BAFTA's 2019

I love a collaboration, so when the opportunity to work with my pal Zoe Stevenson presented itself I bit off the proverbial hand. Zoe is a costume designer- stylist- fashion designer (and yet more multi- hyphens too numerous to list here) and frequently travels the world making huge flashy events like the MTV awards look suitably impressive for her clients.
This brief was to kit out the Cirque du Soleil gymnasts with astronaut themed costumes for their performance at the BAFTA’s at the Royal Albert Hall. The concept was all about marking the 50th anniversary of sending a man to the moon, but of course they had to be extremely robust and versatile for the gymnasts.
Zoe had devised the collection of garments and I screen printed her geometric details onto the technical fabrics she’d selected for the job. We were using a gorgeous lightweight neoprene, which moved beautifully and ‘loved the ink’- it was very satisfying to screen print onto as the surface was so smooth and absorbent.
70 pieces later, the fabric panels were sent off to be made up by a genius maker, and I didn’t see them again till the night of the awards- Cirque du Soleil gave a mind-blowing performance, I was thrilled to have played a small part in bringing the show to life.

You can see the performance here- I do recommend, It’s quite stunning…

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=344715589465414

Cirque du Soleil Flyer

Cirque du Soleil flyers and catchers

Joanna Lumley & Cirque du Soleil backstage at the Royal Albert Hall. Pic: Zoe Stevenson

Bags of style

This autumn has been busy; prepping for Christmas business and launching two new lines. Simultaneously producing customer orders and trying to educate myself on the latest twists and turns of social media marketing. I am most drawn to the creative: developing new products.
I wanted to tackle tote bag designs, these had real charm but had flopped commercially, in part because they evolved from a home storage concept I'd dreamt up for my own home, and it wasn't easy to get the idea across on the pages of a web-shop.
Following great feedback on the images, it was on the to-do list to revamp and relaunch as soon as possible. I ordered a huge range of different shapes and styles of canvas bags to try out, and picked the one I felt was best both aesthetically and practically.
I also wanted to experiment with more colour, and created a grainy textured looking ground which looked great printed on the canvas as a background to the sketchy imagery. The final colour combination has warmth and taste, it elevates the whole design.