By now youve presumably entered your finest scribbles into Zoe Jordans Do It Like A Doodle competition and are keeping your fingers crossed that youll see it come down the catwalk. In the spirit of research (and in no way trying to curry favour for our own sketches), we thought wed pop to her studio to find out more about what inspired the competition and to see what we could find out about the upcoming s/s 2014 collection.
We wanted to move away from digital prints and do something more real and natural and hand drawn, says Jordan. So, alongside the doodles that were all contributing, other illustrations and overblown graffiti will appear on printed pieces throughout the s/s 2014 collection. And heads up weve got competition. Jordans 11 month old daughter has already contributed artwork.
A moodboard is propped up in the corner of the Chelsea studio, covered in images that have inspiring next seasons collection, a mixture of skater boys, super cool models and modernist art work. Theres a street element to it but its still clean cut and elegant, says Jordan. Sketches of the new pieces line another board and print samples and toiles hang on a rail; with just over a month to go until London Fashion Week the collection is well and truly under way. At the beginning of this year Jordan and her family moved back from Hong Kong to resettle in London. She had been dividing her time between the two cities, spending six weeks in each, and its a relief to be full time in the studio overseeing proceedings.
The nonchalant glamour of her label is heavily influenced by Saville Row tailoring and has an ease and elegance about it. Boys best friend, girls confidante is the tagline that she uses to describe the girl. Lauren Hutton is her biggest inspiration right now. I think Ive cracked her secret, she tells us. Its the way she pairs expensive clothes with trainers and a T-shirt. Its effortless.
Jordans aim is to spearhead a new wave of British contemporary labels, that accessible luxury that American brands like , Helmut Lang and do so well but that the UK has been lagging behind. Were sold and we cant wait to see the new offering hit the catwalk.
All you need to know about the 'Do It Like A Doodle' competition...