Work experience with Zandra Rhodes

I was lucky enough to gain work experience at Zandra Rhodes print studio in London.  Her studio sits above The Fashion and Textile Museum and is where all her creations happen.  I worked within the studio for two days amongst the print designers and the pattern cutting designers and it was such a surreal experience!  It was the first time I had experienced working within a fashion atmosphere and it was so exciting.  Zandra is still very hands on with her studio and likes to work amongst everybody as well as meeting with clients to discuss private orders.
Whilst I was there I dealt with phone calls, organised post and invitations to events as well as helping out with whatever they needed me to do.  Unfortunately I could not work within the print studio because other interns were in there doing their two month placements.  But I still got to see the end results of the screen printing, as well as results of digital print designs.
I loved the layout of the studio; there is a big pattern cutting room one end and a big design room the other end.  Each room is filled to the brim with Zandra's old designs and pieces from previous collections, there are splashes of colour everywhere and boxes overspilling with hair pieces and anything brightly coloured.  The print room is filled with lots of different screens which house every single hand painted print Zandra has ever designed, the screens are only ever exposed once so once it has been used it stays there forever.  It was fascinating!

One of the days I had the privilege to be Zandra's model for her new Spring/Summer 2013 collection which is showing at a fashion show in Gibraltar at the beginning of October.  I spent four hours in her penthouse trying on the new collection so that Zandra could style each look and see which pieces were going to be worn together and what should open and close the show.  She also organised what jewellery, glasses and head pieces compliment each outfit.  This was such a great experience and something that I only could have dreamt of!  The new collection is amazing and the colours, fabrics and textures are so exciting...you will have to watch this space to find out which pieces made it into the Spring/Summer collection!!

Even though I was only there for a short amount of time, I learnt so much about the industry and how busy the studio can be!  I also took some of my own textile work with me to show Zandra and she spoke to me about it and gave me her opinion on what she thinks works well and how to improve the hand printed effect.  This was amazing and such a once in a life time opportunity!  I am hoping to go back there next summer to do the print internship for two months.  

Here are some pieces from her Autumn/ Winter 2012 Collection:

I love the colours within this collection.  The prints are gorgeous, so vivid and eye catching!

Images source: http://www.zandrarhodes.com/collection_2012_autumnwinter.html

http://nowfashion.com/29-02-2012-zandra-rhodes-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2012-paris-show-1810.html

Work Experience at The Fashion & Textile Museum

Last week I did two days work experience at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London.  I love this museum, it is small but quirky and as it only exhibits one show at a time there is a relaxing atmosphere and you can take your time to look around properly without getting distracted by other things.  As well as having an exciting shop where you can purchase design books and unique gifts it has a great cafe with lovely cakes!  Whilst I was there the 'POP! Design . Culture . Fashion' exhibition was running.  It was so interesting and inspiring to be surrounded by such a great collection of things each day.
Whilst working behind the scenes of the museum, I experienced lots of exciting things.  I got to unpack and sort out a suitcase of vintage couture garments for the upcoming exhibition 'Hartnell to Amies: Couture by Royal Appointment.'  This exhibition runs from 16th November 2012-23rd February 2013 and 'celebrates the timeless elegance of London couture and explores how the Queen's patronage of ground breaking British designers helped put London on the international fashion map after the Second World War.' 

Image sourced: http://www.ftmlondon.org/exhibitions/future/detail/?ID=77

Once I unpacked the garments, I photographed them for the reference file in the museum.  This involved me handling each garment carefully and then placing it on the mannequin and photographing it from each angle to show the condition it arrived in.  This was so exciting to do!!  There was a wide selection of garments from tweed two piece suits to satin, pleated opera coats to exquisite ballgowns.  It was fascinating to think what the story was behind each piece; who wore it and for what occasion!  Some of the garments were so tiny I struggled to fit them onto the small mannequin!  

A few sneak peaks of my favourite garments...

This gorgeous ball gown was one
of my favourite pieces, the pleating and
little pin tucks on the bodice are lovely.

Another lovely ballgown with a full skirt.
This one has such a luxurious feel to it and the
design is quite structured which is interesting, especially the neckline.

This was one of my favourite two
piece suits from the collection.  The
tailoring of the jacket is so flattering for
the figure and the contrast of the velvet collar with
the silk fabric looks so nice.

A couple of samples of embroidery from the
garments.  The design detail on both is amazing and
quite inspiring for me as I love creating textures
through embroidery.

 Overall the two days were a great experience.  It was interesting to be behind the scenes of the museum and see how everything is organised and run such as the study groups as well as press releases for upcoming events.

Orla Kiely Collaboration with Uniqlo

On Thursday 6th September I went to London's Fashion Night Out with my friend.  We didn't really know what to expect from it as it is based all over London, not just in one section.  However we stuck to Covent Garden and then made our way onto Oxford Street.  The atmosphere around was buzzing with music, free champagne and goodie bags.
We had heard that the shop Uniqlo was hosting a big night of fashion including a collaboration with the famous textile designer Orla Kiely.  She would be there doing a signing and an opportunity to purchase pieces from the Autumn/Winter 2012 collection.  As we both love Orla Kiely's designs we decided to go and have a look, not really knowing what to expect.

We were not disappointed! Once we were in the shop we saw the huge queue for the signings, but we decided to bypass this and head straight for the collection.  It was amazing! As you would expect there was a lot of people there trying to buy their favourite pieces, the atmosphere was bustling, everyone was excited to see what they could buy.

There were cute little dresses with peter pan collars, loose tunics, hoodies, long sleeved tops and scarves.  There was a real retro feel to the designs, inspired by the sixties era.  The prints and colours were gorgeous and included small floral and ditsy repeat prints as well as the well known repeat prints of Orla Kiely.  I purchased a few pieces for my winter wardrobe which I cannot wait to wear! 

Little bouquet of flowers and Orla Kiely postcards from the free goodie bag!

Orla Kiely doing the signings..

Here is a small snippet of an interview I found from Grazia magazine with Orla Kiely about her collaboration with Uniqlo:

Grazia Daily: What made you collaborate with Uniqlo again?
 
Orla Kiely: After such a successful collection for SS'12 I was really happy to do another collection with Uniqlo. I really admire their philosophy and classic style but also their attention to good quality materials. The price is great and it definitely feels like the ‘less is more’ approach to styling which is very modern.
I love the Japanese aesthetic and so it has been great collaborating with such a popular and cool brand.

Grazia Daily: What is it you love about Uniqlo?
 
Orla Kiely: Uniqlo is quite a unique brand. You rarely see such a focus on quality in high street retailers now, and I think UNIQLO own this market. Their prices make the quality accessible. I was delighted when they approached me because it was an opportunity for our brand to be seen and appreciated by a wider audience. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.’
 
Grazia Daily: What is your inspiration behind the collection?
 
Orla Kiely: I was excited about doing a collection for Fall/Winter this time as I wanted it to feel very different to the last season. We were really keen to introduce some new shapes that had the 60s vibe yet were still in keeping with the Uniqlo aesthetic. I think they look great.
  
Grazia Daily: What is your favourite print and piece in the collection?
 
Orla Kiely: I love the scarves for Fall/Winter as they are such a great quality and the prints look fantastic on them, especially the Acorn Cup print. Something that I always try to do in my collection is combine large scale prints alongside the more ditsy prints and this was equally important for this collaboration with Uniqlo. I also love the cute jersey dresses.

sourced on 22/9/12 from: http://www.graziadaily.co.uk/fashion/archive/2012/08/17/orla-kielys-second-collection-for-uniqlo-is-coming-watch-this-fab-video-in-antic.htm

I have discovered Pinterest!!

A while ago I signed up to Pinterest but I never had the time to create anything myself until now.... It's safe to say that I am addicted already...I love it! I haven't been able to stop looking at it and spent quite a few hours of yesterday (and into the early morning)  creating my boards.  I think it is a great way to source pictures, colours and inspiration for future projects as well as browse and come across new and unique ideas! 

For example, whilst browsing through many pictures of cake (one of my other passions apart from textiles!), I found this...A rainbow cake!  I had never even thought of doing this until now, it looks yummy as well as pretty so I think that I will have to try and give this a go at some point!

Image sourced:

http://pinterest.com/source/blog.notonthehighstreet.com/

Take a look at my Pinterest 

http://pinterest.com/anirose1/