The first story I chose was about the slow return of British manufacture in retail. As all our clothes are made in the UK this is a topic close to my heart and one I feel passionately about. After several years of clothes, home-wares and retail goods being manufactured abroad for cheaper production and material costs, British manufacture is seeing a small revival. The costs are now becoming similar for higher quality production and materials whilst also providing local skills and jobs in the UK. The way we run our business is to take a holistic approach to fashion, from sourcing the fabric through to production, fit and completion. To keep this process in the UK helps people connect with the garments they wear and keep the technical skills of dress making alive in this country.

We also discussed a recent survey which showed that 60% of women disliked shopping and felt they often experienced poor customer service on the high street. The customer experience is always at the core of the service we provide as we believe you should understand why clothes fit, feel good and look good on you to make the right choices for your figure and each occasion. Poor customer service negates these choices and breeds low self esteem, whereas helpful customer service can be empowering and boost your confidence.

The other stories we talked about ranged from crime at the Olympics to the delightful rise of the adult playground and everything in between! I could not have enjoyed the programme more and if you haven’t tuned into the wonderful Kath Melandri before, her Ladies Lounge show is on BBC London radio every Saturday from 10pm – 2am.

To hear the show I was featured on it will be available on iPlayer here  until Saturday 19th May.

Over the past 6 months we have been fortunate enough to be involved in some gorgeous catwalk shows, photoshoots and all manner of stylish events for which we have made some unique and beautiful garments. As much as we love surrounding ourselves with these stunning pieces we feel it is time some of the clothes found a new home and what better way to make this happen than a sample sale!

There will be everything from casual separates to bespoke bridal gowns all with up to 70% reductions – so this is a sale not to be missed…

We look forward to seeing you there to take home your very own piece of couture.

Sample Sale:

60 Bermondsey St, SE1 3UD

Friday 6th April 12pm – 6pm

Saturday 7th April 11am – 5pm

Both our studios have undergone renovations over the past 6 months and so it seemed appropriate to showcase the bespoke work we both do in these exciting new spaces.

We loved collaborating last LFW using handmade glass work alongside our bespoke garments under the expert eye of stylist and image consultant Hannah Jean of Find My Style, so were delighted to have the opportunity to work together again.

This season we are looking forward to an historic year for London with all eyes on the city we call home for the Olympics and wanted to reflect the diversity, creativity and sense of style London has to offer.

In our designs we have referenced the British heritage in tailoring from Savile Row and as ever only use fabric from suppliers in the UK which make our garments even more unique.

London Glassblowing provided some exquisite bespoke glass jewellery to accompany each of our looks, all put together with the finesse and detail that Hannah Jean brings in her approach to styling.

We were delighted to be joined by iconic designer Roland Klein along with the legendary journalist Felicity Green who both praised the collection and the new changes made to our studio. As our studio and the glassblowing gallery have both just been renovated, it was a pleasure to share this with friends, colleagues and clients as well as some new friends too and the celebrations went on until the wee hours…

The result of our collaboration was a unique and beautiful catwalk show demonstrating the artisan craft at the heart of the Bermondsey Street area.

For a sneak peek of the event, the team at London Glassblowing put together this video of the show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx1ilDZlXBY

We feel so lucky to not only be working in such a creative community, but next door to a studio which shares our values of well crafted and unique pieces which we can showcase together. Here’s to a wonderful season ahead and many more exciting collaborations…

All images courtesy of Alessandro Costa Photography  www.alessandrocosta.com

The concept began with using Bermondsey Street as our muse and reflecting a piece of the area in each image. We wanted mannequins that were as unique to each garment as a bespoke dress is to each of our clients, so our creative production team at HMKM sourced and created these gorgeous headpieces for each shot.

From a personal point of view, I adore the location of our studio as it is at the heart of the creative community which we work in everyday, so it felt right to shoot our garments to reflect this. I love how the background seems to tie in with the look and feel of each dress and I just imagine our ‘models’ springing to life on the street!

More than anything we wanted to showcase the high quality of design, cut and materials with each of our dresses which stands out with every piece we make no matter what the backdrop. We had so much fun organising this and can’t believe we are already planning for A/W 2012…

At the start of the year we expanded our Studio Range of ready-to-wear garments to offer beautifully made, limited edition clothes in luxurious fabrics. We also continue to develop and hone the range of bespoke styles we offer which now also include tailoring essentials, a personal favourite being our best selling fitted Blazer.

In Spring we launched our series of Design Talks, starting with the chic designer Roland Klein and followed by the brilliant Helen Storey - both an inspiration to anyone with an eye for good design and a love of fashion. These talks are a way to gain an insight into the brave, creative minds of such accomplished designers and also a chance to hear first hand how such extraordinary design paths can be achieved. We are super excited about the next talk in January with iconic fashion journalist Felicity Green...

For LFW we held our first ever catwalk show in the studio in collaboration with our neighbours at London Glassblowing which was a huge success and a really unique opportunity to showcase not only our bespoke garments but also the intricate glass pieces that were handmade to go alongside them. We had so much fun and a great response to the collection so shall keep you posted on our next plans for LFW in February 2012….

In the autumn we organised our first ‘al fresco’ photo-shoot with HMKM, taking our beautiful collection for S/S’12 onto Bermondsey Street to capture our luxurious garments against the backdrop of the creative community we call home. The images here are a sneak peek with some behind the scenes shots of the day itself and we shall post the finished article in the new year…

As we write there are just too many other great experiences and events to mention, from our collaborations with Maggie Semple to the Bermondsey Street Festival and celebrating our first year in the studio, but it truly has been the best year yet for us and we are so excited about the year to come.

Thank you as ever to all our lovely clients and to everyone who has helped make 2011 such a fantastic year for us. Have a wonderful festive break and an even better New Year!

There will be mulled wine at the Hide, mince pies at the Woolpack, carol singing outside the White Cube gallery and of course fantastic discounts up and down the street to get you into the Christmas spirit!

Here at Susie Stone we are extending our ready-to-wear Studio Range to include some extra special winter warmers to take your wardrobe through to a stylish new year. We are also bringing in some new sparkly jewellery, hand sewn silk scarves and a host of gorgeous trinkets perfect for that unique gift.

As an added bonus we are offering 10% off all garments and accessories bought on these two evenings as a thank you to all our customers for a great year!

We hope to see you at the Studio for a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie….

Since founding the company in 2010, Maggie Semple has published a book, hosted a series of events and launched an online blog; all chronicling the lives of inspiring women and their fashion stories.

We were lucky enough to host one of Maggie’s events at our studio earlier this year, where she interviewed me about my favourite garments and why they meant so much to me (you can read more about that here). The great thing about that experience is that Maggie and her team are so enthusiastic about discovering how it is that fashion can affect women emotionally, positively and communally. A favourite garment can stay with you forever whether it is due to a happy memory, the way it makes you feel or just as a piece of artwork. We share the belief that good clothes make women feel great and this link between the emotional self and the external self is exemplified by Maggie’s passion for clothes and the history behind them.

It is this idea that has led Maggie to her latest project which is to help people find out the history behind their most treasured garments – from where they were made, to who designed it and how it came to be in their possession. Taking this kind of care and attention over the story of your clothes is a really special experience and one that makes you cherish your favourite garments even more.

There was an inspirational group of people at the event, and designer Roland Klein (who we have interviewed at our studio) was there with his former muse Jan Leeming who was modelling one of his ‘vintage’ silk embroidered jackets. She talked about why this garment was still so special to her after so many years and was a fabulous model for his beautiful work!

Caroline Jackson Levy led the interview with Maggie who talked about why she started the project, what her ambitions are for the year ahead and showed us a preview of her latest video on women in fashion. As Maggie is usually the one asking the questions (as Caroline has first hand experience of!) it was refreshing to hear her own views on why fashion and the history behind clothes means so much to her.

The team she has put together are a group of passionate, articulate, ambitious women that always inspire us here at Susie Stone and we look forward to what they have planned for the next 12 months!

The whole road is closed off for one day only so that the hoards of visitors can roam the street to peek inside the local shops, studios and restaurants to see what is going on. The entire community always gets involved and we collaborated with as many people as possible for the day!

Our friends at Creamer & Lloyd always come up with strange and wonderful ideas for their stall and this year the theme was ‘memory’. They asked people to write down memories based on senses such as smell, taste and touch and then made stories from fragments of each person’s contribution. They also gave visitors a ‘Memory Stick’ (a literal wooden stick!) to walk down ‘memory lane’ with and collect treasures along the way! Our contribution to the memory stick was tags with faces of iconic people on – from Fred Astaire to Liz Taylor – that visitors could choose from and use a memory of that icon to channel for the day. Of course, I was Grace Kelly….

We also collaborated with local artists who organised an ‘art ramble’ along Bermondsey Street, where a different artist left a piece of work in various shops along the street that people had to find and tick off their list. An art treasure hunt if you will. We had a painting by local artist Neil Paterson which was beautiful and a joy to have alongside our dresses for the day.

Of course central to the day was the catwalk show which this year was held on the tennis courts of Tanner St Park and great fun as always. All the local designers and fashion studios got involved, from Zandra Rhodes and Andrew Logan to the fantastic team at Bermondsey 167 whose menswear is simply gorgeous. We showed a range of our garments from the sexy ‘Ingrid’ wrap dress in wool crepe to our favourite silver metallic kaftan and it all went down a storm!

The day itself is always brilliant fun with so many new people discovering the street we love so much for the first time. There were so many different stalls to showcase the variety of creative businesses on the street, as well as some weird and wonderful special treats – my personal favourite had to be ‘Oompa Loompas’ serving green candy floss… The party kept going well into the evening with live music and films being shown on the big screen at Bermondsey Square. One thing is for sure, this is a community who knows how to have a good time.

We have always been fans of our fantastic neighbours at London Glassblowing, who champion a craft and art form which centres it’s values around individuality, quality design and creativity – values we here at Susie Stone share implicitly.

For a long time we have suggested a collaboration of some kind between our adjacent studios, however it was not until local stylist Hannah Jean suggested a special art and fashion show that we really got our thinking caps on!

We immediately loved the idea of using my bespoke garments with their beautiful glass work to create a fabulous, couture catwalk show! With Hannah’s eye for styling, our tailored garments and a range of jewellery and artwork from the Glassblowing studio we knew we were on to a winning combination…

So to launch London Fashion Week, we  jointly hosted an evening at our studios which involved drinks, art, fashion and the most extraordinary catwalk that has ever graced Bermondsey Street!

We combined my new fabrics, colours and designs for the season ahead with bespoke artwork and jewellery from London Glassblowing to create unique looks for each model. I absolutely loved the drama of the larger glass ‘swan neck’ pieces that were created especially for my bold, bright garments such as the burnt orange ‘Liz’ dress and the mohair cape. This was contrasted with the delicacy of the necklaces and bracelets made from beautiful, tiny clusters of glass, which looked simply stunning next to the more detailed designs.

Most of all it was lovely to showcase both of our adjacent studios as we inspire each other’s work on a daily basis. To be able to show their artwork in the intimate space of my studio and take my bespoke clothes into the industrial space of their glassblowing workshop was a unique opportunity and the most fun I have ever had doing a catwalk show!

All images courtesy of Alessandro Costa Photography  www.alessandrocosta.com