Topshop teams up with PETA

Topshop has teamed up with PETA UK for a campaign to 'keep wildlife out of your wardrobe'.
The campaign was launched to promote awareness about the exotic skins trade in fashion, and to send out the message that those skins belong on the original wearer and not in our wardrobes!

 Image: courtesy of PETA

In the exotic-skins industry, snakes are commonly nailed to trees and skinned alive, and alligators and lizards are bludgeoned with hammers. It often takes several agonising hours for the animals to die, usually from shock or dehydration. These days there a so many great, synthetic alternatives to leather, fur and other skins that do we really still need to wear dead animals?

For more info on this campaign, visit PETA's website here.
To sign the pledge against the exotic skins industry visit here.
And visit here to view PETA's Vegan Fashion Awards 2013 where my favourite ethical designer, Stella McCartney, won in the Most Stylish Women's Shoes category. Gorge shoes below.....drool!
(£425 at Stella McCartney.com)

So what are your views on using animal skins in the fashion industry?

A bientôt,

Ruby Lou x

Legzskin - add some colour to your wardrobe!

I've been working with French brand Legzskin again who are just launching the new Spring/Summer 2013 collection. As well as adding some new styles, we've featured many of the bestsellers in summer bright colours - perfect for setting off a tan!

www.legzskin.com

What are your views on this Spring/Summer collection? Would you wear any of the pieces?

A bientôt,

Ruby Lou x

Stylish mens' swimwear

So normally I blog about ladies lingerie and swimwear as that is what I usually design. However, I'm currently working on a mens' swimwear project and discovered the below photoshoot on www.socialitelife.com website to showcase 'a look at some of the hottest styles in mens swimwear for the 2012  summer', and frankly it seemed rude not to share such lovely images!

Ladies, enjoy!

A bientôt,

Ruby Lou x

Corsets, hats and spats on the French Riviera!

A while ago I wrote about a local designer based here on the French Riviera, called Manuela who has her own creative brand called Victorian Woman which, as the name suggests, takes inspiration from the Victorian era and features incredible handcrafted items such as corsets, skirts, hats, jewellery, bags and spats. To read my original post, written back in August 2011, click here. Her brand is beautiful and all the items are handmade to order by Manuela in Cannes, France.

She returns with 3 new collections featured below:

Snowdrop:

Cherry Blossom:

Steam Punk:

                     Photos: Jean-François Romero www.jfromero.fr

Aren't they stunning? The Cherry Blossom range would be perfect for a vintage summer wedding!
Manuela also has a blog which you can follow here.
And you can follow her on Twitter here and look out for updates of new creations and designs!

A bientôt,

Ruby Lou x

THE COLOR RUN *5k of color running madness

Keeping with my theme of the day about colour!

So any artist/designer will tell you how colour can become an obsession when you are working on a particular project, so imagine my sheer joy at discovering this colour event in the US which takes place every year in various cities around the country! It's 'less about speed and more about getting active and enjoying a colour crazy day with friends, family and members of the community', it looks insanely fun and what an amazing way to spend a day!

I'm hoping this will come to Europe.......!!!

A bientôt,

Ruby Lou x

Key fashion colours for Spring/Summer 2013!

Admittedly most people are still just getting their heads around Autumn/Winter 2012 and thinking of which coat to buy for November, but the fashion world is waaaay ahead of all that! Many designers are already putting to bed Autumn/Winter 2013 collections and starting work on Spring/Summer 2014 collections. Buyers, however, are looking to Spring/Summer 2013 and the new collections have all just been previewed between NY, London, Paris and Milan. On top of Vogue magazine and the like, there are also so many fashion blogs out there that cover the shows so well, I'm not about to start adding my take on it all!

However, I did find this Pantone Fashion Colour Report for Spring 2013 which I found pretty interesting, and considering that Herve Leger, Nicole Miller and Tommy Hilfiger (amongst others) took part in the Pantone report, I'd venture that the colours will be pretty key next season.

'Monaco Blue' will apparently be the colour of the season so I'm feeling more nautical fashion coming our way soon.....

A bientôt,

Ruby Lou x

A little lingerie in Athens!

I return after another long absence!
Well summer has really been passing by so quickly and what a summer! I must say after the Queen's Jubilee in June and the London Olympics in July/August, I'm feeling quite proud to be British even if I am based in France!

Despite a busy summer for me I have found a little time for a new post. My current blog neglect has been due to working with a Greek brand called Venus Victoria who sell lingerie and loungewear. They have been really fun products to work on and the video below gives a little glimpse of the Summer 2012 collection.....enjoy!

A bientôt,

Ruby Lou x