Everyone get your sketchbooks

This winter, when I was heavily working on updating my fashion portfolio, I came across a book called "Fashion Designer's sketchbooks" by Hywel Davies. It inspired me to reshape my portfolio into a much more handfelt and personal experience for myself and the viewers, much like a sketchbook.

Gone with plastic sheets and binders (Yuk!), the clean computerized portfolio.... Showing your designs is a shared experience and I wanted the viewers to personally connect with my work and come away feeling inspired.

This book is not only beautifully laid out, its content showcases sketchbooks from amazing designers, independent to major names: Matthew Williamson, Lutz, Yamamoto, Hamish Morrow, Antonio Marras for Kenzo and much more.
I'm in awe of how they put down their ideas on loose pages, sketchbooks, post its, etc...  The result is poetic and uncompromising. It's an example for all of us designers to never let our flow of ideas be wasted. An amazing moment of inspiration can come and go so we should all have sketchbooks to capture a fleeting dream.
On a more permanent level, a sketchbook is a great working tool to note meetings, doodle, staple swatches, write lists, basically help you through out your daily life.


Anecdotally, I still have my sketch book from art school and when I look at it, I'm so happy it's still with me. Although it was created some 14 years ago, I still get inspired when I look at it.
Because it's the raw untouched version of myself and I guess this post is really about that, never loosing touch with the deeper creative You.
It's great to work in the fashion industry, but it can also burn you out creatively, churning hundreds of styles a year like a fashion machine!
Keeping a sketchbook, discovering books like "fashion designers sketchbooks", is a reminder to cultivate and stay in touch with our magic moments of inspiration.