Fashion Week- Scarf Mania

Scarves have been big at London Fashion Week this month.  And colour looks set to be big for A/W 2011-12.  We love this flock of flying squares ascending the stairwell at Somerset House. 

Fashion Weak!

We are going weak at the knees for London Fashion Week. And it's not just a result of days spent tottering round Somerset House in Loubotins; there are some truly exquisite things to be seen.  


We really enjoyed Lara Bohinc's scarf launch: she's printed her jewellery on scarves. Beautiful. It's so different from what we do, but we adore it.  Hopefully this time next year we'll be rubbing shoulders in London's finest scarf departments. 


 And we had a lovely chat with Desiree Mejer at Fake London. She has some beautiful designs up her sleeve,  and a really welcoming atmosphere in her showroom.  Just like us she's channeling the Brit thing in style. 


x

Picture of the day...

We thought this looked like fun...

Perhaps she got her idea from this lady in an even earlier picture

.

We would recommend wearing a scarf around that hat, just to keep it on when the wild beast bucks. 

Valentines Idea.

If you are at a loss for something to do this Valentines. May we suggest this......

Photo © Cent Magazine et Manuel Vason - Ropes : Esinem

Lovely shoes too! See more work by bondage artist Esinem, who we love btw,  HERE. 

. 

Samples Looking Oh so gorgeous...

We are sooo excited about our Autumn/ Winter 2011-12 scarf samples. We can hardly wait to show buyers the designs, which thus far have only been seen by the design and sampling team.   We are so proud to have found excellent suppliers and talent here in the UK, enabling us to keep our product genuinely Made in England.  

Seshoeshoe Fabric (Se-shwe- shwe)

Our designer Ali has a vivd memory from her childhood in Southern Africa: the smell of freshly dyed Seshoeshoe cloth.  It's a lovely fresh inky smell,  the smell of crafted newness. This gorgeous heavy cotton is unique to Southern Africa and easily rivals the best Liberty print for beauty.  It often features African animals and flora in tight patterns.  Ali remembers indigo or brown shoeshoe, but it also comes in red. The cloth is stiff when new, but soon softens up when washed. It makes great skirts, dresses and furnishings.  Lesotho, where Ali grew up, manufactures it, as does South Africa.


  Some of our favorite designs are the Nelson Mandela print below, and a baby elephant print pictured on this cushion cover;  a treasure, which Ali was given as a child.

You can buy seshoeshoe at:
http://www.africanfabric.co.uk


And here is a brilliant blog entry from South Africa on Shweshwe
Click HERE!

We love our Mommes....

Mommes are the units of weight used to measure the density of silk.  A light weight chiffon might have a momme weight of 8mm, while a heavy raw silk might be 40mm.  Mmmm...mommmes. 

 At Age of Reason we are big fans of Crepe de Chine.