Wednesday 13 July 2011

Bowes Museum: Vivienne Westwood Shoe Exhibition

I went to the Bowes Museum to see the fantastical, provocative and mesmarising shoes designed by Vivienne Westwood. From the early 1970's upto present day. This exhibition is unsuitable for young children :}


We went to the little cafe first and had some lovely victorian lemonade and tomato and red pepper soup. delish!

The shoes were set out in a huge glass gallery. Being sneaky, I got a few good shots, but sadly photography was prohibited (next time turn the flash off and the man won't notice)

I have waited my whole life to see some of these babys <3





Newcastle Fashion Week: 'Fashion, Fame and Misfortune'


Newcastle Fashion Week brought some big names from the design world to the region. Designer Scott Henshall took some time out of his busy schedule to give us an insight into his world, telling us about the highs and lows of working in the fashion industry in his presentation 'Fashion, Fame and Misfortune'.

My friend Samantha (far left with the black turban) and myself
Graduating from Northumbria University some 14 years ago, he used his time there to create the “biggest black book” he could, and told us to do the same. University is a time when as a student, you can get away with asking questions and being a little cheeky to get to where you want to be. “Ask a question and you can feel like a fool for two minutes but you could be a fool for a lot longer if you don’t”, advising students to “make every second count” because “university is the window to the rest of your career”.

            Henshall definitely made an impact early on in his career, whilst he was still at university. Wanting to create the best collection possible to create a platform for his career in fashion, his graduate collection in 1997 featured Burberry checks and Barbour jackets, as well as knits from John Smedley and bra’s from Gossard. He was soon snapped up by Liberty when they fell in love with his designs, buying his whole graduate collection.
He won himself a job at Laura Ashley through a competition and realising he needed to get himself more recognised, managed to get Judy Bennett as a PR. Henshall managed to raise the £10,000 needed for his first show in 1998 and became the youngest designer to show a collection on the London Fashion Week Catwalk. This resulted in press articles in fashion magazines Elle and Vogue, and a collaboration collection with Japanese label, Marubeni. Henshall created four collections a year with over 500 pieces a season. He spoke about the importance of having your own team, people who understand your design aesthetic and who can support you in your line of work.

In 2000, Henshall won the New Generation Support award, and £50,000 for his next collection, which was supported by Vidal Sassoon. This, he said, lead to a few misunderstandings about people thinking he was a hairdresser.

Eventually, Henshall became the Creative Director of Mulberry. Unfortunately this was not to last. Mulberry was bought by the company who bought Henshall’s brand without his knowledge. After sometime he decided that this was not the career he wanted and it was at this point he decided to leave the brand.
This all happened at the time of 9/11, where people weren’t buying into fashion. Sadly, Henshall admitted defeat and could not afford to run his own label. Wanting to stay in the fashion spotlight, he decided to run come collaborative projects. During this time he worked with brands such as New Look and Littlewoods. After being asked by a friend, he designed a cobweb dress for Jodie Kidd as a bit of a joke, which became front page news the next day. This lead to the creation of the world's most expensive dress, that Henshall decorated with £5 million worth of web cut diamonds. Working in the ‘celebrity’ industry and appearing on ‘I’m a Celeb’ Henshall felt like he was becoming a sell out and almost ruined his chances of working for big fashion houses. He accepts that the reality show was a big mistake and regrets the whole thing. He has redeemed himself by working with Petra Nemcova and her Happy Hearts Foundation, and by starting up his label, KAW jeans.
After a few mishaps, bad choices and misfortune, Henshall has clawed his way back to the top. Now working as a Creative Director of a British brand and on the ‘Z by Zandra Rhodes’ label he is also working on a re-launch of his own label again for the upcoming LFW. He emphasised how he wanted to bring jobs back to the region as there is a strong history of design in the North East of England and it would be fantastic to revive it for this generation so that traditional skills of pattern cutting, tailoring and manufacture can be passed down and not lost.

Henshall was so down to earth and easy to talk to despite his status in the fashion industry. He went on to say that you must discover your own strengths and exploit them, not focus on what you can’t do. He has shown me that you must embrace what you are given and exploit every opportunity because you never know where it will take you.