AW10 - The hit list

Now no fighting girls - this season its all about the Penguin print headscarf...

To be worn in all moods, for all occasions. If you don't have one in September you just ain't cool sister. FACT.


For when one is "melancholy"


..."angry"


..."not quite yourself aka not enough sleep and a bit nuts"


...has "lost the plot"


...or just a little bit sad. Your pure silk Penguin print scarf will turn that frown upside down and at just £40 each it would be rude not to.

The scarves will go on sale in September at selected stockists which will be confirmed shortly. If you are interested in purchasing one I would suggest you email me your interest and I will keep your details on record to inform you when they hit the stores.

As I am keeping the label very small this year, there will be a very limited number of scarves made, so make sure you get in there.

charlotte@charlottetaylorltd.com

p.s If you email you are by no means obliged to buy, I will just inform you of when stock is released

You live. You learn. You learn. You share.

Working with fello enthusiasts

Over the past few months many people have emailed me asking me for advice (which is strange for me, but lovely) and I as always try and be as honest and matter as fact as I can possibly be. This week has included a couple of really interesting projects.

Katie's Design brief

Katie is a student at Bath Spa, where she studies Fashion Design and has asked me to write her a design brief for one of her projects. This is a strange one for me as I have no experience in teaching but have a fair amount of experience in receiving design briefs at college.

Katie needs to see me three times.
1. To be briefed
2. To get feedback
3. To show me the final presentation

The project started this week and we had arranged to meet next week but unfortunately I have meetings in London so our initial meeting will be over the phone (sorry Katie!).


So when thinking about the brief I wanted to come up with something enjoyable and interesting whilst remaining relevant.
I chose the "World Wide Web", asking Katie not to look at it as a library of information on other designers through blogs and on-line magazines but to look at the structure and development of the web and the implications it has on people's lives.

It is a very open brief and I gave Katie a few ideas on where she can go so lets see what she comes up with...

Elaine and friends' Industry Project

Elaine, Amanda, Bianca, Alison, Ib, Esther are brand management master students from Istituto Marangoni (London) and asked to meet with me this week.

They wanted to get a better understanding of the process and development of womenswear in the fashion industry and wanted to pick my brain on how this process is for a new designer.

The girls made their way from London all the way to my house in the middle of no-where yesterday and we all sat in my studio and chewed the fat for a good hour or so whilst I talked through everything I have been through this year and what I have learned (lets hope they weren't too bored!)


We talked Production, Sales (see example of sales order form above), PR, Marketing, Branding and they even helped me out on a few contacts as well.

The girls seemed incredibly clued up on and knew a huge amount of what I had already told them, but I hope I helped a bit. We are meeting for the last time in London next week to show them the collection etc and answer any more last minute questions.

www......

Website design gets under way

So it's time to get an official platform to showcase the label and it's collections, a website. I have collaborated with Lucid Design Agency on this with a friend of a friend Matthew Blanchard who has recently designed other fab websites including the new Cassius Eyewear one.


To get an idea of what I wanted I have been doing a lot of research on other websites figuring out what I like and most importantly what I don't like. My favourites are Alexander Wang - I love the simplicity


Chanel - obviously


I also have to consider the titles I want and all the content i.e biography, press etc and functionality. Is it easy to navigate and not annoying with too many sub-titles and irritating quirks?
There are so many things to consider and with Matthew living in Liverpool and my studio being on the fair Wight Isle it's not easy. We will prevail though and I from the first few mock ups I think it's going to be pretty stunning..yay

I am still alive

Apologies for my lack of blogging this past few weeks...
I actually hijacked my parents' skiing holiday and took a couple of days off...amazing.


It was kind of work as well. Brian was there so we talked action plans and I managed to do some sneaky grandpa snapping on the slopes...this guy was legendary and yes that is his beard and it is real...


Dad-A.K.A "Mr Cool" in his transformer esq sunglasses


Mum - Raving it up at apres ski


Me- behaving and definitely NOT letting my hair down...much

So back in the UK I am continuing my meetings with buyers (watch this space), the highlight being when a less than sturdy clothes rail fell on one of my prospective clients...one way to break the ice I guess?!?!

Things to note during sales period:
1. What sizes do you sell 6,8,10,12,14 / s, m ,l?
2. Minimum orders
3. Deposit
4. Terms and conditions
5. Packaging (will they provide or you?)
6. Care labels, swing tags etc (you or them?)
7. Delivery window and requirements

I also printed off a bit about my brand which I had compiled so they know where I have come from and where I intend to go. A line sheet is also essential (spec drawings and prices) and of course no one gets past me without a cuppa and cake being offered/thrown in their direction.

So what happens now...?

Post LFW action plans

So I wake up the day after the exhibition has finished with an unexpected urgency and tension hovering over me. Ahhhhh i've over slept....it's 8am. I bolt out of bed, hair, legs, arms flailing behind me. I rain them in and dart down the stairs. BOOM. IDIOT. LFW IS OVER. GO BACK TO BED.


After months of continuous, uninterrupted hard graft the toughest transition in my life seems to be stopping working at a million miles an hour. I feel like the finishing line on my 100m sprint is a brick wall, I kind of don't want to finish, it's been way too much fun. Hummph.

Get over it Taylor. this is the challenging bit now, you have to sell it. Now GO!

So day one is a goody. I'm off to see a big London department store. They want to see the collection. Get in. I potter through London in my little Renault clio, arriving 2 hours early which in central London = expensive. Good one. In my nervous state I decide that a 2nd breakfast is the best option.

After spending 1/2 hour carting my collection through the store we start chatting. I think it goes ok. I have everything I need which is good.
Price list with spec drawings
Lookbook
Press release
Fabric swatches
Contact details
As far as I am aware it is pretty tricky to get stockists in your first season. They say stores want to see that you're going to stay around and not flake at the first hurdle. I get it but it definitely doesn't make it any easier for us.


Next stop i'm off to Vogue house to meet with one of the magazines to show them my collection. It all goes fine apart from I am greeted at the top of the escalator trying to contain my childish fit of giggles....
Whilst carrying my collection (piled high in clear plastic bags) I was confronted by a young lady in the escalator asking if I had a steamer tucked somewhere under my mound of plastic bags and clothing

I had in my tramp like glory (giant green puffa jacket and hat) been mistaken for someone I was not. This time it was for an intern. I take solace in that I was actually even let into the building. One step up I guess.

The collection goes down ok I guess, it's always hard to tell but i'm smiling as I leave to pay for my 7 hours parking at £25 gazillion pounds/hr...bargain

All right STOP, collaborate and listen...

Anyone interested...?

1. Claire Pepper the wonderful photographer is looking for a new studio in London. She has extensive equipment that can potentially be used by other photographers etc...email her if you know of anything:
clairepepper@gmail.com

2.Jelena Fehmi is an incredibly talented pattern cutter. I met Jelena a few years ago when she was creating patterns at Frost French. Pattern cutting has always been a huge part of my designing, I find it fascinating, helpful and it pushes my designing in new directions.


Jelena has started a business where she teaches people to pattern cut through a variety of short courses in London. You should check out her website which has just launched and get in touch if you're interested, i'm sure they'll get booked up in no time!

Jelena also assists designers in pattern cutting their collections.

3.Website collaboration

I am looking to build my new website. It is a really exciting project and am looking for someone to help me on the technical side of things. Please email me if you are interested...

My holiday at London Fashion Week

My eerily calm few days as the label is launched with Vauxhall Fashion Scout

In comparison to the chaos that led up to LFW week, the whole presentation of the collection for four days was unexpectedly calm. No more sewing, spreadsheets, invites, printing, stuffing envelopes etc just plain old chatting, eating cake and drinking tea. Lovely.


I rocked up at the Freemasons' Hall on Friday for set up. Having left the Island at 6am to meet the printers down the road and get my button holes done by Mr buttonhole (D.M. Buttons just off Berwick street) before set up at 4pm.

I of course was early for everything, turning up at the Freemasons' around the time of David Komas' show. His glamorous entourage gliding past my disheveled self, laden with half my collection (covered with bin bags) on one arm and a giant ironing board on the other. It took me a while to persuade the door staff that I actually was a designer and not a homeless person looking for a bed for the night.


The space looked lovely and I managed to get my stuff set up before most other designers arrived. I had about 5 times as much stuff too. It was like trying to pack for my holidays and I hadn't been vigilant...at all.

The full set of china tea cups, saucers and teapot and 100 penguin cakes were of course a necessity. Five different types of tape might have been a bit much and a full styling kit for the workforce (me plus one) could probably have stayed at home too...never mind.


Can you tell me how many other designers served tea and Penguin cakes at their exhibitions though....eh?


Also I might add, great branding. The cakes in turn transformed the tongues of the cake victims blue, so as a bystander would recognize a Stella McCartney guest by their goody bag, a CHARLOTTE TAYLOR guest was distinguishable by the colour of their tongue...genius.


Aha...my next victim..


When dad arrived with mum and a very hungover disruptive brother in tow I donned him with my specially made penguin bow-tie and stood back to admire.

Within two minutes of arriving dad was chatting up all the pretty girls including my designer next door neighbor, who apparently already knew who he was because she had read my blog and much to dad's despair I reference his antics on a regular basis..this new found fame clearly canceled it out and dad was grinning as he circled the room chatting to everyone (as he always does) as if they were his long lost friend.

My bro demanded tea putting the wet cup down on my new lookbook (good one) and ate too many cakes and leaving a hefty amount of crummage around my area.

Mum was angelic as always and still recovering from being ill just hugged me lots.


On the whole, the exhibition went really well and I have had some great positive feedback so far.

Fingers crossed for the next steps.

The storm before the calm

A glimpse at the carnage that lead up a surprisingly relaxing London Fashion week

Preparations and multi tasking the weeks before LFW


This is a photo from the Freemasons' Hall in the room where the exhibition took place. This is a before picture. It's an amazing building and a great space. Every detail around us had a story and a purpose. Very Da Vinci Code. My grandpa was a Freemason so I am very into their history and it felt fitting to be launching my business from this building. Gramps would have liked that I think.


Back on the island as the CHARLOTTE TAYLOR chaos began snowballing through the Isle of Wight I found some great people who crazily wanted to jump on board and help me out.
One of these loonies was Becky Ball.
Becky lives in my village and also attends OAP yoga on Mondays (Apparently when they arrived late one time my dad clapped them in...smooth). Becky helped me out on a number of things:
1. Beckys' dad owns the local waxworks museum in our village (don't ask) which has just closed to be developed into flats. I was looking for stuffed birds to use in my lookbook photo shoot (don't ask) and low and behold it turns out that there are about 500 of them in my tiny village 100m down the road...of course why wouldn't there be.


The whole place was in fact a treasure trove filled with historic clothes, artifacts, cars and of course wax people.

I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit creeped out when a lonely head could be found left on a stray table eyeballing me as I weighed up the pro's and cons of orange bird vs green bird. The whole scenario was weird yet somehow typically and beautifully Isle of Wight.


2. Cakes
Becky in her spare time is a cake making extraordinaire.
She made me Penguin cakes and mini bite sized cakes in the colours of my collection for all my LFW guests. I'm sure you'll agree they're pretty special.
Becky's services are available for hire and you can contact her at:
beckball@googlemail.com or on +44 (0)7733 104 894

I will put more photos of the cakes at the show in my next blog.


It was then onto the photoshoot up in London, which I have talked about before so I won't bore you. I hope you agree though that the shots are lovely and the styling and make up are 'lush' (i said this a lot on the shoot and no I am not 12, my brother just refers to me as his delusional sister so I guess you all do the same). Great team and great result.


Rachel with the colour card which we shot with before each shoot to make sure all colours in each frame were coherent with the 'real' colours of the clothes.
I'm at her feet..."tweaking".


Camilla doing her bit..


Ellie and Camilla perfecting the Penguin print headscarf...love.

It was then back to the studio to get the photos sent off to the printers, finish the collection and prepare for LFW.

One word sums it up.

Messy

Fun but messy

HAROLD AND BARBARA

CHARLOTTE TAYLOR AW'10

An eclectic, yet cohesive ensemble of inspirations has infiltrated Charlotte Taylor’s designs for her premiere London Fashion Week collection for AW’10.
Trashy grannies, penguins, old soap operas, movies and the eccentric within provide fuel for the fire in this bold yet elegant collection.

Dashes of colour through tweed, navy, cream and pearl, twist through folds and pleats. Weighty fabrics and concealed contrasts create clothes that flow, move and transform with the movement of life. The dresses are ripe for the winter dance’aholic’, whilst coats and capes engulf you in a sea of wool, chunky zips and head consuming hoods. Tops and blouses emblazoned with a unique penguin print make for a strong, memorable statement. Elegance is also key; as is the strength of tailoring. Lines and seams are there for a reason, subtly and beautifully accentuating the female form.
















Photographer: Claire Pepper
Stylist: Ellie Cumming
Hair and make-up: Camilla Hewitt
Model: Rachel Cockerell at Models 1

I hope you like the collection as much as I do.

I dedicate it to my grandfather Harold; my biggest supporter and my buddy, who passed away in October 2009 having never seen the final outcome. Love you gramps.

For all inquiries please contact:

charlotte@charlottetaylorltd.com

Cinders..you WILL go to the ball!!

Jeez..now whose idea was this whole "Fashion Label" thing anyway...

So as the days roll on they get longer and longer. Sleep is for the faint hearted I tell myself. Who needs friends? After the photo shoot on Saturday a friend actually asked me if they had put make up on and around my eyes...."No Jamie, they're just bags". Anyway enough moaning (i'm not really I love it) and move on.

So it's Monday morning and I have post (in itself very exciting especially when it's not bills). My labels were delivered whilst I was away so I pop off to the Post Office to collect. I'm excited, the labels represent the final stages and the sample ones looked great.

They are wrong

I check my emails and fortunately I have put in the correct description after having seen samples to proof. They are liable, thank god.
Unfortunately Mr Labels man seems as enthusiastic about getting the correct labels to me as a toad and has proceeded to tell me to "call back tomorrow" for an update every day since. Looks like they'll be arriving on Saturday (too late) - great.
Never mind, the alternatives will have to do...grrrrrrr.


My poor Mama has had the lurgy this week and as she finally breaks through into the realms of normality, I grab her. She is appointed head label on sewer and for a few wonderful hours we sit and peacefully sew reminiscing about her past and how she thinks I would have made a great Ice Skater (the Olympics are on and she used to be one herself)...I don't think she could be further from the truth. I have inherited my Dad's clumsy gene (which she assures me I can "keep under control") and tend to generally sew my fingers together rather than the material itself. God knows what i'd be like on ice with blades on my feet, that's asking for trouble I say. Ill stick where I am thanks.


So as I approach Saturday I have a million and one things to do and of course there is never enough time so apologize for my lack of updates but I am documenting and will show lots next week.


So I give you my last minute to-do list:

- Finish sewing on labels
- Make head scarves
- Go to town and pick up stationary and props for the exhibition
- Finish all hand sewing on garment
- Prepare Sales and Press packs for the exhibition
- Book Ferry
- Terms and conditions
- Confirm team and timings etc
- Email VFS with details of guestlists etc
- Confirm printing with printers
- Pack car and pack everything up for a week away
- Check with pals that they have managed to get hangers.

Phew and i'm sure I have forgotten stuff to write down..Better get on with it then! I am going to try and blog throughout the exhibition but will have to play it by ear so for now...wish me luck!!