INSPIRATION (Part 2 : Style choices)

I've loved clothes all my life, and given my family heritage (craftswomen, from embroiderers to potters and everything in between) and my height (6'2") I made my own clothes from a very early age, with my Mother, who trained at Barrett Street Tech (now the London School of Fashion) as my teacher.  When I moved to France in 1989 and was looking for a way to finance my life here, inspired by the many comments from friends who asked me where I got my clothes, I decided to take the plunge and start my own business offering the style of clothing I wear to others.  And that was the day I discovered my real passion and purpose in this world, and have never looked back.

How did I get to 'my style'?  As I said, I've always been tall, a classic "rectangle" body shape and no boobs.  That meant the body-hugging lycra style was never for me (apart from at the gym), but my height allowed me to wear pretty much anything else.  

I can't draw at all, my way of drawing is by sewing, so I go from mental image to paper pattern, always test new ideas on myself, wear it in the shop to see what the reaction is and edit accordingly.

I'm a huge fan of generous cuts, letting the fabric and gravity work their collective miracles on a variety of body shapes, and nearly always wear one size bigger than I am to get that lovely drape that comes with the extra width.  My body shape has meant that my clothes never needed much shaping and I have taken this style through to my collection.  More sculpture than close fit, but it's definitely helped to define the Beverly Smart look.

The simple, uncluttered style I favour mirrors my need for order and tidyness, but also my love of fabrics ... when the cut is simple and kept clear of fussy details then the fabric shines through and does what it does best.  That's also why I'm such a fan of bias cut clothes - the drape that comes from this way of cutting is simplicity itself.

I'm a huge wearer of accessories too, which are the best way to make "your" look just that, your own individual style.  I like to think that my clothes stand well alone, or make the perfect background for that statement necklace or earrings or scarf.  

As I continue to design collections that are based on my personal style, it follows that the mainstay of my clientele are 40 plus.  By this age, you've got over the need to conform to whatever this year's fashion dictates are, generally know what you can't wear (although this particular comment deserves its own blog post) and are looking for stylish comfort in good quality fabrics; from the feedback I get my designs tick all those boxes!  To end, here are some photos of my models from my recent fashion show, all over 40, just to prove my point.

INSPIRATION (Part 1: fabrics)

I'm often asked "how" I create, where my ideas come from.  You would think they were simple questions to answer, but not so, at least, not for me.

First and foremost it's my fabric selection that inspires me.  I just adore fabric, particularly natural fibres like wool, linen and silk. Natural fibres are so wonderful to work with; not necessarily easy, but so satisfying from a finishing point of view. When I visit my two main fabric suppliers it's like being let loose in a michelin star restaurant after a day or two of fasting! I generally have no idea when I go in what my collection will be, colour- or style wise, and I start with a full walk around of the stock to see what they have to offer. Then there's a second tour, where I'll touch the fabrics that appeal to me, and check prices with the supplier. Rolls are pulled out and put on the cutting table, and at the end of that tour the preselection is done.  A little bit of refining (usual financial) and the actual selection is done.

Fabrics for AW13-14

By that stage, the new collection is already forming in my head. My style designing is always inspired directly from a fabric. And it's often the inspiration that just one fabric gives me that sets the whole collection. Imagine the Okavango Delta flooding after the rains;  that arrival of the rains from the top left corner is that one inspirational fabric that gives rise to all the variations that make up the final collection.

The weight and drape of a fabric is crucial in my style choice.  For example, I'm a huge fan of bias cut garments and this needs a fabric with the right weight/density ratio to work well.  I also love sculptural clothing, meaning clothing that almost stands on its own, without a body inside it.  This necessitates a fabric with body and a closer weave.  Of course, this process is done pretty well unconsciously now, having been honed by my 40 years of sewing experience.

My signature bias cut dress on the left and the sculpural jackets on the right.

Then there's texture.  I love mixing textures within a garment; mixing matt and metallic linen within the same dress.

SS13 Collection

Or applying matt hand felted woollen strips to wool & cashmere fabric, that has a lovely satin pile. Then add felt onto the felt strips to get even more texture.  This particular idea in the photo below was a recent solution to a problem caused by a child tearing a couple of the holes, but looks so amazing it's given me lots of ideas for the Winter 2014-15 collection.  It really is true that the best ideas come from mistakes or problem solving.

Next week I'll talk more about how the designs themselves come together for each collection.  Have a great week.

Beverly

Winter Accessories at BEVERLY SMART

The collection of jewellery that I put together in February during my annual Cape Town visit has been a huge success.  Lots of recycled materials, or "détourné" as they say in French (means diverted from their usual use here), wonderful traditional beading techniques updated and applied to contemporary designs, and of course the fabulous one-offs from Guidemore, the Zimbabwean jewellery designer who never ceases to amaze me with his creativity.  Here are just some of the gorgeous things you can find in the store right now.

Two of Guidemore's creations using a mixture of traditional African beads and rubber washers and tubing.

Climbing rope revisited.

Recycled bicycle inner tubes.

Masses of beautiful zulu beaded ropes.

Designer Collaboration

You all know that I'm a huge a fan of South African design and craft, and for this winter's collection I worked again with Stephanie Bentum of KRAFTHAUS to create a range of clothing with hand felted decorative edgings.  Last year's range was a huge success and so this year we developed the idea further using this year's colours.

This is a limited edition collection. Every piece is a one-off, matching hand made and dyed merino wool textured felting with my selection of pure wool and cashmere fabrics, to create sculptural garments that stand out from the crowd.

Winter travels

Note : A technical glitch meant that this didn't get posted on time, but better late than never.  I've been and come back, so will have another blog ready soon on the amazing time I had in Cape Town.

Another new year, a new collection photographed, and I’m busy packing my suitcase for my annual trip to Cape Town to find and bring back more lovely hand crafted accessories for my Lagrasse boutique.  Last year’s accounts and stats are done and dusted (my best year yet, thank you all) so I can fly off happy in the knowledge that the boring stuff is dealt with and it’s all about design and creativity from here on. 

This year’s South African visit involves accompanying my SA host, Binky, on a  road trip (a 3000km round trip no less) to collect beautiful baskets from a women’s township project in Kwazulu-Natal.  Binky collects and sells traditional and contemporary basketware, and this project is where we will be collecting some of her most impressive baskets, giant gourd-shaped works of art, much appreciated by Conran, Anthopologie and Mahatsara in Paris.

To whet your Beverly SMART appetites here are a few pictures of some of the South African jewellery from my new season’s collection, taken from the recent photoshoot of the Spring/Summer 2013 collection, now online.

 

Who’d have thought recycling water bottles could make something so beautiful?

And here the necklace is a recycled bicycle inner tube and the earrings are paper mâché.  Resourceful, ecological and eye-catching.

So, back to my packing…

A bientôt!

Fashion Show

I recently presented my Autumn/Winter 2012 collection in the form of a fashion show, under the medieval covered market just outside the shop.  

Lagrasse is full of lovely ladies for models and I had the fab Myriam Favorito for hairstyling and Heidi Komarek-Freysinet for make up.  These two were amazing ... they had 2 1/4 hours to make up and hairstyle 13 models .. that's 10 minutes each!  

A glass of champagne later, the models are ready to go ....

  
And just look how great they were ...

We had a great day (we did two shows, one a midday and one early evening) and had a huge crowd each time.  This is going to become a regular event for sure!
And for those French speakers among you, here's a link to an article in the local press:  http://www.midilibre.fr/

INSPIRING COLLABORATION

Peta Becker runs the womens group PROJEKT in Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa.  Her group of township women make beautiful objects in very fine cotton crochet.  

This year we worked on some beautiful collars to go on my linen dresses.  Just look how wonderful the result is ...

These intricate collars take one lady over a week to make; they are completely organic, the crocheter following her instinct in structure and colour.  Beautiful pieces to keep and hand down.

These very special items are available to order at

www.beverlysmart.com

+33 4 6843 1240

bsmart@beverlysmart.com