Felicity Hayward photo shoot...

Very excited to be working with close friend, special lady and up and coming photographer Miss Felicity Hayward tomorrow, when we will be shooting my collection for my new website to launch later in March.
Not only am I a huge fan of the energy, colour and style of Felicity's work, but her understanding and celebration of story-telling as well as her love and respect of history, vintage relics and value, has a certain synergy with my own work and ethos!
I cannot wait to see the outcome of this shoot and to share it with you on my upcoming website!!

"The world is changing, and we must change with it!"

Coco Chanel once said, “Fashion is made to become unfashionable.”
So how can an industry become sustainable when the ‘we loved it, but now we shun it’ cycle is embedded so deeply? Do we have to change everything we love about fashion to make it a sustainable, fair industry? Not necessarily...

Earlier this week I attended the launch of 'Forum for the futures' Fashion futures project, in partnership with Livi Strauss & Co, a great event crammed full of people who share my passion and commitment to a sustainable fashion industry whilst protecting the creative spirit of fashion.

I have just spent a couple of hours reading the full report and learning about the four future scenarios proposed by fashion futures, these are different situations we are likely to find ourselves in if we continue to consume and live as we are today:
1. Slow is Beautiful
2. Community couture
3. Techno Chick
4. Patchwork planet
... each scenario has it's own short animation which I suggest you take a loom at here. Each different outcome houses masses of creative problem solving, ideals of new community living and benefits for a more fulfilling life, if we each adopt an outcome and addressed it within our own lives/businesses or rituals, we would benefit massively as a whole!

These ideas hold an enormous empowering and innovative potential for all people not just fashion industry people, we are all consumers after all! Through having an innovative and open mind we can start to explore different routes, systems and communities that will not only lead business into a sustainable and successful future, but that will also improve the lives of customers, workers and suppliers locally and globally.

"For the fashion industry to be sustainable economically, it needs to be sustainable socially and environmentally too."

This all reminds me of Anita Roddick's then unique approach to business, trading and social responsibility, which she wrote about at length over ten years ago in her 'Business as Unusual' book:
"The business of business should not just be about money, it should be about responsibility. It should be about public good not private greed."

It has also been extensively proved that companies who invest in the welfare and education of their workers, community and product lifestyle benefit in terms of loyalty, respect and are considered pioneers and trail blazers of industry! I am happy to now be part of this growing revolution of people committed to doing things differently! I personally don't want to succeed by keeping others in poverty, and am currently striving to develop my business with a huge emphasis on a multi-faceted approach to sustainability and community. Even good old Albert Einstein once commented:

"It is high time the ideal of success should be replaced with the ideal of service."

This really excites me! and I welcome everyone to join me in this revolution!!!
(Image above from this years Fashion and the Environment MA show, from LCF)

Paper Dolls get political..Think Act Vote!!

The paper dolls have had a little adventure this week, and have been getting involved in a little light political action!

I was lucky enough to be asked to design the image used in the 'Think Act Vote' campaign currently running; Think Act Vote is a campaign founded to engage our citizens in the up coming election. Our future is in our hands and we have the opportunity to: THINK about what change we need, ACT by standing up for what you believe in, and then make sure your VOTE is heard.

Think Act Vote is also running a T-shirt design competition, entries must be in by the 7th March, for more information look at the 'Think Act Vote' website: http://thinkactvote.org/

I like the idea of harnessing our collective power, creatively within our communities to create a positive change politically and environmentally, I shall definitely be thinking, acting and voting!!

Family heirloom..

As promised, this is a photograph of the quilt my mum started when she was a little girl. It's full of fabrics from my mothers childhood, my Nana's tea towels and parts of old dresses. When it was passed on to me it was the size of a single duvet, and now I'm slowly making it into a double duvet size, using parts from my clothes alterations, left-overs from past collections, samples and some of my clothes from childhood, I will line the back with white antique pillow cases. I even found in it a needle and thread, half way though a line of stitching, which I was able to finish off, decades after it was abandoned. A major work in progress, which captures the essence of my family, the relationships, memories and stories. This blanket when finished will be such a treasure, definitely the thing I'd save in a fire! It's like a textiles photo album and holds allot of 'Berry' family history and emotion!

Quite quintisential quilts...

The up and coming Quilts 1700-2010 exhibition at the V&A is going to be a feast of history, story telling and ancient gossip! I cannot wait to see how they did it in the old days when they really cared about making something special to communicate with future generations and hand down along a family line. Not only does this decidedly historic craft look a treat, but it also serves practical purposes, keeping family warm and using up odds and ends of left over fabric, I love a thing which can be both functional and aesthetically rich!
Patchwork has now once more come into Vogue, whether for style or for reasons more akin with the way we are now choosing to live I don't know, a bit of both I expect, but everyone's at it! Workshops, clubs, socials and even inmates are taking up the craft. It is known to be a calming, reflective act...perfect for a group of highly strung inmates at Wandsworth prison to pick up a patch and start to create something stunning to be proud of! The blue and black image above was created by this group, who demonstrated a huge amount of patience, commitment and creativity on making this piece, an amazing and worth-while project, that I think should be spread out amongst community groups, more prisons, day centres, schools etc...I will even start a group patch work in the place we are currently doing up to house the 'New Cross Project' coming later this year!

My personal relationship with patchwork began last year when my mum handed down to me a patchwork she had started with her own mother when she was a little girl but never got round to finishing. I shall soon blog about my progress, the history and stories within this quilt, and the love that it now houses!

Leather neck pieces...

Hand crafted leather necklaces using reclaimed material. Striking just the right balance between hard-edged body adornment and contemporary craft. Available to buy now from 'HollyBerry'.

"I love you to bits"

How to show true love for the clever little gluey notes that contain the important things we mustn't forget, out best ideas, and special contacts....get everyone together and get each person to write down an idea, a proclamation of love or a world changing idea and make a bit heart for a window or wall! Completely more effective when each person contributes a small amount of effort, illustrating beautifully the positive change we can create by just doing the small things in life to make it all better! I saw this in an office/studio building in some backstreets behind Waterloo, it looks like an office project! Nice!

Mondays collage of inspiration

So this one was a get well message for my mum, but I think I will add it to my stack of artwork to have printed onto bags, dresses and wrapping paper... all projects for summer to launch in the New Cross Project space currently being lovingly renovated by a crack squad of beauties!

Free as a bird window exhibit

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I would like to thank everyone for coming allong on Saturday to see my work in the window of Lama's Pyjamas on Roman Road! Brilliant feedback and support from the troops, and a lovely day to celebrate the energy I've put into these pieces.
For those of you who couldn't make it, it's going to be there untill the 27th Feb, so head down there and have a peek!

FREE

Free as a bird... exhibit

Getting ready for my Bethnal Green window exhibition for London fashion week at Lama's Pyjamas, 83 Roman Road.

Creative communities

Much writing has been done about the role in society of creative communities, and the possibility they hold to re-ignite and transform our economy, the way it works and the way we live our lives. Collaborative projects, skills sharing, and just getting together with a group of creative friends to put on a show or an exhibition...it's about the mutual appreciation of the imaginative spirit all around us!
Above is an image I took at last years London design week, of a group collective called 'bricolage' www.bricolageproject.com ... textiles designers, paper printers, art and design, all coming together to exhibit...with a shared ethos, mood and aesthetic and love of good design.
I have always said that two heads are better than one...and four is even better than two...get the picture?

Master your tools...

I have got my head (and my fingers and my toes) buried in my sewing machine this week... preparing my final pieces for my London fashion week window in Bethnal Green next week! Knowing that I am going to be spending the entirety of this week glued to my machine is strangely comforting...so much of our working lives are taken up with emails, paper-work, phone calls and organizing...I had forgotten how much I love just sitting and sewing, toile’s, samples or exhibit wonders... cutting, pinning and making something with my hands from start to finish is so satisfying and rewarding, seeing my ideas take form in three dimensions... I love it! Today’s role of designer-maker is to re-instate the value and skill in making things. Master your tools and your craft in order to make objects of beauty! Creative communities of people getting their hands dirty! That’s what I want to see!

All we need is LOVE!

This Valentine’s Day I'm preoccupied with the unromantic kind of love, sitting next to each other silently and supportively throughout many years like these chairs I saw in Amsterdam. Without roses picked by children who are poisoned from pesticides in Africa, or chocolates wrapped in packaging that never decomposes... my challenge is to redefine the 'romantic'...making Valentines a sustainable day that’s effects last all year...taking the time to notice and cherish the small, simple acts of love that surround us all the time, a favour from a friend, a glowing reference, porridge stirred and delivered to my bed... the perfect drink and funny rituals between people that truly know each other... these are the things I'm celebrating this weekend, in my own original way, no stereotypes here please! This is not only easier on the purse but enhances an everlasting, sustainable love! And love is truly worth sustaining!!

Paper dolls jersey dreams...

Despite the cold, the dolls have decided to attire themselves in some racy, draped jersey pieces today...early bird previews of the new 123 collection soon to hit the stores! Lucky devils! At once sexy, easy to wear and stylish, a contemporary silhouette with a sense of the familiar t-shirt or hoodie. Just the thing for these spring chickens!

LONDON FASHION WEEK EXHIBIT....

I am very excited to be exhibiting my new micro collection in the window of 'Lama's Pyjamas' for their grand opening on the 20th February!
Lama's Pyjama's is part of the London Buddhist centre in Bethnal Green and as Buddhists shares my ethos of beauty, sustainability and a respect for the environment. They have very kindly given me their window for London Fashion Week to show my new collection 'Free as a bird'.
The exhibit will be in the window from the 2oth - 27th Feb, and I shall be there on the 20th for the grand opening, and will be meeting people there at 12 mid-day for a social viewing followed by drinks around the corner at the lovely camel pub, so pop by and say hello if you're in the area!

Monday inspirations...

I made a pact with myself a few weeks ago, that I would do something inspiring every Monday, and this week, as it's so cold outside...I decided to take a walk down memory lane and look through some of my old sketchbooks...a constant source and documentation of all those little things I find inspiring and beautiful. Soap packaging, tear sheets, drawings from holidays, photographs, notes, fabric samples and colour swatches....
I love to keep my cluttered thoughts together in this way, though they never make sense at the time....on a return journey they are very useful as prompts for colour theory, shape and silhouette research at the beginning of a project, or the start of a mood for a new collection or piece.
These bug drawings of mine for example, I did them on holiday in Hungary last year...I am going to have printed onto a thick calico in various proportions to hang as heavy floor length curtains in the new building me and my boyfriend are currently doing up, I might also get them embroidered onto table cloths or printed onto wallpaper... an idea a day keeps un-fulfilment at bay!!