My Illusions of Grandeur

Well I think it’s finally time to blog about my very own accessories label that I have started.  ‘Illusions ofGrandeur’ is focused on creating statement pieces that will get people talking, not for the fainthearted the label main objective is to rise above the Idea that you must wear the latest collections or follow the latest trends to be stylish or to even look good. 

The label will be inspired by life experience, world travel, architecture,  modern technology, old technology, people, colours, literature, shapes and swirls, Dreams, attitudes,  mother nature and all her glory, the stars and universe, and anything that takes my fancy really.

The first range off the shelf is a range of statment necklaces called ‘Industrial Reflection’ made from clear and mirrored acrylic, crystal and chains it is heavily influenced by my travels to Taiwan and the architecture of the heavily populated city’s where everyone lives’ on top of each other in sky high buildings, and finding beauty in the concrete jungle.   

The Divas Necklace

 

 

Girl With 9 Tails Necklace

A Star is Born Necklace

Little Dreams Necklace

Starry Starry Night Necklace

Road To Infinity Necklace

Universal View Necklace.

Window To Your Soul necklace

    

Let me know what you think of the range or what you would like to see in future ranges.           

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival Brisbane Day 1

And so here we are again at the start of another Brisbane Fashion Festival. With bright lights, pretty dresses, and air-kisses all around it's a terribly exciting time for Brisbane fashion lovers.

The first show off the rank was 'Virgin Australia Group Show' with brands Scanlan & Theodore, Akira, Aurelio Costarella, Lisa Brown, and Easton Pearson as well as 'Kisses' on James st showing there wears.

Stand out's were Aurelio Costarella with his haute couture like garments of feathers and drapery, Lisa Brown with her 60's hippie inspired feminine dresses, and Easton Pearson's African fabrics inspired print.

Aurelio Costarella

Lisa Brown





Easton Pearson

Kate Anderson's First Flower

If you ask me, there is a shortage of new fashion labels coming out of Brisbane of late... Or maybe, I just don't know about them, because let's face it, advertising is expensive and when you’re just starting out, you usually don’t have the money to do things like hire a PR and Marketing person to get all the media to come to your launch.

That’s why I was quite impressed when I went to the launch of new label ‘Kate Anderson’ the other night. The event itself was very well managed, with a table of sparkling wines and exotic flavored juices and a bevy of staff walking around with platefuls of canapés. It was held at the White Canvas Gallery and before the fashion show began guests were kept entertained with a sneak look at their next exhibition which was to open the following night

The Kate Anderson debut collection 'First Flower' was inspired by the time the designer was given a flower by her partner, picked from the ground. After spending ages looking at this treasured gift, Kate was inspired by the symbolism of what a flower means - new beginnings and natural beauty, which became the driving forces behind her collection. 'First Flower' is a collection full of pastel colours, many garments designed for the corporate wear market, with some party dresses and casual attire thrown into the mix.

I have to admit I feel like she definitely has something going for her in the corporate wear department. I really liked the little surprises, like the gathered pleated shoulders on the lustrous blazer and the Bow Peep jacket with pleated back, featuring a bow sitting on the centre back waist line. As for the party dresses and casual wear, I did feel like the designs kind of missed the mark when it came to creating something that is unique to the label, to make her designs differ or stand out from other dresses out there. The floral party dresses did go some way to achieving that though.

The Designer taking her debut walk down the catwalk.


The photo's that weren't taken by myself were sourced at KateAnderson.com.au

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival Brisbane 2011 Launch

God! I can’t believe it’s almost a year since Brisbane Fashion Week 2010, how time flies. It’s a new year and with a new year comes the launch of the 6th Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival Brisbane. As in 2010, it is Going to be hosted by South Bank and with the same passionately dedicated team. For this year’s campaignthe face of the festival is model Claire Ralston of Vivien’s Model Management Wearing a Paul Hunt Capri blue silk gown, Diamond accessories from McKinney’s Jewellers and photographed by Ian Golding . The festival is currently looking for designers and retailers who want to show during the event and the way to do that is to go
into their website at www.mbff.com.au and request the application form. The full program will be announced on19 May so if you want to apply for a place you must be quick, tickets will also be on sale on 20 May from www.qtix.com.au or by phoning 136 246.

Tovah's New Beginning

Thanks to a fellow Fashion Blogger I discovered a brand new Brisbane Label ‘Tovah’ and oh boy is this labe going to go places. The creative mind behind it is a designer by the name of Tovah Cottle. Coming from Cyprus, Tovah arrived in Brisbane at the tender age of 12 and soon after was discovered by Dally’s Model Management. Modelling took her all over Europe and Asia but more importantly it opened her eyes to the world of high fashion and gave her the love and drive to move into designing. In 2008 she enrolled into Advanced Diploma in Fashion Design At MSIT (My old School) and 2.5 years later she graduated with an even bigger passion for fashion and determination to succeed as a designer.

Tovah's designs are highly structured with obvious influences from architecture and form not usually seen on the human body. When combined with a fascination with Edwardian Detailing and the grace of the women of the early 20th Century, you're bound to see something out of this world. It seems like Tovah is unafraid of technical challenges and even thrives on making the impossible possible. I would even go so far as to say that give her a few more years and Tovah could even rival Thierry Mugler.

Tovah was the Australian finalist in the 'Triumph Inspiration Awards' and was voted Top 10 by judges Mathiew Williamson, Helena Christiensen, and Hillary Riva.

From the 'Shadow' S/S 2010 Collection

From the 'Barra from Elle set celui' S/S 2010



From the 'New Beginning' A/W 2011 Collection

Photo's from Tovah.com.au

The Creative Studio Of Sean Young

On Wednesday night I was invited to attend the opening of a new studio space in East Brisbane. ' SYC Studios ' is what it's called and it's the home of Sean Young. The studio is meant to be a place for a multitude of uses, whether it be for a photo or film shoot with its 7mx8mx5m tall ceiling or renting office space. Sean is happy to share the space to foster any creative endeavours, including use of the venue to showcase performance art, which you can tell is one of his great loves. That's why the studio will be holding special nights to support the performers of Brisbane, but more about that later. I would also like to talk more about Sean Young's work on a later date because it is so amazing and vast I feel that It deserves its own post altogether.

So about the night. Well, even before we walked in we were greeted by a film crew who recorded us while we got to cut the ribbon with golden scissors. We were then handed a flute of champagne and given a choice of what flavoured gelato to put into it (best idea ever). The event was filled with food carried around by a stilt walker, speeches, a performance by an acrobat, and more of that fab gelato champagne.

On one Saturday of every other month, SYC Studios will play host to an event called 'Snapshot' which is an experimental performance night in where one performer curates and themes the evening and selects a number of other performers to create a short, relatively lo-fi, experimental work based on the theme. The first curator is the performer Leah Shelton (of Polytoxic and the Brides of Frank) and her theme is "death scenes / fatalities". It will be a multimedia event including visual artists responding to the theme of the night. 'Snapshot' will most likely be licensed (to be confirmed) and if you bring your own cup you will save $5 off the door, so it's $15 BYO cup or $20 without. All money raised gets divided among the artists so they can keep making the world a more entertaining place to be.

The night will finish off with some great music, dancing and mingling till around 2:00am.

Doors open 7:00pm
Shows start 8:30pm
Party finishes 2:00am

For any inquires about the space the details are:

SYC Studios
37 Manilla st, East Brisbane, Australia 4169
0401313974
info@sycstudios.com

On entering the front door your'e greeted with images of some of Sean Young’s work.

Some images of the studio, I love the 1950's rockabilly feel of the place.

An acrobat and other performers entertaining the crowd.




All photos are my own and taken by me.