Camera Bagscura

A day of coffee, cameras, and cake is pretty much my ideal way to spend a bank holiday Monday; throw in a couple of a designer handbags and I am yours completely.

Clare of Tweet managed to combine all four of these interests (though my other two favourites, shoes and cats, were sadly missing) this past Easter Monday by hosting a meet-up for fashion bloggers to play with MyBag.com handbags, whilst learning how to use Lomography cameras. I say learning in the loosest sense possible; I fear we were all rather giddy. Fuelling up on cupcakes at Sugar Junction then sitting still through a presentation about the history of Lomography is probably not the most conducive cocktail for taking on new information, but I am proud to say I now know what all the little plastic cameras do and how they differ, and got to snap a roll of film for myself.

I'm waiting for my fish-eye film to be developed - I'm not particularly good at the patience thing but needs must. If you are as impatient as I then you can check out these rather less charming digital pictures I got of us all being daft with bags and cameras..!

Featuring a Lilifi leopard satchel, Cambridge leather satchel, DVF sunglasses, and Lomography cameras from the new store on Oldham Street




L-R Nicola, Florrie, Charlotte, yours truly, Clare, & Amy



Clare's friend Clare, confusingly not a fashion blogger



Obsessed with this outfit



I'm renaming this blog The Shoe Stalker

Bracher Emden AW12 Lookbook

True to their word, Bracher Emden are moving the brand forward with the help of their blogging friends; Sandra from 5 inch and up styled the autumn/winter 2012 lookbook with a spectacular outcome. I love the moody shots, and everything from the lighting to the mixture of textures is flawless. A particular favourite is the final image - a pyjama-style suit in taupe and navy is an extremely chic combination.

Enjoy this sneak preview of the lookbook, from the 5 inch and up blog.

A Trip To The Seaside With Mulberry

We may be a fair few miles from sun, sea, and sandcastles, but last night Mulberry brought the shores to Manchester with a seaside-themed celebration of their spring/summer collection.

The first delight was a Mulberry ice cream van, serving up yummy raspberry ripple ice cream with sprinkles.









Rebecca of Vintage Romance enjoying her icey

The store's interior was not short of sweet treats, either..









Notice how the waiters' aprons were co-ordinated with the key spring/summer piece. That's dedication for you!

The Spinningfields store was previously accessory-centric, however the party served to highlight that the store now carries more of the pret-a-porter range. On the left of the store is the perky Resort 2012 collection, featuring fun fruit prints with googly eyes, and this quite special tea dress.





Take a closer look at its print and you will find more cute characters.

On the right of the store you will find the spring/summer 2012 collection, inspired by the Great British seaside. Pieces currently on sale include the pivotal yellow, pink and green striped Lollipop dress (the maxi version of which is featured in the Frida & Lindsey ad campaign), a black tunic with sewn-on plastic stars, reminiscent of my fourteen-year-old self's dream - which is in no way a bad thing! - and an adorable yellow dog mac (I'd be all over this but I doubt Henning would be very impressed. Yellow is not his colour).

The ladies from Grazia were on hand to talk us through Mulberry's key trends; candy shades, teamed with buttery leather separates and studded chambray dresses are set to be cool as ice-cream for summer.

Two ladies whose attire caught my eye were a doctor, left, and a solicitor (remember Lisa from my Stylist street style piece?), proving you can have fun with what you wear, whatever industry you work in.

Realising I may have consumed too many alcoholic beverages when I started to think buying the Bayswater in bright yellow made good financial sense (it's an investment, darling!), I knew it was time to go home. But not before Rebecca and I had a go on the ubiquitous seaside game, The Grabby Machine.. (not official name)

I won a teddy! I've named him Cuthbert.
The team who masterminded yesterday evening deserve a huge pat on the back - I am grateful that such a huge brand will open the doors of its boutique and risk the spilling of free Prosecco onto £500 plus handbags. It's a risk that pays off, however; the brand are expecting 2012 to exceed forecast, after a cracking Christmas and New Year period (Business of Fashion/Reuters). Brands retailing in Manchester and beyond would do well to follow the example of the British super-brand.



They do give out a cracking goodie bag... I can't bring myself to eat the rock.

Catwalk images from style.com, all other images my own

Bracher Emden: Superbags to the Rescue!

A couple of months ago, whilst running around Manchester in the dark looking for fashionable ladies for Stylist magazine, I came across Natalie, the owner of a very striking bag.





Although I did fail to get its make (the evening was such a whirlwind I'm surprised I managed to get peoples' names) I was pleased to recieve an email from the makers of said piece, Bracher Emden, inviting me for a coffee and to manhandle some delicious bags.

I met up with Jess and Amy near their Liverpool Street offices, and they lugged their bag-full-of-bags into a nearby coffee shop.





Jess & Amy (who was dressed in her mum's dotty shirt just for me. D'aw!)

The bags are ergonomically designed for women's bodies - the Breast bag, historically the most popular Bracher Emden bag (and favourite of Beyonce!), is designed to snuggle under the arm and rest comfortably on the hip. The bags are also heavily inspired by comic book characters (particularly DC and Marvel superheroes, but also H R Geiger and Tron), and I like to think I can tell on first glance which bag is inspired by what..



(Men's Leather Holdall image from The White List)

The brand are celebrating their tenth anniversary this year, and what better way to celebrate than colossal collaborations with two London Fashion Week designers, teaming up with Bora Aksu for the first time, and their second season working with Jean-Pierre Braganza.

It's easy to see why the Jean-Pierre Braganza collaboration works so well - both designers love to use geometric lines and dramatic shades. The Bracher Emden girls even inform me that Braganza takes inspiration from comics and science fiction, too - a match made in fashion heaven was there ever one.






The Bora Aksu collaboration is set to be interesting, too; the graphic lines and futuristic feel are still there, although a feminine twist dominates the previous Bora Aksu collections. Bracher Emden are set to produce four styles for the designer.






Previous alliances include bags with Swarovski and Bryce Aime.









With the two collaborations set to show on the first day of London Fashion Week, Bracher Emden are being ever so helpful by hiring out a taxi cab for fashion editors, buyers, and bloggers. So what do the Bracher Emden team think of bloggers? Amy tells me that the brand wish to focus and grow, and although magazines and newspapers were previously the way to promote, the brand is realising that bloggers are the way forward. The fact that everyone on the internet seems to have an opinion is positive, too - Jess points out that when Beyonce first wore the Breast bag, it did receive negative press, however as previously mentioned the bag went on to be their most popular style. The old saying "all publicity is good publicity" springs to mind.





The Bracher Emden website claims that Richard Emden first started designing women's accessories in 2002 as it was the fastest way into the fashion industry. I questioned whether this was still the case. "Yes, but not handbags!" said Amy. "Ten years ago you were either a handbag or a clothes designer - now everyone has a go at it." Scarves and belts seem to be the way forward (I'm advised to check out J-Lynch for the latter - the belts don't disappoint).





It seems the key to a successful accessory company is strong communication with an international team: Richard Emden is based in Thailand where the brand have their very own production team (no outsource factory will touch the bags - they are far too intricate!). He designs and oversees the team of around ten strong out there. There are daily Skype meetings with the London gang, who feed back what is happening on the streets of the capital. Amy and Jess tell me that they often request Richard tone the designs down, but he - thankfully! - rarely listens.

The niche is intricate, detailed bags for people who wish to look distinctive whilst remaining chic. The brand will be launching an online bespoke service - though I do think Bracher Emden already know their customer down to a tee, and fulfil their brief perfectly.







(images my own and from style.com, bracheremden.com, nowfashion.com)