Ethical Fashion Show 2014 #efs14 and my final collection!

1/5/14: The Ethical Fashion Show 2014 raised £2,500 for the Rehema charity!

An amazing night that showcased over 30 menswear and womenswear brands/designers. An amazing panel including: Safia Minney, Lucy Siegle, Ben Ramsden, Tamsin Lejeune, Kate Dangerfield and Sam Maker. All proceeds went to the Rehema Centre.

A beautiful venue at St. Pauls Hammersmith, a very insightful discussion about the current state of sustainability in the fashion industry and the future, with a brilliant panel of experts. It was funny to be sitting in the same room listening to people I have quoted and used as examples in my dissertation! Here are some images of the venue filling up and the panel.

        

I had the pleasure of showcasing my final collection at this event and am so happy I helped to contribute to a great cause. There really were some amazing examples of what can be done with ethical/sustainable fashion and some beautiful work from the designers. My collection featured with some established brands which I was happy about. My collection was mistakenly shown on women instead of men :), which I understand was an easy mistake to make, the colours, the prints etc. are extremely girly and are purposely pushing that boundary. I don't mind as it's quite a funny story and I still have the chance to style and showcase the collection on men myself at my end of year show. Here are some images of the collection on women and I will soon be showing it on men too, Unisex haha!!

       

“Donald Linderyd, www.dlinderyd.com”

“Donald Linderyd, www.dlinderyd.com”

I designed, made the patterns for and hand knitted all my jumpers with recycled yarn, some made from jersey, the cream jumper is recycled threads which makes a bouclé style yarn. I hand drew and edited my own prints for the trousers on Photoshop, then screen printed all my trousers with sustainable inks. I did all the patterncutting for my trousers and did all the manufacture, sewing etc. 

It was a great opportunity to be part of the show and it was a great event! I also won a raffle prize!!! This candle smells amazing and it's nice to know it isn't full of chemicals!

To check out Nathalie Bond Organics other products follow the links!

https://www.facebook.com/nathaliebondorganics

http://www.nathaliebond.com/

OOTD

My outfit today! My recently handknitted crop made out of offcuts from the fashion industry and my Carboot sale dress which was new with tags, on my cousins stall £2!

I love the dress but it's like a tent on me without something to accentuate the waist, it's a swing dress, so my new Crop was perfect. 

Thanks for looking :)

Testing new tools!

Yesterday I bought Ecotools foam applicator, I already had the big brush but wanted to test out the foam foundation brush. It's impressive that you can buy sustainable makeup tools in Boots. 

There's been alot of hype recently around this kind of applicator, I didn't want to buy a handheld egg type applicator, doesn't it just squeeze through to your hand? 

Anyway I applied my foundation, Bourjois Radiance Reveal, Healthy Mix, shade no.53 (light beige) with the foam applicator, found that it applies a very fine layer to your skin, looks very natural and almost airbrushed but I did find you have to use more foundation as the brush soaks up quite a bit. Plus if you have bad skin it isn't great for coverage, the foundation applied without the brush is better for coverage but you don't get the same finish.

(just after applying foundation) 

I had to use a lot of concealer for any spots etc. I would recommend this product for the amazing finish it gives skin but do consider you will need a good quality concealer for underneath as this thin layer of foundation doesn't hide blemishes at all. 

My finished look above, all images have no filter, I was extremely happy with the natural finish and feel of my foundation and love the new brush!  Well done Ecotools and Bourjois. 

NEW BEGINNINGS

Today I launched my logo and started on my website. Although there isn't any content available to buy, there will be soon... http://www.fayedonald.bigcartel.com/

I will be showcasing my capsule menswear collection of four outfits in the Ethical Fashion Show, London, at St. Pauls Hammersmith. This Thursday 1/5/2014. I will be sorting photography for the garments for my website once i get my garments back after the show.  

The Ethical Fashion Show is an exciting charity event that I am very happy to be a part of, not only will it be amazing to raise money for a great cause, the Rehema Project, but it boasts a great panel of industry speakers, over 30 designers/brands on the catwalk including myself AND Krispy Creme doughnuts will be there!!!!! It doesn't get better than that.

Fashion, Charity, food and much more. 

FIND MORE INFO ON THE EVENT HERE: https://www.facebook.com/events/749977665020659/?fref=ts

OOTD

Today I thought i'd share my first OOTD (outfit of the day), something I always forget to do. I do post snippets on Instagram but heres the full article...

Here are some old leggings I had hanging around and my amazing vintage DMs that my mum bought me for christmas, I have a big obsession with oversized shoes and I like to play with proportions. I absolutely love Dr Martens, they are the most comfortable and durable shoes you will ever buy. God knows how old this pair is but they are still like brand new. Plus my whole family hate these shoes and that's always a bonus!



Finally here is my vintage aran jumper, probably around £4 from the charity shop. I'm a big lover of second hand and am always advertising it to everyone I know. I literally live in big jumpers when studying, warm and comfy! I'm working at uni today so I opted for a pretty lazy outfit but i still like it.



I teamed some purple, black and pale pink eyeshadow from Benefit and Soap and Glory with a clear lip to compliment my outfit.

The end, I aim to post more OOTD's this week... hopefully!

Final Collection Progress

So as it happens, I have finished another garment for my final collection but also have a dissertation deadline... So it's bye bye knitting for now. Having a real problem leaving the knitting alone but having to prioritise, so for now here is another story of knitwear, colour and texture.

I chose to opt for simple stitches with this yarn as it doesn't knit up well with intricate stitch patterns and i also found from sampling that ribbing looks disgusting and unprofessional. Using this yarn has come with many restrictions but has also challenged me to think outside the box.

I've found it very liberating to choose this colour way and I absolutely love the colours together, there is still one jumper yet to come to complete the capsule collection but so far I'm happy with the mingling of the garments.

Final Collection

So i've been making my final collection, which I need to finish ASAP as there is a big opportunity for me coming up. I have been making progress on my knitting and have actually knitted five jumpers this month, which i'm very happy with. Here is an insight to the process behind making one of my final garments... After choosing my theme, colours and materials, I start with sampling.

I was happy with this as I love the amount of texture from the recycled yarn and the simple but effective stitch pattern. After taking measurements it was time to draft my pattern, with a little help from PG Tips amazing new cup (the monkey's dressing gown disappears when the cup gets hot) and Reese's Peanut Butter cups... My favourite!

After completing my patterns it was time to start making progress...

After one productive saturday I had drafted my block, made my patterns and knitted the back of my jumper and the knitted continued onto sunday.

The jumper currently looks like this but will look a little different by the end, can't wait to finish and show everyone the complete collection... all garments will be completed for my fashion show on the 30th May!