After seeing a few designers and brands I knew and liked in the past couple of days I thought I’d dedicate today to new discoveries (at least new to me). So I assigned myself a mission to wander around the exhibition until something caught my eye. Despite the size of the salon, because I am quite picky I only came out with a couple of brands I felt I would be happy to feature. There were a few criteria the labels had to meet: the whole collection (bar a couple pieces at the most) had to appeal to me, there had to be an interesting story behind the label, or something amusing, the collection had to really stand out from the mass of clothes on display.
My first stop was Reale, an Italian label launched in 2007 by Camilla Giacomini and Daniele Scaboro. The brand follows a set of fundamental rules: to the products are made entirely in Italy, the fabrics are all sustainable and so are the dyes. Reale actually developed a special dye process called the Faded method. The Faded process is the only ecologically compatible dying process – it doesn’t require energy as the clothes can be dyed at environmentally friendly temperatures, there are no toxic or chemicals involved in the process and it derives from natural substances such as fruit, cocoa, herbs, flowers and even liquorice!
Another thing that appealed to me is that Reale believes in slow fashion, slow eating, slow living and taking the time to enjoy every little thing… I must say their SS12 collection makes me long for days by the sea, eating ice cream and reading dozens of books.
— since this post is rather image heavy, please click below to read more… and find out about my xbox giveaway!! —
Continuing my discovery tour, this time in Northern Europe, more specifically in my beloved Sweden, with Rules By Mary. The brand was launched in 2008 and lives by one rule: there are no rules. The only constant is the lovely fluid feminine silhouettes dear to the brand. The SS12 collection had the usual mix of nauticals, florals and great colours but the difference was in the subtle placement of zips, pleats or buckles on otherwise fairly plain garments.
I was particularly taken by the shoe collection, very bright and with fairly chunky heels of seemingly normal height. The accessories were also pretty strong in an every day sort of way. At the moment, the brand sadly isn’t stocked in the UK, but you will find it in France, Northern Europe, Spain, Japan and Australia.
Don’t forget to enter my giveaway to win an xbox+kinect+game! Simply find the answer to the question at the end of this post and keep checking the blog every day till Tuesday for more questions. Once you have all the answers, email them to me and I will draw a winner next week!
The last label I am featuring today is my wild card: Orla Kiely. Of course, I know the brand and of course I love it. I could have given this slot to a new designer, but I was too besotted by the SS12 collection! As usual Orla Kiely is giving us good print, great fabrics, super girly shapes and an overall fun and wearable collection.
I can’t wait to see it again at the London Fashion Week presentation!
QUESTION:
How many stores stock Rules by Mary in Stockholm?
(for hints, go to my Facebook page!)