Posted by Fashion Junior at Large
The newly founded Ella Dror PR held their AW11 press day on Wednesday at the St Martins Lane Hotel, to show off the new collections from their select group of creative clients.
Charlie de Mindu was on hand with a pop-up salon, busy creating his signature hairstyles, and there were an array of inspiring collections on display from young designers such as Craig Lawrence, Sorcha O Raghallaigh and up-coming milliner Piers Atkinson.
Craig Lawrence AW11
Sorcha O Raghallaigh SS11 shot for Dazed and Confused
Piers Atkinson AW11 (the lookbook, below, took my breath away)
The powerhouse team behind this dazzling display are two young people who are making their mark on the fashion world in their own unique way. Allow me to introduce Ella Dror and Ashley Smith.
Ella and Ashley shot by Morgan White, for the Piers Atkinson lookbook, produced by Kim Howells
Ella, with her sunshine-yellow hair and unique style, is an instantly recognisable figure. She graduated from London College of Fashion, and began her career at fashion PR agencies, and whilst working as a showroom manager, she met Ash. They quickly formed a close working relationship and a friendship that is clear to see! For the past year, both of them had been working for the fashion project Machine-A (last summer, the Fash Ed and I went to the launch of Craig Lawrence's collection for the unique Soho boutique).
Ella Dror
Having already built up connections with three designers, Ella and Ash decided to go it alone and set up their own agency, Ella Dror PR, just months before Fashion Week in February. In fact, two weeks before LFW was due to kick off they "didn't have an office, or email account, and were working from Starbucks, as well as planning presentations and exhibitions for 6 designers." However, they pulled off said presentations with aplomb and are now devoting themselves to nurturing the careers of their clients.
As Ashley explains, "the reason why we started (Ella Dror PR) is because there's not really anything else out there that properly supports young designers and emerging brands. We both have the right experience in this field and most of our clients are personal friends; so once we made the decision to do it everything came together really quickly
."
One of Ella Dror PR's most exciting clients is the creative collective House of Organza, who are a group of designers working within different disciplines, all to a central theme. The collective is formed of Alun Davies, Patternity, Pins London, Atalanta Weller, Fred Butler, Craig Lawrence, Piers Atkinson, Gloved Up, Noki, Judy Blame, Kim Howells and Lyall Hakaraia, all of whom work together to support each other's creative endeavours.
Work by Yves Klein
This season they have taken inspiration from the idea of the Muse, with fashion figure Mr Roy reacting to the work of artist Yves Klein, providing the designers with their starting point. They are set to launch the work that has been produced on this theme very shortly (Fashion Editor at Large will have the full details, stay tuned.)
It is obvious to all that come into contact with them that Ella and Ashley are full of excitement and passion for the new developments with Ella Dror PR, and that they genuinely care about actively encouraging creativity. They are an inspiration to anyone working in this crazy business!
Images: Catwalking/Chris Moore, Dazed and Confused editorial by photographer Anthony Maule and stylist Katie Shillingford, Ella Dror, Yves Klein
