Bastille Day: Bags On Tour in France

Celebrating Bastille Day in France with a look back at a few Bags On Tour photos The Roanne pink tote at Le Mont Saint Michel The Martha tote in mango, on your with Le Tour de France in Montpelier, July 2016 Martha on Tour in the vineyards of Bordeaux And again below the Millau viaduct…

Want a Blue Bag? I bet you have one already!

This is the best thing I’ve seen for ages. Top brand, Balenciaga, have made a blue tote bag with more than a little inspiration from our favourite Swedish retailer. The bag is made of lambskin but it even looks crinkly, just like the Ikea one! It was a fabulous article in Vogue, saying that apparently Ikea…

Fashion Revolution Week 2017: Part 5, production

Last time, I wrote about sample making and introduced you to Kumar, sample man extraordinaire. Today, we’ll look at production in our ethical workshop in rural India. Making credit card cases There’s a lot of skilled hand work involved as you can see from my video. Every piece of leather and lining has to be…

Fashion Revolution Week 2017: Part 4, in the sample room

As well as in our rural village workshop, some of my Indian colleagues are also based in a small office and workshop in the city of Chennai. Having a place in Chennai makes it easier for sample making as it’s close to the tanneries and material suppliers. So when I ask for orange stitch and…

Fashion Revolution Week 2017: Part 3

In Fashion Revolution Week we remember the garment workers who died or were injured in the Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013. If you haven’t done so already, now’s the time to ask ‘Who made my clothes?’ or ‘Who made my handbag?’ Who made my Shona Easton handbag? Jyothi, Vijayakumari, Pramilla, Monica, Swathi, Sujatha, Masthanamma and…

Fashion Revolution Week 2017: Part 2

As I mentioned yesterday, my rural Indian workshop is approximately 3 hours drive from Chennai, so today I’m posting a few photos from the route to the village and the oudoor area surrounding the workshop. This is the local temple, seen from the garden surrounding the workshop. Just over a year ago, the temple was…

Fashion Revolution Week 2017: Part 1

It’s 4 years since the terrible Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh when 1,138 garment workers died and many more were injured after the factory building collapsed. That event in 2013, prompted the launch of not-for-profit organisation Fashion Revolution who campaign worldwide for garment workers rights. Many don’t get fair pay, they don’t have a choice…

Bright Beetroot Smoothie

I get beetroot quite often, in my Riverford organic fruit and veg box, so I’ve been experimenting with using it in my smoothies. First of all it makes the colour look amazing. Secondly it adds a really nice slightly tart flavour. Ingredients 1 small raw beetroot, peeled and roughly chopped 1 pear, cored and roughly…

A Winning Photo

If you’re on my mailing list, you will have seen the Bags On Tour competition that was running in March. The winners were selected last week and here they are. Bags On Tour in San Diego Nicky Kriel sent me this photo with her Shenley pink shoulder bag at Social Media Marketing World in San…

Saturday Smoothie

This one tastes lovely and was super quick and easy to make. Recipe 1 apple, cored and roughly chopped 1 banana A handful of spinach 1/2 a teaspoon cinnamon Approx 250-300ml coconut milk Blend all together and enjoy ? Makes enough for 1 large or 2 smaller portions.

Bastille Day: Bags On Tour in France

Celebrating Bastille Day in France with a look back at a few Bags On Tour photos The Roanne pink tote at Le Mont Saint Michel The Martha tote in mango, on your with Le Tour de France in Montpelier, July 2016 Martha on Tour in the vineyards of Bordeaux And again below the Millau viaduct…

Want a Blue Bag? I bet you have one already!

This is the best thing I’ve seen for ages. Top brand, Balenciaga, have made a blue tote bag with more than a little inspiration from our favourite Swedish retailer. The bag is made of lambskin but it even looks crinkly, just like the Ikea one! It was a fabulous article in Vogue, saying that apparently Ikea…

Fashion Revolution Week 2017: Part 5, production

Last time, I wrote about sample making and introduced you to Kumar, sample man extraordinaire. Today, we’ll look at production in our ethical workshop in rural India. Making credit card cases There’s a lot of skilled hand work involved as you can see from my video. Every piece of leather and lining has to be…

Fashion Revolution Week 2017: Part 4, in the sample room

As well as in our rural village workshop, some of my Indian colleagues are also based in a small office and workshop in the city of Chennai. Having a place in Chennai makes it easier for sample making as it’s close to the tanneries and material suppliers. So when I ask for orange stitch and…

Fashion Revolution Week 2017: Part 3

In Fashion Revolution Week we remember the garment workers who died or were injured in the Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013. If you haven’t done so already, now’s the time to ask ‘Who made my clothes?’ or ‘Who made my handbag?’ Who made my Shona Easton handbag? Jyothi, Vijayakumari, Pramilla, Monica, Swathi, Sujatha, Masthanamma and…

Fashion Revolution Week 2017: Part 2

As I mentioned yesterday, my rural Indian workshop is approximately 3 hours drive from Chennai, so today I’m posting a few photos from the route to the village and the oudoor area surrounding the workshop. This is the local temple, seen from the garden surrounding the workshop. Just over a year ago, the temple was…

Fashion Revolution Week 2017: Part 1

It’s 4 years since the terrible Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh when 1,138 garment workers died and many more were injured after the factory building collapsed. That event in 2013, prompted the launch of not-for-profit organisation Fashion Revolution who campaign worldwide for garment workers rights. Many don’t get fair pay, they don’t have a choice…

Bright Beetroot Smoothie

I get beetroot quite often, in my Riverford organic fruit and veg box, so I’ve been experimenting with using it in my smoothies. First of all it makes the colour look amazing. Secondly it adds a really nice slightly tart flavour. Ingredients 1 small raw beetroot, peeled and roughly chopped 1 pear, cored and roughly…

A Winning Photo

If you’re on my mailing list, you will have seen the Bags On Tour competition that was running in March. The winners were selected last week and here they are. Bags On Tour in San Diego Nicky Kriel sent me this photo with her Shenley pink shoulder bag at Social Media Marketing World in San…

Saturday Smoothie

This one tastes lovely and was super quick and easy to make. Recipe 1 apple, cored and roughly chopped 1 banana A handful of spinach 1/2 a teaspoon cinnamon Approx 250-300ml coconut milk Blend all together and enjoy ? Makes enough for 1 large or 2 smaller portions.