LFW catwalk pics

The rush is over:) Catwalk show was great, I was really happy with the whole collection (and the awesome shoes to go with it ), the organisation, the music... and you can see all the pics here (or click on the picture below)

And backstage pictures here ...

I can't wait for the video now ;-)
And now I can finally publish many new clothes which had been waiting... well, in the next few weeks, because I've got to catch up on orders ^^

London Fashion Week, again

It's now 4 days till the next MALAM collection presentation... Will take place on Sept 16th at 7:30pm in luxurious Charing Cross Hotel in London ...


So exciting to be preparing another Fashion Week :) I'll be showing additional designs to the "Lost Dolls" permanent collection. The overall theme will be something like, "romantic meets industrial" ...

The designs are mostly finished, the 3 last days will be spent on details, finishings, etc... We did an outfit trial yesterday in the night, to match the clothing with the fabulous shoes provided by Portuguese brand EJECT. I just can't describe just how stylish and comfortable (!!) they are!

Everything else seems to be more or less ready ;) I got the catwalk music from Niflheim Seele , hair accessories from Hélène Delacour...
Along with lovely models selected by La Geneve .
Guess I should go back to work now, lots left to do! Pictures very soon... !

P.S By the way, any press or buyer wishing to attend should contact joy@lagenevenorth.co.uk .

Live Photo-video from the runway show :-)

Here's the photo-video from the runway show :-) before I post the actual pics...

Enter Malam's world :))

Malam in Paris

Malam in the woods

Click on the image to enter it :-)
(it will open in another window, and might take a little time to load)

then use your mouse to move around.

what do you think ?

How to accessorize a dress - 3 different styles

On this rainy Sunday (if this is summer, what is winter going to be like??.. :-/), I decided to inaugurate a new category: how to wear one item of Malam clothing in three different styles :)

Today is : How to wear a fairy dress

Casual

Malam painted dress
Malam hooded short jacket
Black mid-calf boots bought in Prague


Pin-up
Malam painted dress 

Malam designer petticoat skirt 

Handmade silver vintage lace embroidered necklace by Nevaleen, bought in Paris
Purple and Black lace patterned high-heeled shoes by Inamagura, bought in Köln

Rock

Malam painted short dress
Malam black capri pants
Bershka soft leather jacket
Thrifted high heeled small boots


What is your favorite style among the three?

And how would YOU wear it yourself?

New Online Shop :-))

One more "done" thing on my list... I just finished setting up my new online shop today!
It's France-based, but everything is translated in English too. I know, I know, only half of the German translation is done though, and I'm not too sure it's done well either... I think I am going to have to bribe my Berlin-based sister to correct it ;)

Here's the baby :)


I tried to give it the same feel as my booth ;) I used old wallpaper from a castle as a background, and an old wooden frame for the side boxes:)

I intend to add a new section soon, where it will be possible to design one's own garment (as in: choose the fabric, the trimming, the buttons...)

Tell me what you think about it!

P.S. Help me spread the word about it by linking to it or writing about it... Tell me you have and I'll send you a 4 months illimited discount code on it :)

Steampunk Corset Dress - Custom Work

Well, well well... I'm back from holidays... Seems like I was never gone really! When are the next ones?? ;o)

Here is a dress I custom-made in July - I only recently got the pics, courtesy of Helene.

It was long, but quite fun to make actually!
This is a variation of my fairy dress, with a corset piece, black lace trimming, painted compasses in black and bronze, straps, watch parts, vintage metal buttons, two brooches and a shoulder decoration, a black lace ruffle trimmed petticoat...

It was a joint design collaboration, and what's funny is that, a few days later, I found this drawing I did last year, when thinking about new variations :)

(I have tons of drawings waiting ... but never enough time to make them come alive :-)

I took advantage of this custom order to make the pattern for it and grade it to the next sizes, so... get ready for some more corset dresses! Here's the first one ;o)

EDIT : It is now sold though. But others are available here

Wedding outfits :-)

Last week before the holidays... Is very busy, with all the things that need to be finished! Working on new designs, making the last orders, choosing some new fabrics.. and making this summer's wedding outfits:)

It's not something I usually do, I mean I won't make from scratch a new design just for one person, but I can alter one of mine to make something that will suit a special occasion!
I just finished these:

Here, I altered my Goblin short jacket (no hood, shorter sleeves and no closure in the front) and made a coordinated mid-length skirt, in patterned upholstery fabric, with vintage rhinestone buttons. It will be worn with one of the new summer tops, but not the one on the picture, instead it will be pink silk and that same grey patterned fabric as the rest of the outfit, with a zip closure.

The other one was a lot longer to make, and necessitated dress shipping back and forth to England! here, I altered my strapless bustier dress design to make a backless one in silk and voile. Here was the first trial in cheap fabric:

And the final result, with which I am quite happy:-) I had to make it right, since the green silk was bought in Dubai and there was no more of it afterwards!!

I'm eagerly waiting for the pics of these two outfits worn!

Phewww... And what am I going to wear for my cousin's wedding??? I'll have at least two days to think about it after I come back from holidays.. ;o) You know, shoemakers are the ones with the worst shoes ;o)
By the way, I'm going to the north of Poland, so if anyone wants to recommend a place to visit, I am all ears!

And in the meantime, thanks a lot to those who participated in my "poll" concerning the summer tops:)
i think i'll make more of the pink and blue ones then :)

I knew it was well worn :-)

I did say this neckwarmer was very well worn, didn't I?

Well, thanks to missbeahaven, it was on Etsy front page tonight :-))

(i did not manage to take a full screenshot though...)

Runway show and designer fair

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the last designer fair I went to was taking place in this castle, near Nancy, in the eastern part of France.


I am quite pleased with the way my tent looked! By chance, I was under the same tent as a friend who makes beautiful jewelry, and has the same kind of "universe" as I do, so it really looked like both sides of the tent were really one thing. It got funny though after a few people asked "But how do you find the time to make ALL this???" "Mmmm... actually I only make the clothes :-)"







A big show was organised in the evening, to showcase all the talents reunited there, among which various dancers, costumed artists... here are pictures of the runway, where lovely models showed off Malam clothes. Some of them are pictured below...

(All pictures by Yann. )

It was a bit stressful to help the models into the clothes in the dark (because the light from the window of the castle would have been seen by the audience.. . so we had no light :-/ )

 but the result was great all the same!

 One of the dresses actually got sold right afterwards :-)

How to create an ambiance - (Part II) - Technical tips...

So.. the main elements were set, but I still needed a few extra things to complete it!

First, an elegant tablecloth to hide my round folding table's horrible plain legs!
This was realised using pale blue sateen cotton, and 3 old white crochet window curtains:)

Very quickly, how to make this simple tablecloth...
The first step is to measure the table's diameter and twice the height. This way, I needed a 2,50m wide round tablecloth. Of course, my piece of fabric came in a 1,40 width, so I cut in it a 1,40m side square, folded it in 4, and traced a quarter of a circle on the side that looked up to me.

I then sewed the three window crochet panels end to end together, and assembled them to the blue fabric, with little pleats every 5cm to make them hang nicely from the center of the tablecloth. And that's it, easy peasy ;o)

I also needed to fit my mirror in the frame I had... but the mirror-cutter did a wrong move and cut 20cm too many :-/
Hence I moved to plan B...









Making a frame from a wood beading, cut to the right dimensions, painted in brown, and glued to the front of the mirror panel.

Once everything was dry, I brushed gold paint irregularly on the frame with a tissue.


And this is how you get a wonderful vintage-looking frame ;o)



I also needed to fill all the old frames supposed to decorate the booth. I measured them all, and chose a set of pictures to print at the right size... after having given them an "old canvas" effect, such as the neckwarmer picture below.




I was taking part in another designer fair before the "castle" one, so I tested my decoration there... I had almost as many comments about the decoration as about my clothes ;o)

My dear helpers Yann and Hélène helping me set up the booth, and more exactly, trying to fix the folding screen ;)


Pictures of the booth taken by Yann

Welcome :-)

Hi and welcome:)
I'll try to keep this blog up with pictures and relations of events, latest designs, and anything that relates to my work as a fashion designer.
I am preparing a small article about the latest designer fair I took part in, in a castle in the Eastern part of France... and in the meantime, feel free to browse here and here
:-)