I'm backing Kate Eary

I posted a while back about Catwalk Genius which gives you the chance to invest or buy shares in a collection created by an up and coming designer. I loved the idea back then but was even more excited when I recieved an email from Catwalk Genius asking if I would like to make history. Once enough shares have been bought for a particular designers collection, then they can begin to produce it. Well over half of the shares for Kate Eary have been sold making it very possible that it will be the first ever fan funded collection.

Kate already has a menswear line and is making a bit of a name for herself amongst the online fashion communities with mentions on Trendhunter, Fashion 156, Dazed Digital, Business of Fashion, the Guardian and now Style Eyes Fashion Blog. Most that have admired her menswear collection, can't wait to get a piece of the Catwalk Genius women's diffusion range. Her amazing graphic prints on streetwear shapes have also been featured in Vogue and have been worn by many of the celebs including Lady Gaga, Kate Moss, Courtney Love, Roisin Murphy, Sienna Miller.

I love what she has done with menswear and can't wait to see her womenswear which is bound to generate huge interest. That is why I have decided to back this collection by buying some shares. At only £11 each, it is a great way of supporting a designer that is going places and getting a piece of the action. There are also some added perks which make it even better.

If you fancy getting yourself some shares you can do so here. But hurry as there aren't many left.

Expect to hear lots more about the collection when it arrives.

Bellisimo - Emma Bell SS10

With the clocks going forward last night, holidays all booked up and the sniff of sunshine and warmer weather that we have been getting over the last week, I am feeling ready for the summer (and spring of course). For me summer is all about brightly coloured clothes, the brightness of the days just seem to make the brightest of bright OK in a way that it never could be on a cold winter day.

One of the really bright looks that I have noticed cropping up quite a bit in the SS10 collections is the kind of rainbow coloured prints and tie dye effects. Of course there has also been plenty of my favourite look - pattern mixing. The Emma Bell SS10 collection features both of these in some very desirable summer looks. Fake boswams aside (that is what they are isn't it?), I think the collection is a highly wearable form of these trends. Some great dresses and I love the way they have been teamed with some great coloured and patterned tights for outfits that would work so much better than bare legs for me, especially on those days when the sun isn't baking hot.

Emma Bell has showcased at two solo catwalk shows at LFW, part of the Super Super Show LFW, NYC AGAINST HIV and Vienna Fashion Week. She also works as a design consultant for a variety of companies including GM/Vauxhall Motors, Irregular Choice, Designers Against Aids, Jodie Harsh and Lambrini. F

Chantell Walters Cardigans

Cardigans or knitwear is general is not something that I used to think of as particularly fashion forward more perhaps the domain of my Grandma (not that she doesn't have her own great style). But lately new an innovative styles of knitwear seems to be popping up all over the place.

I recently came across Chantell Walters, a designer of cardigans (although her cardi's are a bit more exciting than your average cardigan). Chantell is London College of Fashion graduate with a BA in Fashion Design and Technology Womenswear. The Niquitin CQ Fashion awards recognised her as a future star of fashion for her conceptual parachute dress. She also interned for British design duo Preen and Gavin Douglas.

I love Chantell's fluid and draped cardigans in oversized cocoon shapes, pefect for wearing over leggings and a top. Thay have large arm holes adding to the unusual shape and play on proportions and I love the colours and patterns. Her cardigans are stocked in SHOP 172 Brick Lane. Hmm, I can feel a trip to London coming on very soon.