Behind the Scenes at Liv House

Our vision has always been to offer the full Liv lifestyle to our customers and this autumn our dream is coming true! Our new catalogue, full of gorgeous clothes and homeware, is on its way. A lot of work went into it and just to whet your appetite, here’s a sneaky peek behind the scenes at our recent photo shoot.

On the day, we were given the keys to the amazing, uniquely designed home of Sally and Mark Bailey, owners of one of our favourite shops. The Bailey’s reuse of beautiful objects inside and outside her home resonates so well with us and our values. So well, in fact, that it became the perfect canvas for our long anticipated, new-look Liv House.

Remember the summer heatwave? The weather over the three-day shoot was amazingly hot but our models, Ellie (who had the most amazing red hair we have ever seen) and Matt, (with his incredible smile even off-stage), remained consummate professionals in the glaring heat. The shots encapsulated Liv perfectly. 

One thing that sticks out in the memory of the day was the way the different parts of the team worked so calmly and happily alongside each other. Everyone had a different role and tight deadlines but the positive atmosphere was exceptional. We loved working with our marketing team at The Seed Group, and their photographer, Simon, who did his magic with his lens (often from a state of contortion!) to get the best light and best angles. When we saw the images we were so pleased that they had truly captured the essence of our brand: beautifully created clothing and homeware, consciously chosen to be loved and LIVed every day.

But don’t take our word for it. You can see for yourself very soon. Our new catalogue is out at the end of September so ensure we have your details here so we can send you one.

As ever,

Sophie and Dawn

Indian Spice

Liv is all about the people we work with, here and around the world. When I first visited India in 2005 I noticed how different everything was and yet how strongly influenced by the British legacies of infrastructure, language and elements of British culture. The middle classes are educated in English, the main newspapers are in English and you can hear English intertwined with Hindi in conversation. But it is deceptive.

On my first ever visit – to Kolkata – like most newcomers I was hit with an assault on the senses. The noise, the smells, the colours and extremes of poverty and wealth all struck me hard. I saw ordinary Kolkata waking up, the street sleepers folding their covers and collecting their possessions, washing under standpipes, setting up stalls and preparing fantastic street food. But as soon as I entered the hotel that was to be my home for the next five nights there was complete tranquillity, the most exquisite aromas, the most attentive service and the most breathtaking serenity!

Today India is quickly building airports in most cities and meeting the demands of the fast growing middle classes by offering them new shopping malls dominated by European and American chain stores, restaurants and coffee shops.

The factory LIV has partnered with since 2005 began in the backstreets of Kolkata and in 2009 moved to a purpose built property servicing organic and Fairtrade businesses only. The factory owner gave 20% of the shares in the company to the Fairtrade farmers from the Chetna Organic project to create a very unique supply chain.

There are many stories from the people employed and involved in the Liv partner factory and how their lives have developed. Nabanita was one of the first people we met. She started as an Assistant Merchandiser, married a fellow employee and in 2010 had a child which prompted the factory to set up a crèche for her and other workers. Nabanita is now a Senior Merchandiser.

Nabanita & Baby

Just one of the amazing people we met, and what is so striking is how her own life story affected the development of the factory, and the company itself. If only more UK firms behaved like this!

In my next blog I’ll introduce a few more of the wonderful people in this Indian Liv partner factory, including its remarkable founder, Rajat.

The Perfect Picnic Plan!

It’s National Picnic Week and despite the disappointing lack of sunshine so far this June, we are still, as ever, surrounded by the beautiful Worcestershire countryside and the idea of a picnic seems just the right way to spend our Saturday, come rain or shine.

And to encourage you all to join us in heading out into the great outdoors and making the most of our warm (ish) days, we are offering you the chance to WIN a delicious picnic hamper from the organic farm at Laverstoke Park Farm.

Laverstoke Park Farm

The prize also includes this set of four Ochre & Ocre spotty napkins, which will add a lovely pop of colour to your picnic basket.

Ochre and Ochre Madeleine Sage Napkins

And as you know, we’re never ones to plan an event without planning the perfect outfit for it. Our picnic style has to include the classic Awning Dress – a true summer staple for every Liv woman, and the final item in our picnic-related prize worth £150! With its relaxed fit and waist-ties to cinch you in, it emphasises perfectly your silhouette.

Awning Dress

Awning Dress

We’re pairing ours with these cute espadrille wedges from Hobbs to give a slightly more elegant look, but are still really easy to walk in on soft ground, a messy top knot and these gorgeous round framed sunglasses from Balenciaga at The Outnet (just in case). The petrol blue matches the blue of the Awning dress perfectly and the round frame is big news this spring/summer.

Hobbs Marie Espadrille Wedges

Balenciaga Round Framed Sunglasses

For a chance to style up your very own Awning Dress, and win the Laverstock Hamper of goodies and Ochre & Ochre napkins, simply follow this blog then head over and like our Facebook page. The winner will be picked at random when we reach 1500 fans on Facebook!

Good Luck!

T&Cs

The competition closes when we reach 1500 fans on Facebook, and entries received after this time will not be counted.

Only one entry per person.

Prize is subject to availability.

No cash alternative.

Open to UK residents aged 18 years or over.

Prize includes delivery to a nominated address. UK or IOM resident only.

The winner will be selected at random after the closing date and will be notified on the email address received at livlovestyle.wordpress.com.

The Winner will be able choose the size of their Liv Awning Dress once notified by email.

The Winner will be able to choose a hamper of their choice from the Laverstoke Park Website, up to the value of £75.

Liv does not accept any responsibility for loss or damage of products once posted.

By entering this competition you agree to having your name, details and possible photo published online with Liv, or in a future issue of Liv Loves Style. By entering this competition you agree to Liv using your email to communicate with you various promotions, news and special offers that may be of interest to you from both Liv and Elysia. Liv and Elysia do not pass on your details to any other third party.

Celebrate World Environment and Win A Hamper Worth Over £100!

It’s World Environment Day and here at Liv, we’re all for protecting the world we live in! From our HQ on a biodynamic farm, to our fair trade projects in India and Egypt, sustainability is at our core. So we are wholeheartedly joining in with this year’s WED theme; Think.Eat.Save.

Think.Eat.Save is an anti-food waste campaign that is encouraging everyone to reduce your foodprint. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, every year 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted – the same amount as is produced in the entirety of sub-Saharan Africa! This means that 1 in every 7 people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of 7 die needlessly every day from hunger.

The aim of Think.Eat.Save is to highlight this global problem and its environmental impact, encouraging you to make more informed decisions on your food choices and habits.

This is an issue facing families all over the world, so we’re spreading the word about World Environment Day, and getting our kids involved and informed along the way. Join in the conversation by telling us how you plan to involve your kids in WED 2013, and then enter our competition to WIN a hamper of Liv goodies, including a Teeny Weeny Lamb Baby Body, a children’s biodynamic cotton doll, a Liv duvet set and our gorgeous Island Top from our new Ray of Light Collection!

Island Top

Duvet Set

Baby Body

Biodynamic Cotton Doll

To enter, simply follow this blog then head over and like our Facebook page. The winner will be picked at random when we reach 1250 fans on Facebook!

Good Luck!

T&Cs

The competition closes when we reach 1250 fans on Facebook, and entries received after this time will not be counted.

Only one entry per person.

Prize is subject to availability.

No cash alternative.

Open to UK residents aged 18 years or over.

Prize includes delivery to a nominated address. UK or IOM resident only.

Winner will be selected at random after the closing date and will be notified on the email address received at livlovestyle.wordpress.com.

The Winner will be able choose size of Liv garments (baby body and Island Top), duvet sets and colour of doll once notified by email.

Liv does not accept any responsibility for loss or damage of products once posted.

By entering this competition you agree to having your name, details and possible photo published online with Liv, or in a future issue of Liv Loves Style.By entering this competition you agree to Liv using your email to communicate with you various promotions, news and special offers that may be of interest to you from both Liv and Elysia. Liv and Elysia do not pass on your details to any other third party.

Win Tickets to The Hay Festival

With the Hay Festival starting earlier this week, and the bank holiday weekend upon us, we thought there was no better excuse than to celebrate with a good old competition for our fabulous customers!

That’s right, we’re giving you the chance to win tickets to this amazing event, with this year’s line up looking better than ever! We’re offering two prizes; a pair of tickets to see Rupert Everett speaking about his touching (and slightly naughty) first memoir ‘Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins’, taking place on Saturday 1 June 2013, 7pm. The other is a family ticket (two adults, two children), to the Kitchen Academy Workshop (Saturday 1 June 2013, 10am) where you can work alongside your kids teaching them how to make all manner of delicious delights, from Spanish omelette to Welsh sushi!

If all of that tickles your tastebuds, then in the comments box below, share with us your email and tell us which prize you are hoping to win – simple as that! Then head on over to Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with all of the Hay Festival action that is already taking place!

Good Luck!

Terms and Conditions

The Closing Date is Monday 27^th at 11.59pm. Entries received after this time will not be counted.

Only one entry per person.

No purchase necessary.

Open to UK residents aged 18 years or over.

Winners will be selected at random from the email addresses received at livlovestyle.wordpress.com.

Winners will be notified at the email address provided.

By entering this competition you agree to having your name, details and possible photo published online with Liv, or in a future issue of Liv Loves Style.

By entering this competition you agree to Liv and Elysia using your email to communicate with you various promotions, news and special offers that may be of interest to you from both Liv and Elysia. Liv and Elysia do not pass on your details to any other third party.

Liv accepts no responsibility for prize being lost, damaged or delayed in the post.

Travel to The Hay Festival and any other associated costs are not included in the prize and is not paid for by Liv.

No cash alternative.

Prize includes delivery of the tickets to a nominated address. UK or IOM resident only.

The Drift Dress

With this week’s cold snap, and the promise of more icy winds next week, keeping toasty is top of mind at the moment but how do you do it and still look super stylish? Easy when you have a classic jumper dress in your wardrobe…

 The Drift Dress is a great way to beat the cold in style. Fabulously fashionable, relaxed and loved by celebs the world over, no wonder this piece is a Liv favourite.

Mollie King, The Saturdays

Jessica Alba

One of the things I love most about the jumper dress is its versatility. Ladies from 18 to 80 can wear this piece, and all will look equally as fabulous. For a more sophisticated look, wear with a belt to accentuate your waist and team with a pair of slim fit jeans. Top the outfit off with a fur gilet or inject some colour with bright accessories. For a slightly edgier look, pair with chunky heels, statement jewellery or leather trousers.

Neutral Jumper Dress with Bright Accessories

Michelle Obama Wears Jumper Dress with a Pop of Colour

Elle Macpherson wears Fur Gilet with Jumper Dress

There’s plenty of pictures of celebrity mums papped everyday on the school run, and the jumper dress seems to be a firm favourite. But it’s not just yummy mummies opting for this outfit choice; the jumper dress is popular with fashion bloggers and journos alike. Worn in a multitude of ways, this is a spring, summer, autumn and winter staple that takes pride of place in many women’s wardrobes.

Jumper Dress Paired with Boots

Jumper Dress with Over the Knee Socks

Our version, the Drift Dress, is made with light, sumptuously soft cotton and a real trans-seasonal piece. Available in three easy-to-wear colours, simply throw it over jeans on colder days like today, or keep the look bare-legged for when the sun has come out of hiding. The beauty of the Drift Dress is the simplicity; it’s a no-fuss item that always looks well put together with the right accessories. Here you can see the dress in flint grey from our SS13 lookbook and also styled by our very own Rachel, who’s paired hers with black tights, a Whistles clutch, Accessorize necklace, Dune booties and Oscar de la Renta sunnies.

The Drift Dress, Flint Grey

The Drift Dress, Jet

What do you think of the Drift Dress? Let us know how you would wear yours in the comments box below!

Liv; Fashionably Fair Trade

Last month I wrote about the remarkable reviews attributed to the sustainable fashion industry, brought about by the hugely successful Eco Fashion Week. Our attention is directed toward ethically produced clothing once again this month, but unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. After the collapse of the Bangladeshi factory, Rana Plaza, just one month before the global celebration of World Fair Trade Day this Saturday, many of us are asking ourselves what it will take for ethically produced, sustainably sourced, fairly traded fashion to become mainstream?

Fairtrade is not a new concept. Take the coffee market, or bananas or chocolate – more often than not, you will find products in these sectors with the fairtrade mark, giving you the option to shop ethically, even in mainstream stores. Unfortunately, the fashion industry is notoriously far behind when it comes the question of consumer choice. Socially conscious production methods and products (such as cotton) have not yet become a priority in the world of mainstream fashion retail. However, thanks to global awareness days like World Fair Trade Day, Earth Day and Eco Fashion Week, and their hundreds of thousands of supporters worldwide, the message is finally getting through.

World Fair Trade Day is a global celebration showing support for the world’s most vulnerable populations, through the development of fair and sustainable economies and communities. Here at Liv, our social responsibilities come hand-in-hand with our designs. We always have been and always will be a Fairtrade Foundation licensee, adopting only forward-thinking manufacturers in India as partners. These partners produce the beautiful cotton that goes into creating each of our stunning Liv garments, and not only that but we offer a guaranteed market for them, and we create trade links with farmers like Vandana and Subhash. To see more of the communities that we are proud to work with, take a look at our Fairtrade in the Frame photograph exhibition by Mark Ingram.

Sustainable prices, decent working conditions, fair terms of trade – the principles are simple, but often ignored. World Fair Trade Day will see these principles demonstrated and celebrated all over the globe, from colourful banners and drums in Bangladesh, to Fairtrade bazaars and speeches from industry experts in Canada. Why not join in the demonstration with your purchasing habits? Buy Fairtrade and compel brands to take responsibility this World Fair Trade Day, and beyond. Choose Fairtrade, and help support fashion that improves rather than impoverishes the lives of the vulnerable, just like the families affected by the Rana Plaza collapse.

Celebrate No Diet Day and WIN Liv Goodies

Here at Liv, we love women. All women. No matter your size, shape, colour, age; we celebrate beauty in all forms. That’s why we were thrilled to hear about International No Diet Day, started by the admirable Mary Evans Young, the director of the British anti-diet campaign, Diet Breakers. Mary, a recovered anorexic began INDD as a campaign to raise awareness about the lack of positive body-diverse images in the media, and the potentially harmful repercussions that this is having in today’s society.

INDD is a celebration of natural body diversity and encourages women (and men) everywhere to participate by taking the following pledge:

Stop the diets, eating plans or programmes and habits for one whole day on May 6th. On this day you must:

Accept yourself just as you are

Feed yourself if hungry

Feel no shame or guilt about your size or eating

…and you will LOVE YOURSELF for who you are, not who you feel pressure to be!

To join in the celebration, we’re giving one lucky customer the opportunity to WIN ANY ITEM from our SS13 Ray of Light collection, all you need to do is sign-up to the blog (by entering your email address below), then head on over and like our Facebook Page! You can also join in the conversation on Twitter using #LivLovesINDD!

Now it’s the hard part…choosing which piece is your favourite!

T&Cs

The competition closes on May 27th at midday, and emails addresses received after this date will not be entered

Only one entry per person

Prize is subject to availability

No Cash Alternative

Prize includes delivery to a nominated address, normal returns and exchange policies apply. UK or IOM resident only.

Winner will be selected at random after the the closing date and will be notified on the email given

By entering this competition you agree to having your name and photo published online or in a future issue of Liv Love Style.

By entering this competition you agree to Liv using your email to communicate with you various promotions, news and special offers that may be of interest to you from both Liv and Elysia.

Eco Fashion Week

With one of the ethical fashion industry’s most anticipated events: Eco Fashion Week finishing just last week, we take a look back at just why eco-fashion is finally being looked at as a force to be reckoned with in the fashion world.

Imagine the scene, Vancouver in spring, a hustle and bustle of the chic and stylish fills Gastown, all with a love for fashion  with a socially conscious message. Eco Fashion Week proves that conscientious design is no longer something that is popping up on the outskirts of fashion, with champions such as Livia Firth and Stella McCartney fighting the corner for sustainable  pieces and eco-friendly manufacturing methods, green is most definitely the new black.

Eco Fashion Week brought together designers, suppliers, and the media who realise environmental sustainability is the real future of fashion. Opening the shows last week was celebrated eco-designer Nicole Bridger, who’s mantra is “for women who want to look effortlessly chic while maintaining a commitment to the earth and its people.” And this show did not disappoint; neutral and pastel hues, elegant draping and stylised silhouettes make this one of the more covetable collections we’ve seen.

There were also some new faces in the industry shown last week including Hey Jude, a sustainable vintage brand, and Elroy, whose materials are ethically sourced from Indonesia.

We were also particularly enamoured with Isla Found, an environmentally friendly accessories brand that is the brain-child of three friends from British Coloumbia. Combining sustainable materials with a love of design, the finished products are cool, contemporary and above all, beautiful.

Aside from the amazing shows and incredible designers, what we loved in particular about Eco Fashion Week, was the inclusion of seminars held by industry experts and veterans, to create a discussion around sustainable fashion practices, getting people really involved in increasing the level of sustainability in the fashion industry.

Welcome Aboard!

This is our first post from the Liv Style blog – where we’ll be bringing you the hottest style notes, tips and trends each month, including how to style, where to wear and why we love Liv pieces.

Clipper Cardie

 

Although it may not feel like it with all this snow, the new Spring/Summer season is upon us and with it, our new collection of stylish separates.

Looking over the collection, my thoughts leap from a life on deck, relaxing with the cool ocean spray on my face, to exploring the British woodland, blooming with new life, each leaf finally unfurling. These were the inspirations behind our new designs – the aptly named, Ray of Light collection.

From effortless daytime looks to evening glamour, all of the new pieces were designed with one thing in mind – the Liv woman.

Independent, conscientious and stylish, the Liv woman wants to feel comfortable, buy ethically and look gorgeous. With this in mind, Dawn Foxall, our Head Designer, creates each season’s pieces in the softest (100% fairly-traded) cotton and merino wool. Ray of Light is no exception. Beautifully crafted, contemporary designs in classic silhouettes, all in this season’s most covetable colours, make this the perfect capsule wardrobe collection.

Keel Top, Black

Our SS13 catalogue is bursting with fabulous ways to style each piece, from lazy days on the beach in our Awning Dress to drinks with friends in our Dune Top, there really is something to satisfy even the most fastidious of females.

For up-to-the-minute styling tips, exclusive discounts and fabulous event information connect with us on Twitter and Facebook, or sign up to our mailing list.

Take a look at the full Ray of Light collection here.