Drama Queen

Sorry about my absence of late but I've been busy working on my very first collection, under my brand name Mosquito Head UK, which was showcased at the NLSVIP Fashion Show in Birmingham at the weekend.

I called the collection Drama Queen as each of the ten items was made of recycled theatre drapes which were destined for landfill. The collection involved a lot of tailoring to give a sharp look to the garments which were based on a rockstar theme and involved plain cotton fabrics - white and kingfisher blue - embellished with bold detailing, including contrasting cord, eyelets, sparkly beads and dramatic dragon wings. Many of the outfits were finished with matching accessories - big cuffs and beaded chokers.

Although I've had individual items modelled on a catwalk in the past, including the NEC Clothes Show, this was the first time I've shown a collection so it involved lots of late nights, lots of experimentation, a fair few disasters, and erm.... quite a lot of tantrums (it's a creative thing!), particularly as I only had a couple of weeks to design and create my final four outfits . It didn't help that I managed to spill a cup of coffee over one of the dresses that I'd spent two days creating.

So the day of the show arrived and I was more than a little nervous. I still hadn't been allocated a model for one of the outfits and we hadn't at that point, and in fact never had, a dress rehearsal. It was tense... lots of models milling around, hair and make up artists at work, designers... so much so that I popped over the road for a swift drink with my friends who'd turned out to support me.

Fortunately, all the models were a lot calmer than me and somehow managed to put on a professional show. I have to say, they were amazing. Unfortunately, as the designer, I never got to see it as I was backstage making sure all the models were zipped up/laced in and accessorised. Apparently, the audience reaction was great though, so all my hard work was worth the effort.

Now, I need to come up with some ideas for my next collection which I'm hoping will be bigger and better. I guess I should stop waffling on here then and make a start!

Hope you like my collection which is available exclusively at www.fashionkillerz.com along with that of fellow designer Tamara Joseph who also showed her stunning new collection at the event.