Reimagine an Icon with our Design Competition
As we celebrate our 20th Anniversary and the growth of Fleur of England, we have spent a lot of time reflecting on our humble beginnings and the work that has gone into establishing our identity, values, and reputation. This reflection on our process and beginnings has inspired us to do something for other creatives, especially since we love seeing how others interpret our brand and put their own touch on our designs.
Whether you are a student, freelancer, job seeker, or hobbyist, you could win the chance to be featured across our social channels including our newsletter and blog as well as a £300 gift voucher, with two runners up also having the opportunity to win a £100 gift voucher each.
In order to enter, the rules are simple:
1) Design your own unique guipure embroidery and upgrade one of our most loved pieces: The Jasmine Boudoir Bra and a bottom of your choice. We encourage you to put your own stamp on this classic style.
2) Upload your design and unique guipure embroidery concept to Instagram and tag us, using #ForeverIconicDesign and send your embroidery design, mood board, and final luxury lingerie set design to info@fleurofengland.com using the subject line "Embroidery Competition".
All designs must be clear and unique- we want to see the details of the embroidery design you have created and we want to see how you would make it work on our most iconic style. All bras must be designed as a non-wired boudoir bra, however the shape, details and colour are entirely up to you. Pair your bra with a bottom of your choosing, whether this is a classic brief or sensual thong. We are looking for a beautiful lingerie set that can be worn together, but each piece must also have impact on its own.
This is a chance to really let your creativity shine. You can design in any medium that you like; be it hand drawing, digital, or a combination of the two, we would love to get a real sense of your inspiration and influences (something we will be speaking to the winner about for the blog).
Take a look at our Boudoir Bras here or our Pinterest board here to get inspired, you can also read some of Fleur's advice below. Please share with others who you think would like to enter.
Good Luck!
Q&A with Fleur
How do you usually start gathering ideas for an embroidery design?
It's a mix of everything , an emotion, a memory, something that sparks a story, a moment of Joy, the way the light falls through the trees, it could be anything but it has to be able to translate through the design process and create passion.
How important are mood boards to your work? Do you feel having a clear visual development helps you stay on message?
I love collecting ideas, fabrics, mood, images, capturing emotions and feelings and this is the importance of design to me, to capture and translate these emotions into beautiful pieces of lingerie, is why I love my work so much. A mood board is the holding place for these ideas, for me the message often evolves and changes as I continue the design process, that's the beauty of a mood board. They are so adaptable. Pinterest is an amazing tool, when I first started 20 years ago I used to spend hours going through magazines to find that perfect picture for the emotion I was looking for.
How would you recommend people start sketching embroidery if they haven't ever done it before?
For me it's all about the end purpose, Am I making a collection with galloon or motif for example. For a motif (like the jasmine embroidery)it's where will I be using it on the body how will it connect with curves, does it want to reveal and conceal? The jasmine collection is made with Guipure motifs and I was very inspired by reveal and conceal and the formation of the leaves.
When figuring out the placement of embroidery, what things do you consider?
Size, seams, shapes. l was incredibly lucky as in my first design role I was technically trained. When designing lingerie this is incredibly important . If you can visualise your design in 3D from looking at a pattern you are onto a winner!
However I still believe you can’t beat just making something out of paper and shaping it over the body to get a clear understanding of how the embroidery will work with curves.
What things do you most like seeing/incorporating into embroidery?
This changes with different chapters of my life, designs are always evolving and changing. For me a story that captures emotion you are trying to convey is a powerful design tool.
I really love secret messages in my design. It's like finding a hidden treasure buried in the sand, they are there to delight and give joy to the wearer. At the moment I am enjoying exploring hand sketched designs interpreted into embroideries.
