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!
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.
Notes: Jodie just moved to Leeds from London, she's currently working in Topshop. Love the turban, pearl earrings, sun glasses, and lion-like coat. Her Frenchness is dreamy!
Joao
Favorite Leeds shop: Urban Outfitters
Notes: Joao also just moved to Leeds, he is from Portugal. Joao is very fashion concious, which is this city wants. Welcome to England!
Liam
Favorite Leeds shop: TOPMAN
Notes: Good old youngster style. If you want to go with the young and hip look, a nice beanie and an American Apparel hoodie can't go wrong.
Notes: Love the monochrome, boyish style created by the boyfriend shirt and jacket, big leather bag and boots. Also her hair is so shiny a little like Gwyneth Paltrow's.
Jess and Kate
Favorite Leeds Shop: Jess, Scope Charity Shop. Kate, Aqua Couture.
Notes: Jess and Kate are two little tourists from Manchester, they were looking for something different so they decided to pay Leeds a visit. Jess' purple shirt was very eye catching, it's from Scope charity shop on Headrow for only £4! I absoloutely love the detail of that amazing shirt. What Kate wore reminded me there's actually an end of this cold winter, her sheer dress, gray knee highs and apple green nail polish showed me the light at the end of the tunnel!
Unknown Lady
Favorite Leeds Shop: Unknown
Notes: Missed the chance to talk to this lady. I think she looks efortless trendy. How can you not love her jacket, jeans and boots? Boyish + hair down = ... Acutally don't know what it equals just that it looks ace! Remember to roll the bottom of the jeans when you wear those short boots. ;)
Last November, James Steward became the first British fashion designer to show his collection during Vancouver Fashion Week. We last checked in with James before he headed out to Canada, so we thought we would get the scoop on how 'Leeds in Vancouver' went down and what he is up to next.
How was Vancouver?
It was different. The people there were more layed back, it's a completely different culture. Leeds is like 100 miles a minute compared to Vancouver.
How was the feedback after the show?
People were jumping on the first British designer thing, and also my pattern cutting, and my way of doing stuff that brought the attention. After the show, I got pulled into a room backstage full of press from the Far East shouting things at me and taking pictures! I didn't know what to do, you know when you smile for too long, and your lips start quivering... it was just really weird!
We heard the 'ants' decoration you add on at the last minute attracted lots of attention. Where did that come from?
I got in touch with Paul Finch (former jewellery designer), I told him the theme of the collection. He looked into Greek methodology, there's a story about Zeus turning a tree full of ants into warriors to fight for Achilles' grandfather, and then he just told me "You're having ants."
After the show, has your view on mass production changed?
It depends on the market or what the department store was. Ideally I prefer something like Harvey Nichols.
What's the next thing you'll be doing?
My website will be sorted out by Easter, with a new photoshoot of a totally new collection for Autumn/winter, which will be available both online and through a selection of boutiques. There will be the opportunity to design your own items, it will all be launched at the same time.
There are many opportunities presenting themselves from all over the world from Dubai to Korea (and Canada obviously) It is a really exciting time for James and 2011 seems set to be his big 'break out' year. We are really happy that his talent is starting to be appriciated on an even greater scale. We are also looking forward to working with James again on some new Hebe Media projects this year and taking his work and collections to new international audiences.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011 at 3:46PM 
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'.
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!
