Tatoo tights

I just realised I dont own a pair of opaque white tights... bad times, I know I have the floral and the lace ones from Topshop, but that doesn't count. However while browsing dearest Etsy, I came across Tattoo Tights.

Tattoo tights designers are Gabby and Tal from Tel Aviv, Gabby is a designer and illustrator, on the other hand, Tal is a jewelery designer.

The opaque tights come in a variety of paterns and colours, I reckon they're super lovely.

More on José Duran

In a previous post I featured Jose Duran's Spring Summer 09 collection and ever since I have been keeping an eye on his work. I personally think Jose designs are absolutely stunning, the way he plays with fabrics to create "wearable art" is perfection.

Jose's recent collection is just as impressive and eye catching, seen as we all know very little about him, I thought a short Q&A setion with Jose about himself and his designs would just be ideal.

So, here it goes...

Tell us a little bit about yourself

My name is Jose duran, I'm from the dominican republic.

After spending 3 years in college studying international relation I decided to change to Fashion design and Merchandise, after I finished school, I went into the world of fashion in the New York city and worked with b-michael, DVF, Nathen Jenden and a couple of other companies.

After a couple of years of working with others I decided to go on my own. I knew it was going to be hard, little by little it payed off.

Desribe your recent AW 09/10 Collection

My latest collection was inspired by Romans and the freedom ladies used to have during carnabal and it was also inspired by paganism.

What are your main influences, inspirations and why?

I get inspired by happiness and sufferings of women, I like to go back in history or research our society for problems that women have, I think I have a voice in our society and I think I can make a change on the way people think.

What are the best and worst things about beign a designer?

The best thing about been a designer is that we are able to make beautiful clothes and make people happy, its lots of work but it feels great to see your clothes on a celebrity or in a publication.

Which designers would you most like to work with and why?

I would Love to work with Alexander mcqueen because he has taken fashion to the next level, he makes beautiful clothes and his shows are like watching a play.

What are you currently working on?

At the moment I am in paris working on my first men's collection it will be shown here at the end of June.

What do you do when your're not designing or working?

When I'm not working i like to spend time with my family, i love to think. i am not much into movies, books or music. I love to think and to watch people. I think that's how I get all my influences for my job.

When and where are your designs available to buy or view?

At the moment you can buy my clothes at Midnuit here in Paris and you can see them on my website www.joseduran.net

What are your plans or hopes for the future?

For the future I hope to get an investor and take my creations to a mass market.

Eyewear by MERCURA

Whether you like your eye wear as extravagant and fun like maybe Calvin Harris, Kanye or even the Gaga then I think Mercura NYC eye wear might just tickle your fancy.

The designers behind these playful eye art are sisters Merrilee Lichtenstein Cohen and Rachel Cohen-Lunning. Mercura has been around since the mid 70's and has managed to continue designing their ever so consistent creative designs. Sunglasses by Mercura were worn on the Barbie Turns 50 New York Fashion Show to celebrate Barbie's 50th anniversary.

Here are a few of my favourite pieces from their collection

Pictures by Eric Martin.

Illustrated models wear Feurstein hats

Hats and accessories designer Rike Feurstein studied millinery in New York and London, soon after she opened her studio in Berlin. Rike's designs hats, scarfs and other accessories for both men and women all of which are also handmade in Berlin.

Rike's designs are often sculptural with very dinstinctive shapes and eye catching colours which I'm very fond of, the pieces from her AW 09/10 were featured in collaboration with C.Neeon's recent collection.

However the main reason I adore Rike's recent pieces other than their beauty, are the posters for the campaign. To present her AW 09/10 collection, illustrated full face shots have been used, all modelling pieces from the collection.

In my opinion, these illustrations are all absolutely outstanding.

Rose Scarves

I know very little about Felting, which is why I decided to do some nosing about on Felting. While nosing about, I came across some felting pieces by Jenne Giles, the designer behind Harlequin Felt Works.

Jenne is a San Francisco based artist, her designs are a combination of wearable, colourful, art and craft pieces using the felting process. The felting process involves using hot soapy water to join wool fibers together, when dried the wool becomes tough, durable material or fabric which is known as Felting, get it?!!! If not just wait till you see the final results.

Each pieces of felt material is then hand rolled, scrubbed and cut to create these stunning sculptural rose scarves.

Jenne's rose felted scarves come in a variety of colours and are available in her etsy shop.

Crumpled Paper Story

German born designers Miriam Lehle and Sabine Egler often experiment with a variety of textiles and materials using new methods to create stunning and avant garde designs.

Miriam graduated as a fashion designer from the University of Design, Pforzheim, while Sabine graduated with a degree in Textile Design at the Academy of Art and Design in Stuttgart after which their label Prose Studio was born.

Miriam's collection, Golden decay was one of the finalist at the International de mode d'Hyères festival in 2008.

Pieces from the fairy like collection were all handmade, each piece of fabric was melted which resulted in the creation of unique pieces like these, a mixture of beauty and disaster.

Their more recent AW 09/10 collection is titled 'Crumpled Paper Story', which is one of the ten finalsts at this years Mango fashion award along side the likes of London's Sinha Stanic. The winner, Jin Youn Lee was announced earlier this month, more on him later...

The collection Crumpled Paper story is absolutely unique and gorgeous, with pieces which include the combination of wrinkles, prints, creases and knits which are manipulated to create these designs.