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‘Exuberant Opulence’ for AW20 –hyper-real nature, oil slicks, highshine, ombre colour washes
Rise and high-shine
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What’s inspiring chic Bristol textile design studio &elle, and how fashion has changed and adapted this year
Ellen Tozer moved from London to Bristol in 2015 after cutting her teeth in the capital’s fashion industry as a print designer for UK and international brands for over a decade. Having decided she wanted to relocate her work to a “more authentic and creative” city, Ellen founded her textile design studio &elle – based on Barton Road and born from a realisation that brands were increasingly using print and colour to define their aesthetic. Rather than buying ‘off the shelf’ designs she set up with the intention of creating bespoke prints tailored to the brands’ individual style, allowing them to create their own hero pieces.
Here she talks fast fashion and future trends.
TBM: Which brands are you working with this year?
Ellen Tozer: Currently some amazing small UK-based and eco-focused brands – unfortunately none that can be named at the moment. They’re in a range of sectors, from men’s lounge and underwear to ladies’ casual wear and even ceramic tabletop products.
Which is your favourite of the coming trends for AW20?
We’re seeing an interest in high opulence for Christmas. In a backlash against future austerity and having to live pared-back lives, Christmas and winter are going to be focused around more being more.
How have/will our new circumstances affect what we’re wearing?
Due to the pandemic there has been a huge shift in the way companies are predicting trends for the coming seasons – mainly because trends are predicted on street style, fashion weeks and previous buying patterns, all of which have been put on hold for the time being. Brands also have a huge amount of surplus stock from this summer which will be folded into the collections for SS21. This leaves us with a great challenge of predicting which trends will be key for SS21 and can layer into the old SS20 stock when it is put into store next summer. So we’ve been really busy though lockdown, working out the key trends for SS21. That being said, these trends are quite classic, and are harking back to retro eras, looking at them through rose-tinted glasses. The drawing style is hand-
done, illustrated and craft driven, inspired by our renewed interest in home-craft. There is also a huge interest in the healing properties of nature, and how images and colours of nature can promote calm and positivity. So for SS21, pretty meadow florals and earth-inspired textures are going to be big in the print world. Colour-wise, earth hues and fresh greens will come through strongly.
Will these new circumstances change the fast-fashion industry at all?
There seems to be a shift in consumer attitude towards fast fashion. Hopefully the recent highlighting of bad working conditions and the polluting nature of the fashion industry will help people to think before they buy something, asking the question: has the production of this garment caused any harm, either to its makers or the environment? And also the consideration ‘will this last?’ and ‘is this a long-life purchase?’ This in turn will force the larger, less compliant
‘Nature’s Cure’ –nature’s healing power, pressed flowers, linear illustrations, retro florals brands to consider their supply chain and the good or harm it is doing. Lost Stock [the mystery clothes box scheme selling half-price fashion from high-street labels to stop clothing going to landfill at the start of the pandemic and support Bangladeshi garment makers left out of work when major brands cancelled orders en masse] is a fantastic project and one that is highlighting the injustice in the fast-fashion supply chain. Consumers have more choice than ever when it comes to these issues and, with it, hopefully more power to change things.
Who do you admire in the Bristol fashion and design scene?
I work in the same building as some amazing textile and fashion businesses. Dash and Miller [woven fabric design studio and textile trend consultancy], Made My Wardrobe [sewing patterns and workshops] and Antiform [forward-thinking fashion and ethical, sustainable design using reclaimed materials and heritage craft] are all brilliant companies that are pioneering in their own ways. ■ • and-elle.com
The ‘Warm Earth’ trend for SS21 –sun-bleached hues, mineral textures, tie-dye, soft sketched
Like Lewis Hamilton, Lando’s fully behind improving diversity in racing Lando’s unexpected first podium finish after the Austrian Grand Prix in July
Andy Hone/Motorsport Images A s forays into the fast-paced world of Formula One go, Lando Norris’s has been encouraging to say the least. He’s trackside, in 33-degree Barcelonian heat, when we speak – having just finished respectably in eighth position after the qualifying laps of the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix, sandwiched between teammate Carlos Sainz and Ferrari’s Charles Le Clerc. Lando Norris seems just as close with these nippy young drivers – alongside Max Verstappen, George Russell and Alex Albon –with off-the-racetrack, gentle ribbing and competitive banter part of their modus operandi, and the playful partnership with Sainz branded one of the biggest bromances on the circuit. For many fans the world over, it’s been a joy to watch the rise of the rookies – this shot of new energy continuing its course through virtual grand prix challenges set up during lockdown – and for Bristol, local boy Lando in particular.
Despite high temperatures, fiddlesome face mask and not finishing exactly where he might have wanted to, the 20-year-old talent is positive, good humoured, characteristically collected – he knows he still has plenty to smile about. “Last year was very good but this season has started much better, better than we were anticipating and probably ever expecting, especially with the podium in race one then some P5s [fifth position grid starts],” says Lando, who on the very last lap of the Austrian Grand Prix in July, managed to seal his first F1 fastest lap and become the third youngest F1 podium finisher ever, after fearing he’d fudged the whole thing. He found himself stood on the rostrum beside Valtteri Bottas and Charles Le Clerc, showered in champagne after besting a penalised Lewis Hamilton, no less.
“I guess the podium is the one that stands out,” grins Lando. He strikes me as a kid with the sort of psychological make-up you need to be able to let anxieties wash over you like water off a duck’s back –and to win. Even the pressure of being named rookie of the year by fans in 2019 hasn’t fazed him. “Of course I knew I needed to take a step up, and when you go into season two, people do expect just that little bit more. So far I’ve achieved that so I’m happy with how I’ve been doing but there are still things I need to improve on. But I never felt because of winning that last year that there was pressure.”
Still – cucumberesque in his coolness or not – it must have thrown him to have his high-octane level-up into top-flight professional racing come screeching to a halt when the pandemic hit. It didn’t show, with Lando springing into action to help Formula One and a handful of other F1 drivers launch a virtual grand prix series from home, to replace the postponed real-life races. Providing light relief for viewers – at one point Lando’s car drove itself around the track after he lost internet connection – and bringing participating drivers closer, it helped them prepare for the eventual resuming of the season the only way they could. Hitting pause also allowed for a period of more in-depth analysis and reflection.
“Before race one we did the preseason tests at the normal time of the year – the early part – then we had three, four months of not doing anything, so the main thing in terms of preparation off-season was looking at my strengths and weaknesses, trying to work on them, and making the whole package a bit better, driving the simulator at McLaren and putting more time into reviewing last year. Then before race one, there was a lot of time spent at home playing on the simulator and training.”
A keen gamer who admits to 48-hour sessions – if Lando likes doing something he’ll spend forever trying to perfect it, whether it’s driving, graphic design or cleaning his house from top to bottom at midnight –he has felt compelled to defend sim racing in recent times. Younger drivers’ ability to risk-assess was called into question last year by 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, who suggested an overreliance on racing simulators and less awareness of the dangers out on the track might have played a part in Anthoine Hubert’s fatal crash in the Spa Formula 2 race. Unafraid of voicing his thoughts and responding to criticism from more established drivers, Lando also hit back at Hamilton’s comments about F1 being too easy for entry-level drivers due to power steering. And anyone who follows Lando’s social media channels is likely to dispute another of Villeneuve’s recent claims that the sport no longer has enough character and personality – has he not seen ‘memelord’ Lando’s displays of self-deprecating British humour on Instagram after he’s crashed out of races?
Indeed one of Lando’s strengths is his level of connection with his ➲
