Next Saturday we will selling M.Hulot AW12 at the Selvedge Winter fair, in the beautiful setting of Chelsea Town Hall on the Kings Road. To warm your heart in this cold weather we will be offering some rather exclusive discounts, plus hard to find samples and end of line pieces.
We're situated at stand D103, just off the main hall and near to the cafe, for you to contemplate your purchases over a good ol' cuppa.
It's always a joy to meet our customers, so don't be shy and come and say hello!
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| M.Hulot SS13- Strapped Howe and Cona Bowling bag |
It has occurred to me that despite my love of all colours tonal, earthy and subtle, I have a huge obssession with the most bold and subversive of them all- RED! Collecting inspiration I cannot help being drawn to this hue; whether it's tomato, coral, pillar box or burgundy it is just so joyful and life affirming.
Whatever the shade it becomes all the more special when it's just a flash or a stripe, that shot of colour to lift a neutral and sobering base. Look out for tomato brights in our SS13 range.
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| Red Umbrella- 1951 Saul Leiter. |
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| Red Umbrella- 1958 Saul Leiter. |
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| Red Umbrella- 1960 Saul Leiter. |
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| M.Hulot AW12- Two tone Prussia satchel and Howe clutch. |
A few weeks ago as I was pondering my red obsession, I went to a screening of a new documentary 'In No Great Hurry' about the photographer Saul Leiter. Directed by Tomas Leach the film is a personal portrait of the photographer acclaimed for the way in which he captures street life in New York. It's beautifully shot and Tom has done a wonderful job portraying a man for whom life and work are deeply entwined.
Unbeknownst to me, I had already bookmarked one of Leiter's images 'Red Umbrella' in my quest for colour. Seeing the documentary opened me up to more of his work and it seems he too went through a red phase, photographing red umbrellas seen from dark cafes, taxi windows and against graffitied walls. Just beautiful!
For all you red lovers out there, check out the two tone Prussia and two tone Howe available now from M.Hulot AW12.
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| M.Hulot Prussia Satchel on Minna May blog. |
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| Minna May's hand drawn type. |
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| Minna So Tumbr |
I just discovered the M.Hulot Prussia satchel was featured on illustrator Minna May's blog at the end of September. Not only is it great seeing our product as part of a selection, and how an individual perceives and curates the style, but it also opens us up to whole new world of beautiful and unique content!
I love the way Minna May blog is so minimal, but still retains a playful and relaxed edge. Her hand drawn types remind me of M.Hulot's loopy scrawl and the whole site has that 'feel good' factor that makes me want to scroll through and devour past posts.
Minna also has a personal tumblr of black and white images and words of wisdom.
Thanks Minna!
A
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| The Red Balloon (Film Still) |
Research for AW13 is well under way, and loosing myself in all the wonderful images available at my finger tips, I came across this striking picture and fell in love!
The stark contrast of the balloons alongside the ageing cityscape encapsulates two sides of M.Hulot: earthy, natural, antiqued versus bright, clean and modern.
Further researching the image I found that it comes from the 1954 film 'The Red Balloon' which tells the story of a boy floating over the streets of Paris to escape his bullies. Enchanted by this heart warming tale, I like the image even more so, and know what I'll be watching this Autumnal weekend.
Here at M.Hulot, we're about to start one of our favourite parts of the design and development process; sourcing and selecting the leathers.
The romantic side of me would love to travel to the international leather fairs or even better, direct to the tannery, but as a small brand we tend to work closely with UK agents for our Italian and Turkish skins.
I was browsing through some old holiday pictures and came across these images of tanneries in Marrakech, nearly 10 years ago now. Seeing the vats of veg dyes and the chalky, bleached out colours makes me feel inspired to begin the new season.
For previous collections at M.Hulot we have used veg tanned hides, with very matt, clean surfaces, as well as hides where the colour is hand layered to the top side. As lovers of natural leathers we will continue to use vegetal tanning, but I feel it's time to to look at some new finishes- maybe even add a bit of sheen! Existing styles and shapes could take on a whole new guise.
The first meeting is next Monday. Meanwhile, I 'm gathering images and ideas in preparation for some serious leather letching!
A
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| At the SS13 M.Hulot stand Capsule, Paris |
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| The brand new Cona bowling bags |
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| Nova flap Shoppers and Strapped Howe bags |
Exhibiting at a trade show can be a daunting prospect; so much love and attention has gone into each range that exposing yourself to fashion buyers and press is as nerve racking as it is exciting. But emotions aside, one of the things us designers have to do is eat humble pie and listen and learn from the buyers.
One of the brand new M.Hulot styles is a very simple oversized shopper named the Sas Tote. It got a lot of attention, but one Japanese buyer mentioned something very interesting: the petite shape of the average Japanese woman could mean that this particular style is too large, making it unsuitable for the Japanese market. This kind of feedback is invaluable.
The Strapped Howe bags came about as last season buyers repeatedly asked for detachable cross body straps on their clutch bags. Et voila SS13 and the Strapped Howe is turning out to be one of our best sellers!
One of the most exciting parts of buyer feedback that really got me thinking creatively was 'they're unisex right?'. Now, M.Hulot is a ladieswear brand, but I've always personally admired casual and heritage menswear brands so I guess some of this has rubbed off, and worked some of it's magic. Maybe the time is now...
