Tag Archives: London

May 14 2013
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May 2013

The Antithesis Collective, Part II

Beach lovers and pool loungers rejoice! As you may already know, every season we work in collaboration with a new designer to expand our collection range and develop a product we wouldn’t have the skills to do on our own. For our second edition of the Antithesis Collective, we are collaborating with Cristina Adami, owner and designer of her eponymous label, to create an exciting, multi-way swimsuit. Born and raised in Italy, Cristina moved to London to complete an MA at Central Saint Martins. She then worked in various areas of the fashion industry, including a 4-year stint at swimwear giant Arena and a commission to create Florence Welch‘s stage outfits, before setting up her own label. Founded in 2011, cristinadami creates limited edition collections of handmade garments, crafted using vintage fabrics, end-of-line lengths, and sequins & beads from around the globe.

Cristina comments: ‘It was a pleasure working with Antithesis for the level of creativity and attention to details given to every garments. I first came across Antithesis on social networks and was impressed by the ethos behind the label. I equally promote slow fashion and individuality with a versatile yet unique approach to fashion. As I have first started my career in swimwear and have a personal love for beach side holidays, working with Antithesis felt like the perfect collaboration and was great fun!’ Results coming very, very soon!

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Feb 20 2013
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February 2013

Intern-al Affairs 3: Marcia

Good things come and go, such as our wonderful interns. Marcia Asante has been helping us in the studio for a little over two months. Sourcing textile digital printers, visiting trim suppliers, sketching new attachments ideas, filling in cost sheets; in terms of design assistance, she has pretty much done it all! Born and raised in London, she first started her studies with a Foundation degree in Art and Design before going on a Fashion Design course at the University of Hertfordshire. She now works in retail as a key holder and is looking at gaining experience as a pattern cutter.

Marcia at work!

Marcia at work!

Why did you want to work for Antithesis?

I came across some of the brands pieces on one of their model’s social network page and loved the designs. Doing more research into the company, I discovered what they stood for and the multi-functional clothing amazed me.

What have you learned during your internship?

I have learnt a lot during this internship, the most important being pattern cutting on a professional level. I studied pattern cutting during my degree but not on this level so I have to thank you guys for that.

What have you most enjoyed doing in your time at Antithesis?

What I enjoyed most was working with Renée.  She was amazing to work with and taught me so much. I also enjoyed the trips that to various fabric and trimming stores, it opened my eyes to the large amount of creative stores in London .

 What do you think this internship has brought you?

I feel that this internship has brought me a world of experience. It was an all-rounder and I gained experience in everything; from design research, pattern cutting to general admin. There was always thing new to do when I came in to work which made it a  experience.

 What are your ambitions for the future?

My ambition for the future is to continue to gain more work experience and to do a pattern cutting course to brush up on my skills. Hope to later on be a senior pattern cutter and then go on to start my own fashion label .

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Jan 16 2013
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January 2013

World Travel Dreaming

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sophia Stupperich, the graphic designer behind our fabulous textile print. As most of you Antithesis fans will be aware, travel is an important theme throughout our collections. So when we stumbled upon her dreamy atlas prints, we immediately fell for them.

Originally from Germany, Sophia studied Communication Design and worked for a handful of publishing companies and design agencies in Vancouver and Berlin before coming over to London to undertake an MA in Graphic Design at the London College of Communication. ‘Moving On’, her series of map cut-out prints was actually part of her final project. ‘Although the concept of travelling has been one of the first dreams of mankind, it has rarely been the focus of investigations itself. Inspired by the Herman Melville quote, “It is not down in any map, true places never are,” the project examines travelling being an ongoing path without a destination’, she explains.

Check out her website for more examples of her work.

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Dec 18 2012
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December 2012

The Little Navy Dress with All The Trimmings

The festive season has finally arrived and we wanted to offer you a new accessory to jazz up your Little Navy Dress. Marcia, our new studio assistant has been working hard to help us get our Special Edition Frill Attachment ready in time for the holidays. Here she explains the creative process behind it:

This attachment derives from giving Antithesis’ basic shift dress the ‘Wow Factor’ at a festive party or a New Year’s celebration. We started off as a simple frill but size was an issue at the beginning. We were not sure whether to go for the larger frill or the toned down smaller frill. The deciding vote went to the large frill but we still felt it was a little too plain. I then went to do some trimming research to find the supplementary part for this attachment. Low and behold I found an amazing gold pipe trimming that complemented the colour of the frill. I presented this to the team and we still felt it was missing that extra special effect. Renée then suggested feathers, which then took the attachment to a league of its own. We ended up using a French partridge fringe in the natural shade, which completed the frill attachment. Rethinking trimmings is essential and has made an amazing modification to the Little Navy Dress.

Marcia's inital sketches

Marcia’s inital sketches

Trim swatches

Trim swatches

Ta-da! The final design

Ta-da! The final design

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Sep 25 2012
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September 2012

The Ultimate Travel Bag Goes to Paris

Last week, we took advantage of our bi-annual trip to the world-renowned textile tradeshow Première Vision in Paris to test one of our favourite products: the Ultimate Travel Bag! Designed by Charlie Goldthorpe for our first edition of the Antithesis Collective, it transforms from a carry-on suitcase into a shoulder bag or rucksack and comes with a detachable pouch. Here is Renée’s experience:

“The suitcase is the perfect size for a trip of less than a week: I managed to fit in six days-worth of clothes, 2 pairs of shoes, my huge beauty case, a few notebooks and a handful of snacks. I normally travel with a backpack so it was a relief not to have all the weight on my shoulders, plus it looks much more stylish! The detachable pouch and strap came in very handy to carry valuables such as my travel tickets, passport, wallet, phone and keys.

Once in Paris, I removed the Design Go trolley and folded the bag into an oversized tote in which I put my work files, business cards, lunch and the pouch containing my personal items. A women’s day bag can never be too big! Before going out at night, I simply dropped the bag into my room and wore the pouch as a chic evening clutch.

Overall I am very pleased by the versatility of the bag. Day or night, work or leisure, city or countryside: whatever your look or activity, the bag adapts to you. I definitely recommend it to all of you nomadic cosmopolitan females out there!”

Available now at our online store.

Excited to be in Paris! Travelling with the bag as a suitcase and wearing the Anti-Blazer

Ready for PV wearing the bag as tote, our Two-Piece Blouse and High-Waisted Trouser

Going out with the pouch, our Little Navy Dress, Fringe Attachment and Reversible Overpiece

Saturday Market shopping with the pouch & strap wearing our Reversible Overpiece

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Sep 11 2012
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September 2012

Park Plaza Launch: An evening full of fashion and fun!

As many of you may already know, last Thursday saw the launch of our first collection “The Carry on Closet”. After a busy couple of months, filled with lots of hard work it was great to finally see all of our efforts come together in a wonderful evening full of laughs and celebrations at the Park Plaza Hotel’s trendy Primo Bar.

We began the evening in style in the Westminster Bridge Park Plaza’s Penthouse Suite, (have you seen the view?) An incredible location from which to host our press hour, we loved the fact that we finally had the chance to chat about our collection face to face, with some lovely guests whilst enjoying a well-deserved glass of Champagne, overlooking the London skyline at what felt like the very top of the world!

Then it was on to the main event in the Primo Bar from 6pm, where we were greeted by yet more fabulous guests who had come along to join us in celebrating the launch of our “Carry in Closet”. Guest were settling in with some fantastic cocktails courtesy of Patron Tequila as we were putting the final touches on styling and hair and makeup. The evening really kicked off at 7:30 pm with our catwalk presentation, where people had the opportunity to see the versatility ANTITHESIS’ garments have to offer up close and in person. The lovely Naomi Gray  helped in styling the outfits to make sure that our guests got the chance to visualize how the pieces can be worn and our models brought some serious fierce posing to the floor all perfectly synced to our amazing music mix curated especially for the night by the fantastic Pep Sanchez.

It is with great thanks to one of our sponsors Patrón Tequila that our fabulous guests were able to kick back and relax for the evening with some delicious cocktails in hand whilst having a real look around at our collection. Organic Chocolate company Seed&Bean, Organic tea company Hampstead Teas & biscuit makers Pistachio Rose also tantalized our guests taste buds for the night with their delicious contributions to our goody bags that were provided by The London College of Fashion.

It really was a wonderful evening for us here at ANTITHESIS as we too got to spend our evening enjoying a cheeky cocktail or two and having a good old chat with the fab people who came along to help us celebrate! We were more than pleased with the response we received from so many of you who joined us for the night – Twitter friend ‘BonCheapBonGenr’ commented “I came to your show on Thursday night and fell in love with the jumpsuit! Well done girls!”

We are also very excited to let you guys know that our collection can now be bought online at http://www.antithesisstore.com/. So please take a look around and watch this space over the following months for yet more designs coming your way.

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Aug 26 2012
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August 2012

Manufacturing Files I: Neobotanic

Welcome to the first of a series of articles dedicated to the wonderful people behind the production of Antithesis’ clothing! Finding a good manufacturer is not easy, especially for a start-up brand with tiny orders. Yet we have managed to find two London-based production units who accepted to cut and sew our reversible/modular/transformable pieces.

One of them is Neobotanic, a bespoke production unit located in the shadows of the Olympic stadium in Hackney Wick. Founded only two years ago by Olga Ankudinova, it already employs four full-time machinists and one cutter. All the workers are women who emigrated from East European countries such as Ukraine and Latvia to work in the UK, where wages are much higher. They usually work a minimum of 8 hours a day but are always happy to work overtime to compensate for the off-season period where the factory sometimes needs to shut down.

It was not part of Olga’s plans to start up her own manufacturing unit. With a fashion diploma from the St. Petersburg State Academy of Art and Design in hand, she moved to London to find her dream job. After a few months of unfruitful job hunting, she was offered a small pattern cutting and sampling contract, which then turned into a production order. With the help of a skilled friend, she spent countless hours sewing dozens of dresses, which had been cut directly on the carpet of her flat! She gradually built up her clientele by word-of-mouth.

Neobotanic is not only a manufacturer, they also design and produce women’s and men’s collections. Using bright and bold graphics inspired by natural elements such as flowers and plants, they offer their customers the chance to make a flamboyant fashion statement.

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Aug 20 2012
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August 2012

Save The Date – ANTITHESIS launch 06/09/2012!

Antithesis has finally arrived! We are happy to announce our launch event will be on Thursday, 6th September 2012 hosted by the Primo Bar, Westminster Bridge Park Plaza from 6pm.

We’d like to tell you a bit about our journey in the hopes of encouraging you to come down and join us in celebrating the formal birth-day of our label. Although it’s been a pleasure carrying our baby to term, like most expectant mother’s we are now excited to see the fruits of our labour in the world!

ANTITHESIS was born when Managing Director, Zahra Ash-Harper and Creative Director, Renée Lacroix teamed up to produce their final MA projects at London College of Fashion. It was our shared belief that not only could modular/multifunctional design be a major influence in slow fashion it could also facilitate creativity in personal fashion styling, which brought us together.

Inspired by powerful women of the 21st century, who maintain frantic work schedules whilst cultivating successful family lives, as well as communing, travelling and socialising internationally. ANTITHESIS decided our first call to action should be to dress these women in a capsule collection sympathetic and befitting their chosen lifestyles. It just so happens we are those kinds of women – we are mates with them, we admire, love and celebrate them too!

So… after months of hard work and organisation, we couldn’t be more excited to finally be launching our first collection the ‘Carry on Closet’ a 10 piece  transformable capsule collection, easily packed into  a multifunctional carry-on-case specially designed in collaboration with Charlotte Goldthorpe.

Our launch night promises to be full of wonderful things, between 6pm-8pm our lovely guests will have the chance to try and buy our Autumn/Winter collection. We encourage you to enjoy a night for the ladies! Pitch up with your girlfriends and share a fashion secret!

The bar will also be open for you to enjoy a cheeky cocktail whilst you shop, and at 7pm we will be holding a short catwalk presentation so  guests can get a feel for the versatility ANTITHESIS garments offer. There will also be a “try-it-on raffle” where every time you try on one of our pieces from the collection you will receive a raffle ticket and if you’re lucky even win a prize!

If all this didn’t sound like the perfect evening out with the girls, the hotel’s Ladie’s Night will start from 8pm onwards, with live music, £4 cocktails and free Mandara Spa treatments! Its an evening not to be missed, so if you would like an invite then simply e-mail us at info@antithesis.co (don’t worry your eyes have not deceived you, our e-mail address is just .co)

We would love for you guys to pay us a visit!

 

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Aug 08 2012
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August 2012

Antithesis on the Move

Many exciting things have been happening here at Antithesis!

Now we’ve completed and shot our Fall collection, which will be landing on our site Antithesis.co from 6th September, we’ve been busy planning our launch event at the Primo Bar – Park Plaza Hotel! Not content with a busy month we decided to top off our schedule with a change of scenery, just in time to soak up some East London Olympic charm!

After a good old look around, we moved into our new location at Hackney Downs Studios last week, where we opted for The Heartspace, a great shared space just a stone’s throw away from the delightfully authentic Russet Cafe (perfect for a much-needed coffee break or delicious lunch). Here we are surrounded with creatives from every possible discipline and enough floor space to swing a clowder of cats!

After a couple of incredibly busy days last week we are both delighted and relieved to say that we are finally all settled into our new home for the forseeable future. Our fabulous new pattern cutting table made by Aldworth James & Bond has made its arrival, and we can’t wait to start getting creative and crack on with our Spring collection! Take a look below at some images of our new surroundings and keep an eye out on the blog for images from our editorial shoot of the Fall collection!  

Here’s our brilliant new pattern cutting table!

Our great new space at The Hackney Downs Studios.

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Jul 31 2012
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July 2012

Out of the Closet

That’s it, our Fall 2012 collection is finally ready! Without wanting to spoil the surprise, we thought we could allow you to get a quick peak into the Antithesis Wardrobe. Check out this space for the pictures of our editorial photoshoot coming up very soon!

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