Back To School Has Never Been So Fashionable!

As of next week, the schools across Cheltenham will once again be full of students excited to begin their new year, but this year there is something else for them to be looking forward to, and that is the Student Shows at Cheltenham Fashion Week!

The two shows will be taking place on September 18 at Gloucestershire College, and will involve five local primary and eight secondary schools taking part in the first show of the day at 1pm, showcasing various creations made by children aged 7-16.

The second Student Show, taking place at 7pm, will exhibit work from nine sixth forms and colleges, alongside 10 independent graduate entries, displaying the fantastic talent that exists in Cheltenham!

Cheltenham Fashion Week are delighted to have fashion designer George Davies involved in the Student Shows, who will be offering budding designers his invaluable industry knowledge, in addition to joining the judging panel to select the winners.

A host of amazing prizes are up for grabs in each of the four categories.

The Primary School Category:

• £1000 for the winning school.

• Signed certificate from George for each child.

The Secondary School Category:

• £1000 for the winning school. 

• Three finalists, chosen by George, receive an all-expense paid shopping trip to London with a senior designer and £100 spending money 

The College and Sixth Form Category:

• £1000 for the winning school/college. 

• Three finalists to be given a week’s work experience with leading fashion designers at George Davies’ ‘The Studios’ in Draycott. 

The Independent/Graduate Category:

• Two weeks’ worth of work experience. One week at top London graphic design studio ‘Acton’, followed by a week at George Davies’ ‘The Studios’ in Draycott.

Other prizes include:

• Five of the chosen finalists will also receive a professional photography session. The shoot will include make-up and styling from celebrity stylist Stuart Holmes and will be featured in Cotswold Style magazine.

• The finalists work will be exhibited to the public during Cheltenham Fashion Week at designer shopping event ‘Boutique 24’ alongside world class designer labels. The event will see Cowley Manor transformed into the Cotswolds’ very own Somerset House, with the student finalists taking over one of Cowley Manors luxurious rooms to showcase their acclaimed designs.
So it looks like this 'back to school' will be like no other! Tickets for both Student Shows can be purchased here.

Another exciting feature of Cheltenham Fashion Week 2012 is of course the Giant Shoe Tour, who has now taken up residence inside the Regent Arcade, where it will stay in the lead-up to the Fashion Week! It seems that the shoe has been attracting quite a bit of attention, with it's appearances in local media such as the Stroud News & Journal, and ATV.

Alex xx

Cheltenham Fashion Week Hits The Heart FM Airwaves!

Last week, Sam Bawden and I headed over to meet George Davies for an interview with Duncan Cook of Heart FM. After chatting to Duncan, George also showed us around his designing hub, showing us where & how the magic happens!

We at Cheltenham Fashion Week are thrilled to have George onboard. As a headline sponsor for The Student Shows, he will be offering budding designers his invaluable industry knowledge, as well as joining the esteemed judging panel to select the 

winner.

Incase you are not so familiar with George Davies, here is a little background… “A retail legend and design guru, his career spans over 25 years. As a style visionary he created high street giant, Next in 1982, followed by George at Asda, later moving to design Per Una at Marks & Spencer to name but a few. All brands which account for 12% if the current high street!” George's latest ventures include fashion label, FG4.

After meeting at George’s country estate, he quickly zipped us over to his design studios. A five-minute drive in George’s Maserati and hidden away in the Gloucestershire countryside lies the nerve centre for FG4, George’s fashion label.

FG4 is a women, children and baby clothing chain that sells internationally. George remains heavily involved with each collection, giving input at every level. From fabric to finance every detail of the label is controlled from the hub just outside of Cheltenham. 

George prides himself in paying particular attention to every last detail of the clothing design process, starting with the retail space design, the packaging and presentation of each garment. Next he selects design detail features such as buttons and zips, then finally he designs each the garment. George also names each of his collections after an area of London, most recently Covent Garden and Hyde Park.

From swing tags to samples, George showed us every inch of the hub of his label. We met members from all stages of the retail process, from Sam and Tally in Boys and Girls clothing design, to the team in finance all the way along to Clare at Red Creative who work with the merchandising of collections.

As well as judging The Cheltenham Fashion Week Student Shows, George will also be offering one lucky winner a once in a lifetime week of work experience at his incredible studios. From what I learned in a few hours, I can tell it will definitely be a jam packed week!

The week will give the winner the chance to see the inner workings of a successful fashion label. For any budding designer this chance will definitely be a dream come true, plus it will also give the lucky winner something great to put on their CV!

As George said in our interview with Heart FM, he is always on the lookout for new, fresh talent. So he will definitely have his eyes pealed at The Student Shows scouting the creative talent The Cotswolds has to offer!

Listen live to Heart FM for news bulletins of the interview. Watch this space and follow our Twitter page @CheltFashionWk for the link to listen to the interview in full on the Heart FM website.


Keen to come to Cheltenham Fashion Week and mingle with top names such as Harvey Nichols, Jimmy Choo & Jo Malone? Tickets are selling fast and available to book either from the Cheltenham Fashion Week Box Office on the first floor of the Regent Arcade, via the Cheltenham Fashion Week website at www.cheltenhamfashionweek.co.uk or phone 0844 8808094. Can't wait to see you 
there!

Ellie xx

'Boutique 24' Welcomes The Classic English Tailor Barrington Ayre

CheltenhamFashion Week is fast approaching and at HQ we are all getting very excited!

Glamorous shopping event ‘Boutique 24’ is set to be a sell-out, with labels ranging from glitzy Jimmy Choo, to ‘onesie’ company Onepeice. The latest addition to our exciting array is traditional English bespoke tailor, Barrington Ayre.

BarringtonAyre pride themselves on providing the finest English tailoring for bespoke clothing. Sourcing materials from small and often little known makers means the clothing produced is truly a unique piece, and tailor Tom Wharton is keen to keep it this way!

With such a fast-fashion culture, where many items are worn once and then thrown away, Barrington Ayres really are a breath of fresh air - so it is unsurprising that the textile talents of Tom are causing quite a storm.

The handcrafted designs appeal to more than just the country tweed wearing set, with celebs such as premiere league footballer–turned commentator Robbie Savage calling on Tom’s expertise, having admired a Barrington Ayre suit worn by ex-cricketer Michael Vaughan.

With such high profile customers, it is unsurprising that the small Cirencester based tailor was amazed when one of his garments was trending on twitter! Robbie Savage had tweeted about the bright red trousers he would be wearing whilst broadcasting on the 2012 Olympics, and with the colours of the famous union jack everywhere at the moment, it seems everyone else loved the bright red pop of colour too!

Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan was also seen wearing a union jack inspired blazer –blue, with white piping and light red lining - during the 2012 Olympic coverage.

So with everyone proud to be British this summer, we are so pleased to have the quintessentially English tailor at Cheltenham Fashion Weeks’ ‘Boutique 24’.

Other exhibitors at the Cheltenham Fashion Week designer day include...

For more information on Barrington Ayre vist the websit at www.barringtonayre.co.uk/ and for Cheltenham Fashion Week tickets and info visit www.cheltenhamfashionweek.co.uk/ or follow them on Twitter @CheltFashionWk

Esther x

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD - THE CHELTENHAM FASHION WEEK AWARDS 2012

As Cheltenham Fashion Week fast approaches, the search was on to find models to feature in three top events during fashion week. On Saturday, Cheltenham Fashion Week Founder and Creative Director, Sam Bawden, headed to La Tasca in Cheltenham town centre to scout talent from all over The Cotswolds. After numerous tweets, we were so impressed by the bounty beautiful people who came to cast for headline events, Who wants to be a Milliner, Boutique 24 and The Student Shows. The competition was tough but a huge thank you to everyone who turned up, we really can't wait to see our shortlist own the catwalks!

Also this week, The 2012 Cheltenham Fashion Week Awards have gone LIVE! Cheltenham Fashion Week's answer to The Oscars, Grammy's & BAFTA's! We need you to visit the Cheltenham Fashion Week website and vote for your favourite places to indulge in Cheltenham! The 2012 Cheltenham Fashion Week Awards will celebrate everything there is to love about fashion, lifestyle, food and drink, while giving you as shoppers and retailers the chance to shout about the fantastic variety Cheltenham has to offer! 

From Montpellier to Leckhampton, The Promenade to Tivoli, The Brewery to The Regent Arcade, everyone is invited! This is Cheltenham's chance to make our voice heard and vote for your favourites in four fashionable categories: menswear, womenswear, independent retailers and fashionable destination.

Where can you not live without? If you were banished to a desert island which place would you miss the most? If you had to buy your entire wardrobe from one shop only, where would that be? We want to know!

Make your voice heard by voting in one of two quick and easy ways. You can visit our website by clicking here or simply fill in a Cheltenham Fashion Week Awards postcard in one of the numerous participating places around Cheltenham. Look out for our Cheltenham Fashion Week Award window stickers in the town centre. 

Click here to vote online 

you can also buy tickets for all Cheltenham Fashion Week event by simply clicking the new link at the top of the blog! 

Ellie xx

Would You Like To Be A Cheltenham Fashion Week Model?

Models Wanted!

With the Cheltenham Fashion Week buzz growing and the tickets selling fast, we are looking for Cheltenham's beautiful people - of all ages and sizes - to be Cheltenham Fashion Week models.

Cheltenham Fashion Week are holding a model casting, and will be scouting for models of all ages between 18 – 50 yrs to get involved with the exciting new fashion week. We embrace body diversity and celebrate real men and women at Cheltenham Fashion Week, so we are looking for models size 8+ and don’t worry if you don’t have legs up to your arm pits!

• The casting will take place at La Tasca in Cheltenham on this Saturday (18^th)
• It will run from 11- 4.
• Ladies, you will need to bring a pair of heels, but everyone should choose an outfit that allows Sam, founder of Cheltenham Fashion Week, to see your figure.

We aren’t looking for Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell or David Beckham – just natural beauty and confidence.

The Cheltenham Fashion Week Giant Shoe's Latest Home...

The Cheltenham Fashion Week giant shoe doesn’t hang around for long! It has jetted from Gloucester Rugby Club, to its newest location in The Brewery.

On Tuesday morning, our giant shoe was seen by many surprised commuters as it braved the heavy rain and travelled to its new home in The Brewery, thanks to Ade of A&C 24/7 Recovery and his giant shoe carrying lorry! With a distinct decrease in muscle power than previous times we’ve moved the shoe, Ade’s help really was priceless.

After being squeezed through the doors of what used to be Habitat, the shoe took pride of place in the large window. Surrounded by fairy lights the giant pink shoe was unsurprisingly attracting attention as soon as it arrived, with excited children, gym and cinema goers all straining to grab a peek at The Brewery’s latest addition.

Pop down and have a look!

For more information visit www.cheltenhamfashionweek.co.uk/ or follow them on Twitter @CheltFashionWk

Esther x

An Unlikely Sight at Gloucester Rugby Club

The Cheltenham Fashion Week Giant Shoe was on the move again last Friday to make its first appearance in Gloucester where it visited some unlikely new friends at Gloucester Rugby Club: Nick Wood and Andy Hazell.

Like any fashionista who knows how to get the job done, the Giant Shoe wasn't afraid to get a little dirty as it took prime position on the playing pitch for its photo shoot with the two strapping rugby players. Who says heels and grass don't mix well?

The shoe's visit to the Rugby Club is its latest experience with local celebrities, who have included names such as Dr. Dawn from Channel 4's Embarrassing Bodies, Loose Women's Lisa Maxwell and fashion designer George Davis.

But such a giant shoe requires a significant amount of effort to move to all of its various locations - not to mention muscle to move it! So we would like to say a great big thank you to Ade of A&C 24/7 Collision Recovery Specialists of Cheltenham for doing such a wonderful job transporting the shoe to Gloucester Rugby Club, and now to its latest location in The Brewery. Thank you!

Alex

xx