Amelia’s Magazine | UGG Australia launches the I Do Wedding Collection and Piccadilly Flagship Store

UGG Canvas lucianna
Remember UGG? that much derided maker of *comfortable* booties worn by many a D-list celeb? Well, slowly and quietly UGG has undertaken a design transformation and grown up… I had an inkling of this when I was gifted a pair of wonderful sheepskin clog booties a few years ago that rapidly became my favourite footwear of the season, but things have moved on rapidly since then.

UGG Canvas Tawnie
UGG Australia Tawnie.

This season UGG Australia are really ramping things up a gear in the UK… what with the launch of the I Do wedding collection (pearlescent versions of the original boots) and the opening of a big new flagship store in Piccadilly, London. UGG Australia already has concept stores in Knightsbridge, Westfield London, Covent Garden and Manchester, and their new bridal collection will be available exclusively in these shops.

Ugg wedding_collection
ugg i do fluff flip flop

Whilst I find the I Do jeweled Bailey Button and sequinned Classic Sparkles boots to be of dubious taste I can imagine that a certain type of bride would absolutely love their combination of glitz and comfort in the run up to and aftermath of a big schmaltzy wedding. I will concede that the Fluff Flip Flop looks spectacularly cosy: UGG Australia pride themselves on using only the very best sheepskin and craft techniques for their products.

UGG Canvas women's lucianna
UGG Australia women’s Lucianna.

If you are still in any doubt as to the desirability of UGG shoes why not take a peek through this summer’s range: I’m particularly loving the Jolene and Lucianna styles. You can use the widget below to find the styles you like. Now, who’s taking me sailing?


  • WOMEN’S UGG BOOTS

    UGGÆ sheepskin boots are a must-have in any womanís wardrobe. Once you try them on, you wonít want to take them off. Tall or short, thereís a pair for you.



  • MEN’S UGG BOOTS

    Get your hands on a pair of men’s boots from UGGÆ for men – the hottest look for men this winter. Using only the finest materials, they give you a comfort that is like nothing else.




  • MEN’S SLIPPERS

    Relax in style with a luxurious pair of menís sheepskin slippers from UGGÆ. With the legendary warmth and feel of UGG, you wear them in and out of the house.




  • ACCESSORIES

    Slip on the luxurious feel of UGGÆ leather gloves this winter. With its famous sheepskin lining, itís the only way to keep your hands toasty and stylish.




  • ABOUT UGGÆ

    Make sure your UGGÆ Boots are genuine. Be wary of any websites selling discount UGGÆ boots. Visit the official UGGÆ Australia website for authentic UGG products.






UGG Australia womens evera canvas
UGG Australia women’s Evera Canvas.

UGG Canvas lo pro denim jacquard
UGG Australia lo pro Denim Jacquard.

This is a sponsored blog post, but please note I only ever write about products and services that I genuinely like and want to share with my readers.

Categories ,Bailey Button, ,Boots, ,Bridal, ,Classic Sparkles, ,Covent Garden, ,Evera Canvas, ,Flagship Store, ,Fluff Flip Flop, ,footwear, ,I Do, ,Jolene, ,Knightsbridge, ,lo pro Denim Jacquard, ,Lucianna, ,manchester, ,Piccadilly, ,Sheepskin, ,shoes, ,Tawnie, ,UGG Australia, ,Wedding, ,Wedding Collection, ,Westfield London

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Amelia’s Magazine | Modern Love: S/S 2012 Preview Interview with designer Sarah Arnett

Modern Love by Ola Szpunar
Modern Love by Ola Szpunar.

Sarah Arnett is a multi talented designer who just happened to train at the same university as me. She graduated the year above, and since then has had an extremely interesting and varied career – from contributing illustrations to Amelia’s Magazine to creating a beautiful fashion line that is exclusively stocked in Liberty – it seems she is capable of turning her hand to all aspects of design! Prepare to be very inspired….

Modern Love SS12
sarah arnett Modern Love by angela lamb
Modern Love by Angela Lamb.

You’ve had an eclectic career, training firstly in woven textiles for fashion on the same course as me at Brighton Uni, and then moving into illustration, interior design and back into the world of fashion. Can you tell us more about your journey across these disciplines?
I found it very difficult to decide what to do in the first place, all I knew was that I wanted to go to art college, I grew up with a family of designers and makers so being able to sew and paint seemed normal and I used to watch my father work in his studio, everyone was able to draw, paint… in fact my great uncle designed fabrics for Liberty. Things happen in your life like having children, and other things become important… it’s the same with my work, other things become more exciting and more important. I am totally inspired by the process and that drives me to try more things. It’s an exciting time for crossing over disciplines and I have always just thought of my self as a designer… It could be fashion, interiors… or illustration. I am so inspired by working on a range of projects; in the last couple of years year I have shown in a couple of exhibitions at Somerset House, worked on Modern Love, designed the new look of the uniform for the National Trust, as well as creating illustrations for The Sunday Times Style Magazine. I also design a small bridal collection that I sell through a vintage shop in Brighton… and there is a long list of other things that I want to do!

Modern Love SS12
Sarah-Harnett-by-Laura-Griffin
Modern Love by Laura Griffin.

What is the highlight of working across disciplines?
No day is the same….

Modernlove ss12 Long v neck dress
And what have been the difficult parts?
I love and hate fashion, sometimes I think it’s a frivolous waste of time and on the other hand can make someone feel beautiful and have a real impact on their life… I don’t think I am a fashionable person and have never felt very comfortable in my own skin, but I am and have always been fascinated by clothes. I find fashion a very big challenge. The stress of running your own business is hard work, as is that freelancer’s worry of where the next job will be coming from… and there is always self doubt. But I look at all of these as things that drive me on to try and do better.

Sarah Arnett Modern Love by Isher Dhiman
Sarah Arnett’s Modern Love by Isher Dhiman.

Why did you name your clothing brand Modern Love?
Myself and my business partner Kim Hunt really liked the idea of a name that encompassed what we felt and admired about good design. The Love of beauty, vintage, heritage and the feminine and the Modern… a way of thinking, responsibility to the environment, ethical and local manufacturing, our vision, our way of working and maintaining a good work/life balance for ourselves (we did have our production meeting on the beach over looking a very calm sea today!) and a reference to David Bowie never hurt anyone! I

Modern Love print design SS 2012
Print design from the current collection.

For S/S 2012 Modern Love is all about a mix of tropical and country garden prints – described as earthy African hues meet the soft English sky (love that description) Where did you find inspiration for the imagery?
I find that I am constantly working and re-working the same themes which are a mix of my African, big sunshine early influences and my love of the softer, rolling South Downs up-bringing. I can’t ever choose between them. If I admire or value or find something beautiful or fascinating I am drawn to design with it, I think it’s a very similar sensation to eating something or collecting things. It’s a different way of owning or tasting something. I draw it.

Modern Love print design SS 2012
How do you reconcile living on the sometimes rainy south coast of Brighton with your fabulous African childhood? Are there ways to bring a bit of African sunshine back into your life?!
In a strange way having the coast and that big expanse of water and sky to look can be as dramatic and uplifting as the sunshine and dry African plains: I walk down to the sea every day I possibly can, it’s very important to me. Without it I would hate the winter even more than I do! My ideal situation would be six months here, six months there. 

Modern Love print design SS 2012
How easy is it to design shapes to suit your prints, or do you begin the other way around?
The collection starts out with shapes and a woman in mind first. Then I feel like I have to think about that woman, what she would wear and start to fit the prints around it. It’s always a bit of a narrative, there has to be a reason for the print to be there. Quite often we will find an image of a woman for each season and then we will always question whether she will wear each design. Kim and I design the shapes together so we talk and talk and draw and have to justify why it has to be there. Once we have the bones of the collection together I go into my own world for a few weeks getting the new prints together. I like to engineer the print to the pattern pieces of the garment.

Modern Love print design SS 2012
Why did you decide to print the fabrics in Como, Italy?
There is a fantastic tradition of textiles in Como. I first went there when I did a work placement in Switzerland. We were very near to Como and visited it often. If you have to choose a location for a factory visit, I can’t imagine anything more beautiful! The printers I work with have printed in a traditional way for a couple of generations and then moved over to digital twenty years ago when it was first being experimented with. The laying down of pigment, whether via digital or by screen print, is only part of the process. They are very skilled in the handling and finishing of the fabrics which makes them feel beautiful and gives them a longevity. The digital process is much cleaner than traditional screen printing and uses far less water and energy. I like the tradition and the finesse of the final production. What they lack in delivering on time they make up in the detail and quality!

Modern Love SS12
Modern Love SS12 5
Modern Love by Nanae Kawahara
Modern Love by Nanae Kawahara.

Who are the craftspeople who make the collection for you? Can you introduce us to them!
Brighton is so full of talented machinists and pattern cutters, it’s a very sociable place and over the years I have met lots of people I can call on to help me. I have used the same machinists for the last ten years. They work form home and small studios as well as working for me they are working for lots of top designers; a good machinist is worth her weight in gold! There used to be a lot of small garment factories in the area and it’s a shame they have all disappeared. There is a new initiative called The Fashion Trust based in Sussex which is trying to pull all the local resources together which will be great for designer just starting up.

Modern Love SS12
Sarah Arnett Modern Love by Jacqueline Valencia
Sarah Arnett’s Modern Love by Jacqueline Valencia.

Modern Love is stocked exclusively in Liberty – a dream for most clothing brands. How did you get the label into this most prestigious of shops?
Well, Liberty made it very easy, even with beautiful photographs and constant emailing it’s very difficult to get the attention of the buyers unless you see them face to face at a show. We lined up with everyone else at their Best Of British Open Call and were the only womens wear brand to have got through last year. It was a great experience because at least you knew you had a few minutes of complete attention to show your collection in the flesh. I think it has been a great success and we feel very proud to have our collection there, especially since it was our first goal when starting Modern Love.

Modern Love SS12
Modern Love SS12
Find Modern Love at Liberty right here.

Categories ,africa, ,Angela Lamb, ,Best of British, ,Best Of British Open Call, ,Bridal, ,brighton, ,Como, ,David Bowie, ,fashion, ,Fashion Textiles, ,illustration, ,Interior Design, ,Isher Dhiman, ,Italy, ,Jacqueline Valencia, ,Kim Hunt, ,Laura Griffin, ,liberty, ,Modern Love, ,Nanae Kawahara, ,National Trust, ,Ola Szpunar, ,print, ,Sarah Arnett, ,Somerset House, ,Sunday Times Style Magazine, ,Sussex, ,The Fashion Trust, ,University of Brighton, ,vintage, ,Woven Textiles

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Amelia’s Magazine | By Stamo: a taster interview with ethical fashion designer Elisabeth Stamo

Beautiful Soul A/W 2010 by Zarina Liew
You started out as an insurance broker so you’ve have had an unconventional career so far. Why and how did you become a fashion designer?
As a young girl, see I wanted to be a fashion designer, but life has its twists and turns and I found myself caught up in the rat race for eleven years. I lacked passion for my work but I didn’t know how I would cope without my luxuries and the next pay rise. Then I had the opportunity to backpack around the world for six months with my best friend and for the first time in my adult life I realised that I could live on a budget. I started to see life in a different light, with endless opportunities. Whilst in Tokyo, something happened to me: I was surrounded by the most amazing boutiques and I was like a child in a sweet shop. Mesmerised. Excited. Totally inspired. I realised that I needed to make radical changes to my lifestyle in order to make my dreams a reality and I haven’t looked back since. I graduated from the London College of Fashion with a BA(Hons) in Fashion, Design and Technology in 2008. During my final year, I was involved in a project based around ‘saving the earth’. I was hooked. Fashion with a TRUE meaning, for me, is the only way, and my ethos helps me to focus and push forward.

Why did you decide to specialise in creating adjustable garments?
I set out to create timeless designs that will be favoured pieces in the wardrobe for a lifetime and multi-functionality renders a garment timeless, as it can be worn to suit different moods and seasons. A woman’s curves change regularly and it’s frustrating when a zip or button will not close. I therefore avoid using conventional fastening in my designs and instead explore alternative methods. I love to experiment and delve below the surface of fashion, discovering new ways to incorporate responsibility through use of distinctive materials and design innovation.

What does your zero waste policy mean in practicality?
I am extremely fond of fabric and I hate to see it go to waste! I upcycle vintage kimonos to create new garments that hold a greater value; when I dismantle a kimono I am left with very limited panels of fabric, only 38cm wide. It’s important that I work with these restrictions and nurture an understanding of the fabric availability. Any leftover fabric will be placed aside and then revisited the following season, where I set myself the challenge of designing a new piece based on the leftovers. I have just designed Beautiful Soul’s third collection, S/S 2011’s Believe, and the leftover fabrics have been transformed into a range of unique corsets and shoulders pads in our menswear jackets. Material remnants feature as fastenings and embellishments, adhering to the policy of zero waste whereby every last thread of fabric is used in the creative process.

Read the rest of this interview and see more illustrations of Beautiful Soul’s clothing in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, alongside interviews with 44 other ethical fashion designers and 30 fabulous fashion illustrators. You can buy the book here.
ZarinaLiew_BeautifulSoul_FW10
Beautiful Soul A/W 2010 by Zarina Liew.

You started out as an insurance broker so you’ve have had an unconventional career so far. Why and how did you become a fashion designer?
As a young girl, buy more about I wanted to be a fashion designer, more about but life has its twists and turns and I found myself caught up in the rat race for eleven years. I lacked passion for my work but I didn’t know how I would cope without my luxuries and the next pay rise. Then I had the opportunity to backpack around the world for six months with my best friend and for the first time in my adult life I realised that I could live on a budget. I started to see life in a different light, with endless opportunities. Whilst in Tokyo, something happened to me: I was surrounded by the most amazing boutiques and I was like a child in a sweet shop. Mesmerised. Excited. Totally inspired. I realised that I needed to make radical changes to my lifestyle in order to make my dreams a reality and I haven’t looked back since. I graduated from the London College of Fashion with a BA(Hons) in Fashion, Design and Technology in 2008. During my final year, I was involved in a project based around ‘saving the earth’. I was hooked. Fashion with a TRUE meaning, for me, is the only way, and my ethos helps me to focus and push forward.

Beautiful Soul A/W 2010 by Zarina Liew
Beautiful Soul by Zarina Liew

Why did you decide to specialise in creating adjustable garments?
I set out to create timeless designs that will be favoured pieces in the wardrobe for a lifetime and multi-functionality renders a garment timeless, as it can be worn to suit different moods and seasons. A woman’s curves change regularly and it’s frustrating when a zip or button will not close. I therefore avoid using conventional fastening in my designs and instead explore alternative methods. I love to experiment and delve below the surface of fashion, discovering new ways to incorporate responsibility through use of distinctive materials and design innovation.

What does your zero waste policy mean in practicality?
I am extremely fond of fabric and I hate to see it go to waste! I upcycle vintage kimonos to create new garments that hold a greater value; when I dismantle a kimono I am left with very limited panels of fabric, only 38cm wide. It’s important that I work with these restrictions and nurture an understanding of the fabric availability. Any leftover fabric will be placed aside and then revisited the following season, where I set myself the challenge of designing a new piece based on the leftovers. I have just designed Beautiful Soul’s third collection, S/S 2011’s Believe, and the leftover fabrics have been transformed into a range of unique corsets and shoulders pads in our menswear jackets. Material remnants feature as fastenings and embellishments, adhering to the policy of zero waste whereby every last thread of fabric is used in the creative process….


Beautiful Soul SS:11 Believe was created with Zarina Liew after she made contact with Nicola Woods to complete her submission to be in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration. Music was provided by Amelia’s Magazine favourite Gabby Young and Other Animals.

Read the rest of this interview and see more illustrations of Beautiful Soul’s clothing in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, alongside interviews with 44 other ethical fashion designers and 30 fabulous fashion illustrators. You can buy the book here.
AmyMartino_AndrewCrews_HorsPiste
The Andrea Crews Hors Pistes collection by Amy Martino.

Maroussia Rebecq arrived in Paris in 2002. Deciding that she did not want to work alone she created a fictional character, this web Andrea Crews, viagra sale around which she began to build a network of accomplices. Maroussia may be the founder and director but Andrea Crews is a project in which many others take part. Andrea Crews is an avant-garde movement based on a sustainable aesthetic, viagra order communicating creative ideas via ethical means. The latest collection is described as “a galactic warrior on a sunset ride”.

The Andrea Crews Hors Pistes collection by Amy Martino
The Andrea Crews Hors Pistes collection by Amy Martino.

The average Andrea Crews customer is “good looking and open minded with good style, aged anything from 7 to 77 years old.” The antithesis of sleek French fashion, Andrea Crews revels in the juncture of performance art and fashion, playfully recycling unwanted clothing. The crew sorts through old clothes, hunting out the boldest colours and best quality materials. Styles are combined to create “fresh, sexy, unisex, colourful, graphic, funky” outfits, which take shape as they grow. Andrea Crews collections are always accompanied by a big performance and lots of partying – “we work hard, we party hard” – collaborating with other experimental contemporaries on the cultural scene: artists, stylists, video directors and DJs, not to mention musicians. They have dressed Santigold, Metronomy and Yelle

Read the rest of this interview and see more illustrations of Andrea Crew’s clothing in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, alongside interviews with 44 other ethical fashion designers and 30 fabulous fashion illustrators. You can buy the book here.
Krister Selin By Stamo S-S 2011
By Stamo S/S 2011 by Krister Selin.

Where and how were you trained in fashion design?
In Greece I studied hand weaving and embroideries at institutions and museums and with local people so that I could learn about traditional techniques. Then I trained at the London College of Fashion and I have also studied shoes, what is ed millinery and textile design for print. Besides having my own brand, more about I also consult and train on the technical side of fashion; pattern-cutting, garment technology and quality control. I recently set up Ecoluxe with fellow ethical designer Elena Garcia to promote eco-luxury as a lifestyle choice. I am also working on a Masters in Business Administration with the University of Liverpool. I study all the time to keep my mind ticking over.

By Stamo S/S 2010 by Antonia Parker
By Stamo S/S 2010 by Antonia Parker.

How do you determine what is ethical in fashion design?
The work ethical comes from the ancient Greek word ethos, which means a combination of honesty, justice and sincerity. According to Aristotle, these moral characteristics were an important aspect of everyday life. My brand practices ethos by using local resources where possible, working with and within the community, developing people skills to create sustainable hand crafted products. For my diffusion line I also source vintage fabrics from redundant stock or end of rolls from warehouses all over Europe – or whichever part of the world I happen to be visiting…

Read the rest of this interview and see more illustrations of By Stamo’s clothing in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, alongside interviews with 44 other ethical fashion designers and 30 fabulous fashion illustrators. You can buy the book here.

Categories ,Antonia Parker, ,Aristotle, ,By Stamo, ,Elena Garcia, ,Elisabeth Stamo, ,Ethical Fashion, ,Ethos, ,Greece, ,Krister Selin, ,London College of Fashion, ,University of Liverpool

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