Stephanie's Dress

June has been hectic. I've been working week days at the Royal Opera House on costumes for ballet and opera, and evenings and weekends I've been back at my studio working on some very exciting dress commissions.  

Here are some pics of a dress I've been making for Stephanie Kramer from Urban Times magazine. 

 The dress is made from end of roll wool with organic cotton lining

Stephanie's dress is a variation of this dress (below) from the Paradise Lost collection, but I'm making hers sleeveless and with a different neckline. Can't wait to see pics of Stephanie wearing her dress 

Urban Times

I was very flattered to be named as Veronica Crespi's favourite eco fashion clothing brand in her interview with Urban Times today! Crespi is a style consultant and owner of Rewardrobe, London's first slow style consultancy.

"Olwen Bourke is bringing upcycling to whole new level of elegance."

Read the whole article here: URBAN TIMES

Slave Magazine

My collection, Paradise Lost in this month's Slave Magazine..

 It's always interesting to lend my pieces out to stylists and see how they style them for a shoot. I would never have thought of putting my flower leather jacket with a tartan skirt but, hey.. it works!  

Photography: Ania Mroczkowska

Styling: Sophie O

Make Up & Hair: Fiona Tanner

Model: Holly @ Models1

Make Up & Hair Assistant: Monica Mao

Clothes, Cameras and Coffee

Very nice to have my collection Paradise Lost mentioned on the blog Clothes, Cameras and Coffee. Rosalind's feature entitled "I am a bird now" discusses the use of bird imagery in poetry and in fashion: 

Maybe it’s a case of great minds thinking alike, but Olwen Bourke’s latest collection – entitled ‘Paradise Lost’ – also takes birds as one of its recurring themes. Each hand-made item uses re-claimed fabrics in part of the design. The use of a birdcage in the video is interesting. Birds are the ultimate symbol of freedom, but become poignant metaphors when in captivity - one of the messages also found in Alexander McQueen's SS01 collection. Some concepts are never old. 

It seems Rosalind is as fascinated with birds as I am. Reading her piece reminded me to re-visit McQueen's incredible SS01 collection which can be viewed in the archives here: Alexander McQueen Archive

LOOKK!

My collection Paradise Lost is now available on LOOKK.com. This is a great place for people to shop for unique designs and a great platform for emerging designers to promote their work. You can connect with designers directly by following their page. Anyone can log in through facebook and follow your favourite designers to get updated on their lookbooks and new projects. In return for following the designer you can shop unique edits and special offers and win exclusive pieces. 

Here's a link if you would like to follow me!

Follow Olwen Bourke on LOOKK

Les Docks, Paris

Last weekend I went to Paris for a few days and managed to squeeze in a visit to an exhibition at Les Docks (the interim outpost of Palais Galliera, le Musée de la Mode et du Costume). This small exhibition is currently showcasing the cult label Comme des Garçons’ spring/summer 2012 collection and Cristóbal Balenciaga’s colossal collection of period costumes. It was well worth battling my vin rouge hangover to see this little gem.

The Comme Des Garcons exhibition entitled "White Drama" was my favourite. The collection was inspired by the color white’s significance to the major stages in a woman’s life; Birth, communion, marriage, death, and transcendence. Apparently this involves lots of 3D flowers!

Comme des Garcons

I was really interested to see how the flowers were made. seemed like a mix of cotton and some kind of towelling material! Strange but effective..

Stunning balenciaga dress

 

There was also a tiny display of dresses by the designer Yiqing Yin which had incredible pleated detailing

The Truth About Beauty

Delighted to be featured on The Truth About Beauty. Thanks to blogger and make up artist Aly Hazlewood for such a lovely write up about my work.

Check out her Aly's beautiful make up at: www.aly-hazlewood.co.uk