if only.....

Read today about the annual Graduate Preview Day which provides member colleges from the British Fashion Council Colleges Council (wow that's hard to say....) with the opportunity to showcase their graduating students’ work to industry professionals, what an oppurtunity. The 27 exhibiting colleges submitted portfolios to be judged by a panel of industry experts. The event was hosted at The May Fair hotel in London and was judged by;

Chair of the Colleges Council Anne Tyrrell // Hannah White, Editor of Fashion Monitor // Lauretta Roberts, Digital Development Director of WGSN // Nick Chalkley, General Merchandise Manager of Harrods // and Caroline Burstein, Creative Director of Browns.

The initiative, set up as part of the British Fashion Council's bid to support young emerging talent is a brilliant way to showcase your work on a more professional platform away from the more commercial Graduate Fashion Week and mingle on a smaller scale with big names within the industry.

Here are some photos from the day.......

Lauretta Roberts (WGSN), Nick Chalkley (Harrods), Hannah White (Fashion Monitor), Anne Tyrrell, Caroline Burstein

the future of design

Ok so i could be bias...but these are designs from some of my lovely friends. And i think they're pretty faB. Firstly, mills.. now i've only known laura for a year now & i hate to say it but she's pretty talented. Generally anything you throw at her she will nail. 

Laura Mills

Jennifer Glenton

Fiona Perkins

Paris Hawkins-Carr

we supoport emerging talent

Whilst browsing the internet, trying to distract from work & my impending deadline i came across Topshops new link to emerging talent; expanding on their support for young British designers as sponsors of the British Fashion Councils 'NewGen' initiative. Using topshop.com as a portal for the designers, posting information, images and links to each showcasing designer.

Felicity Brown

Peter Pilotto





oversized silhouettes

On a trip to London this week i visited the Yohji Yamamoto exhibition at the V&A, a retrospective of the work of visionary Japanese fashion designer. 


Prior to the exhibition i was not an expert on his life history, but i instantly understood his meaning and philosophy. I loved the volume, adventurous shapes, bold colours, texture and the integration of basic clothing into art. Yamamoto is known for an avant-garde spirit in his clothing, frequently creating designs far removed from current trends. His signature oversized silhouettes in black often feature drapery in varying textures. The exhibition comes 30 years after his London Fashion Week debut and celebrates his lifes work.

In 2008, the Yohji Yamamoto Fund for Peace (YYFP) was established in conjunction with the China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development (CFFPD). The aim of the fund was to help the new generation of design and develop China's fashion industry. Whilst trying to help heal the long-standing enmity between China and Japan. Each year, an emerging Chinese designer will be awarded with a two-year scholarship to a fashion college in Japan or Europe, and a male or female Chinese fashion model will be selected to make a runway debut during the Paris pret-a-porter season.

Love this!

hammerson fashion innovation award.. ok then

Got an exciting email of my tutor today ...not the usual room changes or presentation times that i have come to constantly expect when i look at my emails. No, today i had been put forward for the Hammerson Fashion Innovation award at Graduate Fashion Week!
My dissertation; (which i still don't have the marks for) is to be sent of to judges along with three other students from my university, the winner will be announced during GFW and will win £750.....that would be nice.

Fingers crossed. x

washed up in the wonder room

Whilst at work yesterday, a busy saturday on womenswear - top floor it was hard not to miss the stream of half naked men dressed up as scuba divers - chanting, girls following in tiny shorts with large plaques in tow, what was it all about? Project Ocean. Selfridges's new quest to help highlight a huge environmental issue that will impact on us all if we don't change soon. Millions rely on fish a source of both food and income, eating freely with little consideration as to the impact it is having on our environment. 


Selfridges have launched a massive campaign to increase awareness of the issue over-fishing, inspiring change and raising funds... basically they are aiming to.. 'save the sea', as Katherine Hamnett's slogan t's so simply put it! In Oxford Street, a window display challenges the public to imagine a world with no more fish in the sea. 

From 11th May- 12th of June there will be a host of activities - both fun and serious - highlighting the issues, delivered by members of the marine conservation community and like-minded celebrities, artists, musicians, designers and chefs.

Elle McPherson

The window display plays host to a unique exhibition 'washed up'... renowned curator Judith Clark has created an oncean-inspired works of art from the world of fashion. Designers Philip Treacy, Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan. 

Hussein Chalayan

Philip Treacy

j'adore paris

2 out of 4

As i said previously i was lucky enough to carry out a placement with south-african born designer Jacob Kimmie. The placement began as part of a university module in industry and i was asked to continue on working on two following fashion weeks.

So my initial fashion week intern experience took me to London Fashion Week & was then taken to Paris to act as marketing assistant for the brand. Amazing. Being in Paris during fashion week - unbelievable, actually being a part of it - invaluable. 

Jacob Kimmie was showing at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Zip Zone Louvre, his collection was shown alongside various other emerging designers; Alice Palmer, Yan To and Viking Wong. Liaising with buyers, networking with other designers and promoting the Jacob Kimmie brand.

oscar goes to central st martins

I met Laura over a year ago now, we were both doing a placement in Birmingham for designer Jacob Kimmie, she covered design & i was assisting with PR. Friendly, loud, bubbly & very good at everything she did. (i do hope she doesn't read this)! I loved working with her, & miss her very much...

laura mills...

some of her work

to shop for a living?

Today i applied for my first REAL job..a little late you might think but up until recently i had planned to travel around India for 3 months before stepping into the big world - but for one reason or another this will now not be happening. As this trip is now cancelled/or perhaps hopefully just postponed i am like so many others ........job hunting! Scary prospect, so i started of with something i'm familiar with, shoes. I applied for a BAA (buyers admin assistant) for Kurt Geiger; the luxury British shoe brand. Having worked for the brand as a sales assistant in Selfridges i figured it would perhaps be a convenient way to step into buying. I've always had an interest in buying, but recently i've been stumbling down the fashion PR route, so i felt applying for this would provide a bit of variety. I mean who wouldn't want to buy shoes for a living?

Kurt Geiger SS11...

joe corre's fashion show

Whilst thinking about fresh, individual & unique fashion shows it was hard for me not to think back to my feb 2011 london fashion week experience. If interning for Vauxhall Fashion Scout & watching all the shows there during the week wasnt enough i was selected to help with front of house for Joe Corre's fashion show in Shoreditch.......errrrrr yes please! The show was held above his shop (A Child of Jago), in what is known as Shoreditch warehouse, i walked into the simplistic, edgy, brick structured space, watching whilst people set up the 'bar' on basic tables with sheets over them & wandered over to the few wood benches to get briefed on the nights show. Sounds basic but the space was already filled with so much atmosphere, such a perfect venue. The show itself was simple and edgy, a host of male models walking along tables covered in white cloth - the crowd (almost concert like) all crammed in for maximum attendance, with 2 small rows for VIPs. A catwalk that couldn't be further away from the glitz of Chanel or Dior.

the big idea...

Ah, my dissertation. Must say i am a little bit sick of the words; emerging/initiative/inspiring/innovative right now, having researched into emerging fashion designers for the last 8 months. But my disseration is finally written, all 12,000 words, bound and waiting to be marked. Scary!

So, the idea. Told to think about what aspects of the fashion industry interest and excite us, i sat endlessly brain storming concepts.. initially not having much luck. Knowing i would be spending the next year analysing this area was quite daunting for me & i struggled to pin point something that would hold my interest for that long. It wasn't until my dad suggested i base my initial research around my recent placement. (For the last few years i've spent my time interning for designer Jacob Kimmie & emerging design initiative Vauxhall Fashion Scout). He told me to concentrate less on the end result & focus more on my own experience, drawing upon what i felt about fashion week. So i did....

My dissertation looks into the lack of business skills amongst fashion design students currently graduating from university. A host of incredibly talented and innovative designers ill-equipped to start up their own design company. Having friends currently experiencing this problem was perfect inspiration & their feedback helped me to provide solutions. 

The concept is to establish an initiative that promotes and nurtures emerging designers upon graduation. The business (Fashion Frontier) will hold an annual fashion event at the forefront, alongside a yearlong mentoring scheme for participating designers. Providing an opportunity for design graduates to present their collections to an audience of industry specialists during London Fashion Week. The scheme will act as a network and community for young designers to interact with one another and receive the guidance they needed to start their businesses. The lack of business skills among smaller fashion businesses results in the closure of numerous start-ups before they have an opportunity to become reputable.