Being in London already, I thought it would be a good opportunity to visit Berwick street and some of the fabric shops I used to frequent while at university. I’m showing at Manchester Fashion Week in April and I want to include some of my non-latex pieces in the show.

I haven’t been for a while and I noticed a couple of new additions to the row of shops, but my favourites remain the same.

Misan had a great range of both natural and artificial leathers in various textures and colour combinations that I found really inspiring. I’m really into textures and juxtaposition this season so I’d love to be able to add some of these into my collection but aside from the fact that they are probably slightly out of budget, it’s also really hard to determine whether they are ethically sourced.

The cloth house is always great for jersey and knitted fabrics, there were at least 5 I’d love to add to my range but I’ve decided to keep it as simple as possible this time and focus more on the fabric story next year.

I also spotted this long pile, grey faux fur and light textured fabrics in the second Misan shop, further down the road. Faux fur is quite new to me as I’ve only recently decided it can look good. I love the feel and colour of this one but I’m not convinced on the price so I’m going to shop around a bit longer.

We finished off the expedition with a trip to Covent garden to visit my favourite tea shop, the tea house, (I love trying new flavours and also find it quite inspiring as I drink it while I work), and the astrology shop where I browsed scented oils and bought gem stone rings.

I bought two rings, one in opalite and one in faceted hematite. I think they go with my other “every day” rings and hopefully won’t discolour or irritate my hands. I was particularly happy because it only cost me £3 for the pair!

Hematite is a particularly good one for me to wear as it is said to counteract the negative effects the computer has on your energy body.

I decided to swap them round in the end and now wear them so the opalite and moon stone aren’t next to each other. I will take a better picture, without the gloves when I get the chance.