As newcomers to the whole speed networking (speed dating?!) experience, we headed along to the Fashion Insight event last night with a butterfly or two in our stomachs.

However, we were met with copius smiling faces, cupcakes and fluoroescent pink vitamin water to fuel our way around the crowd.

Held at the Cube, a new creative workspace in Shoreditch, East London, the space was crammed with key industry professionals such as photographers, stylists, retouchers, digital media types, web designers and even a few lawyers for good measure!

We had a great time chatting with all of the people we met and we're even exchanging a few emails as we speak.

I'd thoroughly recommend this event to anyone in the fashion and beauty industries. See you there next time!

www.fashioninsight.co.uk

http://thecubelondon.com

YshLondon loves Pringle of Scotland for it's fine, innovative knitwear, and we've got some exciting news to share with you from the kings of knit:

'Day of Record' is a one-day event which will take place in Pringle's Hawick factory, Scotland.

And the idea is this - help Pringle of Scotland to celebrate this important heritage in Scottish history by searching your Pringle collection and memorabilia - anything from  a jumper or a photograph of someone wearing Pringle, to help them documents this unique heritage.

Visit Pringle of Scotland's factory in Hawick on 12th August to show them your 'Pringle'! and share your memories over a cup of tea and a slice of cake.

Any surviving historic records, press or Pringle products are welcome, and the information gathered will form the basis of a company archive at Hawick for posterity.

If you own some unique and rare examples, there might be possibilities that Pringle is interested in purchasing them...!

'Day of Record'
12 th August 2010
10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Pringle of Scotland, Hawick factory, Glebe Mill,
Noble Place, Hawick,
TD9 9QE Scotland

For more information
E-mail: dayofrecord@pringlescotland.com
Tel: 020 7259 1660

For more amazing knits, check our blog about Pringle of Scotland here!

Our friends at DegreeArt.com have launched a competition for emerging artists to present their signature artistic style. The competition winners will be announced on Thursday 5th of August and the shortlisted candidates will display their work in an exhibition that will be open to the public from the 6th to 15th of August in DegreeArt.com’s Vyner Street Gallery.

This year entrants cover sculpture, photography, painting and textile art, with no restrictions as to form, media, subject and content of their artwork; the work simply has to be in their own signature art style. There are four categories: painting, photography, sculpture and mixed media, with ten artists from each category to be shortlisted.

The entries will be shortlisted by a panel of industry judges, including:

Jennifer Francis – Head of Marketing, Royal Academy of Art
Pip McCormac – Feature writer, Sunday Times Style
Harry Holland – Leading British figurative painter, Albemarle and Tinneys galleries
David Waddington – Manager and co-founder, Bistrotheque restaurant
Nick Galvin – Head of Archives, Magnum Photos
John Bassam – Head of Design, Brahm Interiors
Natalie Tkachuk – photographer and previous category winner of Signature Art Awards
Elinor Olisa and Isobel Beauchamp – Directors and founders, DegreeArt.com

Each shortlisted finalist will have the opportunity to exhibit their piece at the DegreeArt.com gallery in the East End, where during the private view an overall winner from each category will be announced. There will also be a public vote within each category and four finalists will be announced from this vote.

The Signature Art Awards
6th – 15th August 2010
12-6pm daily

The DegreeArt.com Gallery,
12a Vyner Street,
London,
E2 9DG
0208 980 0395

Images courtesy of DegreeArt.com

Eduon Choi, one of Vauxhall Fashion Scout's emerging designers, has been awarded the Spring Summer 2011 Merit Award, Fashion Insight has revealed.

Eduon Choi's collection has been bought by prestigious boutiques such as Dover Street Market, Harvey Nichols (Hong Kong and Dubai), Debut New York, and Luisa Via Roma.

William Tempest, David Koma and Hermione de Paula are all former winners of the award and it comes as no surprise that Eduon Choi's designs have been singled out for praise.

Have a look at Eduon Choi's army and air-force influenced Autumn Winter 2010 collection at www.eudonchoi.com

Above: Eudon Choi AW2010/11
Image by Akiko Takamura

Pringle of Scotland's have yet another major project to reveal...

The 195 year old global luxury fashion brand Pringle of Scotland is now collaborating with Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (CSM).

Pringle of Scotland is offering BA and MA Fashion students to re-establish its amazing heritage and archive.

“We at Pringle are elated to have Central Saint Martins take such an active role in developing our archives. Pringle has a rich and innovative past. Access to this can only serve to inform and inspire our future.

Many, many thanks to Louise Wilson, to Alastair O’Neill and all students involved - for their enthusiasm, scholarship and fresh ideas.” -  Mary Adair Macaire, CEO of Pringle of Scotland.

Above: Pringle of Scotland Menswear Spring Summer 2010 collection at Modus PR

The Pringle archive project will follow in two stages:
The BA Fashion History Theory course at CSM will be researching and cataloguing Pringle of Scotland's existing company archive and will also be playing host to an event: 'Pringle Day of Record' which will be held in Howick, Scotland on 12th August.

Secondly, the MA Fashion and design students will be designing and creating modern interpretations of the iconic archive pieces.

A curated exhibition of the key archive discoveries and reworked styles will be presented in February 2011 during London Fashion Week. YshLondon will be reporting back closely!

Above, an amazing knitted skirt from Pringle of Scotland Spring Summer 2010 collection at Modus PR.

Visionaire's latest limited issue 'Spirit' is a tribute to the late Alexander McQueen
with featured contributors including Lady Gaga, Steven Meisel, Steven Klein, Nick Knight, Mario Testino, Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin to name but a few.

"The nicest touch: it turns into flowers. The issue will include images inspired by McQueen, printed on paper embedded with wildflower seeds. When you plant the pages, water and sun them, they'll eventually blossom." - at Queer Sighted (www.queersighted.com)

A fitting tribute to Lee Alexander McQueen - a thousand flower beds in his honour.

Visionaire No.58 Spirit issue is $295 available at www.visionaireworld.com

Image above courtesy of Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin at www.visionaireworld.com

With the onset of the 'Fashion Fantasies: Fashion plates and Fashion Satire, 1775-1925' exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, YshLondon delved into our own archives - namely our YshLondon team member Delphine! - and dug out some French fashion plates of our very own - Delphine Thwaites investigates...

The collection of plates that we found are from the ‘Musee des Familles’, one of the French journals of the time. It was subtitled ‘Les Lectures du soir’ – reading for the evening, and was published bi-annually, marketed at a middle-class Catholic audience, most likely to be well educated.

The journal was founded by Emile de Girardin in 1833 for recreational purposes and featured early versions of authors’ works. Dated mostly around the 1860’s and 1870’s, our fashion plates collection is still vivid with colour and texture.

Depicting daily life of high society, each plate illustrates at least two ladies elegantly dressed and often children too.

These individuals are fully clad in the latest desirable fashions and illustrate the most enviable fabrics, designs and accessories of that season. To us, the beauty of the etchings lie within their delicate shades of pastels colouring and beautifully delicate etched lines.

Across several issues, the ‘Musee des Familles’ would publish what are now famous novels of the nineteenth century from authors such as Jules Vernes, Alexandre Dumas, Theophile Gautier and Honore de Balzac.

It is difficult to compare the journal to magazines of today, however these fashion plates would have been the illustrious first few pages of glossy magazines crammed with adverts demonstrating the latest must-haves from prestigious brands.

‘Le Moniteur de la Mode’, a newspaper created in 1843, also featured fashion plates. It is renowned for having evoked the elegance of the Second Empire and the Third Republic through the high quality of the fashion plates by illustrator Jules David, the paper’s exclusive printer over it’s fifty year existence.

Originally, ‘Le Moniteur de la Mode’ was not a newspaper but actually a publicity stunt for a fabric and haberdashery store on the Rue Vivienne in Paris in 1839. This publicity pamphlet contained the latest trends from the Maison Popelin-Ducarre, the fabric store, and it gave away engraved plates monthly.

In 1843, the pamphlet collaborated with C.A. Goubaud and transformed into a newspaper and thus featured many more fashion plates, sewing patterns, discounts and coupons.

‘Le Moniteur de la Mode’ represents and defines the nineteenth century fashion press. The fashion plates in our archive date back to before this transition.

Whereas the fashion plates from ‘Musee des Familles’ illustrated complete outfits, ‘Le Moniteur de la Mode’ would focus on various trends and focused on the detailing within this trend, be it lace cuffs and collars or ribbons for bonnets. All these trends could be found on the haberdashery shop on the Rue Vivienne.



If the middle-class dames could not afford the pieces within the ‘Musee des Familles’ illustrations, then one would simply take the illustration to the local tailor and choose from the various fabric samples or even attempt to make it oneself.

How times have changed!

*All archives courtesy of Delphine Thwaites.

Yep, we're one today - online for a whole year, and to celebrate, Delphine has brought in a lovely chocolate cake.

We're not sure how to feed the website cake, but we'll enjoy it in the meantime....!

Anyone in the Oxford Circus area can come and grab the last slice - although it won't be here long...

YshLondon.com has been running a ‘Best in Show’ competition to see your final year project work and publicise your final collection online.

After three/four years of hard work on your degree, enter your final project work in to the YshLondon team to be in with a chance to win tickets to ‘Horrockses’ – the latest exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum.

Competition

YshLondon.com in association with the Fashion and Textile Museum presents it’s latest competition to win a pair of tickets to ‘Horrockses Fashion: Off the Peg Style in the ‘40’s and ‘50’s’

How to Enter

YshLondon is keen to see your degree work. Whether you’re a fashion designer, interior designer, textile designer, artist, or fashion writer, we want to see the fantastic work you’ve produced for your degree.
1.    Send in up to 5 images of your work (500kb max in .jpeg format) - this can be several pieces or just one piece

2.    Or, send in up to 1000 words of your written work related to fashion and textiles including images related to the work

3.    Include your name, address and a little information regarding your inspirations relating to your work

4.    Closing date is 30th July 2010?5.    

Entries will be judged by Melissa Taylor – Editor, Akiko Takamura - Fashion Features Editor and our guest panel member; Ako Kiura - Fashion Designer for Unobilie

Send entries in to Delphine Thwaites;?E: delphine@yshlondon.com

Prizes

1st Prize

1. The winner will receive 2 tickets to the newest exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum; ‘Horrockses Fashion: Off the Peg Style in the ‘40’s and ‘50’s’ open until the 24th October 2010

For terms and conditions please click here
Good Luck!

YshLondon is seeking an intern for a 4 week placement from August, held at our Central london office just off Oxford Circus.

The student will gain insight and experience of how an online magazine is run, in our busy central London office.

The position is best suited to a student with very strong skills in writing, and either be studying for a degree in fashion or textiles, and a desire to work in a magazine, or a student with a journalism background with a good knowledge and interest in textiles and fashion.

Over the 4 week internship, the student will be able to have seen one whole issue of the magazine being published, as well as future plans and projects. The student will have the chance to participate in blogging, social networking and writing copy for the site, as well as helping to research and contact companies.

The student will be helping with the recent launch of the Business Directory and experiencing how a company launches a new product, promotes it and continues to maintain relationships.

This is a busy time for Yshlondon.com especially with London Fashion Week around the corner, and the students may be interested to see how a magazine copes around such a hectic schedule.

Supervised by Melissa Taylor – Editor and Delphine Thwaites – Marketing and Sales Manager

To apply for the position please send your CV and cover letter to Delphine Thwaites: delphine@yshlondon.com

Deadline for application – Friday 30th July