I was in high school when I first decided that design would be my destination, but my GPS must have been on the blink, because the exact area of design was undetermined. Today, I'm no closer to finding the exact location I fit into, but I have discovered that it's something that doesn't need to be found.
What's the one thing Fashion Week leaves behind when taking its flight to Milan? Somerset House. Even when the designers have packed down their collections and the super models stepped down from their high heels, the beautiful venue along the Thames stays put and doesn't even get a full week's rest.
And while we are more open to purchasing electronic products that are China- made, many of us are still resistant to paying top dollars for a designer bag or a dress that's manufactured there (as opposed to home countries of these fashion houses). Admit it, there is hesitation. So, why the prejudice?
When it's scorching outside, a part of me knows there's a group of very overheated design graduates setting up for yet another year of the New Designers exhibition. Whether it's purely down to the weather or just the 3,500 excited students in one building, the heat is cooled by the refreshing perspective on design that awaits inside.
This season's fashion florals seem to split into two categories - the exotic, tropical prints seen in collections for Stella McCartney resort, Alberta Ferretti, Altuzarra and Givenchy resort, versus the more modest, English Country Garden style blooms featured at Erdem, Dolce & Gabbana and at Louis Vuitton through Marc Jacobs' Broderie Anglaise daisy patterns.
So it's February already and Valentines, summer parties and wedding season are approaching rapidly, bringing with them the inevitable sartorial dilemmas. Opt for an old favourite and a little voice goes "but I wore that last time" (sulk), or opt for something new and I find it hard to quash those "but what if someone else is wearing it" fears.