Zandra Rhodes at Boudoir Boutique

On Saturday we had the pleasure of popping down to one of our favourite shops in Liverpool Boudoir Boutique to meet the fashion legend that is Zandra Rhodes.  We were greeted at the shop by owner Louise Kavanagh and her daughter Amy Louise Keating who very kindly let us take some pictures of their beautiful shop and had a little chat with us before we sat down with Zandra.

 Louise who previously owned Drome also of Cavern Walks opened Boudoir Boutique seven years ago and the shop is now somewhat of a Liverpool landmark, not only popular with Liverpool fashionistas but also fashion mad tourists too.  The shop is a beautiful, eclectic space full of beautiful clothes, antiques, accessories and all out wonder.  The shops moto 'in here life is beautiful' certainly rings true.  The shop stocks a lot of up and coming and established labels exclusively, including Unreal Fur, Finders Keepers, Forever Unique and one of DiscoFashionArts favourites Parisian designer Manoush.  The shop also stocks their own designs including some beautiful kaftan's, furs and other vintage inspired pieces.

The store also exclusively stock Zandra Rhodes current handbag and accessories collection.  

   

Just as we were finishing the tour of the shop, the lovely Zandra arrived and we sat down and had a lovely chat with the fashion icon.  

Zandra what brings you to Liverpool and in particular Boudoir Boutique?

I am in Liverpool purposely to visit this store, its a personal favourite and I have visited the store before.  I think its an ideal place to sell my accessories collection as it is so beautiful and a joy to be in.  I also like to meet my fans and find out what they enjoy most about my designs.

You were one of the new wave of British designers who put London at the forefront of the international fashion scene in the 70's. Who are your current favourite designers and who do you think are pushing fashion boundaries today? 

I think there are a lot of brilliant designers coming out of the UK today and I definitely think Britain are the current leaders in fashion. However, when I am designing my own collections, which I am in the midst of now I find it hard to focus on anyone else so I can't say a particular designer.

You famously designed clothes for Freddie Mercury, Madonna, royalty and numerous other celebrities, is there anyone you would like to dress now.

I really enjoyed dressing Madonna in the 80's and 90's and would love to work with her again now, but the person I really admire and would like to dress now is Lady GaGa, I really like her style and desire for fashion and beauty.

We love your current accessories collection its full of classic pieces.  What was your inspiration?

I wanted to create pieces that are classic and would go with a variety of outfits.  We went for classic colours and shapes in high quality leather.  We took inspiration from the 1920's and F.Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby with art deco shapes and detailing.

Tell us more about the Digital Study Collection and what drove you to do a digital project.

The Zandra Rhodes Digital Study Collection was created through a collaborative project between the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) and myself.  The collection was officially launched at the Fashion and Textile Museum in March 2013 by actress and my friend Joanna Lumley.  I studied at one of UCA's founder colleges, the Medway College of Design, and was made the University's first Chancellor in 2010.  Over the last fifty years my work has included the design of haute couture dresses worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, Elizabeth Taylor, and Diana Ross and I wanted a way of storing this British Fashion History so fashion students can access it in the future.  

The Digital Study Collection provides unique online access to images of 500 iconic dresses and garments, for use in learning, teaching, and research internationally, by fashion historians, fashion and textile designers, and fans of my work alike. These images were selected out of thousands of couture pieces 

held in my private archive at my studio in London. The digitised garments cover my entire creative career from the late 1960s to the present day, with particular focus on my landmark collections of the 1970s and 1980s. 

Thanks Zandra its been a pleasure meeting you!

The digital Study can be found at 

http://www.zandrarhodes.ucreative.ac.uk/p/welcome.html

We can honestly say meeting Zandra has to be a highlight for DiscoFashionArt and we thank everyone at Boudoir Boutique for putting on this fabulous event! 

Visit the store now in Cavern Walks or visit their blog at

http://www.boudoir-boutique.com/blog/

Miss Francesca Couture opens her new store in the Met Quarter

FRANCESCA KEARNS TO OPEN FLAGSHIP STORE AT METQUARTER

Acclaimed Liverpool fashion designer Francesca Kearns is set to open her flagship store at Metquarter in Liverpool City Centre.

Francesca, 28 from West Derby graduated from Liverpool John Moores University in 2008 with a BA Hons in Fashion Design and went on to create her own label, Miss Francesca Couture.

From humble beginnings, sewing in a small office in her dads building yard in 2009, word quickly spread of Francescas unique and beautiful designs.  Before long, she secured a loyal following from the UKs fashion pack, including Michelle Keegan, Helen Flanagan and Georgina Dorsett. 

Francesca is now set to open her first city centre store, in Liverpools Metquarter.  Already home to big name brands, including MAC, Hugo Boss, Illamasqua, Kurt Geiger and Armani Exchange, Francescas 1463sqft store will stock her new Autumn/Winter ready to wear collection, along with her bespoke

made to measure service.

Francesca has said: I am so excited to be opening a store at Metquarter. Its a dream come true for me to have a retail presence in the heart of the city. I've had a lot of input into the look and feel of the store, which I think

is the perfect fit for my brand.  I can¹t wait to open and start dressing Liverpool girls for the upcoming Christmas party season.

Customers can book personal consultations with Francesca via
www.missfrancescacouture.co.uk/contact or by visiting the store when it opens to the public on Friday November 8.

Only GaGa!

How do you get into a cab in a 4ft Louis Vuitton Headpiece?

THATS HOW

Boo! ... Halloween Inspiration!

Kirsty Doyles AW 2013/14 Collection

One of discofashionart's favourite home-grown designers Kirsty Doyle has released her A/W 2013/14 collection this week and we can confirm its absoluetly gorgeous. Once again Kirsty has produced a gorgeous collection of dresses, coats and seperates that will add glamour to the dreariest of autumn days. The collection oozes old hollywood glamour and we cant wait to see the satorially scouse elite rocking this collection very soon. Our own personal favourite is the gorgeous Lizzie Dress!!!Kirsty as per usual DFA Salutes you.

Anais Dress £295

Aubrie Dress £225

Emeline Dress £395

Jamie Dress £180

Kayleigh Cape £195 ***We perdict this to be extremely popular***

Lara Trench £345

Lizzie Dress £275 ***DFA FAVOURITE***

Nicol Skirt £215

The full collection is available at Kirstys Website

Style Crush - Alex Gerrard

Seriously, we have just seen some pictures os Alex out and about today and.... the girl is always on point!!! Her style is amazing even when casual. Most of Alex's pieces are from American line - Tibi! The bonded modern anorak from their A/W collection is available from the brands website, listed at $795.00, her Neilo blouse is also Tibi, we found it at FarFetch for £258. Alex accompanied her Tibi finds with her favourite Les Chiffoniers leggings from Cricket and her trusty Celine mini luggage. She also wore some sunglasses that looked alot like the gucci 1081's but we couldnt be too sure. Dressing for a dreary day just got high fashion and Alex has once again raised the bar! Alex DFA salutes you.

Liverpool Talent: Bite Me Clothing

Last week we had the pleasure of meeting Lauren Brannigan the designer behind the up and coming Liverpool based clothing line Bite Me.  DiscoFashionArt thinks Lauren is like our very own version of Claire Barrow and we love it! Lauren takes vintage clothing and as well as adding retro customisation she also intricately hands paints them with various, evocative designs. 

Lauren’s current collection draws its influence heavily from the 90’s and 90’s alternative culture and in our opinion it’s bloody brilliant.  Also in a time where people are trying to save money and customisation is the norm Bite Me’s designs are also surprisingly fresh and original.  The catwalks are a light with 90’s nostalgia at the moment and we can’t help but think this is Bite Me’s time to shine.

Lauren studied at Liverpool Arts College and her fervour to couple her passion for drawing and fashion started there.  She started by customising a pair of denim shorts with some Beavis and Butthead imagery, she shared them on Tumblr and woke up the next morning to discover that her pictures had over 28,000 hits and thus Bite Me Clothing was born. 

One of Laurens biggest fans is New York mega blogger Audrey Kitching who has snapped up a few items.  Audrey featured the pieces on her blog, which gets over a couple of million hits a month and the comments were tremendous! Also up and coming MTV star Calvin Fox has recently requested one of Bite Me’s covetable printed army jackets.  We don’t think they’ll be the only ones once the word is out.

If you’re interested get in there soon as we think they may get busy!  You can get your hands on Bite Me Clothing exclusively at Resurrection Bold Street and for bespoke pieces Bite Me clothing can be contacted for on facebook and twitter.

For now here is the full collection shot earlier this month in the fabulous new photography studio – The Lab (located in the old picket club) in the fabulous Baltic Creative area.  Also special thanks to our fabulous model Bessey, she was a delight and also one to watch we think! How fab are those eyebrows! 

Coz pink is our favourite Crayon!

The clothes featured:Pale Pink Coat Zara £179 - Check Chiffon Midi Kilt Topshop £59 - Silk Pussy Bow Blouse Emilio Pucci @ StyleBop £600 - Fluffy Sweater Topshop £36 - Lula Tailored Trousers Whistles £55 - Silk Jumpsuit by Unique for Topshop £220 - Misty Felted Sweater - Acne @ Jades24.COM £375 - French Metallic Shoes whistles £135 - Vinyl A Line Skirt Topshop £47 - Basic Clutch Zara £15 - Rodarte 3D Embellished Foam Skirt (AMAZING) £2405 Moda Operendi