Blog Layout

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Follow my journey as I go through the highs and lows of being a London based fashion designer trying to achieve my dream and carry out a mission worth keeping your ears and eyes peeled for. So from the very beginning, I’d like to introduce myself, my name is Vicky and as the title says, I’m a wife, mum and Fashion Designer. 

 

After many years of designing and making clothes in my bedroom I knew it was time to level up but I wanted to achieve personal family goals first. I’ve spent my mature years working professionally for a high street fashion brand for over 10 years to only end my run with the company being made redundant at 7 months pregnant with my first child and about to go on my maternity leave. Can you believe it… Where’s the loyalty!!??. I knew at that stage I didn’t want to commit myself fully to another brand again so after my maternity leave was over I decided to go freelance to purely plant the seeds to the making of my own brand but I didn’t want to create just another fashion brand amongst this highly competitive industry…no, no, no! I wanted to create a service which put the customers at the forefront of the brand and give them what they want, spoil them with options, variety, choice, incentives whilst they shop a truly exciting shopping experience… I wanted a fashion brand that would disrupt the ‘standard’ fashion industry way of working and create my own rules so read on to know how and why I wanted to create this concept for you.

 

‘Disrupt?’ I hear you say, but how? Well let me explain:-)

 

During my many years of designing and sewing hand-crafted outfits for family, friends and clients as well as professionally in my career, the one thing that I have always asked myself is ‘who made you the fashion guru of the industry to make people want to copy your style’, ‘Why do we need to have a season ‘must-have colour palette’ or trend to follow??? And ‘Why on earth do we fit sample clothing on stick thin models that don’t represent the real bodies of today’s society?? Why, why, why? I now know the reasons to those questions. Fashion shows date back to the 1940, where the first ever fashion week was held but that was merely to show case alternative clothing styles to fashion buyers during World War II and then this quickly became the trends for the forth-coming seasons to show case their styles….With my other burning questions, I’ll get back to that in due time… 

 

In today’s world, we are obsessed with the latest seasonal drops from fashion brands, or what the latest print will be but I would like to ask YOU something… 'Do you really care about the latest print or details that are in season or do you care about the FIT of the garment first and foremost and possibly the colour of the item?' If your answer was that you care about the fit and colour as priority when shopping then this blog and Unique ID values are why you should continue to stick with us as I share with you some really important analysis and research regarding fits, body shapes, what suits different body frames, and what fabrics are best to use with different shapes.

 

I’m researching if customer would like to select ready-made design elements for them to pick from to create their own special occasion garments and highlight why this is the way forward. On a personal level we feel we can help with the reduction of the tons of wastage consumption that the fashion industry provide yearly and the results are shocking to date. I would also like to explore the different types of fashion shoppers and their lifestyles and how this launch can help those save on time as we all know time can get the very best of us especially if you’re a full-time worker, full-time mother/father or just anything full time. We're here to assist those busy-bees and come up with a great solution for you when your shopping and of course ‘online’ is a key word here. Me as a fashion designer would like to explore avenues to help reduce fabric wastage here and I’m reaching out for your help. I’m planning on really exciting sustainability incentives to help with my goal so stay connected. I would also like to share with you my experience of setting up a fashion brand and help any fashionistas looking to venture out on their own and brave the world. I’m here to connect, give advice and build a community of budding like-minded, hard-working individuals and share their views also on the industry, good and bad points. 

 

I'M ALL ABOUT INSPIRATION...

 

I will share my best inspirational quotes that keep me motivated in times of need and could maybe inspire or motivate you.

 

FOLLOW ME AND MY SOCIAL ACCOUNTS...

 

I will love for you to get connected with me and follow me on all social media accounts and follow my journey.

 

I’ll be blogging once monthly to share my topics with you as well as throw in a few additional blog post here and there. You will hear the highs, the lows, the good, the bad, so stay with me as I discuss and overcome my issues and improve them because I’m all about improving and bettering any situation. 

 

I’m really excited about this next phase of my life as I believe this blog/launch will be the start of all things unique in how you see clothes, how you see fabric and shape and how its important to pick what you want as a consumer, simply because that’s what you want and what you want matters. Body confidence is a key word for me as well as expressing personality through clothing. It allows customers to express themselves without saying a word as they enter a room. Self-confidence is the best outfit, rock it and own it well. 

 

If you have any burning questions, contact me via any of my social media handles and don’t be shy, I’m here for you, I’m quite an open book so get in contact and I’ll do my best to respond back as soon as I can.

 

OK I'M FINISHING UP NOW...

 

WOW. OK! Two pages later and I think I have covered everything I wanted to say on my introduction blog post. Hooray! Sorry I didn’t plan to write as much as I have but when I put my fingers to the key pad they just started to projectile vomit all over it and it wouldn’t stop. which is so ironic as I have been putting this part off for the longest time as I didn’t know what to say… Funny that!

 

FINAL NOTE AND THEN I'LL SHUT UP TILL MY NEXT POST...promise!

 

Final part of my post… This is just a disclaimer to say this is my very own personal experience of working over 10 years as a Fashion designer, over 15 years as a Bespoke designer, as of now it’s been just under 3 years of being married, 2 years of being a mummy to my first little princess Iyla and the start of my new chapter to becoming a boss babe entrepreneur. Watch this space.

 

I would like to thank everyone that has assisted me in getting to this part of my journey and have given me constructive advice to implement it for growth, I truly appreciate it and love you all.

 

Ok, seriously I’m signing out now, sorry for the babbling but I’m just too excited… See you all next month for all things Unique.

 

Signing out, Love from Vicky. aka Mrs Unique

 

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I always knew I'll be some sort of motivational designer so I'm putting it into practice now

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by Mrs. Unique • 31 October 2020
WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO THIS MONTH Hi all, Hope you're all well? Following on from my last post regarding Black History month, I mentioned I will be involved in a little something for this special month. Here's how it went... So I've been up to a little something this month which was great exposure and practice for me for when I'm ready to launch my collection. I was asked by John Lewis and Partners to show case my collection to partners of the store on Sunday 10th October. It got such a good reaction from the store partners that I was asked to come back the following weeks till the end of October month which I gladly accepted. Ever since the cruel murder of George Floyd as well as the 'Black lives matter' movement, John Lewis wanted to have inclusion for diversity for the BAME community and wanted to promote black businesses as of course they asked the best upcoming designer in the game for her input, hehe. I was more than happy to showcase my collection. I am no where near finished with the samples but I thought why not, this is an opportunity I didn't want to turn down so I put on my brave smiley face and got to work. MY MISSION WAS TO EDUCATE FIRST AND PROMOTE AFTER... LET ME EXPLAIN. The main reason for black history month is to educate people of the greatness that has been achieved from black people whom have made a change in the world or to purely inform them. So it was only right that I educated the partners so I wanted to showcase my African traditional wedding attire. This was because this was a highlight for me and I wanted to showcase the beautiful attire which was made for me by a talented tailor. For many African couples the ceremony of a traditional wedding is full of rich contemporary Nigerian music, scrumptious meals, lots of colour and it’s a chance for the couple to celebrate their heritage by wearing their best African attire which is usually bespoke and handmade for the couple in a colour of their choosing. The bride’s outfit is a reflection of what the female guests will wear to represent her side of the family. The outfit consists of a gale which is a head tie, the Buba tank top, and an Iro, which is a large ankle length piece of material tied round your waist. (This styling is what the older mature lady may wear). I choose to modernise my attire to be more figure hugging to my liking. The bride would also wear accessories like chains, beads, earrings and shoes to match. The groom could wear an Agbada, which is a two layered piece of material which is paired with trousers. Both outfit styles should compliment each other. We choose the colour blue for our traditional wear as blue is a key colour which represents my tribe so it was a good way to show the new unity of two tribes now becoming one. SNEAK PREVIEW OF UNIQUE ID FIT SAMPLES So first of all I was a bag of nerves. I was filled with all sorts of emotions from excitement, to nerves to being anxious all in one. This was because I haven't showcased my pre-fit collection to anyone yet let alone showcased it to a massive brand like John Lewis before. I didn't know how anyone would perceive it or react to it so I was pretty nervous. I came in early to the store on the Sunday morning to set up so I dressed the mannequins, organised my table and ensured my leaflets were easily accessible for people to take as they please. Then the staff members came in and the first comments I heard were 'wooow ' , 'isn't that colourful', 'can I buy that please?' and it was a lovely feeling. My main goal of the set up was educate people about my forth coming launch and let them know I'm selling facemasks on the website. I also realised that although my main business concept and selling concept is very bespoke orientated I quickly realised that I do need actually ready -made products and I need to think about a ready made capsule collection to sell in order to have a viable growing business. I plan to implement this into my start up journey and add this to my list of to-do of the other 110 other things I need to do.... I got work to do!!!. All in all, I'm happy I got a chance to showcase my pre- collection and get to test run how it will be for when I'm ready to present again in this big bad world. It gave me a bit of a kick up the bum as I had deadlines to meet in order to present my collection to John Lewis, My lasting wish is that I hope they give more opportunities to the BAME community and their business more throughout the year and not just the month of October. My fingers are crossed and I'm always hopeful so let's see shall we. INSPIRATION QUOTE I LIKE in relation to BOSSING UP... 'Always deliver more than expected' 'Everything you do now is for your future' 'We cannot become what we want by remaining who we are' 'Choose your dreams over your fears' FOLLOW ME AND MY SOCIAL ACCOUNTS... Just incase you have not done so, I would love for you to follow me on my socials to hear the latest of what I'm up to as I prepare for my launch and be sure to say 'HI'. SIGNING OUT... I hope my blog will inspire you to step out of your comfort zone and do something different today... I'm making a move on my new business venture. What are you up to... Let me know and good luck. Night-night you wonderful humans OR good-morning you early risers. Signing out, Love from Mrs Unique
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