The countdown began to Billy Black’s first photo shoot.....
Late to bed the night before for an early rise. But we couldn’t sleep.....did we have everything?? Billy Black on the other hand was already up....... waiting.....ready to go, looking smashing on the running racks waiting for Laura and Josh to step into them.
This was our first photo shoot for our very first collection......the nerves, anticipation, excitement and adrenalin was all running high.
Everybody said it would all come together, that the hard work and organisation would pay off.....but we were a little dubious given our last three garments were scheduled for pick up the afternoon before the shoot.
From 7.30am the crew started rolling in…our co-ordinator and stylist; Kate Vandermeer, hair stylist; Mariam Enegd, make up artist; Jade Sheedy, photographer; Kirsty Duchet and her assistant James Tunks, and models Laura Thompson and Josh Goudsward.
Our team was amazing! We all got along like we’d known each other for ages, even though for most of us it was our first meeting.
To make the shoot happen everyone had their job to do, it was organised chaos! We started with a fitting of all the garments, then straight into hair and make up for Laura and Josh. There was no time for breakfast or smoke breaks! Meanwhile we worked with Kate to finalise each of the looks for the day and their order, starting from most elaborate campaign shots through to simpler look book shots.
Our shoot was coming to life in an old warehouse in Clifton Hill….
Our mums popped in for some moral support and a sneak peak at the action. Our model Josh was quite the charmer with the mums…in between shots he’d gaze over at them with the “Zoolander” one eye-brow look! Let’s just say Josh is an entertainer, he had us all in stitches!
The afternoon ran like clockwork, the clothes and models looked amazing.....we were stoked and modestly proud. A shout out thank you to the mens shoes that were loaned by Silence Is Nothing and jewellery by House Of Baulch.
The show was over by about 3pm and the feedback was positive! The opportunity to sit down and relax and chat to the highly talented team we had on board was a great way to end the day and frantic week.
Then the party began.....
Friday, September 18, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Who is BILLY BLACK?
Welcome to the world of Billy Black…..
This is where curiosity presides; where music is king; and where culture and lifestyle prevail.
Billy Black is about bringing high-end fashion to the streets. It is about pushing the boundaries of conservatism and pop culture, and exploring the fusion of vintage and contemporary trends.
With an intrigue for androgyny and minimalism, Billy Black creates distinct designs for men and women alike. Influences stem from anything electric and eclectic, with strong associations to the indie music scene and all its sub cultures.
Billy Black is for the individual who dares to be different or subtly unique; who embraces fashion with attitude and values attention-to-detail; and who relishes the chance to experiment and express themselves through fashion.
We think, we seek, we are……Billy Black.
This is where curiosity presides; where music is king; and where culture and lifestyle prevail.
Billy Black is about bringing high-end fashion to the streets. It is about pushing the boundaries of conservatism and pop culture, and exploring the fusion of vintage and contemporary trends.
With an intrigue for androgyny and minimalism, Billy Black creates distinct designs for men and women alike. Influences stem from anything electric and eclectic, with strong associations to the indie music scene and all its sub cultures.
Billy Black is for the individual who dares to be different or subtly unique; who embraces fashion with attitude and values attention-to-detail; and who relishes the chance to experiment and express themselves through fashion.
We think, we seek, we are……Billy Black.
Monday, August 3, 2009
The coming of BILLY BLACK...
It was February when all the madness started!!!!!
We had very little knowledge of the industry and how it actually operated. So knowing where to start or how to get in touch with suppliers was more daunting than we’d imagined. The yellow pages soon became our best friend as we realised websites for suppliers in the industry was a rarity. We then spent the better part of two months finessing our designs, partly due to the fact all our sketches either looked like stickmen in paper bags or body builders with large breasts (quite literally!). So as you can imagine, it was very hard at times to visualise each others’ concepts.
A quick crash course in understanding the difference between knit and woven fabrics was next. Talk about confusing!!! Understanding how fabrics wore over time, and even comprehending the possibilities, or lack there of, in combing a knit (typically a stretchy fabric) and woven (think business shirt, table cloth; stiffer fabric) in one garment was challenging. Once we nailed it though, we were travelling all over the country side to scour out the perfect fabrics for our first collection – we would set off for the day with a Melways, our ipod (good tunes have been critical for our sanity) and a truck load of Mentos and cigarettes.
It wasn’t long until the costs started rolling in thick and fast. Were we freaked out? Hell yes! Especially when we realised purchasing 500m of rope from China for hoodies was a little excessive, as was 500 buttons we weren’t even sure we’d use. But it’s all part of the experience right? And so I’m guessing the lack of sleep is too! “All-nighters” have become part of our daily routine now….sleep is SO 2008! On that note, it would almost be rude of us not to give a special shout out to Mars for creating peanut M&M’s and Lavazza for providing tasty coffee – because without them, our “all-nighters” wouldn’t be possible!
The most challenging part of creating our first collection has definitely been the specking out of our designs; providing exact measurements for every little detail of our flat sketches so our manufacturer can interpret our designs into patterns. We had no idea what we were doing initially…...but with the help of mum and our trusty vintage tape measure, we got there. We almost feel like we’ve now earned the right to wear the dress-maker’s tape measure around our necks whilst working…so professional we are now!
We attended Fashion Palette in Sydney as well as Rosemount Australia Fashion Week back in late April. These were both to help explore ideas for our business and to get some insights from those that have been successful in the industry. Highlights: seeing The Cassette Society show, and hearing from event host Ruby Rose, as well as Cathryn Wills - Mimco, Peter Morrissey, and Kate Vandermeer - iSpyStyle at Fashion Palette. When we heard Kate speak, we knew we’d struck gold! Kate is now a critical partner of Billy Black, supporting us with the development of our marketing strategy and styling.
While we’re on partners of Billy Black, allow us to introduce you to our night in shining armour – New Model Beauty Queen (NMBQ), our pattern maker, sampler maker and manufacturer…..and our industry guru who has really been an advocate for the brand from the outset! We’d never heard of the word “Toile” before meeting NMBQ. Toiles are the rough samples produced before the final sample; generally produced in cheap fabric, or traditionally in calico, and for the purpose of getting the shape and fit right. It’s a tedious process; pick up toile, try it on, mark up changes with permanent marker & masking tape, hand back toile, pick up new toile……etc….We’re now in our third round of Toiling for some of our designs, though the rest are pretty much ready for production.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our first blog – our intention was to bring you up to speed in as few words as possible with where we’re at now in bringing together our first collection. Six months doesn’t sound like that long, but we feel like we’ve climbed something equivalent to the Egyptian Pyramids! We’ve learnt so much about ourselves and the industry and although it’s often not that glamorous behind the scenes, we love it!
Stay tuned for our next week’s blog – Who is Billy Black?
We had very little knowledge of the industry and how it actually operated. So knowing where to start or how to get in touch with suppliers was more daunting than we’d imagined. The yellow pages soon became our best friend as we realised websites for suppliers in the industry was a rarity. We then spent the better part of two months finessing our designs, partly due to the fact all our sketches either looked like stickmen in paper bags or body builders with large breasts (quite literally!). So as you can imagine, it was very hard at times to visualise each others’ concepts.
A quick crash course in understanding the difference between knit and woven fabrics was next. Talk about confusing!!! Understanding how fabrics wore over time, and even comprehending the possibilities, or lack there of, in combing a knit (typically a stretchy fabric) and woven (think business shirt, table cloth; stiffer fabric) in one garment was challenging. Once we nailed it though, we were travelling all over the country side to scour out the perfect fabrics for our first collection – we would set off for the day with a Melways, our ipod (good tunes have been critical for our sanity) and a truck load of Mentos and cigarettes.
It wasn’t long until the costs started rolling in thick and fast. Were we freaked out? Hell yes! Especially when we realised purchasing 500m of rope from China for hoodies was a little excessive, as was 500 buttons we weren’t even sure we’d use. But it’s all part of the experience right? And so I’m guessing the lack of sleep is too! “All-nighters” have become part of our daily routine now….sleep is SO 2008! On that note, it would almost be rude of us not to give a special shout out to Mars for creating peanut M&M’s and Lavazza for providing tasty coffee – because without them, our “all-nighters” wouldn’t be possible!
The most challenging part of creating our first collection has definitely been the specking out of our designs; providing exact measurements for every little detail of our flat sketches so our manufacturer can interpret our designs into patterns. We had no idea what we were doing initially…...but with the help of mum and our trusty vintage tape measure, we got there. We almost feel like we’ve now earned the right to wear the dress-maker’s tape measure around our necks whilst working…so professional we are now!
We attended Fashion Palette in Sydney as well as Rosemount Australia Fashion Week back in late April. These were both to help explore ideas for our business and to get some insights from those that have been successful in the industry. Highlights: seeing The Cassette Society show, and hearing from event host Ruby Rose, as well as Cathryn Wills - Mimco, Peter Morrissey, and Kate Vandermeer - iSpyStyle at Fashion Palette. When we heard Kate speak, we knew we’d struck gold! Kate is now a critical partner of Billy Black, supporting us with the development of our marketing strategy and styling.
While we’re on partners of Billy Black, allow us to introduce you to our night in shining armour – New Model Beauty Queen (NMBQ), our pattern maker, sampler maker and manufacturer…..and our industry guru who has really been an advocate for the brand from the outset! We’d never heard of the word “Toile” before meeting NMBQ. Toiles are the rough samples produced before the final sample; generally produced in cheap fabric, or traditionally in calico, and for the purpose of getting the shape and fit right. It’s a tedious process; pick up toile, try it on, mark up changes with permanent marker & masking tape, hand back toile, pick up new toile……etc….We’re now in our third round of Toiling for some of our designs, though the rest are pretty much ready for production.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our first blog – our intention was to bring you up to speed in as few words as possible with where we’re at now in bringing together our first collection. Six months doesn’t sound like that long, but we feel like we’ve climbed something equivalent to the Egyptian Pyramids! We’ve learnt so much about ourselves and the industry and although it’s often not that glamorous behind the scenes, we love it!
Stay tuned for our next week’s blog – Who is Billy Black?
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