the Article online HERE.

GRADUATE FASHION WEEK

Today I found out I had been put through to show at London's Graduate Fashion Week in Earls Court.

I can now say that all of the tears and sleepless nights over the past 8 months have been worth it! I'm happy!!

COLLECTION

Just received the images from my look book shoot the other day from Alexander Jordan. Model is the wonderful Rose Jocham from Profile. Here are some of the shots! Mixed around some of the garments to show different ways it can be worn like in the first image.

I'll upload some more later but for now i will leave you with these! 

DAZED DIGITAL

So as mentioned in the previous post i will be taking part in the exhibition 'Fish and chips, Twice please!' you can read all about the event on Dazed Digital which includes and interview with its curators Emma Bell and Polona Dolzan. 

The article went online today in which i get my very own little mention! 

...which i was quite excited about...hence the lame circling of my name. Anyway have a little read and if your around the city stop by and check it out for yourself! Here is a link to the Facebook page to find out more info and you can follow the progress of the event on its Twitter Page so check it out everyone! 

VIENNA HERE I COME

I can now officially announce that at the beginning of June i will be taking part in an exhibition titled 'Fish and chips, twice please' in Vienna's Quartier21.

One of the main curator's of the exhibition is friend and designer Emma Bell. The Exhibition will feature many great british talents including Scott Ramsay kyle, Charlie Le Mindu, Louise Gray, Nicholas Kirkwood and many more! I will be presenting my graduate collection in the new designer showcase section the week beginning the 10th of june!

EXCITING!

RANKIN IS SHOOTING MY WORK

Today i had a phone call from my head of year informing me that i have been selected to send away one of my outfits to be photographed by the legendary photographer Rankin! The model Rosie Huntington Whiteley of the Burberry campaign will be wearing my outfit which is also very exciting! Some unis have been selected by Graduate Fashion Week to put forward 3 students work to represent them. The shoot is Written about briefly on Vogue.com...

At the moment this is about all i know! I can't believe i got selected I'm in shock! but so so happy! Also happy that my two friends Jo Graham and Steph Eyre got selected too! The outfit has to be sent away on monday! Luckily its my finished garments! Anyway its getting late and i still have more work to get done tonight so I will end with that news and update with my progress when i have the time! In the meantime heres a couple of his recent ELLE covers...

ANOTHER WEEK

Last week wasnt fun it really was quite shit. Luckily my review went fine although we had to have a metting with our head of year yesterday so she could inform us of how worried she is that we are all so far behind!! Im staying calm though. It will all be done on time. It has to be!

Heres a better picture of the shoulder piece on a stand, the straps will be fastened underneath the arms.

Today i managed to complete another jacket! I feel so relieved that this jacket is finished now! It took so long to make and is most definitely the hardest garment i have ever made. I was on edge sewing this the whole time! My blood sweat and tears went into making this bad boy!

Its quite cute as you can take the front piece off to dress it down more and add a little variety to the wearability of it. I also managed to get a meter of my print onto fabric to make the top which features underneath this jacket which should be whipped up tomorrow! 

This week is a little more positive than last week! I hope it remains that way! Although i can see it going slightly down hill as we do have a project due in on monday which i am yet to start! Nothing like working under pressure!

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON

Thats been the saying of the week i think. Its been a really tough time leading up to this review and i cant even get myself to discuss the printing problems again it would take up my whole blog so far! At least now it is sorted! Half of my stuff is being printed at uni and the rest is being shipped off to some other company who will actually do it in 5 days. So next week i should about have all my fabric.

Heres a sneak peak at one of my small leather jackets / shoulder piece whatever you want to call it. Sewing from hell I tell you. The iphone pic doesn't really do it justice, though thought i would take a quick snap of a bit of it as a little preview as things progress. I managed to nearly finish my more intricate white one today, actually had a break down sewing that beast. Looking good though so it will all be worth it in the end! Its my review 5 tomorrow, not sure how i feel about it. I know its going to go bad as I'm really behind atm due to about a million problems. I just have to be confident and reassure them it will all be fine else i know I'm going to get beaten down! Fun times. 

ONE THING AFTER ANOTHER

Absolutely nothing is going right for me again today, the print I have been waiting god knows how long for was partially put onto fabric and by partially i mean 3 out of the 17 meters! The 3 meters that were  printed were printed wrong as the heated machine was not hot enough leaving faded patches, not a good look. So thats another trip to london to get more fabric. So i have to wait another day to print the rest after the machine has heated up properly! 

My leather jackets are all still in pieces i have to wait for my printed linings to sew them in as the lining has to be caught in with the facings so this holds me up slightly again! The white long sleeved jacket has a slight problem, where the leather has stretched on the top sculptured part of my sleeve the bottom section now does not match, so i have a couple of different options of how to resolve that. Neither of them I particularly want to do but thats what happens when you don't have the time or the money to toile things up again out of the final fabrics which is what they would do with things like this in industry.

So for my review on Friday they are asking for 4 outfits to be complete, thats 4 OUTFITS not garments OUTFITS. The majority of the class are no where near that mark for some reason with prints taking for ever and mishaps here there and everywhere that target is just not going to be met. Iv had little cry's and nearly puked a couple of times today, but i did have some good news! I was informed that I can use the sewing machines in a factory back home over easter which could save my whole degree! yes there is a glimpse of light! Lets hope tomorrow is a better day.

HALF WAY TO HAVING A PRINT

So of course my print wasn't completed. Its quite frustrating at this stage when it is completely out of our hands, having to rely on other technicians and technology isn't very reassuring. The majority was printed onto the paper, but with regular interruptions where the machine decided to run out of ink, or just randomly stop for a break. The paper is now rolled up waiting to go through the dye sub whenever that will be. (hopefully soon)

Running around trying to get my print out onto fabric delayed my sewing and still only bits of my jackets are sewn together, proving to be a very time consuming task. I am however quite happy tonight as i realised we have four weeks until easter, rather than the three i thought we had! Anyway im off to sleep. sleep is very precious at this stage. I am however looking forward to getting in the studio at 8 to carry on sewing my jackets! I'll post the progress at the end of the week.

THE FIRST GARMENT

Today I actually started to sew my final garments. FINALLY. 12 hours and an amazing head ache later i almost have my first jacket/shoulder piece ready for the linings (which WILL be printed tomorrow). It was nerve-wracking sewing the first piece, especially in leather, but I'm pleased with the way its turning out!

With help from the technician the sleeves turned out pretty perfect and hold the shape really well. To achieve this without the bulk from all the seams I lapped the edges which creates a different affect as a finishing.

Its not all there yet but its close! just have to sew the sleeves into the main body and attach the facings and fastenings then it can be sent to the factory for the linings. 

Hopefully i will be able to start the second jacket tomorrow which is a more complicated version of this but in white leather. Then as promised my print will also be produced for the dress that accompanies this cropped jacket. Things are starting to progress. Slowly but surely.