'Wall of Print' - Exhibition Display

Below are pictures of my recent exhibition. I knew that for my display I wanted to create a 'Wall of print and colour'. My 'Global Collective' print collection is full of intense prints and striking repeat patterns and this display option reflects that intensity. I chose a selection of my prints as I did not have space to display them all. Phillippa x

Printed Dress

I just found this photograph of myself (on the right) wearing a dress that I made 4 years ago whilst studying for my A-Level Textiles. I absolutely loved designing, hand-printing and making this dress, inspired at the time by my love of Basso & Brooke. On the night this picture was taken, we were holding a caltwalk show to raise money for charity and to showcase our designs. I can even remember walking down the caltwalk to Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones, i'm sure I was nervous. Sorry the image quality is not great, but this seems to be the only picture I have. However, as you can see, even back then I had a keen eye for statement fashion prints and bold colour palettes.

Basso & Brooke Spring 2006

Phillippa x

Principles Dissertation Prize

I recently found out that I have been shortlisted for the 'Principles Dissertation Prize'. Out of the 122 Level 6 students, 5 were nominated for this prize, myself included. I worked very hard on my dissertation, which was titled 'The Legacy of 1950's Design on Modern Design'. I even made it down to London on a research trip so I could visit the anniversary exhibition of the 1951 Festival Of Britain at the Soutthbank Centre. I really like this period of design history and I gained so much knowledge from writing my dissertation. The iconic 1950's style of design has gone onto influence my own design work. I will have to wait until the launch night of the degree show exhibiton to see if I have won, but just to receive a nomination feels like a big achievement. Phillippa x

'Global Collective' Fashion Print Collection - Complete

I've had a little break from my blog for the past few weeks, so I could concentrate on completing my 'Global Collective' fashion print collection. This collection is now complete and very soon I will be preparing to showcase this work in my degree show exhibition. In total I designed around 40 prints and then chose to take 12 of these designs through to the final stage of the collection. For some of the designs I have produced 2 final prints in different colourways, so in total I have 21 prints in the final collection. Here is a sneak peek at some of my samples.

Product Visualisation Here is my product visualisation board. For this I used photoshop to place my designs on catwalk models, so you can get an idea of the style of garment and market level I see my designs being aimed at.

I will post pictures of my degree show exhibition when it takes place. Phillippa x

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

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

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