I travelled down to Bicester yesterday to Allertons & Company. Allertons are the premier manufacturer of Racing Silks in Britain and they are going to be manufacturing my 'Reel Racing' silk designs for Ascot. Their premises is a converted stables and its a real rabbit warren of productivity. Everyone couldn't have been nicer and took such an interest in the designs, and were really excited about manufacturing them.
The reason for me going down was to pick the right colours out for each silk, to make sure we got all the shades spot on. They were concerned this could be tricky, but it was actually really painless, and we got every colour almost exact, true to the original designs. Then it was just a case of advising the seamstresses on a few other technical details. Such as the angle for some of the chest motifs and the thickness of the sleeve stripes and a few other bits and bobs.
It was such a pleasure to see the silks coming to life. Its really exciting to see the silks as they progress through the stages of manufacture. From my initial designs, onto the Allerton's template. From their the separate elements are laser cut and then 'sewn in.' They're all handmade and its surprising to see just how much work goes in to each one.
A big thank you to everyone at Allertons for making me so welcome and showing such an interest in my work. Especially Michael Rawson for being such a great host and buying me lunch ! Not forgetting Amy and Steph at Racing for Change for arranging the visit !
A big thank you to everyone at Allertons for making me so welcome and showing such an interest in my work. Especially Michael Rawson for being such a great host and buying me lunch ! Not forgetting Amy and Steph at Racing for Change for arranging the visit !
3/6/2011