Graduate Fashion In Leeds, London & Antwerp

Leeds
Anna BrowningDaniela MarchettaShamin SultonAnna BrowningKate O'bryan TearKatrina Lee
Claire GreendaleFaith BunceSophie Broadhurst

A couple of weeks ago the Hebe team headed down to the Graduate Fashion Show by Leeds College of Art. We always love to see new talent emerging and and imagine how they might develop in the future.

Each student was required to showcase three pieces, a mini A/W collection. There were some refreshing elements in many of the students's designs, but for some of the students a lack of coherence was a problem, which is an important factor to think about when building a collection. Some students managed to get this coherence though. I particularly liked Rachael Broadhurst's creations, very feminine, and for my eyes, the most complete collection at the event. Crystal Padmore's way of connecting different materials was skilful. Lauren Crowe made a collection that's trendy right now, using plenty of fringe and leather. I noted down that I liked Sharon Banga's good fabric choices. I also liked Anna Browning's square jacket shape. Faith Bunce's hunting inspired works were very memorable and stood out.

Overall, I do think there's an issue of the students being too aware of what's trendy right now, instead of looking for something that's never seen before. If you can not let loose and do something 'out there' when you are at college, when can you, right?

London

University Of Salford catwalk show. Design by Nicola Bream. Earls Court, London

My good friend and partner on the UK Observing Diary, Chia Wen Liu went to the London Graduate Fashion Week. And this was one of her favorite outfits. She thinks this year's designers were of a good standard, but the event itself seemed to lack some of wow factor of previous years. Perhaps the change in sponsor (River Island to George) and/or a smaller budget had something to do with this?

Chia Wen filmed this video of best and awarded designers this year. An you can see a very noticeable character in the crowd.

Antwerp

And finally, let's take a look at the legendary Royal Academy Academy of Fine Art in Antwerp. You can read more about it at Vice Style. 

MANON KUNDIG (Photo courtesy of VICE) MANON KUNDIG (Photo courtesy of VICE)MINJU KIM (Photo courtesy of VICE)

Manchester Street Style: 03/06/11

The Hebe team were in Manchester last Friday for the launch of Hyper Island, even though we had a tight schedule, I still managed to get some shots of Manchester's street style... Actually we went for a tiny bit of sight seeing, a very nice meal at Papa G's in the Printworks, and started drinking at 3:30 in the afternoon... so the schedule was very tight ;)

I really like the variety of style in Manchester and next time I promise I will stop and do some interviews!

Leeds Street Style: 05/05/11

Algyrios

Algyrios is from Greece and currently studying in Leeds City College. He's still at the stage of exploring the shopping scene in Leeds and everyday he finds something new. His favorite item is his Dr. Martens. He bought a pair yesterday and he's just on his way to buy another pair.  And let me tell you, by the way he talks, he's probably a prince in Greece. "I think currently I have a passion for Dr. Martens, yes." These are his words.

Katie

Katie's favorite item is her poncho from ASOS, which I totally agree with. The poncho's colour makes her stand out and also personally I'm very into Aztec print the moment, so, yep, this poncho is the dealio.

Perri

If you're in Leeds, and you're into vintage style, then you probably know Perri. Perri is the manager of Best Vintage, and everytime I see him in the shop he's always well dressed. His favorite items are his Jordans and red Bape G-Shock watch. Perri likes urban style mixed with vintage, which I think is very cool and different.

Unknown Lady

For a foreigner like me, this is a cool English lady. Some older people dress amazing because they do not have any trend boundries, by wearing exactly what they're comfortable with, they have their own style.

James Steward A/W Photo Shoot Sneak Peek

Shhhh but here is a sneaky preview of couture designer James Steward's latest collection. The ollection is inspired by James' experiences during 'Leeds in Vancouver', and later this month he will be showcasing this new collection during 'Leeds in Barcelona'.

It was a beautiful day at at the breathtaking ruins of Kirkstall Abbey. The day started with hair and make up at independent salon Rebecca Charles in central Leeds. You know when you watch shows like Project Runway or ANTM, the hair and make up work always flashes by like a quick breeze... But in real life, it is more than those two seconds, it took the stylists more than four hours to get the perfect look for the afternoon's fashion shoot.

The crew then moved to the amazing Kirkstall Abbey. (which by the way is a great venue for fashion shows) The sunshine was not ideal for an outdoor photoshoot, so the sets are mostly in the shadows. For what I was doing (backstage report type stuff) I kinda just carried on and had fun under the sun and I'm very pleased by the heavy shadow contrast because of it. When not messing with my camera I enjoyed watching James Steward's signature designs, like the float of the maxi dresses, the details of the back, and interesting use of fabric.

It was also exciting to see some fresh faces in the photo shoot. (I was basically stalking them with the camera!)

The official James Steward A/W photos will be ready later this month and we will be announcing lots more detail around the Leeds in Barcelona project, which James will be a part of, later this week!

My Internship In The Fashion Industry

Blumarine A/W 08 show in Taipei 101's 84th floor.MS YAMING multi brand show including MMM, Balenciaga, CDG, Junya Watanabe, R by 45RPM, Undercover.Stephane Dou A/W 08.Blumarine after party.Blumarine A/W 08 backstage.Jimmy Choo bags piled up before the photo shoot.

Lately we've been busy planning several new fashion projects and it reminded me of the time I did my Fashion PR internship back in Taipei. It was amazing to be involved in fashion shows and openings for brands like Maison Martin Margiela, Comme Des Garçons, Balenciaga, Jimmy Choo, Georg Jensen, Blumarine and many many more.

My internship started in the summer of 2008, with fashion PR agency STARFiSH Concept. As then a second year fashion marketing student, I knew it was crucial to take the initiative and be active. STARFiSH Concept has an impressive track record of working with international brands, so I sent my CV to them even though I knew they were not recruiting for interns. A few days later, I got a phone call from one of the directors herself, and after the interview, 2 months in the Taiwan fashion world began.

 

I started with the not so glamorous stuff. My job included photocopying, answering phone calls, sealing invitations and arranging press kits (arranging each press release in the right order and into the right envelope part, not the advanced writing press release part!). After a while, my superb photocopying and envelope sealing skills landed me more important role in the company. By the end of my internship, I was lucky that I got to see every step of the process of constructing a successful event. One minute I could be sitting in the same table and having a meeting with brands like Georg Jensen, Blumarine, and Banana Republic and the next minute ordering food for the whole production team before a show. At the events one of my jobs was to remember all the A-list guest's names and where they would be sitting on the front row, so I can greet them and take them to their seat. The next day I would be taking a £2,000 Blumarine dress to tailor to fix, guarding it with my life. Other jobs included contacting journalists, confirming RSVPs from the important guests, model castings, and handling lots and lots of the unplanned situations that would happen at an event... Well actually the agency directors would handle most of them, I would handle situations like when I accidentally pressed the emergency button in the bathroom of Georg Jensen's Taiwan headquarters.

Maison Martin Margiela rehearsal.Me and colleagues after MS YAMING show.Those two months were an amazing experience for me. The fashion industry is an extremely fast paced and brutal world, and in many ways is very different to other professions. But just like other industries, fashion has it's own cycles and it's own rules. When I started my fashion marketing and communication course at IED, I quickly realised fashion can be one of the most superficial industries, yet there's so much thought and creativity put into the strategy behind a brand, a show, or a collection. 

 

During my internship, my directors were always looking for talented people to join their team. From what i could see, the fashion marketing/ communication/ PR they (and the industry in general) were looking for people that have a knowledge of fashion, fast reactions, understand trends, tact, decent writer, and good looking or well dressed... and very few people can reach all of those levels, I wish I could have even 60% of the elements I listed. That's why it often needs a team with different strengths to execute a fashion event, and then many of these teams to create a fashion industry.

 

Looking at where I am based now, I think this is what needs to happen in Leeds. We need to grow and develop the best individuals we can. This means we can then have great teams creating amazing events and projects. If we do this often enough and more importantly well enough, we can begin to build an industry here. At Hebe we often talk about 'creating the industry we want to work in' and hopefully we will be able to contribute to and help that happen.

This is Taiwanese fashion brand Stephane Dou's A/W 08 fashion show that I was involved with.