So I moved to Deutschland

I have now been living in Germany for over a month, I am quite settled in my new apartment and have made a great group of friends but still can't quite get my head around the whole 'I live in Germany' thing. 

Although Dusseldorf isn't a huge distance from London there are still some differences that make it hard to adjust to like actually waiting for the green man before crossing the road; not going for a 'quiet' drink after work(a daily occurrence in London and never quiet); determining the difference between 1001 various types of sausage and not being able to go shopping on a Sunday. Little differences. 

Despite these I am so much happier here than I was in London. I am finally getting paid enough to afford proper food and a gym membership so I can have control over my diet- no more pot noodles and beans on toast for me. I even have a proper living space- all my previous homes have been questionable warehouse residencies. For the past 6 years of my life I have had tiny bedrooms with shred kitchens, toilets and living spaces. I now have my own living room, bathroom and kitchen. I cannot stress enough how much of a relief it is to come home and know that all the food in the fridge belongs to me, no-one can ever steal my milk again and I won't find surprise mouldy vegetables that someone else has left from the previous month *sigh of relief*. I thought I'd share some photos of my new place with you so here they are...

Left to right from top: Kitchen, bedroom, cherry blossom on my street, coat hangers in my hallway, bathroom, living room, herb garden(yes I have made myself a herb garden!), dining room, living room television, morning coffee on my living room balcony, view of church from my bedroom window, sofa close up, living room balcony.

It's been lovely and sunny here recently and so I've really been able to make use of my balconies- especially on the weekends. I he been so fortunate in finding this flat as the sun rises on one side, directing itself straight onto my living room balcony(perfect for morning coffee before work), and sets behind the church overlooked by my bedroom balcony.

Despite being only 10 minutes from the main station in Dusseldorf, the area I live in is so quiet- except from the church bells which seem to find it necessary to ring every hr....except on Sundays.... on Sundays they really go to town and ring relentlessly for 15 minutes. I kind of like it though!

Anyway, now that I have settled in and had a little break from blogging and freelancing I want to become more proactive again and build up my online presence. Partially for my own sanity as I have a build up of banter/monologues I just can't let out at work- apparently the dry British humour is quite difficult to translate into Spanish and German. Also because I finally have the free time to get properly involved with blogging. Hopefully I'll be able to get into a blogging routine so that I can become more consistent and get more followers etc. I'm also going to give the blog a little makeover to mark my fresh start and attempt to sync it with my instagram(@beckyloisburns) account and facebook(textilecandy) page...watch this space...

I've also had time to work on some pieces for myself, nothing major just some artwork for my apartment. Its really refreshing to have the chance to be able to work on pieces just for the pure enjoyment of it; no pressure, no deadlines and no certainty of the outcome I'm pretty certain that's how art should be.

Premiere Vision Spring/Summer 2016

As always I approached Premiere Vision with pent up excitement. I always find learning about upcoming trends extremely insightful, particularly when i have the opportunity to learn how they came into fruition.

Unfortunately I missed the Autumn/Winter 16/17 WGSN trend presentation due to being unable to locate the room. By the time my colleague and I had found the venue the doors had been closed which, as can be imagined, was a huge source of frustration for me.On the plus side, WGSN is so well organised that it uploads the same trends onto it's website within a few weeks of the event.

One of the parts of PV I was most excited for this year was the press club. This year is the first where I have been emailed a free press pass which enables me to take photographs without being frog marched into a corner and forced to delete the images. This has been a great way of refreshing my mind about the trends- it's always great to have a prompt to jog your memory. As you can see I have still made my usual trend response boards, but I have also been able to include photos of how the PV trend area was laid out.

The Premiere Vision trend area and Indigo.

Photos of the fabrics shown in the Premiere Vision trend area.

There were 17 trends for Spring/Summer 16 , titled as follows:

contrasting, blurry visions, automatic writing, freehand sketches, ethnic markings, milky blossoms, sketchy, sweets, animal chatter, little jokes,hatching,large geometrics, apache geometry,interlocked geometrics, comic book style, teeming flowers, in the bush. 

I have decided to merge some of these trends into one to create a smaller pack of 10 trends:

comic book florals, apache geometry, foliage(in the bush), ethnic markings, automatic writing and hatching, freehand sketches, milky blossoms, 80's floral(contrasting), conversationals, blurred visions.

From what I saw at PV, the majority of print trends(excluding the digital ones)have a strong freehand, handcrafted feel to them. Gaining immense popularity on the runway in recent seasons with prolific designers like Diane Von Furstenberg, Burberry and Antonio Marras jumping on board, it is unsurprising that we are now seeing a vast array of hand drawn/illustrative/painterly prints.

This girl can.....

Around September last year I created this piece of artwork..

Although not a particularly breathtaking piece of art, this quote from author R.S. Grey quickly became my motto. I am of the firm belief that you can achieve anything you set your mind to.

Towards the end of last year I became more aware of my increasing unhappiness in London, brought on by nothing in particular and everything in general. Common sense dictates that if you aren't happy with you life then you should change it. So that's what I sought out to do. One of/the only perk to not having a boyfriend is that I'm not restricted when considering possible job locations- I have no one else to consider in my decision making....selfish but true. In the spirit of this I applied for jobs in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, America, Australia- I was open to anything! I went to secret interviews on my days off work in a desperate attempt to satisfy my need for change(hence the lack of blogging). 2 months later and no news from the interviews. I gave up. I went for a freelance interview and decided I would move back to the North and freelance until I had found some balance in my life. 

Apparently this was against some divine plan as 4 days after making this decision I received a phone call to say I had been offered the job in Germany!!!! So... on the 10th March I will be uprooting my life for the second time and moving to Dusseldorf to be Print designer for girlswear  at C&A's Clockhouse brand. I AM SO EXCITED!!!! I speak no German and have never worked in childrenswear. This is such a challenging opportunity and I cannot wait. 

Anyway...I wanted to focus this blog post on the new Sport England 'This Girl Can' campaign and the increase we are seeing in motivating and empowering women particularly through social media. Which I guess ties in to the piece of artwork at the beginning of this post. 

'I jiggle, therefore I am' sounds about right for me :)

" This Girl Can is a national campaign developed by Sport England and a wide range of partnership organisations. It's a celebration of active women up and down the country who are doing their thing no matter how well they do it, how they look or even how red their face gets." (taken from the campaign website) 

The campaign challenges the way the media has portrayed women over the years. It avoids airbrushed images and shows women as they are regardless of sweat dripping and fat jiggling. Finally a realistic and empowering image of women, one that we can actually relate to.

Back in September last year Emma Watson became the face of the #HeforShe campaign which brought the issue of gender discrimination to the forefront of the worlds attention. For so many years feminism has been associated with a negative stereotype, the heforshe campaign not only encourages women to be feminist, but also encourages men to speak on the behalf of women. 

We seem to be experiencing a new wave of feminism, far removed from the days of fighting for women's suffrage. Over the recent years we have seen an increase in positive feminism- women standing up for their rights; for their education; for their freedom of speech. I have recently been reading 'I am Malala', an amazing account of how a young girl, Malala Yousafzai, made a stand for educating women in Afghanistan. Definitely worth a read if you haven't already.

With the mass kidnapping of 300 schoolgirls by Nigeria's Boko Haram in April last year and a resurgence of India's rape crisis in the headlines after the Badaun gang rape/murder, crimes against women constantly appeared in the headlines of 2014. It seems that, as a reaction to this, 2015 is a year of action; a year of motivating and empowering women; a year of encouraging feminism.  

Recently I saw the below poster for the design museum in a tube station. I could not love this more. It is so relevant to the industry I work in and I will be making sure I see the exhibition before I move to Germany.

So....2015 A year of female empowerment.. a year where this girl can, and she will!

Pre-fall 2015 Print trends

At long last I have finally finished the Pre-fall 2015 print trend boards. Just in time for Premiere Vision and the Fall 2015/2016 collections to come out next week.

The boards below show the trends I have picked up on through the Pre-fall collections. If you think I have missed any please let me know as it's always interesting to see what other people pick up on too! 

Houndstooth appears to be rearing it's head once again but in a much more contemporary way with oversized houndstooth motifs rearranged to look less harsh. Versace has absolutely dominated this trend with houndstooth motifs taking over the entire collection.

I am basically in love with this new take on geometrics. I've really enjoyed watching this trend develop from the A/W14 Prada show and the recent trend for Matisse style cutouts to this 70's infused trend of juxtaposing geometrics. My favourite collection for this trend is without a doubt the MSGM range where colourful shapes have been layered on top of each other to create a robotic print.

It has been creeping in to collections for a while now but Pre-fall 2015 saw designers make a unanimous move towards 70's styling, colour schemes and prints. Bell bottom sleeves, flares, turtle necks and boho maxi dresses were all popular shapes and layering seems to be key for this trend. With Barbara Hulanicki(founder of 70's powerhouse label Biba)returning to create a capsule collection for Biba after 39 years it is obvious that the 70's is making a huge comeback. No doubt this will continue as the dominant theme for the Autumn/Winter 2015 collections. But what next...the 80's maybe?I guess I'll find out at Premiere Vision next week!

    Naive, simple florals in bold flat blocks of colour have begun to be the trademark print for this 70's trend. Art nouveau florals are also emerging, reminiscent of the Biba prints of the 1970's. 

Another trend I love is the folk floral trend. Dark bases with bright delicate florals seemed to be present in so many of the Pre-fall collections. My favourites are the prints from the Alice+Olivia, Thakoon and A.L.C collections which are reminiscent of the dot work florals from Valentino's S/S15 collection. 

 The newcomer: Persian rug patterns......This was a predicted trend in my Premiere Vision report back  in September and I'm quite excited to see it starting to work it's way into the runway collections. Taking inspiration from tapestries and Persian rug motifs works best with deep,rich colours. I have combined this trend with paisley prints as I feel they sit together nicely to create a new ethnic trend. Definitely a trend to watch out for in the Fall 2015 collections.

So those are my trend boards for the Pre-fall 2015 collections. Next week is Premiere Vision and I have been lucky enough to have been sent a free press pass from the event organisers. Hopefully I will be posting a dazzling new set of PV trend boards next week with upcoming trends including photos from the event. :)

Pre-Fall 2015 colour trends

As it's still the first month of the year I feel like I'm still allowed to make some new years resolutions. One of which is to be more consistent with my blog posts, an essential part of this will be to keep up to date with trends over the next few months as it is Premiere vision in February and the new collections for Autumn/Winter 2015 will becoming out. In the spirit of this new resolution I have started looking over all the Pre-fall 2015 collections to identify some trends to watch out for in the fall collections in February. This post is the Pre-fall 2015 colour trend post...

I am so pleased that blue seems to be taking over the runway. By far my favourite colour, there is a shade of blue that works for everyone. Although most people seem to opt for safer navy and ink blues, I could not be happier that it is the brighter cobalt blue that the designers have opted for. 

This is by far my favourite colour trend from the Pre-fall 15 collections. Pairing blue and yellow creates such a fresh new colour combination. I love the way Sachin&Babi and Missoni have worked this colour scheme into their collection through colour blocking and pattern mixing- it seems a lot les frightening when toned down with pattern. This being said, Giulietta and Alexander Lewis have opted for block colours but have made them work perfectly with 70's styling and toned down shades of ochre yellow and denim blue.  I will definitely be embracing this when the rest of London resorts to their winter uniform of black, navy and grey.

The popularity of lime green on the S/S 15 catwalks has darkened to jade and emerald shades for the Pre-fall collections.  These shades fit perfectly into the movement towards jewel tones for Autumn/Winter 2015.

Another addition to the overall jewel colour trend is a variety of purple shades from darker indigo to mauve and lilac. The collection that seemed to champion the jewel tones for Pre-fall 15 was, undoubtedly, Bottega Veneta.

Orange!!!So SO much orange! I always think of orange as being an extremely hard colour to wear as if you're skin tone is even remotely pinkish(which mine definitely is)it tends to clash. Despite this I do love the vibrancy of this colour trend and can see how there are ways of making orange work. The Alice&Olivia orange skirt has to be my favourite way of introducing orange into a collection, By toning it down with a darker top and adding pattern to break up the solid colour orange suddenly becomes a lot less intimidating!

Warm earthy cinammon, rust and camel tones provide some balance for the bright jewel colours that are set to be popular in A/W 15. Sonia by Sonia Rykiel and Chloe have worked this colour scheme into their collections perfectly by keeping the warm tones together.These warm tones are also featuring alongside varying shades of blue, Gucci with rich dark cerulean and Rag&Bone with Ink blue.

Khaki has gained a lot of popularity in the Pre-fall collections. It seems to have been absent from the runway for several seasons but has re-emerged in full force with designers such as Burberry Prorsum, Alexander Wang and Chanel all featuring khaki tones in their collections. Designers draw inspiration from the world around them and with the current increase in military presence in so many countries, it is to be expected that colours and styles associated with the military will begin to feature on the runway.

So those are the main colour trends that I have picked up on. If anyone has noticed any other ones I have missed I would definitely be interested to know!I'll be posting the Pre-fall 15 print trends over the next few weeks before the Fall collections start coming out.

P.S Some of you may notice that I have changed my blog background to a houndstooth print made up of some of my own patterns. I'm pretty convinced that houndstooth is going to be a key print trend for Autumn/Winter 2015. I'm going to try and change the background image of my blog with each new season.

Pre-fall 2015 favourites!

I finally have a week off!!!!Of course I intend to spend it catching up on blogging and runway trends so it's not really a complete week off. I have been really busy recently working on some freelance illustration commissions(which will feature in a blog post soon)and updating my portfolio which is no easy feat- I completely underestimated the length of time a portfolio upgrade takes! 

Anyway I'm back home in the lovely North of England and am finally having chance to sit down and look through all of the Pre-fall 15 collections and figure out what trends are coming through, I'll be posting these over the next few days.

One thing I did notice when looking at the trends was the increased quantity of images I was having to sift through, it seems that designers are now treating the Pre-collections as a whole new season with almost every key designer taking part.

Anyway, here are some of my favourites:

This collection is the perfect combination of American Indian Navajo patterns and bright folkloric florals. Recently I have been trying to push pointillism as a trend after it featured in the SS15 collections of Issa and Valentino, intricate dotwork is also used to add detail to the florals in this Alice&Olivia collection. One of the colours that seemed to be quite dominant throughout the Pre-fall 15 collections was orange and Alice&Olivia have used it perfectly alongside burnt red, navy and cobalt blue.

The BCBG Max Azria collection is another of my favourites. Illustrative linear shapes with primary colours used to fill in areas- this collection is fresh and fun.

Oh Nicole!!!Such a breathtaking collection. It seems like a softer version of the Etro aesthetic with pattern mixing, print layering and persian rug motifs. Even the styling of this collection plays on the boho look with the long loose hair and the open shoulder maxi dresses. Judging by the amount of open shoulder, bardot necklines and cutout shoulder styles we have been seeing on the runway recently we appear to be moving our focus towards the shoulders.

I just love everything about this collection. An ode to the 80's, Sachin&Babi have created a collection reminiscent of Memphis prints even down to the monochromatic grid backgrounds. I also love the flying fish applique motifs used- there's been a huge increase in the usage of applique recently and this looks like it's here to stay for the foreseeable future. 

That's all for now but I'm working on some trends to post over the next few days!

British textile industry- Hawick Knitwear.

As we are now in the depths of winter and because I've been working, quite ironically, for a knitwear company for over a year now, I decided to welcome in the cold weather by attempting to learn how to knit. I set myself the challenge of knitting a chunky scarf(instead of buying one) and consulted my Nan on how to actually do this. I bought some huge chunky knitting needles and 3 balls of different coloured wool to make a questionable looking twist.

Me being me I then left it about 3 weeks to get started, by which point I had forgotten every pointer my lovely Nan had given me. As a result my "scarf" was made using an improv/non existent stitch and quickly began to take the form of a hand muffler by curling in on itself. Despite this the "scarf", which is as long as it is wide, is finished and is actually the warmest most snuggly piece of knitwear I've ever owned.

Due to my many problems in making the scarf, and the fact that it is currently held in a snood-like shape with two hair bobbles(attaching the two ends together is on my huge to-do list) I think it may have been a lot easier for me to have left it to the professionals and bought one from a shop, but I am far too stubborn and persistent for that. It does feel extremely good to be able to say that I now work for a knitwear company and can actually knit...well sort of!

Although my new scarf has questionable aesthetics; is extremely oversized and isn't the most commercial looking thing, I made it! The pride you have after creating something yourself is incomparable to any other feeling. Knowing that every dropped stitch/hole in the scarf was created at a point where I was near giving up on the whole knitting thing altogether reminds me of the important of persistence. I think hand made garments are what the British high street is lacking.


The British textile industry, once booming, is now almost bust. With British retailers and high street giants exporting the manufacturing of their products overseas to countries like China, Hong Kong and Bangladesh, the industry that once financed British Imperialism has almost completely diminished. The British textile industry has found it impossible to compete with the low production costs and short lead times of overseas manufacturing leaving many British factories with no choice but to close down. As a reaction to globalisation and British manufacturing being shipped overseas there is an increasing demand for British heritage brands and luxury 'made in Britain' garments which is where surviving British textile mills/factories are able to thrive.

Standfast&Barracks main building, Screen printing machine, Quality Control checking machine.

After graduating in 2012, I spent 4 months working at Standfast&Barracks(above), a textile printing factory in my hometown of Lancaster (http://www.standfast-barracks.com). In all honesty factory work had never been part of my career plan, I, in all my idealistic naivety, had expected to be given a Print design job straight after my graduation. After travelling to countless interviews all over the country I decided to pursue a different route into my "dream job". On reflection I feel so fortunate to have lived in a town that still has a Textile factory as this turned out to be my gateway into the fashion industry. Although I worked to the point of exhaustion doing nights shifts in the factory and then working freelance in the day, I feel so much more informed about the printing process than I would have done had I not experienced this area of work. It was during this 4 months that I realised the importance of keeping some of the textile manufacturing process in the UK. I actually wrote a blogpost on this, and the decline of the British textile industry, over a year ago:  http://textilecandy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/the-decline-of-british-textiles.html.

I have recently come across one of the few British knitwear companies that still manufactures their garments within the UK. Hawick knitwear has provided luxury knitwear since 1874 and has remained steadfast, despite adversity, managing to prosper while other companies have collapsed.

Video c/o Hawick knitwear(below).

In a world dominated by fast fashion forcing retailers to compromise the quality of their garments, consumers are beginning to realise the importance of quality and long lasting clothing. Fashion trends are constantly changing but certain items are a wardrobe staple. Knitwear, for example, never seems to age- we find new ways of playing with stitch and yarn composition but a crew neck cable jumper has the longevity other garments lack. With the majority of the British high street manufacturing their products in factories overseas, the quality of knitwear on the high street is compromised. Jumpers are not as warm and garments are finished poorly causing them to give in to wear and tear very easily. For only a few pounds more, a luxury hand-finished, made in the UK garment can be purchased which has a guaranteed longer life. Unfortunately most of these heritage brands have been overshadowed by high street giants, but with British fashion houses like Burberry, Mulberry and Pringle of Scotland having a second lease of life on the runway, luxury 'made in Britain' brands seem to be clawing their way back.

Pringle of Scotland SS15, Mulberry SS15, Burberry Prorsum SS15.

If anything this proves that heritage brands are adaptable, after surviving the many recessions of recent years, brands like Hawick knitwear are adapting to new customers with Marks&Spencer buying their Best of British cashmere sweaters from Hawick. Engaging with emerging markets in Japan and carrying out collaborations with heritage brands like Harris tweed, Hawick knitwear appears to be going through a re-branding process. Heritage British made knitwear is fighting back- hopefully this is something we will see other heritage brands beginning to do. In a world that appears to be controlled by social media and an online footprint, being connected with the target audience online is of the upmost importance- this means re-designing websites, creating up to date blogs and having a social media following. If heritage brands can get on board with this new form of sales and advertising then they can flourish.

Pieces from Hawick knitwear's current collection.

If anyone knows of any other British based textile manufacturing companies I'd love to hear about them whether that be  knitwear/cotton mill or a fabric printing company. It is important that we stand behind local manufacturers and get the British textile trade back on the world map.