The Memphis Collection

I'm really excited to be unveiling new work over the next few days. Over the last year, during semi-maternity leave, I have been creating a new and exciting collection inspired by the work of 80's collective, the Memphis Group. With lots of monochrome jacquard and bright, saturated pops of colour, this collection was a joy to make and even more fantastic to shoot. 

Thanks to my incredible team, photographer Alyssa Boni, stylist Grace Woodward, make-up artist Jo Reyes at Smashbox UK, hair by Naz Sonmez and our model was Elina. Keep an eye on Instagram to see the images slowly be revealed....

Gorgeous women in their gorgeous knits

As a New Year project we're gathering together photographs of our customers wearing their various incarnations of our most popular style, the cocoon cardigan. Part snuggly cardi, part coat, they never fail to be a hit every season and (in the UK at least) are a wardrobe essential about 85% of the year. As you can see here, they go with everything and are extremely flattering. If you have one and want to be included in the project, please send us a photo of you in yours!
Below: Grace Woodward, Hannah Rochell, Anita Rani, Amelia Evans, Kim Taylor Bennett, Neneh Cherry

Bump and beyond, part two

In May I wrote a post on maternity style in which I talked about the difficulties of retaining a sense of self during pregnancy, trying to remain stylish and not succumbing to sack-like clothing (unless a shapeless sack is just your thing, in which case, carry on). I thought about my own pregnancy last year and realised that - almost subconsciously - I had started to make more maternity-friendly shapes. Some of the pieces from my Spring/Summer 2015 'Hangar' collection morphed brilliantly into maternity wear and so, too, do a few from our 'Archive' collection for Autumn/Winter 2015.

The Alice cocoon cardigan, Bertie wrap cardigan and Beatrix striped t-shirt dress have all been expertly modelled below by my beautiful friend Mimi (who was around 8 months pregnant at the time). But just to demonstrate how brilliantly versatile our cocoon cardigans are, I've also included a shot of me wearing the Alice and using it to provide a little coverage as I breastfeed my daughter.

The Pacific Skirt

Another gem that slipped out at the end of the 80s was Pacific State by 808 State. One of the old school classics, it appears on just about every nostalgic classic house compilation out there. It is the sound of the summer, so was an obvious choice while I was designing the S/S 2015 collection.

Slip into the fine-gauge cotton blend Pacific skirt with bare feet for a day by the pool or on the beach, then whack on a pair of colour-pop heels for a balmy night out.

The Good Life top

I reckon I've wrecked a few pairs of heels over the years dancing to this one. Today's post is about Good Life and the sweater it named, following on from our last post on the Spring/Summer 2015 collection and the tracks that inspired it.

At the tail end of the 80s Inner City released Good Life and it was such a powerful, seminal track that it sounds as good today as it did then and, in my experience, never fails to get everyone on their feet the minute it comes on. It was so good, it was re-recorded and released again ten years later in 1999. Our Good Life sweater is a fine-gauge knit and a staple for your wardrobe, perfect for our unpredictable British summers, it'll see you through to autumn. We've included the brilliantly low budget video to Good Life below. Sums up the '80s in a nutshell.

Bump and beyond

Pregnancy is a notoriously difficult period, style-wise. Nine long months for some and yet a mere snippet of a woman's life, overall. Still, your body is changing throughout and it can be tough to retain a sense of self and stay true to your style without resorting to tent-like structures for those who prefer to conceal, or permanent stretch jersey for the embrace-the-bump types.

Like many mums I know, I had an aversion to actual maternity wear, so with a bit of creativity I managed to get through my pregnancy without it - knotted shirts and tube skirts in larger sizes saw me through brilliantly. Even better is to be able to continue to wear and enjoy the things you've bought after the baby is born, too. 

It's inevitable that my collections are going to be inspired by whatever is happening in my life at the time. While it wasn't a conscious decision design-wise, there were a few pieces that morphed perfectly into maternity wear and I wore these constantly throughout the last few months before my daughter was born. As I mentioned in the post about the Halcyon cardigan earlier this week, this was my wardrobe saviour and is subsequently my favourite piece from the Spring/Summer 2015 collection. The Harmony dress was another failsafe. My lovely friend Mimi is due in five weeks' time and very kindly agreed to demonstrate just how maternity friendly these pieces can be:

The Halcyon Cardigan

Orbital's Halcyon and On and On was released in 1993 and I loved it so much it appeared on pretty much every mix tape I made over the next few years. I still can't get enough of it - it's a particularly good one to play once the temperature starts to rise, even better if I'm driving around the countryside in my ancient BMW with all the windows down.

As mentioned in a previous post about the Spring/Summer 2015 collection, the colour palette and general vibe for these pieces was inspired by some of my favourite house tracks from the '90s. As the weather is finally improving I thought I'd talk you through some of those tracks and the pieces that have been named after them. The wrap cardigan (pictured above) that shares its name is one of my favourite pieces from this collection. I wore it to death at the end of my pregnancy last September and for that reason alone, it holds a special place in my heart. It is the perfect spring throw-on.