Lee Mattocks

I've known about this guy for some years now, but it was only recently I met him. His name is Lee Mattocks, and he is the best friend of my housemates sister! Currently studying an MA in Fashion Artifacts run by Dai Rees at CSM, for which he was awarded a 15,000 Harold Tillman scholarship (from The British Fashion Council and Jaegar) and a 1,000 scholarship from the Embroiderers Guild if he incorporates embroidery into his final collection. Intrigued? You will be...

Fashion Artifacts is a course which is designed to push accessories to the limit, blurring the boundaries between fine-art and fashion, helping the students to create bespoke, luxury accessories. Lee's work however, originates from embroidery. After studying a textiles degree at Goldsmiths, he became a scholar of the Embroiderers Guild and regularly shows with them around the country (although, having never strictly trained in embroidery...only in fine-art). He developed an amazing technique using a Bernina sewing machine, one which I still can't get the hang of, varying the tension and stitch lengths to eventually draw pictures images with.

These images really do not do Lee's work justice, you need to see the pieces up close and personal to feel the texture and brilliant colours used. The detail is immense.

If the embroidery wasn't enough the MA has opened up many doors for Lee, allowing him to experiment and perfect the use of many different mediums within the field of accessories, enabling him to carve bespoke fittings - brass cast fittings based on birds and hands and acrylic mirror moulded into the leather. With a lack of innovative and exciting fittings in the accessory world, Lee has chosen to focus on them to push his creations further, giving them a unique edge and playing with the art/fashion boundaries.

This bag is called the 'Dali for Gala', which was chosen to feature in the 20th Anniversary of Lulu Guiness at the V&A last year. It is part of an eight piece collection derived from the perspectives employed by Salvador Dali and his obsession with his "wife" - although he was gay she was his manager was involved in a large number of his greatest works. His research is heavily rooted in Surrealism (which I am told was actually a spiritual movement, not an art movement) and religion, with the hand fittings of the 'Dali for Gala' bag taken from religious practises - when a saintly figure died in history, they cut off their hands and sent pieces to churches all over the world, as they believed they would still perform miracles. This is just a snippet of the research that Lee has done, and his knowledge of critical theory and art history means his work, like any good artist, is entwined with references to the past.

I don't know if I have done Lee's work justice or not, but I shall let the images speak for themselves. He tells me that he's currently working on his final collection, which incorporates one of my loves, taxidermy, and is aptly named 'The Surrealist Museum'. It's based on the way historical objects are displayed in museums creating a narrative which is completely divorced from its origins. 'The collection has a very basic narrative running through it of an owl catching a rabbit. In "Palace" bag it appears in the background of the embroidery and gets closer and closer, bag by bag with the fittings gradually developing depending on the narrative - the last bag is all rabbit with brass talons as fittings.' I shall post images as soon as I can, but in the mean time we can look forward to this collection of bags being shown on the catwalk at the V&A sometime next year...fingers crossed they can find a designer to match!

Animal Heads

Both Topshop womenswear and River Island menswear merchandising teams on Oxford Street have gone a little animal crazy. Have they taken inspiration from the latest Prada lookbook perhaps?

POP vs LOVE

As I've now been paid from my wonderful new job, I spent the day shopping. Not much to report, however I did pick up the new issues of POP and LOVE magazines. I have always been a lover of POP, and I wanted to see if after Katie Grands departure, it retained the quality and innovation I remember. LOVE is obviously Katie Grands new venture, so I had to see what all the hype was about. I have to say though - I am not impressed LOVE. As Queen Michelle pointed out a few weeks ago, the issue is dedicated to under 21s. I have absolutely no problem with this, however the entire magazine is riddled with stereotypical, rebellious teens. Apart from a small feature on Tavi (who also happens to be on the cover of POP), there is no emphasis on the intelligent, mould-breaking youth of today that who are surfacing all over the Internet, and beyond. Not to mention Pixie Geldof splattered all over the magazine - I'm not sure if it's the same outside of London, but she is constantly in the London papers and to be honest...I've had enough.

As a 25 year old fashion designer I love my magazines, but I have to say this is the first time that I cannot relate, at all, to a glossy fashion mag. After all the hype that has surrounded LOVE magazine, and Grand's previous work with POP, I am extremely disappointed.

POP on the other hand is impeccable. I haven't yet read it cover to cover, but what I have seen has beaten all my expectations. Over recent months, one of the main reasons I stopped buying the glossies was because they started to blend into one. Maybe I've just had magazine overload, but it felt like they all had the same adverts with very similar editorials, opinions and nothing really to shout about. POP on the other hand has exploded back onto the scene with plenty shout about, which can be noticed as soon as you pick it up.

It is a very brave move putting fashion blogger extraordinaire Tavi Gevinson on the cover. To us bloggers she is (most likely) a daily read, however we can be guilty of living in our own little microcosm, and the rest of the world won't necessarily understand how a 13 year old American has managed to get on the front page of the launch issue of POP. The magazine is at the very fore-front of fashion, acknowledging and understanding the experimental DIY culture of the blogosphere and accepting the explosion of opinions now flooding the web, as Dasha Zhukova explains,

'Smart, talented young women like Tavi stand on the frontline whether magazine executives choose to recognise it or not. We are entering a new era of global growth, not just economically but culturally...Traditional media may continue to glorify the 15-minute famous, but in the end it is young women like Tavi who hold the winning hand.'

As I said, I haven't properly sat down and read POP yet - I want to save that for my hungover Sunday morning in bed, with a nice cuppa - but it immediately strikes me that taking time out was the prefect descision. Their comeback issue excels even their previous editions, with new editorials which are brilliantly styled, various page sizes and weights with mini-mags inside the main one and a plethora of interviews, opinions and artistic genius.

POP one. LOVE nil.

New Look AW09/10 Lookbook

The AW09/10 New Look lookbook (trying saying that really really fast, four times in a row!) landed in my inbox last night, and I have to say I'm rather impressed. New Look isn't a store that I would usually pay much attention to, for no reason other than the horrorific outfits school friends wore back in the 90s. Things really have changed, as you'll see below. The Primark lookbook featured huge shoulders and massively on-trend pieces which were actually rather covetable, however I very much doubt they would ever reach production. New Look however, have worked the trends and moulded them for their target consumer. There are some quite obvious catwalk rip-offs (off the top of my head - Wang, Balmain, Versace and Gucci), but what retailer isn't doing that these days? With dresses averaging at around £30 and nothing over£100, we could all do with a little NL in our wardrobes!

Merchant Archive

Soooo busy busy at work, and with the burglary and all I sadly haven't had that much time (or even a computer - this is my bf's old one!) to research new trends and designers etc for the blog. I did however receive my daily fashion fix from Vogue yesterday, which pointed me in the direction of the freshly launched, online vintage heaven, Merchant Archive. The owner, Sophie Merchant already runs a boutique of the same name, and scours the globe for vintage treasures so that you don't have to. Taking away the hassle of trawling through rails of clothes in your standard vintage store to find the one gem, Merchant has made life a lot easier for collectors of all things old and beautiful. The selection of goodies on offer, ranges from haberdashery to artwork, with everything in between, and even has contemporary sections with pieces from designers like Olivia Rubin, Fleet Ilya and Zambesi. Sadly though, like most online boutiques, there is no menswear section. So for now I will only be visiting the online haven for 'research' purposes, but don't let that stop you. Below is a selection of my favourites...

Just when everything was going so well...

Well, I've started my new job and it's absolutely perfect for me. I now have creative control over the design work I am doing, and get involved in every stage of the process from trend research to sampling in China. It makes such a change to work for a stable, secure company who respect me and have trust in me. Naturally I was a little nervous when I presented my first collection of designs to the bosses, but they loved them...it couldn't have gone better. They are even taking me to a fabric trade show in Paris, called Premiere Vision, and a trip to China towards the end of the year. AMAZING.

Then the shit hit the fan.

I was only saying to my parents the other day how everything was going eerily too well in my life. I'm a bit of a pessimist, and there is always something going on to even the balance of good and evil! So yesterday I come home from work and find that we ave been burgled. And I don't mean just a little poke around the house, the house was ransacked...with my room being the worst hit. I've lost so much stuff, it's untrue but at least me and my housemates are all OK. The material possessions I can deal with (SLR camera, Mac desktop, flat screen TV etc), but its the sentimental things that hit me the most. The photos they now have on my camera of this summer, and even just the thought of some little shit tearing my room apart and going through every minute detail of my personal space. The forensic team managed to get some really good prints, and actually arrested someone in connection with an arson next door, in the same bloody day, so fingers crossed this could have a happy ending. I could ramble on about this forever, but I shall stop. I just wanted to appologise for not being around the blogosphere much recently....but do not fret...I'll be back!

Vauxhall Fashion Scout: Ones to Watch

Vauxhall Fashion Scout have just announced their latest 'Ones to Watch', an off-schedule event which showcases some of the most up-and-coming designers from around the globe, giving them a platform to present their collections to the worlds media. I have been following VFS for a few years now, and have seen many amazing talents flourish with their support...the most recent success being the print master that is William Tempest. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be up on the list!

A panel of industry experts chose the line-up this year. First up is our very own Susanna Lau (even if she won't admit that she is now an industry insider), the Womenswear Buying Director for ASOS - Caren Downie, Andrew Ibi - the owner of The Convinience Store boutique and the co-founders of Vauxhall Fashion Scout.

"Ada Zanditon: Since graduating from the London College of Fashion in 2007, Ada has gone on to work with top designers including Gareth Pugh. In 2008, she established her own label; Ada Zanditon, which is based on the principles of sustainable design, leading her to work on pioneering ethical design projects, including a range for the Oxfam boutiques"

"Hermione de Paula is a fashion graduate from Central Saint Martins where she studied fashion & print design. Hermione then went on to work with Alexander McQueen and John Galliano before setting up her self-named label last year. Hermione’s debut collection, I Heart Elizabeth Berkley, was inspired by the 1995 film ‘Showgirls’, in which fishnet suspenders with diamond motifs, accordion-style leather jackets and delicate whimsical prints adorned the catwalk."

"Dean Quinn is a fashion graduate from Central Saint Martins BA course and winner of its Womenswear Designer of the Year Award 2009. Dean’s collection streamlined futuristic tailoring fused with underlying dark nuances of a Femme Fatale. He cites sci-fi films such as Blade Runner as well as his Northern Irish roots as a source of inspiration."

"Marko Mitanovski graduated from the College of Design in Belgrade, Serbia. He was awarded ‘Best Young Designer’, at Belgrade Fashion Week in October 2008, following the presentation of his ‘Lady Macbeth’ collection. Marko gained inspiration for his designs from the forms and elements of Renaissance and Elizabethan costume. This love of costume and theatre has influenced his signature style, which combines detailed construction with intricate design."

"I don't know much about clothes, but my hair looks fierce!"

Hey guys, as you can see from the above screenshot, I have been selected to be featured in this months NJAL's The Shop. I am absolutely chuffed...and to top it off, the curator of this months shop is Amanda Lepore, THE most amazing transexual on the planet. I remember some very drunk nights at Uni singing, dancing, and dressing up to her music. Please pass this news around the blogosphere. The more people that know, the more likely I am to get a sale and the happier your Starling will be.