Industrial Context for Ciel

My final year at University this year began with an exciting project to really get back into things after a long summer break! The brief was to design a range of garments for ethical clothing brand Ciel. The designer Sarah Ratty, wanted us to design for Autumn/Winter 2011/12, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to create some beautiful, luxurious coats based on trends for the season. Ciel's brand, proves ethical clothing can be fashionable and stylish, and I wanted to support this with my designs and fabric choices. I was especially excited to use organic tweed from Ardalanish Weavers in the Isle of Mull for the belted coat.

I am lucky another to know a fantastic photographer Jen Salt from ASOS.com where I work as a freelancer in the stills department, and she generously offered to shoot for me for this collection. I chose West Wittering beach for the location, as my inspirations for the project originally came from natural objects like shells and coral. I styled the shoot (which was scary as it was the first time I'd had experience with styling!) and the outcome is gorgeous :) I was also lucky enough to have a beautiful model with stunning red hair named Jessie Good from Storm models, who was fantastic on the day in some seriously freezing weather conditions! x