From Fashion to Passion

People are often surprised to hear...

that I used to be a Fashion designer. Maybe it's because I look a little mumsy now (absolutely) or because its a 'mystical' industry - a job that people think is amazing and glamorous! And it was. Every young creative girl's dream: travelling the world for inspiration, discovering new fabrics, trends and enjoying the creative process.

Final Collection RCA

After my BA in Fashion at Westminster I went on to do my Masters at the Royal College of Art in London. It was an amazing place to meet creatives that have wild imaginations and fantastic ideas..

The forgotten Circus....

My final collection was based on the Circus - everything was grey - a total opposite of what Loubiblu is all about these days!

The Work Life....

I was lucky to work in all sorts of companies from high end fashion to high street and many freelance jobs in between. The creative people I met then influence the work I do today.

Max & Co

After graduation I was offered a job with Max Mara in Italy. Working in a small town call Reggio Emilia just south of Milan. It was a massive contrast to the free creative style I was used to, but I learned a lot a about the industry and how to translate whimsical ideas into clothes that people loved to wear.

sass & bide

After Italy I worked in London for a while, before moving to Australia with my husband. My first job in Sydney was with Sass & Bide. Designing looks that I was thrilled to see come to life on the catwalks of New York Fashion week.

Home life....

After loving Australia for many years we found ourselves moving to Zürich - a place I thought I'd never live!

After having 3 children I decided it was time to say goodby to fashion.

I found it difficult to juggle freelance designing with 3 children under 4 with no family and not speaking the language :-/

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But when a door closes another opens,and it was time to do something for myself....... Hello Loubiblu

The first ever product!

Our little village had a festival -Dorfest - and a friend suggested I have a stand, so I re-created the crafts I'd done for my kids and made them in to kits. I sold out of them all, and realised it was something the kids loved :-)

The Early Days

I started - Like a lot of small creatives - on the kitchen table! I used to draw carefully on paper first, then scan, then play with it in photoshop - it was along process back in the day, but fortunatly now its a lot quicker with my ipad!

Here, (if you can spot it) is my daughters orginal cupcake that she wanted me to make into a kit.

Markets

I love to go to in person markets and meet customers and hear about their ideas and what products they'd love to see in the future.

At this market I also sold Xmas houses with an easy bake cookie. recipe inside - these sold out the fastest.

a little helper

I knew there was a reason I had three children! They give me so many ideas and are the harshest critics!

This is a photo of my middle kiddie 'fixing' my Robot design before I put it in my shop. Apparently it needed an arrow gage in the middle - very valuble and important input!