Agata has been busy, busy, busy with interviews lately!!!

Take a look at the links below to see her interview in Connected Magazine and the article about her in the Irish Times last Saturday:

Connected Magazine

The Irish Times Magazine

And also………

Agata has been nominated for the Best Fashion Photographer ar the Off the Rails Fashion Awards. All of us at the studio have our fingers crossed for her!!!

For more information on the Off the Rails Fashion Awards click here.

The awards of american fashion were amazing.
Celebrities hand in hand with the designers
-dressed with their pieces-
or solo, walked the CFDA red carpet. 
My favourite ones that really made a statement,
Ashley Olsen

wearing American Vintage.
Amazing dress, colour, details.
An Olsen appearance? A fashion statment.
Kirsten Dunst

wearing Rodarte by
Designers of the Year Laura and Kate Mulleavy.
Diane Kruger

wearing Jason Wu.
I love the black lace detail on the shoulders.
And finally,
Dree Hemingway

wearing Swarovski Award for Womenswear winner,
Alexander Wang.
The alternation of the regular Tuxedo by Mr Wang
was so cute and playfully clever.

(Photos by style.com)

It’s out – the 2009 shortlist for the Best of Manchester Awards has just been announced. And the nominees are:

ART

Contents May Vary the artists collective have been nominated. Formed in 2004, this group of MMU Fine Art graduates has, for the past five years, staged a number of innovative group exhibitions and contributed to events as diverse as Artranspennine08, the Northern Art Prize and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Contents May Vary were also shortlisted for HONK, a touring exhibition that featured animation, drawing and performance – but where the ‘gallery’ was in fact the back of a white van.

Rachel Goodyear has been shortlisted for a portfolio of beautiful, yet unsettling, pencil and watercolour drawings. Goodyear has recently exhibited at Cornerhouse in Manchester and as part of Liverpool Biennial at Tate Liverpool in 2008; her work, as you might expect, shows great technical skill. But it is her interest in creating discomforting, ambiguous narratives, often presented as a ‘cluster’ of drawings unique to each gallery or display space, which drew particular praise from the judges.

Owl Project is another art collective, this time comprised of Simon Blackmore, Antony Hall and Steve Symons. Drawing on influences such as woodwork, hobby-style electronics and open source software, Owl Project has produced a range of semi-sculptural, semi-comical musical instruments that have been exhibited across the UK and Europe and premiered at events such as the Sonic Arts Network EXPO, Lovebytes and Futuresonic. Owl Project has been shortlisted for its portable ‘rustic’ instruments, the iLog, the m-Log and the Log1k.

The judges also awarded special commendations to Nick Jordan, who, with fellow artist and collaborator, Jacob Cartwright, was an artist research fellow at Manchester Museum, and Maurice Carlin, an artist who also founded the Islington Mill Art Academy and co-founded the Sounds from the Other City festival.

MUSIC

Jayne Compton has been shortlisted for a diverse portfolio that includes long-running experimental club night, Club Brenda, ‘a genuinely uncompromising underground art happening’, according to Compton that blends live music, art and performance. Compton has also been shortlisted for her Switchflicker Records label (which launched the Ting Tings with That’s Not My Name) and an upcoming Arts Council book, Strange Trees.

Natalie Curtis was shortlisted for a photography portfolio that includes portraits of bands such as Doves, the Paris Riots and Silversun Pickups. Her quiet documentary style has lead to a series of startlingly warm and intimate shots – and was singled out by the judges for its freshness and direct approach.

Max Moran has been shortlisted for a portfolio that includes the video-based music blog, ThisTownSounds.com. Running since 2007, the blog has premiered White Lies’ first ever filmed interview, as well as early performances from the likes of Florence & The Machine. Moran has also been recognised for his sell-out club night, Hot Club, its laid back sister session, Hat Club and, more recently, Moran’s burgeoning record label, Hit Club.

The music judges also awarded special commendations to Paddy Steer, an ‘unsung hero’ according to one of our panel, for his contribution to the Manchester music scene over the past 25 years; and to classical composer Joe Duddell who has curated (and conducts) the Elbow and Hallé Orchestra performances that form the centrepiece of this year’s Manchester International Festival.

FASHION

Paul Griffiths has been nominated for his shop and clothing label, Babycakes. Despite being only two years old, Babycakes is already a smash hit: the label’s store opening in Manchester was met with a 400-strong queue, while its limited edition t-shirt designs regularly sell out within hours of their launch. Babycakes plans to open London and Los Angeles outlets in early 2010.

Holly Russell is an alumnus of Manchester School of Art whose shimmering, stunning graduate collection features hundreds of hand-sewn scarab beetle wings. Russell has also collaborated with a metal worker to incorporate aluminium into her designs and an astronomer to create embellished digital prints. Hugely ambitious but with a realistic approach to the fashion industry, Russell hopes to take up an MA in Fashion Womenswear at the renowned Royal College of Art.

Katie Webb is another Manchester School of Art alumni. Her understated, architectural collection is a stark contrast to Russell’s, featuring neutral colours and luxe fabrics such as leather, cashmere and silk. The judges highlighted Webb’s minimalist designs and technical skills, as well as her environmental awareness and subsequent drive to source fabrics from the UK and Europe.

The fashion judges also awarded a special commendation to Jen Scott-Russell, the milliner who runs the successful Northern Quarter-based shop, H’atelier.

The winners will be announced live at an awards ceremony at Urbis on 23 July. The BOMA exhibition runs 24 July-20 September, also at Urbis.

The big winner of the Glamour awards last night was Kylie Minogue; she took home two awards, ‘Woman of the Year’ and ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’

Looking glamorous as usual, Kylie wore a black bustier dress with a leopard print jacket. Click below to see Kylie’s look.

http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/celebrity/photo-galleries/dos-and-donts-voting/090602-kylie-minogue-in-leopardprint-jack.aspx#tab1

Some other super stylish winners included a bright and boldly dressed Katy Perry for ‘Newcomer of the Year’ and Fearne Cotton for ‘Radio Personality of the year’. Fearne went for a girly look for the red carpet wearing a red ruffle dress with her hair in long wavy locks.

http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/celebrity/photo-galleries/dos-and-donts-voting/090602-katy-perry-in-a-bright-blue-silk-dr.aspx

http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/celebrity/photo-galleries/dos-and-donts-voting/090602-fearne-cotton-in-a-red-tiered-dress.aspx?static

Girls Aloud, one of our favourites here at CatwalkToCloset won Band of the Year and Cheryl Cole picking up TV Personality of the Year.

Let us know who you thought was best dressed at the awards by posting your comment below.

 
Winner of the second annual International Design Awards Competition

By Sharon Feiereisen 

Although we are massive fans of the high street, we like to keep an eye on the high-end designer market as well. Although these fashions are likely to be slightly out of reach of normal people such as ourselves, it is invariably the case that these latest styles are eventually cloned and adapted for the high street marketplace. Its likely that we will be wearing variants of the clothes that these designers create for the next couple of years. Here are some emerging talents that we think will have a significant influence in 2009 fashion.

Jamie Bruski Tetsill – From a textile design background, Tetsill has been making waves over the last couple of years, starting with an stunning graduate collection from St Martins College, followed by ranges from 2007-2008 onwards. Tetsill has a back-to-basics approach to his craft, his trademarks are highly contrasting and vivid 80s-influenced colours, classic textures, chunky gold zips and innovative juxtaposition of materials. The great thing about Jamie Bruski Tetsill clothes is that (unlike alot of high-end) they are cutting-edge without being preposterous, you could easily wear one of his dresses to the office christmas party. Watch out for the Tetsill-Effect throughout 2009.

Bright Colours & Contrasting Fabrics - Jamie Bruski Tetsill

Kesh – The 80s influenced neon-tracksuits and exaggerated gold-jewellery of Kesh have already lured the great and the good of the celeb circuit (Mariah Carey, MIA, Mark Ronson, Lupe Fiasco and Lily Allen). Keshwear is a crazy-sounding mix of caribbean and british culture – we have a feeling that this look is going to explode onto the high street next year. Kesh Myspace.

Brash and Bright for 2009 - Keshwear

Gavin Douglas – Birmingham designer Douglas has been steadily growing in stature since winning the prestigious 2006 Fashion Fringe award – he crafts each garment individually, with an incredible attention to detail. Metallic-Fabrics contrast with Autumnal Colours to spectacular effect. His influence will undouably be felt throughout 2009.

Luella Bartley – Winner of the 2008 Designer of the year award at the British Fashion Awards, Luella has already infiltrated the UK High Street with collections for New Look. There is no doubt that her influence is set to permeate throught next year.

Is there anyone that you feel will be big in 2009?

To celebrate the Fashion Awards which are taking place this month,  the cheesecake competition topic is ..fashion and beauty!

Coco Chanel once said, ‘fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.’ We want you to share what fashion means to you!

What’s your style? Do you have a favourite vintage store? Which high street shops do you think are a hit? Which online stores are a definite miss? Share your advice and experiences with the BView community and you could win a delightfully delicious cheesecake from The English Cheesecake Company!

Entering is easy, all you have to do is login to BView and find the company you wish to review.

How we choose the winning review and what we look for:

- a catchy title

- a detailed description of your experience

- pictures! It’s fashion so we would love to see some pics with your review

Not sure where to start? Here are some names that you could review Asos, Body Shop, Marks & Spencers, Selfridges&Co, MAC, French Connection, Topman, Topshop or you could check our Online Health & Beauty categories for more ideas! You can find more help on review writing here.

Submit as many reviews as you like but don’t forget to send us a copy of your reviews so we know you wish to enter: community@bview.co.uk.

October’s cheesecake winner

Finally the boys beat the girls! The winner of last month’s topic on technology is William F from Brixham. In his review titled ‘SVP- Super Value Products’, William advises ‘if you buy media mail order then I would recommend them, as they are efficient and not expensive’ but highlights as a local he isn’t impressed that he can’t just collect his goods anymore.

Congratulations William! Enjoy the cheesecake, which you should find on your doorstep soon!

Are you the UK’s young fashion entrepreneur 2009?

Are you passionate about fashion, an innovator looking for entrepreneurial ways to move the UK fashion industry forward? Are you looking to broaden your international business opportunities and to build your network? Want to know more about the business of fashion in India?

If this sounds like you then you could be the next winner of this prestigious new award from the British Council, with support from NESTA.

To be eligible for the award, you must be aged between 25 and 35, have at least three years industry experience and be resident in the UK.

You can download an application form and the guidance notes here.
Applications close at noon on Thursday 17 October 2008.
UKYFE is one of nine awards for young creative entrepreneurs that are being developed by the British Council with support from NESTA, the Cultural Leadership Programme, trade associations and professional bodies within the creative sector.

http://www.creativeconomy.org.uk
http://www.october.co.uk

 

 

 

Last year shortly after Black-Essentials.com was launched I read about the O2 X Award for Fashion – supported by Grazia in the magazine.

I read about all these amazing women who’s sheer hard work, determination, limitless energy and enthusiasm turned their kitchen table ideas into successful businesses and day dreamed of how amazing it would be to get recognition on this level – from GRAZIA! THE fashion bible – as we all know, what Grazia says goes in the sartorial world.

Fast forward to this year and in Spring I eagerly awaited the call for entries. I was so excited about the awards I actually phoned the magazine and emailed them (on more than one occasion) to find out when the awards would take place. When it was announced in August there are 3 stages to go through – 1. the application form, 2. the judging panel and 3. the award ceremony. For step 1, the application form … it is a really difficult task to complete the form – there are 10 questions to answer, each with a word limit for your answer (generally 100 words per answer) – it’s really difficult to put 18 months into 1,000 words, or less!

I am more than beside myself to have won the Scottish rounds and am now the ‘Scottish Finalist’ (it is surreal for me to even type this!) – a shortlist of 7 other women with fantastic ideas, many 4am finishes and all the blood, sweat and tears that is required when you launch a business and I met the judging panel (at my old place of work – Malmaison – speak about ironic) and talked about our experiences, our vision, our values. The day of judging was a little challenging in itself – I decided to wear the outfit I have on in this blog picture – the grey with white chiffon collar and cuffs (it’s stunning!) but I decided to iron the chiffon to freshen it up a little – I only went and burnt it! So I changed into the fantastic Rene Derhy Gabotte little black dress from Black Essentials. It was fate – I felt happier in this dress with a wide belt, silver tights and patent mary janes – I believe these things always happen for a reason!

So here I am – just delighted to be going to the national final in London on the 13th October. Amazingly enough I was the only person with no experience in fashion/retail or design. It has been more than a steep learning curve, I must say!

Recognising innovation and excellence in the small business world of the fashion industry, the Fashion X Award honours companies with brilliant ‘why-didn’t-I-think-of-that?’ ideas.

For my 18 month old business to be recognised on this level is more than my dreams come true. The prize for this category is a mentor in fashion for a year, which would be truly amazing – having no experience in this industry and learnt a LOT from a lot of mistakes to have a professional guide me would be priceless. If I won, I would take advantage of that year as I have so many questions – wonder how the mentor would feel of a year of no sleep with me constantly badgering them with questions!

The overall winner from all 4 categories (music, food and drink, technology and fashion) is £10,000 – (which would make a massive impact on any small business) would also be fantastic…

I have no doubt that the best person will win, but in this case, from where I stand, the winner does not take it all – regardless of what happens on the night, Black Essentials feel like a winner already!

I’m looking forward to having a great night in London, with my mum, and my two amazing friends Susan and Gill, who have offered ‘way beyond the call of duty’ amounts of support, enthusiasm, encouragement and reassurance – whatever happens, we’re all just going to have a great night!

To have come this far in this amount of time is overwhelming and if i’m honest I feel more than a little emotional when I think about it…

The wonders of data collection have allow us to reveal the final total of votes cast in this year’s inaugural California Fashion Awards. Taking into account the raw figures, and discounting the automatic repeat voting software deployed by one or two hackers – don’t worry, we can always spot it and root it out – the grand total of accepted votes cast was 17,058. Given that the California Fashion Awards were consciously soft-launched in Midsummer with a low media profile, this is a remarkable figure. Thank you again to all who voted in this great experiment in democracy: a benchmark ensuring California Fashion Awards can thrive to become a major part of the independent, alternative fashion calendar that belongs to us all.

The voters have voted, and the votes have been counted, and we’re awed to be naming the first ever California Fashion Awards winners.

Ranging across twenty California fashion categories and a galaxy of nominees, time’s come at last to pay tribute to great California fashion known and loved the world over.

With 19 vastly different categories and 152 nominees spread across locations as diverse as LA, San Francisco, Sacramento,  Carmel, Fresno, Northridge, Bakersfield, and Cardiff-by-the-Sea,  California Fashion Awards are truly and uniquely statewide like nowhere else…

So from Lake Tahoe to San Diego, Needles to Eureka, from Oscar night red carpet to Maverick’s surf heaven right thru to the hippest of South Central hip-hop: join us to celebrate the genius of fashion’s golden state.

Check out our winners page – or go to www.CaliforniaFashionAwards.com

Actress Hayden Panettiere was in London attending the……..CONTINUE READING

PICTURE BY : POLTER / MATRIXPHOTOS.COM

Well the nominees are in for the Scottish Fashion Awards to held at Stirling Castle this year.

The Kane’s are doing well with a nod for best Scottish designer and Best Fashion Icon for Tammy, although Christopher faces stiff competition in the form of Jonathan Saunders who has just landed the top role at Pollini.

Also up for nomination is Glasgow designer emporium Cruise for Scottish Retailer and Niki Taylor for Young Designer of the Year. Both of which I have my fingers crossed for!!

The full list of the 2008 nominees are:

SCOTTISH FASHION AWARDS DESIGNER OF THE YEAR – SPONSORED BY VOGUE.COM
CHRISTOPHER KANE
JONATHAN SAUNDERS
GRAEME BLACK
AIMEE MCWILLIAMS
VIDLER & NIXON
DERYCK WALKER

SCOTTISH FASHION AWARDS BEST USE OF TARTAN BY AN INTERNATIONAL DESIGNER – SPONSORED BY JOHN SEMPLE TRAVEL
HOUSE OF HOLLAND
DOLCE & GABBANA
RALPH LAUREN

SCOTTISH FASHION AWARDS TEXTILE BRAND OF THE YEAR – SPONSORED BY SCOTTISH ENTERPRISE TEXTILES
JOHNSTON’S OF ELGIN
PRINGLE OF SCOTLAND
BALLANTYNE CASHMERE COMPANY
MACKINTOSH
SANDRA MURRAY
HILARY ROHDE

SCOTTISH FASHION AWARDS COMMUNICATOR OF THE YEAR – SPONSORED BY DELTA AIRLINES
LAURA CRAIK – EVENING STANDARD
STACEY DUIGUID – ELLE MAGAZINE
MARK HEYES – STYLIST GMTV
DAVID EUSTACE – PHOTOGRAPHER

SCOTTISH FASHION AWARDS YOUNG DESIGNER OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY THE SCOTTISH FASHION COUNCIL
SCOTT RAMSEY KYLE
LOUISE GRAY
JAMIE BRUSKI TETSILL
GRAEME ARMOUR
NIKI TAYLOR
JAMES MILLAR

SCOTTISH FASHION AWARDS RETAILER OF THE YEAR – SPONSORED BY STIRLING COUNCIL
ULTIMO – GLASGOW
JANE DAVIDSON – EDINBURGH
CRUISE – GLASGOW
PATRICK GRANT – LONDON
CHE CAMILLE- GLASGOW

SCOTTISH FASHION AWARDS SCOTTISH MODEL OF THE YEAR – SPONSORED BY TONI & GUY
AMANDA HENDRICK – THE MODEL TEAM
EMILY MCWILLIAM – TAKE 2 MODELS
LISA OMAND – SUPERIOR
AMY MCLELLAND – SUPERIOR
GILLIAN COOK – SUPERIOR
EMMA DUNCAN – THE LOOK
TOTTIE – THE MODEL TEAM
HAYLEY BARTLETT – THE MODEL TEAM

SCOTTISH FASHION AWARDS ACCESSORY / JEWELLERY DESIGNER OF THE YEAR – SPONSORED BY ERIC N SMITH DIAMOND DESIGNER AND JEWELLER
SCOTT STEPHEN – JEWELLER
BEBAROQUE – TIGHTS
MARIANNE ANDERSON – JEWELLER
WILLIAM CHAMBERS – MILLINERY

SCOTTISH FASHION AWARDS STYLE ICON 2008 – SPONSORED BY THE HERALD
JENNI FALCONER – TV PRESENTER
LAURA FRASER – ACTRESS
DARIUS – ACTOR
ADELE BETHEL – SINGER
HANNAH MCGILL – EDINBURGH FILM FESTIVAL
KT TUNSTALL – SINGER
JIM LAMBIE – ARTIST
TAMMY KANE – CREATIVE DIRECTOR
CRAIG FERGUSON – TV PRESENTER
ALEX KAPRANOS – SINGER

Let the battle commence…

When we launched the London Fashion Awards in February we knew there was a gap in the London fashion scene that the Awards would hopefully fill: what we didn’t know was how quickly they’d become an integral part of how London fashion is perceived on the internet, and - increasingly – in the material world. So, 25 days since our first results were announced, thank you for the further comments and feedback, both here and on our main site http://www.LondonFashionawards.com and we’ll be keeping you up to date with developments here, there, and by email if you’d like this.

Regards,

Nic

nica@LondonFashionAwards.com