Sampling And Other Demons

It has taken me 2 weeks to admit that January has started. New Year’s resolutions and an optimistic attitude are all well and good but there is no accounting for the sheer drudgery of the first two weeks of January. It just seems to be a bit of a slog which is not helped by the shitty weather (snow was fun for about 5 minutes but I am now running out of outfits which look OK with snow boots) and the enormous amount of work to get through in time for the start of the season at the end of the month. The timing is unfortunate as it has taken 2 weeks to get in to the groove and now it is suddenly upon us and we don’t actually have a collection as yet.

There are always changes to a collection at the last minute because design is a process. We will be going down a creative path and then suddenly it will just feel wrong. And once it is wrong it is wrong and it has to change. It isn’t a matter of getting it right from the beginning of the process because as a process it changes and what was right becomes wrong. Clear?

As of last week we cancelled half the knitwear… We are using an amazing Irish Donegal yarn which is actually made in Ireland (you would be surprised how many Irish Donegals are made elsewhere) and looks so good we want to use it for another story and on the other side, a knit piece that we thought would be central to the whole collection has come out like a bag of spanners so we have had to re think the whole knit section of the collection. We have changed 2 of our 5 bag stories in order to accommodate some fabulous gold hardware we found at the last minute and  so now we are waiting on 1^st stage samples to come back for those designs and 4 Harris Tweed coat patterns are not even in work as yet due to our inability to edit on time. With 10 working days until our first appointment this is not a good look.

There was a time when this would have filled me with fear, horror and a mounting sensation of hysteria. But as a 10 year veteran of fashion weeks I am aware that with a fair amount of stress, a pinch of panic and just a little help from the fashion fairies it will somehow happen and a collection will materialise in our studio.

For your amusement please see below for an idea of what it looks like in the SB studio when Amiee and I edit the collection.

A very serious discussion...

Which quickly descended into chaos

Trying to get to grips with the Harris Tweed swatches

On the upside the NYR’s are coming along swimmingly (See 2010 Resolutions 10 Clause Contract for a recap) …

1. I am starting the year with a Mc Sweeney’s short stories collection. I am a big Zadie Smith fan and she has a wonderful little tale in there.
2. I have cooked several sensational suppers these last couple of weeks, one of which included an apple and pear crumble which will go down in history and has been my complete and satisfying meal for the past 2 nights. Food is the new Fashion.
3. This very morning I met my new (and very buff) personal trainer. He is going to whip my m****** f****** arse into shape by Easter. Apparently if I cry every time I try to ease my aching body out of a prone position it is a Good Thing. 
4. Reminded of this again today when chasing samples from Italy. I can’t be certain but it is possible that I am getting the words for ‘I promise you will have them by Thursday’ confused with ‘I want to have sex with your sister’. 
5. The builder has been in to give a quote and there are clothes all over the house in various stages of the ‘archiving process’. I feel the need to stress the difference between ‘archiving’ and ‘tidying up’. Big difference. Huge. It is possible that my husband may divorce me over the mess. On the upside there is now a nice empty room for him to move into. 
6. Bring it on. I am off to Paris for the shows at the beginning of March which I love. I stay at the wonderful boutique hotel - Bourg Tibourg in the Marais which I have been going to for so long it is like a second home. 
7. I am trying. It’s the first month of the year. I have another 11 months to perfect this.
8. Did you see our photos? Got to laugh through the pain. 
9. Whatever. 
10. Super mum! Obviously. Even made pancakes this morning. I swear! Amazing how good a little Betty Crocker can make you feel about yourself!