Hearts and Bones

My latest collaboration encouraged me to dabble into the world of found objects. A trawl round the charity shops and car boots of Manchester (and several layers of spray paint later) saw the transformation of these unwanted  objects into this minimalistic, yet feminine set. The illustrations add a final touch of the whimsical.

For full editorial see: http://asyouaremagazine.com/fashion/editorial-hearts-bones

Shirt and T-shirt (worn over the top), leather skirt all by Lauren hogg, Vintage bangles - Stylists own

Lace top-vintage, dungarees-ASOS, Jelly shoes- Ju Ju

Trousers, shirt and jacket all by Lauren Hogg, Jelly shoes- Ju Ju

Lace top-vintage, dungarees-ASOS, Jelly shoes- Ju Ju

Shirt and T-shirt (worn over top), leather skirt all by Lauren Hogg, Vintage bangles - Stylists own

Photographer - Helen Kirkbright

Styling - Zoë Hancock
Hair and Make up: Temi Aboderin

Set Design - Katie Bowker
Model - Natalie @ Boss Model Management

Illustrator: Faye West

Geometric # 1

A recent collaboration with stylist Zoë Hancock saw the creation of this futuristic backdrop. What began with a weekend of constructing triangular plastic forms ended in this inspiring result.

The geometric structures create a strong contrast to the free flowing forms of the garments. Teamed with the pastels used in the backdrop, these images show that the futuristic can also be feminine!

 Garments by Michael John Bolton-Heaton

Jacket - Michael John Bolton-Heaton / Leggings - Laura Smith

Photographer – Xanthe Hutchinson

Styling – Zoë Hancock
Model – Sophie Bailey @ Next
Set Design – Katie Bowker & Zoë Hancock
Make up – Temi Aboderin
Hair – Verity Faichen & Michelle Selby
Photographer Assistant – Sophie Lickiss

Floral Frenzy

‘Floral Frenzy’ is the title I have given to a bespoke backdrop I produced by request of friend and stylist Zoë Hancock. Zoë approached me to help produce a set for a shoot she was working on with photographer Xanthe Hutchinson ‘inspired by Meadham Kirchoff, 90’s grunge and the Spice Girls’.

With a piece of vintage, floral wallpaper (Zoë provided me with) as a starting point, I set to work creating this giant floral decoupage wall piece. This to me screamed 70’s psychedelia, but also encompassed the throw anything together attitude of grunge. Zoë’s clever amalgamation of prints, Temi’s trashy yet colourful hair and make-up and finally models Madeline White and Kaitlin Pilcher all contributed to the success of these images Xanthe captured on the shoot.

Photographer-Xanthe Hutchinson

Models- Madeline White @ Industry & Kaitlin Pilcher @ BOSS

Set Design- Katie Bowker & Zoë Hancock

Hair & Make up- Temi Aboderin

Styling – Zoë Hancock

A selection of the garments were kindly lent by 'We are Plaque'- http://www.weareplaque.com/

Behind The Scenes!

The following images are a couple of sneaky behind the scenes shots courtesy of photography assistant Sophie Lickiss (sophielickiss.blogspot.com):

Fashion Shoot

Recently I had the opportunity to work with Stylist and friend Zoe Hancock again. She styled with some of my new pieces and revisited previous work. I love working with Zoe as I know that she is not scared of pushing the idea of pattern and colour in her work. This project also allowed me to work with photographer Xanthe Hutchinson who is currently focussing on high fashion editorial work.

This image reinvents my sculptural skirt. Originally the pieces used to construct the skirt were created for installation work, becoming a new piece each time they were placed into a space. The skirt is constructed each time it is worn, making it a completely individual piece. On this occasion it's composition was perfect for this ballerina inspired image.

This image uses an elaborate cape which I produced for a project involving the Harris Art Gallery, Preston. The piece was created as an interpretation of a victorian cape, using laser cutting techniques. I like the use of spots within this set, which create a contrast between the intricate embellishment of the cape with the bold shapes of the circles. 

 

This intricate collar/neck-piece uses laser cut vintage fabric. The pattern on the fabric cannot be seen on this image; it is an intricate paisley design in different shades of orange.

The vintage aspect of this piece is portrayed with the use of  lampshades and a parasol which belonged to my Nanna.

The following three images are the debut of my three capes within a fashion shoot. The three different looks of the capes have been documented through the styling and set design of Zoe. I love the tree in the background which was used as an integral part of each set.

A big thank-you to everyone involved: Zoe Hancock (stylecrumpet.blogspot.com) and her innovative clothing combinations and sets, Xanthe Hutchinson (xanthehutchinson.weebly.com) for her amazing photography, assisted by Sophie Lickiss (sophielickiss.blogspot.com), Oliver James for his fantastic hair constructions, Pippa for her fabulous make-up and model Virginije. 

New Designers 2011

This June I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to exhibit at New Designers in London. The exhibition was enormous, showcasing talent from graduates across the whole of the UK. It was great to meet fellow designers and have the opportunity to talk to representatives from industry. For this exhibition I wanted to try and show a varied cross-section of my work, rather than focussing on one item. The use of frames and photographs helped me to put physical samples on display and demonstrate them in the context of garments:

MA Final Exhibition

The following images show my final pieces which concluded my MA Surface Pattern Design. Each cape has been embellished with an individual heat transfer design based on my previous three-dimensional designs, demonstrating the versatility of my work.

The pieces still work on the idea of visual impact, using the variation of different shapes, patterns and textures combined together ( a mixture of new and vintage fabrics used to create these) to create and explosion of colour and shape:

Each cape has a different design transferred onto it. The positioning of the designs was decided in much the same way as my installation work. Impulsively treating the garments as I would space, I aimed to accentuate overlooked areas of the garments using the designs.

Each design uses a different cut-out shape, and when overlaid on each fabric result in three very visually contrasting garments which compliment each other beautifully.