LEONIE CONROY
I only spoke to Leonie very briefly as she had to dash off, so she kindly emailed me a little piece about her concept and how she came to acquire her fabrics.
“I wanted to create a womenswear streetwear collection that could sit at the same market level as streetwear brands carhartt, stussy, y’oh. I wanted to do this type of clothing as i think there is definitely a market for it however i think company’s tend to make the garments overly feminine so the female consumers of streetwear have to buy into the mens clothing. My collection was inspired by a style of dance called krump that orginated in LA. The dance style is energetic with big movements these influenced garment silhouette, details and cutlines. Krump dancers paint their faces when performing or battling referencing tribal body art so this inspired the prints and graphics of the collection, so the collection was hinted at cross cultural references. All the printed fabric was designed by me and then digitally printed at the all saints campus. The other fabrics were sourced around Manchester and London.” (Leonie Conroy 2012)
Consumer
Leonie’s range is incredibly urban, I love how fresh and young it feels she has really got her finger on the pulse. My favorite items are the little blue zip crop top with the lovely beading, this is bang on trend. I also like the printed T- shirt and the Printed black and white shirt. Her prints are really fun as well as also being incredibly on trend and they feel quite nostalgic for me they really remind me of TV shows growing up like “Saved By The Bell”…anyone else also remember?
Printed T
Check out Leonie’s Amazing Video
RUTH SMALLS
I didn’t get chance to speak to Ruth on the night of the exhibition but I caught up with her over email and she kindly sent me a few images of her design boards and her garments.
Ruth’s range concept was about hand craft and DIY… a girl after my own heart. Written in her own words below is a full explanation of her inspiration and concept that I have taken from her mood board.
“Inspriation has its origins with the fashion collective “The Smarteez” and their quirky street style. DIY
fashion and hand crafts are influential to the collection. This is seen through “yarn bombing” and street
art including the artist Olek. Leutton Postle uses craft techniques in their textile designs Reworked
fashion was influential.This is highlighted by the work of Co-operative Designs and Momo Wang” (Ruth Smalls 2012)
Ruth’s illustrations are beautiful the faces are so detailed and the use of colour is lovely…
Her range is so sweet I especially loved the little touches on her exhibition space, like the crochet loops around the tops of her hangers and her little look book with matching crochet down the side…you can also view her look book at the following link - Ruth Smalls lookbook
My favorite pieces from her collection were little pale blue blouse and the fab pretty crochet cape they look so sweet styled together, as you can see in the pictures below of her photo shoot. I also quite liked the lovely easy wearing red striped dress, you can never quite beat a nautical stripe.
Collection
Collection Pieces
