Fast paced fashion

It has been a week of working hard and playing hard! On Wednesday we opened up the English Eccentrics studio for a special evening, showcasing the current Autumn/Winter collection.

Lots of wonderful guests came along including: Alison, Tim and Jenni from the UK’s finest greeting card and stationery creators Roger La Borde and the writer Philip Norman, who is currently completing a fabulous and extensively-researched book on the life of John Lennon.

Philip’s wife, Susan Summers, the television and film producer responsible for bringing us the intense interviews in Pamela Stevenson’s ‘Shrink Wrap’ also attended. Jewellery designer, Joy, from Van Den Burg in Newburgh Street joined us with her daughter Yasmin. Yasmin looked fabulous in our little tie neck white blouse: she said it made her feel like a Japanese schoolgirl!

Yasmin in our tie neck white blouse at EE open evening

Thursday was the second annual dinner for the Contemporary Patrons Group at the Royal Academy of Art. We sat with Sir Nicholas Grimshaw and his lovely wife Lavinia, who looked beautiful in English Eccentrics white and slate ‘Wintergarden’ silk jersey knot dress. I discovered to my surprise, that Sir Nick was born in Hove, like me. We spent most of the evening discussing our affinity with the sea.

Sir Nicholas Grimshaw and I at RA Contemporary Patrons Group Dinner

Tracey Emin led a dialogue with David Thorp of the South London Gallery; discussing the aims of the group. Tracey was clearly feeling relaxed and at home, wandering around the tables with a microphone in her hand. ‘When will the Tracey Emin chat show grace our screens?’ I wondered.

Tracey Emin speaking at Royal Academy Dinner

To remind us of the joys of contemporary art, various young artists were doing interesting things at the Royal Academy dinner. One man photographed us, put the image into his computer and then bathed it in green light to reveal the photo on a giant screen, where it faded almost as soon as it had appeared.

Another ethereal work involved a slow film on a giant screen, which was sensitive to movement close by. Images of people in front of the screen were captured, slowed down, multilayered and then played back. It was extremely disconcerting to stand in front of! A group of artists; ambitiously named ‘United Visual Artists', were responsible for this work and we chatted with Joel from the group. He had some inspirational ideas about time-based art.

Joel from United Visual Artists and I at RA event

Now I’m gearing up for a weekend in the studio, paintbrush in one hand and computer mouse in the other, as we strive to finish the first group of textile designs for next Autumn/Winter! There really is no let up in Fashion and Textiles (or Passion and Sextiles as John Miles used to call it!)