FASHION | ORLA KIELY AW 14

I know that I am so late to this party that people are already so sloshed they're dancing to Embrace but it still has to be said that Orla Kiely's Autumn/Winter collection is superb. Ever since the show at London Fashion week back in February I've had a hankering to be dressed like I'm in a Wes Anderson film come autumn...

EVENT | HOME IS IN THE NORTH

Ah the North; the motherland, where people can be mardy, boss or kippered but usually with a smile and a joke on hand. Where you can be waiting around like piffy one minute then bounce off down the ginnel to grab a chip barm another. The North has a wealth of creativity and I will leave it at that statement rather than start bangimg on with the music/art/fashion that has come from the upper parts of the UK. In keeping with a long tradition of fostering new creative talent Manchester now welcomes a new event aptly called Home Is In The North, exhibiting the best in new craft and design talent in the North of England.

Launching at Halle St. Peters in Ancoats, Manchester on April (26^th) will feature a some of the North’s most inspiring designers…

In attendance will be my lovely friend, textiles and homewares designer Natalie Laura Ellen draws inspiration for her designs from the things surrounding her Castlefield studio, from her balcony garden to the humble bumble bee, symbol of Manchester.

Also at the event will be Surface pattern designer Annabel Perrin, who uses the contemporary architecture of Salford Quays to create the geometric patterns used in her cushions, footstools and fabrics and continuing the ‘Industrial’ trend is bespoke lighting designer Richard Linford of Greymoose Designs with his upcycled lighting collection that experiments with camera tripods, sturdy steel basins modernised with colourful braided lighting cords. Leeds-based textile designer, Anthony Hughes also incorporates Northern 

industrial landscapes such as pylons, gasholders and railway tracks into his homewares.

They've already set-up some incredible interior pop-ups across Manchester (see images) and they're also hosting a giveaway to win some of Annabel Perrin’s gorgeous cushions. The event’s only £3 which is not much more than the cost of a brew these days (even up North) and there’s a wealth of seminars, showcases, exhibition to get stuck into. So there you have it, peel yourself off that sofa and put those leftover Easter eggs down a minute and check out an abundance of design inspiration. 

 To see a full list of exhibitors and more information visit www.eventsbythesocialbutterfly.com

·         Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HomeIsEvent

·         Twitter: @HomeIsEvent

PHOTOGRAPHY | ALEXANDRA GRONSKY

Sometimes you stumble across a photographer who knocks you square out with their talent. Alexander Gronsky is one of these photographers. 

Born in 1980 in Tallinn, Estonia and based in Riga, Latvia, this photographer captures often desolate scenes but gives them a kind of playfullness because of the people and his framing. It's like a photographic post industrial move from Seurat's impressionist depictions of La Grande Jatte. 

Caught in a kind of middle ground, an urban purgatory between rural and industrial, the past and the future. These pictures leave you in limbo, feeling both warm and cold but wanting to look deeper none the less.