August 09 . Liverpool fashion scene update.

The futures bright and thank god it's not orange.

Move over wannabe wags and make way for Livercool.

(photo taken behind the scenes at the Kirsty Doyle Autumn/Winter 09 collection shoot, full collection click here)

Scouse Girls and boys can finally make a style statement with national credibility, with Kirsty Doyle putting the finishing touches to her boutique originally due to be open on the 25th Aug (this has been pushed back a couple of days) in the Met quarter and the new flag ship Topman/shop store due open on the 17th of September.

The new store at a whopping 38,000 sq ft, will be the second biggest in the country, London being the biggest, but it will stock every concession they have down south including the much anticipated Christopher Kane for Topshop Range. The store will also have its very own Voodou hair salon and 'Scin'' offering organic beauty treatments.

Competition: Anyone who gets 4 off their mates to comment on this post saying ''Give your name a Voodou voucher '' can have £10 off a Voodou Haircut. This offer is courtesy of Topman.)

If your thinking of going shopping on the 17th of September you must keep your eye out for the branded Topshop/Man taxis, flag one down and it will take you to the store for free, there will also be vans driving around giving out vouchers worth anything between £5 and £500 pounds.

Now here's where I will be involved. The lovely Press team from London office have commissioned me to shoot as many trendy shoppers on the launch day for my street style blog, the pics will also be on the website and used for their mail out that goes out to 200,000 people!

(Jamie Stafford was the first person to take part in my street style blog. To read about Jamie's style click here!).

So you could be famous in 15 clicks!

If you would like to be photographed for this drop me an email with your details on.

Well if this high street treat wasn't enough to give us all a northern fashion capital confidence boost, then I'm sure this will. After the fairly low key launch of Lola Loves boutique, in the national famous cavern walks back in may, I say low key because after the launch Debby Bogg, Lola loves Head Designer, has been busy getting national coverage of her clothes in celebrity shoots for Ok Magazine as well as just local press, thus succouring her place in the hierarchy of the Liverpool fashion elite.

(Lola Loves Spring/summer 09 collection Click here full collection)

In case you don't know about the label. Lola love, in my opinion make dresses for the new sophisticated breed of scouse girl/(woman). Her clothes are with out a doubt statement pieces and are now becoming widely recognisable and sort after.

Her Aut/win 09 collection that i will be photographing in the next couple of weeks, (keep your eye out on here to see it first) will be her best yet. After seeing a sneak preview of the puff ball, rippled pencil skirts in almost seamless fluid silk and other garments using lots of luxury lace. started to see all the well executed use of 80's influences but the collection still somehow retains a very modern feel.

There's a new mag style mag in town! Gossip magazine, who had the Launch party in Rococo on the 30th of July. Being one of the best launches I've been to in a long time, (well i have been to the opening of a few envelopes this year) i actually stayed til the end. Mingling with the reality stars and viewing the new free Liverpool Glossy, that's now available in met quarter, L1, topshop and lots of other shops around town. Keep your eye out for it its full of great style tips fashion and celeb interviews.

I've also been busy photographing backstage at the De La Mode Fashion show at the Priory in Preston. Here is a sneak preview of the pics. (there will be more uploaded soon with full clothing credits.)

In the next 2 weeks I'm shooting campaigns for booby trap corsets, a new concession range at New Look and the next stage of the British hairdressing awards pics for Voodou. We now have a 1 in 6 chance of winning an award, which will be an amazing achievement, i can't wait to go down to London for the awards. So keep checking the blog for all the pic updates.

Thanks for reading.

Matt x

July 09. Liverpool fashion scene update.

Dear Readers,

Liverpool has been busy again this month with fashion shows at Calderstones, featuring Harvey Nichols and the Lola Loves Launch Party show at Cavern Walks. Plus forth coming shows, Jax model agency fashion weekend at St Georges hall and the Fredric and Madison show this Saturday (25th July) at a secret yet to be disclosed location.

(find out where by adding them on facebook. it will be reviled tonight http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=759845452&__a=1#/fredrick.maddison?ref=ts&__a=1)

Model Agencies seem to be popping up all over the place at the moment, Jax Models being just one of them. So if you want to get into modeling make sure you shop around before you sign your life away. As a rule of thumb if it smells fishy then chances are it is.

Unfortunately is been a quiet month for me on the fashion front as I've been away in Ibiza, living it large and all that jazz. However i did manage to keep myself busy shooting Sara Hans latest Trashed Couture collection for her new online look book. Going live soon.

(for a preview of the collection... http://firecrackerfashion.blogspot.com/2009/07/trashed-couture-by-sara-li-chou-han.html

Fortune favours the brave and that's what you will have to be to wear these creations.
Her concept is to take old denim pieces are recreate them into wonderful one off pieces that reinvent your idea of the deconstructionist.
But don't worry for the more average wall flower, Trashed Couture also creates more simple pieces including denim mini skirts and shorts as well as pencil skirts and funky denim bangles.
Sara's clothes are also available at Fredrick and Madison. 14 Colquitt St.

If you haven't already heard of Frederic and Maddison, they are 2 Fresh young Liverpool designers that have been established for barely a year. They inform me they are proud to have celebrity endorsements from Atomic Kittens, Natasha Hamilton and glamour model Amanda Harrington. All i can say is their designs are far from mundane so check out their facebook. (see link above)

Stylist and textiles designer Natalie Love Diggle, who I collaborated on for her disco-tec-trashed shoot back in March..
(see link..http://firecrackerfashion.blogspot.com/2009/06/disco-tec-trashed-couture-by-natalie.html
..have got together again for the next fashion shoot destined to grace the pages of F.A.B. mag issue 4, due out in Autumn.
The winner of the 'Rockin Miss Asia', Kayleigh Winters and up and coming male model, unassuming Thomas Williams, featured in the edgy fashion shoot (unfortunately the pics will have to wait until the magazine published)

However since the shoot Natalie Love Diggle has been accepted onto an internship working directly with Julian McDonald.

Finally the latest news on Kirsty Doyle, Liverpool's own fashion Ambassador. During shooting her for my Industry Style Portraits, she has informed me that she is on the way to the met quarter to finalise the details of her own forthcoming boutique shop due to open its doors on the 25th of August. Kirsty goes international! I also hear she is now stocked in L.A. Not bad for such a young designer.

Kirsty's clothes are available to buy from www.my-wardrobe.com and http://www.kirsty-doyle.com/

Matt x

June 09. Liverpool fashion scene update.

Hello Readers,

More news on this year’s fashion graduate Talent. Textiles designer Natalie Love Diggle captured her 'Disco-tech-trash couture' themed collection with a high energy shoot in Nation, the original home of Cream.

If you like clubbing you will love this shoot.

(Click here to see pics http://firecrackerfashion.blogspot.com/2009/06/disco-tec-trashed-couture-by-natalie.html)

For a student the ambition and scale of the shoot was amazing. The words 'can't do that' simply mean nothing to this girl. I hope to see a lot more and work with Natalie again in the future, so watch this space! We already have something in the pipe line.


If you’re into Scouse fashion then you should have heard of Lola Loves by now. Designer Debbie Bogg has been running her own boutique in Williamson Square for a few years now.
With an ever increasing number of seamstresses and a loyal client base that goes back nearly a decade she is now ready to open a flagship boutique in Liverpool’s luxury Cavern Walks shopping centre.

The shop opens on Tuesday the 15th June. Her official Launch party is the following Thursday. (see facebook for more details, http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=646740727&v=info&viewas=740985423#/event.php?eid=83964184627&ref=ts)

To celebrate the Launch of the new Boutique and to welcome in the new season Debbie has been hard at work designing a massive new collection. We shot the highlights of the collection for window displays and press coverage in a 'outdoor-indoor' themed studio fashion story.

Debbie’s collection consists of silks, satins and sheer with the occasional use of fabrics cut like petals, her colour scheme is pastels, peaches and the occasional acid bright. Cutting back on the massive bows and over the top frills of past collections, S/S 09 seems to bring in a more rounded and grown up feel, yet still ultimately remaining girly.(Click this link to see pics http://firecrackerfashion.blogspot.com/2009/06/lola-loves-launch-pics.html)
Lola loves runs a made to measure policy so book a visit to her consultation room as soon as she opens.

For those who like the darker side of fashion, I also have shot a surreal and fabulously disturbing cover of issue 3 of Fashion and Business magazine. Out later this week. The image is of a model with digitally enhanced arms that represent dolls limbs. I can't wait for this one.The Image is part of an on going collection called the Doll project. (click here to see the first image from the collection http://firecrackerfashion.blogspot.com/2009/06/barbie-see-liverpool-fashion-scene.html


Thanks for reading.

Matt x


P.S. Keep your eye out for my 2 Coronation Street cast, high street fashion stories in the next few Love It magazines. Available at all good newsagents. wink wink.

May 09. Liverpool fashion scene update.

Hello Readers,

Welcome to my first update, I'm supposed to keep this bite sized, but a lot has happened this month so brace yourselves.

Firstly it’s that time of year when all the fashion students are running round like headless chickens trying to get the collections finished and photographed.

After helping out a lot of Northwest fashion students this year and guiding them through photographing their own collections including 2nd and 3rd years from Manchester Met, Salford Uni and JMU, I found one of the most impressive has been Sarah Thow, who will be graduating from Salford this year.

After her internship at Teen Vogue in NYC, Scouse born and bred Sarah came back to Liverpool to shoot her 'Railway Children' inspired shoot, she is now up for a top styling award at this years London Graduate fashion week. I wish her the best of luck. (See her facebook page for more info)

Now to someone who I have worked with since she was a 1st year student and watched her go from strength to strength, Kirsty Doyle. This time it was her A/W 09 Look Book we were working on to show buyers down in London. We shot the collection simply on a white back drop with one spot light, minimal airbrushing and very simplistic poses.
The basic black and white shoot really brought out the strong structures, stripped back colour palette and heavy layering. (Click this link to see pics http://firecrackerfashion.blogspot.com/2009/06/kirsty-doyle-aw-09-more-details-click.html)

I'm yet to hear back how well it’s selling, but I do know that it will be on www.my-wardrobe.com in July. Alternatively visit http://www.kirsty-doyle.com/After the unfortunate closure of her shared shop ‘Tripique’ in the blue coat, I hear she's in talks to open her own Boutique in the Liverpool city centre. Unfortunately I’m sworn to secrecy (sorry kid’s!) on the whereabout’s but its certainly something to be excited about.


Has anybody heard of the House of Suga yet?

In certain circles it seems to be the talk of the town. For various reasons.

After attending their Launch Fashion Show, in no less than the Anglican Cathedral on the 6th may, with a watchful eye and accompanied by fellow critique Sara Han of the up and coming Trashed Couture label, i was pleasantly surprised to what i saw. I couldn't help but wander though, how they got away parading the girls down the catwalk in there. However i was delighted to find out I was shooting the entire collection (ASOS style) for their still in pre-launch web site and also shooting the highlights from the collection for their advertising and home page images. (the images will be posted shortly.)

The night wasn’t the star studded evening we had been promised, but with the fast paced show being filmed live for F.T.V., live soul singers J Soul and reality T..V. Star Julian Benet (Queer eye for the straight guy) scouting models for his new agency I don’t think anybody left too disappointed.

Their collection consisted mainly of Asian inspired cuts and fabrics including a white jersey harem/jump suit and a basic box cut dress using a fresh green/navy blue patterned fabric infused with gold coloured metallic swirls. My favourite piece was the lime green jewel encrusted floor length sari. So for those who missed the show, keep your eye out on this blog page for the pics from the fashion shoot.They will be available to buy shortly from their website. If you're looking for something different and want to stand out, then most of the pieces are the perfect clothes to look stylish with on holiday. Due to their airy and floaty and vibrant fabrics. With a lot of their maxi dresses being sheer they work well over bikinis, but certainly not for the body conscious.

Thanks for reading

12/05/09
by Matt Ford
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