I have always been a fan of  Aimee McWilliams. She’s very cute, with huge eyes, and the first time I met her she was wearing a long patent leather and fur coat – naturally one of her  own designs – she looked amazing and you just wanted to know more about her.

Aimee graduated from Central Saint Martin’s School of Art and Design, winning the award for the best collection. She then set up her own label, and went on to win the Designer of the Year Award at the Scottish Style Awards in 2007. Aimee decided to turn down jobs at leading fashion houses in Paris and Milan such as Cavalli, John Galliano and Gianfranco Ferre to set up her own label.

Aimee McWilliams has been commissioned to design a collection for Guoman Hotels.The collection was intended to communicate the individual style, character and history of the four hotels which currently form the Guoman collection.

Each garment has been inspired by the luxurious interiors and heritage of the hotels and all will be exhibited in The Cumberland Hotel’s lobby until the end of June. They will then be auctioned for charity, proceeds of which will go to Help for Heroes, Guoman Hotels’ chosen charity.

[photo credit Davide Cernuschi]

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Vauxhall Fashion Scout seeks young, creative designers to showcase with London’s largest independent catwalk event.

Vauxhall Fashion Scout has been a great venue for designers to show case their talent. You don’t just have support for your show but they also offer you year round support with fashion lectures and workshops. Toni & Guy have been doing the hair so you have a professional hair stylist to advise you and most of the team have done dozens of shows. Benefit Cosmetics have been the make-up sponsor and the AOFL can provide a strong make up team. VFS even has dressers backstage for the shows!

This September Vauxhall Fashion Scout will be held in a new wonderful location, yet to be revealed!

Now in its seventh season, Vauxhall Fashion Scout has gone from strength to strength. Last season they had 22 shows featuring 27 designers, and they hosted virtually half of all off-schedule shows and presentations. It’s the place to be seen for new emerging talent.

Last season’s designers included William Tempest (Merit Award winner), Harriet’s Muse, Cooperative Designs, Emma Bell, Louise Amstrup, Alexandra Groover and Horace.

Designers are also able to apply for the high profile ‘Merit Award‘ or to be part of the ‘Ones To Watch‘ show. Both of these shows were launched last season, adding to Vauxhall Fashion Scout’s credentials.

To request an application form please contact info@vauxhallfashionscout.com
Applications close on 19th June 2009!

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Ok, as well as being a celebrity addict I’m also a little bit of a magpie. Ok, I’m a total magpie; if something shines off a reflective surface well, it just has to be mine.

So you can imagine my delight when I went to see Miss Beyonce Knowles at the O2 Arena in London. Her voice blew me away, the dancers, well they were great too but the best thing of all was the sparkle and shine.

Such an abundance of sequins and diamantes I was in my element – at one point I felt like I needed to put my shades on to protect my eyes. But I wasn’t complaining!

At one point the diva shot up from the stage in a 40ft Thierry Mugler gold lamé dress and sparkly shoes and flown across the room to an island mini-stage, it was a stunning show and the cheers just kept on coming. (she had a tendency to lap it up for a little too long though and at one point I’m sure there were crocodile faux tears)

  Word has it that Thierry Mugler, Creative Director of the costume and set design was influenced by female warrior costumes – that explains the sharp-edged bodices, scary space-age metal gloves, spikes, bodysuits and sparkle (oh, the sparkle).

I’ve never been a huge fan of Beyonce’s civilian clothes; her shoes, they’re a bit too Mariah Carey style for my liking, and her clothes well, they always looked like her mum Tina had made them (which she did, didn’t she?)

But lately, she’s looking ab fab. She’s the only celebrity I’ve seen that has made a Balmain shoulder jacket look wearable, and dare I say it? Comfortable. She’s still wearing the sky-high Mariah platforms but now that’s just one more thing I admire about her. You go girl!

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New York, New York – they say a city soooo good they named it twice!
Now you may say that I’m a little biased being originally from NYC but  you have to admit there is something very magical about this place.  I just turned down the street one day on my recent NYC visit , and I casually notice white fake fluffy snow on the ground as they were shooting winter scenes for some film or TV show. I like good customer service and NYC is a service industry town with a smile. I just love the creative flair and that little bit extra you can get like Astor place’s barbers where they do Karaoke with your haircut! Yes in NYC there is a buzz.

I would say magical is definitely the feeling I have while enjoying a NYC shopping experience  – magically the cloths appear cheaper and the UK pound stretches far. I always get a twinkle in my eye and a spring in my step when I know I can hop on the R or N subway downtown to Prince/ Spring streets off Broadway. This little area in NYC’s Soho (short for south of Houston St) is a wonderwall of makeup meccas. MAC, Shu Umera, Face Stockholm, Makeup Forever all have flagship stores in a small walking radius from Broadway to West Broadway but my favourite store has to be Ricky’s. Makeup Artists, tourist junkies, teenage girls & the odd transvestie all love this little haven of professional and non- professional beauty items. Fake lashes, vibrating mascara brushes, interesting beauty tools, makeup bags, wigs of every size & shape, glitter in every colour and my absolute favourite Matisse NY day-glow nail polishes all are for sale here.

There are Ricky’s stores all over NYC but my favourite has to be the one in Soho, maybe cause it reminds me of my pre-teenage years where I use to cut school and pop in for a quick fix of the beautiful and the strange.

Next stop on my magical mystery tour of NYC is Bumble and Bumble Hair salon and hairdressing institute on, I’ve turned my own mother onto this place for her cut and colour and she now won’t go anywhere else.

The hairdresser I would suggest to see if you are desiring a sharp, chic new haircut is Nikki. She’s not only a talented stylist but is one of B & B’s trainers at the institute. Nikki has an absolute wicked sense of humour too so you get a dose of fun with your cut. Now most who know a thing or  two about hair would know the name Bumble and Bumble as they have some wonderful hair products. I personally am in love with their Do It Day Hairspray in the blue container. It’s light and not sticky and great if you want a little control on hair that’s just blow dried.

Oh and you can’t swing a cat in Manhattan without hitting a Sephora store – check out their own brand of beauty tools and products. I picked up a pair of heated eyelashes curlers and a few of their makeup brushes to test. There is one on Broadway between Spring and Prince Streets in Soho too.

Duane Reade is kind of like the UK’s Boot’s – pop in for super cheap false lashes a quarter of the price of what you’d pay in the UK,. I always get strange looks from the cashier when I bring about 40 pairs to the counter. They must think I’m either running a beauty pageant or working at a New York transvestite convention!

They also sell Wet & Wild Cosmetics – they cost between .99 cents and $1.99 and they do great lip glosses.

If you need a quick bite to eat when downtown may I suggest one of my favourite hole in the wall pizza places to get a traditional NYC big slice-Ben’s Pizza on the corner of MacDougal St. Cheap and cheerful!

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The Sew What? Graduate Fashion Show began at 8am on Thursday 21st May with lorries arriving at The Albert Hall, Nottingham containing our final garments. The next few hours were spent setting up clothes rails backstage and organising for what was to be a very busy 2 days taking in 4 full length shows. Following this we than had a 15 minute fitting with 6 professional models to show the dressers (which were first year fashion students) how our garments were worn. The tutors then checked everything and decided the running order.

The backstage area was extremely busy with 30 models a dresser for each and hair and make-up artists.

The first show started at 3.30pm, with the product exhibition opening for the guests an hour beforehand.

When my collection walked to my chosen track, Army of Me by Bjork it felt really good to see all my hard work come together and I was really pleased!!

Following the evening performance we all headed down to a cool bar called Tonic where we sipped on cocktails from a menu custom designed by Sew What? fashion students.

Friday saw this happen all again, which proved to be an extremely exhausting, yet satisfying 2 days.

Here is my final collection:

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