The Wonderful Natalie Gibson!

To me, Natalie Gibson is like print royalty. Every print she has created tells a tale and most of it is immersed in rich British history from her prints being worn by Twiggy to being featured with Jimi Hendrix. She is such a cultural treasure that this year the government awarded her an MBE for her services to fashion and textile.

Seeing her work is like seeing a magician creating treasures from thin air. The colour, fluidity of her designs and creativity transports me to a very happy world where everything is seen through rose-tinted glasses.

If you are not familiar with her work, Livingstone Studio in Hampstead, London (click here) is showcasing Natalie’s work from this Saturday (05 July 2014). Titled “Natalie Gibson MBE: A Life in Print’, this exhibition shows a small collection of Natalie’s original work to celebrate her career in printed textiles for fashion with most of the prints made into wearable garments for sale.

I was lucky enough to assist in the process of making some of the items. All of the exhibition items were made in London and the majority of the garment were created and sewn by experts with all of the T-shirts printed by Natalie herself. I had such a fun time observing the process and to my luck, I was given some remnants.

With some spare time during the weekend, I turned the pieces of fabrics I got from Natalie and made myself a very colourful and playful pair of summer shorts.

I used the selvedge on the fabric on the turn up as I wanted to showcase not only the designer of the fabric but also the name of the print.

Being the extremely impatient man that I am, I couldn’t resist wearing it and being a sunny Sunday last weekend, I wore it out to town to spread some happiness to everyone.

I have another piece of fabric with a different print that I might make into another pair of shorts but I just hope the sunny weather continues so I can wear them everyday.

Till then, I’m hopping off to the exhibition this weekend to admire at all of Natalie’s prints.