No.1, are “uniquely expensive perfumes created with no reference to cost containing the most rare and precious ingredients in the world”.  The 2008 version was released at Harrods in London and Bergorf Goodman in New York.
The exclusive character of this perfume does not only lie in its scent but also in all the marketing and promotion around it: from the 1,000 bottles released every year for each the female and men’s version, to the 10 Baccarat crystal bottles designed for No.1 limited edition; the hand embroidery of the jewel-case is no exception.

“This initiative is a vital contribution to the Textile Learning of the nation right in the heart of the Fashion industry. Hand & Lock will be continuing a tradition in the heart of the capital. From now on the encouragement of the craft of embroidery is back in its rightful place. I as chairman of the Embroiderers’ Guild, wish you well in your endeavour.”
Anthea Godfrey

From this point Carne made drawings and the designs evolved under Keith’s guidance . . . . it was then all hands to the pump as we worked on the embroidery to meet the deadline of the opening night of the tour. The finished jacket produced by Tom Baker with Hand & Lock’s embroidery adorning the back and left breast pocket was heavily photographed at the opening of the 2009 tour.. Since then we have produced 2 more belts for the Prodigy’s return to the UK gigs, which we were lucky enough to go and see.

“We arrived at the sold out Wembley gig with minutes to spare. The Prodigy, still full of the same energy after 18 years in the public eye, played back to back hits.   It is not surprising that they sold 200,000 copies of their new album within two weeks of its release, for some one who has been a fan since childhood the gig was not a disappointment.  Concentrating on their old hit singles and all of the new album they played an hours set without pausing for breath.

After the gig we were treated to the VIP bar and got to spend some time talking to Keith and his wife about the embroidery he had been wearing for the gig and his plans for the rest of the tour.  It was very satisfying seeing our ancient embroidery techniques in such a contemporary setting and one that was so exciting for us as prodigy fans”

Claire Barrett
Design Assistant

On Sunday 10th May the Prodigy performed on the main stage of BBC Radio1’s Big Weekend. This year the big week end was taking place at Lydiard Park in Swindon. Watch the Prodigy’s performance with BBC iPlayer: video.

Hand & Lock were commissioned to embroider the front bodice panels, underside of the collar, the cuffs and the scalloped hem of the skirt, which consisted of a huge 14 metres of luxurious silk taffeta. Using Hand & Lock’s extensive archive and Kirstie’s statement, Studio Manager Sana Uddin, chose to draw from organic shapes using flowers, leaves and vines for the embroidery design. The design would also reflect a quintessential English look, which would stand apart from the other embroidery. Keeping this traditional look in mind, Hand & Lock decided that deep greens, burgundy, dark violets and musty antique golds would be also ideal to create the feeling of a ‘rain soaked rose’.

The majority of the embroidery for the bodice and collar panels was Irish satin stitch combined with a single line of gold Cornely chain stitch. The chain stitch worked as an outline and appeared striking against the pre-embroidered burgundy fabric. The cuffs and skirt were embroidered with deep violet and burgundy Cornely chain stitch, which followed the scalloped hem of the fabric. The chain stitch made the hem bolder whilst also making a connection between the skirt, cuffs, bodice and collar. Using the pre-embroidered burgundy as a base, Hand & Lock developed and elaborated the repeat design by embroidering shades of violets on top of the gold embroidery. Once all our embroidery had been completed, the panels were then sent away to Beirut for the next part of their embroidery journey!

For more details about similar commissions, please contact Sana at  sana@handembroidery.com

On March 29th, Umbro unveiled the new England Kit at its concept store following the England Vs Slovakia World Cup qualifier.

The official kit supplier to the England football team decided to “bring together the traditional values of classic tailoring with modern fabric technology and a revolutionary design philosophy”. In doing so, Umbro acknowledges a longstanding UK tradition of producing the finest tailored suits.

It is in this spirit that Umbro’s marketing team approached Hand & Lock to create the embroidery for their advertising campaign. The beautiful piece was hand embroidered with 90% silver wire on a black velvet ground, at our London Studio on Margaret Street by Megumi Endo, who was trained at the Royal School of Needlework.

The new England kit has been on sale since April 1st, and for the next couple of days the London concept store is the only place in the UK were the kits can actually be seen.

Hand & Lock is really proud to have been associated with this tremendous project.

For more details about Tailored by England please visit www.umbro.com

Created in 1974, the Golden Shears initially rewarded the Top Tailor of the Year within the Federation of Merchant Tailors. The Golden shears were awarded to the tailor whose clothes, using non-professional models (often themselves!), were judged for fit, style and suitability to the wearer, in addition to the skills of cutting and tailoring. Over the years, the aim of the competition evolved and the Golden Shears were presented to the business with the best training record. New evolution and changes, led to a new turn in the competition. In 1998, recognising its traditional support for education, the Company decided that the Golden shears should henceforth be focused on students who were on dedicated tailoring courses, as well as trainees in industry.

Last Monday 16th March 2009, the Merchant Tailors’ Company gathered members of the Company, Tailors from the Row and other members of the industry for its annual Golden Shears Award Gala Catwalk Show held at the Merchant Taylors’Hall in London.

26 tailored garments were presented on the catwalk. All the finalists’ work had already been awarded marks for technical skills – design, cutting and tailoring – by some of London’s top bespoke tailors. The final judging took place during the Catwalk show, where a VIP panel marked the style element. Judges of the Show included:

• Executive Producer David Furnish;
• Director of Design for Aston Martin Marek Reichman;
• Fashion Editor Caryn Franklin;
• Journalist James Sherwood;
• Director of Norton & sons Patrick Grant;
• Director of Henry Poole & Co Simon Howard Cundey.

This year the Golden Shears Award goes to the following:

• Andrea Nixon’s Rising Star presented with a special award of Silver Shears and £1000 for a Rising Star. Andrea presented a hand woven green lambswool jacket and skirt
• The Silver Shears and £1,500 goes to Paulo Nicodemi who was just finishing his apprenticeship with Anderson & Sheppard. Paulo presented a tweed shooting jacket with pleats and plus two’s with vestcoat.
• Finally, the Golden Shears and £2,000 goes to Rory Duffy who is currently doing an apprenticeship with Henry Poole & Co. Rory presented a frockcoat and kilt in navy/cream window pane tweed.

All Hand & Lock’s team will like to offer its congratulations to Andrea and the other finalists who dazzled the audience that evening, particularly Rory and Paulo. As the Merchant Tailors’Company would say they are definitely ‘The Master Tailors of tomorrow’.

6) Impressed by the opulent Louis XV furniture at Hotel des Ambassadeurs de Hollande (page 152)? Histoire de Sieges can provide comparable seating, such as this ‘A23 Corbeille’ sofa. It costs £3.321 approx. Ring 0032 2644 2621, or visit histoiredesieges.com. Cover it with some raspberry-coloured silk damask from Lelievre. Its ‘Valencay Framboise’ costs £152 per m. Ring 020 7352 4798, or visit lelievre.co.uk. For gold trim make your way over to Hand & Lock, whose ‘Oakleaf’ costs £50.40 per m. Ring 020 7580 7488, or visit handembroidery.com.

From World of Interiors
March 09 issue

This year again, Hand & Lock hits the Catwalks during London Fashion Week Automn/Winter 09/10

The womenswear label Luella, have always been a long standing client of Hand & Lock’s Military Dept, whether it be to buy gold lace, military braid or accoutrements. But, for their A/W 09 collection, it seemed that Luella wanted to use elements of military in a more feminine way. They approached Hand & Lock with a few basic floral designs that they wanted interpreting into hand embroidered brooches.

After discussing ideas with the Studio Manager Sana Uddin, they together decided that the 2 floral designs could be brought to life when playing around with the surface, shape and colour. With these three factors in mind, Hand & Lock embroidered antique gold wire raised above several layers of silk threads, varying in areas of thickness, onto a rich teal coloured dupion silk for the base of the brooch. These magical hand embroidered brooches were then neatly outlined and finished with a single line of antique gold purle purle. The brooches looked beautiful yet remained to have a hard edge from the hand embroidered gold wire, which was seen throughout this seasons Luella show.

Sana Uddin
Studio Manager

Hand & Lock is very proud to be associated with ITV programm This Morning, helping young Annabel Harvey carry out her dream.

“In our latest Dreams Come True we sent Alison Hammond to meet nine-year-old Annabel Harvey. Annabel tragically lost four fingers from one hand in a horrific lawn mower accident 5-years-ago.

Since her accident Annabel has shown a great deal of determination and bravery in overcoming her disability.

Her mother Sue thought she deserved a special treat and wrote us asking to make Annabel’s dream come true by going to the Dancing on Ice studios.

Last year’s Dancing On Ice champion Suzanne Shaw is on hand to and give Annabel and her mum a backstage tour in what was a wonderful day had by all.

We’d also like to offer a big thanks to the generous companies who helped Annabel’s Dream Come True: Angels on Ice, Skate Hut, Hand and Lock”

Should you like more details about our personalised embroidery services, please contact Sana at sana@handembroidery.com

For more information about ITV Dreams come true click here .

After last week success, we have decided to extend our Fabulous February Sample to the end of the month. Visit us in our London studio and discover an amazing range of sample for little prices. Sale end on Friday 27th February at 5.00pm.

On Thurs 19th and Fri 20th February 2009, Hand & Lock are hosting their first sample sale in 5 years! This ‘not to be missed’ event is being held in our London studio and is open to the public. There will be over 500 samples on sale and prices start from as little as £5.00! There will be a huge selection of embroidered samples, ranging in all types of techniques, colours and sizes.

The sale is a fantastic opportunity to see the studio in progress, meet the Hand & Lock team, as well as buy some of the finest embroidered samples for extremely low prices.

The sale is being held here at 86 Margaret Street, W1W 8TE. Doors for the sample sale open at 9.30 am and closes at 5.00pm, both on Thursday 19th and Friday 20th.

We would love to see you there and guarantee that you will feel like a child in a sweet shop once again!

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