Wolf&Badger Graduate Design Awards 2013

Today I am super excited because last night I found out that I am one of the finalists for this year's Wolf and Badger Graduate Design Awards!

(please vote for me here)

There are 15 finalists for 3 categories ('Jewellery', 'Fashion' and 'Product'/Accessories') so I guess that gives me a 1:5 chance of winning, not bad odds! That is... if everyone remembers to VOTE FOR ME!

I am particularly excited because this year's guest judge is DISNEYROLLERGIRL, a very genuine blogger, absolute expert and a believer in lasting style over passing trends.

Anyway, this is what the voting page looks like and there I am on the third row down, just so you know exactly where to click!

I was also pretty excited to check out my fellow finalists and see who Wolf&Badger deemed to be amongst the best of the year's graduates.

Sara Gunn

http://www.saragunn.com/

I particularly like her Souvenir rings, they remind me of New Brutalist concrete architecture which I seem to be into at the moment... (see my Instagram http://instagram.com/p/U85z7YPprC/ ) or, to find out more about Sara, here is her Twitter.

Robert Wun

http://robertwun.com/

I'm finding it hard to get beyond Robert Wun's beautiful, sleek imagery and jerky GIFs that work surprisingly well. I mean... check out this stunning video, it is just the perfect illustration of his structured designs. You can also follow his Twitter.

Elizabeth Rollo

Elizabeth doesn't seem to have a website yet so I don't know much about her but due to my Russian heritage I am bound to be rather taken with the ‘TSAR’ collection, inspired by the decadence of Romanov Russia. Elizabeth's Twitter.

Sophie Wetherell

http://www.sophiewetherell.com

I've always been keen on menswear, regularly wandering into the wrong section of shops and being frustrated at not finding my size! It's nice to see a female graduate creating distinctive but wearable garments for men.

Adam Jaimeson

Picture 'borrowed' from here

 Adam also does not seem to have a website just yet but apparently his designs come from a love of Christmas and wrapping paper. I also love Christmas, shiny things and gold while my cat loves wrapping paper so I think we would get on very well. You can follow him on Twitter.

Rebecca Onyett

http://www.rebeccaellisonyett.co.uk/

I particularly like Rebecca's 'Skin Deep' collection because she seems to share my fascination with the tension between desire and disgust or as she puts it, "the addition of disease and disfigurement questions humanities perception and ideals that causes us to judge and determine what makes something beautiful or what makes it ugly." Follow her Twitter.

Katie Darlington

http://www.katiedarlington.co.uk/

I really love the look, feel and versatility of silk and I think Katie's asymmetric silk jumpsuit is just gorgeous; feminine but not at all girly, youthful but strong. Here is her Twitter.

Beth Hayes

http://bethhaysthomas.co.uk/

This collection is called 'Polite Objects', the objects are inspired by human gestures. I find that almost unbearably sweet. Twitter.

Katie Jaimeson

http://www.katiedarlington.co.uk/

 I love the kaleidoscopic effect of some of the pieces in Katie's 'Hidden' collection, a really clever way to play with the interaction of the materials!

Colette Vermeulen

http://www.colettevermeulen.com/

 Colette's collection has wonderful colours and textures but what I like most about it is that it look so comfy! This jacket looks like the perfect thing to put on for 'in-between' weather.

Zoe Purdom

 http://zoepurdom.blogspot.com/

Zoe Purdom has a very bold approach to physical adornment, this collection is called 'The Unfortunates'  and it is inspired by the juxtaposition of clean functionality and chaos found in mental asylums - really interesting conceptual work! Here is her Twitter.

Laura Chestney

http://laurachestney.wordpress.com/

Ok, so this might not show her bags all that clearly but I love this picture! As you can see, Laura's accessories are all about pushing the boundaries of fashion in futuristic acrylic and PVC. Follow her Twitter.

Jennifer Gray

http://www.jennifergray.co.uk/

 I found it really hard to choose an image from Jennifer Gray's website because her designs are all so cool! However, the Amphora Garland with its classical content had to be the one I choose. Its worth checking out all of her other designs, very witty and beautifully finished. Her Twitter.

Aku-Petteri Backstom

Aku-Petteri does not seem to have a website or anything so I just have to reuse this image from Wolf&Badger - I wish I could see more!

After showing you the competition, I ask you again:

(please vote for me here)

Love to you all!
(if you vote for me)
xxx

Wolves and Badgers and Balls

Some videos for your viewing pleasure! In my last post I talked about Lily Silverton's video for POP Magazine featuring Wolf&Badger and I can now show you the finished product:

Lily W&B from POP Magazine on Vimeo.

You can read what Lily has to say about it here.

I was also involved in the video for Fryars second single for his upcoming album. (Check out the first track here.) It was filmed at Tooting Bec lido, which I'm sure is absolutely lovely in the summer but on a chilly afternoon in November with relentless drizzle it was slightly harder to see the Victorian charm. However, I was far more excited to get a go in the 'water walkers'/'Zorb balls' we were going to be filmed in - I'd seen the One Direction video, I knew hilarity would ensue. 

We only started filming once it was dark so the balls could be beautifully lit (yes, every conceivable innuendo about balls has been made) and here we have Fryars himself preparing to throw himself into the icy water.

There was also a kayak with a pair of lifeguards on hand at all times because when you have a bunch of people trapped in airtight orbs with limited oxygen floating on 8ft deep water pretty much everything  could go wrong. (Nothing went wrong.) 

I would love to upload my videos of all of us tumbling about as we tried to walk on water for the first time but I fear it would destroy the ethereal beauty of the final film. It is a credit to Mark Walker's skill as a director and editor that the final video turned out as well as it did!

Fryars - In My Arms

More to come!

xxx

Post-Graduate Life

'Where have you been?' I hear my mass of followers cry!

Well I shall tell you. I have been trying to avoid the post-university slump that is so easy to fall into - on BBC Radio 4 they referred to it as 'locked-in-bedroom syndrome' which seemed rather accurate. My way of avoiding this is by only allowing myself to see my bedroom when I am so tired that I feel like I'm about to pass out. The rest of the time I have been doing a range of jobs which I have Instagrammed here for your viewing pleasure. 

I apologize for the excessive use of hipster hues but some images contain parts of other people's intellectual property which I am not trying to steal and so I hope to have distorted the images enough for it to be ok and of course I shall give credits where possible!

First of all, I have been helping out my mum at her jewellery shop. This involves a lot of tapping away at the computer doing little odd-jobs but I have also taken over the window display which predominantly requires playing with card and scissors. Above is the Halloween window, you can see a bit more about this on my mum's blog.

I have finally been catching up with my own jewellery which was badly neglected during my final year at uni. As you can see here, carrying out quality control on the new stock is a dangerous task! (N.B. The wound is from the packaging not the beetles.) It is so exciting to see all of the bright, shiny new fly studs lined up and ready to go on sale and to have my hefty dung beetle cocktail ring back in stock! My little black cat joined in too, sort of.

I have also been working as an intern at Wolf&Badger, an independent concept store which specializes in promoting fresh, emerging designers. In my first week I met the lovely knitwear designer Amy Hall when she held a preview of her SS13 collection at the Dover Street Store providing these gorgeous floral tequila cocktails! More on that here.

This was swiftly followed by Wool Week and this snuggly window display by Melanie Porter. I love her knitted cinema chairs, something I definitely want in my imaginary manor house in the country...

I think I may have landed one of the most varied and fun internships around as I've even had the opportunity to assist on shoots! This was a Wolf and Badger love story by Lily Silverton, styled by Nickque, photography by Nicola Dodds (not these pictures obviously, the proper ones!), make-up by Scarlett Viva. There were more people involved in the shoot but I am having trouble finding their webpages so I shall fix this later. The venues are the breathtaking Petersham Playhouse and Petersham Nurseries. I was amazed at every turn, Paula Rego on the walls, lunch in the tropical conservatory and Shetland ponies! I cannot wait to see the result! 

Wolf&Badger is also special because it has a gallery space below the Dover Street store which regularly hosts different exhibitions and events. Recently it was been home to a rare Japanese 17th century screen with glowing gold leaf and lovely Buddha. I am afraid I do not have any more information on these right now but I will hopefully update this!

I miss Manchester a lot but it is so fun to be home!

More to come!

xxx