Women are now buying lingerie to show off. Fashion houses such as Dolce & Gabbana, Jasmine de Milo and Fendi teased viewers of their Spring/Summer collections with underwear as outerwear.

My Fair Lady Lingerie – Elegant & Beautiful

My Fair Lady Lingerie is a new lingerie brand founded in 2009. They brand creates beautiful, sophisticated lingerie at affordable prices for anyone wanting to add a touch of elegance to their lives.

Rae-Emily Smith, the designer behind the brand, sources the finest fabrics to bring customers the best garnets, each piece is individually hand made to the best quality. When LadyM Presents asked Rae-Emily about how My Fair Lady came about she said, “It was something I had been planning to do for a long time. I wanted to create feminine pieces that were a little different to what is already available”.

Rae-Emily Smith at the LGN Movida Catwalk Show June 2010

For as long as she can remember it was Rae-Emily’s dream to design lingerie. She found the Contour Fashion course at De Montfort University, which is the only degree of its type in the world and specialises in lingerie, underwear, swimwear and corsetry design. Within her first year there she had the concept for her brand she designs today.

Currently the collection is not available anywhere else in the world, making it unique, individual and special. Each piece is limited edition meaning only a handful of people in the whole world wearing a set.  This year My Fair Lady Lingerie was showcased at the LGN Movida catwalk show and summer soiree and on September 12th the brand will be showcasing at the Kent Catwalk Show in aid of Macmillian Cancer Support.

“My Fair Lady believes every woman should look and feel her best. it is amazing how the right set of lingerie can completely uplift your spirits and boost your self esteem, a well fitted lingerie set can completely transform your figure into a sleek silhouette.”

Inspiration

When LadyM Presents asked Rae-Emily where she gets her ideas from for her collections, she told us “Sometimes I might see an image that inspires me and I take it from there, by the end of my research I may have something completely different to what I had imagined at the beginning. For my Indian Summer Collection I found a photo showing the sky with beautiful purple and pink hues in it and this inspired the rest of my work from then.”

Rae-Emily uses trend prediction websites and lookbooks that she finds very useful, particularly the industry favourite WGSN, but she doesn’t like to be limited to the trends. Her designs are wearable but she doesn’t want them to be too commercial. Rae-Emily sees her point of difference as being, “that all of the garments are hand made to order for the customer and I don’t want the pieces to be too ‘samey’, I want them to be a little more unique and special.” Having studies trend predictions during her university course, Rae-Emily learnt that a lot of design comes from gut instinct and what she feels is going to be right.

Indian Summer Collection – inspired by purple and pink hues

Indian Summer Nightie

Indian Summer Nightie, by My Fair Lady Lingerie

This off shoulder nightie is from the new Indian summer range. The front is made out of satin, the back is a sheer chiffon and the tie is made out of dupion silk. Everything is handmade to order and limited edition. With elegant nightwear set to be the next big thing this nightie is perfect to lounge around the house in style.

Indian Summer Robe

Indian Summer Robe & Gold PJ's Set, by My Fair Lady Lingerie

The robe is made out of satin and has a teal trim around the edges and is tied at the front with a teal ribbon. There are pockets at the side. Wear this around the house to look and feel elegant with ease.

Indian Summer Cropped Top & French Knickers

The top is off the shoulder and ties at the top. It is made out of satin and has a trim around the bottom edge. The french knickers are also made out of satin and have a teal waistband.

Indian Summer PJ Trousers & Bed Jacket

Indian Summer Chiffon Set, by My Fair Lady Lingerie

This bed jacket is perfect to wear lounging around the house or to sleep in style. It can also be worn as outerwear teamed with a cute vest top. The bed jacket is made out of a pink chiffon. The PJ bottoms are comfortable and chic and great to sleep in but can also be worn on the beach over your swim suit or if your daring could even be worn as outerwear. They are made out of a pink chiffon and so have a sheer quality. Team with the pink chiffon bed jacket to finish the look.

Indian Summer Body & Slip

Indian Summer Body & Slip, by My Fair Lady Lingerie

The body is made out of satin and Dupion Silk at the centre. The cups are underwired. It can be worn as lingerie or for the more daring ones amongst us can be teamed with a skirt or trousers for a modern outerwear look. The slip is made out of Dupion Silk and has a trim around the bottom edge and an elasticated waist band.

Indian Summer Vest Top & High Waisted Knickers

Indian Summer Vest Top & High Waisted Knickers, by My Fair Lady Lingerie

The vest top is made out of satin. The straps meet at the middle at the front creating a v shape. The highwaisted knickers are made out of dupion silk at the centre and stretch satin around the side and back.

Indian Summer Longline Bra & Chiffon PJ Trousers

Indian Summer Longline Ba & Trousers, by My Fair Lady Lingerie

This long line bra is made out of satin and has a teal trim along the seam and cup edge. The PJ bottoms are made out of chiffon and are elasticated at the waist and the ankles. These bottoms are comfortable and chic, perfect for lounging around the house. They are also a great garment to wear to cover up on the beach.

Still Photography by Nuno de Silva, at The Perch, London and catwalk photos by Carl Leung.

Kent Catwalk Show

On Sunday September 12th, My Fair Lady Lingerie hosts the Kent Catwalk Show at UK Paper, Sittingbourne, Kent, in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. Designers showcasing their collections at the event are Leeanne Ripley Garrett, Charlene Grima, Stuart McMillan, Rae-Emily Smith of My Fair Lady Lingerie and Susannah Henley.

The Kent Catwalk Show - September 12th 2010

Come along to the catwalk and after party at UK paper, Sittingbourne 12th September 7.00pm-10.30pm, tickets are £5 each and available for purhcase here.

At the event there will also be an auction, including some signed merchandise from well known celebrities as well as a raffle to help raise even more money for this amazing cause.

Rae-Emily has shown her collection at a number of catwalks and she thought it would be great to put on an event closer to her Kent home, knowing that a lot of people would be interested in attending. “I thought it would be a great way to help local designers get some exposure as well as to help raise money for charity. I chose to Macmillan Cancer support as the charity as it is one that is very close to my heart, I know how helpful Macmillan can be and this was my way to give something back”. Rae-Emily has been planning the event for many months, it should be a great evening. LadyM Presents will be attending the event and giving a full review of the catwalk and the fabulous designers showcasing their work.

What’s next for My Fair Lady Lingerie?

Currently Rae-Emily’s days are spent forming a lot of pattern drafting, pattern cutting and sewing as she is working on a brand new collection which will be available on the website over the coming months. The designs are aimed at fashion forward women who are looking for something a bit different. They are strong, confident women in their mid twenties to late thirties. If Rae-Emily was to pick a celebrity to wear her designs it would be Emma Watson or Katy Perry and she notes that luxurious nightwear is set to be a big trend over the coming months too.

“I have just finished a work placement for Biondi Couture - a high end swimwear boutique who also make bespoke bikinis for their customers. I left feeling really inspired and would definitely like to create a swimwear collection for next summer. I would also like to start doing plus size cups as I think there is a huge gap in the market for pretty plus size bras but at the moment I am taking things one step at a time. I would also like to start seeing My Fair Lady Lingerie stocked in some small boutiques which is a target of mine for next year. I am hoping to introduce a diffusion line which I could have manufactured in a factory so that I could offer more affordable pieces to appeal to a wider market as well as selling the hand made collection.”

You can also keep up to date with My Fair Lady Lingerie via their Blog and follow on Twitter.

Zoë Boomer

Zoë Boomer created the Zoë Boomer label in April 2006, when a boutique in Ireland requested to see Zoe’s collection for their shop.  Zoë had two weeks to design and make a mini collection to show them and thankfully for her they bought every item.  She then spent the the next year making collections and one off pieces for the boutique and then the label started to progress and expand. Zoë had moved to London in 2002 to pursue her love of Fashion and Design and now creates her collections from her studio in Putney. During her degree course at the London College of Fashion, Zoë represented the UK at the International Student Design Awards 2004.

Zoe Boomer - Up and Coming Designer

Inspiration & Ethos

It was in art college that Zoë realised she had a flare for designing. Having always loved fashion, she excelled in every fashion project she worked upon and got accepted into London College of Fashion. After graduating Zoë got a job as a stylist assistant, for a top London stylist, styling for London and New York based fashion publications, working at London Fashion Week and styling for Natasha Bedingfield (now a dedicated fan of the Zoë Boomer label).

Zoë’s ethos is clear “I design for women who love fashion, are stylish, who appreciate fabric and quality. The label is known for its simplicity, and stable pieces that don’t date. For me inspiration comes often when I don’t expect it, generally I don’t always have a theme in mind – which probably goes against designers rules but it seems to progress and turn into a theme”.

Zoë designs garments she loves to wear; clothes that combine simplicity, style and luxury and transform effortlessly from daytime urban chic to sassy evening glamour. Sourcing fabrics from Italy and France, picking shades and textures she likes and then playing with them, draping them, to see how they hang which then leads to a design starting point.  Zoë explains that she finds inspiration from everywhere she might be, such as reading a magazine and an image jumps out, or in a shop. “Recently I was in Croatia for a holiday and my husband and I were sitting having a coffee in Dabrovinik old town, watching people walk past us and the buildings really inspired me”.

The Collections

Zoë uses the best silks and silk-chiffons to create collections that bring together romance, opulence and elegance but with unstructured minimalism. Zoë’s work is perfect for those looking to emulate unpretentious glamour but want to feel beautiful in amazing clothing made of luxurious fabrics. Her collections feature chic daywear all the way through to elegant evening attire.

Spring/Summer 2010

Day Dresses

Candy Maxi Dress – hitting the spot for this massive summer trend, the Candy Maxi dress combines hot summer prints with great length to give you an outfit that can take you from the beach to a garden party simply by teaming with great accessories.

Candy Maxi Dress, by Zoe Boomer

Leani Mini Dress – hit the pastels and soft tailoring trend this summer with this sublime double lined length pale blue silk dress. Perfect for summer weddings, cocktail parties or a night in the hip new bar in town.

Leani Mini Dress, by Zoe Boomer

This is one of Zoë’s favourites “they are stunning on and fit so well. I have yet to see it not look good on someone”.

Tops

Snow Drop navy, silk Halter neck – perfect to team with skinny jeans and some pale gold wedges for a structured but flowing, put together look.

Snow Drop Halter, by Zoe Boomer

Leani pearl white silk top – this is a great top to wear with some cigarette trousers or a grey pencil skirt – a sleek look for the office.

Leani White Silk Top, by Zoe Boomer

Evening Dresses

Stun the crowd with these gorgeous, simple but elegant edgy evening dresses

The Lucy Dress with swarovski crystals: Chiffon and swarovski crystal floor length strapless dress. Simply gorgeous, this flowing material will make you feel elegant and sophisticated.

The Lucy Strapless Dress, by Zoe Boomer

Lucy - Strapless silk chiffon dress.  Silk chiffon strapless floor length dress. Beautiful with long hanging necklaces or a Zoë Boomer vintage belt around the waist. It’s a WOW dress!

Lucy Floor length dress, by Zoe Boomer

A select number of pieces from the label can be bought in the boutique at www.zoeboomer.com and a full list of stockists can be found here.

Recently actress Laura Michelle Kelly (Sweeney Todd & Speed of the Plough with Kevin Spacey) donned ZB dresses at press calls and VIP events. The label is working tirelessly to make its mark on the international fashion scene with agents in London, Ireland, Vancouver and LA. The entire collection is hand stitched in Ireland, London & Liverpool and Zoë herself keeps a close eye on all aspects of production personally approving every single garment created.

Lady M Presents discussed with Zoë how she goes about developing a collection;

“Every collection needs a certain amount of tops, dresses, jackets etc. This helps to put the collection together and helps to narrow things down as sometimes I might have lots of ideas for tops, but need more dresses so I will either stop designing the tops or see how I can turn the concept into the dress. Sometime the designs won’t work in production and if I don’t like them when their being made up as a sample, I will cut them. The easiest way to decide what is featured is seeing how it sits with the rest of the collection. If something doesn’t go or you can’t wear it with anything else in the collection, it will be cut.

Predicting trends for me is a natural instinct which I guess as a designer, it is in your nature to think ahead. As we work a year ahead, you get very tired of what is out currently and start to think of something different. What is going on in society, movies, music all shape trends. When the war in Iraq first started there was a lot of military influences in collections. Also a very basic way of predicting is at present Maxi dresses are huge but next year they won’t be, hem lines for next summer will start to rise again.”

Whats the most rewarding part of your work? What is your greatest accomplishment so far?

“There are two parts of the job I find very rewarding, firstly when I go into a shop and see my clothes being sold beside some great labels that I love. I always get so excited and have a silent proud moment. The other is seeing my collection on the catwalk or on images after a photo shoot. It is so exciting seeing an idea in you’re head and then become real for everyone to see.

My greatest accomplishment I think this year anyway was being selected for the British Designer Collective Shop in Bicester village. It was such an honour to have my clothes sit beside labels such as Julien McDonald,  Todd Lynn, Emma Cook and my picture making it onto the Vogue website, that might not seem like that exciting but as a student in fashion I used to say one day I will make it into Vogue and to have my picture in it for me was a special moment.”

What’s next for Zoë Boomer?

There a lot of things in the pipeline for this up and coming label, Zoe Boomer will be a lot more accessible for everyone in the UK and will be in a lot more boutiques in London very soon. There are some exciting Zoe Boomer fashion videos that will be released throughout the year. Available to view on the website soon is the latest one, filmed at the Sex and the City 2 premiere.

We await the Zoë Boomer Autumn/Winter 10 Collection with eager anticipation. Zoë herself is very excited about it, “there are two garments I am so excited by and can’t wait to wear them. They are the Lu Lu Jacket and Feather grey cardigan – I know I’m going to wear these ALOT!”.

Zoë Boomer –  combining naked simplicity and purity of form with opulence and style.

Z-Mode – investment fashion

Z-Mode is the brand created by Lithuanian born, design college graduate Victoria Rangayah. A young, vibrant brand serving private clients for just over a year. The Z-Mode Ready to Wear range collection will feature at the ‘A La Mode’ Catwalk at this year’s London Fashion Week in September. The catwalk show is an opportunity emerging and independent international designers to showcase their work.  Z-Mode is a welcome and exciting addition to the line up.

Z-Mode Designer, Victoria Rangayah

Victoria spent five years living in South Africa and studying fashion at LISOF Fashion School. Victoria explains that “after working for a denim manufacturer, I was dying to create something more feminine and elegant, that is how Z-Mode came about’. Z-Mode have participated in several design fashion competitions in South Africa and were nominated for the prestigious South African ‘Fashion Design Merchandise Awards’.  Many of Z-Mode’s creations have received exposure in international magazines including Elle, Style Plus (Lithuania) and LABB Fashion (UK).

“I always loved any form of art, and fashion I consider to be one of them. Fashion, unlike any fine art is changing and therefore I find it more inspiring and at the same time rewarding. My husband saw my passion and suggested I should study fashion. That’s how I ended up with a 3 year fashion design qualification and a foot in this industry.”

The Collection

Z-Mode’s range includes some amazing pieces. Dresses made with flowing organza and chiffon in this season’s pastel and nude trends. Skirts with Broderie Anglaise style lace, teamed with denim jackets and a favourite piece is the well tailored blazer style coat in a pinstripe grey mix.

www.zmode.co.uk

Inspiration

Victoria’s time spent in South Africa led to some strong design inspiration from the beautiful sunsets, mountains, vivid colours and the true ‘rainbow nation’. The designer also takes a keen interest in other foreign cultures, arts and music to give her a wider perspective to draw inspiration from . Victoria explains that, “Z-Mode can be summarized by the words ‘opposites attract each other’.  Therefore, by living by this formula I find myself, very often mixing different fabrics to create different textures that produce interest.”

Z-Mode Collection

Victoria’s passion for fashion and dedication to the brand clearly shows. As a mother of two she tends to start her “working day” at 8pm when she sketches new designs, sews samples and works on the next big piece of her collection. Her designs are beautifully tailored and ooze femininity, taking classic items and bringing them right up to date for this latest season. Victoria’s favourite piece from her latest collection is “the asymmetrical butter yellow sharp shoulder dress with wool suiting detail, I can’t wait to show it off! ”.

Victoria believes in individual style, which her collection is all about, “I’m not a religious trend follower, I like mixing different pieces and creating my own look.  Having said that, this summer’s must have piece must be a floral maxi dress’.

When asked her thoughts on the world of fashion Victoria explained;

“Fashion is cyclical, so what goes around, after a few years comes right back. I bet none of us thought a few years ago that we would ever be wading shoulder pads again! How wrong we were! So hold on to those platforms girls, and keep them for your daughters!”

www.zmode.co.uk

What’s next for Z-Mode?

This year is a big year for Z-Mode. The Spring/Summer collection launch in London Fashion Week this September is one of the biggest events so far in the brand’s history. Victoria is hoping to attract media and buyer interest with this collection and hopefully land a few orders for fashion boutiques. More information on the event can be found on LGN Events Blog.

Photographer credits: Dave Yates Photography, Jak Spedding