Yayoi Kusama

OK if you have not heard of Yayoi Kusama you will now. She is a Japanese artist and writer. She is pretty amazing and is know for her paintings, sculpture, performance and environmental installations. She influenced artists like Andy Warhol and she is one of the most important artists out of Japan. She is famous for her Body Festivals in which naked participants were painted with brightly coloured Polka dots.

Anyway moving swiftly on to 2012 she has collaborated  Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton and its all about Dots.....check out the website:

http://www.louisvuitton.co.uk/front/#/eng_GB/Collections/Women/Yayoi-Kusama

anyway the windows of Selfridges pays homage to this collaboration as you can see the windows have gone Dot crazy!! but I love it..........the life scale model of Yayoi is so life like that having my photo taken outside the window I felt she was actually there watching me!!!!

Spot Trend

SPOT  TREND

I don't about you but I love when the new collections come out and I love certain trends. This season we see the Spot trend in Celine's resort collection S/S 2013. How you wear a spot can make any out fit look amazing.....for those not so bold why not wear a small scale spot pattern be it on a scarf or dress. But for those that just want to make a statement go for large scale spots like Celine's, people will defiantly be turning heads and hey isn't that what you want.
I love the Diane Von Furstenberg dress!!!! this is a must have!! I think its one that you can wear time and time again.
I have also included this Retro geometric circular bedding design that I designed for  Very for this season. Again its simple and hey why make it complicated. I love to see it in tones of charcoal and blacks which I think will it give it more of an impact in any room.

Photography: Celine, Diane Von Furstenberg, Cushion from John Lewis, Retro bedding from Very

The SPOT trend is not just in fashion but homeware too as seen with the bedding design above. But I thought I also add in the Tuscany garden set that I also designed for Very. I love the different textures within the circles. A spot doesn't just have to be a bold colour. By adding textures it gives the spot a new dimension. So if your looking for a picnic set for the summer why not check it out.

Tuscany design from Very

IBIZA part 1

Ibiza!!! what comes to mind?, raving parties, clubs such as Pacha, Ammesia and Eden to name a few......yes these are there if you want it........but for me its strolling on the streets of Ibiza town and people watching at  Salinas Beach is a must for you Fashion lovers. This is actually my first time there and it was Amazing!!! Such a great place to get it away from it all ( especially with the weather we have had in the UK ) and soak in the sun. But for me I love to see what people are wearing.

Ibiza did not disappoint with only my snappy camera and iphone off I went to photograph what was on the street. I will be blogging more about my trip to Ibiza and here is Part 1.
 Paisley print dresses and Engineered prints not surprising were everywhere. I love the border prints on the first pic, the girl looked fantastic in it too.
My favourite accessory was the indian embroidered bag ( see photo 3 ) I should have bought one from the Hippy Market but no doubt I will be coming back to get one in the near future!! Watch out for my other Ibiza reports......coming soon.

Sainsburys New Collection Spring Summer 2012

 If you have been shopping these past few weeks you will notice that IKAT/ETHNIC/ ANIMAL prints are everywhere on the high street. And here is a couple of prints that I designed that are currently in store at Sainsburys. I love the colour palette and the coloured Animal print. Enjoy!

Mens Print Trend Part 1 Spring Summer 2012

Hi guys here is a continuation of my Fashion trends for Spring Summer 2012. Today I am focusing on Menswear and a couple of the Print trends are Paisley and Ikat.

Paisley

I have again looked at Catwalk Etro being the main contender for the Paisley Trend. The Etro menswear collection saw men wearing Paisley from head to toe which for those that aren't scared to wear pattern. But for you who just want to tame it simply wear it back with plain bottoms. Or if like me you love your scarves Paisley scarves are a great way to accessorise. My must have is the Zara printed jeans!!!

Ikat

I love this Pattern and it was a hit a the Burberry Show especially in the Indio. As you can see Burtons and Topman have used it within their shirt collections. Its even on Shoes at Asos which looks great but I prefer it on clothing. Again this trend works worn back with plain bottoms. I have seen it on trousers too again I think printed pants will take awhile for men to wear- except Camouflage which I will be talking about later on another post. Pattern for menswear is getting stronger each season and I think we will be seeing a lot more of it!!!!
Photography by Filippo Fior and Yannis Viamos these images are not mine 

Spring Summer 2012 Print Trends

Well its been awhile since my last post. With juggling freelance work and kids time is limited however I wanted to write about some of the Key Print Trends  for this season. I will be adding more in the next few weeks but here are some of my favourite trends from Catwalk to High Street. There is some great affordable outfits out there on the UK high street and here is a selection. Remember if you are wearing Print you can go all out and wear top to bottom in Print but for those that want to tame these trends why not wear Printed tops with plain bottoms. Enjoy!!

Paisley

This is a Key trend this summer from the Pucci/ Etro / Jill Saunders/ Matthew Williamson Catwalk to name a few. The High street shops interpreted this trends in a variety of ways from allover printed dresses at Warehouse to Placement tops at River Isand. Depending on your mood you can make it sophisticated and elegant to Boho chic.There is something for everyone and I LOVE classic pattern a must have this season.

Flower Power
No surprise but there was an explosion of florals on the catwalks, designers Christopher Kane/ Chole/ Prada/ Mary Katrantzou/ Erdem used budding florals. Designers interpreted this trend in various forms from flowers between sheer fabric at Christopher Kane/ Photographic digital garden florals at Mary Katrantzou to sophisticated floral buds at Erdem. I saw this Trend for S/S13 at Premier Vision show in Paris in February and its not going away!!

The floral trend on the high street is everywhere from Printed tops at Oasis ( which by the way is looking amazing and is one of my favourite shops for this season http://www.oasis-stores.com/) to printed trousers at Top shop and if you want to wear them on your feet try Asos for their printed Wedges http://www.asos.com/Women/ so don't hold back there is something for everyone!!

Tropical

Last season I wrote about this trend called Tropicana but whats exciting about this Season is that the tropical imagery is mirrored and digitally printed giving it a modern look. Influences from Givenchy resort collection toStella MaCartney was a key for this trend.

Miss Selfridge  http://www.missselfridge.com have loads of amazing tropical in store and I love this dress on the neutral ground. Again I have to mention Oasis last but not least our supermarkets like Sainsburys and Asda even have these prints in their clothing ranges so you don't have to break the bank to look great and be on trend.

Watch out for some of my menswear Spring/ Summer 2012 trends coming soon!!!

images via style.com photography Monica Feudi, Yannis Viamos images from High Street stores own websites please note these are not my images.

MEETING GOK WAN

As a freelance Print designer/ consultant I do get to meet the occasional celebrities. And last week I got to meet the amazing Gok Wan and his cute dog Dolly. I had the opportunity to meet him as part of the Sainsburys Tu Clothing Design team. They work with Gok on his ranges for Tu Clothing. I also got to meet Goks team and the fabulous Carol Hayes, thank you Carol for your hospitality!!!. You can check out his ranges on the following link:
http://www.sainsburys-tu-clothing.co.uk

here is me and Gok next time I will get a pic of Dolly!!! Also if you want to check out what Gok is up to here is the link to his website: http://www.gokwan.com/