Topshop EDIT and Norwegian Wood!

Sooooo, I haven't really mentioned this on the HQ blog yet, but the thing that's been taking up 95% of my time lately is a project that started about 6 months ago.

I received an e-mail to my Etsy account, that I thought MUST be a joke. It was a message from Topshop, asking me to be one of the designers for an in store pop up shop called EDIT that they launched for the first time last season, and had decided to bring back for another season, this time including accessories as well as clothing.


For those of you not familiar with Topshop, it's a chain of stores based in London (England you silly folks, NOT Ontario!) with the UK flagship store being the Oxford Circus branch, which is where the main EDIT concession will be located, with a small version featuring 3 designers in the New York store which opened last year. Around 25 designers in total from around the world are involved in this edition, and I'm the first Canadian! Some of the other designers include: KTZ, White Trumpet, Nakkna, Diana Orving and so many more, coming from a diverse mix of countries, including Sweden, Hong Kong, Germany, the UK, the US, Iceland, Italy, etc, etc, etc...

So I received that initial e-mail, started hyperventilating, called Tyson and screamed for a bit and then wrote them back and said yes. After going back and forth for a few months we decided that my grouping would include the following:


- Fringe necklaces in 4 colours (including a new grey/black/white combo exclusive to Topshop)
- Feather necklaces in 2 colours
- Leather cage skirts in 3 colours exclusive to Topshop. The leather cage skirt is my collaboration with Marc Simard of Broundoor and for those of you who know Marc and also have been to a Topshop you will appreciate the awesomeness that is the thought of Marc Simard in Topshop.
- Panelled leggings in 5 colours, all brand new for Topshop!
- "Road Warrior" elastic harness in black, but also in an exclusive pearly fringe version!
- A brand spanking new panelled t-shirt design in black and white

Sooooo, if there are any of you out there who's been disappointed with me for not coming to a party/event, not e-mailing back quickly or not calling you back at all, this is why! Blame Topshop! The first grouping of the concession is available NOW! My stuff is in the second grouping, from Oct. 25 right up until Christmas, so if you're in London, get down there ASAP, these clothes are just too good to pass up!


Another exciting aspect of this project is that I was finally able to work with the amazing Paule Trudel, an illustrator from our own fair city of Montreal who recently graduated from school in New York. She contacted me shortly before Topshop did, saying that we should do a project together. When the Topshop thing came up, I knew she would be the perfect person to do illustrated custom hangtags to go on all my designs. They've just been sent to print now, I'll keep you all updated when they arrive and do a whole post on the lovely Paule Trudel so you all can love her work as much as I do!

Obviously I could not miss this opportunity to see my designs hanging in a major UK store, so Tyson and I have decided to take our FIRST vacation together (Wpg doesn't count) and head over to London at the end of October. It will be my 5th time there and Tysons first, so if you have any suggestions for us throw them in the comments, we'll be there for 8 days, so we'll have lots of time to check out many, many awesome things!

xo
Angie