Latest coverage: Sur La Terre magazine

We're very pleased to see our Marcella fringed cardigan on the cover of the latest issue of Swiss magazine, Sur La Terre! Buy yours at Wolf & Badger in Mayfair, or La Muse in Geneva. See the magazine in full here.

A new fan on E! News

We're delighted to see our Alison top has had no less than two outings across the pond in the last week, sported by E! News presenter Alicia Quarles who has recently interviewed Will Ferrell, Bruce Weber (a personal hero of ours) and Janelle Monae, to name a few. Last week she styled it simply, with a skirt and heels shown below, just before filming. Yesterday she made an appearance in the same top (bottom image), worn over a sheer blouse with tartan trousers. We love her style.

The Justine cardigan #2

We just wanted to share these great shots of two lovely ladies enjoying their Justine cardigans over the last couple of weeks.

Below: Hannah Rochell, Junior Fashion Editor at InStyle, wearing hers in the office and broadcaster Anita Rani, filming in Russia for the BBC, wearing hers over several other layers to keep out the freezing cold.

To find out more about how the Justine cardigan came about, read our blog post from earlier this year.

Latest coverage: The Guardian

It's National Wool Week, which always gets us a little overexcited here in the studio, as we're big supporters of the British yarn industry. We were delighted to be contacted by the Guardian for a quote on the subject of yarn in the UK and were name-checked in their article on this yesterday.

They then went on to feature our Marcella fringed cardigan in their round-up of best British designs. Not a bad start to the week!

The Nicolette skirt

One of my all time favourite bands is Massive Attack. I listened to them from around 1991 onwards and still can't get enough of Blue Lines. But it was Nicolette's (pictured below) voice that I really loved when I heard her on their second album, 'Protection'. I subsequently bought her album 'Let No-One Live Rent Free in Your Head' when it came out a couple of years later - which is an amazing, slightly bonkers CD which sounds as fresh to me now as it did when it was released.

The Nicolette skirt is the star piece of the Autumn/Winter 2013 collection. A ribbed panel wraps the waist and hips and supports more panels which are heavy, intricate layers of hand crocheted lurex, cashmere and brass chain. It took around 60 painstaking hours to make and the image below does not do it justice! For the time being, you will have to take my word for it that it feels amazing to wear. 

Interview: My Chic City visit the studio

My Chic City came by the studio recently to chat with me about the brand, as well as raiding my wardrobe. I'll admit I was a little apprehensive about being in front of the camera (I'm far more comfortable behind the lens), but those guys are so easy to be around, I enjoyed it more than I thought. Here are a couple of shots the girls took using my iPhone. You can see the rest and read the interview on MyChicCity.com.

[Top photo: jacket by Vivienne Westwood, skirt Amy Hall S/S 2012 - click here to buy in sale, clutch Bracher Emdem, necklace Celia B. Left: silk coat Shanghai Tang, dress vintage Ossie Clarke, shoes Alexander Wang]

The Justine Cardigan

With the Autumn/Winter 2013 collection out in the open, I thought it would be a good idea to explain a little about how it came about and where some of the pieces' names came from.

After a rummage at my Mum's on the Isle of Wight last year, I unearthed a load of my old CDs from my teens - albums by Garbage, Elastica, Massive Attack, Tricky and, going back a bit further, Shakespeare's Sister and Tori Amos, to name a few. It got me thinking about the music specifically and that time in my life in general. I was a fairly upbeat and happy teenager but a lot of that music was quite angst-y and moody, which pretty much the vibe at the time.

So I returned to London with an armful of my old CDs and proceeded to listen to all of them, reminiscing in that gleeful, indulgent way that you do when you rediscover gems that you'd forgotten all about. The music inspired a feeling that harked back to the 90's and the grunge period and so the seed for the AW13 collection was sewn. The dark reds, blues and greys all reflect a mood that was inspired by that music.

One of my favourite pieces from this collection is the Justine cardigan, named after Justine Frischmann of Elastica (below - I'm sure I tore this picture out of the NME and had it on my wall). When 'Stutter' first came out I couldn't get enough of it - I remember waiting for it to come on the radio and frantically pressing record on the cassette so I could tape it. It had pride of place on one of my favourite mix tapes which, sadly, has long since disappeared. I thought Justine was super cool and her love triangle with Brett Anderson (who I had a bit of a crush on) and Damon Albarn only made me admire her even more.

The cardigan itself is based on a bestselling shape from a previous season and is so dense it could easily be worn in place of a coat. It's knitted in a British blend of cashmere & lambswool, so is incredibly warm and the shape means it's versatile enough to go with almost anything in your wardrobe.

Autumn/Winter 2013 lookbook

Our Autumn/Winter 2013 lookbook is now live on the website. You can view it here. Below are a few highlights from the new collection, which was inspired by the music I loved in the early '90s. Let us know what you think:

LFW at Wolf & Badger: showroom highlights

London Fashion Week is over: back to work! It was a brilliant few days in the Wolf & Badger showroom - the other designers have been good fun and hanging out with them was my fashion week highlight.  Below are (in no particular order) shots of Philippa Long with Mariana, yours truly, Leo of Feather M, Julie of John & Pearl, Lynnja Wang, Lisen at Fury and the guys at Vielma and LF Markey, as well as a few of our visitors:

LFW: PPQ

Also sharing the London Fashion Week showroom in Wolf & Badger this season are PPQ. Their rails of super colourful clothing have brightened up the place no end. I am madly coveting their amazing Manolo Blahniks. Doesn't Amy Holden-Smith look fab in her pink coat, too?

LFW: Feather M

The lovely Leo of Feather M is to my left in the Wolf & Badger LFW showroom. I love her new season feather clutch. One to go on the ever-growing 'want' list...

Amy Hall Autumn/Winter 2013 at LFW

We're very excited that we're going to be taking part in London Fashion Week this year. From this Friday (15th Feb), you'll find us in Wolf & Badger's showroom on Dover Street in London's Mayfair, until Tuesday 19th. So come by, view the new collection and exclusively pre-order pieces that won't be available to buy until September.

Autumn/Winter 2013 lookbook shoot: behind the scenes

Last weekend saw yet another lookbook shoot fly by. We worked with a new photographer this season, Alyssa Boni and the team had a great day in her studio in Kentish Town. Elina, our model, made everything look sensational and while things are pretty hectic as London Fashion Week looms, we're all super excited about showing off the new collection for Autumn/Winter 2013.

Below are some shots from Sunday - Ellie Tobin working on make-up, Kim Taylor Bennett shooting a behind-the-scenes video and finally, Alyssa and I working on the edit with a well-earned glass of wine.