SLK Designs for Swarovski “Ignite your Dreams”
SLK Sarah-Louise Designs
Bold, dramatic, modern and colourful, for fashion conscious, playful and rebellious women. Exploring conceptual and architectural silhouettes. An avant-garde take on classic Haute Couture.
SWAROVSKI FILM - Culmination of a year’s work under Lockdown in Portugal
My surprisingly amazing Covid year came to a peak when I built up the courage to ask Marta Sierra, well known Barcelona based fashion influencer with over 715k Instagram followers, if she would collaborate with me and wear my collection in her innovative videos in the Autumn after I graduated in BA(Hons) Fashion Design with Business studies from the University of Brighton (June 2020).
Minutes later, B.Akerlund, stylist and fashion activist who has worked with celebrities the likes of Madonna and Lady Gaga, sent me a message on Instagram and commissioned me to create a dress for a Swarovski film (for the launch of their new collection and installation in Milan by Creative Director, Giovanna Engelbert) in their preferred materials and colour (‘candy wrapper pink’, as B.Akerlund calls it). In the space of a weekend, I created this dress for them in between teaching French conversation classes online and organising a photoshoot at Casa Fuzetta, a well known private villa for exclusive events in Olhão, Algarve.
Knowing the ultimate deadline of the UPS courier on Monday morning left me less than 72 hours, I worked every minute of the day. I was up for the challenge and finished in the early hours of Sunday morning! Hoping it would make it in time despite the Christmas rush, I handed the dress over to the courier first thing that Monday, my mind buzzing with excitement.
I have been waiting with much anticipation for the last 3 months. All I knew was that the dress had indeed been used in the film and that they were happy with it.
I was thrilled to be informed on the 24th of February that the Swarovski video was going live on social media, featuring my dress worn by the famous model, Adwoa Aboha. I was so excited and emotional to see my first custom-made commission since graduating being worn and filmed in such a professional and innovative way for the iconic brand, Swarovski. I couldn’t have wished for a better launch for my new brand SLK Sarah-Louise Designs.
Thanks to the boom in online media, I have been able to find innovative ways to promote my designs online and develop possibilities of nomad working for my brand. I always wanted my dresses to be photographed in The Palace of Versailles in France, where I come from. One day back in the first Lockdown while still in Brighton, UK, I decided to take my computer and make a photoshop montage of one of my designs. These days you can do wonders with technology. Some people believed this was a real photoshoot. Now I can be physically in Portugal and digitally anywhere in the world!
It's this technology that made London Fashion Week possible in 2021. As I was in the process of launching my brand and preparing some items to sell on my new website, I found out I had been selected by Graduate Fashion Foundation (GFF) as one of 6 designers from the class of 2020 to have the opportunity of being featured at London Fashion Week. GFF launched its Designer Profile from the 19th-23rd February 2021, in collaboration with Visualist who coordinated the shoot. It was unlike any other shoot! The team met the cast and crew for the very first time on shoot day, and instead of the designers being physically on set, we took part remotely via private livestream in order to direct and guide the styling of our collections. Visualist conceived the shoot and managed post-production 100% virtually. Their workflow was highly visual and collaborative with a steady stream of digital moodboarding, supplemented by robust discussion that took place over a medley of video calls and threaded messages. This process definitely opened my eyes to all the possibilities there are with technology!
In conjunction with all these projects, I launched my first website. Here you can discover more about my background, my brand message, press features, editorials and press releases. Clients will soon be able to purchase luxury bags and corset tops in various colours inspired by my most recent collection in the online shop!
Let’s go back in time to March 2020. Covid had just hit the UK and we were told that the university was closing, and we had to work from home. I had to create my own little studio in my house share. In my room I had an industrial sewing machine I rented, a hanging rail, my bed, a wardrobe, my desk and about 2m square to do my morning Yoga. I started to sew my final year collection and for the next 3 months I lived and worked in the same room with no student life. In June I finally graduated and moved to Portugal where my parents live, to ride out the COVID wave (tsunami) and take a financial load off my shoulders.
After exploring and making the most of the sun, surf and beaches, I set up my Atelier in my bedroom. It wasn’t easy to deal with the frustrations of semi-Lockdown, ordering a machine, starting from scratch and finding new local suppliers for fabrics and haberdashery, but I soon adjusted. I started to reach out to local creatives and collaborate on photoshoots. My favourite one so far was at the amazing Palacio Pousada Estoi near Faro.
In collaboration with an amazing artist (painter) friend, I am currently working hard behind the scenes on a new collection, keeping the Wow factor and avant-garde couture feel of my graduate collection. All will be revealed in June. In the meantime, I will continue to collaborate with local talent and send my dresses around the world for inspiring photoshoots.
Given the uncertainty of travel I am setting up my business in Portugal, making the most of the positive creative vibes surrounding me in the beautiful nature here in the Algarve. After all, we have entered a new digital era for fashion where you can work from anywhere.
