Mademoiselle Privé

Last week I took sometime out of doing my uni work to visit the massively popular Chanel exhibition. I had been warned by a friend that the queue would take up to an hour but I was undeterred! I was determined to see they exhibition and the queue couldn't be that long right?

I could not have been more wrong! We queued for over an hour and once inside it was massively overcrowded. It was hard to stop and look and things in each room as there was pressure to move on to keep the people flowing.

There was an app which provided most of the information to the exhibition but due to the vast numbers of people this was very slow. When it did work it showed beautiful animations and gave interesting facts about the origins of the brand and Chanel herself.

The clothes were presented beautifully with luminous poles through the centre of garments to show the exquisite details. There was also a video of Karl Lagerfeld talking to the ghost of Coco Chanel which was very interesting to watch (after we had queued for 5 minutes to get into the room!).

All in all the exhibition was great but very poorly organised which created hold ups and build ups of people. On the bright side everyone was given a poster of a beautiful illustration  which now hangs on my wall next to my Louis Vuitton poster.

Uni Project: Coco de Mer

After a year studying contour at London College of Fashion, I have found myself stumbling through our first industry project. This term we are working with Coco de Mer to design a range for nightwear for A/W16. This has been both challenging and exciting as we have never designed or really looked at nightwear on the course so far. I have really enjoyed experimenting with traditional nightwear styles to create something more fitting with the kinky Coco style.

The brand were keen for us to develop an individual concept for our ranges so mine were inspired by Italy, especially Italian architecture and wild flowers.

They picked one of 3 ranges for us to develop and then picked one piece from this range for us to make and present to them. Here is my teddy design inspired by St Mark's Basilica in Venice.

My Teddy Picks

1. Agent Provocateur  2. Lascivious  3. Asos  4. Free People  5. L'agent

This term at uni we have been designing ranges of erotic nightwear. This has been both a challenging and exciting experience which has lead me to discover a love for teddies and bodies. These are some that I am coveting at the minute.

1. Agent Provocateur

This blue body is classically sexy with sheer lace and a corseted, open back. The shape and style lines add structure to the flouncy fabric which gives it a different look.

2. Lascivious

This body is also very sexy with transparent fabrics and ties to open the back. I love the pleating at the front and the open shape.

3. Asos

This style is more simple and cute. The lace adds a more luxury and sex feel to the shape as does the deep red colour.

4. Free People

The print on this teddy is so pretty! This combined with the shape makes it feel very boho and the straps and open back give it more of a sexy finish.

5. L'agent

I am seriously loving L'agent at the minute! The lace in this body has a lovely sheen to it making it look two tone. The bow makes it feel very luxurious and the shape is so flattering on the body!

New Lingerie

As a lingerie design student most people would take it as a given that I would own a large range of matching sets of underwear. However, this is not the case. Much to the shock of my course friends, I did not own a single set until a couple of weeks ago. I attended a sample sale in Notting Hill and was determined to buy at least one matching set just to prevent my course friends from ostracising me from the group!

Blue set with flowers: L'Agent, Lilac soft cup bra: Playful Promises, Blue set: Playful Promises 

I was personally quite disappointed with the options at the sale so I also made a cheeky purchase from the L'Agent sale. At the sale itself I bought these three pieces from Playful Promises (and I got a set! Success!). The Playful Promises table had some lovely pieces with good variety of styles and prices which is what you want from a sample sale.

The blue soft cup bra and pants are very comfortable and the two styles match each other well. I really like the front fastening on the bra which is something I have been unsure about until now and the frills are a really cute feature.

The purple soft cup bra has such a pretty print I couldn't resist it! The style is quite simple but the cut out at the front adds a playful element and the shape give good support which is not what I was expecting. As the sizes of their soft cup bras are small, medium and large, it is hard to find a good fit for both cup and band, so I will need to take in the band to make it smaller which is not ideal.

I am in love with L'Agent at the minute! I find that there colours and patterns work so well to make pieces that are both sexy and fun; the Clementina set is a perfect example of this!

My First Love

Whenever I tell people that I'm studying lingerie design at university I always get asked why? Whether this question is asked with genuine interest or it is just someone being rude, I always have the same answer "I don't know. I just like it I guess." This is such a ridiculous response as I do know why I'm a lingerie designer; it's because of innovative designers who have designed beautiful, crazy and inspiring pieces that have captured my heart and won't give it back.

The corset from this Jean Paul Gaultier advert started off my love of corsets and lingerie. It is such a simple design that uses lines to sculpt her body and hug her curves; it creates such an iconic piece that shows off the female form. It is not just the design of the corset that inspired me, it was the whole advert. The idea of the hotel room and the man being left alone in the room smelling the pillows after a beautiful woman has left him is something that I found empowering. This is the feeling that I want my designs to give someone and is what I aim for every time I pick up my pencil to draw.

I have a cut out of the advert on my bedroom wall at home and once my friend asked me "Why on earth do you have a picture of a lady in her underwear on your wall?" and I replied with "Because its beautiful and I love it."