Age of Reason at The Boutique Gallery - Jaeger Regent Street

It's been an exciting week for Age of Reason, with the launch of The Boutique Gallery on Monday.  We're pleased to be part of it alongside Preen, Charlotte Taylor, Mawi, Orla Kiely and many more.

Housed on the 2nd Floor of Jaeger's Flagship London store, the space has been re-vamped into a new luxury shopping emporium complete with tea-room and panoramic views over Regent Street. Cuppa anyone?

 Bringing together the best of emerging and established British brands, The Boutique Gallery manages to be both stylish and thoughtful, offering everything from high end apparel and accessories to beautiful Taschen art books. 

 For a full list of brands follow this link to the Jaeger Boutique Gallery Lookbook. So far our favorite pieces include bangles by Nicholas King, and Charlotte Taylor's dresses. We also hear rumours about Tusting Bags in menswear, which we like a lot. We always carry our samples in a Tusting bag. We're also looking forward to seeing new jewellery pieces by Lara Bohinc. 

The press launch will take place next Tuesday. We'll keep you posted!

Sketching

I normally work in pen and ink and thought I'd try combining it with some other materials. I've been using oil pastels in this mixed media experiment, with mixed results. The process is challenging because the oil naturally repels the ink, (which can help or hinder). I based the image loosely on my pirate queen character, and while I really don't think it has the poise or attitude of the original we use on our scarves, I like parts of it. Blues and vermillion reds are going to crop up in future collections I'm sure!

   

MEN'S FASHION WEEK - THE POCKET SQUARE

To celebrate Men's Fashion Week in London this week we're praising the pocket square; that small square of silk, which transforms mundane to elegant with just a few folds and a tuck. While there are conventions in pocket square styling, we like to think there are no rules. 

 What we love most about the humble, and affordable pocket square, is its ability to convey a little personality onto a very plain suit jacket or blazer. Our "Orgy" square below is intentionally cheeky but it takes a second glance to notice the saucy print. We were delighted at Best of Britannia when Grey Fox took to this one with such enthusiasm and styled it on his excellent blog. As you can see we've taken a little inspiration from the rakish folds he created.

Pocket hankies are a great way to add a dash of colour without looking like a children's TV presenter. Keep the suit or jacket muted and opt for a striking hue in the pocket square like our God Save The Queen square here.

Learning to fold pocket squares can be really satisfying. Silk works best for the louche, soft folds shown.  For crisp lines try cotton or linen options (we'll be making some of our own cotton versions next season for AW13).  There are some great online video tutorials on how to wear pocket squares and this blog post has one of our favourite collections of photos of dapper chaps wearing them. 

Enjoy! 

A MONTH IN PICTURES- NOVEMBER 2012

November was the month of the pocket square! We released Dark Horses opposing black and white pocket squares and snapped Sir David Attenborough wearing our owl pocket! There was also flurry of artwork at Age of Reason HQ, with Ali working on final designs for AW13. 

Age of Reason Wraps it Up

Throughout the year we wrap our scarves in natural brown paper and hand-stamp each package with a gold Age of Reason Galleon ship representing quality and adventure. This Christmas we're adding our signature Russian doll  ceramic tags to all orders for large and medium scarves. 

We'll also be offering a gift subscription from Monday Dec 3rd, which includes 3 scarves to be shipped throughout the year.  Order by Dec Tues18th to receive them in time for Christmas

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COME TO YOUR SENSES - THE BEST OF BOB 2012

We've been inspired, excited, surprised and amazed over the past 3 days whilst exhibiting at Best of Britannia in London.  This exclusively British Made trade and retail show uses the tag line "Come to your senses" on its brochure, and now we understand why. We've tasted, we've smelled, we've touched, we've seen and we've heard things we didn't think were possible. 

  

Our Galleon ship stamp represents quality, integrity,  longevity and a dash of adventure. It is inspired by London's historic silk trade and cloth manufacturing heritage. 

Set in the historic Farmiloe building in Clerkenwell, the show attracted some of the UK's most skilled designer makers to exhibit, from Moulton bikes, to Anglepoise giant lamps and Hose tights. Kate Hills, Founder of Make it British asks "Who says Britain doesn't make anything anymore?" Quite right! Sock it to 'em Kate!

We strive to offer something quintessentially British, of extremely high quality enhanced by a playful twist drawn from out British punk heritage. Deborah Meaden, entrepreneur and owner of luxury goods brand The Merchant Fox swung but our stand on Friday and was very enthusiastic about our brand. She defines British designer strengths- "What we do well is something that is traditional, but presented in a relevant, modern way." (Apply that to Age of Reason scarves, and perhaps change to IRREVERENT ) 

What was clear about all the BoB exhibiting brands was not only a passion for British manufacturing,  but an obsession with making the best possible products.  Two minutes talking to Giles Ellis of  Schofield Watches is enough to convince anyone that this is a man who cares about watches more than you thought possible, but the results are exquisitely made timepieces with a seductive "heft" to them.  Tusting bags,  Pashley Cycles,  Archie Foal knitwear,  Jessica de Lotz  jewellery and Demarquette chocolates exhibit the same passion. 

The Age of Reason Pirate Queen scarf was shown at BoB, and proved a hit with Deborah Meaden, and while it's on her Christmas list, we're quite sure she won't be wearing hers like this. 

A brand, which particularly stood out to us was Dashing Tweeds, a company making tweed from 99% wool and 1% reflective yarn. Their product range includes cloth by the meter, reflective tweed cloaks and coats you can cycle in and some natty hats. This is exactly the sort of completely bonkers thing we love and expect from our fellow British designer makers. And we can't help thinking what brilliant stage outfits they would make for those of a rock and roll persuasion. 

Dashing Tweeds  are British Made fabrics with an exciting difference.  They have produced for House of Holland and Hudson Shoes,  and have worked on a collaboration with Topshop. 

We walked away with quite a few purchases ourselves, feeling absolutely justified at the premium cost because we've bought beautiful lifetime lasting things (apart from the chocolates that is!) We've also had a good chinwag with everyone from the other designers and visitors to Deborah Meaden, Mary Portas and Melanie Rickey; all people who've offered us their perspective and been very positive about our brand. 

We're already looking forward to the next BoB Event, around October 2013, when we hope to do it all again! The passion and energy so far have been fantastic. 

AGE OF REASON AT BOB

 We are excited to have been selected to participate at Best of Britannia (BOB) in London. Oct 5th-7th.  The event takes place in the amazing Farmiloe building in Clerkenwell. http://www.bestofbritannia.com/

To celebrate we've created this natty scarf styling video.  All the scarves shown will be available to wholesale and retail customers over the 3 days. 

Our model Tanja uses her creativity to style our Autumn Winter 2012 and permanent collection pieces. The owl scarves pictured were inspired by the UK's Brit punk heritage,  and were recently featured in Grazia.  They will also be available from our new stockist Wolf and Badger from November.