Category Archives: SUCCESS HACKS

“Modern clothes need a certain romantic feel.” From humble beginnings, Jeanne Lanvin built a fashion empire, one that is still standing strong today. Lanvin found international fame during the 1920s, as the streamlined aesthetic of Art Deco was rising around her, but in contrast, her style was billowing, decadent and romantic, bringing sumptuous fabrics, luxurious…

The fin de siècle was a time of cataclysmic change: rising industry, the age of enlightenment and women’s liberation pulled apart 18th and 19th century Victoriana. Fashion adapted quickly as designers broke away from centuries of stifling tradition with loose silhouettes and experimental designs, allowing both men and women to move freely without constriction, and…

“My work is a kind of handbook – to deal with the ghosts of what has happened.” When Lubaina Himid won the Turner Prize in 2016 the world sat up and took notice. Not only was she the first black woman to be presented with the award, but at 63 years old she was the…

There is an increasing environmental awareness to how we live our lives – zero carbon output might initially be seen as idealistic – but a more sustainable life is achievable. Looking at where life can be improved and consumption reduced is a design imperative. It is at the forefront of discussions (as both villain and…

Craft and design are important to us today. They provide tangible and stable objects in our modern, often stressful, lives. It is possible for objects to have meaning beyond use value. I want to focus here on how we interpret designed or crafted objects. Design is everywhere is a truism we all understand. We need…

Sometime in 2008 an offer came through my agents to collaborate with an’ exciting and provocative lingerie brand- Lascivious, who’ were looking for illustrators’ to design a playing card that would’ form their infamous ‘Love’ deck of cards. Little did I know this would be the beginning of a friendship and an ongoing collaboration with the founder Chloe Hamblen…

There is a fascinating’ wave of new businesses flourishing’ within the’ industry catered for and around children and motherhood, from fabulous recipes on how to cook a dinner in 30 minutes, miniature ‘Mama’ pendants and ‘Mother’ sweatshirts to celebrate motherhood, great independent kids fashion brands and of course online shops that sell you everything you want your offspring…

Karina Kino and Tim featuring Karina Kino dress / Photo by Olga Jadan I came across’ Karino Kino, a Moscow based kids and women’s apparel brand, as it usually happens, through a friend who on her return from Moscow, proudly showed me her crisp’ white’ shirt inhabited by fun watercolour forest creatures. Clean cut,’ simple shirts with quirky drawings’ are…

Charlotte Eve Norman is a young British set designer, who loves riding her bike, eats ice cream, and who has just’ run her first ultra marathon in the Race to the Stones. In life Charlotte is indeed a rare specimen of a sunny person,’ the kind of person you are drawn to simply to bathe in the…