New in: Graphic matt and shine clutch by Kzeniya, now available to buy in Selfridges. My bag collection has been growing rapidly as of late, I seemed to have clutches in every colours except black, and the two finishes won me over - perfect addition!
Apologies for the lack of posts as of late, if you follow me on Instagram (@girlalamode) you'll be seeing sneak peaks of my SS13 collection! So exciting, and only 17 days to go!
This week I discovered new London based accessories label, KITE. Specialising in leather, their designs are minimal and clean with a strong focus on texture and material - a label after my own heart, I'm sure you know.
Kite was founded by designers Sally Kite and Grace Eden who between them have worked for Meadham Kirchoff, Halston and Marios Schwab, and despite only being around for one season, are already stocked at Shine in Hong Kong, and Darkroom. The edgy design of the mohawk clutches strike me as something I'd be gawking at walking around somerset house at fashion week or on the street; whilst the wallets and card holders are keeping it clean and classic in beautiful python and pony leathers.
What can I say, other than I need to get my hands on all of it?
As I'm sat inside trying to get over my morning of sunbathing in 30 degrees Zurich, I thought I could show you guys my final Bengt X So hot right nail post, before Jen comes back and we head off to see the city! Definitely the craziest of all three styles, I'd always wanted to try 3D nails, although I have to say I don't think I could handle them in every day life as they catch on everything! At least now I can tick the crazy Japanese inspired nails off my bucket list! Worn with Moxham, E.A Burns and Louise Amstrup all from BENGT!
How excited was I yesterday to see my SS12 studded headband in the Sunday Times Style!? What an amazing feeling.
Thank you so much to Flossie for the beautiful summery feature!
Buy your studded headband here!
The second instalment of my accessories shoot with Bengt and nail artist So Hot Right Nail. These were my favourite nails, hands down and I kept them on for a couple of weeks, until picking off the gems one by one became just too satisfying. Totally head over heels for all the Imogen Belfield jewellery, it's like wearing rocks straight from the mine! Also, the coolest up and coming handbag designer, Danielle Foster, all the bronze and matt leathers are too irresistible to me! To see more amazing up and coming talent, go straight to BENGT.
It's so exciting for me to poke around a busy factory of such an established brand as Tusting; marvelling at all the different machines and jobs to complete one bag, making mental notes of the machine parts that I should be ordering for my studio; it all reassures me that I'm heading in the right direction for my own brand and excitingly, that I'll have a factory of my own to poke around in one day. Don't you love that each workspace had it's own cheesy calendar? Anyway, getting a little off the point, Tusting is the second largest manufacturer in the UK, based in the small town of Bedfordshire, the workers even walk to work from the nearby village! They started their company by importing leather from india in the 1870's and selling shoe soles to companies like Church's -which they still do today; now they have been manufacturing bags for over 130 years, giving them a timeless quality and heritage.
They're even involved with the young British design scene, helping Richard Nicoll design his bags for AW12, with Vodafone. I went to the breakfast launch just under a year ago to hear them talking about 'an exciting new accessory' to be debuted on the runway, so it was fun to see it come around full swing. The bags on the runway were all white and have a battery pack in the botton that can charge various devices, a pretty nifty idea in theory.
After we'd seen the factory, we went for lunch in the village pub where Tusting brought along some bags and leathers and we got to choose our own! I'm excited to show you the finished result when it arrives. We also got to discuss manufacturing in the UK and debate why it's obviously so important for brands to start bringing their factories back. Ella told me that Burberry were planning on returning their factories to England, which would be amazing! Tusting's largest export is Japan, where they go crazy for traditional Western products therefore they must be made in England; I would think this must fall on Burberry as well; when you sell your brand as heritage I think you subconsciously expect these products to be made in the original country, it's time we all realised how much this isn't happening and start bringing our brands back home.
Thank you Tusting for having us and to Louisa and Push PR for organising the trip!
