It’s getting scarily close, this Christmas malarkey. And I bet that if you are anything like me you’ve done very little about actually getting or making any presents for your loved ones. Well, help is on hand – over the next few weeks I’ll be rounding up some of my favourite things. First up some bits of gorgeous jewellery and headwear.
Rosie Wonders is an old friend of mine who started out creating gorgeous handmade cards. Since then her range has expanded hugely and I was delighted to find these gorgeous new enamelled Dala Horse necklaces when I visited her recently at her Sunday Upmarket stall on Brick Lane. Think gloriously big, bright and chunky: a real statement piece. Rosie Wonders is offering 15% off orders over £50 online this weekend and free delivery on orders over £25.
Eclectic Eccentricity‘s Lucy Crick makes gorgeous upcycled jewels from bits which she scours from antique markets. I particularly like theCottontail Hare Necklace, with a glass pearl for the tail on a bouncing hare. All her jewellery comes beautifully boxed and ready to give as Christmas pressies.
Emma Ware is a fabulous eco designer who is featured in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration. Since I discovered her she has gone from strength to strength and when I caught up with her at the East London Design Show I was pleased to discover that she now stocks her unique jewellery in stores worldwide. Created out of old bicycle tyre rubber, her clever pieces are quite unlike anything else.
Spirithoods are a bigger brand than most featured here, but oh boy do I love their furry hoods – I tried one of these on for size at a recent press day and was instantly smitten. They are quite pricey, but absolutely the bees knees when it comes to hats with ears. Snuggly perfection.
Ridley and Dowse are a Brighton based duo. Their innovative jewellery features large bold geometric designs that work especially well in semi precious metals such as brass and steel. I love this Quadra necklace (I do like necklaces, so it would seem).
Time for a further round up of Christmas goodies; all things print, interiors, hand made and wonderful. Don’t panic, there is still time to do a bit of Christmas shopping… for most online companies the last Christmas posting date is Monday 19th December.
I discovered the work of Anissa Lee on twitter, and was instantly drawn to her bold paper cutouts, particularly this amazing monochrome Christmas wreath. Very unique and eye-catching.
Or how about this one: Disembodied Lady 4 illustrates the case of a lady who lost all sense of proprioception (a sense of self). A bargain at £14.99.
For the wood enthusiast in your life how about this fab piece from Tom Frost at Soma Gallery? The Dead Wrestler has been silk screened onto a chunky wooden base, making it a 3D artwork unlike any other.
They’re completely daft but I am utterly in love with handmade Christmas jumpers from Woolly Babs, as sold at the Duckie Christmas Market by her son, shown here with a dog in a doggie jumper. I mean, what’s not to love? The nose on the reindeer even squeaks. Woolly Babs also sells festive jumpers to suit your kids… and you.
For art and design lovers Landfill Editions have just released their second edition of Mould Map, and it’s a technicoloured glory: just check out this beauty. Artists have been asked to imagine a distant future which is splattered across a 24 page A3 mega book with 7 feature prints. Some of my favourite illustrators are featured, including Sister Arrow and Rui Tenreiro.
Illustrator Petra Borner produces the most fantastic decorative illustrations and now you have the chance to own a piece. Hop on over to her shop for a bit of the action: I particularly love this intriguingly coloured piece: Thistlesnake.
Time for a further round up of Christmas goodies; all things print, interiors, hand made and wonderful. Don’t panic, there is still time to do a bit of Christmas shopping… for most online companies the last Christmas posting date is Monday 19th December.
I discovered the work of Anissa Lee on twitter, and was instantly drawn to her bold paper cutouts, particularly this amazing monochrome Christmas wreath. Very unique and eye-catching.
Or how about this one: Disembodied Lady 4 illustrates the case of a lady who lost all sense of proprioception (a sense of self). A bargain at £14.99.
For the wood enthusiast in your life how about this fab piece from Tom Frost at Soma Gallery? The Dead Wrestler has been silk screened onto a chunky wooden base, making it a 3D artwork unlike any other.
They’re completely daft but I am utterly in love with handmade Christmas jumpers from Woolly Babs, as sold at the Duckie Christmas Market by her son, shown here with a dog in a doggie jumper. I mean, what’s not to love? The nose on the reindeer even squeaks. Woolly Babs also sells festive jumpers to suit your kids… and you.
For art and design lovers Landfill Editions have just released their second edition of Mould Map, and it’s a technicoloured glory: just check out this beauty. Artists have been asked to imagine a distant future which is splattered across a 24 page A3 mega book with 7 feature prints. Some of my favourite illustrators are featured, including Sister Arrow and Rui Tenreiro.
Illustrator Petra Borner produces the most fantastic decorative illustrations and now you have the chance to own a piece. Hop on over to her shop for a bit of the action: I particularly love this intriguingly coloured piece: Thistlesnake.
A couple of days ago *ahem, pricemedications more like a week* I put a callout on twitter for people to send me their fabulous ideas for Christmas presents – here, finally is a round up of the best clothing and skincare gifts alongside some of my own recommendations. My second post will cover art, homewares and jewellery.
Lee May Foster of Bonbi Forest never fails to produce delightful stuff, my current favourite of which is this stunning Equus scarf, new just in time for Crimbo. It comes in either a pink or blue colour way and will certainly catch people’s attention with it’s lovely sustainably handprinted pattern of horses and zebras.
At the upper end of the market check out this rabbit skeleton organic cotton hankie from Natalie Rae Richardson at Tout Nouveau, a website which offers the work of some fantastic emerging designers – perfect for a super stylish man to flourish when out and about.
I wish I had discovered ethical clothing designer Natasha Wood in time to include her in my book… but alas it is too late. These upcycled leather trousers are made from old leather jackets and above is her special two cardigans coatigan. Just fab.
Continuing on an ethical clothing bent I really do love the simple good designs of Liv. I’ve been wearing her delightful Bow Brook top non stop this winter, and her Bradley knitted beanie is oh so cute. Liv works exclusively in fairtrade and organic materials. Better still she is running a wee Christmas competition – just join her on Facebook for the chance to win a lovely Shell Ford Cardi in her Berrrry Christmas competition. (but make sure you do it this morning as the offer ends at noon today)
Over on the beauty gift set side of life I recommend the Dr. Hauschka bath oils set – I am a real sucker for a hot steaming sweetly smelling bath and these smell just divine. A Bath Care Kit contains small starter versions of the oils and costs just £12.50. What a blooming’ bargain for the bath lover in your life. Dr. Hauschka is running a similar chance for a Facebook fan to win a beautiful make up set. Just join their Facebook page before noon.
Many of Dr. Hauschka’s lotions make use of the wondrous properties of rose, and I particularly like the Rose Body Hamper Body Moisturiser Gift Set, which includes Organic Loose Tea with Rose Petals – since I started drinking black tea on it’s own I’ve discovered that rose tea is absolutely my favourite, yet it is still relatively hard to come by in your average supermarket, making this gift all the more special.
As you can probably tell I am a big fan of a long luxurious bath, especially in this cold weather. Pai Skincare is another fabulous organic brand that has produced a bath care kit – and the Serenity Bath and Body Collection will go down a treat with anyone like me.
For the lover in your life, there’s always the Savonnerie Ever So Slightly Naughty Weekend Kit. Why wait for the wedding anniversary or Valentine’s Day when you can drop a ginormous hint at Christmas? This boxed kit includes yummy Love Soak bath bits, Vetiver massage oil, a tender kissing glaze… and a blindfold and feather for a truly erotic experience. All this pleasure for both you and the recipient for a very reasonable price.
Savonnerie specialises in high end hand made soaps encrusted with all sorts of delicious goodies, and their beautifully packaged luxury handmade soap box makes the perfect gift. They are based over in Brushfield Street near Spitalfields Market so if you live in London there is still plenty of time to go and visit them. Yum yum yum.
For fans of yummy skincare products there are plenty more Christmas gift suggestions in some of my previous blog posts about ethical beauty brands, so do go check them out.
A couple of days ago *ahem, approved more like a week* I put a callout on twitter for people to send me their fabulous ideas for Christmas presents – here, finally is a round up of the best clothing and skincare gifts alongside some of my own recommendations. My second post will cover art, homewares and jewellery.
Lee May Foster of Bonbi Forest never fails to produce delightful stuff, my current favourite of which is this stunning Equus scarf, new just in time for Crimbo. It comes in either a pink or blue colour way and will certainly catch people’s attention with it’s lovely sustainably handprinted pattern of horses and zebras.
At the upper end of the market check out this rabbit skeleton organic cotton hankie from Natalie Rae Richardson at Tout Nouveau, a website which offers the work of some fantastic emerging designers – perfect for a super stylish man to flourish when out and about.
I wish I had discovered ethical clothing designer Natasha Wood in time to include her in my book… but alas it is too late. These upcycled leather trousers are made from old leather jackets and above is her special two cardigans coatigan. Just fab.
Continuing on an ethical clothing bent I really do love the simple good designs of Liv. I’ve been wearing her delightful Bow Brook top non stop this winter, and her Bradley knitted beanie is oh so cute. Liv works exclusively in fairtrade and organic materials. Better still she is running a wee Christmas competition – just join her on Facebook for the chance to win a lovely Shell Ford Cardi in her Berrrry Christmas competition. (but make sure you do it this morning as the offer ends at noon today)
Over on the beauty gift set side of life I recommend the Dr. Hauschka bath oils set – I am a real sucker for a hot steaming sweetly smelling bath and these smell just divine. A Bath Care Kit contains small starter versions of the oils and costs just £12.50. What a blooming’ bargain for the bath lover in your life. Dr. Hauschka is running a similar chance for a Facebook fan to win a beautiful make up set. Just join their Facebook page before noon.
Many of Dr. Hauschka’s lotions make use of the wondrous properties of rose, and I particularly like the Rose Body Hamper Body Moisturiser Gift Set, which includes Organic Loose Tea with Rose Petals – since I started drinking black tea on it’s own I’ve discovered that rose tea is absolutely my favourite, yet it is still relatively hard to come by in your average supermarket, making this gift all the more special.
As you can probably tell I am a big fan of a long luxurious bath, especially in this cold weather. Pai Skincare is another fabulous organic brand that has produced a bath care kit – and the Serenity Bath and Body Collection will go down a treat with anyone like me.
For the lover in your life, there’s always the Savonnerie Ever So Slightly Naughty Weekend Kit. Why wait for the wedding anniversary or Valentine’s Day when you can drop a ginormous hint at Christmas? This boxed kit includes yummy Love Soak bath bits, Vetiver massage oil, a tender kissing glaze… and a blindfold and feather for a truly erotic experience. All this pleasure for both you and the recipient comes at a very reasonable price.
Savonnerie specialises in high end hand made soaps encrusted with all sorts of delicious goodies, and their beautifully packaged luxury handmade soap box makes the perfect gift. They are based over in Brushfield Street near Spitalfields Market so if you live in London there is still plenty of time to go and visit them. Yum yum yum.
For fans of yummy skincare products there are plenty more Christmas gift suggestions in some of my previous blog posts about ethical beauty brands, so do go check them out.
In my second round up of fabulous ideas from twitter friends for late Christmas gift shoppers I bring you the best of art, symptoms jewellery and homewares.
We love Lesley Barnes, decease oh yes we do! The Firebird concertina epitomises the way that Lesley has embraced colour since I *forced* her to design my Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration end pages in full colour only a year ago. This is a stunning narrative piece that is designed to be interacted with, but if you’re not feeling quite so adventurous there are also some simpler Lesley prints available at a cheaper price available from the ace Soma Gallery (as well as work from some other great artists).
There are loads of fabulous illustrators and artists producing screenprints that are available via their shopping sites, but I’ve tried to steer clear of them here as we’ve talked about them a lot on the blog recently… and there’s only so much room on your average wall. But I do like Alice Potter‘s polar bear.
For someone who cares about the world and prefers a gift with meaning, why not buy a collection of postcards from Platform, supporting art activism? The Liberate Tate: Collected Works postcard book contains lovingly reproduced images from some great direct actions against oil sponsorship of the arts (read more about the ongoing campaign in our blog here) All proceeds will go towards Platform’s new crowd funding initiative, Licence to Spill – a five day participatory exhibition to explore how we kick oil out of the arts.
I’m really impressed by Ana Montiel‘s designs. She’s got that continuing to be trendy despite the years passing scrawled biro thing down a treat, and I like the fact that she’s not just rehashing florals. Printed on high quality sustainably sourced paper from Finland, this wallpaper would be one for that stylish someone with plans to redecorate their space.
Illustrator Simon Wild has just published his first book, and it’s a veritable feast for the eyes and senses. Fantastical Flying Machines features a pop up race between the likes of a hot air balloon, a flying tea cup and a bubblegum rocket, and in this age of pop up shops and exhibitions it’s a welcome reminder of the simple brilliance of pop up books. Definitely one for the child in your life!
Onto the jewellery: always a winner for Christmas… just be sure you know the recipient’s tastes. Georgia Coote makes adorable necklaces out of vintage buttons that she has scoured from charity shops. I like the way they become entire statements themselves as in this Ella necklace.
For those retro stylistically inclined there are also Stark at Beads vintage plastic flower head bands, based in Lisbon.
I have an unhealthy love of sparkly earrings – I hardly wear them but that doesn’t stop me hankering after the nicest pairs I see. From Chain of Daisies, Neptune Earrings are made out of gorgeous vintage gems as are the lovely Amelia Earrings – I had to mention them didn’t I?! And Summer Garden are made of vintage German plastic cabochons.
For something that makes a bit more of a statement how about this necklace from Eve at Howkapow, featuring recycled TV screen beads of all things. How fantastic! This is where all TVs should go to die. The Howkapow website features some great up and coming designers and is definitely worth checking out in detail.
Or you could try the newly reworked miniature bestselling Pegasus Necklace from Tatty Devine, or for a boy, these utterly charming Gin bottle cufflinks created in collaboration with cult Shoreditch artists Gilbert and George. You can find them on their newly revamped men’s section For Chaps – why not take a gander.
Boys, I find, are always a bugger. If the man in your life is a fan of small collectible toys these little hand crafted ninjas from Lilley might just be the thing for you to give him, attached to a keyring, or not – especially since they eschew the usual factory production for Etsy handmade status.
Homewares: Emma Loves Retro does a great job of recycling bold vintage fabrics into scatter cushions, and she has a wide colour and design range to choose from.
London Kills Me do all their own screenprinting in London, producing everything from ties and cushions to Christmas decorations. I really like the reclaimed slate planters and some of the printed dresses are very very cute.
Illustrator Meera Lee creates decorated sushi tea sets from upcycled crockery, which are very pretty but delicate – only for those who are happy to handwash! However the maker is stateside so only for those the other side of the pond at this late stage in the day.
Carlotta Morandini makes amazing sea creature inspired rugs. When I see stuff like this how I wish I had a bit of money! But maybe you do, and if so this would be the making of a room.
Carrie Reichardt sells at new eco fashion store 123 Bethnal Green Road: I just love her reworked crockery – what a find for the anarchist in your life. Unfortunately these are not online at the 123 Bethnal Green Road website, but I highly recommend a visit to their shop, choc-a-bloc with upcycled goodies at just the right price point for Christmas shopping.
And of course, how could I finish this blog without mention of my own book? Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration – perfect for the book/illustration/fashion lover in your life. Having had confirmation that the wondrous Royal Mail has already delivered the first copies of Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, sent out on Friday, I now feel a bit more confident that you will still be able to take delivery of any of the mentioned gifts above should you decide to order them very soon for Christmas. You can order my book here.
You can check out my ethical fashion and skincare suggestions on this blog here. My best art books round up can be found here.
Written by Amelia Gregory on Monday December 20th, 2010 3:42 pm
WOO HOOO Grafik magazine have beaten me to an official announcement of dates for my ACOFI Book Tour. But here’s everything you need to know if you would like to join me somewhere in the UK.
The #ACOFI Book Tour
On Tuesday 10th May I will be embarking on a mini book tour across the UK to promote Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration. In case you haven’t visited my website before this is what you need to know about my new book, dosage which is otherwise known as #ACOFI (especially on twitter):
Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration: the Book. Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration *featuring the very best in ethical fashion design* was published at the end of 2010, approved and is the second publication from Amelia’s House, order the book publishing wing of Amelia’s Magazine. It is a showcase for the work of thirty up and coming fashion illustrators who have interpreted the work of 45 exciting new ethical fashion designers, as well as plenty of good independent design that was first featured online at Amelia’s Magazine.
What I’ll be doing:
I’ll be visiting various wonderful independent art and design shops around the country to talk about the rise of eco fashion, the illustration process and social media for creatives and I will also be offering portfolio crits. I’m hoping to meet lots of creative people en route, so if you think you might like to take part don’t forget to bring your portfolio along with you: personal crits will be free on purchase of both my books at a special tour discount. Not to worry if you can’t bring your portfolio along in the evening though! At some shops I’ll be doing a 24 Hour Crit, so you can come along and talk to me personally the next day if you prefer.
ACOFI illustrators to join me en route, plus more:
I’ll be accompanied at various points by some of the fabulous illustrators featured in my blogs for Grafik this week, and alongside my informal chat there will be lots more creative excitement at each shop: at the Tatty Devine Covent Garden shop participants will be invited to help paint the shop windows and at Tatty Devine in Brick Lane there will be the opportunity to learn how to ice biscuits with Biscuiteers. Not only that but guests will be able to enjoy complimentary organic juices from top juice mixologists Juiceology, fine teas from Lahloo and there will be plates laden with traditional biscuits and cakes for you to munch on. Once again the fabulous folks at Dr. Hauschka will be providing yummy free samples for participants to take away.
Here’s a full list of all the dates – all talks are free but space is limited in some shops so please book where necessary to ensure your place. I’ll be tweeting about my adventures on the #ACOFI hashtag and you can follow me on @ameliagregory. I have also linked to the six associated facebook events. Six of ‘em, oh yea baby. Please do join if you would like to be kept updated about a specific event. Bring on The ACOFI Book Tour.
Tatty Devine in Covent Garden, London: Tatty Devine in Covent Garden 24 Hour Crit and Window Painting on Tuesday 10th May 6-10pm, then continuing into Weds 11th May as part of the 24 Hour Crit. Tatty Devine blog about the event.
Please book your place here admin@tattydevine.com Facebook event and Twitter.
44 Monmouth Street, London, WC2H 9EP, 0207 836 2685
The Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh on Tuesday 17th May, 6.30-10pm, no booking necessary. 24 Hour Crit continuing into Wednesday 18th May. Facebook event and Twitter.
Fruitmarket, 45 Market Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1DF, 0131 226 8181
Soma Gallery in Bristol on Thursday 26th May, 6-10pm, 24 Hour Crit continuing into Friday 27th May. To book your place email: fiona@somagallery.co.uk Facebook event and Twitter.
4 Boyces Avenue, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 4AA, 0117 973 9838
Tatty Devine in Brick Lane, London: 24 Hour Crit and Biscuit Decorating with Biscuiteers on Tuesday 7th June, 6-10pm, continuing into Wednesday 8th June. Please book your place here admin@tattydevine.com Facebook event and Twitter.
236 Brick Lane, London, E2 7EB, 0207 739 9191
Reviews of Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration:
Champions the art form and gives a thorough insight into working practices… and it looks stunning, which is not a suprise considering the calibre of the work included. Design Week
Beautiful and informative as each interview and feature takes you on a personal journey, understanding where each artist and designer get their inspiration from and why ethical fashion is important to them. Ecouterre
A coffee-table book with a difference… perfect for dipping in and out of for both artistic and fashion inspiration. The Young Creatives
Over the past few days a steady trickle of fabulous illustrations from the ACOFI launch night party (read my review here) have been flooding into my inbox… and I’ve been wondering how best to put them all together. In the absence of a better plan I have decided to plow through them alphabetically… So without further ado I present to you the wonderful artwork of Andrea Peterson, pharmacyprescription also known as Artist Andrea, seek also responsible for the cover art of ACOFI. She travelled all the way from Arizona to be with us on the launch day and I think that everyone was absolutely awed by her ability to create beautiful images from just a few dabs of watercolour, live, in front of a huge crowd.
You’ve already seen this image of Jessica Bumpus from Vogue but why not show it again? I think it’s absolutely beautiful… and I love the way that Andrea has made her a Vogue cover star. Bring back illustrated covers indeed! So elegant and glamourous. You can read Jessica’s wonderful blog about the event on the Vogue Green Style Blog here. Thankyou so much Jessica!
The lovely Alexandra Haddow very kindly provided us with Pukka teas and helped out all afternoon: she is rather fittingly illustrated with tea cup in hand. She also managed to do a lovely write up of the event on LDNfashion online, and we hope she will be joining our little fashion team soon as well.
Francesca from Forward PR looks so demurely wonderful holding her copy of ACOFI, which she did so well in selling on the night. I loved her energy, so positive. What a lovely girl.
And lastly here again is a reprise of The Pipettes: who unsurprisingly inspired more than a few illustrators to get their pens and paint brushes out. Ani Saunders is herself a very talented illustrator, and she has her own blog called The Lovely Wars, where she has written about the book, complete with her own unique rendition of Andrea’s cover. Take a gander here.
Thankyou Andrea so much for coming to visit us in the UK and showcasing your incredible talent live! I look forward to working with you for many moons to come. You can follow Andrea on twitter on @ArtistAndrea and don’t forget you can buy Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration here, with a special 10% if you use the discount code ACOFI LAUNCH up until the 28th February 2011. Lastly, here’s my interview with Andrea on youtube, accompanied by rescue chihuahua Frida (I had to heavily edit out all the bits where I was cooing over the chihuahua). Enjoy!
Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday February 3rd, 2011 11:52 am
Zarina Liew at work
My wonderful girls, rx Rosie and Harriet of Tatty Devine, sick who created the lovely Cutlass Necklace for my party.
Zarina Liew looked oh so casual during the afternoon launch party – every time I turned around there she was, chatting away, charming the guests in expert fashion. But if I thought she was shirking I could not have been more wrong – she churned out the most amazing bunch of illustrations in record time, all in stunning watercolour fashion plates – every single one of them. Wowser. This lady has so much talent it’s painful… behold her beautiful illustrations. So delightful, every single one.
Presenting the lovely Katie Antoniou of London Plinth – sometime Amelia’s Mag contributor and general all round fabulous fashion gal. Here’s her review of the night.
Holly Springett wrote an absolutely fabulous blog about the launch, with some of the very prettiest photos to accompany it – go check it out here.
Here’s Josephine and Sarah from Somerset House, who I hope very much will be in contact soon to talk about a possible collaboration…
Alice of Tatty Devine sports some very fabulous jewellery indeed – by Tatty Devine of course.
Gabby Young with her boyfriend Stephen. What a lovely couple!
Sarah of Fab Sugar – anyone catch her last name? I don’t think we met.
Laura and Courtney of Forward PR. Lovely lovely women, who helped me in the run up and on the night most immensely. Say hello if you see them around at LFW.
Tara and Louise of Cent Magazine – I did an interview with the lovely Louise, so fingers crossed that will be available soon.
Matilda of the Ecologist – likewise they should be running a review of the book – keep an eye out and let me know if you spot it before me.
You can follow Zarina Liew on twitter on @cobaltcafe and don’t forget you can buy Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration here, with a special 10% if you use the discount code ACOFI LAUNCH up until the 28th February 2011. Find out just how Zarina made the leap from the corporate marketing world into the creative arms of illustration: amazing inspiring stuff in this Skype interview on youtube.
My wonderful girls, cialis 40mg Rosie and Harriet of Tatty Devine, symptoms who created the lovely Cutlass Necklace for my party.
Zarina Liew looked oh so casual during the afternoon launch party – every time I turned around there she was, check chatting away, charming the guests in expert fashion. But if I thought she was shirking I could not have been more wrong – she churned out the most amazing bunch of illustrations in record time, all in stunning watercolour fashion plates – every single one of them. Wowser. This lady has so much talent it’s painful… behold her beautiful illustrations. So delightful, every single one.
Presenting the lovely Katie Antoniou of London Plinth – sometime Amelia’s Mag contributor and general all round fabulous fashion gal. Here’s her review of the night.
Holly Springett wrote an absolutely fabulous blog about the launch, with some of the very prettiest photos to accompany it – go check it out here.
Here’s Josephine and Sarah from Somerset House, who I hope very much will be in contact soon to talk about a possible collaboration…
Alice of Tatty Devine sports some very fabulous jewellery indeed – by Tatty Devine of course.
Gabby Young with her boyfriend Stephen. What a lovely couple!
Sarah of Fab Sugar – anyone catch her last name? I don’t think we met.
Laura and Courtney of Forward PR. Lovely lovely women, who helped me in the run up and on the night most immensely. Say hello if you see them around at LFW.
Tara and Louisa Lau of Cent Magazine – I did an interview with the lovely Louisa, so fingers crossed that will be available soon.
Matilda of the Ecologist – likewise they should be running a review of the book – keep an eye out and let me know if you spot it before me.
You can follow Zarina Liew on twitter on @cobaltcafe and don’t forget you can buy Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration here, with a special 10% if you use the discount code ACOFI LAUNCH up until the 28th February 2011. Find out just how Zarina made the leap from the corporate marketing world into the creative arms of illustration: amazing inspiring stuff in this Skype interview on youtube.
My wonderful girls, pharmacy Rosie and Harriet of Tatty Devine, tadalafil who created the lovely Cutlass Necklace for my party.
Zarina Liew looked oh so casual during the afternoon launch party – every time I turned around there she was, chatting away, charming the guests in expert fashion. But if I thought she was shirking I could not have been more wrong – she churned out the most amazing bunch of illustrations in record time, all in stunning watercolour fashion plates – every single one of them. Wowser. This lady has so much talent it’s painful… behold her beautiful illustrations. So delightful, every single one.
Presenting the lovely Katie Antoniou of London Plinth – sometime Amelia’s Mag contributor and general all round fabulous fashion gal. Here’s her review of the night.
Holly Springett wrote an absolutely fabulous blog about the launch, with some of the very prettiest photos to accompany it – go check it out here.
Here’s Josephine and Sarah from Somerset House, who I hope very much will be in contact soon to talk about a possible collaboration…
Alice of Tatty Devine sports some very fabulous jewellery indeed – by Tatty Devine of course.
Gabby Young with her boyfriend Stephen. What a lovely couple!
Sarah of Fab Sugar – anyone catch her last name? I don’t think we met.
Laura and Courtney of Forward PR. Lovely lovely women, who helped me in the run up and on the night most immensely. Say hello if you see them around at LFW.
Tara and Louisa Lau of Cent Magazine – I did an interview with the lovely Louisa, so fingers crossed that will be available soon.
Matilda of the Ecologist – likewise they should be running a review of the book – keep an eye out and let me know if you spot it before me.
You can follow Zarina Liew on twitter on @cobaltcafe and don’t forget you can buy Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration here, with a special 10% if you use the discount code ACOFI LAUNCH up until the 28th February 2011. Find out just how Zarina made the leap from the corporate marketing world into the creative arms of illustration: amazing inspiring stuff in this Skype interview on youtube.
Susie Bubble needs no introduction and I absolutely adore Rachel’s rendition of this infamous fashion blogger. She’s been a great supporter of Amelia’s Magazine so it was an honour to see her at the launch party. You can read her write up here. Thanks Susie!
Rachel de Ste. Croix has developed a unique style that suits both childrens’ book illustration and fashion illustration a treat. Working from life she sketches a likeness of her subject and then transfers into into her computer through a painstaking process involving a light box and lots of black felt markers. From there she messes around in photoshop to achieve a beautiful handmade look that in fact makes the most of digital special effects – something which I talked about when I mentioned her in my Digital Arts interview. Here’s her fabulous ACOFI launch party output:
Katie Wright writes Style My Wardrobe and she managed to grab a little bit of my time to ask a few questions at the launch – you can read her great write up here.
Tigz Rice is actually a friend of Rachel’s – I’ve now had the pleasure of working with more than a couple University of Westminster graduates, who are all super talented. Can’t think why. Maybe it’s because one of my bestest mates the wonderful illustrator Simone Lia teaches there. Or else it’s something in the water.
I cheekily asked Rachel to illustrate me. Well, she did such an amazing job with everyone else I really didn’t want to be left out. Here I am wearing my Joanna Cave earrings (new season darling) and Beautiful Soul cape-let made out of an upcycled kimono. You can buy similar Beautiful Soul pieces (they’re all different obviously) at the V&A shop.
Rachel hard at work drawing Susie behind a curtain of hair. Photography by Matt Bramford.
Lily Vanilli ACOFI launch cake by Abby Wright. This must be the most lovingly photographed and illustrated cake ever!
Ah, sicknessAbby Wright. Where to begin? She has grabbed the proverbial illustration bull by the horns and run with it, big time. Never has someone still at university so inspired me. Some people just get it you know? And she’s one of them. If you’re reading this and you’re still at university wondering how you will ever get noticed, then read on and learn. I’m serious. This girl has got it going on.
Firstly – she’s all over twitter chatting to fellow illustrators up and down the country all the time, encouraging them and swapping advice. She’s so switched on she even instigated the Tea and Crayons illustration collective. Secondly – she just keeps on creating. Day after day she volunteers illustrations for Amelia’s Magazine. She’s not afraid of making mistakes in public, she puts it out there and learns, and it is a joy to watch her work developing all the time. Students all over should be inspired… just take a look at how many followers she has on twitter! Abby Wright is going places.
Which is why I asked her along to be at my ACOFI afternoon launch party. And here are the results of her doodlings:
Johann Chan, art editor of Digital Arts – no doubt grinning ear to ear because he came down for the fabulous cakes (see above).
Adorngirl, otherwise known as Ashanti Jason, who wrote this lovely blog about the event.
Emma Davenport is an old friend of mine who. Inspired by a life long love of the charity shop – snap! – she has been researching the history of ethical dress and fashion at the RCA. She has a blog called Frock Conscious and you can read her party piece here.
And finishing up with socialite Prince Cassius. Oh yes, he of the dapper clothing and super fro – a delight for both illustrators and photographers alike. What a gent.
Did you know that we’re all buying a third more clothing than we did a decade ago? Yep, mind you read that right. A third more in only 10 years. And are you also aware that today’s average household contributes 26 items of wearable clothing to landfill every year? Tallied up, pilule that’s well over 600,000 garments in the UK alone. Can you visualise that waste? It’s A LOT.
The appropriately-named Trash Fashion exhibition is a relatively small presentation with a big message. Be honest, you can’t remember the last time that ‘textiles’ sprang to mind when thinking of world waste and pollution. Something along the lines of ‘oil’ or ‘water’ or ‘plastic bottles’ would be up there; never the words ‘clothes’, ‘dyes’, ‘fabric’. And yet, it’s a big deal. For example, a huge 17-20% of worldwide industrial water pollution is down to textile dye. The truth is that the concept of waste produced by the textiles industry is dangerously underestimated. Fact.
Okay, so I didn’t predict a fashion-related exhibition at the Science Museum either. And, in its allotted space, Trash Fashion did rather stick out like a sore-thumb. One also is required to walk through the entire ground floor to actually reach the exhibition, which features steam trains, outer-space and other extravaganzas along with a large population of noisy children. As it was a Saturday, immersed in engines and spaceships, I’m guessing either über-nerdy kids or über-nerdy parents. However, I just used the word ‘über’ twice in one sentence so I’m clearly the nerd here.
Moving on, I learnt shed loads about ‘designing out waste’ in the fashion industry by wandering through. For one, I learnt that an initiative, led by Central Saint Martins, is being developed. An idea that started with a small mat of cellulose being immersed in green tea in order for it to grow into usable fabric. Fabric that is literally living and breathing. It turns out rather like leather and, having a feel of the fabric myself, couldn’t believe that it came from some bacteria bathed in green tea. Weird. Anyway, it turns out that, at this early stage, the so-called ‘Bio Couture’ is way too heavy and gooey to wear and would practically disintegrate in the rain. Nevertheless, it’s a damn-good start – the product is natural, non-toxic and compostable and scientists are working on developing the idea further all the time.
Another part of the exhibition that I found enthralling was a project hosted by the London College of Fashion called ‘Knit to Fit’. It puts forward the concept of ‘Mass Customisation’, something that I could definitely see materialising in the near future. It starts with an individual having a 3D Body Scan done by a special computer that reads all, and even the very intricate, measurements of the body. This information, along with personalised details such as colour and pattern, is then transmitted to a fairly new machine in the textiles world that, before one’s very eyes, produces an entirely seamless 3D garment. No off-cuts. No waste. Considering that fashion designers are known to leave a whole 15% of the fabric they work with on the cutting-room floor, these are absolutely imperative pieces of technology in the movement towards sustainable and efficient textiles of the future. The idea is that, in the not-too-distant future, the average shopper will be able to stroll into a clothing store and have a custom-made garment made there and then that is unique to us and, most importantly, will leave absolutely no waste.
Without a doubt, the most immediately imposing feature of the exhibition was a large, flamboyant dress, made out of 1000 pieces of folded scraps of the London Metro newspaper. It stood tall at the entrance and its grandeur seduced a small crowd to gather around and take photographs.
In my opinion, however, it just isn’t enough to rip up a few copies of the London Metro, origami fold them into numerous pieces and make a dress – not to wear, but to make a statement. Not to dismiss the skill that goes into constructing such a fiddly garment, or the fact that it DOES make a pretty huge statement. It relates waste and fashion to one another, which is crucial, through something impressive and, ironically, quite beautiful. But it’s been done. I’ve seen countless garments like these, designed for that shock-factor yet completely un-wearable. It’s time to stop representing the problem and to instead turn to the solution – to science. And this, bar the newspaper dress, is where ‘Trash Fashion’ came up trumps.
So, despite being a little late-in-the-day with this one, might not be worth trekking all the way to South Kensington to see this exhibition alone. If you do, time it in with a trip to the National History Museum or the V&A, both right next door. After all, it’s free entry. You’ll just have to hurdle past the children screaming at steam engines and Apollo 10 and I honestly don’t think you’ll regret it.
Trash Fashion: designing out waste is supported by SITA Trust as part of the No More Waste project and is free to visit at the Science Museum in London.
As part of the exhibition, there is an interactive competition whereby members of the public can submit photos of their ‘refashioned’ old garments, before and after, and could land their new design a spot in the exhibition. To upload pictures of your customised clothes go to www.flickr.com/groups/trashfashion
Did you know that we’re all buying a third more clothing than we did a decade ago? Yep, buy you read that right. A third more in only 10 years. And are you also aware that today’s average household contributes 26 items of wearable clothing to landfill every year? Tallied up, patient that’s well over 600, buy 000 garments in the UK alone. Can you visualise that waste? It’s A LOT.
The appropriately-named Trash Fashion exhibition is a relatively small presentation with a big message. Be honest, you can’t remember the last time that ‘textiles’ sprang to mind when thinking of world waste and pollution. Something along the lines of ‘oil’ or ‘water’ or ‘plastic bottles’ would be up there; never the words ‘clothes’, ‘dyes’, ‘fabric’. And yet, it’s a big deal. For example, a huge 17-20% of worldwide industrial water pollution is down to textile dye. The truth is that the concept of waste produced by the textiles industry is dangerously underestimated. Fact.
Okay, so I didn’t predict a fashion-related exhibition at the Science Museum either. And, in its allotted space, Trash Fashion did rather stick out like a sore-thumb. One also is required to walk through the entire ground floor to actually reach the exhibition, which features steam trains, outer-space and other extravaganzas along with a large population of noisy children. As it was a Saturday, immersed in engines and spaceships, I’m guessing either über-nerdy kids or über-nerdy parents. However, I just used the word ‘über’ twice in one sentence so I’m clearly the nerd here.
Moving on, I learnt shed loads about ‘designing out waste’ in the fashion industry by wandering through. For one, I learnt that an initiative, led by Central Saint Martins, is being developed. An idea that started with a small mat of cellulose being immersed in green tea in order for it to grow into usable fabric. Fabric that is literally living and breathing. It turns out rather like leather and, having a feel of the fabric myself, couldn’t believe that it came from some bacteria bathed in green tea. Weird. Anyway, it turns out that, at this early stage, the so-called ‘Bio Couture’ is way too heavy and gooey to wear and would practically disintegrate in the rain. Nevertheless, it’s a damn-good start – the product is natural, non-toxic and compostable and scientists are working on developing the idea further all the time.
Another part of the exhibition that I found enthralling was a project hosted by the London College of Fashion called ‘Knit to Fit’. It puts forward the concept of ‘Mass Customisation’, something that I could definitely see materialising in the near future. It starts with an individual having a 3D Body Scan done by a special computer that reads all, and even the very intricate, measurements of the body. This information, along with personalised details such as colour and pattern, is then transmitted to a fairly new machine in the textiles world that, before one’s very eyes, produces an entirely seamless 3D garment. No off-cuts. No waste. Considering that fashion designers are known to leave a whole 15% of the fabric they work with on the cutting-room floor, these are absolutely imperative pieces of technology in the movement towards sustainable and efficient textiles of the future. The idea is that, in the not-too-distant future, the average shopper will be able to stroll into a clothing store and have a custom-made garment made there and then that is unique to us and, most importantly, will leave absolutely no waste.
Without a doubt, the most immediately imposing feature of the exhibition was a large, flamboyant dress, made out of 1000 pieces of folded scraps of the London Metro newspaper. It stood tall at the entrance and its grandeur seduced a small crowd to gather around and take photographs.
In my opinion, however, it just isn’t enough to rip up a few copies of the London Metro, origami fold them into numerous pieces and make a dress – not to wear, but to make a statement. Not to dismiss the skill that goes into constructing such a fiddly garment, or the fact that it DOES make a pretty huge statement. It relates waste and fashion to one another, which is crucial, through something impressive and, ironically, quite beautiful. But it’s been done. I’ve seen countless garments like these, designed for that shock-factor yet completely un-wearable. It’s time to stop representing the problem and to instead turn to the solution – to science. And this, bar the newspaper dress, is where ‘Trash Fashion’ came up trumps.
So, despite being a little late-in-the-day with this one, might not be worth trekking all the way to South Kensington to see this exhibition alone. If you do, time it in with a trip to the National History Museum or the V&A, both right next door. After all, it’s free entry. You’ll just have to hurdle past the children screaming at steam engines and Apollo 10 and I honestly don’t think you’ll regret it.
Trash Fashion: designing out waste is supported by SITA Trust as part of the No More Waste project and is free to visit at the Science Museum in London.
As part of the exhibition, there is an interactive competition whereby members of the public can submit photos of their ‘refashioned’ old garments, before and after, and could land their new design a spot in the exhibition. To upload pictures of your customised clothes go to www.flickr.com/groups/trashfashion
Did you know that we’re all buying a third more clothing than we did a decade ago? Yep, information pills you read that right. A third more in only 10 years. And are you also aware that today’s average household contributes 26 items of wearable clothing to landfill every year? Tallied up, that’s well over 600,000 garments in the UK alone. Can you visualise that waste? It’s A LOT.
The appropriately-named Trash Fashion exhibition is a relatively small presentation with a big message. Be honest, you can’t remember the last time that ‘textiles’ sprang to mind when thinking of world waste and pollution. Something along the lines of ‘oil’ or ‘water’ or ‘plastic bottles’ would be up there; never the words ‘clothes’, ‘dyes’, ‘fabric’. And yet, it’s a big deal. For example, a huge 17-20% of worldwide industrial water pollution is down to textile dye. The truth is that the concept of waste produced by the textiles industry is dangerously underestimated. Fact.
Okay, so I didn’t predict a fashion-related exhibition at the Science Museum either. And, in its allotted space, Trash Fashion did rather stick out like a sore-thumb. One also is required to walk through the entire ground floor to actually reach the exhibition, which features steam trains, outer-space and other extravaganzas along with a large population of noisy children. As it was a Saturday, immersed in engines and spaceships, I’m guessing either über-nerdy kids or über-nerdy parents. However, I just used the word ‘über’ twice in one sentence so I’m clearly the nerd here.
Moving on, I learnt shed loads about ‘designing out waste’ in the fashion industry by wandering through. For one, I learnt that an initiative, led by Central Saint Martins, is being developed. An idea that started with a small mat of cellulose being immersed in green tea in order for it to grow into usable fabric. Fabric that is literally living and breathing. It turns out rather like leather and, having a feel of the fabric myself, couldn’t believe that it came from some bacteria bathed in green tea. Weird. Anyway, it turns out that, at this early stage, the so-called ‘Bio Couture’ is way too heavy and gooey to wear and would practically disintegrate in the rain. Nevertheless, it’s a damn-good start – the product is natural, non-toxic and compostable and scientists are working on developing the idea further all the time.
Another part of the exhibition that I found enthralling was a project hosted by the London College of Fashion called ‘Knit to Fit’. It puts forward the concept of ‘Mass Customisation’, something that I could definitely see materialising in the near future. It starts with an individual having a 3D Body Scan done by a special computer that reads all, and even the very intricate, measurements of the body. This information, along with personalised details such as colour and pattern, is then transmitted to a fairly new machine in the textiles world that, before one’s very eyes, produces an entirely seamless 3D garment. No off-cuts. No waste. Considering that fashion designers are known to leave a whole 15% of the fabric they work with on the cutting-room floor, these are absolutely imperative pieces of technology in the movement towards sustainable and efficient textiles of the future. The idea is that, in the not-too-distant future, the average shopper will be able to stroll into a clothing store and have a custom-made garment made there and then that is unique to us and, most importantly, will leave absolutely no waste.
Without a doubt, the most immediately imposing feature of the exhibition was a large, flamboyant dress, made out of 1000 pieces of folded scraps of the London Metro newspaper. It stood tall at the entrance and its grandeur seduced a small crowd to gather around and take photographs.
In my opinion, however, it just isn’t enough to rip up a few copies of the London Metro, origami fold them into numerous pieces and make a dress – not to wear, but to make a statement. Not to dismiss the skill that goes into constructing such a fiddly garment, or the fact that it DOES make a pretty huge statement. It relates waste and fashion to one another, which is crucial, through something impressive and, ironically, quite beautiful. But it’s been done. I’ve seen countless garments like these, designed for that shock-factor yet completely un-wearable. It’s time to stop representing the problem and to instead turn to the solution – to science. And this, bar the newspaper dress, is where ‘Trash Fashion’ came up trumps.
So, despite being a little late-in-the-day with this one, might not be worth trekking all the way to South Kensington to see this exhibition alone. If you do, time it in with a trip to the National History Museum or the V&A, both right next door. After all, it’s free entry. You’ll just have to hurdle past the children screaming at steam engines and Apollo 10 and I honestly don’t think you’ll regret it.
Trash Fashion: designing out waste is supported by SITA Trust as part of the No More Waste project and is free to visit at the Science Museum in London.
As part of the exhibition, there is an interactive competition whereby members of the public can submit photos of their ‘refashioned’ old garments, before and after, and could land their new design a spot in the exhibition. To upload pictures of your customised clothes go to www.flickr.com/groups/trashfashion
Eyjafjallajokull. How did you say that it your head? The impressive word refers to the glacier on top of the volcanic mountain (remember the ash cloud?) in Iceland. Understanding the perils of uninformed pronunciation, click Icelandic native Eliza Newman, health wrote a little song on how to actually pronounce the word. It featured on the Al Jazeera News channel and has since become one of Al Jazeera’s most popular news pieces ever.
But there is far more to Eliza (Geirsdóttir) Newman than chuckling at our pronunciation shortcomings. She plays violin, ukelele and piano, and is also a trained opera singer. Her song; ‘Ukelele Song for You’ was one of the most popular in Iceland in 2009. The tune is about ‘attracting trouble’, ‘broken promises’ and forgiveness. With ukelele strumming and high pitched notes, it’s lighthearted in its sound, contrasting with the seriousness of the topic. This is refreshing and conjures up thoughts for me, of Blue Valentine, and the heartbreak within the love and jovial moments. The uke can be (in a touching folky way) deep! It’s a pleasure to listen to:
Previously Eliza was the lead singer of girl group, Bellatrix and the rock band, Skandinavia. Through Bellatrix, Eliza and Co. released four albums on Björk’s Bad Taste label, signing to Fierce Panda for their fourth album release. They also headlined the Carling Stage at the Reading Festival and co-headlined a tour with Coldplay. These days Eliza is a solo artist and promotes Icelandic female artists by being part of the Trubatrix movement, which encourages gigs and album releases around Iceland.
Eliza’s second album, Pie In The Sky, is out on April 4, on Lavaland Records . Watch out for my review. For now here’s a little interview with Eliza:
Could you describe your music? Its beyond words, like touching heaven with your inner ear! Or just a kind of quirky pop style sweet on top but dark underneath muhahaha!….
Do you write your own music? Yes I write all my stuff and have always done , that’s the only way to go.
What is your inspiration?
Cats.
How do you feel about having one of the most popular songs in Iceland, ‘Ukulele Song For You’?
It feels great , very unexpected and a pleasant surprise. Icelandic people have good taste in music!
You play many instruments and are a trained opera singer, when did you start playing music and singing?
I started playing the violin at seven and studied that until I was 15 then I started a band and didn’t feel like practising violin any more. I started singing the day I started my first band. Never sung a note before then! Later I went on to study opera and I learned the piano, guitar and ukulele on the way.
What’s you favourite instrument, musical style? My favourite musical instrument is the harpsichord and the hurdy-gurdy, I really would like to get my hands on those two instruments to play! My favourite musical style is kind of pop rock indie opera classical hip hop and easy listening : )
Could you tell us about your former band, Bellatrix? Bellatrix was my first band, we were an all girl band and started quite young, got signed and released five albums both in Iceland on Björk‘s Bad Taste Label and later with Fierce Panda in the UK. The music developed from a punk rock sound to electro pop and we did loads of cool stuff like tour the world, headline Reading and do a tour with Coldplay. Fun and games!
What were the highlights of being in the band?
Headlining the Carling stage at Reading and Leeds Festival and travelling the world.
What about Skandinavia?
Skandinavia was my venture into heavy rock! Loads of fun. I was studying opera at the time in London and wanted to do some epic rock music inspired by opera. We recorded an album and did a UK tour and it satisfied my longing to do a heavy rock album, so that box is ticked now!
How does being a solo artist differ from being in a band?
It’s very different because as a solo artist you have to take all the responsibility which is both good and bad. You have no one to blame but yourself haha! You get more freedom to do your own thing as a solo artist but in a band you get more feedback and have to compromise sometimes, both things have their advantages. Having said that, I am very much a band person and enjoy working with others, so I would not rule out joining another band at some point.
And how is your own music different?
My music is more relaxed then the band stuff I did, I have calmed down quite a bit!
How is the new album in comparison to your last album, Empire Fall (Series 8 Records)?
The new album is more hopeful and has a lighter tone to it with ukuleles, synths and various fun instruments mixing it up. Empire fall was more minimalist and had a darker undertone.
Where do you want to go now in your career? I would like to go to Japan and play, also keep writing and finding new interesting ways of expressing myself through music, yeah and learn the hurdy-gurdy!
END. Thank you so much Eliza. Helen x
Laura Snoad of Design Week sporting her Tatty Devine necklace. She wrote a great write up of the party here: check it out.
Oh dear. My brilliant plans to get all ACOFI launch party blogs online by the end of last week were laid waste by a pre-booked four day trip to Cornwall. Which was just lovely in case you were wondering: so good to feel the wind in my hair on a coastal path again.
Jenny Robins is the illustrator who has worked closest with Amelia’s Magazine to do live illustrations from the catwalk in the past. For this reason she was a natural choice to bring along for the tea party… and she did not disappoint, viagra dosage holding court over by the window all afternoon long and churning out an amazing amount of stunning live artwork right in front of our guests. In fact she did so many I’m going to have to run through them as quickly as possible or I’ll never get onto my next illustrator. All I’ve got to say, story is Jenny, you rock my world.
Here I am, being interviewed, I am not sure who by!
Zarina Liew at work
My wonderful girls, rx Rosie and Harriet of Tatty Devine, sick who created the lovely Cutlass Necklace for my party.
Zarina Liew looked oh so casual during the afternoon launch party – every time I turned around there she was, chatting away, charming the guests in expert fashion. But if I thought she was shirking I could not have been more wrong – she churned out the most amazing bunch of illustrations in record time, all in stunning watercolour fashion plates – every single one of them. Wowser. This lady has so much talent it’s painful… behold her beautiful illustrations. So delightful, every single one.
Presenting the lovely Katie Antoniou of London Plinth – sometime Amelia’s Mag contributor and general all round fabulous fashion gal. Here’s her review of the night.
Holly Springett wrote an absolutely fabulous blog about the launch, with some of the very prettiest photos to accompany it – go check it out here.
Here’s Josephine and Sarah from Somerset House, who I hope very much will be in contact soon to talk about a possible collaboration…
Alice of Tatty Devine sports some very fabulous jewellery indeed – by Tatty Devine of course.
Gabby Young with her boyfriend Stephen. What a lovely couple!
Sarah of Fab Sugar – anyone catch her last name? I don’t think we met.
Laura and Courtney of Forward PR. Lovely lovely women, who helped me in the run up and on the night most immensely. Say hello if you see them around at LFW.
Tara and Louise of Cent Magazine – I did an interview with the lovely Louise, so fingers crossed that will be available soon.
Matilda of the Ecologist – likewise they should be running a review of the book – keep an eye out and let me know if you spot it before me.
You can follow Zarina Liew on twitter on @cobaltcafe and don’t forget you can buy Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration here, with a special 10% if you use the discount code ACOFI LAUNCH up until the 28th February 2011. Find out just how Zarina made the leap from the corporate marketing world into the creative arms of illustration: amazing inspiring stuff in this Skype interview on youtube.
My wonderful girls, cialis 40mg Rosie and Harriet of Tatty Devine, symptoms who created the lovely Cutlass Necklace for my party.
Zarina Liew looked oh so casual during the afternoon launch party – every time I turned around there she was, check chatting away, charming the guests in expert fashion. But if I thought she was shirking I could not have been more wrong – she churned out the most amazing bunch of illustrations in record time, all in stunning watercolour fashion plates – every single one of them. Wowser. This lady has so much talent it’s painful… behold her beautiful illustrations. So delightful, every single one.
Presenting the lovely Katie Antoniou of London Plinth – sometime Amelia’s Mag contributor and general all round fabulous fashion gal. Here’s her review of the night.
Holly Springett wrote an absolutely fabulous blog about the launch, with some of the very prettiest photos to accompany it – go check it out here.
Here’s Josephine and Sarah from Somerset House, who I hope very much will be in contact soon to talk about a possible collaboration…
Alice of Tatty Devine sports some very fabulous jewellery indeed – by Tatty Devine of course.
Gabby Young with her boyfriend Stephen. What a lovely couple!
Sarah of Fab Sugar – anyone catch her last name? I don’t think we met.
Laura and Courtney of Forward PR. Lovely lovely women, who helped me in the run up and on the night most immensely. Say hello if you see them around at LFW.
Tara and Louisa Lau of Cent Magazine – I did an interview with the lovely Louisa, so fingers crossed that will be available soon.
Matilda of the Ecologist – likewise they should be running a review of the book – keep an eye out and let me know if you spot it before me.
You can follow Zarina Liew on twitter on @cobaltcafe and don’t forget you can buy Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration here, with a special 10% if you use the discount code ACOFI LAUNCH up until the 28th February 2011. Find out just how Zarina made the leap from the corporate marketing world into the creative arms of illustration: amazing inspiring stuff in this Skype interview on youtube.
My wonderful girls, pharmacy Rosie and Harriet of Tatty Devine, tadalafil who created the lovely Cutlass Necklace for my party.
Zarina Liew looked oh so casual during the afternoon launch party – every time I turned around there she was, chatting away, charming the guests in expert fashion. But if I thought she was shirking I could not have been more wrong – she churned out the most amazing bunch of illustrations in record time, all in stunning watercolour fashion plates – every single one of them. Wowser. This lady has so much talent it’s painful… behold her beautiful illustrations. So delightful, every single one.
Presenting the lovely Katie Antoniou of London Plinth – sometime Amelia’s Mag contributor and general all round fabulous fashion gal. Here’s her review of the night.
Holly Springett wrote an absolutely fabulous blog about the launch, with some of the very prettiest photos to accompany it – go check it out here.
Here’s Josephine and Sarah from Somerset House, who I hope very much will be in contact soon to talk about a possible collaboration…
Alice of Tatty Devine sports some very fabulous jewellery indeed – by Tatty Devine of course.
Gabby Young with her boyfriend Stephen. What a lovely couple!
Sarah of Fab Sugar – anyone catch her last name? I don’t think we met.
Laura and Courtney of Forward PR. Lovely lovely women, who helped me in the run up and on the night most immensely. Say hello if you see them around at LFW.
Tara and Louisa Lau of Cent Magazine – I did an interview with the lovely Louisa, so fingers crossed that will be available soon.
Matilda of the Ecologist – likewise they should be running a review of the book – keep an eye out and let me know if you spot it before me.
You can follow Zarina Liew on twitter on @cobaltcafe and don’t forget you can buy Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration here, with a special 10% if you use the discount code ACOFI LAUNCH up until the 28th February 2011. Find out just how Zarina made the leap from the corporate marketing world into the creative arms of illustration: amazing inspiring stuff in this Skype interview on youtube.
Susie Bubble needs no introduction and I absolutely adore Rachel’s rendition of this infamous fashion blogger. She’s been a great supporter of Amelia’s Magazine so it was an honour to see her at the launch party. You can read her write up here. Thanks Susie!
Rachel de Ste. Croix has developed a unique style that suits both childrens’ book illustration and fashion illustration a treat. Working from life she sketches a likeness of her subject and then transfers into into her computer through a painstaking process involving a light box and lots of black felt markers. From there she messes around in photoshop to achieve a beautiful handmade look that in fact makes the most of digital special effects – something which I talked about when I mentioned her in my Digital Arts interview. Here’s her fabulous ACOFI launch party output:
Katie Wright writes Style My Wardrobe and she managed to grab a little bit of my time to ask a few questions at the launch – you can read her great write up here.
Tigz Rice is actually a friend of Rachel’s – I’ve now had the pleasure of working with more than a couple University of Westminster graduates, who are all super talented. Can’t think why. Maybe it’s because one of my bestest mates the wonderful illustrator Simone Lia teaches there. Or else it’s something in the water.
I cheekily asked Rachel to illustrate me. Well, she did such an amazing job with everyone else I really didn’t want to be left out. Here I am wearing my Joanna Cave earrings (new season darling) and Beautiful Soul cape-let made out of an upcycled kimono. You can buy similar Beautiful Soul pieces (they’re all different obviously) at the V&A shop.
Rachel hard at work drawing Susie behind a curtain of hair. Photography by Matt Bramford.
Lily Vanilli ACOFI launch cake by Abby Wright. This must be the most lovingly photographed and illustrated cake ever!
Ah, sicknessAbby Wright. Where to begin? She has grabbed the proverbial illustration bull by the horns and run with it, big time. Never has someone still at university so inspired me. Some people just get it you know? And she’s one of them. If you’re reading this and you’re still at university wondering how you will ever get noticed, then read on and learn. I’m serious. This girl has got it going on.
Firstly – she’s all over twitter chatting to fellow illustrators up and down the country all the time, encouraging them and swapping advice. She’s so switched on she even instigated the Tea and Crayons illustration collective. Secondly – she just keeps on creating. Day after day she volunteers illustrations for Amelia’s Magazine. She’s not afraid of making mistakes in public, she puts it out there and learns, and it is a joy to watch her work developing all the time. Students all over should be inspired… just take a look at how many followers she has on twitter! Abby Wright is going places.
Which is why I asked her along to be at my ACOFI afternoon launch party. And here are the results of her doodlings:
Johann Chan, art editor of Digital Arts – no doubt grinning ear to ear because he came down for the fabulous cakes (see above).
Adorngirl, otherwise known as Ashanti Jason, who wrote this lovely blog about the event.
Emma Davenport is an old friend of mine who. Inspired by a life long love of the charity shop – snap! – she has been researching the history of ethical dress and fashion at the RCA. She has a blog called Frock Conscious and you can read her party piece here.
And finishing up with socialite Prince Cassius. Oh yes, he of the dapper clothing and super fro – a delight for both illustrators and photographers alike. What a gent.
There were so many amazing guests at my ACOFI launch who didn’t come down to the afternoon tea party that it seemed only natural to ask some of the illustrators who were also not present during the daytime to illustrate some of them. Which is how I wound up with this merry bunch of beautiful pictures.
A couple were unsurprisingly enamoured of 6 Day Riot: Natsuki Otani (above) and Erica Sharp (below) show just how differently illustrators can see things.
Lesley Barnes felt moved to illustrate the cake, view but not on a table, oh no. On a head, where I feel it belongs rather nicely.
Lovely Yelena Bryksenkova (who alas did not make it at the very last minute due to snowy conditions in New York) took up the challenge of illustrating my boyfriend Tim Adey… resplendent in Liberty print shirt and waving aloft a dainty teacup.
Gemma Milly – also absent on a prolonged trip to Canada (the poor thing) illustrated the whole of my outfit, from Joanna Cave earrings, through Beautiful Soul cape, via Monsoon dress (ahem) down to Nina Dolcetti shoes. Splendid.
You’ve already seen The Pipettes by Emma Block – but hell, it’s so good why not show it again?
Faye West as well took up the challenge of rendering me in all my illustratory glory.
Gareth A Hopkins decided to illustrate the heart throb that is Will from the Mystery Jets… I feel he’s caught his tousled nature perfectly. He looks truly Byron-esque!
Jo Cheung fancied herself a bit of Robots in Disguise action. Love their hair. So changeable. But never ever boring. It’s been a long and beautiful relationship. Theirs, ours. You know. (They appeared in issue 1 of Amelia’s Magazine a long time ago…)
And then came back to render the lovely men who run Principal Colour in Kent. Voila, I introduce to you Alan Flack and Martin Darby, my printers extraordinaire. I’ve been working with them for seven years now and I will never stop telling people just how lovely they are… Amelia’s Magazine owes an awful lot to them. Hell, they even talk me through existential crises (Alan has found me in tears on more than one occasion).
Lisa Stannard did my parents Bruce and Ursula – who I barely even ran into over the entire night. But I hear they had fun which is all good.
And then she also did me together with Nicola Woods of Beautiful Soul, she who designed my wonderful shrug.
Natasha Thompson came up trumps with pictures of earth contributor Hannah Bullivant and bloggers Ellie Loughran and Koral Webb. Read Koral’s blog here: much kudos to her for asking her tutors if I can lecture at her University in March. Which I will be.
I got wind that Navaz Batliwalla of Disneyrollergirl had made it along to the launch although I didn’t get to meet her myself. I then found out that she “outed” herself just days later… there seems no better time to get her illustrated on the web. Here she is, by Katie Harnett.
Who also could not resist a bit of Prince Cassius action. And why the hell not?
Ani Saunders of The Pipettes decided to create her own version of Andrea Peterson’s front cover for ACOFI. Just love it.
Finally, Karina Yarv couldn’t resist herself a little bit of the action even though she wasn’t there, this wasn’t done from a party snap and she doesn’t appear in the book. Though doubtless she would have done if I’d met her earlier. Karina is just one of many illustrators who have done so much amazing work for Amelia’s Magazine in the past months. Thankyou so much, all of you, for being so so brilliant.
You can buy Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration here, with a special 10% if you use the discount code ACOFI LAUNCH up until the 28th February 2011. Please do buy a copy if you want to ensure this website keeps going strong to support both young creatives and people doing good in the world…
Written by Amelia Gregory on Friday February 11th, 2011 5:23 pm
Jessica Bumpus of Vogue gets the Naomi Law treatment. Here’s her blog in case you missed it previously.
Naomi Law has taken a rather circuitous route towards the land of fashion illustration. She left her graphics degree somewhat disillusioned, view came to London and quickly landed a job in e-commerce – it was only when our erstwhile fashion editor Matt Bramford prompted her to start drawing again that her love of fashion illustration was reawakened. Since then she’s been scribbling away furiously on her wacom tablet – churning out the most amazing illustrations from a beautiful fusion of watery digital layers.
Fiona O’Grady of Save Our Shoeswrote a lovely blog about how much ACOFI had inspired her.
Our official afternoon photographer Liz Johnson-Artur strikes a typical pose in her fabulous leggings – CHECK DEM! Much admired, but Liz was keeping their provenance firmly under wraps goddamit.
Returning the favour she drew fellow illustrator Michelle Urvall Nyren, eyes downward as if fixed on her sketchpad.
Tamara of 6 Day Riot captured her imagination in this image.
She also created this wonderful image from a photograph of my three former and current fashion editors – Jonno Ovans now works with the Ethical Fashion Forum, Matt is obviously still here, and Sally Mumby-Croft has never really left. As well as being a super talented film-maker she also regularly contributes to both the art and fashion sections. Matt and Sally were of course completely indispensable on the day of the ACOFI launch.
