British Designers Collective at Bicester Village

Yesterday I had the amazing opportunity to attend the launch of British Designers Collective at Bicester Village. In its fourth year, the pop up shop features well-known and up and coming British designers. The pieces are curated by Yasmin Sewell (pic 2) and was opened yesterday by the ambassador Rita Ora (pic 1 shows a projection of her accompanying video for the project).
Some of the designers featured this year are the ever so lovely Imogen Belfield ( 3),  Henry Holland (4) and Nicholas Kirkwood (5).
If you go to Bicester Village (designer outlet shops) it'd be rude not to shop. I've been quite good and only bought this Kate Spade toiletries bag this time, but planning a proper shopping session soon.

 

Have a stylish day.

The magic dress and Online Fashion Week

Happy news fellow shopaholic fashionistas! Vogue magazine is organising Online Fashion Week from Monday to Friday Dec 5-9th and it's not to be missed! Countless of retailers will be offering exclusive collections, discounts, there will even be competitions! Expect online debates with industry experts and much more. Read the whole schedule here, although there are still more deals and surprises to be announced. As exciting as it sounds, the best news about it is, it's all in the name of a charity and hopefully we can all raise loads of money together.
Most deals still remain mystery, but I can tell you now, you'll get a chance to win a "Magic dress" by Young British Designers. More details how will follow but I'm already intrigued. They've been asking on Twitter what would your magic dress do and my first reaction was, it would be designed by Z-mode. YBD are a great on-line platform for emerging designers, supporting new talent. I have written about quite a few of their designers already including Imogen Belfield, Lucy Hutchings and most recently Lako Bukia and will definitely write about more. If you're not familiar with the site make sure you check it out. As if you need extra reason, but they are offering 25% off dresses until Dec 4th! Hurry as this is a great offer.
And now back to Z-Mode. I met Victoria Rangayah who launched the label for SS 11 at London Fashion Week and she is so sweet. Most importantly she is really hard-working and talented, which recently paid off as she's been shortlisted for Fashion Scout. I honestly wish her best of luck with that. I will tell you more about her soon and will be bringing interview too. For now to give you an idea how pretty her dresses are I've included couple of pictures. The one shouldered piece I saw Zoe Hardman wearing at a fashion show and it looked stunning and the dark blue Cloud9 dress is a star on it's on. It's been featured in OK magazine and have been very popular with generally. I'm not surprised. You can buy both at YBD here.
Now just a question to be asked. What would your Magic dress be/do?

Introducing: Imogen Belfield - the interview!

You may remember Imogen Belfield from my jewelled Wednesday post. This young lady caused quite a stir at London Fashion Week with her amazing collection and was named by Vogue.com as best new talent. I fell in love with her jewellery instantly. She creates stand out, statement pieces, that everyone should include in their accessories collection. I was lucky to meet this talented girl and she agreed to answer few questions for me. I'm happy to be bringing you this exclusive interview today. Make sure you remember her name as I expect we will be hearing a lot about her!

First of all tell me what you've been up to since Fashion Weeks? How was Paris?
Fashion week was amazing, and to show at London and Paris for the first was an incredible experience. We had an amazing write up by Vogue.com, naming our jewellery collection as best new talents from fashion week. Since Paris 2 weeks ago it has been non-stop.

I was showing with Vauxhall Fashion Scout in both Paris and London, and it was incredible to be sitting alongside such talented and some very established designers.


What are your plans/goals for the future of your brand?
I'm already planning my next collection, with ideas whizzing around my head...so watch this space!!!
Future goals and plans for my business are just to keep growing, and expanding. I am still very new to the industry so I am learning all the time, and am lucky to work with some incredible people who have already offered amazing advice and help.


What inspires you/keeps you motivated?
What inspires me,
Countryside, space, sunshine, architecture and landscape...
Everyday something new and exciting happens, that's enough to be motivated, I am very excited about how everything is evolving with the business.


What are your favourite trends for summer?
Gold tones, layered and stacked jewellery, geometric patterns and form would be my key trends for spring summer.

Have you got any role model and who?
There are a lot of designers I admire, Shaun Leane's collections never cease to amaze.


And last what's next for Imogen Belfield?
Next up is to develop my collection, you may be seeing some larger sculptural pieces in the next seasons collections! And of course lots of raw stones and gems....

Thanks for answering my questions and good luck with everything.
Have a stylish day.

Jewelled Wednesday - Imogen Belfield

When I attended London Fashion Week, I've come across a very talented designer, who's jewellery is simply stunning!  Imogen Belfield not only makes great accessories, she is a very nice person too. It was really nice talking to her and I'm hoping to bring you an interview soon. She also promised to send me her AW'11 lookbook and I can tell you now, you're going to love the pieces. She likes experimenting with all different materials, including metals, gemstones, porcelain the list goes on. Her aim is to create pieces that are bold yet subtle, modern yet classic. I love! Here are few rings from her SS'11 collection available at youngbritishdesigners.com, see more here.
Have a stylish day.