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.

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.

New online portfolio with brushd

Just thought I'd quickly mention I've just set up my new online portfolio with brushd. 

If you'd like to have a look at some of my work, please visit it here: http://katelynch.brushd.com/

BetaFasion: Epic Journey Project

Brief: Many of life's most vivid memories and powerful day dreams often come from travels we've been on, or the journey's we've had, or wish to have. Exciting destinations, adventures along the way, once in a life time experiences, culture shock, childhood nostalgia, or just escaping the day to day, there are so many ways that travel can play an important part in our lives. For this project we want you to encapsulate these ideas, whether real or fantasy, for use on our range of square scarves.

Prize: 4 winners will be selected, each receiving £300 and seeing their design go onto be sold in our online store, Topshop and more.

My Design:

My Inspiration: A new and accurate map of the world. An old treasure of my Grandma's that I saved from going to a carboot sale was an old map of the world on a mirror.It's been in my room ever since, joining my general theme of 'around the world'.

Please rate my design here: https://www.betafashion.com/competitionratedesign.aspx?SubmissionID=6961

Floral Friday: Zoe Barker

This weeks Floral Friday is Zoe Barker, who runs her own design studio and online shop. Focusing on her 'Beautifully British' tag line, Zoe's print designs are just that. Her hand-drawn and painted prints are incredibly gorgeous, with a fantastic array of warm, bright colours in many of her florals.

I especially love Zoe's 'Liberty View' collection; a stunning collection of prints that show off her illustration skills with a great mixture of florals and wild British animals such as fox's, rabbits and many breeds of bird. The colours are beautifully understated, bringing a hint of vintage to the collection.

Here, Zoe talks about her work:

"I embarked on a fashion and textiles adventure in 2004, having spent 5 years in the digital design industry. Successfully combining my love of drawing and painting with my expert digital design skills, I developed a unique digital textile design style that relies on traditional painting and drawing techniques which are so often lost in the fast world of digital textile design.

I now have a BA and an MA in Fashion and Digital Textile Design and after studying in London at the prestigious Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London, I have returned to my Hampshire roots from where I’m most inspired.

In my Hampshire design studio, near Winchester, I am surrounded by traditional villages, gorgeous woodland and an abundance of beautiful, English countryside and coastline, all of which feature regularly in my textile designs. I’m also very lucky to be close enough to London to visit regularly.

My experiences have honed my textile design skills and confirmed my passion. I hope this is reflected throughout my collections, which take time, love and skill to produce."

You can visit Zoe's website here and follow her on twitter here. 

Traditional Florals: Spring 2013

As I was having a quick look through the Spring 2013 collections I noticed that a few designers had incorporated beautiful traditional florals into their prints. I find this really great to see because, although I adore all kinds of florals, I really do love a great traditional! I've picked out five designers to showcase these wonderful prints; Brood, Calla, Duro Olowu, Peter Som and Thakoon. 

Calla Spring 2013: Gorgeous florals that remind me of Japanese florals and calligraphy. A great juxtaposition between soft pastels against a pale background to bold colour pops against a dark. Beautiful leaf prints in an all blue colour scheme are incredibly elegant.

Brood Spring 2013: Very traditional - almost Cath Kidston with the mix of blues, pinks and whites. A fantastic use of brilliant roses and dark green leaves. I really love the mix of lace for the look too.

Thakoon Spring 2013: Traditional floras with a twist: using birds and butterflies to create a quintessentially english print. The use of line from the top to the bottom of the dress makes it looks as though the dress is a huge bird cage. The dark background in the second image down remind me of old renaissance paintings. The third image down is a little different, with an orange repeat print of what looks like a poppy. Beautiful illustration made me fall in love with this one.

Peter Som Spring 2013: This collection is probably the least traditional of the prints I picked out, but they reminded me so much of a Spring country garden with the gorgeous soft colours mixed with bolds. The shapes of the floral prints look a little bit like a lavender flower. 

Duro Olowu Spring 2013: Traditional with a twist. Not entirely created from florals, these prints hold beautiful sketches of old-fashioned women in garden situations looking to be having a gleeful time. The use of the situation sketches remind me a lot of Timourous Beasties work and doiles. A sweet little poppy print livens the collection up with a pop of red. 

Design Project with Kate Usher Design Studio

I am so excited to tell you that I'm currently working on a design project with Kate Usher Design Studio!

After getting in touch with Kate asking if she had any opportunities for me, she replied back to me with an offer to design a contemporary wallpaper.

The project brief is amazing, with truly fantastic colours and great inspirational concept words!! I can't tell you much more about it now, but perhaps when it's all done and dusted I can let you in on a couple of snap shots!

Visit Kate Ushers website here.