Sunday 5 December 2010

Hooka in final for American crew comp!

One of my photos has got Danielle through to the final of the American Crew Comp, here's the low down..Words by Dion At Hooka...


Congratulations to Hooka stylist Danielle Barr! She has been selected as one of twelve finalist in the 2011 American Crew Face Off competition.


 The Finalist Party was held at The Point at Old Trafford with the evening hosted by Matt & Darren
(Max and OB from Hollyoaks)

This is the second year the Face Off competition has been held, this year saw the number of entries quadruple following the success of the first year. In the 2010 competition Dion Padan made it through to the finals so when we found out that again a stylist from Hooka had made it through to the next stage of Face Off 2011 we were made up!

Danielle was selected from hundreds of entries following the entry she submitted showing shots of her model
Jonny.

Saturday 4 December 2010

Claudia Pink Jewelery.

This is one of the new pictures that I took as part of the Fashion outside the capital exhibition. There are still quite a few images that have only been seen at the exhibition space but you will have to wait to see them.
Model- Rikaya Tagoe. Hair- Hannah Ellen. Makeup- Jade Williams. Location Claudia pinks back yard.

Here's a little behind the scenes footage...



Read about the rest of exhibition on SevenStreets.com


Claudia is one of the designers that I worked with a long time ago, so it was a pleasure to collaborate with her again. We decided to recreate a classic vintage album cover that deserves to be copied, (Am I allowed to say that? I'll say revived instead.) If you don't know the reference then take a look at this link..

Roxy Music.



I asked every designer whose work featured at my exhibition the same four questions...

1. Describe your Company.

2. Tell us a history of it.

3. Whats your greatest achievement.

4. Comment on the quote taken from the exhibition press release.."This curious insight into the world of fashion outside of a capital city, shows how a small industry can still make a big impact"

Claudia answered...


Claudia Pink.

"My brand is: exotic, decadent, affordable but very sort after.  It's an eclectic collection of hand made and world wide sourced jewellery.

Four years ago I started in the heritage market, then moved in to Grand Central in the city centre and now I am a well-established fashion and jewelery designer in the Met Quarter. Ive recently been snapped up by asos.com, Europe's largest online fashion boutique.

Seeing my work on the likes of GMTV and the X. Factor makes me feel like all the hard work has paid off.

Liverpool is definitely harder but the stronger designers get noticed. It's tougher but makes you work harder. It's not given to you on a plate. Liverpool has been a great starting point for me. I'm so great full for loyal costumers.

The adventurous style of Liverpool women has let me more creative and outrageous with my designs, they're always willing to experiment and stand out."


Kirsty Doyle- Limited edition christmas collection- A/W10












This is the first of many firecracker fashion mini videos for the blog all filmed, edited and posted using the magic of Iphone. If I have time I'll try and post one along side any shoots I'm doing. This one just being a little product shoot, but still well worth the post. 
If anyone can keep you up to date with Liverpool style it's gotta be the people who make it. So now thanks to Kirsty letting me experiment on her to make this clip now I'm sure many scouse trend setters will follow suit.








www.kirsty-doyle.com

UPDATE!

Since I posted this a few days ago I've been finishing editing the rest of the product shots from this range,  Yes there are more. Some of them, Kirsty is saving for her own press release, however this one just can't wait! 

Its one of my favourite dresses she has designed for quite a while, it's a totally original amalgamation of elements. The feminine 50's circle skirt, jet black thick animal skin textured fabric combined with the stiff capped shoulders make this dress, although the silhouette is borrowing from the past, an ultra modern fashion forward piece. 



Tuesday 30 November 2010

Futurehead gig ticket and T-shirt Winner!

If you look a couple of posts down (lazy people click here!) you will see that The Futureheads are playing at the shipping forecast on the 7th December, I had two Tickets and two T-shirts designed by the band to give away!

Well the winner is...Chan'nel Marcia Thomas who ever you are! I'll reply to your email and sort them out for you! 

Matt x

The fashion outside the capital party.

Just a quick post, mainly to say thank you to all the people involved and people who helped make the exhibition a success!

Especially, Lou from the Design Festival, the designers involved, Hannah Ellen and all the other hair and makeup people, The models and the people who helped on the event. And thanks to the Baltic creative for the brilliant space that held the exhibition for 10 days and Icon print group for the amazing high quality exhibition prints.

Anyway, here's some of the pics from the end of show party last Thursday!


Claudia Pink, Matt Ford and Jo Benning.
Danielle Timperly, Faye- Roja Boutique, Clare Wilson and Nina Haliwell- Nook and Willow and Hayley Marsden. 
Kirsty Doyle, Matt Ford and Michelle Pevie- Young Designer of the year. 
James Sutton- Emmerdale , Dion and Ian- Hooka Hairdressing. 
Ben Ford and Elizabeth- World Museum. 
Michelle Pevie and Sara Han- Recycled Re-chic. 
Designer Jenny Murphy, Model Jessica Barker and Friends. 
Nina Halliwell and Clare Wilson- Nook and willow and David Lloyd- Seventstreets.com
Designer Denise McConville. 
Sam and Lauren- My Fashion Junkie.com
natalie Love Diggle and Matt Ford. 
Michael- Seen Magazine Art Director. 
Matt Ford and Rikaya Tagoe- Miss Black Britain. 
Paul O'Hara And designer Michael O'Shaughnessy. 

Wednesday 24 November 2010

Futurheads gig tickets and exclusive T's give-away!

The Topman CTRL Gig tour is back in Liverpool, the last event at the new (now old) Karova was a blow out. This time they have the Futurheads playing at The shipping forecast on 7th December and guess who has two tickets to give away. Ye ye it's me. Plus I also have a couple of exclusive T's designed by the band to throw in too.

All you have to do is email Matthewrichardford@hotmail.com saying you want the tickets and I'll let you know if you have won tomorrow.

Any way here is the press release sent to me by the fabulous Gemma from Topman HQ...






THE FUTUREHEADS BRING THE YEAR TO A CLOSE WITH
TOPMAN CTRL

www.topmanctrl.com

Topman CTRL is proud to announce their final masters and commanders for the year, The Futureheads, who hold the keys to www.topmanctrl.com until 2011. The post-punk play-abouts mark their newfound territory with a gig at The Shipping Forecast in Liverpool on December 7th and have chosen their north-eastern neighbours Frankie and the Heartstrings and math-rock favourites Hot Club de Paris as support.

With a rollercoaster career to date, The Futureheads have just delivered their 4th studio album ‘The Chaos’ to the welcoming arms of their dedicated fans across the world. Having donned their DIY businessman shoes, masterminded their own label and set up camp at www.topmanctrl.com, the band live like everyday is the beginning of a twist, and with The Futureheads, it usually is.

Tickets for 2010’s last instalment of Topman CTRL Live featuring Sunderland’s indie leaders The Futureheads, Frankie and the Heartstrings and local legends Hot Club de Paris go on sale Monday 22nd November so come celebrate a year of top tunes and great gigs with a party to remember and a line up to match.

For The Futureheads, life is never dull and nothing’s perfect till it’s perfect. That’s probably why they decided to record their hit-filled, self-titled debut no less than 3 times! Their combination of lusty pop and rough Sunderland wit has secured them 3 top 20 albums and a succession of hook filled melody driven singles that have won over fans across the globe. December sees them take the reins at www.topmanctrl.com showing fans what it’s really like being in one of Britain’s favourite post punk institutions, adding exclusive videos, pictures and insights into their weird and wonderful world.

Barry Hyde, The Futureheads, said, “We are very, very excited to be playing the Topman CTRL gig with such excellent support bands, Frankie & The Heartstrings and Hot Club De Paris. Both bands are very good friends of ours and it's going to be a rip-roaring corker of an evening.”

Joining them at Topman CTRL Live are Frankie and the Heartstrings, playing their pop tinged punk revival foot stompers that sit perfectly with their musical mentors The Futureheads. Kicking off the ultimate show is Hot Club de Paris whose quirky time signatures and experimental indie rock tunes are the perfect intro to end Topman CTRL’s biggest year yet.

If you missed last month’s CTRL gig curated by Mystery Jets or simply want to relive the night, fear not! The best bits from their reign as controllers are now showing exclusively on www.topmanctrl.com.


Tickets are available for this month’s killer show with The Futureheands at The Shipping Forecast in Liverpool from www.seetickets.com

CTRL Live
Tuesday 7th December
The Shipping Forecast 15 Slater Street
Liverpool
L1 4BW
Tickets, £6
 www.seetickets.com 
Doors 7pm 
Over 14s Only
-Ends-





- Posted using BlogPress/iPad.

Help the heroes- the glamourous way!

Gorgeous Serena Sophia, has created a charity calendar featuring my photos and some clever CGI by her good friend. Not forgetting the work of trusty makeup artist Hannah Ellen.

The calendar is now available from HMV on Bold street.

If your passionate about then cause then show your support and buy it.

Here is a sample of one of the months.










To find out more check out her website...

Matt. X


- Posted using BlogPress/iPad.


Tuesday 23 November 2010

Lanvin Loves H&M - a live report


As you might have seen in the press, the Lanvin collaboration with H&M launched at selected stores around the country this morning.  Sometimes contributor to this blog, Stephanie Heneghan, asked me if I wanted to go along with her to join the queue at 5am but it was a bit too early for me! 

Here's what happened when she went over to Manchester to try and bag a bit of glamour...


Okay, despite my enthusiasm for Lanvin Loves H&M, at 3am this morning the temptation to pull a sicky was extremely great. Especially since I'd spent so much energy concentrating on trying to get to sleep I'd actually managed to keep myself up until 1am.

Two hours sleep and I was going to drive 40 miles for some dresses? The reflection in the mirror said I was mad, it took me a good 30 seconds to realise the reflection was in fact me and I needed COFFEE.

However I'd talked the talk about this collection and now I was going to have to walk the walk. Here it is, as it happened, with some top notch photography courtesy of my Blackberry..."CONTINUE READING..."

Fashion Revolution.








A video installation by Matt Ford.

Edited by Laura Scott. babywhale.co.uk
Burlesque performed by Millie Dollar.
Hair and makeup concept by Hannah Ellen.


In conjunction with his photographic exhibition, fashion outside the capital, Matt will be exploring the concept of moving images used in modern fashion media.











Monday 22 November 2010

2 covers this month.

Apologies for the crude pic of my phone. But I just thought I'd do a quick post about the two covers I've had this month.



One is for local lifestyle magazine, Zebra, featuring one of the pics from the fashion shoot about four posts down. So look there is you wanna see the full and fabulously styled shoot by Preston Stylist Chloe Bibby.

The other is a picture I took a month ago, styled by top Liverpool stylist Lorrain Maccullock, of new blood Brother star and Atomic Kitten, Natasha Hamilton. This one (the second time I've been on the cover of this national)
was for The Sunday Star supplement. Woo hoo.

This shot was on the inside too.



Matt x

- Posted using BlogPress/iPad.

Fashion outside the capital party.

A few of the people who have been emailed an invited to the private view have said the invite jpeg won't open.

So here is the info again.

This is a private event open after the public closing time of 7pm. So there will be a guest list. Please R.S.V.P. To matthewrichardford@hotmail.com if you would like to attend.


Matt x













- Posted using BlogPress/iPad.



Sunday 21 November 2010

Www.sevenstreets.com exhibition review.

Seven streets is a fantastic bloggers website all about Liverpool arts, food, nightlife and fashion........
Www.sevenstreets.com

He's in Fashion.
Don't believe all you read. Fashion (and fashion coverage) in Liverpool is more, far more, than faux leopard prints and fawning editorial. Leading the way, fashion photographer and blogger Matt Ford...





As part of the Liverpool Design Festival Matt Ford, our favourite Liverpool fashion photographer (whose work has been shown in Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and SevenStreets – what an accolade), will be showcasing a retrospective of his career so far as well as a peek of what’s still to come. Having photographed the work of the city’s most innovative designers including Kirsty Doyle and Nook & Willow, he’s certainly chosen his fashion friends wisely. We caught up with Matt just as he was grafting away putting the finishing touches to his show…
Hi Matt. What inspired you to put on the exhibition?
For the past two years, my work has been featured in the promotional material for Liverpool Design Festival. So this year the organisers suggested I go a step further and put on my own exhibition.
I thought about what I find interesting when looking at someone’s work and I decided on a theme of Liverpool fashion creatives, which is what has kept me in the city for so long.
What can we expect to find when we visit?
Well, there are 16 prints in total, spanning 14 local designers. I didn’t want just to display the images by themselves, so to give people an idea of the personality behind the work, I asked each of the designers the same 4 questions, asking their opinions on working in Liverpool and how it’s affected their career. Some of the answers I got opened my eyes to the potential Liverpool has for developing a credible style brand and thriving industry, but you’ll have to come down and read them for yourselves!
I also took poloroids of each designer, which allows you to see the faces behind the products and the items featured in the exhibition will be displayed next to them, Kirsty Doyle lent me a fabulous dress to display!
What makes working in Liverpool so special for you?
I’ve been based in Liverpool all my career and it’s brilliant to see home grown talent flourish. From designers being stocked in boutiques throughout the country, to one of them signing a deal with asos, literally the day before we did the shoot.
Others are planning to bring creatives together to share knowledge and experience and it’s this drive that ultimately developed this exhibition into what it is. I’ve never had difficulty feeling inspired when I’m surrounded by these people.
You’re the first person to show in this space, what attracted you to it?
I find it really exciting using a brand new area, it made me feel I would be able to make my stamp on the place. It’s like having a massive blank canvas, a shiny and freshly painted room, what happened next was entirely up to me.
Which piece of work means most to you and why?
I always say this but truly, the last piece of work I do is always the one I’m most excited about. At the moment it’s a shot of local burlesque artist Millie Dollar wearing a corset designed by an amazing corsetiere called Booby Trapp. On the same night, I shot a video installation of her that will debut at the exhibition but out of all the shots I took that night, nearly 2000(!), there is just something about this one frame that I fell in love with. I’m looking forward to see other peoples reactions to it.
Locally, who would you like to work with next?
I’m really lucky to work with some incredible people and I’d be happy to continue working with them. For me, this exhibition is the perfect way to top off an amazing year. I think next I’m just going to focus on developing some of my ideas and goals, I’m already planning a future exhibition which will take me away from fashion. You’ll have to watch this space!
Stephanie Heneghan
Matt Ford – A retrospective:
Fashion outside the Capital 18-27th November
The Baltic Creative CIC, 57 Jordan Street, Liverpool.



- Posted using BlogPress/iPad.

The Liverpool Design Show. Saturday 20 & 21 November 2010.

The Liverpool Design Show at St Georges Hall is well underway. I'll be reporting back on some of the other events that will make up the entire Design Festival which runs until the 27th Nov. 
Click me for whats in store!

I spent most of Saturday afternoon (apart from taking these snaps) chatting to some of the hugely talented new and established designers that are part of the biggest Liverpool design show trade fair to date. Included in the 100 plus range of designers are a few future super stars, like Domingo Rodriguez who has just shown his S/S11 collection at Paris fashion week, thanks to being part of Esquire's '7 Brilliant Brits.'  The collection shows craftsmanship, choice of luxury fabrics and an eye for innovative modern design that make him with out a doubt a name you will be hearing again soon. Watch this space! 

I'll be back at the design show later today to meet up with the other designers ranging from young designer of the year Michelle Pevie and her Egyptian inspired collection (including her 'instant classic' tan leather shift dress) to Sara Han's recycled denim couture collection. As well as the fashion designers there are other fabulous things to fall in love with, like the exquisite stainless steel cutlery sets with the forks discretely shaped into a devils pitch forks and Cait Jewellery's Swarovski & Czech crystal hand made costume jewelry. 

Throughout today there will be hourly fashion shows featuring the various exhibitors that Kirsty Doyle will be directing and talking the audience through. If you want ticket info click here. Or just buy on the door. 


 Below is Marjorie McConville's 'Black Noir' collection. These autobiographical pieces have been created using her personal and intimate influences so have become completely original items. If you get the chance to see the rest of the collection at her stand (stand 45, see brochure) make sure you ask her about where she gets her ideas from. This designer has a surprisingly refreshing and obscure way to come up with design direction.
 Domingo Rodriguez below..

 Susan Comer below is showing her unique wearable art.  Her work is obviously vintage inspired but still manages to appeal to any age. In short its deconstruction meets delicate embroidery.
Below Is part of Michelle Pevie's collection at one of the hourly fashion shows. 

Matt xx 

P.S. happy shopping...

Chloe Bibby styling.

I've used one of the pictures from this shoot to advertise my 'Fashion outside the capital' exhibition that is on at the CIC, 57 Jordan Street Liverpool until the 27th Nov 2010.

The shoot was the creation of young stylist Chloe Bibby. The clothes have been sourced from designers as far as Liverpool one to Australia. 

I'll let the work and style direction speak for it self.....

The stylists website is www.chloebibbyfashionstylist.co.uk