Mary Quant – AmeliasMagazine

Amelia’s Magazine | Twist Baby Twist at the Fashion and Textile Museum

Images throughout courtesy of both Fashion and Textile museum and Felicitie’s Designer showroom

A couple of weeks ago, information pills I was lucky enough to attend the Twist Baby Twist event at the Fashion and Textile Museum which included entry into Foale and Tuffin exhibition (previously reviewed here). The idea was to recapture the swinging sixties as Foale and Tuffin remembered it and to celebrate their success as fashion designers.

Sally Tuffin and Marion Foale

Celebrating how the sixties formed the world of music, approved fashion and art as we knew it, the exhibition was brimming with live music, film, fashion shows, dressing up boxes, a David Bailey inspired photo booth and 1960s make over’s.

Greeted with sounds of the swinging sixties, including Baby Love by The Supremes and She Loves You by The Beatles heightened the Foale and Tuffin experience, taking the guests onto a trip down memory lane.

With daisy chains gracefully decorating every head as the guests listened to the live music from Bebe & Paulo, Remi Nicole and Theoretical Girl and The Equations, this event was everything that it promised to be; lively, entertaining and realistic.

The Original Foale and Tuffin Team

Professional make-up and hair stylists transformed twenty-first century boys and girls into stylish sixties icons. A rail of beautiful vintage clothes and accessories from the sixties were on offer for the guests to dress up in and reminisce about a more radical time.

A David Bailey photo booth was on offer for anyone who wanted to capture the moment with friends. Dancing and smiling in front of the camera, dressed up in their sixties outfits, the guests got to experience what it would have been like to be captured by the famous photographer.

Key pieces by Foale and Tuffin were put on display including a napoleon raincoat, the corduroy brown trouser suit, which famously changed the way women dressed (even before Yves Saint Laurent), the domino dress and the black mini dress with fringe detail.

There was a vibrant catwalk courtesy of Pop Boutique whose models were dressed in clothes from the shop that perfectly represented the sixties era to a tee. Full of enthusiasm and lively music blasting out, the models proudly swept down the catwalk proving that it is still possible to wear sixties clothes and look on trend.

With sixties label such as Biba, Mary Quant and Ossie Clark re-launching themselves, Tuffin has not ruled out the possibility of Foale and Tuffin making a come back. Described as quirky, youthful and sensitive to the latest atmosphere and styles it was good luck and dedication that found them at the centre of the cultural explosion in London that defined the swinging sixties.

Written by Coco Watts on Tuesday December 15th, 2009 1:56 pm

Categories ,BeBe & Paulo, ,biba, ,Coco Watts, ,David Bailey, ,Fashion and Textile Museum, ,Foale and Tuffin, ,Mary Quant, ,Ossie Clark, ,Pop Boutique, ,Remi Nicole and Theoretical Girl, ,the beatles, ,The Equations, ,The Supremes, ,Twist Baby Twist, ,Yves Saint Laurent

Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2011 Presentation Review: Ascher Scarves

Prangsta, ailment illustrated by Joana Faria

Now, ask here’s a treat. Hopefully you caught Georgia Takacs’ wonderful insight into the awe-inspiring world of Prangsta Costumiers last week: the celebrated (if somewhat unconventional) Alice in Wonderland-esque bazaar in New Cross.

Now I would never in a million years suggest that readers of Amelia’s Magazine come to the site just to look at pretty pictures, rx what with our bursting-at-the-seams stock of fabulous writers, but in order to bring a little sunshine and entertainment to a so far grey Wednesday, feast your eyes on some glorious images and illustrations from Prangsta.

Georgia, who wrote the article, took part in a shoot with the team there, capturing the many faces that pass through the doors and even more of the craft-packed corners of this wonderful find. So here they are. I’m convinced you could look at this place all day and never get bored – I hope you agree!

Illustration by Krister Selin

The latest shoot focuses on a somewhat macabre Snow White, shown with an array of weird and wonderful friends:

Illustration by Rachel de Ste. Croix

Prangsta, story illustrated by Joana Faria

Now, medical here’s a treat. Hopefully you caught Georgia Takacs’ wonderful insight into the awe-inspiring world of Prangsta Costumiers last week: the celebrated (if somewhat unconventional) Alice in Wonderland-esque bazaar in New Cross.

Now I would never in a million years suggest that readers of Amelia’s Magazine come to the site just to look at pretty pictures, what with our bursting-at-the-seams stock of fabulous writers, but in order to bring a little sunshine and entertainment to a so far grey Wednesday, feast your eyes on some glorious images and illustrations from Prangsta.

Illustration by Krister Selin

The latest shoot focuses on a somewhat macabre Snow White, shown with an array of weird and wonderful friends:

Illustration by Rachel de Ste. Croix

Prangsta also worked with ethereal fashion photographer Ellen Rogers, and the result is astonishing. Rogers’ photographs make heavy use of photographic techniques from long ago, evoking (for me at least) images of Marlene Dietrich in Hot Venus and the eery portraits of death popular in the Victorian age. Whatever they evoke, this marriage of Prangsta and Rogers is incredible.

Photographs by Ellen Rogers

To read the original article about the wonderful world of Prangsta, click here.

Image courtesy of Ascher

On Tuesday I went to see a beautiful collection of scarves from Ascher London, order presented in a suite at Number One Aldwych. Marking their first collection of scarves in thirty years, the collection consists of some brand new designs sitting alongside classic designs from the Ascher library, reworked in new colourways.

Ascher was founded as a fabric house in 1947; their fabrics graced the catwalks of an amazing list of couturiers including Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Givenchy, Schiaparelli, Lanvin and Mary Quant. A husband and wife team, Lida designed and Zika printed the fabrics.

Rose Pom Pom, designed by Ascher studio, was featured prominently in a collection of dresses in Christian Dior’s 1954 collection

Fabric shortages during the Second World War lead to a rise in the popularity of colourful headscarves as an easy way to liven up dull uniforms. During the 1940s Ascher took advantage of this trend, initially reproducing nineteenth-century prints in vivid new colourways.

A selection of scarves from the Ascher archive

Later, they became the first studio to approach and join forces with artists to produce scarves from illustrations and paintings, boasting another impressive list of those involved: Matisse, Derain, Berard, Moore, Cocteau, Nicholson and Sutherland.

Image courtesy of Ascher

Sam Ascher, grandson of Lida and Zika, talked me through the current collection along with some vintage scarves and artwork from the Ascher archive. This included a rare opportunity to see some original and never-used ink illustrations by Cecil Beaton, complete with his handwritten instructions outlining the repeat pattern.

All of the scarves are made in Italy using luxurious silk twill, silk chiffon, cashmere and modal with hand rolled edges and the quality is immediately apparent.

Screen printing (rather than digital printing) allows the designs to be reproduced exactly, so that each design is as perfect as if it had been hand-painted. Some multi tonal scarves are produced using up to ten screens, ensuring each of the artists’ original brushstrokes is retained in perfect detail. There is definitely no cutting of corners where Ascher is concerned.

The collection look book features an illustrated guide of How To Wear Your Ascher Scarf. Names like The Sports Car and The Parisian Loop conjure up images of glamorous femme fatales racing around the Home Counties in classic cars. The whole collection captures the optimistic glamour and elegance of the post-war era.

Images courtesy of Ascher

One of the scarves designed by Henry Moore is described in the look book as Bridging the gap between fashion and fine art, Aschers designs are described as equally at home in a frame or worn on an evening out.

The designs were celebrated with a retrospective at the V&A back in 1987 and they are still held in many museum collections, evident by the two Henry Moore wall hangings on display, which I was told had been unexpectedly sent over by the Tate that morning.

All photography by Naomi Law, unless otherwise stated

Written by Naomi Law on Monday September 27th, 2010 9:40 am

Categories ,Ascher, ,Cecil Beaton, ,Dior, ,Givenchy, ,Henry Moore, ,How to Wear, ,Lanvin, ,london, ,London Fashion Week, ,Mary Quant, ,matisse, ,Number One Aldwych, ,S/S 2011, ,Sam Ascher, ,Scarves

Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with Miriam Lehle of Prose Studio

Prose Elizabeth A/W 2011 by Rebecca Strickson.

Prose is a literary genre. Novels are prose, click as are novellas, pharm letters and even newspaper articles. Miriam Lehle has named her label Prose to express diversity and openness in the fashion statements she makes. Prose.

Prose_Elizabeth dress

The minute that the Prose mail out landed in my inbox I knew I’d chanced upon something special. Prose was founded in Schorndorf, find Germany in 2008 by Miriam Lehle, who after graduating in fashion design from the School of Design at Pforzheim University in 2007 was accepted onto the much lauded MA at Central Saint Martins in London. But she didn’t go, instead deciding to launch her own label straight away, and thus Prose was born. No need to rest!

Prose AW 2011 by Kristina Vasiljeva
Prose A/W 2011 by Kristina Vasiljeva.

She must have made the right decision because her achievements so far have been inspiring: In 2008 she made the final selection of the Festival International de Mode et de Photographie in Hyères, France and in the following year, together with textile designer Sabine Egler, she made it to the final of the Mango Fashion Awards in Barcelona. In January 2009 she showed her collection at the Beck’s Fashion Experience in Berlin as one of seven emerging German talents and in September 2009 Prose sold selected pieces in Topshop’s Edit Boutique. During the same month Prose presented the Biotopia collection for the first time on the catwalk at London Fashion Week as part of the On/Off showcase, and selected pieces were then sold at Topshop in 2010. The current S/S 2011 collection Spiracles was shown at Modefabriek in Amsterdam and at Tranoi Femme in Paris. Prose now presents its creations in both London and Paris. Phew!

I spoke to Miriam Lehle.

Prose_Elizabeth black ruffle

Where are you based?
Our studio is placed in Schorndorf, a small town close to Stuttgart. The building used to be an old leather manufacturer and everywhere you look the building tells you stories of the past. Here I feel comfortable and that is when I’m most productive and creative, so it has been a very instinctual choice to stay here, not a very logical one.

Prose by Fawn Carr.

What inspired your A/W collection? Who is Elizabeth?
The source of inspiration for our A/W 2011 collection was an old yellowed book from the 40s titled Letters of a Young Girl, by Ruk Mika. It is a collection of love letters and thoughts of the young girl, Elizabeth, addressed to her first big love, Sergej. Most inspiring was the the girl’s character between the pages: delicate, melancholic and yet so keen and hungry for life.

Prose_Elizabeth wide dress

How do you make your incredible 3D rose artworks?
Everything started with an old, ragged bedcover with a floral print that I was given by my grandmother and have kept for many years. I felt the time was right to make use of it because it perfectly corresponded to the mood of the book and my personal mood. Several of the floral print pieces are padded and also have padded floral appliques so it looks like the flowers sprawl out of the garment. It was a very handcrafted process, because the flower appliques are all handstitched.

Prose AW'11 by Kristina Vasiljeva
Prose AW 2011 by Kristina Vasiljeva.

Who do you hope will wear these clothes?
Someone that likes to dress with attitude!

Prose_Elizabeth black top skirt

What was the process of making your video and look book like?
The A/W 2011 video was shot on the banks of the river that flows in front of our studio. A few weeks before I finished the collection there was a great flood so that is how the ailing beach-like atmosphere came up… whenever I looked out of the window my attention was drawn to that place, so obviously it needed to be part of something! The hardest part was probably the cold. Yannah, the model in the movie, had to be so brave. She had to stand on an electric power wheel and it took one minute for one rotation. As you can guess it was not always perfect in the first place, so we had to do it over and over again. At the end she was frozen stiff to the wheel so that we had to free her with a hammer and an anvil ; ))…. Well, shooting the clothes is always the fun part at the end of the collection process.

You sent a lovely Easter email that featured an Eduard Mörike poem. What was the thinking behind that?
I always liked this particular Eduard Mörike poem and I thought it would be a nice way to send out some Easter greetings. I always work very instinctively and if you ask me why I do things my answer often will be: because I felt that way…

Prose AW 2011 by Michalis Christodoulou.

What other projects are you working on and what can we expect in the future?
I am currently working on the next collection, which we plan to present at LFW once again. We are still sketching, draping and stitching. I hope you are looking forward to see the result.

Prose_Elizabeth waistcoat

Miriam Lehle’s Prose collection can be bought online at Miosato and yes, I am very much looking forward to the next catwalk collection. Roll on LFW!

Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday May 19th, 2011 8:46 am

Categories ,amsterdam, ,Appliqué, ,Beck’s Fashion Experience, ,berlin, ,Biotopia, ,Central Saint Martins, ,Easter, ,Eduard Mörike, ,Elizabeth, ,Fawn Carr, ,Festival International de Mode et de Photographie, ,Germany, ,Handcrafted, ,Kristina Vasiljeva, ,Letters of a Young Girl, ,london, ,London Fashion Week, ,ma, ,Mango Fashion Awards, ,Michalis Christodoulou, ,Miosato, ,Miriam Lehle, ,Modefabriek, ,onoff, ,paris, ,Pforzheim University, ,Prose, ,Rebecca Strickson, ,Ruk Mika, ,Sabine Egler, ,School of Design, ,Schorndorf, ,Spiracles, ,Stuttgart, ,Topshop’s Edit Boutique, ,Tranoi

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