When I think of all the things in life that really make me tick, very often it boils down to some bloody good clichés: spending quality time with my family and friends, drawing from my own experiences to help others, exploring new places, discovering hidden gems, finding out about little known talent or supporting independent businesses. These are the things I’m passionate about. They are what drive me and give my life purpose.

However, I had a look back at the last 18 months of blog content that I’ve published, and realised that it’s been a little bit light on the indie fashion front… 

(Above) Photo of Crowther Plant Indigo collection at LFW

Meeting Crowther Plant at Men’s Fashion Week with Mat, made me realise that I need to pull my finger out and get shooting street style again. When it comes to my relationship with fashion, it’s changed quite a bit. I no longer shop for new pieces every month. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I had a real spree… But I guess that’s what happens when you go freelance. You have to batten down the hatches, buckle your belt and not splurge on unnecessary purchases. Quality over quantity, and all that.

In this post I’m wearing an olive green knitted midi dress, that I bought in the Zara sale for about £12, with a floral embossed bomber jacket from Pull & Bear – something I’ve had for years, but haven’t worn all that much. It’s amazing what you can find in your wardrobe (if you’re a bit of a hoarder like me.) The shoes are the only real new addition to the outfit, and they are by Rose Rankin – a sneaker brand, based in London – discovered when I recently trawled the YBD online store for Spring/Summer ‘17 fashion inspiration. 

Rose Rankinproduces limited runs of handmade footwear. She grew up in Ireland and then hopped across to London after university, where she tried her hand at millinery, computer-aided fashion design and footwear design at Central St Martins.

Think: fun colours, bold prints and clean lines.

Here I’m sporting the Rose Rankin SIMMY Mid-Top Sneaker in leopard. It’s designed to be the classic work to weekend footwear. I ADORE the Petrol ones too – if mermaids wore shoes, they’d totally wear these!

The location of these pics is Broadway Market, Tooting. I’d just finished devouring the equivalent of a French Sunday Roast, at Bordelaise, with my best mate Laura. I promise you, the food is delicious! 

On a Sunday, many of the stallholders have the day off, this means that the place is transformed into an array of brilliantly coloured canvases. In a way, it couldn’t have been a more perfect place for this shoot. The vibrant street art covered shutters and patterned floors really lend themselves as backdrops, to this funky little shoe brand.

Over to you…

I’m looking forward to sharing more fashion-led pieces in 2017. Ideally, I need to do a few studio visits and actually meet the designers behind the brands. I love that sort of thing – it satisfies the frustrated documentary photographer in me. 

Which independent fashion labels should I be checking out to pep up my summer wardrobe? I got a bit obsessed with looking at Free People on the ASOS website the other day… I swear I must have fallen down some sort of bohemian-shaped sartorial hole!

Drop me a comment, I’d love to hear which brands are making you smile right now.

Photos by Laura Rayner