River Island’s shiny new star

If you ever needed a reason to pop into River Island’s Ilac centre flagship store now you have one. The winner of the 2010 River Island Fashion Design Bursary, Sile O’Shea, was down unveiling her graduate collection in the windows for all to see.

Talented Sile from Pettigo, Co. Donegal was chosen from ten finalists to receive the bursary, winning £3000 and a paid 3 month internship in River Island’s cutting edge design studio in London- a dream prize for any budding Irish fashion designer.

Sile’s collection- ‘The Two Edith Beales’- was inspired by the 1975 documentary “Grey Gardens”, a quirky little film that designers as diverse as John Galliano and Marc Jacobs claim to also be inspired by (must check it out). Sile’s collection puts across a modern translation of the iconic style of the 1970s. She used key textiles inspired by the enigmatic Beale’s on georgette, silk satin and cotton, and contrasted with block colour silks, latex, Mongolian wool and leather.

Winning the sought after award which is now in its seventh year does wonders for the graduate student. It will mark the beginning of her journey with River Island, where her talent will be nurtured like previous winners who have gone on to make phenomenal contributions in the design studios at River Island.
Sile’s collection will be on display from Friday 25th of June to Thursday 1st of July. We’ve told you here first, she’s the next big thing.

The fine art of light packing

With Easter weekend just one more working day away many of us will be thinking about jetting off on little last minute voyage persay. Whether it be down to grannies humble abode in Kerry, an extreme surfing trip with mates in Donegal or a sunny city break in Barcelona we all have one thing in common – what to pack for the weekend break.

The fine art of packing light is something that takes years to master and as self-confessed fashionistas in Stellar mag we would like to think that we are pretty well darned equipped to share a few tips in this area. From our backpacking days to packing up clothes for photo shoots we know what every girl needs to make her trip a light yet still fashionable one.

1. Start off with a chic bag and invest in a leather one if your budget can afford it as it will last longer and age better (like ourselves of course). Check out this tanned leather one from Accessorize, €51. Remember to pack the heavier things at the bottom with the lighter items that are more likely to crease on top.

2. Prepare your outfits before hand and bring things that will mix and match easily when you are there. A pair of jeans is a must, one blazer/jacket that will look smart in the the day and evening and the essential item, the striped tee- even though your going to Kerry you’ll feel as if your on the French Riviera. This one is from River Island, €17.50.

3. Accessories are the key to simple outfits when travelling and a statement necklace or even a bright red lippy can change a little black dress from day to night. We love this turquoise and gold Angie Gooderham one from House of Fraser, €132.

Fashion Targets Breast Cancer

We’ ve all known someone whose had breast cancer or been indirectly affected by it so to show our continuing support we are loving nothing more than fashionarity right now, that’s fashionable charity guys. Of course anything that includes guilty-free shopping, giving to charity and grabbing a brand new bargain buy all-in-one is STELLAR’s friend.

This year the retailers supporting the campaign include Marks & Spencer, River Island, Warehouse and Topshop. Launched yesterday the ad campaign featuring singer Kylie Minogue, model Claudia Schiffer and actress Sienna Miller was shot by legendary photography Mario Testino and five years on after beating breast cancer herself (go her!), Kylie appears scantly clad wrapped in only a silk sheet that bears the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer logo and has the strap line “Wear your support”.

Speaking about the campaign Kylie said, “It means so much to me to be part of this year’s campaign for Fashion Targets Breast Cancer. I wholeheartedly support their effort to raise funds for the vital work undertaken by Breakthrough Breast Cancer.”

Along with the range of black and white clothing being sold in various retailers a website has also been set up to buy the collection – so no excuses ladies. On http://www.fashiontargetsbreastcancer.org.uk you can view the collection, which includes skirts, t-shirts, scarves and footwear.

Since the launch of Fashion Targets Breast Cancer in the UK in 1996, the initiative has raised over £10.5m for Breakthrough Breast Cancer. So in order to see this number rise get clicking ladies. About 30% of the each item you buy  will go directly to Breakthrough Breast Cancer.