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studio_805 is a progessive menswear and unisex design label named after the flat I lived in during the final two years of my degree at Leeds College of Art & Design. My graduate collection titled 9T° provided the grand finale at the college’s end of year show, and was inspired by an eclectic mix…gaffer tape, World War I dazzle pattern warships, 90° angles, an über-masculine physique, two of the most powerful colours in the universe – red & white – and was propelled by a mantra derived from the 3 main principals of camouflage: Conceal! Distort! Deceive! I graduated in Summer 2008 with a First Class BA (Hons) degree.

I relocated to London in Winter 2008 to begin my calculated exercise in sartorial fun. I honed my pattern cutting skills whilst on placement at Vivienne Westwood and have since developed a signature style fusing cunning cut, clever colour and choice cloth. studio_805 launched at London Fashion Week in February 2009 as part of Vauxhall Fashion Scout’s first ever ‘Ones to Watch’ initiative.

Collection number two, titled top shelf glamour…second shelf country casual, stole a sinister sexual slant and was preoccupied with confusing classic gender roles set within a Hogarth inspired landscape. It was presented on 10 live sex dolls at Vauxhall Fashion Scout’s first ever menswear showcase in September 2009. For Autumn Winter 2010/11, studio_805 imagined a world devoid of any warmth, hanging motionless at zero degrees Kelvin, drawing inspiration from all physical manifestations of frozen water. Presented once again at Vauxhall Fashion Scout’s Menswear showcase in February 2010.

Label promotion has so far included a short film shot at a desolate Barbican Centre, a style shoot featured in Disorder magazine and a wild vogue-off show at London’s Dalston Superstore. Collection pieces and private commissions are currently made to order in house.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

A burning desire to do something a little bit different

What was the first thing you did when you woke up this morning?

Hit the snooze button!

Sum up your style in three words.

Cut, Colour, Cloth

If you were a piece of clothing what would you be and why?

Action Man’s blue underpants because I have always wondered what’s underneath them…

If you could have anyone, who would you want to model your collections and why?

Marky Mark, for obvious reasons…and Grace Jones, because she’s still got it!

New York, Paris or London?

London forever

You are given the opportunity to redesign the Police uniform, what would you do?

Put them all in straight jackets and bondage trousers

Favourite thing about the fashion industry?

Total creative freedom

Worst thing?

Complete financial insecurity

Best moment in your life so far?

My graduation show, and the realisation that I could actually do this!

Top fashion designer?

Alexander McQueen R.I.P.

Who’s the best dressed person you’ve ever met?

Vivienne Westwood

Favourite thing about Brighton?

Close friends

Most prized personal possession?

My mum’s Pfaff sewing machine which has never, ever let me down

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Happily paying my own handsome wage!

The trials and reputations of Tabitha Talbot-Jones: wanton student stylista

When I told Daddy I wanted to study fashion he nearly choked on his panini; he had been harbouring hopes of me doing some absurdly fusty and old-fashioned degree like History or Law. Can you imagine? Me, in a Laura Ashley beige twinset, or worse, like a frigid old librarian decked out in polo necks and tartan kilts (and not the Pringle variety)? No thanks. I don’t want to hole myself up for the next three years with a load of books and essays to write – my complexion already suffers terribly from vitamin D deficiency, with every moment of spare time devoted to Poseur, my online magazine.

I think I made a strong case to Daddy, I gave an emotional speech about freedom of expression and asked if he really wanted to throw away my obvious talent for style. He quickly came round and agreed to fund me for the next three years – I think he was keen for me to sit down because I was embarrassing him in front of Uncle Ginger with my demonstration of how my clothes represented my personality. God, he’s soooo repressed.

So here I am in Brighton – via St Martin’s, but that’s another story – studying my lifelong love: Fashion & Dress History. Just little old me and Felix, the dear old puss (well I couldn’t very well leave him alone with Mummy and her boisterous Great Dane Bruno, he’d have ripped him to shreds by now). And so a new chapter in the life of Tabitha, a new home, new experiences, new people, and my first time living solo (apart from India of course). Admittedly my new digs are a touch on the bijou side and I share a bathroom, but Daddy insists it’s good for character building.

Mummy and Daddy helped me move in and we were sitting having coffee in the kitchen, when Harry, my housemate, swanned through wearing spray on jeans and a backless neon yellow t-shirt with a slogan reading ‘The GAY Team’ plastered across it – you should have seen Daddy’s face, it was too funny! I’m fine with gays, god whatever, they’re everywhere these days and Harry is so very good for me – he always tells me how amazing I look, and has the most extraordinary way with a sewing machine. He’s going to be a world famous designer and I’m going to be right by his side yelling to Daddy “I told you so”.

Until next time.

Tabby

Bursting through the door I spot breathtaking Storm Model – Georgina. Tapping pump-clad toes, with face perfectly poised for the sixth hour, she sits patiently as Make-Up Co-ordinator Jez sweeps washes of colour over her brow with effortless perfection.

Photgrapher: Emily Hecht

The huge dressing room mirror is home to a treasure trove of make-up tools and the air has a strong smell of fresh paint, mixed with the cosmetic fragrance of a thousand prettifying powders. It reminds me of being a child, and the distinct aroma of the pantomime auditorium. Smoke machines, four thousand watt spotlights, fantastical costumes, and men and women painted to the brink of Gaga-ism.

I talk to Jez about her career with BFW and beyond. A make-up artist of twenty years and now BFW’s Chief Make-Up Co-ordinator – she is a beautifying oracle. Tall red and flawless she paints and talks – turning Doc Martin loving Georgina into ‘Alice in Brighton-land’, complete with a sharp, piercing, perfectly plum pout. Jez gives kudos to Mac, Dior and Lancôme but states confidently that she couldn’t live without MaxFactor LipFinity.  I smile, and find refuge in her recommendation –pleased that her golden tip won’t lure me onto the train back to Selfridges, I mentally plan my next trip to Boots…

I spend the next five minutes fixating on 19yr old Georgina’s long blonde, effortlessly thick locks, sitting nonchalantly on her shoulders.  She talks to me about the highs and lows of having your hair done, and re done, and re-re done. I subsequently compare my wind swept ‘flick-fringe’ in the mirror and self-preservation leads me away from the dressing room to take a wander around the set…

Photographer: Eddie Hecht

Shoes. Tall, shiny, incredible, impossible shoes are everywhere. I smile and imagine my average pins dragging those magical contraptions around a photo shoot like some kind of Foot vs. Leg tug of war. Everything in the room is comically oversized. Gigantic paper scissors lean intriguingly against the wall, while a towering cardboard book stands proudly in the centre of the room. I imagine Georgina standing here, with her couture eyebrows, perfect pout and long luminous locks – embodying the artistic essence of BFW.

Model Co-ordinator Megan passes me the concept sheet and advises me that BFW are so excited about the release of the shoot that they don’t want to give too much away. I read the brief and am intrigued about the mention of bubble wrap, oversized cotton reels, gigantic hair bows and mannequins. I begin to get excited. I want to write about everything I see, I want to write about Georgina navigating her way around those huge heart handled scissors in the majestic red platforms. I want to describe the incredible spotlights illuminating Jez’s razor sharp cheekbone creations. I want to quote Kevin Mason’s artistic direction, I want to paint a picture of a thousand camera shutter clicks…and above all, I want to reveal what happened with all those many many umbrellas…

But rules are rules, and I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise… Watch out for the final masterpiece – unveiled right here very soon!

Having “spotted” the likes of Sophie Dahl, Alexa Chung and Liberty Ross, Storm Models will be lending their expertise to Brighton Fashion Week by coordinating our model casting (dates TBC), while looking for the future faces of the agency – so if they like what they see come June, you could be among the lucky girls and guys to be signed!

More information coming soon darlings x

It’s certainly been a while since our last installment, but we’re back (and here to stay), and I can reveal that preparations are underway for Brighton Fashion Week 2010. The last few weeks have been hectic to say the very least, with our new website being developed (launch April), confirming designers, planning the VIP launch party, making the promo vid, planning the promo shoot, plus a million other things that the whole of the Brighton Frocks team are working hard behind the scenes to make happen, AS WELL as making plans for this years addition to the event: The Fashion Map which will be your essential guide to the whole event.

So, I’ll start by giving you a quick update of where we are this year. It’s the sixth year for the Brighton Frocks team, and this year we’re opting for a reformat by replacing the weekend event (there was just way too much to be crammed into one weekend) with a week long affair. This does mean that this year’s event will be the biggest we’ve had so far, so we’ve got new team members, a whole new blogging community and a new look Brighton Fashion Week.

In the run up to the event (June 9th – 13th), we’ll be featuring lots of daily blog fare for you to feast upon, including Street Style (tickets are to be won), Izzadora (our special guest Brightonian who simply loves faaashion), the latest installments from the BFW team, some food for thought from yours truly and our other resident bloggette, Sarah and anything else we stumble across.

So watch this blog space, or follow us on Twitter (or if you’ve yet to get to grips with the world of Tweeting) catch us on Facebook, Flickr and very soon our brand new website. And if you want to get involved in the event, it’s not too late so drop us a line/comment/tweet/Fb etc….

Look forward to hearing from you.

Alex – Marketing Director

BFW are launching our 2009 Fashion Writer Competition to discover the next big talent in fashion writing. One aspiring fashion writer will win the chance to work alongside us reporting for Brighton Fashion Weekend 2009.

Christopher Kane AW09

Our competition winner gets privileged BACKSTAGE access to Brighton Fashion Weekend’s main event – The Theatrical Catwalk Show 2009 taking place 22nd May, Hilton Hotel, Brighton.

This VIP pass to style heaven will imbue you with firsthand experience of fashion in motion, afford you invaluable industry contacts and let you affiliate yourself with the BFW brand -  all this while your friends go green with envy.

Post-event you’ll shine on our blog as a BFW guest editor for the day with your own fashion spot, giving you the chance to put your name in print. Our loyal readers will look to you for  exclusive Brighton Fashion Weekend 2009 gossip and behind-the-scenes catwalk shenanigans.

Your writing will reflect our brand and that’s why we’re looking for the hottest writing talent around. Impress us and we might just ask you back.

What We Want

Choose one trend, outfit, or visual from the recent AW09/10 runway collections that makes you come out with a bad case of label lust and give us the low down on why it’s so covetable.

A fashion reporter must be able to deconstruct and analyse a designer’s complex vision and translate this to a mass audience in an entertaining, understandable and articulate manner – these are vital skills we will be scouting for. We wanna see that you LOVE fashion! See earlier posts about the Fashion Writer Competition, and click the photos to view example entries!

250 min – 400 words max. Entries beyond this will be discounted. Photos are encouraged to support your written work.

Who You Are

You will possess a witty, concise writing style and an obsession with fashion, as well as some knowledge of seasonal trends and hot new designers. We don’t care if you’ve never written before and have zero practical fashion experience, nor do we care where you live or how old you are. We just want you to love fashion.

Email your name, contact number and finished article to Claudia@brightonfrocks.com by May 17th 2009

Check out Robbie, our super amazing model coordinator who keeps everything together backstage. No pressure there then!

Next weekend are the last rehearsals before the big dress rehearsal – followed by the big night itself; The Theatrical Catwalk Show on 22nd May. Get your tickets now dudes because tickets are selling fast, like icecream on a sweltering summer day. In demand you see.

Models Rehearsing

Robbie Model Coordinator Genius

Charlie & the Models

Kevin, Renaissance Designs

A while ago BFW welcomed aboard a Mr Sam Hiscox as part of our talented photographic team. No new member gets away without a little peep at their merry selves and so Sam has bravely volunteered to let us know who this crazy kid with the camera really is, where he creeps around on a Friday night and what he is most proud of.  Oh yeah, of course, here’s a photo of the dude. Nice bow tie, we like.

Sam Hiscox

BFW: Hello Sam! Why do you take photographs? Why not music or some other creative medium?
Sam: I like painting and drawing too but since my photography started kicking off I haven’t had so much time to concentrate on that. I love capturing moments and that’s what cameras are perfect for, so that’s what I prefer to hold.

BFW: Do you only snap people, or are you partial to some landscape or abstract images too?
Sam:I definitely prefer to shoot people. People are weird and everyone looks different so it is almost like a challenge to capture a different person and take an aesthetically pleasing picture of them.  You don’t need stunning people to make stunning portraits. People are infinitely different. Each quirk, each, movement of every person is always so different and it makes those people so interesting. I could sit and watch people go by for hours and never get bored.

BFW: When did you take your first amateur photo…get your first camera…how did that come about?
Sam: My parents tell me I was always after cameras as a child. I had a toy camera when I was just a nipper that I never let go of and I remember a camera I had that I was obsessed with at the age of about 7. For a long time I hassled my folks about getting a proper camera, I had an old Minolta SLR that I bought from my uncle when I was twelve. I finally got to study the subject at college when I was seventeen and that was it for me, no going back.

BFW: When did you take your first professional picture? What’s your most treasured accomplishment yet?
Sam: That’s a good questions because I think you need some good years and respect under your belt before you can run around telling everyone you are a real pro! I don’t feel like I’ve earnt that yet. There are some pictures I’m proud of though. I have a portrait of Blaine Harrison of The Mystery Jets that is one of my most viewed photos on my flickr account at www.flickr.com/samhiscox It was a dark day for me and the weather was very strange. The man is a musical genius and the colours, the sky, his conversation and his expression all came together really nicely in this 1/60th of a second!

BFW: You can introduce our audience to one artist/individual – who do you choose and why?
Sam: OK I’m going to choose a friend. His name is Ben Parks and he is London based. You can see his work here www.benparks84.blogspot.com. Park’s work is very ‘snap shot’ based and he has this one camera he takes everywhere with him. Kind of like a holiday camera except the holiday is his everyday life and the people he meets are the sunshine. He captures things with beautiful composition.  I aspire to do such a good job myself.

BFW: Who and what are your inspirations and influences?
Sam: My inspiration and influence is life itself. The things around me. People – their feelings and their actions are what makes everything.

BFW: Where can we find you on a Friday night Sam?
Sam: On a Friday night you’ll find me snapping away at digital on the sea front!

BFW:Who. Are. You. Sam. Hiscox?
Sam: I am a boy from Cheddar. I eat chocolate like a girl with constant PMS, I like the 80′s, I like meeting new people, even if they turn out bad. I like colour. I grind my teeth and I’m too honest for my own good.

BFW: What makes you cringe when you’re snapping away?
Sam: Over pouting. People being shy when they really needn’t be because they look amazing. Drunk bimbos grabbing my damn camera lens!

BFW: If you could pick anyone, dead or alive or comatose etc to photograph who’s your subject of choice?
Sam: It’s a difficult choice between Twiggy, or going back in time with Blondie and shooting her entire career.

BFW: What are your ambitions?
Sam: To be a successful fashion photographer, write a book, live in a different country for a while and photograph a world tour with a big band.

BFW: Lastly, do you love Fashion Sam? BFW are insane about fashion, literally. What do you make of all that jazz?
Sam: Of course! Fashion never used to be my thing but now it’s a big part of my thing. Fashion has FOUND ME and everything is better now!

BFW: Quite right on that last point Sam. Fashion makes everything better indeed.

Sam Hiscox is back with some titilating shots from the 2nd model castings. You lot are so hot you leave us sweating like we’re polar bears lost in the Sahara. Uh-huh. You make us beg for air-con as we dig out our wayfarers. You’re hot like Britney Spears circa 2000. Point taken we hope.

Check out more of Hiscox’s visual stunners:

www.dayglo-poster.blogspot.com