Fashion: Hiut Denim

I was recently introduced to a very clever new brand from the founder of Howies - Hiut Denim.

David and Claire Hieatt, founders of Hiut Denim, launched the brand to inject life back into the denim industry in Cardigan, Wales.

What's really interesting about this brand is the story;

"We make jeans. That’s it. Nothing else. No distractions. Nothing to steal our focus. No kidding ourselves that we can be good at everything. No trying to conquer the whole world. We just do our best to conquer our bit of it. So each day we come in and make the best jeans we know how. Use the best quality denims. Cut them with an expert eye. And then let our ‘Grand Masters’ behind the sewing machines do the rest.

There is a great deal of satisfaction to be gained from making something well, of such superior quality that you know it is going to stand the test of time. It makes the hard work and the obsessing over each and every detail worth all the effort. That’s our reward. That’s why we stick to just making jeans. Yup, we just make jeans. That’s all folks."

In an age of recession and many established brands goings into administration, it's great to see new and specialist brands cropping up and ceasing the opportunity to launch products which people really want to buy - even when consumers are continuing to tighten their purse strings. Now more than ever, consumers want quality products with longevity and an engaging story behind the brand, and this is something Hiut Denim are doing exceedingly well.

Along with their denim, they're also launching the History Tag;

"Each jean will come with a unique number. Your unique number. You go to the HistoryTag website and register. That’s it. Then you can upload pictures of where you went, what you did, who you did it with…to the HistoryTag website. So those memories get saved. Not a big deal right now. But when you look back, it will become a big deal."

http://hiutdenim.co.uk

Lately...

On the way to work / My beautiful new Cambridge Satchel / Marni for H&M earrings / Chanel counter in Fenwick, Newcastle. 

Flowers for Mother's Day / Posting a letter to my little niece / The new King's Cross station in London / Ice cream on a sunny day 

Admiring the animals in Pet's Corner, Jesmond Dene / Sunday night pedicure / Visiting the SCIN Gallery in London / Design Museum, Shad Thames

Snazzy new Pendleton bicycle (more to come on this!) / Purple painted house near work / Rifling through old records, love the old school sleeves / Springtime tulips

Reggie the dawg / Dark 'n Stormy cocktails in Las Iguanas / Finally seeing Bill Cunningham New York at Tyneside Cinema / 35mm Ale, specially brewed for Tyneside Cinema by Wylam Brewery.

 The Classic, my favourite screen in Tyneside Cinema / Trying out 9 Bar Coffee at the Theatre Royal / Latte in 9 Bar Coffee / Box fresh and brilliantly white Converse.

Instagram: alicemarybarnes

Fashion: L'Odyssee de Cartier.

An epic achievement. Just brilliant. Well done, Cartier.

Fashion: Going Backstage - Hunger for Insider Access

Whilst undertaking my degree in Fashion Communication, I gained a placement working for a well known and acclaimed model casting director during London Fashion Week. During this time, I became utterly fascinated with the behind the scenes of the fashion industry; the hard work which goes into creating fashion productions, the endless months of planning for creating a collection for subsequent shows and presentations, right through the chain to how ad campaigns are produced and publication photo shoots and fashion film.

I was fascinated by this so much, that I based my entire final year project around exploring the behind the scenes of the fashion industry, and subsequently created a luxury image-driven fashion publication entitled 'BACKSTAGE', for my final major project. This documented the processes involved in producing a fashion show, giving the growing fashion hungry audience a chance to explore elements of fashion shows which are usually only seen by those working in the industry, from the initial model edits through to castings, hair and make-up tests and production teams working behind the scenes.

My publication won me the Hachette Filipacchi Media and Design Award at Graduate Fashion Week 2010 and since then, I have only seen the hunger build  and build for fashion consumers desire to see more than just an retouched image on a magazine page, or the final cut of a video on SHOWstudio or Nowness; they want to know everything about the initial processes of a photoshoot, what the fashion director is wearing for work, the months of planning behind features and securing interviews; every last detail.

This trend is really hitting hard now across all industries, and particularly fashion, with events like the Vogue Festival including Q&A sessions with Jourdan Dunn and some of fashion top models for their view on the industry and a behind the scenes look at a Burberry shoot, ELLE UK's 'What the Editor Wears' and 'What ELLE Wears to Work' blogs and ELLE UK live tweeting from cover shoots. 

The demand for an access all areas insight is only increasing brand awareness (and profits) - most notably, heritage British fashion house Burberry are leading the way with access for everyone; catwalk shows are streamed live online, looks are instantly shoppable and their Twitter stream previews each look before the models head down the runway (Tweetwalk), making the fashion enthusiast sitting at home watching the show just as important to brands, as the fashion editor on the front row.

It's really interesting seeing how fashion houses, designers, magazines etc are really making an industry that was once only laid bare for select insiders, now open for everyone. I wonder how brands/publications/designers will develop this idea of access for all and what they will do next...

Fashion: The Cambridge Satchel Company.

The Cambridge Satchel Company have been on my radar for sometime now. They make classic satchel bags which are all made in Britain in a fantastic array of colours and you can even personalise them with your initials in gold, silver, black or blind de-bossing. Very, very covetable and purchasing one has been high on my wishlist for a long while.

Now, on Thursday whilst typing away at work my phone buzzed and I saw a tweet from the Cambridge Satchel Co announcing that I'd won their 8,000 Twitter Followers Sparkly Satchel Giveaway! I was randomly selected out of their Twitter followers to receive one of their beautiful Sparkly Satchels - a new design for 2012. Such a wonderful surprise to receive one of these beautifully made and very covetable satchels.

After a few emails back and forth with the wonderful Emma at the Cambridge Satchel Co, I decided on the 13" Graphite Grey Sparkly Satchel, with my initials blind debossed on the front. And because this is a special giveaway prize, they debossed the number 8 (for 8,000 Twitter followers) on the satchel strap, so it is truly very special. Joe (my better half) was born on 8/8/88 so not only is 8 his lucky number, it's also now mine.

My satchel arrived safe and sound this morning and I did a little squeal when I opened the packaging! Thanks Cambridge Satchel Company - my sparkly satchel is perfect!