Friday 22 April 2011

KINGDOM OF STYLE



Yesterday After another killer long day of shooting i came home to a find lovely email from Queen Michelle from Kingdom of Style! I honestly couldn't have been more delighted! I had emailed her earlier in the week with some shots from my graduate collection in the hope that she would email me back her honest opinion of the collection. I never in a zillion years thought she was going to like it so much to take time out to write a small review on and post it on the Kingdom Of Style blog! There is nothing more satisfying when designing than receiving feedback from people and hearing their opinions of your work and i was overwhelmed with her response to the collection! Got to love the Queens!
To read the review click here!

Thursday 21 April 2011

Fashion Film Backstage




So yesterday i shot my fashion film with the super multi talented Emma Noble and the beautiful Sara Preston. Emma was not only modeling but is also going to help me with the edit! We had so much fun dressing up in my collection and shooting the film all afternoon. Cannot wait to see the final cut! Slightly gutted the bomber jackets weren't finished as i had a small breakdown in knit with the vbed machines constantly tearing holes in my trimmings so instead i went for the easy option and ordered some nice knit trim from Kliens which I'm still waiting on being delivered. Here are a few snippets of photos from backstage / between takes.






Wednesday 20 April 2011

Jaime Winstone!



BABE A FUCKING LERT!
Would Love to make this Diva some threads

Monday 18 April 2011

PRINTED BOMBERS!



Last week i got some SERIOUS jacket envy when bidding on the most amazing 90s bomber ever on ebay and then the idea came. I already have two jackets within my collection the yellow coated cotton monster jacket with embroidered sleeves and red tassel hood and the red pvc oversized raincoat with printed hood and back kangaroo pockets. However i always intended on adding a sports jacket to the collection something which is a little more wearable on a day to day basis which led me on to designing a series of printed bombers.




All the jackets within the series will be made up from an eclectic mix of the African voodoo inspired prints used within my collection, laser cut felt panels with illustrations of the AWA and other voodoo spirits embroidered and layered onto the back and various other fabrics: pvc, soft dyed leather and coated cotton. The jacket above is only half finished and still being constructed as i need to add knit ribbed collars and cuffs and a zip fastening. The first two jackets will be finished and ready to be worn in my Fashion film getting shot later in the week. E.X.C.I.T.E.D

Wednesday 13 April 2011

BARKER & MCLEAN - VOODOO ZUMBIES






A few weeks ago i had the pleasure of working on my final shoot with the fantastic fashion photographers Barker&Mclean. After receiving several emails from well known publications requesting images of my graduate collection i new this shoot had to be THE BEST and i wanted to work with a good team who were willing to push the collection as far as we could take it in terms of the theme! I could not be happier with the results! It was such a pleasure working with ambitious photographers who kept the energy alive on set all day. And right now i couldn't be happier with how my collection is looking! Unfortunately with the majority of the images having already been sent off to publications i can only leak a couple of them at the moment onto the blog. Check out the Barker&Mclean site to keep up to date with their projects. Barkermclean.com

All images

©Samantha McEwen/BarkerMclean

Tuesday 5 April 2011

AGI & SAM



Agi & Sam are a print based menswear label working on their second collection together. Having shown at LFW as part of Fashion East and previously worked with McQueen, J.W Anderson and Carolyn Massey the design duo are set to go far! After graduating and interning for several big names Agape Mdumulla and Sam Cotton felt a little lost and in limbo being too experienced for Junior positions in Fashion Houses yet not experienced enough for the senior positions the creative pair decided to take the more hands on approach combining their talents and launching the amazing menswear label AGI & SAM!



The Fall Winter collection is based around The Fresh Prince of Bell air with an extremely fashion forward yet wearable collection primarily print based with an underlying sense of humour prominent within all their garments. The pair believe fashion should never be taken to seriously! Something which i always admire in a designer!



They also have one of the nicest website i ever seen so definitely worth checking out! Agi&Sam.com

Sunday 3 April 2011

BAD BLOGGER!




WOW SEVERE APOLOGIES for the lack of posts lately. There is nothing worse than a blog that is only updated once every 8 weeks but I'm sure anyone who has been in fourth year of a degree and produced a final honors collection would agree that there is hardly time to eat or sleep never mind keeping up to date with your blog/ website.

So a quick lowdown on the last few weeks. SO much has been happening! I have finally finished my collection well when i say finished every time i finish making all the garments on my line up and get it dressed on models for fittings etc i suddenly want to add more pieces! So the whole collection has became a never ending development process as new and exciting opportunity's keep arising which demand more garments and i return back to the pattern table. I am currently working on another embroidered over sized tshirt and in the process of designing some GIANT knitted one pieces and vests with embroidered raffia, dolls heads and all sorts of scraps and pieces collaged on top.

Last week i also worked with the insanely talented photographers Martin Barker and Ross Fraser McLean on my final shoot which is to be sent off to some extremely exciting publications who have requested images of my collection - although i cant say to much at this moment in time but keep your eyes peeled! It was such a good opportunity to work with the lovely Rebecca Weir from Colours Agency once again as she is one of the most hard working diverse "new faces" models i have ever had the pleasure to work with and never complained once while we shot from 9am - 7pm without breaks on the most demanding shoot ever. I also couldn't believe the way the final make up looks turned out on my models Kevin Mdanga and Rebecca! After only a few emails to the make up artist Eilidh Graham she managed to take the make up to a whole new level on the shoot and push the themes within my collection. This lady has MAD SKILLZ and i cant wait to see her final year make up show in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall later this month! The final shoot was something i have been working on for several weeks in terms of research, mood boards, finished styling and finding the right team to work on this with was so important to me in bringing the garments alive in a shoot therefore i was overwhelmed on the day when everything ran so smoothly and i am sure the photos will turn out even better than i imagine!