Back stage is always bustling with excitement and Karen Brost’s show was no exception. Rachel Wood of Benefit did the make -up and Yan Przemy from Toni and Guy did the hair. I’ve worked with both of these people before which is important because you really need to trust & have confidence in your team! We had 10 models for 30 looks which is quite typical. Every show would like more models but you always have to consider your budget. There were a couple of quick changes but the dressers were fast and did a great job. Everyone is under quite a bit of pressure because of the time constraints, we had several models coming from other shows but several of our models were even early! In the end as it always does (and only because you’ve put in all the prep time) everything comes together and the girls looked great. I’ll post some images tomorrow!

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London is a great city for lingerie, there are so many styles and it’s all quite playful. I went to the Playful Promises Press Day; they were featuring their own lingerie Playful Promises, Kiss Me Deadly and Fairy Goth Mother. Kiss me Deadly has great vintage/retro inspired pieces. Their garter belt straps are just a little wider making them not only more practical but quite sexy. Lulu and Lush is a new label created by Fairy Goth Mother – they have a shop in Spitafield market and they were showing off some very girly filly knickers! Playful Promises who also sells in Top Shop has a selection of zodiac satin knickers and some great swimwear covers ups.

What is lingerie without cake? These girls looked great; they are from Betty Blythe Fine Food Pantry. I love there matching black and white dresses!

And a little burlesque dancing to accompany an afternoon tea! I really like garter belts and love them for shoots but it’s not something I tend to wear in everyday life. I have a friend who prefers hold ups to tights and on occasion she adds a garter belt so they don’t fall down. A garter belt is one of those very sexy and functional accessories.

At this event there was a table full of tempting ribbons, bows, feathers, lace and lots of great haberdashery. You could sit and customize a waist cincher, garter belt or frilly knickers – how fun! Customization has become so important in fashion. Adding a bow or a ribbon here or there can really make your garment unique and special. Stylist spend quite a bit of time customizing garments for shoots and videos. I also like to over dye things. Do you ever customize your own clothing?

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I want all of these outfits!!

Susanne Ostwald from Leipzig, Germany and Ingvar Helgason from Reykjavik, Iceland are the duo behind Ostwald Helgason. I love Leipzig – it’s such a cool city and the number of hair salons is astounding. I love Iceland too, there are so many interesting designers coming out of Iceland at the moment. It only makes sense that these two designers would do something impressive together.

Anyway back to these clothes!! The are so interesting and eclectic but so wearable. I’m not a girl who changes clothes to go out at night – a one dress a day girl – and these looks would be so great!

Are you practical shopper or impulse buyer? How do you shop?

Stockist:
Kokon Tozai
57 Greek Street
London – W1D 3DX

Beyond The Valley
2 Newburgh Street
London – W1F 7RD

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I’ve spent the past couple of days looking at models. It’s so hard to find the perfect model – it’s all about casting and the right model is 80% of the work.

Summer is slow so everyone’s away. But really there are so many talented models. It can be really hard for a new designer to chose – who is going to be the face of their brand, is this face is going to sell the collection? It’s a lot of responsibility & pressure for a model. There are other things that influence your casting: the brief, the budget and scheduling. The model booker can make a huge difference; they’re usually quick and can send you a selection of models within minutes and if someone you like isn’t available they might be able to recommend someone else.

I’m always choosing models as part of team decision. It’s quite fun to chose a model for ones own project. When I did my fashion talk at the Barbican I wanted to have a model. I think it’s difficult for a model to stand in front of a live audiences and be comfortable.

Alys Hale from Storm Models was perfect, she looked great in the clothes and she was really fun and personable. People always think it’s just about how the model looks but her personality and attitude really count!

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One of the reasons I like fashion is it’s supposed to be pretty, creative, fun and over all very pleasant but sometimes the business of fashion is very very ugly. Too many people are always trying to get the most for the least amount of money and everyone else thinks they’re just good business people but really they’re just greedy. I always hope that what goes around comes around.

Sometimes a brand knows that their workers are being exploited and sometimes they don’t. It’s all about numbers; if you know your factory can make 150 000 garments per week with overtime but you are asking them for 200 000 it’s evident that some of those 50 000 garments will be outsourced – your demands are greater than your factory’s capacity.

According to the New York Times and New York State Department of Labor a factory in New York, Queens – Jin Shun Incorporated, operating under the name Garlee NY Inc cheated it’s 100+ employees out of $5.3 million USD. The factory had signed the retailer codes of conduct to comply with the law but they coached their employees to lie to inspectors, had more then one time card per employee and falsify records. Some Employees worked 120 days in a row and were paid $250 for a typical 66-hour, six day work week, amounting to $3.79 an hour,  $7.15-an-hour is the state minimum wage. Many of the employees were Chinese immigrants.

It’s hard to know where one’s responsibility starts and ends. Is it the retailers job to enforce the codes of conducts, or is it the Labour Department. Who should do the monitoring? Is anyone ultimately responsible?

You don’t have to go to a developing country to be exploited and live in poverty.

Source: Fashion Lawyer, New York Times, New York State Department of Labor

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