Sunday 22 April 2012

The Vogue Festival - London

On Friday 20th April I attended The Vogue Festival in London. This was the very first time this event has taken place, so it was exciting as I didn't know what to expect. It was such a superb event with very inspiring talks by some of my favourite designers and industry professionals. The first talk was from Christopher Bailey in conversation with Alexandra Shulman (Editor of British Vogue). I am such a huge fan of Burberry and I'm sure you will all agree that Christopher has completely transformed Burberry from a traditional clothing company into a major global brand. Listening to him talk, you can tell that he is totally passionate about Burberry and this is ofcourse very admirable.
Next up was: Lucinda Chambers (Fashion Director at Vogue) - her speach was witty and charismatic and again very inspiring. She looked fabulous wearing a neon/printed Christopher Kane skirt. So effortlessly chic. Matthew Williamson - I can't get enough of Matthew's runway collections, they are simply stunning both in colour and print. So to hear about his life in fashion was fantastic. Also: Marigay Mckee (Harrods Fashion and Beauty Director) and Russell Marsh (International Casting Director)
To end the first session of the festival was Nigella Lawson in converstation with broadcaster Kirsty Young. Nigella has written food features for Vogue.
Overall the festival was very well attended, the venue was stylish and the organisation was perfect. Other speakers over the 2 day event included: Stella McCartney in converstaion with Kate Hudson, Tom Ford, Diane Von Furstenberg, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, Mary Katrantzou, Christopher Kane, Nicholas Kirkwood, Laura Bailey, Rachel Zoe, Tim Walker and David Bailey..plus many more. At £75 for a ticket for just one session (am or pm) it wasn't cheap, but I would definately attend this event again and recommend it to anyone who wants a career in the fashion industry. Unless you intern with such designers, you just would not get the opportunity to even be in the same room as them let alone her them talk so candidly out their careers and the fashion industry. A great experience. Phillippa x

Saturday 21 April 2012

New York - Trade Shows, Selling Designs, Networking, Interviews, Trend Lectures and Tourism

PrintSource and Indigo New York
I am recently home from a 5 day trip to New York. As previously stated the purpose of the visit was to exhibit and work a trade stand at PrintSource. This proved to be a great experience. I was able to learn about the process of setting up a display for a trade stand (alot harder than it looks), liaising with clients, networking with studio's, handing out my business cards, etc. It proved to be a very valuable insight into this side of the industry, which will definitely help me in my future career. In addition to PrintSource, Indigo New York was also taking place at the same time. You may remember that I have exhibited and attended Indigo Paris on 2 occasions, so it was fantastic to experience this trade show in a different country. Indigo New York was completely different to the show in Paris, but many of the exhibitors were the same, so it was good to network with the exhibitors again.


Selling My Designs
I am thrilled to say that I sold one of my fashion samples. As I have signed my design over to the clients I am not going to indulge in any information regarding which design it was or who it sold to, but it was purchased by a large retailer. This feels like the icing on the cake after studying for my degree for 3 years, as PrintSource was my final chance to exhibit at a trade show before graduating.

Internship Interview
Whilst in New York I had arranged an interview with a major fashion designer who shows at New York Fashion Week. I could have had a phone interview 6 weeks ago, but as I was in the city I felt it would be good to arrange a face to face interview. This interview went very well and I have been offered and accepted the opportunity to intern at the studio in Manhattan. More on this and other exciting internship news to follow on a later blog post.

Trend Lectures
As an exhibitor at PrintSource I was permitted to attend trend lectures by the worlds leading trend companies, free of charge. There were plenty of lectures to choose from, ranging from womenswear, menswear, children and home. I attended a great seminar by Carlin International. The 5 highlighted trends were brilliantly explained and I made sure I took detailed notes and collected leaflets. I gained alot of inspiration for my future fashion print designs.
Phillippa x

Sunday 8 April 2012

Time For PrintSource NYC

After weeks and months of planning, it is finally time to travel across the pond to the Big Apple for PrintSource New York, 7 West 34th Street. I am exhibiting 15 pieces of my design work - mainly my fashion print collections, but I will also be showcasing some earlier collections of wallpaper and card & gift which I designed last year. In addition I will be working on the trade stand and attending trend seminars. So ready to experience the city that never sleeps.

Phillippa x

Thursday 5 April 2012

New Design Layouts

I should probably be prepping the designs I already have for printing straight after the Easter break, but I love designing prints and had a couple of new ideas in mind, so I put them down on paper. Here's what they look like.

I now have around 40 design layouts - plenty to choose from for my final 'Global Collective' fashion print collection.

Striking Hexagonal Placement Print



Intense Floral Multi directional





Phillippa x