It's a celebration

   WOW... In the next few weeks it will officially be one year since I decided to go self employed and start my own label not to mention this is post 100 of To Be Irreplaceable! So to celebrate we've updated a few things most notably the banner and the name of course! Taking inspiration from our Geek Streak post which I really loved and proved popular and much better reflects what we're doing here and where we're going in the future. So seeing as it's been a year I decided what better time to reflect upon the whirlwind of the last year and my decision to take the plunge into the deep end.

  It was actually an easy decision for me to make because I have always wanted to run my own business and be an established designer as well as genuinely working within the industry and trying different aspects of it. My first year has been very eye opening and exciting. I basically jumped straight into it, got stuck in and it has paid off. I have spent the firs year of my business branding my label and letting people know that I am here and here to stay. I love what I do and I wake up every morning thankful for having found something that I love doing,I wouldn't change it for the world! Fashion design is my main role in what I do but I love getting stuck into other roles and developing my skills with in those fields which has drastically changed the aspirations I have for my business. The great thing about working for your self is setting your own projects and goals and achieving them and being able to say 'I did that'. I still have a lot to learn and develop but right now I'm feeling excited for what's to come. So I've decide to recap over some of my highlights of the last year as I think it's important to reflect on your achievements from collaborations to photo shoots, new collections, styling, directing, jewellery making, festivals, craft fairs, and so much more but most importantly I have been having fun with it and getting to grips with being a good business owner and someone who people want to work with. 

 5 top highlights of my year:

  My first collaboration, I teamed up with London based T-shirt designer VEGA they sent me a batch of T-shirts with Drake printed on the front and let me get on with it. Me and 3 other girls put together a photo shoot which consisted of plastering two walls with magazine pages and using that as the back ground for the shoot! Not only did I come up with the idea I also photographed, directed and modeled all together it did take four of us to make it work but it was a huge success. We got great feedback this photo shoot really helped me develop my skills with photography and direction. It was a massive opportunity to collaborate with another designer, it helped me push my boundaries. All in all it was such a great day, everyone had fun and it was one of the best shoots I've done.

   Wilderness Festival... I had an opportunity to go and sell at a festival and it was TOTES AMAZEBALLS! It was my biggest selling event and I had a blast! I went there not knowing what to expect and naturally was worried if anyone would by my stuff...luckily they did. I covered my stall cost within the first day which continued throughout the weekends it was also my first full experience in selling at such a well-known and reputable festival as well as actually having the time of my life with some of the great people I met there! Wilderness is such a great festival and I would most certainly do it again.

  Becoming a crafter grafter...Ideally for my business cracking the online market is more important to me as it's more cost effective and keeps over-heads down, however I love taking part in local craft fairs and for the last year I have done my fair share around the East Midlands and London. This to me is an achievment in itself. Doing the fairs has helped me develop that gift of the'ol gabb and get to know new and old customers directly.  Not to mention being part of the markets is so much fun!

  Video Styling...I felt so lucky to be asked to style a musician based in my home town of Derby. Being part of a professional shoot has really helped learn the importance of getting to know a client before you dive into the deep end. We met up for a coffee and I took a garment bag of some recent designs I had been working on which we went through, she played me her song and from there the styling started to come together. She told me the look she wanted to go for and I picked out some designs that I though would work thankfully she really liked my style so from there I started the process of mixing my designs with clothes she already had and wanted to use. It was a great opportunity to gain experience in styling as well as learn what it's like to be there on the go all the time, making sure everything looked right and that it all fitted into place.

  Over the year I have worked on a few projects/collections but my greatest achievement to date is my latest collection Booted not Suited. I really pushed my boundaries in terms of concept and design, I took inspiration from 5 different prints and created a collection based on 5 different roles of the working industry but touched upon the working women of today's society. The collection is bold, quirky and alternative there's a piece for everyone. Through constant networking and sending loads of emails I managed to get the collection published on over 25 blogs and two magazines as well as selling some pieces before it even launched which was an achievement in it self. 

   All in all I have had such an amazingly creative year and I feel like I've got so much to look forward to I hope you all stay posted and I thank all my readers for your support this year! Love and hugs.