[ ALOHA SS13! ] Mara Hoffman: Polynesia-Fever SS2013

All images: style.com

It probably won't come as much of a surprise that I'm a little overly obsessed with Mara Hoffman, after all she embodies pretty much every aspect of design I love - ethnic inspirations, eye-popping colour, youthful shapes and easy wearing fabrics. Each season I wait with little bubbles of excitement brewing in anticipation of the next collection - which culture will the inspiration come from, how will she interpret the use of pattern and design? I may sound like a cross between an obsessive stalker and a ethnic design geek but, come on, when you find a designer, artist or general creative that embodies everything you like about design, you can't help but get a little obsessed. Right...?

Mara Hoffman's Spring/Summer 13 collection, which has just hit stores worldwide, is inspired by the sunny styles of the Polynesians. Complete with signature bold, tribalesque prints in a medley of both soft pastels and bold brights set against dark backdrops of black or navy, the collection sees the usual maxi print dresses, cute cut-out mini's, billowing chiffon gowns and of course those best-selling bralet and high waist pant combo bikinis. And in true Mara tradition, back at the NY runway show in September, she kept the tribal theme going strong by sending her models down the runway donning palm headpieces and leaf-like wrist cuffs (which I have yet to figure out how to get hold of).

Equally as obsessed? Here's a few pieces you can shop online....right now!

1. Cut-out Day Dress, £171.62  2. Electric Casino Printed Beach Bag, £340  3. Pow Wow Printed Bikini Top, £105  4. Pow Wow Printed Bikini Briefs, £78  5. Frida Printed Bikini Top, £90  6. Frida Printed Bikini Briefs, £90  7. Sleeveless Print Shirt, £142.68  8. Electric Casino Print Maxi Dress, £218 

[ WANDERGRAM ] Instagraming Malaysia

A few Wandergrams from my recent stopover in Malaysia. Pretty prints, beautiful buys and sunny shores from the Perhentian Islands to Kuala Lumpur's Little India, China Town and Central Market. Enjoy!

Remember, you can always follow me on Instagram if you'r suffering from a little wanderlust from time to time...!

[ FROM RAJASTHAN WITH LOVE] Traditional Woodblock Block Printing From India

I'm a huge fan of the traditional Indian technique of woodblock printing. During my wanderings around Rajasthan last summer I had to stop myself from spending yet more of my travel fund on the profusion of intricately hand carved blocks for sale in the markets. I was even fortunate enough, on one particular day in Jaipur, to visit a small textile factory where the owner happily gave me a quick woodblock print demo (which you can read more about here). 

The video above, by pro-sustainable US retail store West Elm, was filmed during a recent trip to Rajathan and is an excellent insight into the traditional woodblock printing process from start to finish. Check out those insanely detailed carvings! I think i'll be leaving that to the pro's. 

Don't forget, if you're coming to Latitude Festival in a couple of weeks, make sure you pop down to The Painted House in the Faraway Forest on Friday at 13.30. I'll be bringing along some of these authentic Indian woodblocks for you to have a play with!

[ TOTALLY TECHNICOLOUR ] Nida Mahmood's Bollywood Bags

1, 2, 4, 5 & 6. The Great Indian Bohemian Tamasha Collection 3. NIBC Collection 

How cool are these bags by eclectic Delhi based designer Nida Mahmood? I stumbled across them whilst perusing the press archives of India’s Lakme Fashion Week, ogling at the outrageous colours and imaginative ideas prevalent in so much of India’s new generation design talent. 

Exit Manish Arora (off to Paris he went, although news on the street is he might be out of job) and enter the new ‘Queen of Indian Kitsch’. Since debuting her designs back in 2006 at Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, as one of the six “Gen Next” designers, Nida’s namesake label has soared to success. Riding the wave in 2009, Nida launched her sister retail label New India Bioscope Co in collaboration with PR guru, Raul Chandra. Born out of a mutual obsession for Old Delhi Bollywood poster art, kooky street style and an 'incredible wanderlust for everything in technicolour', the duo searched high and low for those aging Bollywood-hoarding artists who, before the tech revolution, would plaster the city with hand-painted pop-art style posters. Adding an air of authenticity to their eclectic Bollywood style artwork, Raul and Nida, aren’t just doing this for kicks. With a nod and a wink to a bygone era, where artisans reigned supreme and computers were still scary, the New India Bioscope Co aims to build excitement around the art form so younger generations may catch on and become interested in taking the idea forward.

And forward it now goes, with the line of hand-painted pop graphics now extending to everything from these super cool hand-painted bags and trunks to jackets, furniture as well as some more cost effective options such as notebooks, coasters and umbrellas. 

Click links above to buy online at nidamahmood.com

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[ ACCIDENTALLY AWESOME ] An Ethnic Design Love Affair

One of the things I love about ethnic design is the ubiquitous use of bold, graphic lines and geometrical shapes. Be it a piece of jewellery or a intricately woven wall hanging, look closely at those patterns, they may be repeated over and over, doused in brilliantly saturated hues and created using a myriad of techniques but, whatever the item, that nature of simplicity still remains: unpretentious and modest. It's those easy lines, imperfectly round and slightly off centre, or perhaps even that accidental skip of a stitch or out-of-sync pattern repeat that only adds to the beauty and authenticity of the piece. 

I love that offbeat, 'I'd rather go and play' feeling that exudes from those folksy, bohemian trends we just can't seem to get enough of. To put it simply: it's got character. Why spend your time worrying about automated precision when you can have so much fun making it with your hands?

So in honor of time spent with a needle and thread, a paintbrush, a silk screen and a piercing saw, here's a few of my current favorite ethnic inspired images and artworks. And if this selection just doesn't cut it for you, hop on over to my Ethnic Art Pinterest board for an extra dose of ethnic overload. 

All images from Wandering Threads 'Ethnic Art' board on Pinterest. For individual credits please see individual images.

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[ NEO AFRICAN J-PEG GENERATION ] LaLesso SS'2012

I've been a LaLesso obsessive since my days trawling through ethical shopping sites looking for chic, sustainable style at Sublime Magazine, when I first discovered Lalesso's beautiful collections of floaty, yet fashion forward, Kenyan inspired beachwear. Ethical ethnic - my kind of label.

After falling in love with the vivid hues and eye-popping prints of the traditional Kanga fabric of Kenya, designers Alice Heusser and Olivia Kennaway founded Lalesso back in 2007 as a fashion forward ethical brand that not only produces perfect summertime threads but enrolls the help of some of Kenya's poorest, yet undisputedly able artisans and craftspeople. 

Recruiting beach boys and Masai tribesmen to hand carve beads and buttons from coconut shells, 5 years on and they're still up to the same tricks, but this year they're turning fashions heads with a neo-Afrian chic.

The SS'2012 collection, aptly titled 'The Neo African JPEG Generation' works in the usual bold Kanga inspired digital prints and warming brights into its capsule collection of effortlessly worn shrugs, kaftans, hot pants and maxi dresses, all with a dose of fluorescent detailing. And to top things off, this season the Lalesso girls have teamed up with jewellery designer Jennifer Kinnear whose collaborative collection, designed specially for Lalesso, combines recycled brass, bone, horn, wood, fabric offcuts and of course, that essential dose of neon.

Click below to watch a behind the scenes interview with the designers from their SS'2012 lookbook shoot outside Cape Town.



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[ MEXICAN FLING ] Mara Hoffman SS2012

Keeping up with my current penchant for colour bursting brights and sunny prints, here's another of my very recent discoveries: Mara Hoffman. Coincidentally I stumbled across both ethnic obsessed designers Mara Hoffman and Holst + Lee in a rather serendipitous web session (as you may well have made the connection by now with my earlier post). A dream team of tribal style, Holst + Lee were called in to accessorise Mara's polychromatic, Mexican inspired SS 2012 collection at October's NYFW.
 
 
Known for her bohemian flair, Mara's 'Mexican Mama's' drew inspiration from the folksy patterns of indigenous costume and the vividly hued, evocative paintings of Mexican icon Frida Kahlo. The collection of jump suits, maxi dresses, tapered pants, caftans and the ever practical blouse and shorts staples were adorned with interlacing geometric neon embroidery, beading and wood block prints in tropical shades, offset with crisp white. It's designers like Mara that prompt wishful thoughts of one day setting up my own ethnic inspired line. Hmmm. Alas, for now I think I'll just wallow in the memories of my own Mexican summer of '08....ahhh.

All images courtesy of Ecouterre.com 

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[LE AFRIQUE C'EST CHIC ] Australian Vogue December 2011

Whilst combing the shelves of an English language bookstore in Vientiane, Laos, a few weeks ago, my eyes were immediately drawn to the colourific, tribal-centric December issue of Australian Vogue. On its cover, the beautiful Isabel Lucas festooned with brightly beaded tribal inspired jewellery, her head overtyped with a somewhat unusually ethnic-patterned 'VOGUE'. Evidently, I snapped it up and being pleasantly surprised by the plethora of sunshine ready apparel and summery shades (reminding me that yes, back home you are all suffering through -2°C while, thankfully, the rest of the world is not), I have promised myself that from now on I shall endeavor to purchase an Australian Vogue through the bleak and dreary English winters.

 

So, in aid of my timely discovery and its coincidentally ethnic theme I thought I'd share some of these blazingly colour saturated shots from my favorite editorial of the issue, the African inspired Le Afrique C'est Chic. Shot by Max Doyle and starring model Kate Fogarty, stylist Naomi Smith fuses vivid graphic prints and dazzling statement jewellery from the likes of Diane von Furstenburg, Emilio Pucci and Burberry Prorsum to create this eclectic blend of tribal chic. My favorite - the artfully styled printed silk head wraps! I could use one of those to tame this unruly hair of mine! 

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[ DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING ] Pinterest

So, once again I have to admit I'm a bit behind in the social networking front. What with my recent discovery of Polyvore, Stumble Upon and Fancy, I am slightly ashamed to admit that I have, only now, discovered the wonders of Pinterest. And wonderous it most  surely is! I love this idea of digital scrapbooking, it makes nomadic life a little less stressful knowing that even if my beloved Mac gets stolen (god help me) at least I can rest assured all my inspirations are locked away somewhere in digital cyberspace. So, making full use of this beautiful site, my eclectically patterned brain has been busy pinning away ethnic inspirations, catergorising them into boards of interiors, fashion, accessories and homeware. Go on, have a look at my pin boards for more ethnic inspirations like these spectacularly vibrant interiors!!!

All images on this post are copied from Pinterest. 
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[ JAPANESE FANCY ] Taj Mahal, Agra

Once referred to by Rabindranath Tagore as 'a teardrop on the face of eternity', iconic in its white marble purity, you think of India, you think of the Taj Mahal. You think back to all those stunning images of the pristine white Taj set against a background of sapphire blue sky and you sigh with appreciation for its beauty, longing to set eyes upon this wondrous sight just once in your lifetime. You wake up at 5.30am, ready to see the sunrise behind the Taj, a moment shared with but a few other early risers. You jump eagerly out of bed, look out the window....and yes you guessed it, its raining! 

So that was my experience of the Taj, as you can probably guess I was pretty peeved having bused it all the way out to Agra. Typical. Here's a tip: don't visit India in the monsoon season! However, every down has its ups, and I found mine at the front of the Taj in the shape of two very pretty Japanese girls who had thought it only right to dress for the occasion. Check out their coordinating printed saris! Later I saw one of their male companions walk past in a very regal looking Indian costume. 

Click below to see more images from inside the Taj and around.

[ WITH LOVE FROM TIBET ] McLeod Ganj, India

Down the hill from McLeod Ganj lies the Secretariat of the Tibetan Government in Exile and of course, the residence of his Holiness the Dalai Lama. Decorating the outer walls of the Library complex are these brightly coloured examples of Buddhist art. Directly above you can see a bhavacakra, a painted, symbolic representation of saṃsāra (cyclic existence)) and if you click on the link below you will also find some examples of the Buddhist Wheel of Life. Hopefully these will give you a little breather from all the Indian aesthetics I've been bombarding this blog with up until now, as well as a little taster of what is to come from Nepal where I shall be heading in just over a week!

[ ETHNIC LUXURY ] Scarves by Etro

                                          Printed cashmere scarf £469                                                Paisley-print cashmere and silk-blend scarf £257

Did I mention my obsession with scarves? No? Well, I have at least 20 of them (ok, so 20 that I actually wear/can find), most of them handmade and originating from far off lands such as Thailand, India, Kenya, Russia (the background of this blog is none other than my beloved Russian scarf, bought back from St Petersburg by my lovely Ballet Russes obsessed friend Imogen), the list goes on. I rarely leave the house without a scarf and some big dangley earrings (cue the inner gypsy in me). So now I'm in India and there are not only scarves, but paisley printed scarves, EVERYWHERE (especially here in Pushkar)! Lucky for me they are all at a fraction of the price of these beautiful cashmere SS'11 Etro scarves, but what I wouldn't give to get my hands on one of these beauties (although I'm not sure they'd last the wear and tear of a year in Asia). If you've got a spare bit of dosh lying around, I would highly recommend snapping up one of these. Not only are they designed by such a wonderfully bohemian luxury brand, instantly making them investment pieces, they can also be tied, draped, wrapped, or hung in a myriad of ways, giving them ultimate accessory appeal! I love Etro. Yes. I. Do!

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[ THE PINK CITY OF JAIPUR ] Day 2: Village Textiles

Upon a little site seeing tour by one, unsurprisingly, not-so-grateful-for-a-tip rickshaw driver, we happened upon one of many local, small scale block printing textile factories. This one, owned by Mr. Viod Kumar has been aptly named Village Textiles due to its work with local rural inhabitants (the women, I am told, traditionally work from home whilst the men work on site). Mr Kumar was nice enough to give me a tour of the vicinity, inclusive of loom weaving, stitching, machine work, a rather ad hoc dying yard and, as seen below, a demonstration of hand block printing. Apparently they make pieces for various UK companies such as Monsoon, as well as many other European and Australian labels.

villagetextile.com 
villagetextilenrugs.com 

[ THE PINK CITY OF JAIPUR ] Day 1: Palace Markets

Everyone knows a magnificently beautiful, culturally significant or historically important monument or building comes accompanied, de facto, by an abundance of tourist targeted market stalls, souvenir shops and bustling bazaars. Jaipur and, well, the rest of India, is no different. Thing is, in this country, and with my limited budget, I’m a bit of a sucker for these. What can I say? They are cheap, full of bright, bold, ethnic goodies such as embroidered bags and wall hangings, woven shawls, wooden puppets, block-printed multi-purpose cotton fabrics and of course the token draw string, printed maxi skirts  (lehanga) and embellished kameez and kaftans.  I was drawn to this particular stall with all its patterns and prints contrasting against the crumbling, honey-coloured walls of Jaipur’s City Palace. With a little bit of typical Indian ingenuity this guy has expanded out of his little hole in the wall using the washing line technique and a few trusty Coca Cola crates as display stands. Just to put your minds at rest I can safely say that I fell only into the trap of aesthetics and saved my 1000 rupee a day budget for a little later…

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[ I SAW IN MYSORE ] Prints & Patterns at Mysore Palace

 

This weekend I'm taking a break from big, busy, bustling Bangalore and my current work with VIA Design to venture a little southward to the city of Mysore. Famous for it's silk sari's, sandalwood oil and the supremely sweet local confectionery, Mysore Pak. On top of all this, Mysore has a spectacular palace, said to rival those of Rajasthan (the Land of the Kings). Bursting with brightly coloured floor tiles, almighty hand-carved doors, period paintings, crystal chandeliers and domed, stained glass ceilings it's one awe inspiring sight for artists, designers, architects and heritage lovers everywhere. You'll have to excuse the quality of some of the images...in true India style, photography was not permitted inside the palace, yet it seemed iPhone's were...