Design A Dress With Oasis

LOOK Magazine has teamed up with Oasis to give readers the chance to design a Christmas party dress. This is the first time Oasis has offered the public the chance to design its clothing.

The winning dress will be put into production and sold in Oasis stores nationwide in the run up to the Christmas party season.

The winner will also receive VIP seats to the LOOK show in association with Westfield Stratford City on September 17.

To create the dress, visit the Oasis website and access the online tool.

www.oasis-stores.com/dreamdress

One to Watch

Women’s Wear Daily is a must read for anyone remotely interested in the business of Fashion.  In today’s issue they introduce us to six designers they feel are moving on to big things. Let meet one of them.

Elizabeth Anyaa

Raised in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Elizabeth studied textile design in Finland. She has her own company and has recently launched a collection of ready-to-wear and accessories.

Her focus is always on the fabrics, most of which she hand-makes. She felts wool onto silk, cotton and linen, creating alluring patterns and textures. She also makes housewares, including pillows and bowls, from her homespun fabrics.

Silk chiffon dress and scarf

Prices start around £100 ($150) wholesale.

www.elizabethanyaa.com

Britain's Next Top Milliner

Vogue UK and famous milliner Stephen Jones – whose creations have been seen on catwalks and royalty – have launched a competition to find fresh talent in the hat making industry.

Stephen Jones for Dior

According to Vogue, Jones said: “ Submit a photograph of a finished hat or an illustration of a hat that you can make within a week. Be creative… have a great time - have fun! We're already fabulously fascinating so I'm not looking for a fascinator, I'm looking for something which is made with a broad brushstroke; fantastic construction - I'm looking for art which can be put on the body.”

The winning hat will be exhibited in New York and the winner will receive a two week internship with Stephen Jones in London; two tickets to the opening night party of the exhibition in New York and a one year membership to the Victoria & Albert museum in London.

Stephen Jones for Iris Van Herpen

To enter, visit the VogueUK Facebook page.

Victoria by Victoria Beckham: A Lower Priced Range

Singer (kind of) turned fashion designer Victoria will launch a new, more ‘affordable’ line called Victoria by Victoria Beckham due for fashion delivery in Spring 2012.

She told Women’s Wear Daily this collection could have been influenced by her pregnancy and the fact that she’s to have a girl as these pieces are more playful and girly than her Victoria Beckham line, now in its sixth season.

Dress from the Spring 2012 range

When Victoria says affordable she means prices will retail around the £345 ($550) and £560($900) range which, when you consider her mainline dresses cost anything from £900 to £4,000, we suppose it’s a lot kinder to the wallet.

F/W 2011 dresses

Victoria said: “I’m opening these designs to women and girls of all different shapes and sizes, people who maybe want something less tight and clingy and structured. It also makes it more comfortable for during the day. You can wear them with a pair of flats or a pair of heels and they look great. I take it (the price) into account when I’m designing the other line as well."

"Simply having a pocket — there are repercussions. Even with a handbag that costs thousands and thousands and thousands of pounds, I’m not going crazy. I’m still aware of how much the hardware costs exactly, exactly what the skin costs, how much the lining costs. At no point do I ever say it’s one of those one-off
showpieces.”

The Victoria Beckham range (which includes denim, bags and eyewear) is a commercial success – the brand made $8 million last year and celebrities and fashion editors love to be seen wearing it.

Was £135, now £60

Was £220, now £87

A lot has been made of the fact that she has brought this collection out while being pregnant with baby number 4. While taking nothing away from her, let’s not forget that she is a millionaire with an army of staff to take care of her every need or want, it’s not like she’s knee deep in Fairy liquid and ironing!

We do like the fact that unlike a lot of celebrities, most recently Mariah Carey who should have known better, she didn’t do a tacky half naked ‘look-at-my-pregnant-belly-everyone’ magazine cover.

She said of the offer: “I’m not really one of these people that likes to go out and pose and flaunt being pregnant. Not like there’s anything wrong in that. I’m so proud to be pregnant and I feel so blessed and so happy, I really do. But I’m just not that kind of person. So, no, I won’t be taking my clothes off. I don’t think anyone needs to see that, other than my husband. Absolutely not.’ We wholeheartedly agree. Do it if you want, but keep it to yourself!

The Roots & John Varvatos

Menswear designer John Varvatos (fans include Common, Zac Efron and NBA star Chris Bosh) has chosen super cool group The Roots to front its Fall advertising campaign.

Common wearing John Varvatos

“I’ve been a huge fan of The Roots for years,” said Varvatos of the Philly based band that have won four Grammy’s for their jazz-influenced approach to hip-hop. “They are one of the most innovative musical forces on the planet.”

We're sure it doesn't hurt that stylistically they already look great!

A bonus from the Fall campaign was an impromptu jam on the tarmac that was captured with one camera and in one take which will be featured on the John Varvatos website from tomorrow. Looks like the relationship between fashion and music, which we highlighted in this post, continues to get stronger.

Watch The Roots for John Varvatos video here. It’s over 8 minutes long but the music is great so most definitely worth it.

Naomi Campbell for Fiorucci

Naomi has become a 'celebrity fashion designer' as Italian brand Fiorucci announced yesterday that she will be designing a 15-piece capsule collection, out next Spring.

Fiorucci said it made sense to team with Naomi as the company recently launched a selection of T-shirts printed with i-D Magazine covers featuring her: “The magazine chose Milan’s Fiorucci store for its Italian launch in 1982. It’s a great opportunity to revitalize the history of our brand.”

And the brand needs revitalising. We remember them being popular in the mid 90s but they seem to have quietly disappeared. We're sure Naomi can help put that to rights.

It does make us wonder how people without any formal fashion design training can so easily whip out collections. Victoria Beckham has never been to design school yet her eponymous clothing and more recently bag collection is a commercial and critical success with an army of celebrity fans including Jennifer Hudson, Eva Longoria and Demi Moore.

Jennifer Hudson in Victoria Beckham

Same goes for Kate Moss for Longchamp and Topshop, Lily Allen and New Look (how she went from there to Chanel still surprises us), Daisy Lowe and Peacocks (aim high Daisy!) and Georgia May Jagger and Hudson Jeans.

Is fashion design really that easy? It certainly looks hard on Project Runway!

Kanye West: Now A Fashion Designer

Kanye West has partnered with M/M (Paris) to create a signature line of silk scarves. The designers previously collaborated with Kanye to provide the artwork on his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and are releasing a collection of five full colour scarves made of 100% silk twill. Each piece features one of the five album covers designed for Kanye and is produced in a limited edition of 100 units. The range is on sale online now and prices start at €250.

They’re not really to our taste and some of the imagery is bound to feed the Illuminati stories buzzing around the web but we applaud him for adding another string to his bow.

Last year he only (only!) made $12 million compared to $25 million the year before (fallout from the Taylor Swift debacle perhaps?) so this will no doubt turn into a nice money spinner for him.

Buenos Aires Fashion Week

The first Buenos Aires Fashion Week was held in March 2011 in association with IMG Fashion and Mercedes Benz. The Buenos Aires city government want to showcase local talent and establish itself as a major fashion player.

Designers included:

Marcelo Senra - an Argentinean native known for her ethnic and tribal designs who also showed at Mercedes Benz
Fashion Week in New York.

Daniela Sartori - a graduate of the University of Buenos Aires,
she works with organic material and specialises in tailoring.
Her clothes are unisex.

Min Agostini - studied architecture at University and uses features of that in her designs. She is known for designing short skirts with lots of volume, dresses and urban coats. She also showed at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York.

Fabian Zitta - a former doctor who studied design at the University of Buenos Aires. He is inspired by Art Deco and his collections have many layers.

Marina Dappiano - works a lot with wool and her inspirations include pictures her daughter scribbled on the walls of the house!

Mariano Toledo - an Argentinean Designer who works on Latin America Project Runway. His collection included leather goods and jackets that are typical of his design. He appreciates a masculine style that highlights femininity with personality; mixing skirts, ties and transparent trousers.











The next Buenos Aires Fashion Week will be held later in the year as the city uses it as a platform to celebrate Argentinian fashion and improve its contribution to industry and the economy.

Sew Over It!

South London sewing cafe, Sew Over It – a place you can go to learn sewing skills while networking over your machine – opens today.

Their machines aren't this old

Based in Clapham, London SW9, Sew Over It offers sewing and customisation classes and will teach you how to fashion your own Mad Men inspired outfits and wrap dresses and how to make dungarees for children (probably the only people who should wear dungarees if we’re honest).

Prices start from £5 an hour and includes unlimited pots of tea.  Unleash your inner fashion designer!

Catch a Fire

Cedella Marley, daughter of the legend that was Bob, is to design the 2012 Jamaican Olympic track and field kit. According to Vogue, she asked the CEO of Puma why the Marley's– surely Jamaica’s most famous family – had not been asked to design the kit. Two weeks later she was approached. How's that for initiative!

Cedella Marley

She says the look will be Grace Jones meets Bob Marley, very music inspired and very retro with a hint of Bob and the tracksuits he used to wear. And of course the colours red, gold and green will be included.

Her famous Dad Bob

Cedella’s label Catch A Fire (after Bob’s first album) was born in 2001 and is a relaxed take on womenswear with ‘a bohemian, Rasta edge.’

We think two of Jamaica’s most famous offspring – Usain Bolt and any one of the Marley family - in collaboration can only be a good thing.

The Eclectic and Unique Gavin Douglas - Fashion Designer

We had a bit of a crush on this dress that Kelly Rowland wore on her Ms Kelly Diva Deluxe album cover back in 2008 and we just had to find out whose handicraft it was.

As it turns out, it is none other than the emerging British designer, Gavin Douglas. The 27-year-old has been loaded down with awards ever since he appeared on the fashion scene over seven years ago. He has been described by none other than designer extraordinaire and former Gucci creative director Tom Ford as having 'demonstrated the will, the drive and a certain amount of charm, which doesn't hurt'.


Douglas started winning awards back in 2004 when he was named Avant-Garde Designer of Year at the London Fashion Forum. He was also the winner of the prestigious Fashion Fringe Designer Award back in 2006, an honour that led to a first ever slot at London Fashion Week in 2007.


Just last year, the Birmingham-born designer showcased his work at BET's Rip the Runway.  Afro Boudoir caught up with Gavin recently.

Afro Boudoir: How did your interest in fashion design start?

Gavin: I’ve been creative since being a child and have always had a major interest in art and design. I excelled at school in my chosen design subjects, Art and Design Technology.

I then went on to study for a BTEC National Diploma in Design at Sutton Coldfield College in Birmingham, which is where I first started studying fashion design and realized that I wanted to further my career in this subject. I then graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fashion and Textiles from Northampton University.

Gavin agrees that every girl needs a little black dress

AB: How difficult did you find it to break into the industry?

Gavin: It takes a lot of hard work, commitment, self-discipline and time to create a successful career in fashion design. You should always be prepared to dedicate these factors into your career. It becomes your life!

AB: You won the prestigious Fashion Fringe designer award in 2006 (especially with the likes of Tom Ford on the panel) – what difference did that make to your career?

Gavin: Fashion Fringe has given me a great platform for my career and start up help needed to help build and develop my design label.

Gavin Douglas 2008

AB: Part of your prize of winning Fashion Fringe was a slot on London Fashion Week – can you please describe that experience?

Gavin: The first collection I presented at LFW after winning Fashion Fringe was called Queens of the Ocean. The collection looked towards 1940s fashion and lifestyle. It referred to the return of luxury after World War II, the new consumerism rearing its head and the prestigious and lavish lifestyles it created.

Gavin Douglas' Queens of the Ocean collection

The collection was about ladies dressing up for ocean travel with updated 1940s silhouettes and raised the glamour stakes with broad, square shoulders, nipped waists and round hips. There were military influences, apparent from the period, but stylised, such as a pearlised leather double-breasted long coat. Elegance was also introduced with Swarovski crystal buttons used throughout the collection. The collection was purchased by both Harrods and Yoox.com

Gavin Douglas' Queens of the Ocean collection

AB: How important was that opportunity to show at London Fashion Week for your career?

Gavin: London Fashion Week gives you a great platform to showcase your work and acts as a great portal to gain international press.

Gavin Douglas' Queens of the Ocean collection

AB: How difficult (or easy) is it to get a slot at London Fashion Week?

Gavin: Hundreds of designers apply for a limited amount of slots each season at LFW so it is very competitive.

AB: What message do you try to convey through your clothes?

Gavin: The woman that wears Gavin Douglas is eclectic, unique and not scared to try something different. She doesn’t tend to follow trends and is a confident dresser. This reflects the message I portray in my garments’  individuality, luxury and elegance.

Gavin Douglas 2008

AB: You are from Birmingham in England, has that city provided any of the inspiration for any of your collections?

Gavin: Yes, The collection that I won Fashion Fringe with was inspired by an exhibition I saw at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

AB: How do you go about coming up with a concept and then translating it into a full catwalk collection?

Gavin: From season to season I’m inspired by a variety of different things. It’s not necessarily the environment I'm in. I’m often inspired by historical eras and traditional cultures. I enjoy visiting museums and looking at their archive of fashion pieces dated back as far as the 1800’s for inspiration.

Gavin Douglas Fall 2007

AB: Your creations really fit in with my personal style sense. I love clothes that drape, rather than cling – that seems to be a major part of your design ethos. Am I right? If so, why?

Gavin: Yes, I enjoy creating new shapes and silhouettes with fabric. Draping fabric around the body can visual enhance it and create illusions of size and proportions.

AB: Many people view 90% of most catwalk collections as unwearable? Where do you stand on that? Is that deliberate because designers also want to provide entertainment in your shows? In that case, how do you translate your catwalk designs into ready-to-wear?

Gavin: I think it’s generally down to the designer’s vision. Some designs are extremely creative and present shows to deliver their vision where’s some are much more commercial and driven by finances/ sales. I think it’s important to have some pieces that aren’t necessarily “wearable” as they can create media attention and press coverage.

Estelle with designer Gavin Douglas at BET's Rip the Runway

AB: You have some big-time fans and clients (with the likes of Kelly Rowland and Estelle) – what do celebrity endorsements mean for an up-and-coming designer like you?

Gavin: I think celebrity endorsements can be very influential when managed correctly. They can offer a tremendous amount of publicity and clarity to a label.

AB: What’s coming up for you in 2011?

Gavin: I have upcoming fashion projects that I’m currently working on which are still in there early stages.

Gavin Douglas 2007

AB: Finally and probably most important, where can we buy your clothes?

Gavin: We currently offer a bespoke/ made-to-order service, all inquiries should be sent to info@gavindouglasfashion.com

Suits You Sir!

Tailoring company A Suit That Fits has launched a design competition for budding tailors. Entrants have until March 31 2011 to submit their two or three-piece suit designs for workwear, a wedding or a function.

Judges will include Channel 4 presenter Rick Edwards and Alan Cannon-Jones from The London College of Fashion and they will select the shortlist. The winning suit will be chosen by A Suit That Fits customers and s/he will see their design created and sold on the company's website. They will also receive a percentage of the profits.

Visit A Suit That Fits for more info.