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Grow... Curly catkins tremble The breezes dissemble The new growth Fern fronds flutter Shaded woods stutter Into growth Sunny yellow pings The fresh growth Fragile primroses peer But not in fear Signs of re-growth All winter lay hidden But spring has now bidden The new year’s growing. Words | Carole Morgan
Illustration | Sophie Body
Editor Layla Abounour Contributing Writer Carole Morgan Contributing Photographers Paul Astley Paulina Korobkiewicz Rachel Hodgson Contributing Filmmaker Nadia Hammoud Contributing Illustrators Cate Parr Sophie Body Joanna Martin Front Cover Illustration Cate Parr Back Cover Illustration Sophie Body @fluttermagazine www.fluttermagazine.co.uk info@fluttermagazine.co.uk
Contents Seek
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20
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36
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Inspire
Save
Explore
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Hello, Welcome to issue one of Flutter magazine, the home of all things fashion and nature. At Flutter we aim to inspire you girls to get outside, step away from your mobile phone or tablet device, and take a moment to appreciate and reflect upon your beautiful surroundings. You can always upload a photograph of your travels once you get home again and even send them in for us to see! The Spring/Summer 2014 issue of Flutter is all about change: each piece in the magazine has been inspired by ideas such as growth and decay, visiting new places and recycling. Flutter has been divided into four sections: ‘Seek’, ‘Inspire’, ‘Save’ and ‘Explore’, each one full of exciting things to see and do during the warmer months. ‘Seek’ encourages you to be more curious and search for those hidden gems found in nature. We took to Mersea beach in Essex and got customising old belongings with seashells. For ‘Inspire’ we interviewed two creative women with enviable careers - the fashion print designer Sunna Naseer and the floral installation artist Rebecca Louise Law who are both inspired by deteriorating flowers. ‘Save’ looks at how to prevent overflowing landfills and poor working conditions for people all over the world by recycling old clothes to achieve the best trends for this summer, whilst saving money and crafting at the same time! Last, but by no means least, ‘Explore’ takes you to the beautiful Butterfly World Project in St. Albans for a shoot inspired by the idea of growing into maturity. Here we also note many other exciting outdoor places that you can visit this summer. Don’t miss out on the Flutter magazine behind-the-scenes films taken by Nadia Hammoud at the shoots ‘Upala’ on page 10 and ‘Instar’ on page 54, these exciting sneak peaks can be found on www.fluttermagazine.co.uk. Be sure to let us know what you get up to this summer and remember to send us your photographs to info@fluttermagazine.co.uk, or you can Tweet and Instagram us @fluttermagazine, Enjoy the blue skies and butterflies and we shall see you in Autumn/Winter 2014 where we will still be motivating you to get outside, whilst wearing a few more layers!
Layla x
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Illustration | Sophie Body
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Seek
Upala
Photography | Paulina Korobkiewicz Styling & Art Direction | Layla Abounour Hair & Makeup | Robyn Wilson Model | Sophie Glover Words | Carole Morgan Filming | Nadia Hammoud Available at www.fluttermagazine.co.uk
Illustration | Sophie Body
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Dress and Jacket | Emma Star Belt | Eye of the World Designs
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Jacket | Helena Asquith Trousers | Emma Star
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Hide, fade, dip into the background Slip, slide, shift out of sight
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Dress | Gabriella Piccolo Jacket | Beyond Retro
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Top | Emma Star
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Then comes the time Now is your time
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Top | Gabriella Piccolo Skirt | Beyond Retro
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Top and Shorts | Emma Star
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To flash, sparkle, leap and astound Gem that you are, now seek the light
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Gifts from the Sea
Photography & Words | Layla Abounour
Remember the days when you would spend hours on end at the beach, tirelessly searching for some of nature’s most beautiful hidden gems and competing against your fatigued family members when making huge sand castles? The days were long, feet were uncomfortably itchy and buckets of shells were collected - to be taken home and proudly exhibited in your grandparents shed. At Flutter, we believe that this excitement for finding beautiful gifts from the sea should be embraced again. With thousands of unique shells just waiting 20
to be discovered, there is absolutely no reason not to go outside and resume the search! Take some time out this summer to relax amongst the pretty British coastlines and make a start on that book you have been meaning to begin for the last six months. We visited Mersea Island in Essex and took some time to admire the quaint, candy coloured beach huts. Don’t forget to bring a bucket with you! You will be seeking out the best bits and bobs from the seaside to craft with once you get home. Never again shall you have a boring weekend!
How to Make a Shell Embellished Phone Case...
You will need: - Silver Glitter Acrylic Paint (or silver paint plus glitter) - PVA Glue - Small Shells - Gemstones - Phone Case - Medium Paint Brush - Small Paint Brush - Tweezers
‘One cannot collect all of the beautiful shells on the beach. One can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few’ Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Step One:
Paint the phone case with the glittery acrylic paint, let this dry and then paint another coat.
Step Two: Once the second layer is dry, apply some glue to the centre of the case, choose your favourite shell and place it onto the case. Step Three : Once the shell is secure, use the smaller paint brush to apply small drops of glue around the shell, then carefully place the gemstones onto the case. Step Four: Allow the glue to dry for a few hours, then go and make all of your friends jealous with your new personalised phone case! Tip - Play around with other styles by using different gemstone colours and other shell types! 21
Illustration | Sophie Body
Inspire
Sunna
Sunna Naseer specialised in fashion print at university and graduated in 2013. Her graduate collection beautifully captures the life cycle of flowers by using digital manipulations to convey the idea of deterioration and decay. We talk to the young designer about her inspirations and showcase her graduate collection which is currently being exhibited on the world’s leading online platform for emerging designers, Not Just a Label Words | Layla Abounour
How did you get into fashion design and have you always wanted to be a fashion designer? I have always been interested in art and I love to draw, as a child I could always be found drawing clothes. My main influence comes from my mum, I used to sit there and watch her make clothes for me all the time when I was little, so that 24
is where my interest in making clothes began.
How did your love for drawing impact on your fashion print skills? I didn’t really develop my print work until I went to university, I have always mainly been interested in layering clothes in different ways. Then I carried out a print
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project at university and fell in love with print making, it allowed me to combine my love for drawing with fashion design.
The prints used within your graduate collection were inspired by disintegrating flowers, and the way that they fade over time. What is it that spurred you to create a collection inspired by this change in nature? I began by looking at artwork on the subject of positive and negative space and I then became very interested in juxtaposing the two. I have always had a love of floral prints, so I paired the two ideas together which created the concept of the fading and deterioration of flowers. I enjoyed looking at the colours of certain flowers and how they change when going through the process of deterioration.
Where else do you draw inspirations from when designing prints? When designing, I start by researching what is new in the photography, design and art worlds. Contemporary culture inspires me. I also like to play around with nature. For my graduate collection I visited many beautiful outdoor gardens and picked flowers from them, I then let them decay and experimented with photographing and documenting this 27
process, before digitally manipulating the imagery. I love taking a hands on approach.
Where is your favourite place to visit outside to draw inspiration from? I really love city life and living close to London. I like to explore new areas and look at architecture street art or just people watch. I enjoy traveling to other cities and exploring new cultures, such as Barcelona and Paris.
What is it that you aim to achieve the most when creating such beautiful prints? Wearability is always important, however at the same time I love creating garments 28
which will make the wearer stand out and feel confident in.
What kind of woman do you design for? The Sunna Naseer woman has a busy city life and so enjoys wearing tailored, structured clothing which have a feminine edge to it through the use of floral prints.
What have you been up to since graduating in 2013? Since graduating I have worked on the social media for two different fashion retail companies. Now I currently write 31
for Not Just a Label and I have recently covered London Fashion Week for Who’s Jack magazine.
What is in store with you for the future? I have made a handmade capsule collection full of one off pieces in collaboration with the online fashion retailer Cage City. The collection is based upon my graduate collection and will be available to buy from the website in the Spring.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years time? I would like the Sunna Naseer fashion brand to be bigger and better, selling capsule collections and lots more of my colourful prints. Sunna’s capsule collection will be available this Spring at www.dresscagecity.com 32
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Photography | Paul Astley Styling & Art Direction | Layla Abounour Hair & Makeup | Jason Martin Model | Maisie at Profile Models
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Rebecca
Rebecca Louise Law is a floral installation artist who has been using flowers within her artwork for over seventeen years. Rebecca has produced floral displays for clients such as Sophia Webster, Hermes and Mulberry. We talk to the artist about her love of the ephemeral, ever-changing nature of picked flowers, her interests in bringing nature to urban environments and the relationship between fashion and flowers, inspired by her stunning latest installation for London’s Garden Museum. Words | Layla Abounour
When did you first begin to use flowers within your art work?
flowers would bring so much more than colour to my work.
I have always used flowers in my artwork, at a young age I was highly influenced by my family, my nana and aunt were artists who painted and pressed flowers and my parents used to grow flowers and dry them in our attic to sell at our front gate. My father is from a long line of gardeners, at least six generations, I was brought up with his nursery gardens full of flowers to use at my liberty. At University I started as a colour field artist specialising in painting and print making, however I soon felt frustrated by working with 2D and slowly began to move towards sculpture and installation art. By 2003 I had swapped paint for flowers, little did I know that
What is it that draws you to use natural materials which continue to change, grow and decay after using them within your artwork?
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Originally it was the endless colours and forms that led me to use flowers, but now it is the complete sensory experience you can receive from using flowers as a material. I’m fascinated by my work changing over time and the challenges I face whilst working with an expensive and ephemeral material. I feel like I am constantly learning about how to use flowers and they still often surprise me, as one slight change in the environment
Photography | Luis da Silva
Visit The Garden Museum from 7th February - 27th April to see Rebecca’s installation - www.gardenmuseum.org.uk.
Photography | Nicola Tree 38
can completely change an installation. I love bringing nature into a urban environment.
Your art work ranges from visual merchandising for store windows, to exhibition and gallery installations. What kind of floral art do you enjoy creating the most? My favourite work has been when I work within complete trust and freedom. I love making large scale installations, the bigger the better.
What do you want the viewer to feel when they are in a room surrounded by your floral art installations? I want the installations to leave a lasting impression. I like the viewer to reconsider natural changes, what is valuable and how long does that value last? My installations are made personal by encouraging the use of the senses; sight, touch and smell and what this triggers in the mind.
Where is your favourite place to visit outside to draw inspiration from?
The countryside, I especially like mountain tops and hills or the Fens in the East of England. I enjoy visiting anywhere where you can see nature for
miles and miles.
You recently created a beautiful floating meadow on the ceiling of the Garden Museum’s church venue using 4,600 flowers for the exhibition ‘Fashion & Gardens: Spring/Summer - Autumn/ Winter’. Why do you believe that flowers are so predominant in historic and contemporary fashion design? What led me to use flowers in the first place was the endless colours and forms that they have, you can never run out of inspiration from flowers. As well as this humans just like looking at them, flowers are an ephemeral gift which is why most of us love them. Surface pattern design is a medium that can capture and preserve the flower. It is another way of bringing nature to urban environments.
Do you have any exciting projects coming up in the near future? I will be working with the Chelsea flower Show in May.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years time? I would love to be pushing the boundaries of art with flowers further. www.rebeccalouiselaw.com 39
Illustration | Sophie Body
Save
Reborn All things can recycle Change in form From floating in air To shading from the sun.
So silk scarves are slinky skirts And cut out hats are collars Then sleeves become leggings And cuffs are pockets for pennies. Transformed, re-born. What is created Is re-created. Never say a cycle ends: It spirals on, It cycles on: Fashion and nature in tandem. Words | Carole Morgan
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Photography | Rachel Hodgson Styling & Art Direction | Layla Abounour Hair & Makeup | Jason Martin Model | Jemima at Flawless Styling Assistant | Rhiana Kalsi
Handmade Earrings | Becky Baisden Jacket | Beyond Retro Levi Shorts | Rokit Shoes | La Moda
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Handmade Headpiece | Becky Baisden Top | Beyond Retro Dress | Urban Renewal at Urban Outfitters
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Jumpsuit | Beyond Retro Shoes | as before
Sweatshirt | Urban Renewal at Urban Outfitters Skirt | Hand painted by stylist
Handmade Headpiece | Becky Baisden Top | Urban Renewal at Urban Outfitters Shorts | Beyond Retro Shoes | as before
Handmade Headpiece | Becky Baisden Sweatshirt | Urban Renewal at Urban Outfitters Skirt | Traid
Sweatshirt | Beyond Retro Skirt | Beyond Retro Shoes | as before
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Jacket | hand painted by stylist Sweatshirt | Beyond Retro Skirt | Beyond Retro
Visit Regents park during this Summer to surround yourself with an array of beautiful scenery and wildlife. 50
How to Make Pastel Pom Poms
Illustration | Joanna Martin
There is no need to go out and buy new clothes and accessories every time a new trend comes into fashion! Every item used in this shoot followed the biggest trends for Spring/Summer 2014 whilst also using recycled or reworked garments and accessories only. Get customising those old items hidden at the back of your wardrobe, utilise that old dusty ball of yarn and save the world one pom pom at a time! These can then be used to jazz up old sandals, hats and hair ties... If you can name it, you can stick a pom pom on it! You will need: Yarn, cardboard and a pair of scissors
Step One:
Cut out two cardboard circles, the bigger the circle, the bigger the pom pom. Cut out a circular hole in the middle of each piece, so that they resemble a doughnut shaped ring. Then cut into the centre of each ring, so that they become open ended.
Step Two:
Place the two cardboard rings together and then begin to thread the yarn through the hole, covering all of the cardboard. Layer up the ring with yarn until it becomes full, changing colours as you wish.
Step Three: Using the outer edges of the cardboard rings as a guide, cut through the yarn. The tie a long piece of yarn tightly around the centre of the pom pom, Step Four:
Remove the cardboard, then trim the pom pom edges to make it neat and tidy. You are now ready to customise anything and everything with fluffy, circular happiness!
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Illustration | Sophie Body
Explore
Instar
Photography | Paul Astley Styling & Art Direction | Layla Abounour Hair & Makeup | Jason Martin Model | Klaudia Zabek Styling Assistant | Katy Glayzer Words | Carole Morgan Filming | Nadia Hammoud Available at www.fluttermagazine.co.uk
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Dress | Marco Pelosi
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Dress | Vingi Wong
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Top | Narae Parks
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Top | Hannah Rose Flores
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Dress | Vingi Wong
Visit Butterfly World, St Albans this summer to walk amongst the 600 tropical butterflies from around the world - www.butterflyworldproject.com.
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Outsider Tips Fun things to see and do this summer whilst soaking up beautiful views of the great outdoors
Open Garden Squares Weekend
The Eden Project Sessions
When: 14th - 15th June Where: London Cost: £12 per day
When: June - July Where: Cornwall Cost: From £35
This annual event aims to increase the awareness and appreciation of some of London’s most overlooked green spaces, demonstrating that there is more to London than smog and crowded tubes. 200 hidden gardens will be open for the public, with the Cordwainers garden being one not to miss. Based on the site of the old shoe-making college, the community garden focuses on urban food growing and plants used in colour fabric dye.
Watch your favourite artist, such as Dizzee Rascal, Ellie Goulding and Elbow, perform by the breathtakingly beautiful Biomes, which create amazing natural acoustics. Each ticket includes entry to the Eden Project on the day of the session and the day after, giving you the chance to explore the venue boasting the world’s largest rainforest in captivity.
www.opensquares.org
www.edensessions.com
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Lattitude Festival
Kew at the Movies
When: 17th - 20th July Where: Suffolk Cost: Weekend £195, Day £84.50
When: 4th - 6th September Where: Sussex and London Cost: From £16.50
Lattitude is a music festival with a twist. Immerse yourself in good music, culture and the arts this July whilst topping up that tan in the peaceful Suffolk countryside. Weekend tickets include access to all performances from comedians, musicians and dancers. Be sure to check out the theatre and literary arenas if you enjoy embracing a little contemporary culture.
In partnership with the UK’s leading open air cinema, The Luna Cinema, Kew at the Movies will take place by the stunning mansion house at Wakehurst Place in Sussex and by the always beautiful Kew Palace at Kew Gardens in London. The three films on offer this year are Top Gun, Baz Luhrman’s 1996 adaption of Romeo + Juliet and the 2013 seven-time Oscar winning film Gravity.
www.latitudefestival.com
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Illustration | Sophie Body
Renew... As leaves fall and pile together They crumble and dry And, in time, Become the rich soil From which Plants peep and grow, Sprout leaves and bud and flower. Then petals fall and pile together ‌ So one thing blooms, then changes, Re-forms, renews. Bursting with spring Protectors in summer Fallen through autumn Sleeping in winter Every year We discover This cycle Does continue And that is All we need to know Words | Carole Morgan
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