Sneak peek at: Yang Du ss12

 

After checking out Yang Du's Spring Summer collection for 2012 we now have images and a exclusive interview for you readers so that you can get a true insight into what fun things Yang has in store for us.

Tell us about the brand and how  you started your fashion career?  

I came here ten years ago from china I went to Central Saint Martins for my BA in fashion design. I was interning at John Galliano for Christian Dior in Paris but came back to do my MA in women’s wear at Central Saint Martins. I never thought I would work for myself, but I was selected as a finalist for ITS 7 fashion competition in Italy Trieste. Throughout the process I was picked up by great PR company who really helped me along with dazed and confused everybody’s been so supportive. I came back and had two seasons with on/off and I had two seasons at Newgen. From doing this I have had a great celebrity following and had my clothes worn all over the world, for example Hong Kong china and Britain.

Which celebrities have worn your clothes?

Marina diamonds, Daisy Lowe and Paloma Faith have been very supportive. Now I’m on my 8th season and have shown at London Fashion Week, Paris and I went to New York last season as well. I’m still learning everyday but it’s going really well, I’m just lucky that I can do what I want to do for a job.

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

I like to travel, which helps me as you can take inspiration from anywhere.

I’ve been travelling a lot, whilst traveling I like to talk to people, take photos and I paint a lot which eventually develop into  inspiration for my collections

How did you apply this to your latest collection?

My latest collection winker boy is inspired from my trip to Berlin because I’m working on a feature film...

What’s your favourite piece from the SS12 collection?

Well I love them all but the squirrel Cardigan and the magpie piece stand out for me.

What’s the most important thing you as a designer takes into consideration when designing a collection

Enough sleep (laughs) or I will go mad.

Do you have any thing exciting happening soon?

I did a project with Millie's cookies I designed the cookie and ten percent of the sale went  to my charity of choice save the children. In my life lots of inspiration comes from children, wherever I go, so it’s nice to give back. The latest collaboration is with Fashion 156, I have designed a limited edition t-shirt online alongside other designers.

 

Yang Du has created yet another witty and fun filled collection full of quirky characters and fabulous colour and texture combinations. So next summer looks like its going to a bright and whimsical season thanks to Yang Du and her winker boy collection.

www.yangdu-duyang.com

Brand Update: Teatum Jones

 

 

 

We got the chance to look at Teatum and Jones new and exciting ss12 collection as well as meeting with one part of the fantastic duo Catherine Teatum at LFW last month. After the dust settled from yet again another hectic fashion week we got the opportunity to interview the designers behind this creatively innovative brand. So here it is !

What does fashion mean to you and your brand?

Everything. We sacrifice time with our loved ones to spend the majority of our waking hours creating our brand and laying out the brand’s future.

What made you want to become a fashion designers?

We met whilst working together on menswear and became enamored with one another’s sense of escapism. We are both besotted with the power of a story and drawn to both romance and tragedy, which leads us to seek out beauty and refinement in what is ordinarily considered sinister or dark. We are also fascinated by human behaviour and exchanges, as such the Teatum Jones signature is within our anthropological approach to design and fashion.

What are some of your accomplishments as designers?

We were part of the 2009 finalists group for Fashion Fringe, which made us very determined to go on and succeed. Our second AW11collection was the first time we took our brand to retail and we were picked up by stores in four major international territories; London, New York, Dubai and Jeddah. We were approached by the long standing fashion icon Annie Lennox to create a bespoke dress for her from our debut SS11 collection to be worn at a high profile Charity event organized by the HRH Prince of Wales. For our third season we were given an On Schedule slot at LFW for which we held our DebutSS12 Presentation at the prestigious RSA on the Strand.

What do you believe makes a quality article of clothing?

1. Authenticity in an intelligent design concept
2.A respect of craftsmanship towards manufacturing and production.

What's your favorite part of being designers?
The impulsive and instinctive way that next seasons ideas start simmering away as soon as
we have shot the look book to the currentcollection….its a weird juxtaposition because we’re stood selling current season whilst discussing the music for the next show or event!

What does the future hold for Teatum and Jones?

Our LFW events will become ever more interesting and deeply intertwined with the collection’s theme. We want to further expand our retail presence in the US and the Middle East, the latter of which is a very interesting and directional market at the moment and for next season we’re keeping our fingers crossed that we are going to be able to collaborate with an incredibly talented shoe designer, talks have already begun!!

This ss12 collection looks at sentimental perfections of 1950 American suburbia and the darker side of life behind those pastel coloured walls. Delving deeper the collection is mainly designed around a story of a vibrant young couple swept away by a dream of perfection and the reality of what happens when that artificial dream expires leaving you with nothing but your own surreal and frantic desire to escape. We are treated to a carefully considered and applicated mix of masculinity and femininity. Traditional mens-wear tailoring details such as lapels, pockets and vents were manipulated and altered in size, creating surreal proportions. Feminine fluid silk dresses played a huge part in this collection all effortless, elegant and unique in pattern whilst using a strong, escapist, cloudy, surreal collage narrative print throughout. We loved the combination of mens-wear detailing throughout this womens-wear collection along with the beautiful prints which made the collection truly irresistible. Their preeminent capped shoulder dresses engineered to fill with air to illustrate the vast expanse of a surreal and escapist landscape, was the main winner for us which clearly took clever engineering and development which is hugely apparent throughout this SS12 collection. 

www.teatumjones.com

LfW Catwalk Update: Ashish

Yet again Ashish brought a exciting collection to the table, showcasing playful slouchy styled garments. Bright oranges, pinks, purples and yellows were used for florals along with black and white backgrounds in checkerboard, stripe and harlequin patterns, resulting in funky contrasts. Playful, easy and simplistic silhouettes were covered with contrasting busy sequins, which adorned them. Bold lilies, daisies, sunflowers and dandelions played a big part within this collection along with other quirky looks such as a fun cartoon like brick pattern and flower filled boots. Paper bag waists tied with ropes and trilby hats completed the summer garden look. KTW loved this collection; we cannot wait to get our hands on these glitzy, eccentric, cartoonised summer pieces.

www.ashish.co.uk

LFW Catwalk Update: Sass & Bide

Sass and bide treated us to a array of vibrant wonders, this collection had us wanting more and more. Fluorescent yellows, bright whites, crisp oranges and other clean but eye-popping colors stormed the catwalk. The black and gold combos brought an air of glamour to the collection and lets not forget those fabulous sequins and contrasted stripes along with a geometric tribal feel. Silhouettes consisted of delicate draping on long evening wear, along with sculpted pieces with combined figure hugging sections. Ranging from airy, easy moving garments to more structured pieces their really was a outfit for everybody. We loved how this collection was not only fierce but sexy, achieved by showing just a bit of flesh, using sheer fabric combined with strategically placed opaque fabrics and still resulting in clean pristine cuts.

www.sassandbide.com