Amelia’s Magazine | Kingston University MA Illustration 2010 Exhibition Review


Illustration by Jenny Costello

Charlie Boots’ hand-made, decease one-of-a-kind pieces, case made from reclaimed and vintage fabrics, health are an antidote to fast fashion and the over-hyped high street. And they’re reversible! I had a chat with Charlie about staying sustainable (but stylish), her love of vintage and fashion’s green credentials…

How did you end up as an ethical clothing designer – had you always planned to go down the ethical route?
I became a fashion designer at the age of 28, after wanting to do it since I was 10! I lived in Bangkok in my early twenties and would take my designs to the tailors to be made. This could be hugely frustrating, as a person’s interpretation of a design often does not match the idea (not to mention the language barrier). I realised I needed to learn to pattern cut myself, and so then went on to do a fashion degree at Bath Spa University. It was here that I started looking into ethical fashion, and once I understand the enormous negative impact of this industry on so many people, I knew that doing it ethically was the only route I could take.


Illustration by Gareth A Hopkins

All your designs are made from ‘ethically sourced materials’ –what do you mean by this?
I use organic, fair-trade, vintage, re-claimed and sustainable fabrics. Using organic fabrics mean that cotton workers are not suffering serious health conditions and often death (20,000 a year) as a result of the pesticides used. Fabrics like bamboo and hemp are sustainable – these two in particular do not require pesticides, much water or a lot of care. 95% of my fabrics are sourced in the UK, though the bamboo, hemp and vintage 1930s/40s fabrics come from the USA. The kimono fabrics are from Japan, of course!

A lot of your designs are reversible – which I love! Is this another way to make your clothing more sustainable?
Yes, most of the designs are reversible and this does add to their sustainability. I finish almost all of the garments with couture ‘bound’ seams. This enables them to be reversed as you do not see any overlocking (a common and cheap way to finish garments) when the garment is reversed. This gives the garment a subtly different look. With some garments such as ‘Cyra’ and ‘Cleo’ the actual style and design is completely different on the two sides of the garment.

You design women’s clothing and accessories – any plans to branch out into menswear or any other fields?
I love designing and pattern cutting but only have time to do so much! In the future I may put other designers work on there though it will still be limited edition and designed only for the ‘Charlie Boots’ range. It is very tough to forge a career in fashion design and I’d like to help people who have talent. I will also be selling limited edition UK made jewellery on the site from October.

How are reclaimed fabrics different from vintage materials?
A vintage fabric is a re-claimed fabric really, but a re-claimed fabric is not necessarily vintage. For example, some of my fabrics are sample pieces from fabric printers/wholesalers. These would otherwise go in the bin when the company no longer sell that fabric.

Is everything on each of your garments ‘ethical’ – right down to the zips?
At the moment all the zips and most of the buttons are re-claimed. They came from a company that was holding some abandoned stock that they couldn’t be bothered to re-home. It was about to head for landfill and I came upon them by chance.


Illustration by Antonia Parker

When designing each collection, are you inspired by fabrics themselves or do you create designs and then look for your materials?
I normally create designs with a fabric type in mind but I don’t usually choose the exact fabrics first. Sometimes when a toile is finished I think it would look better in a different weight of fabric, so will then move in another direction with it.

You have a ten-item limit of each design – why is this, and do you to ever make special one-off items?
Some of the items I have made are actually one-offs. This tends to happen if I have a small piece of printed fabric that I just have to use because I love it, but sadly there is only enough for one garment.
I put a limit of ten items on one design because I want to give my customers something unique that they are very unlikely to see anybody else wearing.

At the moment your designs are only available online – why is this? Any plans to expand to selling your product in other shops in the future?
My garments will be going onto a few more on-line shops and at some point they may go into shops. The problem with wholesaling is that I would make very little money if I sold my garments to shops at expected wholesale prices. Everything is UK-made so this adds a lot to the cost of a garment.


Illustration by Aniela Murphy

Do you think the fad for fast, throwaway fashion is coming to an end, and being replaced by a need for wearable, ‘investment pieces’?
I hope so! But it won’t happen overnight. Fast fashion is still a huge part of Western culture. Primark makes more money than any other high street clothes shop. Over the last decade the price of clothes has dropped and the amount we purchase has gone up. Shops can have up to ten ‘seasons’ where there was once only two. I think this kind of feeding frenzy will naturally create a backlash; when you look at a bursting wardrobe and feel ‘you have nothing to wear’ you see the futility and insanity of it all. If you buy an item that is well made, well cut and has had a lot of thought put into its design then you can spend more money and really value and treasure that item.

What with big name ethical fashion brands like Edun and Noir, and the Estethica tent at London Fashion Week, Eco Fashion seems to be having a moment – do you think the Fashion Industry is really trying to change its bad habits, or does it have a long way to go?
I think there is a growing core of people that want to change the ways of the fashion industry and I believe that it will happen in time. Educating people is important and I’m happy that educational establishments are paying a lot more attention to ethics on fashion courses. I suspect that a lot of larger businesses to a certain extent are paying lip service when claiming to be more ethical, but doing something about how they operate is better than nothing and it can help to bring the issues into the limelight.

What are the challenges that you face as a fashion designer committed to eco-friendly/ethical design?
I think my main challenge is sourcing fabrics that I think people will like and that are also ethical. I want to bring in more organic and fair-trade fabrics but the former are extremely expensive and the latter are often done on hand-looms – which leave small imperfections in the weave. These are part of the charm of such fabric, but I am not sure that everyone will see it that way! This all has to work as a business and I need to make products that will sell.

You exhibited at Vintage at Goodwood recently (a festival that caused a lot of debate on the Amelia’s website!) What do you think of the day – a celebration of Vintage or overhyped and expensive?
I had the best time! Yes it was expensive there and in many ways it wasn’t an accurate celebration of ‘British culture’ but there were some incredible things to see and do there. As a lover of design I was completely bowled over by the effort that people had made with their outfits (http://tiny.cc/qsoqh)! I had a fantastic time and I will definitely go back next year.

Any more pop-ups or exhibitions in the pipeline?
Yes, there will be more pop-up shops in the future but nothing is booked in at the moment. Keep an eye on the ‘news’ section on the website though!

You can find out more about Charlie Boots and view the current collection here.

Illustration by Jenny Costello

Charlie Boots’ hand-made, online one-of-a-kind pieces, made from reclaimed and vintage fabrics, are an antidote to fast fashion and the over-hyped high street. And they’re reversible! I had a chat with Charlie about staying sustainable (but stylish), her love of vintage and fashion’s green credentials…

How did you end up as an ethical clothing designer – had you always planned to go down the ethical route?
I became a fashion designer at the age of 28, after wanting to do it since I was 10! I lived in Bangkok in my early twenties and would take my designs to the tailors to be made. This could be hugely frustrating, as a person’s interpretation of a design often does not match the idea (not to mention the language barrier). I realised I needed to learn to pattern cut myself, and so then went on to do a fashion degree at Bath Spa University. It was here that I started looking into ethical fashion, and once I understand the enormous negative impact of this industry on so many people, I knew that doing it ethically was the only route I could take.


Illustration by Gareth A Hopkins

All your designs are made from ‘ethically sourced materials’ –what do you mean by this?
I use organic, fair-trade, vintage, re-claimed and sustainable fabrics. Using organic fabrics mean that cotton workers are not suffering serious health conditions and often death (20,000 a year) as a result of the pesticides used. Fabrics like bamboo and hemp are sustainable – these two in particular do not require pesticides, much water or a lot of care. 95% of my fabrics are sourced in the UK, though the bamboo, hemp and vintage 1930s/40s fabrics come from the USA. The kimono fabrics are from Japan, of course!

A lot of your designs are reversible – which I love! Is this another way to make your clothing more sustainable?
Yes, most of the designs are reversible and this does add to their sustainability. I finish almost all of the garments with couture ‘bound’ seams. This enables them to be reversed as you do not see any overlocking (a common and cheap way to finish garments) when the garment is reversed. This gives the garment a subtly different look. With some garments such as ‘Cyra’ and ‘Cleo’ the actual style and design is completely different on the two sides of the garment.

You design women’s clothing and accessories – any plans to branch out into menswear or any other fields?
I love designing and pattern cutting but only have time to do so much! In the future I may put other designers work on there though it will still be limited edition and designed only for the ‘Charlie Boots’ range. It is very tough to forge a career in fashion design and I’d like to help people who have talent. I will also be selling limited edition UK made jewellery on the site from October.

How are reclaimed fabrics different from vintage materials?
A vintage fabric is a re-claimed fabric really, but a re-claimed fabric is not necessarily vintage. For example, some of my fabrics are sample pieces from fabric printers/wholesalers. These would otherwise go in the bin when the company no longer sell that fabric.

Is everything on each of your garments ‘ethical’ – right down to the zips?
At the moment all the zips and most of the buttons are re-claimed. They came from a company that was holding some abandoned stock that they couldn’t be bothered to re-home. It was about to head for landfill and I came upon them by chance.


Illustration by Antonia Parker

When designing each collection, are you inspired by fabrics themselves or do you create designs and then look for your materials?
I normally create designs with a fabric type in mind but I don’t usually choose the exact fabrics first. Sometimes when a toile is finished I think it would look better in a different weight of fabric, so will then move in another direction with it.

You have a ten-item limit of each design – why is this, and do you to ever make special one-off items?
Some of the items I have made are actually one-offs. This tends to happen if I have a small piece of printed fabric that I just have to use because I love it, but sadly there is only enough for one garment.
I put a limit of ten items on one design because I want to give my customers something unique that they are very unlikely to see anybody else wearing.

At the moment your designs are only available online – why is this? Any plans to expand to selling your product in other shops in the future?
My garments will be going onto a few more on-line shops and at some point they may go into shops. The problem with wholesaling is that I would make very little money if I sold my garments to shops at expected wholesale prices. Everything is UK-made so this adds a lot to the cost of a garment.


Illustration by Aniela Murphy

Do you think the fad for fast, throwaway fashion is coming to an end, and being replaced by a need for wearable, ‘investment pieces’?
I hope so! But it won’t happen overnight. Fast fashion is still a huge part of Western culture. Primark makes more money than any other high street clothes shop. Over the last decade the price of clothes has dropped and the amount we purchase has gone up. Shops can have up to ten ‘seasons’ where there was once only two. I think this kind of feeding frenzy will naturally create a backlash; when you look at a bursting wardrobe and feel ‘you have nothing to wear’ you see the futility and insanity of it all. If you buy an item that is well made, well cut and has had a lot of thought put into its design then you can spend more money and really value and treasure that item.

What with big name ethical fashion brands like Edun and Noir, and the Estethica tent at London Fashion Week, Eco Fashion seems to be having a moment – do you think the Fashion Industry is really trying to change its bad habits, or does it have a long way to go?
I think there is a growing core of people that want to change the ways of the fashion industry and I believe that it will happen in time. Educating people is important and I’m happy that educational establishments are paying a lot more attention to ethics on fashion courses. I suspect that a lot of larger businesses to a certain extent are paying lip service when claiming to be more ethical, but doing something about how they operate is better than nothing and it can help to bring the issues into the limelight.

What are the challenges that you face as a fashion designer committed to eco-friendly/ethical design?
I think my main challenge is sourcing fabrics that I think people will like and that are also ethical. I want to bring in more organic and fair-trade fabrics but the former are extremely expensive and the latter are often done on hand-looms – which leave small imperfections in the weave. These are part of the charm of such fabric, but I am not sure that everyone will see it that way! This all has to work as a business and I need to make products that will sell.

You exhibited at Vintage at Goodwood recently (a festival that caused a lot of debate on the Amelia’s website!) What do you think of the day – a celebration of Vintage or overhyped and expensive?
I had the best time! Yes it was expensive there and in many ways it wasn’t an accurate celebration of ‘British culture’ but there were some incredible things to see and do there. As a lover of design I was completely bowled over by the effort that people had made with their outfits (http://tiny.cc/qsoqh)! I had a fantastic time and I will definitely go back next year.

Any more pop-ups or exhibitions in the pipeline?
Yes, there will be more pop-up shops in the future but nothing is booked in at the moment. Keep an eye on the ‘news’ section on the website though!

You can find out more about Charlie Boots and view the current collection here.
Love Amandine Gemma Milly
Illustration by Gemma Milly.

For some reason Kingston buried it’s student graduation shows in the depths of the Tent London exhibition during Design Week in London this September. Due to severe overcrowding at the opening party for Tent I was thus unable to attend the graduation preview, prescription so I have yet to meet graduating illustrator and Amelia’s Magazine favourite Gemma Milly.

I returned the next day to find a real mix of illustration on display, ambulance including some from other part time contributors to this blog, pharmacy including the very good Laura Callaghan (we wish she would do more for us!) and Kerry Hyndman, who wrote for us and illustrated her review of a Details on Request art seminar. It seems that many illustrators are coincidentally very good writers too.

Kingston illustration MA Gemma Milly
Gemma Milly’s exhibition space.

Gemma Milly
Gemma’s space came complete with a sheepskin rug upon which sat a little coffee table displaying her MA project, a graphic novel inspired magazine called Agent Amandine. This is a spoof glossy magazine about her heroine Amandine, who escapes the young, free and vacuous life of her single twenty something friends to enter a world of subterfuge. Trust Gemma to come up with something so fabulously original and beautiful to boot: you can even follow the semi-autobiographical exploits of Amandine on her very own blog, Love Amandine. Gemma is known for her wonderfully delicate and desirable female figures so of course her work is perfectly suited to fashion illustration – expect to catch up with her in my upcoming Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration.

Gemma Milly Italian straw hat
Gemma Milly Amandine cover

Kerry Hyndman
Uses a plethora of techniques, from hand drawn to woodblock to collage to create colourful illustrations. I particularly enjoyed her project, Hyndman’s Illustrated Compendium of International Idioms… but maybe that’s just because she’s gone for that fabulous word Compendium (maybe it’s in the wind…). Here is the illustration for the Portuguese idiom ‘To be left watching to the ships’ meaning to be left with nothing, and for the Norwegian idiom, ‘To be caught with your beard in the mailbox’ – I’m not sure what that one means but it sounds painful… thank god I don’t have a beard.

Kerry Hyndman sailor
kerry hyndman beardpostbox

Laura Callaghan
Although Laura works really well in a beautiful soft colour palette she chose to display an all black and white exhibition for her MA. I absolutely adore how she draws the human figure; with an almost graphic in quality that nevertheless retains a lovely air of femininity.

laura callaghan MA show Kingston
laura callaghan MA show Kingston
laura callaghan MA show Kingston
New discoveries (click on their names to access websites) were:

Sheena Dempsey
Sheena is a brilliant children’s book illustrator who cunningly uses the scaling of objects to create an exciting narrative. She’ll be creating bespoke watercolours that would be an ideal gift for a child’s bedroom in the run up to Christmas – what a fab idea, hop on over to her website and order one if you want something you’ll appreciate just as much as your offspring (or possibly more…)

Sheena Dempsey detail

Suran Park
Until I discovered the Kingston University illustrator’s web page I was, at this point, about to have my customary gripe about the lack of online presence for some of the showcasing illustrators. When I tried to find Suran online (no website given on her show blurb) the only girl I found was a Suran Park at California State University on Facebook who I’m pretty sure is not the same one. Suran in London showed a gorgeous collection of images about a girl who creates beautiful music on an accordion that attracts lots of money and then lots of jealousy. Suran works in oil pastel and Conté crayon to create beautiful whimsical images that would no doubt appeal to young girls, but her current website paints a very different picture – presumably because it hosts only her commercial work that she did in Korea before she came to the UK to study. It’s a real shame she hasn’t updated it yet.

Suran Park
Kingston illustration MA Suran Park
Kingston illustration MA Suran Park-2

Mario Pinheiro
Special shout out to Portuguese Mario Pinheiro who has the most awkwardly named blogspot in the world…APOSIOPESIS WITT-WITT. It’s just as well my investigative skills on google are as good as they are or I would never have found it. I mean, why make it so hard on yourself folks?! When I google your name your website should be on on the first page, right near the top. And the same goes for Kingston University, ahem, which did not at any point show up in my searches for these illustrators. Sort out your SEO, please. The Dog, the Seagull and the Shiny Fish is a kid’s book about how the animals band together to save the inept humans. Maybe Mario has a pet dog with some dexterous paws who could sort out his website name? Oh woops, I seem to have changed your url to
mario-pinheiro.com
. Well I never how did that happen? Woof.

Kingston MA Mario Pinheiro

Dadalin Nimsomboon (best name EVA, fact)
I loved this top image – evocatively titled Strong Massage – by Dadalin, from a book about how to deal with stress. Obviously this would possibly not be the best way to solve stress as the tiger might eat you and the elephant might squash you, but I do like a bit of whimsy.

Dadalin Nimsomboon strong massage
Dadalin Nimsomboon paint nails

Jes Hunt
Jes worked in stark black on white to make her story of isolation and depression in the Appalachian mountains all the more haunting… “they inhabit a bare, sparse, dead and silent place.” As the relationships in a family improve colour creeps into her work. Very effective.

Dawn Front Cover- jes Hunt

Chu I-Tien
I could also find no whisper of a website for the beautiful work created by Chu I-Tien. “Lily is always alone. She always wants to have a sister or brother. Lily is always alone. She always checks her phone every five minutes.” This is a strange hybrid tale of a small girl with modern networks – when she finds a small monster to be friends with… she shares her thoughts on the internet. Psst… get onto twitter then Scarlett…

Kingston illustration MA Chu I-Tien

Jinyoung Kim
Another seemingly web free illustrator inspired by fantastical tales, this time of a forbidden love between a human and a dragon, if I have this correctly! Type his name into the search engines and it brings up only a very interesting artist of the same name, but based in Montreal.

Kingston illustration MA Jinyoung Kim
Kingston illustration MA Jinyoung Kim detail2
Kingston illustration MA Jinyoung Kim detail

Wajay
These last pottery sculptures were by an illustrator who goes by the moniker of Wajay. Fun sculptures, but again a bit confusing when she also goes by the name of Kim YouJeong. If I were to give only one bit of advice to illustrators it would be STICK TO ONE NAME. It’s just way too confusing otherwise. Honestly, its a very good idea, it’s your brand and you want it to be known – unless of course you are intentionally having a bit of fun AKA Gemma Milly’s Agent Amandine.

Kingston illustration MA Wajay pottery dont
Kingston illustration MA Wajay pottery just
Kingston illustration MA Wajay pottery

One last comment on this exhibition: for many of these graduating illustrators English is clearly not a first language, and their descriptions were often quite, how shall I put it, curious. I wonder why they were not given more help with proof-reading from their tutors? But then, why they haven’t been asked to maintain an immaculate web presence as an absolute prerequisite for graduating is another mystery to me…

I have also reviewed LAB CRAFT, the design stands and sustainable design at Tent London – just click on the links to read more.

Categories ,Agent Amandine, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Chu I-Tien, ,Conté crayon, ,Dadalin Nimsomboon, ,Design Week, ,Details on Request, ,Gemma Milly, ,Graduate Show, ,Hyndman’s Illustrated Compendium of International Idioms, ,illustration, ,Jes Hunt, ,Jinyoung Kim, ,Kerry Hyndman, ,Kim YouJeong, ,Kingston University, ,Laura Callaghan, ,Love Amandine, ,MA Illustration, ,Mario Pinheiro, ,oil pastel, ,Sheena Dempsey, ,Suran Park, ,Tent, ,Wajay

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Amelia’s Magazine | In conversation with Neville Brody at the V&A


Illustration by Daria Hlazatova

Fashion illustration. You may have noticed we get pretty excited about the genre, more about particularly with Amelia’s new book on the way. Drawing Fashion at the Design Museum has been hotly anticipated and it doesn’t let down. Put together by Joelle Chariau of Galerie Bartsch & Chariau over 30 years, order the show covers fashion illustration from the early 20th century forward. The present installment at the Design Museum is the first time the collection has been shown together.

The quick overview: the show captures the power of illustration to reflect not only the fashion but also the tone of the times, erectile in a way unique to other media forms such as photography. It proves that although photography has become the predominant media from the 1930s, illustration still holds a valid and special place in fashion. 

The longer version: split into five eras, the exhibit focuses the viewer to the changing role of fashion illustration and its connection to the culture it is a part of. The first, From Gold to Silver 1910-29, captures the optimism and new worldviews of the early 20th century with bold use of colours, a new vibrancy and a focus on lifestyle in the illustrations. The single figures of Erté, the Vogue and La Gazette du Bon Ton George Lepape covers bring out the new silhoette of the 1920s. Stylised illustrations celebrate the lifestyles that few could afford, but which encapsulate post war enthusiasm. The highlight here: George Lepape’s Chapeaux D’Hiver for Le Bon Ton in pen, ink and watercolour, showing both the original and use in editorial. 

Moving forward to 1930-46, the tone of Time & Decay reflects the changing times: the depression, the movement of focus from Paris to America during the war years, the popularity of the cinema and a focus on leisure and sportswear in fashion. This more casual tone is brought through the illustration, with looser strokes, more muted colours and more introspective compositions. This section highlights the talent of Bernard Blossac and René Bouché

Enthusiasm returns in New Rhythms, New Rules 1947-59, introducing Dior‘s ‘New Look‘ in 1947. The illustrations of Réne Gruau perfectly capture the ‘exagerated elegance’ of Dior’s bold new style. His bold use of colour and line, with a predominance of red, white, back and orchre shine through this section of the exhibit. The timelessness of the illustrations is highlighted by a Vogue Paris cover illustration, first published in the 1950s, republished for the Juin/Juillet 1985 edition, that would look equally contemporary today. Another highlight is a single pink glove, showing a movement from full figure to individual detail and objects of the body. 


Antonio Lopez

The true star of the show is Antonio (Lopez), the sole focus of Liberty & Licence, taking the viewer through 1960-89. Anotonio’s bold graphics in pencil and watercolour celebrate the dynamic feminism of the 1970s and especially the 1980s. This is power illustration to the max, matching the era’s power dressing with big shoulders, tight waists and attitudes to match. Hitting the mood of each decade, Antonio’s style adapts through the 1960s-80s, with a focus on form and art. 


François Berthoud

The exhibit concludes with The Tradition Continues 1990-2010 and Fashion Drawing for the Future. The illustrations chosen in this section react against ‘the cult of the individual’ and big budget commerciality of fashion and advertising. Matts Gustafson and François Berthoud show new paths forward in terms of form and technique. Bethaud’s Allure de Chanel for Rebel, France (enamel on paper) reduces the figure to positive and negative forms.


Mats Gustafson

Overall, illustrations are more moody and suggestive and are often simplified to form, colour and movement. An Aurore de la Morinere for Christian Lacroix published in Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazine loses the form of figure and clothes to a shimmer of colours, becoming etherial and fantasy rather than any depiction of the body. A dark illustration for Alexander McQueen with the figure walking away from the viewer and displayed alone poignently reminds of the loss of this fashion great. 

There is currently a resurgence of interest in fashion illustration and Drawing Fashion celebrates this. With any retrospective, it’s difficult to cover everything and there are a few illustrators missing – notably David Downton who we interviewed recently. The exhibition, however, demonstrates illustration’s power to take the viewer beyond the simple display of clothes and connecting what we wear with the mood, ideologies and changing tides of the 20th century.

Illustration by Daria Hlazatova

Fashion illustration. You may have noticed we get pretty excited about the genre, pharm particularly with Amelia’s new book on the way. Drawing Fashion at the Design Museum has been hotly anticipated and it doesn’t let down. Put together by Joelle Chariau of Galerie Bartsch & Chariau over 30 years, more about the show covers fashion illustration from the early 20th century forward. The present installment at the Design Museum is the first time the collection has been shown together.

The quick overview: the show captures the power of illustration to reflect not only the fashion but also the tone of the times, order in a way unique to other media forms such as photography. It proves that although photography has become the predominant media from the 1930s, illustration still holds a valid and special place in fashion. 


George Lepape

The longer version: split into five eras, the exhibit focuses the viewer to the changing role of fashion illustration and its connection to the culture it is a part of. The first, From Gold to Silver 1910-29, captures the optimism and new worldviews of the early 20th century with bold use of colours, a new vibrancy and a focus on lifestyle in the illustrations. The single figures of Erté, the Vogue and La Gazette du Bon Ton George Lepape covers bring out the new silhoette of the 1920s. Stylised illustrations celebrate the lifestyles that few could afford, but which encapsulate post war enthusiasm. The highlight here: George Lepape’s Chapeaux D’Hiver for Le Bon Ton in pen, ink and watercolour, showing both the original and use in editorial. 

Moving forward to 1930-46, the tone of Time & Decay reflects the changing times: the depression, the movement of focus from Paris to America during the war years, the popularity of the cinema and a focus on leisure and sportswear in fashion. This more casual tone is brought through the illustration, with looser strokes, more muted colours and more introspective compositions. This section highlights the talent of Bernard Blossac and René Bouché


René Gruau

Enthusiasm returns in New Rhythms, New Rules 1947-59, introducing Dior‘s ‘New Look‘ in 1947. The illustrations of Réne Gruau perfectly capture the ‘exagerated elegance’ of Dior’s bold new style. His bold use of colour and line, with a predominance of red, white, back and orchre shine through this section of the exhibit. The timelessness of the illustrations is highlighted by a Vogue Paris cover illustration, first published in the 1950s, republished for the Juin/Juillet 1985 edition, that would look equally contemporary today. Another highlight is a single pink glove, showing a movement from full figure to individual detail and objects of the body. 


Antonio Lopez

The true star of the show is Antonio (Lopez), the sole focus of Liberty & Licence, taking the viewer through 1960-89. Anotonio’s bold graphics in pencil and watercolour celebrate the dynamic feminism of the 1970s and especially the 1980s. This is power illustration to the max, matching the era’s power dressing with big shoulders, tight waists and attitudes to match. Hitting the mood of each decade, Antonio’s style adapts through the 1960s-80s, with a focus on form and art. 


François Berthoud

The exhibit concludes with The Tradition Continues 1990-2010 and Fashion Drawing for the Future. The illustrations chosen in this section react against ‘the cult of the individual’ and big budget commerciality of fashion and advertising. Matts Gustafson and François Berthoud show new paths forward in terms of form and technique. Bethaud’s Allure de Chanel for Rebel, France (enamel on paper) reduces the figure to positive and negative forms.


Mats Gustafson

Overall, illustrations are more moody and suggestive and are often simplified to form, colour and movement. An Aurore de la Morinere for Christian Lacroix published in Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazine loses the form of figure and clothes to a shimmer of colours, becoming etherial and fantasy rather than any depiction of the body. A dark illustration for Alexander McQueen with the figure walking away from the viewer and displayed alone poignently reminds of the loss of this fashion great. 

There is currently a resurgence of interest in fashion illustration and Drawing Fashion celebrates this. With any retrospective, it’s difficult to cover everything and there are a few illustrators missing – notably David Downton who we interviewed recently. The exhibition, however, demonstrates illustration’s power to take the viewer beyond the simple display of clothes and connecting what we wear with the mood, ideologies and changing tides of the 20th century.

Illustration by Daria Hlazatova

Fashion illustration. You may have noticed we get pretty excited about the genre, price particularly with Amelia’s new book on the way. Drawing Fashion at the Design Museum has been hotly anticipated and it doesn’t let down. Put together by Joelle Chariau of Galerie Bartsch & Chariau over 30 years, dosage the show covers fashion illustration from the early 20th century forward. The present installment at the Design Museum is the first time the collection has been shown together.

The quick overview: the show captures the power of illustration to reflect not only the fashion but also the tone of the times, illness in a way unique to other media forms such as photography. It proves that although photography has become the predominant media from the 1930s, illustration still holds a valid and special place in fashion. 


George Lepape

The longer version: split into five eras, the exhibit focuses the viewer to the changing role of fashion illustration and its connection to the culture it is a part of. The first, From Gold to Silver 1910-29, captures the optimism and new worldviews of the early 20th century with bold use of colours, a new vibrancy and a focus on lifestyle in the illustrations. The single figures of Erté, the Vogue and La Gazette du Bon Ton George Lepape covers bring out the new silhoette of the 1920s. Stylised illustrations celebrate the lifestyles that few could afford, but which encapsulate post war enthusiasm. The highlight here: George Lepape’s Chapeaux D’Hiver for Le Bon Ton in pen, ink and watercolour, showing both the original and use in editorial. 

Moving forward to 1930-46, the tone of Time & Decay reflects the changing times: the depression, the movement of focus from Paris to America during the war years, the popularity of the cinema and a focus on leisure and sportswear in fashion. This more casual tone is brought through the illustration, with looser strokes, more muted colours and more introspective compositions. This section highlights the talent of Bernard Blossac and René Bouché


René Gruau

Enthusiasm returns in New Rhythms, New Rules 1947-59, introducing Dior‘s ‘New Look‘ in 1947. The illustrations of Réne Gruau perfectly capture the ‘exagerated elegance’ of Dior’s bold new style. His bold use of colour and line, with a predominance of red, white, back and orchre shine through this section of the exhibit. The timelessness of the illustrations is highlighted by a Vogue Paris cover illustration, first published in the 1950s, republished for the Juin/Juillet 1985 edition, that would look equally contemporary today. Another highlight is a single pink glove, showing a movement from full figure to individual detail and objects of the body. 


Antonio Lopez

The true star of the show is Antonio (Lopez), the sole focus of Liberty & Licence, taking the viewer through 1960-89. Anotonio’s bold graphics in pencil and watercolour celebrate the dynamic feminism of the 1970s and especially the 1980s. This is power illustration to the max, matching the era’s power dressing with big shoulders, tight waists and attitudes to match. Hitting the mood of each decade, Antonio’s style adapts through the 1960s-80s, with a focus on form and art. 


François Berthoud

The exhibit concludes with The Tradition Continues 1990-2010 and Fashion Drawing for the Future. The illustrations chosen in this section react against ‘the cult of the individual’ and big budget commerciality of fashion and advertising. Matts Gustafson and François Berthoud show new paths forward in terms of form and technique. Bethaud’s Allure de Chanel for Rebel, France (enamel on paper) reduces the figure to positive and negative forms.


Mats Gustafson

Overall, illustrations are more moody and suggestive and are often simplified to form, colour and movement. An Aurore de la Morinere for Christian Lacroix published in Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazine loses the form of figure and clothes to a shimmer of colours, becoming etherial and fantasy rather than any depiction of the body. A dark illustration for Alexander McQueen with the figure walking away from the viewer and displayed alone poignently reminds of the loss of this fashion great. 

There is currently a resurgence of interest in fashion illustration and Drawing Fashion celebrates this. With any retrospective, it’s difficult to cover everything and there are a few illustrators missing – notably David Downton who we interviewed recently. The exhibition, however, demonstrates illustration’s power to take the viewer beyond the simple display of clothes and connecting what we wear with the mood, ideologies and changing tides of the 20th century.

Illustration by Daria Hlazatova

Fashion illustration. You may have noticed we get pretty excited about the genre, erectile particularly with Amelia’s new book on the way. Drawing Fashion at the Design Museum has been hotly anticipated and it doesn’t let down. Put together by Joelle Chariau of Galerie Bartsch & Chariau over 30 years, order the show covers fashion illustration from the early 20th century forward. The present installment at the Design Museum is the first time the collection has been shown together.

The quick overview: the show captures the power of illustration to reflect not only the fashion but also the tone of the times, in a way unique to other media forms such as photography. It proves that although photography has become the predominant media from the 1930s, illustration still holds a valid and special place in fashion. 


George Lepape

The longer version: split into five eras, the exhibit focuses the viewer to the changing role of fashion illustration and its connection to the culture it is a part of. The first, From Gold to Silver 1910-29, captures the optimism and new worldviews of the early 20th century with bold use of colours, a new vibrancy and a focus on lifestyle in the illustrations. The single figures of Erté, the Vogue and La Gazette du Bon Ton George Lepape covers bring out the new silhoette of the 1920s. Stylised illustrations celebrate the lifestyles that few could afford, but which encapsulate post war enthusiasm. The highlight here: George Lepape’s Chapeaux D’Hiver for Le Bon Ton in pen, ink and watercolour, showing both the original and use in editorial. 

Moving forward to 1930-46, the tone of Time & Decay reflects the changing times: the depression, the movement of focus from Paris to America during the war years, the popularity of the cinema and a focus on leisure and sportswear in fashion. This more casual tone is brought through the illustration, with looser strokes, more muted colours and more introspective compositions. This section highlights the talent of Bernard Blossac and René Bouché


René Gruau

Enthusiasm returns in New Rhythms, New Rules 1947-59, introducing Dior‘s ‘New Look‘ in 1947. The illustrations of Réne Gruau perfectly capture the ‘exagerated elegance’ of Dior’s bold new style. His bold use of colour and line, with a predominance of red, white, back and orchre shine through this section of the exhibit. The timelessness of the illustrations is highlighted by a Vogue Paris cover illustration, first published in the 1950s, republished for the Juin/Juillet 1985 edition, that would look equally contemporary today. Another highlight is a single pink glove, showing a movement from full figure to individual detail and objects of the body. 


Antonio Lopez

The true star of the show is Antonio (Lopez), the sole focus of Liberty & Licence, taking the viewer through 1960-89. Anotonio’s bold graphics in pencil and watercolour celebrate the dynamic feminism of the 1970s and especially the 1980s. This is power illustration to the max, matching the era’s power dressing with big shoulders, tight waists and attitudes to match. Hitting the mood of each decade, Antonio’s style adapts through the 1960s-80s, with a focus on form and art. 


François Berthoud

The exhibit concludes with The Tradition Continues 1990-2010 and Fashion Drawing for the Future. The illustrations chosen in this section react against ‘the cult of the individual’ and big budget commerciality of fashion and advertising. Matts Gustafson and François Berthoud show new paths forward in terms of form and technique. Berthoud’s Allure de Chanel for Rebel, France (enamel on paper) reduces the figure to positive and negative forms.


Mats Gustafson

Overall, illustrations are more moody and suggestive and are often simplified to form, colour and movement. An Aurore de la Morinere for Christian Lacroix published in Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazine loses the form of figure and clothes to a shimmer of colours, becoming etherial and fantasy rather than any depiction of the body. A dark illustration for Alexander McQueen with the figure walking away from the viewer and displayed alone poignently reminds of the loss of this fashion great. 

There is currently a resurgence of interest in fashion illustration and Drawing Fashion celebrates this. With any retrospective, it’s difficult to cover everything and there are a few illustrators missing – notably David Downton who we interviewed recently. The exhibition, however, demonstrates illustration’s power to take the viewer beyond the simple display of clothes and connecting what we wear with the mood, ideologies and changing tides of the 20th century.

Neville Brody, case illustrated by Anna Hancock-Young

On the wonderful Friday evening of the 12th of the 11th of the 10th I managed to make my way to the V&A for the third week running. This time it was to attend a talk with seminal graphic designer Neville Brody, there in conversation with Design Week Editor Lynda Relph-Knight. The subject of conversation moved away from Brody’s work and instead centred on this week’s student protests and the future of creativity in the present political and social times, neatly summised by Brody as “a bunch of cuts”. You can make your own decision to whether he was refering to the cuts or the government making them.  

The conversation was loose and while Brody was well prepared (despite his own claims he wasn’t) he allowed the evening to take its own course, flipping between pictures of the student march, the Anti-Design Festival, Brody’s exhibit in Tokyo, his work on Arena Homme+ and other work by Research Studios. Here is an attempt to sumarise this flow of thought…

Coming to fame in the 1980s as Art Director of The Face magazine, Brody took the march on Whitehall as an opportunity to reflect on events of the 1980s and the explosion of creativity that the similarly troubling times let loose. With current cuts including a 30% budget slash in the Arts Council, a huge figure that will likely see museums charging entry amongst other things, Brody is looking for new ways to secure creativity in the UK. He took the evening’s talk to announce his work with the Alternative Arts Council, a new initiative that Brody is intimately involved with. The Alternative Arts Council’s aim is to not only support alternative arts, but to also find new ways of supporting the arts, especially in the channeling of corporate funding.

This is reflective of Brody’s Anti-Design Festival, held earlier this year. This was attended by over 10,000 people who became involved in the exhibition; having ideas, changing things and becoming part of the exhibit. This, for Brody, demonstrates the importance of the physical space for interaction – both with the space and between people. He wants to ensure that creativity remains inventive and does not become an elite space, reserved for those who can afford increased tution fees. 

Overall Brody feels the future is very exciting. He sees the present as the largest step we have taken since the industrial revolution, which Brody terms the ‘knowledge revolution’ (rather than a digital revolution). With the speed of upload of video and images to the web, Brody sees a near future where anything, from anytime will be available to anyone, anywhere – everyone is connected. In such a sphere, Brody claims that “graphic design is dead”. By this he means graphic design as a vertical skill set. Instead he sees design as moving increasingly towards interactivity, time based media, storytelling and 3D space as “joined up”. Ultimately Brody questions what is the public service for design? 


Illustration by Karolina Burdon

Pretty pictures were also on display as Brody took the audience through the reserach and design process of creating Arena Homme+. Published twice a year, Research Studios have one month to fully research, experiment, design and produce each issue. Each issue produces on average six bespoke typefaces and Brody showed the experimenting and design process for font development for two issues, showing how he attempts (rather successfully) to make typography part of the story in a rather painterly manner. Typography is used to pull readers into the words and to reflect shapes and tone of photographic layouts. 
Brody, who declares himself as a punk who ended up smack in the middle of the establishment, has deservedly done rather well for himself. He has just this week been awarded the Prince Philip Designers Prize and in 2011 will be joining the Royal College of Art, heading the Visual Communication programme. With this new post, let’s hope Brody is able to continue and increase his influence in British design.

Read our review of the Anti-design Festival here.

Categories ,Alternative Arts Council, ,Anti-design Festival, ,Arena Homme+, ,Art Direction, ,Arts Council, ,Budget, ,Design Week, ,Lynda Relph-Knight, ,museums, ,Neville Brody, ,Prince Phillip Design Prize, ,Research Studios, ,Royal College of Art, ,Student protests, ,The Face, ,tokyo, ,typography, ,va, ,Visual Communication

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Amelia’s Magazine | Kingston University MA Illustration 2010 Exhibition Review


Illustration by Jenny Costello

Charlie Boots’ hand-made, decease one-of-a-kind pieces, case made from reclaimed and vintage fabrics, health are an antidote to fast fashion and the over-hyped high street. And they’re reversible! I had a chat with Charlie about staying sustainable (but stylish), her love of vintage and fashion’s green credentials…

How did you end up as an ethical clothing designer – had you always planned to go down the ethical route?
I became a fashion designer at the age of 28, after wanting to do it since I was 10! I lived in Bangkok in my early twenties and would take my designs to the tailors to be made. This could be hugely frustrating, as a person’s interpretation of a design often does not match the idea (not to mention the language barrier). I realised I needed to learn to pattern cut myself, and so then went on to do a fashion degree at Bath Spa University. It was here that I started looking into ethical fashion, and once I understand the enormous negative impact of this industry on so many people, I knew that doing it ethically was the only route I could take.


Illustration by Gareth A Hopkins

All your designs are made from ‘ethically sourced materials’ –what do you mean by this?
I use organic, fair-trade, vintage, re-claimed and sustainable fabrics. Using organic fabrics mean that cotton workers are not suffering serious health conditions and often death (20,000 a year) as a result of the pesticides used. Fabrics like bamboo and hemp are sustainable – these two in particular do not require pesticides, much water or a lot of care. 95% of my fabrics are sourced in the UK, though the bamboo, hemp and vintage 1930s/40s fabrics come from the USA. The kimono fabrics are from Japan, of course!

A lot of your designs are reversible – which I love! Is this another way to make your clothing more sustainable?
Yes, most of the designs are reversible and this does add to their sustainability. I finish almost all of the garments with couture ‘bound’ seams. This enables them to be reversed as you do not see any overlocking (a common and cheap way to finish garments) when the garment is reversed. This gives the garment a subtly different look. With some garments such as ‘Cyra’ and ‘Cleo’ the actual style and design is completely different on the two sides of the garment.

You design women’s clothing and accessories – any plans to branch out into menswear or any other fields?
I love designing and pattern cutting but only have time to do so much! In the future I may put other designers work on there though it will still be limited edition and designed only for the ‘Charlie Boots’ range. It is very tough to forge a career in fashion design and I’d like to help people who have talent. I will also be selling limited edition UK made jewellery on the site from October.

How are reclaimed fabrics different from vintage materials?
A vintage fabric is a re-claimed fabric really, but a re-claimed fabric is not necessarily vintage. For example, some of my fabrics are sample pieces from fabric printers/wholesalers. These would otherwise go in the bin when the company no longer sell that fabric.

Is everything on each of your garments ‘ethical’ – right down to the zips?
At the moment all the zips and most of the buttons are re-claimed. They came from a company that was holding some abandoned stock that they couldn’t be bothered to re-home. It was about to head for landfill and I came upon them by chance.


Illustration by Antonia Parker

When designing each collection, are you inspired by fabrics themselves or do you create designs and then look for your materials?
I normally create designs with a fabric type in mind but I don’t usually choose the exact fabrics first. Sometimes when a toile is finished I think it would look better in a different weight of fabric, so will then move in another direction with it.

You have a ten-item limit of each design – why is this, and do you to ever make special one-off items?
Some of the items I have made are actually one-offs. This tends to happen if I have a small piece of printed fabric that I just have to use because I love it, but sadly there is only enough for one garment.
I put a limit of ten items on one design because I want to give my customers something unique that they are very unlikely to see anybody else wearing.

At the moment your designs are only available online – why is this? Any plans to expand to selling your product in other shops in the future?
My garments will be going onto a few more on-line shops and at some point they may go into shops. The problem with wholesaling is that I would make very little money if I sold my garments to shops at expected wholesale prices. Everything is UK-made so this adds a lot to the cost of a garment.


Illustration by Aniela Murphy

Do you think the fad for fast, throwaway fashion is coming to an end, and being replaced by a need for wearable, ‘investment pieces’?
I hope so! But it won’t happen overnight. Fast fashion is still a huge part of Western culture. Primark makes more money than any other high street clothes shop. Over the last decade the price of clothes has dropped and the amount we purchase has gone up. Shops can have up to ten ‘seasons’ where there was once only two. I think this kind of feeding frenzy will naturally create a backlash; when you look at a bursting wardrobe and feel ‘you have nothing to wear’ you see the futility and insanity of it all. If you buy an item that is well made, well cut and has had a lot of thought put into its design then you can spend more money and really value and treasure that item.

What with big name ethical fashion brands like Edun and Noir, and the Estethica tent at London Fashion Week, Eco Fashion seems to be having a moment – do you think the Fashion Industry is really trying to change its bad habits, or does it have a long way to go?
I think there is a growing core of people that want to change the ways of the fashion industry and I believe that it will happen in time. Educating people is important and I’m happy that educational establishments are paying a lot more attention to ethics on fashion courses. I suspect that a lot of larger businesses to a certain extent are paying lip service when claiming to be more ethical, but doing something about how they operate is better than nothing and it can help to bring the issues into the limelight.

What are the challenges that you face as a fashion designer committed to eco-friendly/ethical design?
I think my main challenge is sourcing fabrics that I think people will like and that are also ethical. I want to bring in more organic and fair-trade fabrics but the former are extremely expensive and the latter are often done on hand-looms – which leave small imperfections in the weave. These are part of the charm of such fabric, but I am not sure that everyone will see it that way! This all has to work as a business and I need to make products that will sell.

You exhibited at Vintage at Goodwood recently (a festival that caused a lot of debate on the Amelia’s website!) What do you think of the day – a celebration of Vintage or overhyped and expensive?
I had the best time! Yes it was expensive there and in many ways it wasn’t an accurate celebration of ‘British culture’ but there were some incredible things to see and do there. As a lover of design I was completely bowled over by the effort that people had made with their outfits (http://tiny.cc/qsoqh)! I had a fantastic time and I will definitely go back next year.

Any more pop-ups or exhibitions in the pipeline?
Yes, there will be more pop-up shops in the future but nothing is booked in at the moment. Keep an eye on the ‘news’ section on the website though!

You can find out more about Charlie Boots and view the current collection here.

Illustration by Jenny Costello

Charlie Boots’ hand-made, online one-of-a-kind pieces, made from reclaimed and vintage fabrics, are an antidote to fast fashion and the over-hyped high street. And they’re reversible! I had a chat with Charlie about staying sustainable (but stylish), her love of vintage and fashion’s green credentials…

How did you end up as an ethical clothing designer – had you always planned to go down the ethical route?
I became a fashion designer at the age of 28, after wanting to do it since I was 10! I lived in Bangkok in my early twenties and would take my designs to the tailors to be made. This could be hugely frustrating, as a person’s interpretation of a design often does not match the idea (not to mention the language barrier). I realised I needed to learn to pattern cut myself, and so then went on to do a fashion degree at Bath Spa University. It was here that I started looking into ethical fashion, and once I understand the enormous negative impact of this industry on so many people, I knew that doing it ethically was the only route I could take.


Illustration by Gareth A Hopkins

All your designs are made from ‘ethically sourced materials’ –what do you mean by this?
I use organic, fair-trade, vintage, re-claimed and sustainable fabrics. Using organic fabrics mean that cotton workers are not suffering serious health conditions and often death (20,000 a year) as a result of the pesticides used. Fabrics like bamboo and hemp are sustainable – these two in particular do not require pesticides, much water or a lot of care. 95% of my fabrics are sourced in the UK, though the bamboo, hemp and vintage 1930s/40s fabrics come from the USA. The kimono fabrics are from Japan, of course!

A lot of your designs are reversible – which I love! Is this another way to make your clothing more sustainable?
Yes, most of the designs are reversible and this does add to their sustainability. I finish almost all of the garments with couture ‘bound’ seams. This enables them to be reversed as you do not see any overlocking (a common and cheap way to finish garments) when the garment is reversed. This gives the garment a subtly different look. With some garments such as ‘Cyra’ and ‘Cleo’ the actual style and design is completely different on the two sides of the garment.

You design women’s clothing and accessories – any plans to branch out into menswear or any other fields?
I love designing and pattern cutting but only have time to do so much! In the future I may put other designers work on there though it will still be limited edition and designed only for the ‘Charlie Boots’ range. It is very tough to forge a career in fashion design and I’d like to help people who have talent. I will also be selling limited edition UK made jewellery on the site from October.

How are reclaimed fabrics different from vintage materials?
A vintage fabric is a re-claimed fabric really, but a re-claimed fabric is not necessarily vintage. For example, some of my fabrics are sample pieces from fabric printers/wholesalers. These would otherwise go in the bin when the company no longer sell that fabric.

Is everything on each of your garments ‘ethical’ – right down to the zips?
At the moment all the zips and most of the buttons are re-claimed. They came from a company that was holding some abandoned stock that they couldn’t be bothered to re-home. It was about to head for landfill and I came upon them by chance.


Illustration by Antonia Parker

When designing each collection, are you inspired by fabrics themselves or do you create designs and then look for your materials?
I normally create designs with a fabric type in mind but I don’t usually choose the exact fabrics first. Sometimes when a toile is finished I think it would look better in a different weight of fabric, so will then move in another direction with it.

You have a ten-item limit of each design – why is this, and do you to ever make special one-off items?
Some of the items I have made are actually one-offs. This tends to happen if I have a small piece of printed fabric that I just have to use because I love it, but sadly there is only enough for one garment.
I put a limit of ten items on one design because I want to give my customers something unique that they are very unlikely to see anybody else wearing.

At the moment your designs are only available online – why is this? Any plans to expand to selling your product in other shops in the future?
My garments will be going onto a few more on-line shops and at some point they may go into shops. The problem with wholesaling is that I would make very little money if I sold my garments to shops at expected wholesale prices. Everything is UK-made so this adds a lot to the cost of a garment.


Illustration by Aniela Murphy

Do you think the fad for fast, throwaway fashion is coming to an end, and being replaced by a need for wearable, ‘investment pieces’?
I hope so! But it won’t happen overnight. Fast fashion is still a huge part of Western culture. Primark makes more money than any other high street clothes shop. Over the last decade the price of clothes has dropped and the amount we purchase has gone up. Shops can have up to ten ‘seasons’ where there was once only two. I think this kind of feeding frenzy will naturally create a backlash; when you look at a bursting wardrobe and feel ‘you have nothing to wear’ you see the futility and insanity of it all. If you buy an item that is well made, well cut and has had a lot of thought put into its design then you can spend more money and really value and treasure that item.

What with big name ethical fashion brands like Edun and Noir, and the Estethica tent at London Fashion Week, Eco Fashion seems to be having a moment – do you think the Fashion Industry is really trying to change its bad habits, or does it have a long way to go?
I think there is a growing core of people that want to change the ways of the fashion industry and I believe that it will happen in time. Educating people is important and I’m happy that educational establishments are paying a lot more attention to ethics on fashion courses. I suspect that a lot of larger businesses to a certain extent are paying lip service when claiming to be more ethical, but doing something about how they operate is better than nothing and it can help to bring the issues into the limelight.

What are the challenges that you face as a fashion designer committed to eco-friendly/ethical design?
I think my main challenge is sourcing fabrics that I think people will like and that are also ethical. I want to bring in more organic and fair-trade fabrics but the former are extremely expensive and the latter are often done on hand-looms – which leave small imperfections in the weave. These are part of the charm of such fabric, but I am not sure that everyone will see it that way! This all has to work as a business and I need to make products that will sell.

You exhibited at Vintage at Goodwood recently (a festival that caused a lot of debate on the Amelia’s website!) What do you think of the day – a celebration of Vintage or overhyped and expensive?
I had the best time! Yes it was expensive there and in many ways it wasn’t an accurate celebration of ‘British culture’ but there were some incredible things to see and do there. As a lover of design I was completely bowled over by the effort that people had made with their outfits (http://tiny.cc/qsoqh)! I had a fantastic time and I will definitely go back next year.

Any more pop-ups or exhibitions in the pipeline?
Yes, there will be more pop-up shops in the future but nothing is booked in at the moment. Keep an eye on the ‘news’ section on the website though!

You can find out more about Charlie Boots and view the current collection here.
Love Amandine Gemma Milly
Illustration by Gemma Milly.

For some reason Kingston buried it’s student graduation shows in the depths of the Tent London exhibition during Design Week in London this September. Due to severe overcrowding at the opening party for Tent I was thus unable to attend the graduation preview, prescription so I have yet to meet graduating illustrator and Amelia’s Magazine favourite Gemma Milly.

I returned the next day to find a real mix of illustration on display, ambulance including some from other part time contributors to this blog, pharmacy including the very good Laura Callaghan (we wish she would do more for us!) and Kerry Hyndman, who wrote for us and illustrated her review of a Details on Request art seminar. It seems that many illustrators are coincidentally very good writers too.

Kingston illustration MA Gemma Milly
Gemma Milly’s exhibition space.

Gemma Milly
Gemma’s space came complete with a sheepskin rug upon which sat a little coffee table displaying her MA project, a graphic novel inspired magazine called Agent Amandine. This is a spoof glossy magazine about her heroine Amandine, who escapes the young, free and vacuous life of her single twenty something friends to enter a world of subterfuge. Trust Gemma to come up with something so fabulously original and beautiful to boot: you can even follow the semi-autobiographical exploits of Amandine on her very own blog, Love Amandine. Gemma is known for her wonderfully delicate and desirable female figures so of course her work is perfectly suited to fashion illustration – expect to catch up with her in my upcoming Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration.

Gemma Milly Italian straw hat
Gemma Milly Amandine cover

Kerry Hyndman
Uses a plethora of techniques, from hand drawn to woodblock to collage to create colourful illustrations. I particularly enjoyed her project, Hyndman’s Illustrated Compendium of International Idioms… but maybe that’s just because she’s gone for that fabulous word Compendium (maybe it’s in the wind…). Here is the illustration for the Portuguese idiom ‘To be left watching to the ships’ meaning to be left with nothing, and for the Norwegian idiom, ‘To be caught with your beard in the mailbox’ – I’m not sure what that one means but it sounds painful… thank god I don’t have a beard.

Kerry Hyndman sailor
kerry hyndman beardpostbox

Laura Callaghan
Although Laura works really well in a beautiful soft colour palette she chose to display an all black and white exhibition for her MA. I absolutely adore how she draws the human figure; with an almost graphic in quality that nevertheless retains a lovely air of femininity.

laura callaghan MA show Kingston
laura callaghan MA show Kingston
laura callaghan MA show Kingston
New discoveries (click on their names to access websites) were:

Sheena Dempsey
Sheena is a brilliant children’s book illustrator who cunningly uses the scaling of objects to create an exciting narrative. She’ll be creating bespoke watercolours that would be an ideal gift for a child’s bedroom in the run up to Christmas – what a fab idea, hop on over to her website and order one if you want something you’ll appreciate just as much as your offspring (or possibly more…)

Sheena Dempsey detail

Suran Park
Until I discovered the Kingston University illustrator’s web page I was, at this point, about to have my customary gripe about the lack of online presence for some of the showcasing illustrators. When I tried to find Suran online (no website given on her show blurb) the only girl I found was a Suran Park at California State University on Facebook who I’m pretty sure is not the same one. Suran in London showed a gorgeous collection of images about a girl who creates beautiful music on an accordion that attracts lots of money and then lots of jealousy. Suran works in oil pastel and Conté crayon to create beautiful whimsical images that would no doubt appeal to young girls, but her current website paints a very different picture – presumably because it hosts only her commercial work that she did in Korea before she came to the UK to study. It’s a real shame she hasn’t updated it yet.

Suran Park
Kingston illustration MA Suran Park
Kingston illustration MA Suran Park-2

Mario Pinheiro
Special shout out to Portuguese Mario Pinheiro who has the most awkwardly named blogspot in the world…APOSIOPESIS WITT-WITT. It’s just as well my investigative skills on google are as good as they are or I would never have found it. I mean, why make it so hard on yourself folks?! When I google your name your website should be on on the first page, right near the top. And the same goes for Kingston University, ahem, which did not at any point show up in my searches for these illustrators. Sort out your SEO, please. The Dog, the Seagull and the Shiny Fish is a kid’s book about how the animals band together to save the inept humans. Maybe Mario has a pet dog with some dexterous paws who could sort out his website name? Oh woops, I seem to have changed your url to
mario-pinheiro.com
. Well I never how did that happen? Woof.

Kingston MA Mario Pinheiro

Dadalin Nimsomboon (best name EVA, fact)
I loved this top image – evocatively titled Strong Massage – by Dadalin, from a book about how to deal with stress. Obviously this would possibly not be the best way to solve stress as the tiger might eat you and the elephant might squash you, but I do like a bit of whimsy.

Dadalin Nimsomboon strong massage
Dadalin Nimsomboon paint nails

Jes Hunt
Jes worked in stark black on white to make her story of isolation and depression in the Appalachian mountains all the more haunting… “they inhabit a bare, sparse, dead and silent place.” As the relationships in a family improve colour creeps into her work. Very effective.

Dawn Front Cover- jes Hunt

Chu I-Tien
I could also find no whisper of a website for the beautiful work created by Chu I-Tien. “Lily is always alone. She always wants to have a sister or brother. Lily is always alone. She always checks her phone every five minutes.” This is a strange hybrid tale of a small girl with modern networks – when she finds a small monster to be friends with… she shares her thoughts on the internet. Psst… get onto twitter then Scarlett…

Kingston illustration MA Chu I-Tien

Jinyoung Kim
Another seemingly web free illustrator inspired by fantastical tales, this time of a forbidden love between a human and a dragon, if I have this correctly! Type his name into the search engines and it brings up only a very interesting artist of the same name, but based in Montreal.

Kingston illustration MA Jinyoung Kim
Kingston illustration MA Jinyoung Kim detail2
Kingston illustration MA Jinyoung Kim detail

Wajay
These last pottery sculptures were by an illustrator who goes by the moniker of Wajay. Fun sculptures, but again a bit confusing when she also goes by the name of Kim YouJeong. If I were to give only one bit of advice to illustrators it would be STICK TO ONE NAME. It’s just way too confusing otherwise. Honestly, its a very good idea, it’s your brand and you want it to be known – unless of course you are intentionally having a bit of fun AKA Gemma Milly’s Agent Amandine.

Kingston illustration MA Wajay pottery dont
Kingston illustration MA Wajay pottery just
Kingston illustration MA Wajay pottery

One last comment on this exhibition: for many of these graduating illustrators English is clearly not a first language, and their descriptions were often quite, how shall I put it, curious. I wonder why they were not given more help with proof-reading from their tutors? But then, why they haven’t been asked to maintain an immaculate web presence as an absolute prerequisite for graduating is another mystery to me…

I have also reviewed LAB CRAFT, the design stands and sustainable design at Tent London – just click on the links to read more.

Categories ,Agent Amandine, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Chu I-Tien, ,Conté crayon, ,Dadalin Nimsomboon, ,Design Week, ,Details on Request, ,Gemma Milly, ,Graduate Show, ,Hyndman’s Illustrated Compendium of International Idioms, ,illustration, ,Jes Hunt, ,Jinyoung Kim, ,Kerry Hyndman, ,Kim YouJeong, ,Kingston University, ,Laura Callaghan, ,Love Amandine, ,MA Illustration, ,Mario Pinheiro, ,oil pastel, ,Sheena Dempsey, ,Suran Park, ,Tent, ,Wajay

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Amelia’s Magazine | Announcing: The ACOFI Book Tour. Please join me as I visit some of the UK’s best design shops!

Press Days March 2011-ACOFI
ACOFI at the Forward PR press day in March.

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.

ACOFI cover facebook event Soma

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.

Press Days March 2011-ACOFI

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.

Press Days March 2011-ACOFI

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

Castor and Pollux in Brighton on Tuesday 24th May, 6-10pm.
To book your place email: april@castorandpollux.co.uk
Facebook event and Twitter.
165 King’s Road Arches, Lower Prom, Brighton BN1 1NB, 01273 773776

Comma in Oxford on Wednesday 25th May, 6-10pm.
To book your place email: hello@oxfordcomma.co.uk
Facebook event and Twitter.
247 Iffley Road, Oxford, OX4 1SJ, 01865 202400

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

Read more about my ACOFI launch party in January.
YouTube Preview Image

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

ACOFI has been featured in many publications including I-D online, Vogue, Digital Arts, Style Bubble, Cent Magazine and The Ecologist to name but a few. Why not click on the links and find out?

You can buy Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration online here. I hope to meet you soon!

Categories ,24 Hour Crit, ,ACOFI, ,Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Amelia’s House, ,art, ,Biscuiteers, ,Biscuits, ,Book shops, ,Book Tour, ,Brick Lane, ,brighton, ,bristol, ,cakes, ,Castor and Pollux, ,Cent Magazine, ,Comma, ,Covent Garden, ,design, ,Design Week, ,Digital Arts, ,Dr.Hauschka, ,Eco fashion, ,Ecouterre, ,edinburgh, ,Facebook, ,Forward PR, ,i-D, ,illustration, ,Juiceology, ,Lahloo, ,Lahloo Tea, ,london, ,Oxford, ,scotland, ,Social Media, ,Soma Gallery, ,Style Bubble, ,Talk, ,Tatty Devine, ,the ecologist, ,The Fruitmarket Gallery, ,The Young Creatives, ,twitter, ,vogue, ,Window Painting

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Amelia’s Magazine | Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration launch party illustrations: meet Jenny Robins


Illustration by Aysim Genc

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.


Illustration by Ankolie

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.


Illustration by Stephanie Melodia

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.


Illustration by Caroline Coates

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


Illustration by Aysim Genc

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.


Illustration by Ankolie

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.


All photographs courtesy of Lois Waller/Bunnipunch

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.


Illustration by Stephanie Melodia

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.


Illustration by Caroline Coates

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


Illustration by Aysim Genc

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.


Illustration by Ankolie

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.


All photographs courtesy of Lois Waller/Bunnipunch

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.


Illustration by Stephanie Melodia

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.


Illustration by Caroline Coates

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

Eliza Newman by Jenny Lloyd
Eliza Newman by Jenny Lloyd

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.

Ta daa:

Eyjafjallajökull – Eliza Newman performed on Al Jazeera News
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Eliza Newman | Myspace Music Videos

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-Newman-by-Mina-Bach

Illustration by Mina Bach

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.

Eliza Newman 1 Chloe Cook
Illustration by Chloe Cook

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!

Eliza Newman by Avril kelly
Illustration by Avril Kelly

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.

Eliza Newman 2 Chloe Cook
Illustration by Chloe Cook

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.

eliz 2

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

ACOFI - jenny robins - Amelia's compendium - laura snoad - design week - tatty devine
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.

Amelia Gregory in Cornwall

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.

ACOFI - jenny robins - Amelia's compendium - alex cox - amelia gregory
Here I am, being interviewed, I am not sure who by!

ACOFI - jenny robins - Amelia's compendium - alex cox - don't panic
Here’s Alex Cox of Don’t Panic.

ACOFI - jenny robins - Amelia's compendium - amisha ghadiali - take a moment
Amisha Ghadiali once again. Read her lovely write up on Elegance Rebellion here.

ACOFI - jenny robins - Amelia's compendium - amy - tantrum magazine
Amy from Tantrum Magazine – here’s her write up.

ACOFI - jenny robins - Amelia's compendium - bette davis - oh comely
Bette Davis from Oh Comely – here’s her lovely blog.

ACOFI - jenny robins - Amelia's compendium - bettina krohn - make lemonade
Bettina Krohn from Make Lemonade – I wonder, am I the Mad Hatter that she references in her write up?

ACOFI - jenny robins - Amelia's compendium - carrie - wish wish wish copy
The super stylish Carrie of Wish Wish Wish. The launch inspired her to have a go at fashion illustration herself.

ACOFI - jenny robins - Amelia's compendium - danielle drown - poppy cleopatra
Danielle who runs a blog called Poppy Cleopatra. Read her write up here.

ACOFI - jenny robins - Amelia's compendium - ellen grace jones - the real runway
Ellen Grace Jones of The Real Runway which is a great sartorial fashion blog, and she has also contributed to Amelia’s Magazine.

ACOFI - jenny robins - Amelia's compendium - micheal - anastasia and duck
Michael Ford of Anastasia Duck. Read his blog here.

ACOFI - jenny robins - Amelia's compendium - michelle Urvall Nyren - probably naomi
Fellow illustrator Michelle Urvall Nyren at work.

ACOFI - jenny robins - Amelia's compendium - sabrina - the science of style
Sabrina of The Science of Style.

ACOFI - jenny robins - Amelia's compendium - tamara cincik
A heavily pregnant Tamara Cincik. Read her blog here.

ACOFI - jenny robins - Amelia's compendium - tatty devine - rosie and harriet
Rosie and Harriet of Tatty Devine.

ACOFI - jenny robins - Amelia's compendium - tigz rice
Tigz Rice – photographer and social media maven. Here’s her blog.

ACOFI - jenny robins - Amelia's compendium - tom and crystal - spoonfed
Tom and Crystal from Spoonfed.

ACOFI - jenny robins - Amelia's compendium -david alphonso - noisy writing
David Alphonso of Noisy Writing.

ACOFI launch Jan 11-Jenny Robins
Jenny Robins at work.

You can follow Jenny Robins on twitter on @jennyrobins 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. Here’s Jenny talking to me via the power of Skype in her youtube interview:

YouTube Preview Image

Categories ,ACOFI, ,Alex Cox, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Amisha Ghadiali, ,Amy, ,Anastasia Duck, ,Bette Davis, ,Bettina Krohn, ,Carrie, ,Cornwall, ,David Alphonso, ,Design Week, ,Don’t Panic, ,Ellen Grace Jones, ,Jenny Robins, ,Laura Snoad, ,Make Lemonade, ,Michael Ford, ,Michelle Urvall Nyrén, ,Noisy Writing, ,Oh Comely, ,Rosie and Harriet, ,Sabrina, ,Spoonfed, ,Tamara Cincik, ,Tantrum Magazine, ,Tatty Devine, ,The Real Runway, ,The Science of Style, ,Tigz Rice, ,Wish Wish Wish

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