Haunch of Venison: Mythologies

At the weekend I trundled on down to 6 Burlington Gardens, which shares a building with the Royal Academy of Art. The contemporary gallery Haunch of Venison has taken temporary residence in this stunning building, with it's exhibition 'Mythologies'.

'Turning the 21,500 square feet gallery into a giant cabinet of curiosities, 'Mythologies' will feature work by over 40 international artists, including major figures such as Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, Sophie Calle, Christian Boltanski, Tony Cragg, Kiki Smith, Bill Viola, Keith Tyson, Simon Patterson and Damien Hirst, alongside emerging talents such as Carlos Amorales, Jamie Shovlin and Nicholas Hlobo.'

Taxidermy and the idea of a 'cabinet of curiosities' has always appealed to me (and here) - I have two framed butterflies hung on my bedroom wall, the backdrop for my computer is an image of a flamingo head I took at the Natural History Museum and I also have fond memories from my childhood of running to my neighbours house to examine his collection of cased insects and stuffed deer heads. Some may find this obsession with dead creatures bizarre and morbid but to me they are fantastical, and simply beautiful!

Although the exhibition is not for the faint-hearted, there is a lot more to it than preserved animals. It explores the buildings previous occupation as the Museum of Mankind, reflecting on the museums original ambition to explain the world and its many cultures. This is obvious as you wander round (picking your jaw up from the floor) as there are over 40 different artists work on display, all showing their unique take on the theme of Mythology.

If anyone has a few hours to spare in London, I strongly recommend you visit this exhibition. It blew my socks off, and I'm sure it will yours. Oh and did I mention, it's FREE! I don't think there's a more perfect way to spend a recession trodden Saturday. It's only on until April 26th, so get your skates on.

Some of you have been asking me to post images of my Uni work. I have posted about it before, so I won't bore you again...but the link is here. The more time goes by, the less I like my final collection. I am proud to have accomplished what I did, however with the knowledge and experience I have now this work looks rather amateur. Never quite satisfied eh?!

WOOOO...my 100th post!

This is my 100th post, but instead of blowing up balloons and having a fanfare I am merely going to let it pass through with these beautiful images from Gaetano Navarra. I love the structure and form in these garments, it's this kind of construction which really gets my pulse rating. Who actually cares about wearability?

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Reality Studio AW09/10 - 'Atanarjuat'

I've been meaning to post about this for a while now, but it slipped to the back of my mind. Quite how I managed that I don't know, as the new collection from Reality Studio is even better than the last (which is what every designer pushes to achieve). I've posted about them before, so I was thrilled when an email popped into my inbox with their latest press release. . .

"The collection is inspired by the Inuit film `Atanarjuat – The legend of the fast Runner´, a strange and memorable movie that comes to us from the Canadian Arctic. It is one bright movie, all dazzling expanses of ice and snow and sea and sky; the ghostly interiors of igloos by daylight and by firelight, it’s like swimming in illuminated milk. Furthermore, it eventually delivers a compelling human story that's both mythic and realistic."

It's the drapery that I love about this designer. Such beautifully organic (if I utter that word again, you have permission to shoot me down) lines and shapes, which hang from the head and shoulders and wrap themselves around the body. The muted colour palette is also perfect for A/W, with a splash of coral here and there. In my eyes this is a perfectly wearable winter collection, which embodies German style.

If you want to get your hands on their pieces, check out styleserver and revole online.

J.W. Anderson

Posting has been somewhat sparse in the past week, but as you can imagine most of my time has been swallowed up by the fashion156 dress (I will return all of your kind comments, I promise). I'm really enjoying the process - the mistakes and the learning which follows, but without tempting fate its coming along quite nicely and I'm very proud with the progress. It's also been my boyfriend's birthday, Mothers Day and I've spent the weekend at my sisters squeezing in a fitting with my auntie, for whom I'm making an evening dress for her 50th birthday bash!

In between all of this I popped into Bang Bang on Berwick street (my favourite vintage designer shop in London, by far) to visit my housemate, and left with my very own piece of J.W. Anderson. I'm so bloody chuffed! They have a few pieces from various collections, with some AMAZING neck pieces from the catwalk, but I opted for a leather bracelet. I strongly recommend you head down there if you can, and pick up a piece for yourself (I believe all are under £50).

EDIT: This is the bracelet I bought!

I've had mixed reviews from friends and my boyfriend, but I think it's beautiful. It looks like a mix between a caterpillar and a spinal column. I've always loved J.W.Anderson's work, but now I have my very own little piece, I'm head-over-heels. This has begun my summer obsession with men's jewellery - bracelets to be more precise. My wrists are going to be filled over the summer months. No, I don't self harm, I just like bracelets! Does anyone know where I can purchase such unusual pieces, which won't break the bank?

I'm about to pass out...

OH. MY. GOD! I'm in the final!! (If you don't know what I mean, you can read about it here). I'm actually gobsmacked right now - I found out about 10minutes ago by checking the fashion156 blog. Out of over 600 global entries, I was one of the final 10 selected to produce the garment and present it to the fashion156.com/Start boutique teams, alongside the likes of Rozalb de Mura, James Hawkes and Mihrican Damba. Excuse me a minute, I need to go lay down...

Givency Homme AW09/10

These trousers from Givency Homme Autumn/Winter '09 collection are stunning. I WANT!

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Iveta Vaivode

It's such a small world. I came across the brilliant work of photographer Iveta Vaivode, only to later realise that we studied at the same university, around the same time. She agrees that whilst Bournemouth has great tutors and facilities, the place itself is rather dull!

She tells me that the series of images below, entitled 'Mare & Rols' is a collaboration with two young designers from Latvia - Mare Mastina and Rolands Peterskops. Combining Iveta's love of landscape and the designers' love of fashion, they played with the simple concept of merging the human form with the landscape, to great effect.

It's not so much the clothes in these images that captivates me, but the images themselves. The have a tranquil quality which transports me back to my childhood days, playing in the open countryside with my sister and not a care or worry in the world. I get such a warm feeling in my heart when I look at these photographs, I don't know whether this is just a personal emotion or if you agree?

The next set of images, from the same collaboration are slightly more haunting. They evoke the same emotions in me, however this time a sense of loneliness is also apparent. Be it the headless figures or the empty landscapes, I am unsure, but one thing is for certain; I cannot stop looking.

Le Sac Magique

I had quite a busy weekend sewing and experimenting with various different things, one of which being Julian Roberts' subtractive pattern cutting. This random technique is so liberating, and you can see results almost immediately. This dress only took about two hours to make, which is incredible considering how complicated it looks.

If I'm honest, I didn't really know how it would turn out (which is why it's such an exciting process). I am so happy with the result. It does have a strange kind of 'sack' hanging on one side, but I think it's a very directional, if a little experimental, dress. Let me know your thoughts - the seams are french seams, but I am thinking of finishing off the armholes and neck neatly and selling it online...any takers?

Pattern Magic: my experiments

The Pattern Magic book arrived last week, and I took some time out this weekend to explore some ideas within it. I created these wonderful concertinaed semi-circle shapes, which I then pinned on the stand to experiment with how they would look on the body.

At the moment they are very 'avante-garde' - I still need to play around and figure out how I could translate these ideas into wearable forms. I'm not even really sure I want to, as they look so beautiful as they are, but it is definitely worth it if I want to create a sell-able garment which incorporates these aquatic forms.

What do you think? I'm thinking maybe on a smaller scale, in some kind of print. I really like they way they bend around the waist and hips, so perhaps they would work on a skirt, or some kind of body-con dress.