Emerging Fervour

Remember kids, guns aren’t cool – but bullets dangling round your neck look pretty hot. I got given some amazing samples from Love Bullets and wore this one to the Margin streetwear event yesterday (more on that soon).

30mm Silver Plated Clear Crystal £35 ∨

I loved it, mainly because of the message behind it…making something deadly into something beautiful that sends messages of love and peace. There are a few variations of the Love Bullet, check them out in the online store, but this one is my absolute favourite:

30mm Gold Plated Black Crystal £40 ∨

Looking through all of Kali Arulpragasam’s collections throughout the years from her jewellery line, Super Fertile, it’s clear that she has never waivered from her original objective, to highlight the issues facing the world today. Kali is M.I.A’s sister, and they’re both into the whole politics game…they want people to question and debate the things that are going in the world and not be entranced by the glitz portrayed in the media. I really admire Kali, she’s gone against the mainstream and made Super Fertile completely her own. Take a look at all her Collections on her Super Fertile site, but I’ve focused on my top 3 Collections from her site.

Summer 2010 ‘CRA$H’ Collection

‘Mortgage debt greater than the value of homes’ ^

‘3 Million unemployed and rising’ ^

‘British economy shrinks 3.5% Worst since 1945′ ^

Merri Making was created by two friends, Meg and Harri who had a thirst for adventure after graduating from Nottingham with Fine Art and Philosophy. Let’s be honest and say that not all of us could pull off this look, but I love the fact that there are people out there who do, whether for a laugh or as a fashion statement.

Towards the end of last summer Meg and Harri decided to make 20 of these hoods and cycled to the Green Man Festival as a bit of an experiment. They stored them in their backpack with a ‘For Sale’ sign on their own hoods – and managed to sell them  within two days, and it’s clear to see what designers need to do to…if the customers don’t come to you, you have to get to the customer.

About their little adventure, they say “it was nuts, the conversations we had with people about Merri Making was so GREAT that we just made more, got signed up to do stewarding and went to Bestival! It was such a great summer!”

Back in August, we covered Taxidermy jewellery brand, Loved to Death after a great tip off from whatkatiewore.com and it’s great to see the label pop up again but this time in the Laundry Rooms pop up shop. Our good friend Amanda from Pod1 posted a blog about the Laundry Room and YMC – You Must Create pop up shop and thought it would be great to mention that Loved to Death is getting the exposure it deserves.

The Laundry Room first launched back in 2005, selling an exclusive mix of independant British brands.  Having re-launched the site in December 2009, the Laundry Room the site is better than ever, bringing in a mix of great designers…here are some of our favourite pieces.

Guys…beat the man colds and wrap up warm in the big freeze with these finds…

YMC Chevron Scarf and Roeckl Sheep Skin Mitten click to go to their product pages.

Noir and pastels braided rope wool necklace $38 USD

Multi-colour braided wool necklace $38 USD

Red and Heather Blue rope braided wool necklace $32 USD

These scarves are made from a combination of wools, alpaca, hand spun glittery wools, eco wools, and many more. The wicked combination of colours adds an extra edge to your outfit. You can wrap them around as many times as you like…the more the warmer! The first is my personal favourite…definitely making an order on that one sharpish!!

Ski cap from eco-wool and other wool blends unisex and fits most $40.00 USD

The hats are made from eco wool – making them oh so soft and very natural to the touch. The little skier is made from wool and wool blends – ADORE THESE! Another for my list.

Urban Knitfits have only been around for a few months; set up by a group of knitting misfits from the salty shores of Portland Maine. We love this find and I’m so glad it’s winter already so I can wear it NOW! I also came across Abigail’s blog, who is one of the Knitfits co-founders – check her out!

Harlow in Chains is jewellery on steroids…huge, in-your-face statement pieces are what make this jewellery label so unique…based in New York, Harlow in Chains was created by Jeni Jaques after graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC.

Check out these campaign shots for ‘Fake Magazine‘, 11/09

Square Lust is the sort of find that you come across when you’re not even looking for it; focusing on fine print on silk scarves, this is the product of a collaboration between Artaksiniya and Fear Konstruktor. Based in Moscow, Russia – Square Lust captures the playful and imaginative mind of the designer.

To view the entire collection, visit the Square Lust site. To enquire about ordering these pieces, then email the guys at order@square-lust.com

Well we think we found the perfect gift or stocking filler!!

London based designer-maker A Alicia produces exquisite handmade fashion accessories based on exploiting the textural and sculptural possibilities of fabrics such as felt and net, as well as their fabulous depth of colour.

We’ve spotted A Alicia at the Islington Contemporary Art & Design Fair and fell in love with her quirky accessories, I even had to physically pull Tracey away!!

With each petal or bow being cut and sewn by hand, a love of craft and the skills involved is fundamental to A Alicia’s work.

You can buy her lovely accessories in her online shop or if you are in London in December, visit her at a fair.

Website: www.aalicia.bigcartel.com

Giant Corsage Brooch £90

Vintage Look’ bow and blossom brooch £45

Classic medium corsage brooch £25

Dark Gold Mix corsage brooch £30

Giant bow brooch £20

Flowers have been an inspiration for many designers and many years. For the forthcoming Spring/Summer 2010 collection Darkest Star have built on this and, from their studies of orchids, have incorporated origami into their work to produce a bag with a three dimensional orchid design. And they have done it beautifully!!

Each orchid is made of one single square of leather, which is then linked with two other orchids to create a geometric pattern which grows and unfolds across the satin nickel framed bag. The classic straight lines form a canvas on which the sculptured orchid shapes are displayed.

And you don’t even have to wait until next Spring to buy it!! ‘The Study of an Orchid’ collection is available to buy on their website www.darkeststar.co.uk

I first came across Alidra Alic’s jewellery collections a couple of months back whilst looking through the ‘things’ section of the COS site.

I am completely in love with the romantic surrealism captured in each piece. Alidra uses a self-invented technique to create these entirely unique plastic forms, adding freshwater pearls, gold, silver and precious stones to rings, necklaces, brooches and even cameos.

Alidra’s work challenges my perception of what jewellery is. In her own words, Alidra has “worked with themes of illusion and lack of function in order to awake the viewer’s curiosity, and to question logic”

It’s interesting that COS represents all that is clean and bold in cloth cuts, yet the jewellery designer holding their attention contrasts every inch, giving them yet another layer of intrigue.

Outside of the dreamy pieces from the Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Collection, I love the necklace of rings…

The pieces are for sale. Contact Alidra through her site and watch out for her online shop launching in December.