eMiLy'S eMpAtHy

With a keen eye for the uniquely beautiful and a magnificent sense of colour and composition, Emily is on a mission to show the world it's own reflection through a kaleidoscope of her own design.

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Sea sirens 🌊

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Temperly London

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Badass hardware

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Print by house of Hackney

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📷 by Glen Luchford

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3D Modelling Project for Uni

So this semester at Uni I've taken a 3D modelling class, it's been a challenge to say the least! The program we've had to learn is Solidworks which is actually an engineering program but it's also used for 3D printing which I'm super interested in... I love technology and as i get older I'm realizing more and more that anything really is possible it's just so flippin cool! Bring on the hover board!

So anyway we were supposed to make a bike helmut with this assignment but i chose to make a satchel instead because bike helmuts really don't do it for me.

This is my backpack, i was pretty happy with the final result as this program really was a challenge for me. Its supposed to be a caramel leather backpack with brass details. I would've like to have put more detail on it but was pressed for time and i quite like how clean it looks.

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A 3d model I created in solidworks for my CAD class. It's a caramel leather satchel with gold details.. Getting my design head around the Solidworks program was a challenge but I'm super happy with the result! The assignment asked for a bike helmet but as I'm majoring in fashion I asked if I could do a backpack instead and this is what I created.. #solidworks #fashion #design #caramel #gold #3dmodel #3dmodelling

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Printspiration #houseofhackney

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Odyssey project #fashion #design #student

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Kate by Ron Meijer. Regram @lollyxorbell

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Bather and mirror 1964 - Brett Whiteley 🙏

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Scylla skirt and top

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Siren skirt and top #fashion #farshion #student #fashionlineup #collection #sparklefarts #schnoofiddler #kwinklerumfudler #ridiculousnessvonzinkulousness #funkrungduggler #hashtagsaredumb

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It's all about the seaweed print! #nofilter #nobullshit #seaweedbrain

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Fashion Concepts Final Collection Project

So we are finally coming to the end of this semester at uni so everything is due all at once. This is my final assignment for my Fashion Concepts class, we had to come up with a final digital collection based on a mood board we did earlier in the semester.

I took my prints from 2 images from my mood board (my mood board is the first slide). On my mood board i have part of an image of a rug which I absolutely love and so I took that image, and used part of it in my first textile. I call it the tapestry print and I basically just resized, copied and flipped the one image into different designs and patterns for this print. I did this in the navy and blush colourways. I don't love the blush/pink colourway but it was working with what i was doing so I went with it.

The second print is what I call the Seaweed print. I was messing around practicing drawing hair one day and part of it looked a bit like seaweed, so i played around with it in photoshop - resized it, repeated it and just generally made some happy mistakes that worked well so i put this in 4 colourways and used this as my second print.

My inspiration was Homer's Odyssey so i was looking at sea creatures and sea journeys and lots of oceanic references. I found the image of the giant pink octopus and fell in love so I wanted my silhouette to emulate that because they move so beautifully. All my skirts scoop up at the front and travel down at the back to create a fish tail with lots of fabric. I wanted the hemline to move somewhat like a jellyfishy's tentacles would move through the water.

With regards to trims I've used rope with tassels and wooden beads for the belts. Some of the skirts have a slight fringing detail and if i was actually going to put this collection into production I would look at finding some cool wooden buttons.

So anyways, enough waffling; here it is and beware: I went a bit nuts with the prints because I was totally digging seeing them in my designs - I think if I had my time again I'd probably put a few more block coloured pieces in there too, just to break up the patterns.

Enjoy

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Tapestry print overalls in navy

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A Few minutes with Spell from Spell & the Gypsy Collective - Byron Bay

This week i was lucky enough to sit down with Spell from Spell & the Gypsy Collective based in beautiful Byron Bay. Spell and her sister Lizzy have established a huge following of fellow gypsies from all over the globe. Their exquisite Bohemian splendor has reached to the far corners of the earth, saturating festival culture and ushering in their own unique sense of style.

Check out my interview below:

1.         Tell us a little bit about yourself and where you grew up? 

I grew up in Melbourne, in the suburbs with my 3 other sisters. We were always so imaginative.  I've loved drawing for as long as I can remember. I can recall in grade 4 of primary school, I had to do a project about “the human heart” and the whole project was colourful drawings and borders! I was able to incorporate drawing into any school project! I was so focused on getting the best art education possible that I moved high schools in year 11 to a school where there was meant to be a really good graphic design class and a few extra art subjects. I was there for one year, then researched an even better school for my final year in year 12 at Box Hill Senior Secondary School.  The school had so many artistic subjects, including photography, drawing, graphic design, computer aided design and art history.   The only non-artistic subject I did all year was English! I spent most of that year in the dark room, developing my own photographs. I ended up top of my class in Graphic design. I then went on to study Fine Arts in Bendigo University for one year, deferring and working and traveling for a few years.  Then I began a fashion design course at Box Hill TAFE.  I had to do work experience as part of the course and ended up getting a job with that fashion designer.  I worked with her for a year before leaving my Melbourne roots for a life in sunny Byron Bay! After 28 years in Melbourne, I never looked back.

I began making jewellery out of my walk in wardrobe and selling it to the local boutiques in town and in Brisbane, and finally got myself a tiny little workshop out in the arts and industrial estate in Byron Bay. Soon after, my sister Elizabeth moved up from Sydney and came on board SPELL.  And that's when things blew up and SPELL really took off!  We started off just doing the jewellery, but then started making a few little kimonos and dresses, and they did so well that we ended up doing full ranges and focusing more on clothing than jewellery. 

2.         Where did you study?  

FINE ARTS in Bendigo - Drawing, painting, life drawing, printmaking, photography, art history, and graphic design, then, Certificate IV - Diploma of applied Fashion Design and Technology  at Box Hill institute of TAFE where i studied pattern making, grading, fittings, computer design, line drawing, fabric studies etc.

3.         How did you get started in the Fashion Industry?  

i did work with a fashion designer for a year in Melbourne. However, what really got me started in the fashion industry was to start my own label and start designing ranges, working closely with our factories and tailors in Bali.

4.         What is the most memorable moment of your career so far?  

i think the most memorable moments have been working on the photo shoots.  Island boho in Bali in the Gili islands was definitely a highlight, and shooting in LA and the Californian desert with Ashley Smith one year..  I absolutely love the landscape there so it was truly a magical moment. 

5.         What is the biggest misconception people have about your job?

That it's kind of easy to begin your own label and start making clothes and selling them.  It takes so much time and love and passion and persistence to get where you want.  Making clothes is one thing, but to be able to get them out to your market and to reach your clientele is another thing. Keeping the marketing going takes a lot of time too.  You really have to keep at it.  A lot of stars have to align for you to run a successful business.  I got lucky, with my sister jumping on board - that brought the label to life.  In fact that's my one big piece of advice …. have a business partner!!! You can’t do everything yourself!  x Lizzy is the marketing guru and business head and I’m the creative force; its a perfect mix!

6.         What’s the best advice you’ve been given?  

Don’t try to do everything at once; do what your good at and do it well before you venture into too many other areas.  Have a strong online presence and also all the imagery you put out there on social media has to be best quality!  

7.         What’s the best style advice you can give?

Mix textures … tee shirt/mesh lace duster/ or flowy whites mixed with some leather shorts, but yeah definitely always have a kimono or a lace duster handy to throw over an otherwise simple outfit.

8.         What advice would you give to young aspiring designers who want to get into the fashion industry?  

Again, get a business partner …. keep on trucking and stay true to yourself . Be authentic!

http://shop.spelldesigns.com.au/