So now that a blog has been set up on my site, I can finally fill you all in on what I've been up to over this past year, in more than just galleries of images!

In March I was a vendor at the Scrounger's Hot Rod Blowout in Auckland, and had furiously put together new stock and samples to show to my local market.

As soon as this event was over, all my time and energy was thrown into creating a cohesive mens and womens range to show at New Zealand's biggest hot rod event of the year, Whangamata's Beach Hop.  The 50s/60s hot rod and cultural event pulls in a huge crowd every year, and this year was no exception, especially since a modified 1959 Pontiac Catalina was being given away to a lucky audience member.  With the help of Rita Sue, we put on a retro fashion show for the large audience who were all anticipating the Pontiac's giveaway.  It is the first fashion show of its kind that has been a part of the official Beach Hop entertainment line-up, and the reception was fantastic!  It was so good, that we'll be back again next year to show again, and this time we'll have a market stall set up too.

Here's a shakey video of the show, devel men and women are first up, to the tunes of Stray Cats:

At the same time that the Beach Hop lead-up was going, I was also busy getting this website designed and created, for it's launch to coincide with the show, and was featured in the New Zealand Herald's fashion magazine, Viva.  I had also been approached by local punk/reggae band King Cannons to design and make a set of custom shirts for them to wear onstage, and their deadline happened to fall just after the Beach Hop show, as they were going to be supporting the international punk band Stiff Little Fingers when they came out to NZ in mid-May.

Here's a shot from a shoot I did with King Cannons and Steph Bellamy; the rest of the photos can be viewed in my gallery:

The next event I took part in was the very first Skin and Steel tattoo convention, as a vendor along with Rita Sue.  It was a bit quiet in terms of numbers, but we got to mingle with a slightly different crowd than what we usually would at the hot rod events.  Plus we got to hang out with the Teaser Lounge girls, who we were positioned alongside of at the Hot Rod Blowout in May, and who also helped us out with our models' hair for the Beach Hop retro fashion show.

Here's a shot of our stall at Skin and Steel 2008:

Not only have I been busy building and running my own label, but I also have been visiting fashion/textiles classes at my old high school, Birkenhead College, as a former student who not only went on to study fashion design, but has also gained experience in the local fashion industry.  I've hopefully provided them with a realistic outlook on what they may want to go on to do with their study and careers, and with an excitement for the industry that they have their hearts set on joining.  As I've been working closely with the school and their students, I was invited to put on a fashion show at their Arts Awards evening in mid-October.  It was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed working with the students as the models, and I think they enjoyed dressing up in a style they may not have even been aware of.

Here's the video of the my devel men and women fashion show, at Birkenhead College, again to the tunes of Stray Cats:

And as you may have already seen, my most recent update is the availability of devel men and women online.  Check out the product pages for more info.

Thank you so much for all of your support so far, and to all the people I have mentioned in this blog post.  I promise my next post will be a lot shorter!

dan. xx