On Friday morning, after a long night of no sleep and a lot of sewing, I set off for Leeds and VAU VAU fashion show.

First stop was Rebel pin-up hair salon where I had to direct as the models got their hair done to fit their character in the show. Then after a quick cup of tea in a cafe we got a lift to the amazing Leftbank Church venue.

After arriving at the venue I realised the majority of my stuff was still locked in my friend’s car so I had to wait to set up the stall. I’m often worried about trading at places where I can’t bring my larger stall props but I think what I had was perfect for this event and I didn’t feel like anything was missing.

I’m particularly in love with this wire and nut tree that Rik made. I had been asking him to make a jewellery stand for a while and it turned out better than anything I had imagined. I’m also designing a jewellery stand for my upcoming homeware range but I haven’t decided on the best material to make it out of yet.

I did three interviews at the show (hopefully to follow shortly), two of which were filmed. I’m making an effort to put my work before my appearance at the moment as running the business on my own is quite hard and I need all the extra time I can get,but at times like these, I’m reminded its important to look good as well.

The models were great and managed to pull off both the walk and outfits, which I could tell some of them weren’t used to. I was please with the way the show turned out and the pictures I have seen so far. Apparently there will also be videos, can’t wait!

Some image selections from the show:

Our wonderful host, Toria Brightside wearing her custom, pink Eustratia antlers!

The images are by Arlen Specter, Danielle Jaques and Richard Ayres.

Was great to see other labels from Bird’s yard at the show, including Sophie Adamson as well as Jay Storey with his custom graffiti canvases.

After the show I managed to fit in a couple of snaps with Stuart from Walnutwax.

For those who weren’t at the show, the giant tea cups that the bunnies were holding were full of star confetti!

So far I’ve seen a review from Wildchild media which you can read here, I’m sure there will be more to follow soon.

A lot of the people who aren’t used to being exposed to it, commented on the amount of latex that I featured in the show. I would like to point out that, as I mainly sell latex on my site at the moment, commenting on the amount of fabric garments that I had in the show may have been more apt. I did end up having slightly less than I originally planned but I still think it broke it up nicely. I’m quite glad to have been able to finally take this step and show a mixed range as it justifies my not choosing a name with “latex” after it, having planned from the start not to be limited to one material.

Finally, I would like to congratulate all those involved on pulling off such a memorable event which raised around £2000 for charity. Special thanks to Toria Brightside and Emma Parry for organising, Fashion pony for sponsoring the event, Dave Abbot for my awesome, character specific music which you can listen to here, Amber for transporting all my stuff in her car, Verity for helping me sort out my technical problems, Rik for minding the stall pretty much on his own all night, Laura for cancelling work to stand in at the last minute and my glass of wine on the train and all my models/hair/MUA team for their great work.

For more images check the Eustratia facebook page.

I’ve had a few people ask about the hair pieces, I made these myself and will be posting a tutorial on how to achieve similar looks when I have time to get some pictures in order. I will also probably be doing a giveaway for one on my model page soon, for anyone who isn’t the DIY type. Commissions are welcome.

I’m already looking forward to my next show and future projects!