And so here it is the story behind our Summer Collection. We hope that someone special to you will become part of our journey with a little outfit from A&A.

Anyone that knows me well, knows my love of Chanel. My first handbag was a hand me down quilted Chanel bag from my mother. I still have it and I still love it. When I see Alexandra playing dress ups I feel the most wonderful moment of déjà vu.

Every special moment in my life has had a touch of Chanel. On my wedding day, my beautiful mum gave me her white Chanel camellia, for something borrowed. She told me to tie it to my purse, instead I got some satin ribbon, pinned the camellia on it and tied it around my neck, instantly I felt complete, I loved the way it looked, the way I felt wearing it.

When I gave birth to Anthony & Alexandra, I was wearing Chanel Allure perfume, a present from divine husband. My coffee table holds my 2 favourite books -Eternal Chanel & Collections and Creations from my gorgeous girlfriend Mel, who also shares my love for the fashion diva.

And in every Collection of ALEX&ANT, I always add a camellia like flower, a small tribute to a woman who has inspired me so much.

Designing the latest Summer Collection was done with a smile. Dressed in warm clothes, with the fire burning, I got lost in the thoughts of the beautiful scents of summer – the sun, flowers, the ocean, the sound of laughter, love and joy.

I wanted to introduce playful colours to our collection while still keeping to our gentle palette of colours. Beautiful flowers become another inspiring force, gentle shades of lavender, soaring sky blue, soft khaki and a spectrum of pinks weave playfully and naturally into our signature palette of gentle hues.                   

…and living by beach, inspired us to design a practical, beautiful and natural beach story complete with soft voile kaftans, luxurious beach hoodies and jackets to covet.  

For our boys, wonderful wonderful boys – the gentlest fabrics to lie on their skin, practical designs to never stop them from playing freely & to rock this summer!  

An ALEX&ANT Summer is as fresh as the breeze and as playful as flying a kite.  

We’ve sourced the most gentle of fabrics and we have woven them into playful designs that look beautiful and feel great!

We design beautiful clothing for all of the picnics, play-dates, days at the beach and parties. And of course, those perfectly lovely lazy summer days!

“A life without love is like a year without Summer” Swedish proverb. 

Here is to a wonderfully happy summer!

With love & a smile

Caterina x

Enjoy ~
Love Fleur x

5 cups (750g) plain flour, sifted
3 teaspoons baking powder
31/2 cups (770g) caster sugar
500g butter, melted
8 eggs (!)
21/2 cups (625ml) milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pink food colouring (or blue, or whatever colour you like)
1/2 cup (50g) cocoa (Dutch is best)
1/3 cup (80ml) milk, extra
desiccated or shredded coconut to serve
Chocolate Butter Icing
500g butter, softened
4 cups (640g) icing sugar, sifted
1 cup (100g) cocoa
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Place the flour, baking powder, sugar, butter, eggs, milk & vanilla in a large bowl and mix until well combined. Divide the mixture into 3 equal portions. Add a few drops of food colouring to one portion and stir to combine. Add the cocoa and extra milk to a second portion and stir to combine. Drop alternate spoonfuls of the coloured, chocolate and basic cake mixtures into 2 x 22cm round, lightly greased cake tins lined with baking paper. It is SO FUN to do this with the kids, plopping cake mixture into the pans. Use a butter knife to make swirls and then bake for 55-60 mins or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool cakes in tins for 5 mins before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.

To make the chocolate butter icing, place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 6-8 mins or until pale and creamy. Add the icing sugar, cocoa and vanilla and beat for a further 6-8 mins or until light and fluffy!

Trim the cakes if you want to (mine cracked a bit on top), then place one on a cake stand and use a palette or butter knife to spread with 1/3 of the icing. Top with the second cake and use the remaining icing to ice the sides and the top of the cake. Sprinkle with the coconut to serve.

~ Enjoy,
Fleur x

Much like the girl who wears a bow can be perceived as a lady, the bow tie on men suggests some breeding or intellect coupled with a “geek chic” appeal that is so “Gossip Girl” & “Glee” right now.

Bows are so very charming and are guaranteed to elicit a smile.

We still have plenty of these iconic pieces available in our webstore and they will never date. Pick up something for the remainder of Winter or buy the next size for next year!

http://alexandant.com.au/shop/shop/floral-bow-romper/

http://alexandant.com.au/shop/shop/leggings-with-dancer-ties/

http://alexandant.com.au/shop/shop/mary-dress/

~ Fleur

I think what we forget during the cooler months is the ability to do things simply and with any spontaneity. So when the sun comes out it’s so liberating to dust off a bunch of sandcastle toys, throw the kids in the car in whatever they’re wearing and head to the coast for a good, old-fashioned beach-comb.

There was absolutely no preparation in this trip except to bring the sand toys.  In my world, that kind of reckless behaviour would normally end in tears for all parties!  Not this day….it was so perfect.

Fleur xo

What does Summer mean to you?

Tell us in 25 words or less and the comment that delights us the most will win a $100 voucher to purchase from the beautiful ALEX&ANT Summer 2011/12 collection (once it is available in the ALEX&ANT webstore).  Post your prose on our facebook page before August 8th (5pm EST) and the most creative entry will be announced on August 15th.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/ALEXANT/216064142887?ref=ts

Best of luck ~ Fleur x

A very quick post this week…

Images from Antiques General Store, Narrabean

Images from Pulp Creative Paper, Balgowlah

Images from Neck of the Woods, Manly

]]> http://alexandant.com.au/shop/2011/06/vintage-inspiration/feed/ 0 http://alexandant.com.au/shop/2011/05/the-right-stripes/ http://alexandant.com.au/shop/2011/05/the-right-stripes/#comments Mon, 23 May 2011 05:05:48 +0000 caterina http://alexandant.com.au/shop/?p=1385 A little history…

Halfway through the 13th century, some Palestinian monks showed up in Paris wearing brown-and-white striped habits. The French were not impressed and wanted only white, so nicknamed the monks “the barred brothers”. Although it hasn’t been proven, one medieval scholar believes this must be how prison stripes (uniforms) came into practice, meant to signify cell bars.

Horizontal stripes came to distinguish other various outcasts in medieval times: prostitutes, bohemians, clowns, ruffians, Jews and hangmen. Strangely, four centuries later, the French revolted and stripes – now tri-coloured and a symbol of the new order – went vertical. In the 19th century, vertical bars belonged to the rich and fashionable, differentiating them from the poor and the prisoners.

It was our beloved Coco Chanel who changed everything. Legend has it that she borrowed a blue-and-white thinly striped sweater – the Breton, established in 1958 but the French navy – from her lover and tailored it to fit herself. It become the most timeless and tireless emblem of Gallic chic and many-a-brand has followed her lead throughout decades of fashion. Whether you’re inspired by the St-Germain-des-Pres set or consider yourself a misfit, punk, artist, pirate, a fan of classic geometry or simply a subscriber to either haute-couture or high-street fashion, stripes will unite!

Love Fleur x

I made some raspberry muffins that went down a treat so perhaps you’d like the recipe? Mind you, that’s all I did! The rest of the time I sat relaxing, drinking Deutz Rose and thinking how lucky I am to have such beautiful people in my life. It’s the sauce that really sets these muffins apart so they’re not the lunchbox variety.

1.5 cups (225g) self-raising flour
1/3 cup (30g ) rolled oats
3 eggs
3/4 cup (200g) mixed berry yoghurt
1/3 cup (80mls) sunflower oil
1 firmly packed cup (200g) brown sugar
300g frozen raspberries (or buy fresh if you can afford it!)
Icing sugar to dust

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Grease a six hole capacity muffin tin or use patty pans in the tin.

Place the flour, oats and a pinch of salt in a bowl and mix well.

Beat the eggs, yoghurt, oil and 3/4 cup (150g) brown sugar in a bowl until combined.

Add 180g berries to the flour mixture and stir to combine. Gently fold in the egg mixture until just combined. Spoon the mixture into the pan and bake for 20 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean (and they’re a lovely golden brown colour).

Meanwhile place the remaining berries and 50g brown sugar in a saucepan together with 1 tablespoon of water. Cook, stirring over a low heat for 2-3 mins until the berries soften slightly. Set aside to cool slightly.

Dust the cooled muffins with icing sugar and serve with the warm berry syrup. Any left-over syrup should be folded into porridge for another yummy breakfast/brunch.

Enjoy,
Fleur xxx

You cannot deny a girl some ruffles, frills or a the prettiness of lace. The way we choose to do it is by limiting the other factors that can turn it from subtle & sophisticated to blatant & busy e.g. too many colours, fabrics or trims combined in the one garment. It leaves us more time to select the best fabrics for comfort & wear and to focus on the fit. In our experience, anything that’s an afterthought never makes it to production so this frees us up to design the collection without looking back.

Amazing that we can have such clarity of vision in one pursuit and in other areas of our lives things head totally off target!

Love Fleur x