pantone spring 2015: en plein air {sandstone}

FLEUR via JusquOboutdumonde on Tumblr via Pinterest

Elie Saab Haute Couture S/S 2011 via Musing in Femininity on Tumblr

Cat's Eyes. by Egor Fedorov on Fivehundredpx

{ horse hues } from designseeds via Pinterest

I remember standing in the playground as a kid, facing the walls of my primary school, counting to whatever number you counted to when playing hide and seek, and playing with the pink sandstone bricks that the building was made out of. Brushing off layers of sand, looking at all those subtly different pinks, layered one after another. Helping it either eroded in undulations or helping small sections shear off the surface. It's a bizarre thing to have enjoyed, I probably just thought I was being pathetically destructive but thinking back on it, it was one of those strange little pleasures you have in life.

Apart from my memories of being a terrible vandal, Elie Saab makes me love Sandstone 16-1328. The Haute Couture designer uses a lot of shades his nude palette, intricately embroidered by hand with thousands of sequins, beads, appliqué flowers...

Designers talk about having idols. There are some people mention just because they're fashionable, or they make you look intellectual, there are clichés you roll your eyes at. I don't know if I have any, or at least many. I have designers I love, Thomas Heatherwick, Jacqueline Ryan, Dale Chihuly... Elie Saab is amongst them.

But I suppose it's the embroiders I adore the most. The beautiful, hand sewn intricacy of their work floors me. If textiles had been like that at university, I would have skipped joyfully into the textiles department. Instead I ran to jewellery to play with hammers and fire. I don't regret my path, I love both hammers and fire, but it would have been curious to see where a constructed textiles education could have taken me. Where I could be now rather than sitting in the lab popping lenses in and out.

As I stood in front of that sandstone wall, I knew I wanted to be a designer, just not what kind... twenty plus years on, I'm still not entirely sure what kind I am.


Link | Pantone Fashion Colour Report Spring 2015
Link | FLEUR via JusquOboutdumonde on Tumblr via (Pinterest)

Link | Elie Saab Haute Couture S/S 2011 via Musing in Femininity on Tumblr (Pinterest)

Link | Cat's Eyes. by Egor Fedorov on Fivehundredpx (Pinterest)
Link | { horse hues } from designseeds via Pinterest
Link | .: Backstage Elie Saab Haute Couture SS 2011 :. via A World of a Classy Lady on Tumbler (Pinterest)
Link | Elie Saab Atelier via Pinterest

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Listening: How Will I Know - Sam Smith