Now that pubs have finally reopened and all our favourite restaurants have once again cautiously reopened their doors (thank god!), we finally have a reason to whip out our favourite summer frocks for a socially-distanced night out on the town. If you’ve been indoors for too long and needing some style inspiration, here’s a few of our fashion staples so you can summer safely and fashionably too.
Matilda Butterscotch Sunglasses by Finlay London available at www.finlayandco.com
Striped Galion Shirt-dress by Paul & Joe available at www.paulandjoe.com
Aqua Simon Sandals by Kalda Shoes available at www.kalda.com
While #TeamCoco may be safely self-isolating at home, we’re still on the hunt to find new ways to inspire you even in lockdown. We know you’ve probably been living in pyjamas for the better part of two months weeks (heck – so have we), but there’s also nothing wrong with dressing up and cosying up in style too.
With the often fleeting but very welcome arrival of the British summertime, this edition of the Lockdown Edit focuses on easy, breezy pieces so you can be the style queen of your own back garden.
While #TeamCoco may be safely self-isolating at home, we’re still on the hunt to find new ways to inspire you even in lockdown. We know you’ve probably been living in pyjamas for the better part of three weeks (heck – so have we), but there’s also nothing wrong with dressing up and cosying up in style too.
So, whether you’re exploring new ways to create #stayathome content or just wanting to look like a human being on your next Zoom meeting, here’s a few of our favourite loungewear and homeware pieces so you can level up your social-distancing style game.
It is the month of love, and what better way to celebrate than asking your Bae to treat you to a little special something.
So, if you are looking for a new luxurious skincare for your lips, romantic breakfast in bed, a gorgeous floral fragrance, a tasty sweet treat, a delicious liqueur, a box of luxury bath-time truffles, a pretty heart-shaped houseplant, a pretty scarf, or even a stunning bouquet of roses, then we’ve got you covered.
Apoth and Co., Lip Care Trio, £14 each, from apothandco.com
A lip care trip designed for the perfect lip care routine; an exfoliating lip scrub, a hydrating lip gel mask, and a moisturizing lip balm to help with the perfect valentine’s pout.
Forman & Field, Breakfast in Bed Hamper, £54.95, from formanandfield.com
More than just breakfast in bed, this gorgeous hamper is a statement of romance. Included in the hamper are Forman’s Grade One Smoked Salmon (200g), Peter’s Yard Crispbreads (200g), Chapel Down Brut Reserve (75cl), Pear & Lemon Conserve (225g), and Paddy & Scott’s Morning Coffee.
Leighton Denny, LD LIGHT & DARK Eau De Parfum, £43.50 (70ml), from LD-boutique.com
Essential oil blends of pepper, myrrh and incense offer a warm, welcoming, unique fragrance. Heart notes of gardenia, jasmine, lily and rose stimulate confidence, attraction and desire. Merged with top notes of mandarin, grapefruit, peach and white pepper this blend will mesmerise. This irresistible fragrance is exotic and intoxicating, triggering instincts of allure, attraction and distinctiveness and leaving an exhilarating, hypnotic scent trail ideal for valentines.
Smith & Sinclair, Bae Mine Boozy Gummies, £15 per box (+ £1 per valentine’s sleeve), smithandsinclair.com
Smith & Sinclair, kinky creators of cocktail confectionery, have applied their signature adult twist to its original grown-up Alcoholic Cocktail Gummies with limited-edition Valentine’s Day sleeves to personalise with a naughty or nice message!
Chambord, Black Raspberry Liqueur, £8 (20cl), from all major supermarkets
The Chambord 20cl bottle can be gifted by itself, or if you are celebrating at home, can be incorporated in to a wide range of delicious cocktails – the perfect way to impress your valentine.
The Chambord Royale (15ml Chambord to 125ml Champagne or Prosecco), puts a saucy twists on traditional flute of fizz and will kick start your Valentine’s Day beautifully.
Drop a bundle of luxury into your bath this Valentine’s Day with one of the moisturising bath truffles by The Yorkshire Soap Co. Handmade using cocoa butter and sweet almond oil, the truffles are an the ideal addition to a romantic evening at home on 14th February.
Root, Valentine Hoya Kerrii Houseplant, £4, from root-houseplants.com
You can rely on a small single rooted leaf to make a very big statement this Valentine’s Day. The Valentine Hoya Kerrii is a slow growing, perfect heart shaped semi-succulent plant with bright green leaves that grow from a vining stem.
Aldi, Shades of Love Bouquet, £29.99, Aldi stores
Aldi’s Shades of Love Bouquet has Valentine’s Day sorted for your beau, the ombre bouquets contains 100 carefully selected, Fairtrade roses and is available in-store from 12th February.
This Kamala scarf is made by one of Beulah’s impact partners in Nepal. By purchasing a scarf, the wearer is helping to provide vulnerable women with sustainable employment opportunities to help them break the cycle of poverty. Made of 70% wool and 30% silk. Spotted on the Duchess of Cambridge while in Wales recently. What a royally wonderful valentine gift this would be! For something a little bit more unique, head to ManlyManCo.com.
Manly Man Co
Looking for something a bit more manly, look no further than ManlyManCo.com. Whether its beef jerky roses to make your man smile or he’s more of a bacon man, this is the place to shop for all of your manly Valentines gifts.
So if you’re feeling inspired and planning to conquer table mountain, or just lounge by the Silo Hotel’s very own rooftop pool; then your outfits should definitely match the occasion. Our suggestion? Embrace classic khakis and contemporary earth tones – for a safari look that is as fierce as the wildlife.
Khaki Gabriela Hat by Misaharada available at www.misaharada.com
Leopard print bodysuit by Longchamp available at longchamp.com
Yorkshire lad Luke Christian launches his new fashion brand: DEAF IDENTITY
Being born deaf, Luke Christian wants to push boundaries to show that deafness has a wide spectrum whether it be communicating through Sign Language (BSL, SSE, and ISL), communicating orally, or being CODA (Child of deaf adult).
DEAF IDENTITY was founded in September 2019 and #TeamCoco are loving the designs. Luke realised more needed to be done to raise awareness of being deaf, so put his love for fashion to the test. Available worldwide, anyone will be able to ‘build a t-shirt’ and personalise it in British Sign Language. Luke wanted to bring something fresh, exciting, modern and relevant and to shake up the way people think of the deaf community. The t-shirts are a range of sizes to suit men, women and children as little as one year old.
Luke said, “In a world where diversity is being celebrated and shown throughout various media outlets, I was yet to see any deaf awareness, until now.
Being born deaf into a deaf family, where the deaf gene is prominent, was pretty tough. I never had a deaf role model to look up to in the media or a deaf group to identify with, and I always felt my deafness was up for debate. I often got told ‘You wear hearing aids so you’re deaf.’ And ‘Ugh, never mind, it doesn’t matter.’ or the opposite, ‘Well you don’t look deaf.’ and ‘If you can’t sign then you’re not really deaf.’ It really affected my confidence.”
Luke wants to make it clear that there is no right or wrong way of being deaf and that it’s time that deafness got recognised and spoken about. He hopes through his brand DEAF IDENTIFY and his blog where he talks about life, fashion and beauty, he can break down some barriers.
The t-shirts start from kidswear priced at £16 (1-2 years to 12-14 years), Womenswear £26 (XS-XXL) and Menswear £26 (XS-XXL). Available from www.deafidentity.com.
New York City is the home and design haven for Noor Shamma and her namesake jewellery brand Noor Shamma.
Noor’s designs are beautifully elegant, tastefully designed, and follow an ethical before they reach the customer. The Noor Shamma collections are sustainably sourced by using recycled and conflict free 18-karat gold, her team follow the sustainable practice through conserving natural resources, reducing energy usage, reducing carbon emissions and by reducing their carbon footprint.
We ask Noor about her background in jewellery, her love of elegant design, and we want to know more about her own personal favourite designs and styles. She is our latest #BossBabe superstar and she features in this, our #WomenWorldwide series.
Q. Does your working career stem from within the jewellery industry, or did you come from a different business sector?
A. I’ve always been into art and design (since childhood) but my career has primarily been in corporate communications, marketing and branding for the past 14 years or so. I randomly yet naturally transitioned into jewellery design and gradually developed my skill-set, while keeping my full-time corporate job!
Q. You tend to work with 18-karat gold, diamonds and pearls, are these your favourite metals and stones to design jewellery from?
A. I love designing timeless jewellery and that naturally impacts my metal and stone choices.
Q. You currently have three collections available from Noor Shamma, they include the Repertoire, Troika, and Luz; can you tell us a little more about these collections?
A. My collections introduce architectural elements and distinctive geometric patterns where each of the pieces are expertly engineered in a way that allows unique multi-functionality through different adaptations, making them perfect day-to-night – they’re so versatile, elegant and fun.
Q. You design necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings in your collections; do you have a piece that is your favourite ‘go to’ for every occasion?
A. That’s a tough question. There are many pieces that I love, but if I had to pick it would be the OG Repertoire U-hoops, and the Luz Diamond U-Huggies which I almost never take off lately. Plus the Luz signet ring is quite special!
Q. Do you wear your own Noor Shamma designs along with any other designer jewellery brands, or do you only wear Noor Shamma?
A. I wear my own designs along with other jewellery designers’ brands.
Q. You are very eco-friendly and run a sustainable business at Noor Shamma, can you tell us why you have taken this route and not the traditional route?
A. We live at a time where there is so much more awareness on global issues and a better understanding of the importance of sustainability. I simply feel that we can each contribute to the world in our ways since every little thing would make a difference.
Q. Your Instagram @noorshamma showcases some of your designs beautifully; do you find social media helps to promote your brand?
A. Most certainly, as it exposes the brand to a larger audience around the world.
Q. We hear that you are planning on attending fashion week in different cities across the world, have you shown at New York Fashion Week or any other fashion week previously?
A. I’ve already presented in Milan Design Week (April 2019) and London Fashion Week (September 2019) and I most definitely hope to attend more of these shows. I’ve also presented at a couple of prominent jewellery trade shows in NYC such as Metal & Smith and JA NY, and there’s more to come.
Q. Did you have to take any specialist courses in fine jewellery or art design before you launched your business in New York?
A. Over two years ago, after I realised my passion and talent in jewellery design and when I finally decided to launch my very own brand, I took an intensive course and received my GIA accreditation in Applied Jewellery Professional.
Q. Did anyone offer you any useful business advice before you launched your company that you still use to this day?
A. Trust your gut, you know best.
Q. Did anyone offer you any bad advice that you followed, and later wished you hadn’t?
A. To be honest, any bad decisions I made were my call.
Q. If you were to offer one piece of advice to someone thinking of getting into the fine jewellery sector, what would it be?
A. Do your homework.
Thank you for taking the time to answer all our #BossBabe questions for House of Coco Magazine. Visit the website www.noorshamma.com to find out more, and Instagram @noorshamma to see Noor’s latest designs.
Pavlina Jauss is a German luxury fashion designer that specialises in the field of luxury avant-garde fashion, with a nod towards fair trade and sustainability. Pavlina prides herself in working with some of the best European suppliers around and produces 99% of her designs in Hamburg, Germany, with only her knitwear being produced in Bulgaria by a traditional knitting company.
Pavlina’s latest designs are ethereal, flowing, and contemporary, all are exquisitely crafted with intricate finishing touches that produce head-turning quality clothing.
We wanted to know more about Pavlina, her designs, and why her catwalks are the talk of fashion week.
Q. At what point did you realise that you were destined to be a fashion designer?
A. I can not say exactly. To me it felt like a mix of chances and changes in my life. It was a rather slow process.
Q. Is your background in the fashion industry and clothing design, or did you come across from a different business sector?
A. I came from an economic background. I admired the work of several designers, but discovered my abilities in this area afterwards. At this point I took action and began my second education as a fashion designer.
Q. All the Pavlina Jauss designs are eponymous with ethereal free flowing materials, can you tell us what materials you have used for your Autumn/Winter 2020 collection?
A. I attach great importance to the sustainability, quality and origin of the fabrics I use. The actual selection is only from european suppliers. Alpaca, cashmere, cotton, virgin wool and viscose/cotton mixes are important ingredients for this collection.
Q. You are showing at Paris Fashion Week later this year, do you have a favourite piece from your collection that will be on the catwalk?
A. I am in love with most of my creations. As a designer you will never release something that you do not like. Often, my absolute favorites are the garments that are not bestsellers.
Q. Your designs are known for being flattering, fashionable and luxuriously stylish, yet always with relaxing ease – how do you manage to keep your designs informal with such strong style?
A. This is an interesting question and hard to answer. I would guess, it is a mix of my personal approach on fashion design and the number one criteria for every garment in my collections: I must want to wear it by myself.
Q. Can we ask when you are at your most creative design-wise; are you a morning, afternoon or evening designer? And, where do your design-ideas come from?
A. This varies. I think I am more creative in the evenings, but more productive during the day. I love to find inspiration and recharge myself by enjoying a glass of wine with my friends and family or reading a good book on my own. I find a lot of inspiration through music, history, mythology and nature, but also things in my regular life inspire me from time to time.
Q. If you weren’t a fashion designer, what would you be doing right now?
A. If I was not into fashion, I might have become an interior designer or would love to work in an antique shop. I love antiquities.
Q. What are your immediate plans for Pavlina Jauss in the next few years, do you intend on expanding or bringing in new designers to work alongside you, or will you be focusing on fashion shows?
A. I really want to continue to evolve my brand in a slow and healthy way. Slower growth gives me the possibility to maintain full control over the quality of the garments we produce.
Q. Did anyone offer you any good business advice before you embarked on becoming a fashion designer, and do you still adhere to that advice now that you are running a successful business?
A. We jumped in at the deep end to be honest.
Q. What piece of advice would you give someone looking to get into the fashion industry?
A. The fashion business has changed dramatically in the past. Being brave, passionate and patient are essential skills of the successful people I know in that business. Creativity and diligence help as well.
Thank you for taking the time to answer all our #BossBabe questions for House of Coco Magazine online. #WomenWorldwide #GirlBoss
We’re joined by Lily Arkwright co founder and company MD, Lauren Shanks.
Lily Arkwright has redefined the standards for beautiful lab grown jewellery with vibrant collections of diamonds, moissanite and precious gemstones, ethically & sustainably produced and crafted in the UK.
Lily Arkwright has received a huge amount of hype and praise in recent years, with this in mind we delve deep into one of the names behind the brand and look into Lauren’s past to find out about her jewellery background, her love of sparkling jewels, and we want to know more about the precious stone moissanite.
Q. Can you tell our readers a little bit about Lily Arkwright, what sets you apart from other jewellery retailers?
A. We like to do things a little differently here at Lily Arkwright, no stuffy sales environment, amazing pricing and quality that really exceeds all expectations. Typically our customers can expect to save 90% on one of our popular moissanite set rings compared to a high street diamond equivalent. We find these savings really help when planning a wedding or honeymoon.
Consumers shouldn’t feel pressured into utilising their savings pot or overspending on a diamond engagement ring, we find couples often place more value on life experiences and purchasing a moissanite or lab grown diamond engagement ring helps achieve this.
Q. Is a moissanite gemstone the same as a diamond, is there any difference visually?
A. Moissanite is in fact rarer than diamonds and was initially mistaken as a diamond when first discovered, for this reason the vast majority of moissanite is now lab grown and engineered to give the illusion of similarity to diamonds.
We’re proud authorised Charles & Colvard retailers and set moissanite stones in all our rings as standard. Charles & Colvard are the original moissanite produces and their stones are really the very premium quality moissanite stones available today.
We’re obviously huge moissanite fans but really do believe in choice and set lab diamonds, Chatham couloured precious gemstones including rubies, emeralds and sapphires in all our collections.
Q. Does your working career stem from within the jewellery industry, or did you come from a different business sector?
A. I actually started out in fashion design and subsequently moved into fine jewellery several years ago. Fine jewellery has always been a passion of mine, when the opportunity arose to combine my passion for fine jewellery and my experience within eCommerce and the digital space It was impossible to refuse.
My professional career for the past 15 years has been tremendously exciting working within the luxury brands sector within digital, eCom Management and operations & retail.
Q. HOC. Your designs start in price from around £300 and rise to around £4,000 – do you have a current favourite piece from your collections?
A. Gosh, I have so many favourites. The Giselle, Eden and Annora, the list is endless!
I love the Grace classic solitaire, its elegant, classic and timeless, this setting really does show off the centre stone setting in the best possible light.
I wear a customised version of the cushion cut Lavender for my engagement ring, and am I having 3.0mm wide full set band for my wedding ring. We’re actually introducing this design as the Aurelia band as part of our new collection later this summer.
I really enjoy mixing my metals and often wear rose alongside my white gold and platinum rings.
Q. Do you wear your own Lily Arkwright designs along with any other designer jewellery brands, or do you only wear Lily Arkwright?
A. I do, I genuinely love the collections we produce and the team and I are forever personally testing new Lily Arkwright designs. It really helps to fully trial a design and there’s no better way than wearing one.
I’ve recently been trialing a lightweight petite three stone Lorella ring, with a moissanite centre stone and lab grown blue Chatham sapphires on the middle finger of my right hand for the last few weeks, I’ve had so many lovely compliments and the band is actually a really comfortable fit even at 1.75mm.
I frequently wear a select few other designer jewellery brands alongside my Lily Arkwright jewellery, I love to see how designers interpret trends.
I also never take out my Sena moissanite platinum stud earrings, these go with almost any outfit and occasion!
Q. Your Instagram @LilyArkwrightUK showcases some of your designs beautifully; do you find social media helps to promote your brand?
A. Absolutely, social media is great to showcase some of our beautiful collections and is essential for us. Our Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and other profiles helps our customers quickly view some of our favorite designs with photos and videos readily available.
Q. Did you have to take any specialist courses in fine jewellery or art design before you launched Lily Arkwright?
A. I was fortunate to have studied Fashion design whilst at university and my family come from a jewellery background so this provided me with a really strong understanding of the fine jewellery market. This was obviously only the start and it took us a number of years of market testing, pop up shops and market stalls before Lily Arkwright was finally born.
We’ve come a long way since those early days and are now proud Assay Assured jewellers retailers and members of the National Association of jewellers. Our teams are JET trained and our workshop have some of the most skilled and experienced bench workers in the United Kingdom. We offer free UK & European shipping and delivery worldwide.
Q. Did anyone offer you any useful business advice before you launched Lily Arkwright that you still use to this day?
A. I’ve had so many wonderful mentors throughout my professional career and I’ve always tried to remember and more importantly implement useful advice, it almost becomes a habit.
In my experience nothing is more imperative than, honesty, hard work, integrity and smart working. This is something that both myself and fellow directors really impress upon our colleagues on a daily basis.
Q. If you were to offer one piece of advice to someone thinking of getting into the jewellery sector, what would it be?
A. Working within the jewellery sector is both extremely challenging and rewarding, in particular bridal jewellery. You have the honour of helping a happy couple make one of the single most important purchases they’ll ever make, something that will grace a bride’s finger for the rest of time and be passed down through family generations in the future, the thought of it gives me goosebumps!
My advice would be to follow your heart, if you love jewellery and enjoy helping people there’s really no limit to what you can achieve. Doing something that interests you and drives your passion is immensely rewarding and benefits you, your employer and the people you serve, your customers.
Q. What are your plans for the future, do you expect Lily Arkwright to move into the high street?
A. I’m tremendously excited about what the future holds for Lily Arkwright, we’ve only recently moved into a new larger office space and continue to grow the team making strategic hires and new appointments.
We have a number of opportunities available on the high street and have recently opened our very own consultation space in our Didsbury head office. This has been invaluable for our customers who can find it difficult to visualise some of our lab grown diamond alternative engagement rings.
In addition to our recent accomplishments, after a number of years in trials we’ve recently rolled out our very own brand moissanite, Lumoie by Lily Arkwright, this stone which was initially aimed at our value pieces is now available in most of our popular rings.
Thank you for taking the time to answer all our #BossBabe questions for House of Coco Magazine.
In May 2017 a brand new swimwear company was launched by Yasra Jaleel called Kandumathi, her designs of both bikini’s and costumes are beautifully made to sit perfectly on the female form.
Yasra’s latest designs are contemporary in style, and all are exquisitely crafted with beautiful finishing touches that offer a quality statement, and some of her bikini’s are uniquely mismatched in design.
Let us delve deeper into the mind of Yasra Jaleel to find out more about Kandumathi for the House of Coco Magazine #WomenWorldwide and #BossBabe interview series.
Q. Where did the name Kandumathi derive from?
A. Kandumathi is a Maldivian brand, specialising in bespoke swimwear. Kandumathi is a Maldivian phrase which invokes the ocean, and embodies the vulnerable, yet enduring nature of island life. We take inspiration from our natural environment and our culture, and work with local artists and designers to produce our unique look.
Q. Kandumathi is a Maldivian swimwear label, can you tell us the history, are you personally from the Maldives?
A. Kandumathi the brand was registered first in the Maldives in 2016 and then in London in 2017. I run the company along with my brother. Yes, I was born in the Maldives and moved to England in 2001. We have been running the company both in the Maldives and England since then. We have now been selling in 28 luxury resorts in the Maldives and across the globe.
Our Kandumathi philosophy is to use Maldivian art and artists, and we collaborate with local artists from the Maldives to create our unique designs. All our collections are water colour paintings by Maldivian artists Nadee Rachey and designed into swimwear by myself and Ahmed Fauzan. All our designs so far reflect the ocean around us, and marine life. Like the name of the brand, Maldivian life is firmly intertwined with the ocean.
Q. All the Kandumathi designs are eponymous with ethereal free flowing materials, can you tell us what materials you have used for your latest collection?
A. We are currently working with a manufacturer in Srilanka who uses recycled Nylon to produce swimwear and we are very excited to be able to work with sustainable material. As a brand from the Maldives, we understand the affects of plastic pollution and the damages it causes to our environment, and the great need for finding sustainable solutions.
Q. You are London-based, do you have a core British market that you sell to or do you mainly sell overseas?
A. Our main market is the tourist resorts in the Maldives and just recently we have started to sell across the globe. Although we are very young brand, we have been lucky to hold our swimwear in different outlets in London and New York.
Q. Your designs are beautiful and bold, do you design everything yourself, and what are this seasons styles?
A. We try not to focus on style seasons. We are influenced by the fact that the Maldives does not have the typical western seasons, and so our clothes don’t change from season to season. We also made a conscious decision not to create too many products too fast, as we understand the effects of manufacturing on the environment. We are also lucky to be in the Maldives as our resort customers change regularly and our first two collections have been doing very well.
Q. Can we ask when you are at your most creative design-wise; are you a morning, afternoon or evening designer? And, where do your design-ideas come from?
A. I am based in London and my work hours are a bit hectic as it is spread out in different time zones. I usually do office work during the day. My typical work day starts around 6am as Maldives is 5 hours ahead and continue to work through 9-5 London time. I believe I’m constantly inspired and I typically have a clear idea of what I want my designs to look like. The most fun part of my job is doing research on our designs, and learning about the marine life and it’s surroundings. For example for our latest collection we used sea shells and I had to learn about the formation of sea shells, it’s characteristics , life cycles as well as the designs on the shells. This work also teaches me more about the Maldives and its atoll formations, coral reefs, mangroves so on and so forth. We try and keep our designs very specific to Maldives.
Q. HOC. If you weren’t designing swimwear, what would you be doing right now?
A. I used to be a filmmaker before I started Kandumathi. I believe running this business is very similar to being a film producer. I would like to think that I am good at bringing together creative people and working with artists. I also have a strong idea of exactly what I want and I believe it is easy for the artists to work with me too.
Q. What are your immediate plans for Kandumathi in the next few years, do you intend on expanding to new markets?
A. Our immediate plans are to expand Kandumathi across the globe as much as we can and also start creating men’s collection.
Q. Did anyone offer you any strong business advice before you embarked on launching your swimwear brand?
A. I’m lucky to be surrounded by strong business minds within my family. I was brought up to believe in hard work, and if you work hard enough, you can do anything and to always dream big. I was very anxious when I started Kandumathi as I do not have any business background and have always been more of a creative person. Of course we’ve made some mistakes along the way but I always think twice before taking big risks; I am a cautious person. It also helps that I have my brother to bounce off ideas, as there is no one who would be more honest with me than my brother. It also helps that I know if I were to make a mistake he will always have my back.
Q. What piece of advice would you give someone looking to get into the swimwear industry?
A. My advice to anyone who wants to start a swimwear business is to pay attention to the female body and try not to focus too much on what other people are doing. Have a concrete idea and stick to it. And always rely on the people who work with you and trust your gut as well as the people you work with.
Thank you for taking the time to answer all our #WomenWorldwide questions for the #Bossbabe series at House of Coco Magazine online.
