Viva la Vega

  A lot of new stuff is happening with my blog at the minute, we are in the process of setting up a shop where you can buy my designs directly from here we are also working on changing the web address so it will all shiny new. At the moment we have been working on building up my portfolio page where you can view all of my collections to date and other projects I have worked on from collaborations and photography projects.

The latest work that has been added is my collaboration with T-shirt designers VEGA, the boys at VEGA sent down a batch of T-shirts and left it to me to sort out the shoot. I decided on the background by covering the walls with magazine pages from Dazed and Confused, Vogue and POP it took about an hour to bluetac them all to the walls but it was worth it as it set the concept of. I decided on a black and white setting as I thought it would work well against the pictures and it just added that extra edginess. Due to this shoot both VEGA and me got some really good publicity and sales, it was a great shoot and all of us that was involved had so much fun.

This Photo shoot enabled me to push my boundaries in terms of photography, I love directing and shooting but I am an amateur, the only experience I have with photography I have is from my GCSEs, my foundation year at uni where I had a module on photography and over the years what I have taught my self. When I did this shoot I learned so much more from the lighting and also positions and in the end it ended up looking quite professional so naturally I was pleased with the outcome.

You can view this collaboration in my Portfolio.

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.

Welcome Back!

Although I have been waiting for this to be all finished so I can start sharing with you guys again I don't know where to begin... It's been a busy few months with work as well as getting every ready for my final year of uni where I study fashion. My very good friend Victoria Denham who is really talented in this area has been working really hard to give my blog a make over and make it look for professional so I really hope you guys like it (I love it).

Due to the fact that my label and business is still a baby I have to work really hard every day social networking and working on promotions to help me branch online! Selling online is really hard when your new to it it's consistent work alone and at times get tedious but it's something that has to be done, I juggle my time being a mum, running a house, being an awesome girlfriend and fitting everything in that needs doing to grow my business and now completing my degree. Before I went back to uni I have been setting things in place for my label that is already set and ready to go but is planned over the year to help me balance out uni and running a business. I have also booked some local Christmas fairs and have promo codes and a few sites I sell with which will be listed below so please do take a look and bag a bargain for a loved one this Christmas! 

Last month I launched my latest collection Suited not Booted which is now in portfolio on the top of the page.Before designing the collection I really wanted to think of a concept that would really help me come up with a theme that could be quite different from each other but still ran consistently, I looked into fabrics and found the perfect ones and then everything started falling together so the sketching took place and eventually it was developing. The concept of the collection was a working women of today's society and how so many different women have different roles of work but I wanted to make it versatile and unique. So the prints became my theme and each one represented a different role  from a tattoo artist to a bird watcher. 

Since launching the collection it's been a working progress to get it out there and there's still a lot to do! It's being featured in two magazines one in which in international it's called Urban Coco, it has also been on blogged about by many different blogs a handful of them range from across the seas but it took a lot of networking and a lot of emails but it was so good getting people to write about it!

The last time I blogged I mentioned of the styling I have been doing. I'm still waiting to see the videos so until then I can't say much more in that matter apart from I gained a lot of experience and had a great time! I think after I graduate it will most definitely look into doing more work in that area. The last year since I went self employed I have really started to think about exactly where and want to do in the Fashion industry there's so many roles and always room for what sets you apart from other designers that I have been exploring different avenues and want to continue putting my hands in different baskets, I also think through the research I have been gathering for my Final Collection for uni has made me think of other aspects I want to delve into! I will be posting a separate post about my collection with images of my research and promo stuff so keep your eyes peeled :)