Student and Graduates: Be Featured

Calling all third years of fashion and textiles!

It's that time of year. You're Easter Break was barely even a break and you probably ate so many chocolate eggs just for the sugar to keep you going on those long all-nighters. You're not really sleeping so well (when you do get to go to bed!) because you're constantly thinking about what needs to be done next, when the next deadline is, when will it be too late to start ordering fabrics, etc etc.

I know! I've been there. It's stressful, it's painful, it makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it also makes you fat. But don't worry! It'll all be over soon, and you'll see your work at your graduate exhibition, or at New Designers, or Tent. You'll stand back and feel so proud because you did all that work.

At the end of it all, when you've got time to calm down, then I'll be here awaiting your request for a Graduate Profile! You need to get your workout there. The more websites you're on the better.

I'm here to showcase your talents to the world. I am so excited to see what amazing prints/garments/products have come out of the creative minds of young designers.

Please take a look at some of last years Graduate Profiles by clicking here and scrolling down until you hit around September/July.


If you would like to be featured on this blog, please contact Kate at klynch@hotmail.co.uk.

In Love: With my new shoes

I don't really shop in M&S for shoes that often, I find their target market is at a slightly higher age range than I am, but after having a quick browse yesterday I came across the most darling little pair of sandals.

Very on trend with cute pastels and ankle straps, these sandals were going to be mine! They came in 3 colours: mint, pale pink and black.

I chose mint, as I thought they would go with more of my clothes, but I am incredibly tempted to go back and get the pink ones too. At a price like £25, who can resist?

Buy them in store on online here 

I can't stop listening to...

A Teenage Opera - Grocer Jack

I can't stop listening to...

Bastille - Pompeii

I can't stop listening to...

P!nk - Just Give Me A Reason ft. Nate Ruess

I can't stop listening to...

Noisttes - Star

I can't stop listening to...

The 1975 - Chocolate

Time to introduce you...

I've been deliberating whether to plug my new business on my blog or not, as it may seem a little self indulgent, however I've come to the conclusion that I just want to share my story and show my designs that I love and care about so much to the rest of the world.

So last month, I started up my digitally printed scarf business: miel / b. It all came about as I came across some of my Grandads old things he had collected over the years such as old books, matchbox cards, postcards and other little titbits. They had that raw, beautiful vintage aura to them and I was immediately inspired.

At the time I was unemployed, just out of University, and needed something to do, so I set out to design a collection of scarves. I ended up with my 'Nostalgia' collection: 4 scarves each with a very nostalgic theme to it. There's King George, Rations, Household Tips and Postcards.

It never even occured to me to sell them at first, I just thought I might print one for myself! But as time went on, I started thinking a lot more about starting up a business with my designs and so, I decided to start research and find out prices of printing, websites etc.

Five months down the line, and a small amount of savings later, I decided to finally launch miel / b.

I made a conscious decision to make sure that everything about the business was made or sourced from the UK. I was inspired after watching Mary Portas' The Bottom Line and figured it would also be a fantastic selling point. All the scarves are designed (obviously), printed and finished in the UK and all other products used eg gift boxes and custom stamps are sourced from UK companies too.

As well as selling my designs as scarves, I also have a custom design service so if anybody wanted something very particular on a scarf for themselves or a loved one, I can do that for them.

I am so happy with how everything has turned out, and I've had so much support from everyone I know.

Please take a look at my website to see my vintage inspired scarves, follow me on twitter and like me on facebook.

My Love: Mary Katrantzou

I am a digital textile designer through and through. I love the technology that goes with it. I love learning about new technologies that are created to make printed textiles even more spectacular (e.g. 3D printing - I'll do a post on that at some point.). I love how almost any print is made possible with digital. You can imagine it, get on Photoshop or Illustrator and design it. Done. 

I'm a messy printer in the workshop, which is probably a fair reason why I love digital so much. During my last year of University, an entire chapter of my dissertation was dedicated to new technologies found in the textiles industry, and in this chapter was a small mention of Mary Katrantzou. 

To say that I was writing and researching my dissertation around October/November time in 2012 and had never heard of Mary Katrantzou is weird. I still can't believe it to this day! I happened to just come across her work whilst doing some extensive research into digital print in fashion and she popped up.

So it was here that I fell in love with her work. I look back at her first collection and can't help but think how 'Basso and Brooke' it is. So space-age and random. But since then, she has grown substantially into a truly amazing and original designer. I like how the prints are blatantly something. Sounds like a strange thing to say, but a lot of prints are just a flurry of colour and you can't really tell what they are (unless they are a floral or an animal print), but in Mary Katrantzou's designs, you can tell that that's a maze, or that's a type writer, or that's a city scape. I love it! It's like a t-shirt design on a beautiful dress. 

Images from Mary Katrantzou's first catwalk show in 2009

I also really love the fact, and this is said in the least offensive way possible, that she is a bit of a plain Jane. She looks like a lovely, regular girl. She doesn't look like a super skinny, super bossy, harsh fashionista. She just looks normal, and I like that.

I follow Mary Katrantzou on Instagram and am constantly in awe with all the photos she takes! You can definitely tell she's got a great creative touch, and sometimes some of the pictures she takes could easily become part of her next collection! To follow Mary Katrantzou on Instragram just search 'marykatrantzou' in the explore search box.

So really, the basic gist of this post is that I love Mary Katrantzou, and I hope that if you stumble across this blog and have never heard of her before that I have now introduced you to your new favourite designer.

I've picked out a couple of my favourite Mary Katrantzou garments for you to browse.

Fashion and Textiles Graduates - Be Featured

Calling all third years of fashion and textiles!

It's that time of year. You're Easter Break was barely even a break and you probably ate so many chocolate eggs just for the sugar to keep you going on those long all-nighters. You're not really sleeping so well (when you do get to go to bed!) because you're constantly thinking about what needs to be done next, when the next deadline is, when will it be too late to start ordering fabrics, etc etc.

I know! I've been there. It's stressful, it's painful, it makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it also makes you fat. But don't worry! It'll all be over soon, and you'll see your work at your graduate exhibition, or at New Designers, or Tent. You'll stand back and feel so proud because you did all that work.

At the end of it all, when you've got time to calm down, then I'll be here awaiting your request for a Graduate Profile! You need to get your work out there. The more websites you're on the better.

I'm here to showcase your talents to the world. I am so excited to see what amazing prints/garments/products have come out of the creative minds of young designers.

Please take a look at some of last years Graduate Profiles by clicking here and scrolling down until you hit around September/July.


If you would like to be featured on this blog, please contact Kate at klynch@hotmail.co.uk.

I can't stop listening to...

I don't usually post two music videos on a Thursday, but I've just been shown a fantastic cover by The Struts. Covering Stooshe's new single 'Slip', The Struts' version is a hell of a lot better. They did similar things with the Cheryl Cole song 'Under the Sun' a while back and it was in my head for weeks. To hear other covers from The Struts and some of their own music, check out their YouTube channel here.

I can't stop listening to...

Mozart's House - Clean Bandit

A strange but completely satisfying combination of classic and electro music. It shouldn't work.. but it does. It really, really does.

H&M Conscious Collection: Don't let fashion go to waste.

Everyone in the entire textiles and fashion industry, in fact, just everyone should be giving H&M a huge round of applause, pat on the back and a triumphant trophy lift in the air.

Why? Because for one: they have set up their 'Conscious' collection which is using organic fabrics and using sustainable procedures in making their products and two: they are now collecting bags of used clothes (whether fit to wear or not) and are either re-using the clothes to help charities etc or recycling all unwearable fabrics to create new life for the fabrics.

Why has no company done this before? And why are H&M the only ones doing it?

I personally think this is amazing. Not only is the company putting the ethics back into fashion (don't get me started on sweater shops and fur coats), but they are making incredible sales too. Great move, H&M.

Just because it was so amazing and inspiring to read, below I have the H&M 'Conscious Actions Highlights 2012'. Please read it, it made me smile so much to know that a huge market leader in the fashion and textiles industry actually gave a damn about making the world a better place to live it! Hallelujah!

Coggles Wallpapers

I was introduced to the Coggles website last night by a friend and was amazed by some of the truly amazing things they have in the 'Home' section. 

Of course, I was instantly drawn to the wallpaper section and fell in love with three designs in particular. 

Number One: 'Carpe Noctem' by Barnaby Gates
"The lime green and gold wallpaper is a contemporary take on classic British heraldry and features soft metallic crests on a bold pinstripe background. Translation of the Latin mottos featured on the crests are; ‘Carpe Noctem’ – ‘seize the night’, ‘Floreat Domus’ – ‘may this house flourish’ and ‘Bovina Sancta’ – ‘holy cow!’ "

Number Two: 'This Other Eden' by Barnaby Gates

"The sepia wallpaper is made up of a collage of nostalgic British scenes, including war time imagery and classic country pursuits, all taken from original 19th and 20th Century sepia photographs. The wallpaper also features a vintage metallic gold finish."

Number Three: 'Ostrich' by Beware The Moon

"The brownstone wallpaper, symbolising denial, is an inventive twist on the traditional and features large hand drawn, gold leaf ostriches with buried heads."

There's no place like home...

If there's one place in the world where I feel completely at home, it's my bedroom. It's the only room in the house where everything in it is mine - and I've decorated it exactly how I wanted it.

I have always felt that the interior of a room can speak volumes about the person living in it; what they do for a living, what their hobbies are, what they value the most in life.

For me, my room is a sanctuary for the things I love. Without even meaning to, my room has developed an 'around the world' theme, based on my love for travel and faraway lands. It also envelopes a lot of objects with personal meaning to me; photographs of friends and family, small objects bought as gifts that I could never throw away and of course, my most treasured possessions: my two teddy-bears I have had since birth.

My room is painted a soft, pastel pink. I'm a girly girl! I love floral bedsheets and will settle for nothing less. I have little trinkets dotted around the room like vintage stars that hang of my wardrobe door handles and a bright pink cheerleading bow hanging off a photo frame. 

I'd like to make 'There's no place like home..' into a feature for the interior section of my blog. So, here I am starting it off for you. Enjoy!

A view of my room: achieved by using iPhone app 'Panorma 360'. 

Frames above my bed: The large picture of the New York skyline was a great find from a carboot sale! I think I payed something like £3 for it. This is what started my accidental 'around the world' theme. I went to New York in 2007 and absolutely fell in love with it. On the opposite wall, I have a photo frame with multiple black and white photographs taken by myself during a trip to Paris in 2009. I also have two old school maps of the world - one as a normal picture in a frame, the other is a mirror that I rescued from being tipped by my Grandma!

On the floor: My Newzealand Sheepskin rug was a wedding present for my parents when they were married, but has since been passed down to me. I like that it's quite old now, it has a lovely worn look to it.

My bed: the place I spend most of my time! I love my bed. It's incredibly comfortable since I kitted it out with The White Company pillows. The bed covers in this photo is from BHS from about four years ago now. My MacBook spends most of it's time on my bed, as do my teddy-bears who are pictured with my small lavender heart.

My Australian Animals: Again, without realising, I have created a collection of Australian animals. I travelled around the West Coast of Australia in Summer 2011 and had the best time. I came back with the Wombat, and after visiting a carboot sale I found the Koala bear (it cost me 50p!!). When my boyfriend visited Australia six months after me, he brought me back a penguin from his trip to Penguin Island. 

...

So there you have it! That is my room, the place I feel the most comfortable and the place I feel the most inspired.

If you would like to be involved in this feature and share your favourite room with us then please email me on klynch@hotmail.co.uk.

Floral Friday: H&M Home

I was having a browse on one of my favourited interior magazine websites when I came across an image of a beautiful floral pair of curtains.
As I went to look to see where they were from I was so surprised to see H&M! I had absolutely no idea H&M even had a home department, never mind that they did fabulous ready made curtains!

The print is beautiful. Bold and bright, but cute and girly at the same time. If only I had a spare little room that I could make my snug, I would use this print everywhere. It's available in cushion covers and bedsets, so there would be no reason not to! Other than the fact it might look a little bit OTT...

So here you are, I introduce you to my Floral Friday: H&M Home.

Farrow & Ball Moodboards

Working at Farrow & Ball is great: I learn more and more about interior design and the beautiful pleasures that finding great colourways can bring every day.

This week, I created my own little project to make some moodboards using some fabric samples from a local fabric shop named Fabric & Co and finding different colourways and combinations with Farrow & Ball paint and wallpaper.

I had incredible fun making them, it really took me back to my college days where making moodboards was a daily occurence! Then they seemed like a hassle.. now I love them!

I thought I'd share my moodboards with you, so here you are: