This past week I had the privilege of showing a few of my looks at Minneapolis/St.Paul Fashion Week Emerging Designer Showcase.  The show was put on by Jahna Peloquin of L'etiole magazine at the Co Exhibit in NE Minneapolis.  I and four other fashion designers were paired with five accessory designers to showcase our Autumn/Winter 2012 looks.  The show featured designers YQY by Vivian with jewelry by KR Designs, Nicole Larson with accessories by Lefthand Originals, Gina Marie Vintage with jewelry by Camba, Caroline Hayden with jewels by Via Patina, and I paired with accessories by Vanessa Zahid.  The show had a great mix of fashion, art and music by OSO and Mayda.  It was a great turnout and I want to thank everyone who made it to the show.

Here are my initial inspiration boards and sketches:

Since the initial trend concept and sketches, I did make a couple changes.  I was planning on adding piping detailing, bows and beading but after dyeing the fabric I realized there was too much going on.  The color spoke for itself.  What do you guys think?

Here are some photos I took on my i-phone ( you can probably tell I am obsessed with instagram right now :) )

Overall I was happy with how things turned out.  It was a little nerve racking dyeing my garments just days before the show but everything went well.  There was a great write up in city pages on the show, check it out here.

Since the show I have had a couple requests for orders on these dresses, so now my next task is to figure out manufacturing hand dyed pieces.  Stay tuned!

Xoxo

One of my all time favorite designers is English Designer Mathew Williamson.  I learned about his designs when I studied abroad in London back in 2007.  At the time, he just celebrated 10 Years in Fashion and showed an exhibition of his pieces at  the Design Museum, London.   His beautiful prints, vibrant colors, and attention to detail  really caught my eye, as well as the rest of the world. 

Here are a couple images of my favorite designs by him:

Williamson entered the US Market in 2009 with his flagship store in New York.  The luxury fashion house Matthew Williamson Ltd now produces 4 women’s ready-to-wear collections annually and currently has a customer portfolio which includes 170 prestigious wholesale accounts around the world.  To learn more about this fabulous designer check out his website here.

Mathew Williamson has really influenced my design aesthetic over the years.  This was my first look at fashion outside of the United States and really helped create the vision of MB designs.

I have really been interested in the dip dye and ombre effect that you can give to clothing.  Years ago when I worked at Jump ‘N Style Skatewear (now JNS Performancewear) the owner Cheri would hand dye white figure skating dresses and turn them into beautiful, one of a kind dresses.   I have always been intrigued to learn this technique and I hope to interpret this into some of my upcoming collections.  Here are some inspirational images:

Another dying technique is Bleach Tie Dye.. it does the reverse effect.

There is so much that you can do to create beautiful, one of a kind pieces with different dying techniques.  I can't wait to start playing around with different ideas and share the process with you.   Stay tuned...