Francesca Crow

I was going through blogs the other day and came across one set up by a friend of mine Frankie (Francesca Crow). We met in New york in Jan 2008 when we were both doing placements out there and living in the Webster apartments. I was working for DVF in the printed textile department and Frankie was working for Donna Karan in the knitwear.

She has put up examples of her photography, sketch books, drawings and garments she did for her final collection at London College of Fashion where she graduated with a 1st, even after having her appendix burst whilst she was working on her final collection!

To me Frankie's style really reflects her personality and her blog really did make me smile. From the images you are able to see the quality of craftsmanship in her work down to the finest detail and see the passion and enthusiasm Frankie has for all things couture fashion!

She is currently working with Mary Katrantzou who sells  her beautiful dresses at Browns

I have added a couple of my favorite images but make sure you check out her blog!

Bright Bazaar/arriving in New York..... only a little delayed

I received a lovely email this morning from Will, the writer of Bright Bazaar, his blog is amazing, he finds the most beautiful pieces of work and his use of within the styling of his blog is very sophisticated, i highly recommend checking it out!

Also...

After a long journey of around 24 hours we have arrived at our apartment in NYC. Due to ash cloud delays, JFK refurbishments and having our bags searched by customs we arrived quite a bit later than planned, but as far as I can tell, nothing has been stolen or damaged which I am very pleased about, but we  won't definitely know until we unpack everything for set up in two days.

Our room is in an apartment in the east village, when we arrived even though it was close to 1 am the area was still buzzing with people, restaurants and bars, if we weren't so tired we would have gone out to explore!

We're now suffering from slight jet lag, even though we had a very long day yesterday we are up before 8am, so we are off to enjoy new york today!!

GRAND DESIGNS

Yesterday I went to visit my friend Ellen Adele at Grand Designs and help out on the stand. I'm not too sure how much help I was as I really wanted to see all of the exhibitors as well.
Her stand was really impressive and even in the short time I was there she had lots of interest from interior designers and lots of exciting new opportunities!
Ellen has created a new fabric threw researching materials for over two years whilst at university. She is now in the process of patenting this new technique and it is set to become a fabric of the future!
In the evening I went to the Hidden Art offices for a marketing and networking session. Really enjoyed it, met some lovely people!
But that has taken a whole day out of my New York preparation, I still have so much to do, fingers crossed in 4 days time I will be ready and the Ash cloud will not return!!

6 days until departure and I'm meeting Sir Terence Conran

Its only 9.30 and already I have had a very exciting morning! Set aside the fact on the ICFF website my name and website are spelt Lorna Syon instead of Syson (which should be changing as we speak) I have spoken to the organisers of the Fabric Fantasia exhibition and they have asked myself and Hana (because we have experience in fashion) to help with the styling of the stand.

It should be an amazing exhibition, the 2D models are being created by designer Susan Woods, I'm heading over to her studio in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Dumbo on the 11th of May to see how the pieces are coming along. She is creating a series of 15-20 free-standing life-sized figurines made from used and found materials such as scrap metal, drift wood, timber, cardboard etc.

The person in charge of the styling is a MA fashion design graduate from the RCA called Stefan Orschel-Read. He is an acclaimed London-based British fashion designer who has agreed to create the styling of the figures in-situ artistic installation pieces.

I have also been informed that on the Saturday and Sunday we are having breakfast and talks with Hugely famous and amazing designer Conran! This is such an amazing opportunity. He is there to support the British designers who are showing at ICFF this year

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

It's now 7 days until I head off to New York with Hana! We are both ridiculously excited, I've already got back in contact with some of the girls who are still living out there from my placement year where I worked for DVF in the super cool meat packing district!

I'm already planning repeat trips to my favourite lunch spots in Chelsea market, and Just Salad, not sure there are going to be enough lunch times!

On the left a sneaky peak of how I am planning to dress my model with my interior pieces and fabrics for the Fabric Fantasia exhibition at the ICFF. The model compliments my interior ranges and also give me an opportunity to use my interior and fashion pieces in a different way in a professional setting

Getting excited about going to NEW YORK!

I'm getting really excited about ICFF! It is now 12 days until I jet off to New York City with Hana Moss! We are really lucky because we have found a really cool looking place to stay in the East Village with AirBnb,  I haven't been back to New York since i finished my placement with Diane Von Furstenberg in their printed textiles department over two years ago! I'm getting excited to go back to some of our favourite places such as Piano's and Max Fish Bar!

At ICFF I am showing with BEDG, we are group of British designers who are representing British Interior design in the USA. I have been really lucky that the chamber of commerce has supported me by giving me a grant to cover the cost of the stand!

It has been a massive challenge to work out the best way to dress my large 3m by 1.5m stand, but with a lot of research and to scale drawings I think I have now cracked it.... (pictures will follow to show once the stand has been set up)

Now its just the case of working out how much baggage Virgin Atlantic will let me take and how best to pack to make sure everything stays a pristine as when I packed them as well as keeping under the weight limit and being able to carry and transport things once I get to New York!