Happy Thursday everyone! (well at least, it was when I published this latest fabulous feature on Love My Dress!). Thursday's are a good day in Blog land (lots of professional bloggers report Thursday to be the day their Blogs get the most site hits). Perhaps it's that most people are starting to disengage from the working week and beginning to think about the weekend and enjoying a bit of a Blog browsing/online shopping session during their lunch break? Who knows! Either way, we've a rather fabulous little brand to share details with you on this here Thursday, so lets get going!…
Recycled and environmentally friendly are not terms you’re likely to hear bandied around the design studios of too many fashion houses. But vintage accessories label, Poppy Valentine, is set to rock the world of accessories with its kitchen-sink chic.
Working only with genuine vintage fabrics (note, not ‘retro-style’
reprints), Poppy Valentine recycle exquisite authentic prints into
unique style statements…
All Imagery Copyright (C) 2010, Poppy Valentine
Claire Read, Poppy Valentine's designer, has been collecting vintage fabrics from all over the UK for the past 20 years, filling her London flat to the brim. She graduated in fashion and textiles from Northumbria University (hello from up North, Claire!), then moved to London to design ranges for high
street stores including Top Shop and River Island. However, having to
succumb to the demands of the self absorbed fashion world left her
feeling that fashion had lost its focus. She recalls drily…
"After
spending over an hour in a meeting with a design team, discussing the
merits of one button over another, I became a bit disillusioned.”
So, she
went into teaching and spent five years as a Textiles Design teacher at
Holland Park Comprehensive. During this time, she continued to collect her beloved
fabrics without really knowing what to do with them, filling her
Harlesden flat to the brim.
After an ultimatum from her husband
demanding, “Either they go or I do!”, she had her epiphany after seeing
a Beatles concert style rush to a handbag stall whilst rummaging for
fabric at a car boot sale in Kilburn. Creative juices flowing freely,
Claire realised she wanted more than just a table top business so
started researching retail cum workspace outlets in and around North
West London. She came to the conclusion that her designs had no better
home than one of the pivotal locations of the British fashion movement ~ Portobello Road.
Poppy Valentine opened its doors to the public in
2005. The result was a boutique crammed with a range of bags and
accessories styled from the evocative generational fabrics of the
1950s, 60s and 70s. The name 'Poppy Valentine' derives from family members; Poppy is Claire’s daughter and Valentine her nephew.
Every bag is a one-off (price range £49-£75 / $78-$120 USD). The bag’s names reflect screen idols of those eras such as
Rita Tushingham, Audrey Hepburn and Ursula Andress.
No fabric from Claire’s collections
goes unused; Liberty silk scarves are transformed into luxurious
cushions, printed linens are revived as glamorous cosmetic bags, and
end pieces turned into hair bands, coin purses and key ring fobs. For
Claire, the never ending hunt for fabric continues with the occasional
holy grail of a roll of vintage fabric turning up in her extensive
Europe wide searches.
Claire says that the "feel special" factor is created by the fact that every Poppy Valentine product is a limited edition, and quite often a one off. Her love of recycling old fabrics is reflected below…
"Our love of the environment and British heritage is very important and for this reason Poppy Valentine products are designed and put together from fabrics which are truly original, beautiful and have their own special story".
Until a week ago, I'd never heard of Poppy Valentine, but Claire had started to follow Love My Dress on Twitter,
so I took some time to check them out, and I loved what I saw!
Twiggy-esque mini-dresses with a touch of 'wink-wink!', chic handbags,
all hand-crafted from a wide selection of bright, colourful and totally
genuine vintage fabric, and pretty vintage style ladies rocking looks from the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's, all with a bit of contemporary sparkle. I thought to myself immediately
– this girl knows something about style, and how to have fun with it! And her eco-credentials ticked a big box for me too…
There is something quintessentially English about the appearance of The Poppy Valentine shop; a Christie lined
with a feminine floral from the 1940s hangs next to a Tushingham tote
bag crafted from a bohemian hippy chic print from the 1960s, and the
designer is busy sewing whilst listening to Radio London’s Robert Elms
on her pink Roberts radio. The cupboards are crammed with Claire’s
collection of fabrics enabling a bespoke design service tailored to
customers’ whims. Women can be confident that they are making an
individual style statement that will not be replicated on the high
street.
Poppy Valentine receive a lot of interest from Japanese buyers who make a regular pilgrimage
to Claire's store after, she was featured in a Japanese fashion guide book to
London, and Claire hopes to enter the market there in a big way in
2010 (GOOD LUCK CLAIRE!!!).
Claire has come a long way from Kilburn, but tells me that all her hard work is
repaid whenever she hears a misty eyed shopper, whilst reminiscing over one of her recycled fabrics, ‘My Nan used to have some curtains
like that!’
Hehe! 🙂
Visit the Poppy Valentine website for more information.
♥
Annabel View all Annabel's articles
Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.
