My Passport to Style | Edinburgh Hosts Jungle City Event

Sabine Roemer and her encrusted hornbill in Edinburgh

JUNGLE CREATURES UNLEASHED ACROSS EDINBURGH

Edinburgh is one of my favorite cities in the world and I am very fond of elephants, perhaps because they are a large part of my dads culture in Nepal, I love their solemn aura and the fact that they look so old like mature oaks trees, I met my first elephant on the streets of Kathmandu aged just three, my mum says I was completely transfixed. So when I discovered that talented jewellery designer Sabine Roemer was taking part in a new and very flamboyant exhibition in Edinburgh to help save them, I had to share the exciting news here on My Passport to Style!

Richly painted ‘Jungle City’ sculptures have launched themselves onto the streets, parks and neighborhoods' of Edinburgh and are currently making a Great 'Spectacle' of themselves in a bid to raise funds and awareness for their endangered relatives in Asia.

One of the pieces expected to fetch a significant sum for the Elephant Family charity is a hornbill decorated with feathers, pearls and a 383 carat ruby from Tanzania, which is set in a hand crafted sterling silver mask. The exotic creature has been created by German born goldsmith and jewelry designer, Sabine Roemer.

“I created this beautiful paradise bird with the intention to escape into an amazing tropical and colorful world through his eyes: set with beautiful crafted 383,09 carat Rubies from Tanzania”

“I have been enormously inspired by the people and work of Elephant Family and am happy to again be a big part of this year’s Jungle City. I hope through these beautiful art pieces we can build awareness for these endangered animals and make a change” (Sabine Roemer)

Sabine’s hornbill can be found in the Harvey Nichols store in St Andrew’s Square where shoppers will also discover a hot rod inspired tiger encrusted with more than 200,000 Swarovski elements by artist Johnny Rocket and a gold leaf ‘crocodile’.

Edinburgh is the first city in the world to host a ‘Jungle City’, event which is 100% charitable and has been organized to benefit the work of lead charity Elephant Family and six other conservation NGOs. Throughout September tourists and city dwellers alike can expect to spot 130 hand painted sculptures of some of the planets most endangered and extraordinary wildlife.

The sculptures will be sold at a glittering auction event on the 29th September at the National Museum of Scotland.

To visit the Harvey Nichols site for more details of the exibition click here   

My Passport to Style | Alphabet Chic R Is For .......

R is for  Raven haired, Red hot beauty, this layering of orange, red and Raspberry will be imprinted on my mind for the rest of the A/W 2011 season, thank-you Katie at What Katie Wore! 

My Passport to Style | Prada | Versus | Rachel Zoe!

Prada

I  was really excited by Pradas A/W 2011 collection, I love the fun and flattering use of texturing and colour in most of this seasons outerwear garments, but I'm not gettting this swim cap look and giant goggles, yes the accessories do look sharp with the matching nude collar against the black coat but I suspect the chin chic strap will not flatter less than 18 year old heart shaped faces, most of us need a little hair to soften our face or slim it down a little, when wearing a hat!

In contrast stylist extraordinaire, Rachel Zoes latest offering for QVC US, which is live right now! Is about as flattering as A/W gets! Her faux fur vest in grey,white and black is her signature piece without a doubt, the cut is sublime and the price is pretty nifty too, I'm guessing it will be gone within half an hour!

Rachel Zoe for QVC!

 

My Passport to Style | Woolmarks Got Me In A Spin!

reycycled bright wool pieces used to make a new knitted dress

National Wool Week seems the perfect time to feature this post. Woolmarks latest creative campaign, Fashion by Feelings, is encouraging bloggers from around the globe to write a blog or post an outfit onto the Fashion by Feelings Facebook site that reflects a feeling that they associate with wool, from beautiful to powerful and all that passes in between. In return for sharing your woolly feelings, you can win a weeks holiday to Sydney and a visit to Merino wool.

 This is the perfect project for me, wool is what I like to call soft armour, shielding you from the elements, cocooning you in its weight. Living breathing fabric that holds its shape and has real character. I love to see loose knits that showcase a hopscotch of brightly coloured stitches. Plus hand washing is very soothing don't you find?

Hopefully if I can crank up my camera, I can create a wool outfit image that will do justice to this awesome project by Woolmark, I'm so excited! I would love to see your wool outfit posts if you want to post a link here to one, do!

bright soft felt marbles

follow this link to find out more .....

My Passport to Style | Lost And Found | Torie Jayne Save The Day!

Hi Gals, LET ME SHARE the worst mistake my 8 year old self ever made was letting my mum throw out my conker brown leather school satchel, which would now be a vintage piece that would look great with my new red mac I'm planning on purchasing very soon. I love that the satchels simple smart looks mean that you can wear it to relax your outfit or build in some classic functional heritage transporting you to smart land.

Had I never hopped and skipped over to the lovely Torie Jaynes blog, I might never have discovered that I might be able to replace my long lost love with one of the above bright shiny new satchels from Bohemia in her giveaway! I'm feel a little less blue all ready!

However I do think I might need to trade the contents from my 8 year old satchel to things that are a little more fitting for my grown up self, so here are my trades for your inspection, what do you think? Did I make the right trades?







TRADING MY BANANA FOR THIS  VINTAGE ESQUE PHONE CASE

TRADING MY SKIPPING ROPE FOR THESE LIME GREEN SUNGLASSES

TRADING MY SHINY BROWN POWER CONKER FOR GLOSSY POLISH

TRADING MY YUMMY RED APPLE FOR A SWEET POLKA DIARY 

My Passport to Styles | Cheats Guide To Pregnancy Shopping!

flattering A- line smock shape and bold neckline 

Hi Gals,

Increasingly I'm coming across fashion conscious expectant mummy bloggers on the blogosphere, so today's post was inspired by them and their style needs as they change shape, but still want to get more bang for their buck. I'm loving these picks for expectant mothers from Sonia Rykiel whilst not strictly maternity wear, the lines would work perfectly for those mums that are around three to four months and wanting to disguise their bump in the early stages or equally those mums in the later stages of pregnancy happy to show off their bump in a flattering way that celebrates their shape now, but still leave them with pieces to wear next A/W. The fact that most of Sonia Rykiels pieces from her new collection are knitwear or A-line in shape this A/W 2011 makes these pieces very pregnancy friendly, but where she really excels is her talent for carving up bold colour into shapes that draw the eye towards the slimmest parts of the body, which when we are pregnant is generally are lower leg or neckline. Who says pregnant women can't indulge in fashion! Did you know that Sonia Rykiels first ever pieces were maternity wear.

tiny polka dots distract the eye

 




team this SR top with black wool or crepe wide leg black

maternity pants to draw the eye up the body.Black blocking

is positioned to flatter a larger bustline.



My Passport to Styles | The Taming Of The Shoe

Hate!

Love!

Hi Gals,

do you ever wrestle with yourself about posting a burning opinion on something fashion related, just encase you offend? Well that was how it was for me when deciding whether or not to publish this post to share here on My Passport to Style . You see as much as I adore the world of fashion and am thrilled by the way fashion designers encourage women to reinvent themselves and inspire our daily lives with their creations. There is one particular trend in the kingdom of shoe wear that leaves me cold, the trend for what I term crooked heels, I just don't understand how this trend so beloved of Alexandra McQueen fans is in anyway aesthetically pleasing, maybe I am missing a particular gene that would help me appreciate the beauty of these shoes??! Incidentally I love much of McQueens clothing and I am fairly flamboyant in my sense of dress and love quirky designs that push the boundaries of fashion and style. Like most stylists I love to reinvent a look, putting my own unique spin on it, but to me a shoe is supposed to flatter the limbs of the wearer as well as make a fashion statement, the design of the heel and the front of the shoe play a crucial part in that role.

confused?!?

 Whilst I appreciate the role of attention grabbing shoes in boosting confidence and making women feel invincible do we really need the equivalent of a dinosaur on the end of our feet to do that? Surely this over engineering of heels which has I admit become hugely popular lately is just attention grabbing for its own sake or perhaps we are all so smitten but the greatness of the late Alexandra McQueen and his collection that we just can't see it. So for now I'm sticking to my classic wedge, stiletto and block heels this A/W, whilst still feeling that perhaps I am missing out on something to do with the greatness of fashion and design but I'm not sure what. I guess that's the beauty of fashion today, like freedom of speech, it's allows us the freedom to enjoy fashion in all its many forms for ourselves.What's your view on the trend for crooked heels? I would love to know your opinion am I missing out? 

dislike

mixed

My Passport to Styles | Guide To Working The Timeless Monochrome Look

Hi Gals, heres a quick style note for you to bookmark, the monchrome tend is really easy peasy wearing, if you handle with care, soften the look by wearing silver, powder pink or off white tights and gloves rather than just black or white with skirts, dresses and coats. Wear make up natural and keep hair slicked back from your face either short, in a pony or top knot. Avoid hard starchy lines unless your blessed with Mad Men esque curves, blocks of black and white look divinely decadent when varying the texture of fabric used, mohair knits, feathers, faux fur, beading, boiled wool, leather and of silk.Here's a few of my favourite black and white picks. All Oasis, Far Fetched and Chelsea Doll.

black and gold ball frame earrings- Chelsea Doll

black and crystal swirl ring - Chelsea Doll

ivory and black lace shift- Oasis

black and white zip zag and check coat, slouchy style - Oasis



sweet sharp, dalmation spot cardigan- Far Fetched



 my felix the cat pumps

silk scarf V&A

   

My Passport to Style | Got Cindy Lou Fever Find Out Why .....

Hi Gals, if your looking for a perfectly wicked reason to splurge on yourself in the run up to my favourite time of the year that is Christmas, then please take note at what I'm about to say, but don't say you heard it here first, got it! Unless of course it's to let your closet gal pal in on our cunning plot! Got it?! Great!

 Every year I indulge in a new look for the Christmas party season, usually a dress, do I ever wear it again?  I'm ashamed to say in previous years the answer has been no! The solution is to invest in slightly quirky but still chic separates rather than that expensive price tag dress, separates that you can wear from now through to the November, then configure (loving that word) differently for Christmas season 2011. So in the spirit of 'configuring' buy it now pieces into a sparkling Christmas look, I'm thinking this Aztec vest with kitch Christmas chic running right through it, is the perfect place to start guilt free pre Christmas shopping. I could wear it with my grey wool A-line skirt, bright yellow tights, fitted black leather jacket and these buy it now gorgeous gunmental cuban ankle boots for a fun edgy look.

 By updating my old black skirt to this lovely swishy number from Style Passport I can tap into this seasons monchrome look now, then come Christmas day leave even the Grinch with a warm glow at my Christmas Party look, as I glide down the stairwell of the hottest ticket in town wearing said black swishy skirt, Aztec vest, sheer black tights, gun mental leather cubans, knock out earrings, a neat silver clutch and a partridge in a pear tree! Sorry I could not resist, capsule wardrobe planning always makes me slightly giddy!

 all items Style Passport

My Passport to Style | Meets Nadia The Founder Of Luxury Label Danaqa

Nadia at Danaqa-Kensington & Chelsea Chronicle

Q1Sharon-Hi Amanda, what inspired you to set up Danaqa?

A-Nadia- Well it was an interesting combination of things. Firstly my husband David and I both work in the field of international development-him in development finance and me in agricultural research and development. This has meant two major things in our lives- one that we have had the privilege of living and working in wonderful developing countries around the world, and secondly that we have had direct exposure to development issues and opportunities in those countries.


 As a result I always came back from these trips with lots of unusual and beautiful jewellery, textiles, wooden items, things for the home and things for me and for gifts. Our Christmas presents for family and friends were always very different and unexpected.


The culmination of the idea behind Danaqa was the planning of our wedding.. We found lovely colourful hand loomed shirts for the men and raw silk material for the bridesmaids in Sri Lanka. Little give away baskets in Ethiopia.


And from this the precursor to Danaqa was born—what we coined as our theme- ‘Development Chic’!


We figured from all of this that there was a gap in the market in Europe for high end beautiful goods from these countries, especially countries underrepresented, under exposed, or with negative reputations in Europe.

 



Q2Sharon- I'm dying to ask why did you decide to choose Danaqa as your company name?

A-Nadia-This is a really great question. At that time we were living in Ethiopia and they have a beautiful world which gets used to describe things, people, concepts, thoughts, moods or anything as being beautiful, pretty, lovely, etc—and that is ‘konjo’. We initially wanted to use this term—but again it was not suitable for a number of reasons.






 A shortlist of words were then shared with people interested and involved in the setting up of the business and a pole was taken.


Emerging from whole process was ‘Danaqa’. As a derivative of the Amharic (Ethiopian language) word ‘dinknesh’ which was the name given to Lucy- the prehistoric skeleton found in Ethiopia to denote their wonder and surprise at this amazing find, ‘Danaqa’ also provides the sense of being pleasantly surprised.


A beautiful word when written down, this word also encapsulated what we wanted to achieve—for people to find beautiful items for what they are, but to be pleasantly surprised about their origins, context and deeper meanings.

Q3Sharon-. How does the ethical nature of your business benefit the women you commission to produce the pieces you stock from third world countries such as Nepal?

A-Nadia-Firstly, we don’t exactly commission pieces from our suppliers. Danaqa is about recognising and supporting the whole value chain in countries for our products. This means respecting and empowering the beautiful design processes that happen there, not just using suppliers as producers. We search for items which are beautiful and that we think would be attractive in Europe given the current seasons, trends and desires of the market—and often supply our groups with style sheets and magazine clippings to expose them to what people like in Europe at particular times of the year. But essentially we honour their design as well as their production skills.


As for how our ethical business benefits women, we work with small women’s groups to enable them to lead enterprises in our source countries and equip them with the business skills needed to sustain their endeavours.


As an ethical business we also make use of fair trade principles. We pay a fair price, try as much as possible to ensure that the working conditions are good, we pay half or more of the money for the order up front so that suppliers don’t have to take loans out for materials or labour, and we don’t do once off buys—thus giving them some longer term security.


As an ethical business, we also support the whole value chain in countries so as to keep the majority of money in those countries to benefit people. We don’t just import raw materials for production here, instead we buy finished products. We also buy packaging and get services from those countries as well.

Q4Sharon - It's great that you back up your offer with business advice and support for women in third world countries. Have you noticed any changes in consumers attitudes to purchasing ethical fashions and accessories?

A-Nadia-One thing is that we get a lot of repeat customers. People come in and are interested and come back again and again to look some more, hear more about the products and then eventually buy. People are becoming more aware of their own consumption patterns both due to internal financial issues such as the rescission in the UK but also because of awareness off what is happening around the world. We do see some sceptics who see the products and then see the prices and feel that they are too high. But many once they hear about how items are handmade over weeks of skilled labour, using high end materials such as silk, leather, and silver then have a better grasp of the value.


Another thing that strikes many of our customers is the uniqueness of the items they can purchase this way. Rather than multiple, exactly the same items that can be made from large factories, our items are made by small groups so are in small numbers and often are never the same either. We can see this starting to appeal to consumers more and more.

Kitenge cloth bag in lips and lipstick print made in Rwanda

Q5Sharon-.What’s been your greatest challenge since setting up?

A-Nadia-Well as a small start-up there are many challenges and the nature of our business brings many challenges too.


While a challenge, it is also exciting, but working with a wide range of small suppliers in 5 different, developing countries does bring a fair share of issues to deal with. Scale, quality, consistency and chic design are key things we have to always watch for and work closely with our suppliers to achieve. While beautiful, it is hard to sell, especially online, 20 necklaces all with completely different colours and designs, for example.


Dealing with shipping, customs and delivery on both sides can present challenges too.


In the UK, setting up a business is something that has been supported by the government in words, but in practice it is quite a complicated process. Meandering through all the rules, regulations, not to mention taxes and costs—could easily put off people, especially when you are a small, different business such as ours.






Then finally—trying to push this niche market and our concept through marketing when we operate on such a small scale right now can be challenging. How to compete with the big high street shops and department stores in terms of visibility is something we are trying to be creative about, but we still need for the public to know about us.

Q6Sharon- What’s your philosophy on business?

A-Nadia-I am quite new to business myself so have been learning a lot along the way.

For me business needs to make sense. You need to have a good concept, approach and model to keep guiding you, as there are many forks and speedbumps in the road. My husband and I spent a long time developing a business plan and strategy and checking it with others—to make sure we had something good to guide us along the way.


Key to being an ethical retail business is remembering that as nice as products and the stories behind them are—this does not make them sell. They need to match the market demand, they need to be priced right and they need to be marketed. We cannot achieve our good aims if things do not sell—so we need to make sure we are acting like a business.

But businesses need to be adaptable and flexible and be able to change and match what is happening around them—can’t just be stuck in your ways.

Q7Sharon- Great advice! What makes you smile?


A-Nadia-In general—people make me smile. I am a people person and get my energy from people. When people are happy, satisfied, fulfilled and enjoying themselves—it makes me smile too.

Q8Sharon- Got to ask, do you have a favourite accessory in this seasons collection, you know mines the goats skin bag and the Nepalese urn!

Ostrich Eggshell necklace made in Botswana

Wow—so hard to choose a favourite as I Love EVERYTHING we have. But if pushed I would say:


• The bright coloured ‘kitenge’ cloth covered leather day to night bags from Rwanda. They are so fun and individual (and make me smile too), plus can be worn in so many different ways for the day and night—a key for me as I am often out for the whole day and night, especially on weekends.


• The ostrich eggshell necklaces and earrings made in Botswana. These are so different. They are large and chunky but still light to wear. They are an amazing natural material, made with skill and precision over weeks of cutting out the little beads from the eggs…and are stunning to wear!

• And for the home… I would say I love our collection of cushion covers from Ethiopia. Made from a silk and cotton mix—they are so soft and perfect for cuddling up with in the evenings—but look beautiful and natural.

 Q9Sharon- What gives you the most satisfaction and what’s been your proudest moment?


A-Nadia-I guess one of the proudest moments was the day we opened the doors to our shop with beautiful ethical stock and our beautiful sign outside. It made our whole dream become a reality.

My satisfaction comes from two things:


Firstly- when someone comes in and falls in love with a product and buys it and looks so happy.


Secondly-when we relay feedback to our suppliers about the business, how products are selling and what people are saying about them. To see or hear their sense of pride of being recognised as skilled craftsmen and business people in their own right gives me such a warm glow.

Q10Sharon- If you could give one piece of advice to women hoping to start up a ethical business what would it be?

A-Nadia-Make sure you believe in what you are doing. For me, I believe in the beauty, quality and chic aspect of our range and in our business model we have designed. When we have days with bad sales or someone coming in and saying something negative about our shop—I always go back into my heart and remember why I am doing this, who I am doing this for and what I can achieve and it keeps me going. You need that belief, that passion, that rock—because it isn’t always easy.

Q11Sharon- Brilliant advice! What do you think is our biggest strength as women?


A-Nadia-Well I believe as a woman my strengths, many shared with other women, are the strong connection between the emotional and rational side. While I can develop a business and do all the necessary practical things—I always bring my passion, my belief and my emotions into as well. Some may say it is our downfall, but I believe it is what makes us more resilient, creative and outstanding.


This emotional side is also very key in ethical business. It gives us the heart to always remember the ethical side—when the business side demands so much attention and can often be overpowering. The emotional side comes in strongly in choosing products, working with the suppliers and telling the stories too.

I guess to be a bit stereotypical, I do also believe that women are great multi-taskers—and in this type of business it sure is necessary.

Q12Sharon- Where would you like the company to be in five years time?



A-Nadia-I would like Danaqa World Chic to be a recognised brand within the ethical fashion world as well as just the fashion world too. I would like to see the company as a frontrunner in ethical fashion, bringing new ideas and innovation as to how we can combine commercial fashion with achieving good contributions to the world around us.


I hope to see us with an expanded network of shops as well as being featured in other larger retail spaces.


I see our company working side by side a successful foundation which uses some of the profits to give back to the countries we source from in even more ways through business training, support to preservation of crafts and skills, and promoting trade.

Hope you gals, have enjoyed finding out more about luxury ethical label Danaqa, you can kind find their shop in Notting Hill London or online here at Danaqa.com   

Adaptable Kitenge cloth bags made in Rwanda

goats skin Kitenge bag made in Rwanda