Style Savvy Style Workshop

Held at the designer dress agency Love is Boutique at Romany House, 26 Church Road, Tunbridge Wells, fashion designer and stylist Sue-Mee Maudsley invites you to get “Style Savvy” for Spring on Thursday March 31st.

Get Style Savvy in Tunbridge Wells

Sue-Mee works as a fashion designer and also has her own style advice and wardrobe de-cluttering business.  She has worked at such fashion houses as Burberry, Warehouse, Monsoon, Jeffery and Paula, New Look and also spent time at Vivienne Westwood and River Island. The event will be an informal, interactive evening and a great way to learn how to put outfits together.  Sue-Mee hopes it will be “a fun night out, learning how to update your wardrobe and look fabulous for the new season.”

From 7pm until 9pm at this fabulous location, bring one of your favourite wardrobe items and learn how to update your look with this seasons new trends & colours. Tickets are only £15, and include a glass of bubbly alongside receiving fashion and style advice from Sue-Mee. As well as that the team from Powder & Glow will be giving beauty and make up tips. Plus you’re in the right place for some fab shopping and with your ticket you will get a 10% discount at Love Is Boutique.

What more could you want? Get your tickets in advance as there are a limited number, so be quick!

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.

Fashion changes with the seasons and with the latest celebrities du jour, but style comes from each person within.  It is developed over the years as a reflection of character and everyone has a style; they just might not be aware of it or feel comfortable enough in their own skin to display it successfully.

Most of todays celebrities have a team of fashion stylists to help co-ordinate their look and to create their own personal style. One such stylist is the amazingly creative Lisa Maynard-Atem of company STYLISA.

STYLISA

STYLISA is a a full service styling consultancy that aims to cater for all fashion styling requirements. Ranging from press show styling, television, music videos and personal consultation.

www.stylisa.com

LadyM Presents interviewed Lisa to learn more about the great work the company does;

Q. When was the STYLISA brand created and what was the inspiration?

A.  The STYLISA brand was created five years ago.  The inspiration came from my love of fashion, which I inherited from my mother, who used to take me to fashion shows and clothes shops when I was young.

Q.  What encouraged you to get into this industry and what was your route into it?

A.  I have been passionate about fashion from a very early age.  However my route was not a conventional one.  I trained and worked as a graphic designer.  After having worked in that industry for almost 10 years, I decided to follow my real passion.  I spent two years assisting other stylists, building up my portfolio and contacts and in 2005, I launched STYLISA.

Q.  What is a typical working day for you?

A.  There is no such thing as a typical day really.  Some days are spent calling in clothes and shopping for photo shoots.  Others are spent on the phone to journalists and going on press visits.  One thing that is consistent is that we are always promoting the STYLISA brand.  Wherever we are and whatever we are doing, we are always mindful that we are representing the brand, so we never miss an opportunity to promote the brand in the best possible light.

Q.  Where do you source your pieces for your clients? Where do you get your ideas from?

A.  We source clothes from a variety of sources, ranging from department stores, boutiques, designers and press offices.  I also spend a great deal of time scouting for new designers, as clients always want something unique and different, that no one else has seen before.

Model and entrepreneur Caprice, with the STYLISA team

Q.  What key trends do you think there are for this spring/summer? How do you stay on top of the latest trends?

A.  Denim is a big trend for spring/summer, as are maxi dresses and playsuits .  We stay on top of the trends by attending fashion shows, reading trend reports, and speaking to designers.  We also people watch.the street is a great place to discover trends and unique styles.

Q.  Who is your favourite designer and why?

A.  My favourite designer is Vivienne Westwood.  When I was young, I used to watch the Clothes Show, and each year they ran a competition for a couple to win their fantasy wedding.  One particular year, Vivienne Westwood was the designer chosen to make the dress.  She designed and made the most beautiful tartan gown.  The moment I saw that dress was the moment I fell in love with Vivienne Westwood.

Q.  Who is your fashion icon?

A.  My fashion icon is Audrey Hepburn – she epitomises a classic and timeless elegance that has yet to be surpassed.

Lisa with Stewart Parvin, dressmaker to The Queen

Q. What advice would you give for anyone wanting to get into the fashion/stylist industry?

A.  Be prepared to work EXTREMELY hard.  Be focused and never give up.  Always keep yourself up to date with the latest trends.  Most of all, believe in yourself.  When I first started out, there were doubters who did not believe I could achieve my goals of being in the fashion industry, especially as I did not have a fashion background.  It was my self-belief and sheer determination that has got me to this point and it is those same two things that will take me even further.

Q.  What’s the most rewarding part of your work? What is your greatest accomplishment so far?

A.  The most rewarding part and greatest accomplishment is simply that I am here, doing the one thing I have wanted to do since I was four years old.  I love my job and look forward to going to work every single day.  Everything else after this is a great bonus.

Q.  What is next for STYLISA? What are your goals for 2010?

A.  We are currently developing and growing the social media side of the business.  We are currently working with our clients to develop the social media side of their businesses, and through social media, make contact with key people that they could collaborate with.  This area of the business is experiencing a serious growth spurt, which is fantastic.  My goal for 2010 is to simply carry on growing the business and concentrating on my global strategy to take the STYLISA brand to New York and beyond.

www.stylisa.com

STYLISA is also working with many great designers such as Miglio Designer Jewellery to develop their online presence as well as having the fabulous blog with some great interviews with fellow lovely people from the world of fashion.

Contact Lisa at STYLISA via www.stylisa.com for all your fashion styling, sourcing creatives, fashion event organising, corporate styling, garment sourcing and personal shopping needs.