Category Archives: SUCCESS HACKS

I once attempted to set up my own little silk worm farm. I was hoping to grow my own silk as part of my research for a book I wrote, Green is the New Black: How to change the world in style. In theory, it was all very simple. I ordered some silk worm eggs…

My teenage daughter recently joined one of the Youth Strike 4 Climate days instigated by the Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg. It was part of the Fridays for Future campaign where pupils from around the world walk out of school to protest about the lack of urgency they feel the adults in power are…

Picking your way through the minefield of which fabrics are kinder to the planet, there is a lot of confusion around cotton. As consumers and makers we tend to think cotton is one of the most humble, natural and biodegradable fabrics on the market. It comes from the natural world – we can all picture…

Getting dressed in the morning, buying clothes in store or textiles for the home, the questions on our minds, as consumers and makers, are usually along the lines of: does it fit me? Do I like the style and colour? Is it easy to wash? As the world is waking up to the hidden cost…

When it comes to 20th century pioneers, Anni Albers is the quietly tenacious artist who defied all expectations by blending technical mastery with experimental Modernist abstraction to revolutionise the ancient craft of weaving into an art form in its own right. Pointing to the rigid divisions between fine and applied arts in her later years,…

The name Sonia Delaunay is synonymous with kaleidoscopic colours and prismatic designs that seem to splinter, shift and dance before our eyes. In a 60 year long career, her daring, vivid Simultaneisme encompassed paintings, textiles, fashion design, costume and interiors, making her one of the greatest pioneers of the Modernist era. While history has favoured…

There is a sparkling lightness of touch associated with Raoul Dufy’s practice, one that defines the joi de vivre of the Parisian Belle Epoque era he was raised in. One of his most popular quotations, “my eyes were made to erase all that is ugly,” reveals his inclination towards the decorative and beautiful, or the…

In this new series, we will explore three revolutionary artists who have crossed over from the art world into textiles and fashion, delving into the obstacles they faced and what led them to pursue commercial ventures. Art and fashion: two distinct industries, yet their divide is more porous today than ever. Many of today’s contemporary artists…

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…

I met Keely Hunter through a mutual friend going by the name of Mr Hat. A dear friend of mine, and my former lecturer who is now head of Art and Design at the University of Bedfordshire was looking for a consultant from the’ millinery industry to help him set up a new course structure and…

My first encounter with Rosy’s work happened about a year ago when I met the rainbow runner’ accessories designer Fred Butler. Fred and Rosy had worked together in unison on several of Fred’s collections and I was in awe of the fearless handmade revolution of accessories pushing boundaries I had stumbled across.’ I later found out that…