Kid's Wear Magazine

While at Bubble, I managed to pick up a copy of 'Kid's Wear Magazine' from Germany. This magazine has been horrendously difficult to get hold of, as it is not stocked in any London book/magazine shops, and to order it from its german publishers, there are very hefty shipping charges.

Having said this, it is a gorgeous magazine, which I have been really inspired by, in the short time in which I have had it. At a rather huge, 288 pages long, Kid's Wear squeezes in a lot of features, my favourite amongst these include a series of childrens line drawings, a typographical section with some lovely phrases, a written piece about Stella McCartney and her latest kids collection, and some beautiful photographic spreads.

The photographic spreads (of which there are 10) are all unique and fashion forward in one way or another. A recurring element of Kid's Wear Magazine, is to have blank pages scattered amongst the images in photographic spreads, which I have not seen before in any magazine. Its a really interesting method of breaking up the images, and provides the perfect opportunity to make personal notes about the images. Both intriguing and thoughtful.

On page 44 there is a piece of writing which I really like,
"Children's Wear should be like children, playful, vibrant, refreshingly new and regardless of whats in vogue: A thing of beauty is a joy forever."
I can really connect with this statement, as I'm sure a lot of parents would also. We want our children to be young and have fun. We do not want them to become fixated on fashion, but to enjoy it, and look beautiful.

Bubble London: The Aftermath

Spent the day at Bubble yesterday and it was FANTASTIC! I discovered some gorgeous new British brands, and got contacts for the majority of the brands I am interested in featuring in the magazine. Everyone I talked to was really excited and enthusiastic about the future prospects of Fawn, and a few offered samples of their collections whenever I would like, which is a great news. With some amazing brands on board, Fawn should be a complete success, and I am the most excited I have been so far!

Bubble London: The Kids Trade Show

I am eagerly looking forward to attending the Bubble Trade Show this Sunday. I cant wait to see so many of the fantastic British kids brands that I love, and to meet the brains behind them! This will be a fantastic opportunity to build up my list of contacts and to promote the name of the magazine and get people interested. I hope to write a feature on the trade show for the first issue of Spoilt Rotten, with a focus on fantastic emerging brands, so I'm going to take my beast of an SLR camera, and get snap happy!

Junior Work Placement

In December, I had a work placement and Junior Magazine, and learnt a LOT while I was there! As well as a chance to see the inner workings of the magazine and work with Matthew Holroyd, the genius behind so much of Junior's fashion spreads, I had a lovely mentor in Catherine Hudson, and she taught me a lot. During the first week of my placement, I had a lot of location jobs to do, the most memorable of which were the "London's Best Christmas Windows" and "Street Style" articles I wrote for the website. Links for these follow:
http://www.juniormagazine.co.uk/fashion-news/londons-best-christmas-windows/4412-2.html
http://www.juniormagazine.co.uk/fashion-news/street-style---shopping-in-central-london/4419.html

Illustration

I have previously collaborated with different illustrators on work for prototypes of the magazine, and thought I would share some examples of their work.

Sarah McQuilkin's work has a really tactile style to it, preferring to work on brown paper which has been tampered with as opposed to say, digitally. I love the unique charm and 'awww' factor you immediately get when you see it. This image in particular is a really lovely piece of her work, and pretty much sums up the way I feel about childhood.

Natasha Durley-Boot's work appeals to both children and adults with the lovely soft colour palette she uses, and the childhood themes of nature, innocence and fun. These images are simply beautiful, and I am a massive fan of her work.

I would be thrilled to collaborate with both of these artists on future work for the magazine and am considering an illustrative spread as well as a short children's story supported by illustration, as features in the magazine. It would be fantastic to work with these girls again, and I shall be keeping a very close eye on their work, these are two names to remember!

The Lost Boys

I was lucky enough to be asked to style Photographer Nicola Rachael Smith's kidswear shoot, which was based around Peter Pan's Lost Boys. It was a really fun shoot, the boys were all fantastic models, and I think the photos are lovely, a testament to what a talented photographer she is. This was a fantastic chance to get creative, and let my inner child run free, and I loved it!

Studio Collaboration with Lulubelles Cakes

Lulubelles Cakes, headed up by Louisa Harman, is a Dorset-based company who make beautiful ranges of cupcakes in all shapes and sizes, as well as bespoke cakes for any occasion. I approached her with a proposal for a studio based photo shoot with a sugary sweet theme. Here is what we came up with! Many thanks to Nicola Rachel Smith for the photography, and Natasha Sturt for Hair & Make-up. The gorgeous fur cape and pink dress combo was made by talented childrenswear designer Sarah Brigginshaw, and the tutu is by Angels Face.

The Evacuee's

I would like to share with you the images from a photo shoot I directed in November last year. The Concept for the shoot was child evacuees from WWII, and with the help of Photographer Nicola Rachael Smith, Hair & Make-up Artist Natasha Sturt, and Photography Assistant Anna Michell, we took our 3 gorgeous models (Clancy, Rachel & Ajay) to Corfe Castle Steam Railway to take some 1940s vintage style photographs in an authentic location. I really like the historical reference, and the nostalgia surrounding the images.

Fawn Magazine

Fawn is the fantastic new children's fashion magazine for parents and the design-conscious. Four times a year, we promise to bring you the best kidswear available in the UK, from fantastic British brands. Our aims are to celebrate British design, nostalgia, quality and childhood, and of course, brilliant kids looking gorgeous in lovely clothes!